David ben Merwan al-Mukkamas
Encyclopedia
David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas al-Rakki (died c. 937) was a philosopher and controversialist, the author of the earliest known Jewish philosophical
work of the Middle Ages
. He was a native of Rakka, Mesopotamia
, whence his surname. Harkavy
derives his byname from the Arabic "ḳammaṣ" (to leap), interpreting it as referring to his asserted change of faith (Grätz
, Gesch. Hebr. transl., iii.498). This is uncertain. The name is written "אלקומסי" in Masudi's Al-Tanbih (ed. De Goeje, p. 113), in a Karaitic commentary to Leviticus
, and in a manuscript copy of Jefeth's commentary to the same book (Jew. Quart. Rev. viii.681), and is perhaps a derivative from the city of Ḳumis
in Taberistan (Yaḳut, iv.203). Another Karaite bears the name "Daniel al-Ḳumisi
," and in Al-Hiti
's chronicle this name is also spelled with a ẓade (Jew. Quart. Rev. ix.432).
, but claims to have heard that Saadia
had known him and had profited by his lessons. Pinsker
and Grätz
, confounding him with Daniel ha-Babli of Cairo, make him a Mohammedan
convert to Karaism, on the ground that he is quoted by Karaite scholars, and is called by Hadasi "ger ẓedeḳ" (pious proselyte).
The discovery by Harkavy
of the Kitab al-Riyaḍ wal-Ḥada'iḳ, by the Karaite Al-Ḳirḳisani, threw further light on David. Al-Ḳirḳisani cites a work by him on the various Jewish sects, and says that David had "embraced Christianity
" (tanaṣṣar), that he was for many years the pupil of a renowned Christian physician and philosopher named Hana, and that, after acquiring considerable knowledge of philosophy, he wrote two works against Christianity which became famous. But it seems more probable that the word "tanaṣṣar" means simply that David had intercourse with Christians. Ḳirḳisani, indeed, does not mention his return to Judaism
, and no Rabbinite mentions his conversion to Christianity. His conversion to Christianity can hardly be reconciled with the fact that he is cited by Baḥya, by Jedaiah Bedersi (in Iggeret Hitnaẓẓelut), and by Moses ibn Ezra
. Ḳirḳisani mentions two other books by David: Kitab al-Khaliḳah, a commentary on Genesis extracted from Christian exegetical works; and a commentary on Ecclesiastes
. He is incorrectly mentioned as a learned Karaite by David al-Hiti in his chronicle of Karaite doctors, published by Margoliouth (Jew. Quart. Rev. ix.432).
In 1898 Harkavy discovered in the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg fifteen of the twenty chapters of David's philosophical work entitled Ishrun Maḳalat (Twenty Chapters). The subject-matter of these fifteen chapters is as follows:
David as well as other Karaites—for instance, Joseph al-Basir and Al-Ḳirḳisani—was a follower of the Motazilite kalam, especially in his chapter on the attributes of God, wherein he holds that, though we speak of these attributes as we speak of human attributes, the two can not be compared, since nothing comes to Him through the senses as is the case with man. God's "life" is a part of His "being", and the assumption of attributes in the Deity can in no way affect His unity. "Quality" can not be posited of the Deity. In his tenth chapter, on "Rewards and Punishments," David holds that these are eternal in the future world. This chapter has many points in common with Saadia
, both drawing from the same source (Schreiner, Der Kalam, p. 25).
with a Muslim scholar, Shabib al-Baṣri. A fragment of another work, Kitab al-Tauḥid, on the unity of God, has been discovered among genizah
fragments, and has been published by E. N. Adler and I. Broydé in Jew. Quart Rev. (xiii.52 et seq.). David does not betray his Jewish origin in his philosophical work. Contrary to the practice of Saadia
, Bahya, and other Jewish philosophers, he never quotes the Bible, but cites Greek
and Arabic authorities. It is possible that this accounts for the neglect of his work by the Jews.
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
work of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. He was a native of Rakka, Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, whence his surname. Harkavy
Abraham Harkavy
Avraam/Albert Yakovlevich Harkavy , or Avraham Eliyahu ben Yaakov Harkavy was a Russian-Jewish historian and orientalist.-Biography:...
derives his byname from the Arabic "ḳammaṣ" (to leap), interpreting it as referring to his asserted change of faith (Grätz
Heinrich Graetz
Heinrich Graetz was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective....
