ABRAVANEL (also called Abarbanel, Ravan ella, and Barbanella), RABBI DON ISAAC BEN JEHUDAH, a celebrated Jewish statesman, philoso pher, theoldgian, and commentator, and a very voluminous writer, was born in Lisbon in of an ancient family which traced its descent from the royal house of David, and which emigrated into Spain after the destruction of Jerusalem. His parents gave him an education becoming their re nowned lineage ; and Abravanel, possessing great natural talent, soon distinguished himself in such a manner as to attract the notice of Alfonso V., who intrusted him with the management of affairs of state. This high position of honour and trust he occupied till the end of 1481, when his august patron died, and John II. succeeded to the throne. The ill-treatment which Abravanel, in common with many of the favourites of the departed monarch, had to endure from the new sovereign, made him flee to Spain, the residence of his ancestors, in 1483, where his brilliant powers speedily secured for him the friendship of Ferdinand, and elevation to a post of honour as a minister of state. This he faithfully filled for eight years, from 1484 to 1492, when, at the instigation of the cruel Dominican Torquemada, the Queen's confessor and Inquisitor General, the infamous edict for the expulsion of the Jews was signed on the 3oth of March, and he, with 300,000 of his unhappy brethren, had to quit the country. He arrived at Naples in the beginning of 1493, and immediately obtained the favour of Ferdinand I., which, however, was of short dura tion, as the king died the same year ; and as his successor, Alfonso IL, accompanied by Abravanel, had to retire to Mazzara, where he died within twelve months. Abravanel then went to Corfu in 1495, thence to Monopoli, and afterwards to Venice, where he was again made a minister of state, and died in 154 whilst engaged in the important negotia tions between the Republic and Portugal. His remains were conveyed with great pomp to be deposited in Padua. His principal exegetical and
theological works, in their chronological order, are, —1. A juvenile treatise upon Exod. xxiii. 2o, Behold I send an angel before thee,' wherein he discussed, in twenty-five sections, the most im portant articles of faith. 2. A commentary on Deuteronomy, which he began in Lisbon, and finished in 1472. 3. Commentaries on 9shua, 7udges, and Samuel, written in Castilian in 1483 84; and on Kings, which he wrote whilst at the court of the king of Naples in 1493. 4. taries on Isaiah and Daniel, written in Corfu in 1497-98. 5. Three treatises, called nipo, comprising a nn.tin n!tg, a philosophical dis sertation on Maimonides' View of the Creation ; b nj70131+100D, a dissertation on all the Messianic passages in the Old Testament, a polemical work against Christianity ; and c 'MOD a dis sertation on the doctrine of the Messiah according to the Talmud and Midrashim. 6. The mental Doctrines of Religion (runtieign), and a Treatise 21,011 the Creation (ri5tiniSptp).
Commentaries on 7eremiak, Ezekiel, and the minor Prophets, which he wrote at Venice, and on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and written most pro bably at the same place. The chief importance of his commentaries to the student of the Bible con sists in their polemical character, and in the fact that they anticipate much of what has been ad vanced as new by modern theologians. Abravanel never skips over any difficulty in the text, but al ways tries to explain it. No student can consult his commentaries without profit. The best edition of the commentary on the Pentateuch is by Pro fessor Bashuysen, Hanau, 171o, fol. ; • of that on the earlier Prophets by Professor Pfeiffer and F. A. Christiani, Leipzig, 1686, fol. ' - on the later and minor Prophets, Amsterdam, 1641, fol. ; and on Daniel, Venice, 1652, 4to. Comp. Cormoly, in 17L+I'D "MN,ii. p. 47, etc. ; Jost, Geschichte des Iudenthums, etc. iii. p. 5o4, etc.; Furst, Bibao theca 7udaica, i. p. is, etc.—C. D. G.