“The priest shouting opposite me”: the jewish-christian polemic in R. Obadiah Sforno's commentary to psalms
R Obadiah Sforno (1470-1550), a leading Jewish sage in Italy who embodied Renaissance culture, openness, and contact with Christian culture, was cognizant of the dangers inherent in exposure to Christian religion and culture. The central motivation and aims of his commentary were both educational an...
| Subtitles: | ״הכומר הצועק נגדי״: פולמוס יהודי-נוצרי בפירוש ר׳ עובדיה ספורנו לתהלים |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | Hebrew |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
2014
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 2011, Volume: 82/83, Pages: 79-111 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Sforno, ʿOvadyah ben Yaʿaḳov 1470-1550
/ Psalms
/ Christianity
/ Teaching
/ Polemics
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament |
| Summary: | R Obadiah Sforno (1470-1550), a leading Jewish sage in Italy who embodied Renaissance culture, openness, and contact with Christian culture, was cognizant of the dangers inherent in exposure to Christian religion and culture. The central motivation and aims of his commentary were both educational and religious: to strengthen his community's Jewish identity and to provide an answer to the questions raised in the theological polemic against Christianity. This article examines Sforno's commentary to the book of Psalms and reveals its anti-Christological interpretations that were meant to contend with Christian commentary and the veiled pressure to convert. Sforno contends with Christian doctrine in a great number of psalms, on the topics: Jesus the Messiah and the son of God, the true Israel and the Chosen People, Exile and Redemption - and rejects it. His polemical anti-Christological interpretations are applied to different types of psalms: psalms whose content Christian commentators found suitable for their doctrine; psalms relating to a historical event or a personal event in the life of the psalmist; or psalms of praise, thanksgiving, prayer, and lament. The large number of psalms and the diverse topics from the Christian faith that appear in his commentary clearly attest to the polemical nature of Sforno's commentary to Psalms. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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