, Gesch. Hebr. transl., iii.498). This is uncertain. The name is written "אלקומסי" in Masudi's Al-Tanbih (ed. De Goeje, p. 113), in a Karaitic commentary to Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
, and in a manuscript copy of Jefeth's commentary to the same book (Jew. Quart. Rev. viii.681), and is perhaps a derivative from the city of Ḳumis
Kumis
Kumis, also spelled kumiss or koumiss in English is a fermented dairy product traditionally made from mare's milk. The drink remains important to the peoples of the Central Asian steppes, of Turkic and Mongol origin: Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Yakuts, Mongols and Kalmyks...
in Taberistan (Yaḳut, iv.203). Another Karaite bears the name "Daniel al-Ḳumisi
Daniel al-Kumisi
Daniel al-Kumisi was one of the most prominent early scholars of Karaite Judaism. He flourished at the end of the ninth or at the beginning of the tenth century...
," and in Al-Hiti
Al-Hiti
David al-Hiti is the nickname of a Karaite Jewish chronicler who flourished in the first half of the fifteenth century CE. He was a native of Hīt, Iraq , on the Euphrates River about thirty leagues to the west of Baghdad. He is supposed by Margoliouth to be identical with David ben Sa'adel ben...
's chronicle this name is also spelled with a ẓade (Jew. Quart. Rev. ix.432).
Polemical works
David, the father of Jewish philosophy, was almost unknown until the latter part of the 19th century. The publication of Judah Barzilai's commentary to the Sefer Yezirah (Meḳiẓe Nirdamim, 1885), in which is found a poor Hebrew translation of the ninth and tenth chapters of David's philosophical work, first brought the latter into notice. Barzilai says that he does not know whether David was one of the GeonimGeonim
Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...
, but claims to have heard that Saadia
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
had known him and had profited by his lessons. Pinsker
Pinsker
Pinsker is a surname and may refer to:* Leon Pinsker* Simchah Pinsker, Polish Hebrew scholar and archeologist...
and Grätz
Grätz
Graetz or Grätz is a German surname and place name and can refer to:People:* Heinrich Graetz , Jewish historian* Leo Graetz , German physicist and son of Heinrich Graetz* Gidon Graetz, Swiss-Israeli sculptor...
, confounding him with Daniel ha-Babli of Cairo, make him a Mohammedan
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
convert to Karaism, on the ground that he is quoted by Karaite scholars, and is called by Hadasi "ger ẓedeḳ" (pious proselyte).
The discovery by Harkavy
Abraham Harkavy
Avraam/Albert Yakovlevich Harkavy , or Avraham Eliyahu ben Yaakov Harkavy was a Russian-Jewish historian and orientalist.-Biography:...
of the Kitab al-Riyaḍ wal-Ḥada'iḳ, by the Karaite Al-Ḳirḳisani, threw further light on David. Al-Ḳirḳisani cites a work by him on the various Jewish sects, and says that David had "embraced Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
" (tanaṣṣar), that he was for many years the pupil of a renowned Christian physician and philosopher named Hana, and that, after acquiring considerable knowledge of philosophy, he wrote two works against Christianity which became famous. But it seems more probable that the word "tanaṣṣar" means simply that David had intercourse with Christians. Ḳirḳisani, indeed, does not mention his return to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and no Rabbinite mentions his conversion to Christianity. His conversion to Christianity can hardly be reconciled with the fact that he is cited by Baḥya, by Jedaiah Bedersi (in Iggeret Hitnaẓẓelut), and by Moses ibn Ezra
Moses ibn Ezra
Rabbi Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as ha-Sallah was a Jewish, Spanish philosopher, linguist, and poet. He was born at Granada about 1055 – 1060, and died after 1138. Ezra is Jewish by religion but is also considered a great influence in the Arabic world in regards to his works...
. Ḳirḳisani mentions two other books by David: Kitab al-Khaliḳah, a commentary on Genesis extracted from Christian exegetical works; and a commentary on Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
. He is incorrectly mentioned as a learned Karaite by David al-Hiti in his chronicle of Karaite doctors, published by Margoliouth (Jew. Quart. Rev. ix.432).
In 1898 Harkavy discovered in the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg fifteen of the twenty chapters of David's philosophical work entitled Ishrun Maḳalat (Twenty Chapters). The subject-matter of these fifteen chapters is as follows:
- The AristotelianAristotelianismAristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic school, and, later on, by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings...
categories - Science and the reality of its existence
- The creation of the world
- The evidence that it is composed of substance and accidents
- The properties of substance and accident
- A criticism of those who maintain the eternity of matter
- Arguments in favor of the existence of God and His creation of the world
- The unity of God, refuting the SabiansSabiansThe Sabians of Middle Eastern tradition were a monotheistic Abrahamic religious group mentioned three times in the Quran: "the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians." In the Hadith they are nothing but converts to Islam, while their identity in later Islamic literature became a matter of...
, the Dualists, and the Christians - The divine attributes
- Refutation of anthropomorphismAnthropomorphismAnthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
and Christian ideas - Why God became our Lord
- Showing that God created us for good and not for evil, and combating absolute pessimism as well as absolute optimism
- The utility of prophecyProphecyProphecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
and prophets - Signs of true prophecy and true prophets
- Mandatory and prohibitive commandments.
David as well as other Karaites—for instance, Joseph al-Basir and Al-Ḳirḳisani—was a follower of the Motazilite kalam, especially in his chapter on the attributes of God, wherein he holds that, though we speak of these attributes as we speak of human attributes, the two can not be compared, since nothing comes to Him through the senses as is the case with man. God's "life" is a part of His "being", and the assumption of attributes in the Deity can in no way affect His unity. "Quality" can not be posited of the Deity. In his tenth chapter, on "Rewards and Punishments," David holds that these are eternal in the future world. This chapter has many points in common with Saadia
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
, both drawing from the same source (Schreiner, Der Kalam, p. 25).
Other works
David quotes two others of his own works which are no longer in existence: Kitab fi al-Budud and Kitab fi 'Arḍ al-Maḳalat 'ala al-Manṭiḳ, on the categories. In one passage David relates that he had a philosophical disputation in DamascusDamascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
with a Muslim scholar, Shabib al-Baṣri. A fragment of another work, Kitab al-Tauḥid, on the unity of God, has been discovered among genizah
Genizah
A genizah is the store-room or depository in a Jewish synagogue , usually specifically for worn-out Hebrew-language books and papers on religious topics that were stored there before they could receive a proper cemetery burial, it being forbidden to throw away writings...
fragments, and has been published by E. N. Adler and I. Broydé in Jew. Quart Rev. (xiii.52 et seq.). David does not betray his Jewish origin in his philosophical work. Contrary to the practice of Saadia
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
, Bahya, and other Jewish philosophers, he never quotes the Bible, but cites Greek
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
and Arabic authorities. It is possible that this accounts for the neglect of his work by the Jews.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- FürstJulius FürstJulius Fürst , was a Jewish German orientalist.Fürst was a distinguished scholar of Semitic languages and literature...
, in Literaturblatt des Orients, viii.617, 642; - Gabriel Polak, Halikot Ḳedem, pp. 69 et seq.;
- Pinsker, Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot, ii.17 et seq.;
- GrätzHeinrich GraetzHeinrich Graetz was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective....
, Gesch. v.285; - A. HarkavyAbraham HarkavyAvraam/Albert Yakovlevich Harkavy , or Avraham Eliyahu ben Yaakov Harkavy was a Russian-Jewish historian and orientalist.-Biography:...
, Le-Ḳorot ha-Kittot be-Yisrael', in Grätz, Gesch. iii.498 et seq. (Hebr. transl.); - idem, in Voskhod, Sept., 1898;
- Samuel Poznanski, in Jew. Quart. Rev. xiii.328;
- SteinschneiderMoritz SteinschneiderMoritz Steinschneider was a Bohemian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider , who was not only an expert Talmudist, but was also well versed in secular science...
, in Jew. Quart. Rev. xi.606, xiii.450; - idem, Hebr. Uebers. p. 378;
- KaufmannKaufmannKaufmann is a surname with many variants such as Kauffmann, Kaufman, and Kauffman. In German, the name means merchant. It is the cognate of the English Chapman . "Kaufmann" may refer to:- Kaufmann :* Aloys P. Kaufmann , Mayor of St...
, Attributenlehre, Index, passim.
Recent Bibiliography
- Sarah Stroumsa, Dawud ibn Marwan al-Muqammis's 'Ishrun Maqala (Etudes sur le judaisme medieval XIII, Leiden: Brill, 1989)