Samuel David Luzzatto
Encyclopedia
Samuel David Luzzatto was an Italian
Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums
movement. He is also known by his Hebrew acronym, Shadal (שד"ל).
Luzzatto was born at Trieste
on 22 August 1800 (Rosh Hodesh, 1 Elul, 5560); died at Padua
on 30 September 1865 (Yom Kippur
, 10 Tishrei 5626). While still a boy he entered the Talmud Torah
of his native city, where besides Talmud
, in which he was taught by Abraham Eliezer ha-Levi http://books.google.com/books?id=E0RU0gMX7WkC&pg=PA282&lpg=PA282&dq=%22abraham+eliezer%22+%22halevi%22+%22trieste%22&source=bl&ots=A7PtcbE5j8&sig=Fm2SYW32UMVGz851oDXV5EhrbSk&hl=en&ei=PCQ9S8KwIM_FlAezyZWzAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22abraham%20eliezer%22%20%22halevi%22%20%22trieste%22&f=false, chief rabbi of Trieste and a distinguished pilpul
ist, he studied ancient and modern languages and science under Mordechai de Cologna, Leon Vita Saraval, and Raphael Baruch Segré, whose son-in-law he later became. He studied the Hebrew language
also at home, with his father, who, though a turner
by trade, was an eminent Talmudist.
Luzzatto manifested extraordinary ability from his very childhood, so that while reading the Book of Job
at school he formed the intention to write a commentary thereon, considering the existing commentaries to be deficient. In 1811 he received as a prize Montesquieu's "Considérations sur les Causes de la Grandeur des Romains," etc., which contributed much to the development of his critical faculties. Indeed, his literary activity began in that very year, for it was then that he undertook to write a Hebrew grammar in Italian, translated into Hebrew the life of Aesop
, and wrote exegetical notes on the Pentateuch (comp. "Il Vessillo Israelitico," xxv. 374, xxvi. 16). The discovery of an unpublished commentary on the Targum
of Onkelos
induced him to study Aramaic (preface to his "Oheb Ger").
At the age of thirteen Luzzatto was withdrawn from school, attending only the lectures in Talmud of Abraham Eliezer ha-Levi. While he was reading the "'Ein Ya'aqob" by Jacob ibn Habib
, he came to the conclusion that the vowels and accents did not exist in the time of the Talmudists, and that the Zohar
, speaking as it does of vowels and accents, must necessarily be of later composition. He propounded this theory in a pamphlet which was the origin of his later work "Wikkuaḥ 'al ha-Ḳabbalah."
In 1814 there began a most trying time for Luzzatto. As his mother died in that year, he had to do the housework, including cooking, and to help his father in his work as a turner. Nevertheless, by the end of 1815 he had composed thirty-seven poems, which form a part of his "Kinnor Na'im," and in 1817 had finished his "Ma'amar ha-Niqqud," a treatise on the vowels. In 1818 he began to write his "Torah Nidreshet," a philosophico-theological work of which he composed only twenty-four chapters, the first twelve being published in the "Kokhebe Yiẓḥaḳ," vols. xvi.-xvii., xxi.-xxiv., xxvi., and the remainder translated into the Italian language by M. Coen-Porto and published in "Mosé," i-ii. In 1879 Coen-Porto published a translation of the whole work in book form. In spite of his father's desire that he should learn a trade, Luzzatto had no inclination for one, and in order to earn his livelihood he was obliged to give private lessons, finding pupils with great difficulty on account of his timidity. From 1824, in which year his father died, he had to depend entirely upon himself. Until 1829 he earned a livelihood by giving lessons and by writing for the "Bikkure ha-'Ittim"; in that year he was appointed professor at the rabbinical college
of Padua.
At Padua, Luzzatto had a much larger scope for his literary activity, as he was able to devote all his time to literary work. Besides, while explaining certain parts of the Bible to his pupils he wrote down all his observations. Luzzatto was the first Jewish scholar to turn his attention to Syriac http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20619&pgnum=106, considering a knowledge of this language of significant importance for the understanding of the Targum. His letter published in Kirchheim's Karme Shomeron shows his thorough acquaintance with Samaritan
.
He was also one of the first Jews who permitted themselves to emend the text of the Old Testament
(Others, though with a lesser degree of originality, include Samson Cohen Modon http://www.jstor.org/pss/1451090http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=36656&pgnum=71 and Manassa of Ilya http://www.jstor.org/pss/1454276); many of his emendations met with the approval of critical scholars
of the day. Through a careful examination of the Book of Ecclesiastes, Luzzatto came to the conclusion that its author was not Solomon
, but someone who lived several centuries later and whose name was "Kohelet". The author, Luzzatto thinks, ascribed his work to Solomon, but his contemporaries, having discovered the forgery, substituted the correct name "Qohelet" for "Solomon" wherever the latter occurred in the book. While the notion of the non-Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes is today accepted by secular scholars, most modern scholars do not ascribe the work to an actual individual named "Qohelet", but rather regard the term as a label or designation of some kind, akin to the Septuagint's translation of "Preacher."
As to the Book of Isaiah
, in spite of the prevalent opinion that chapters 40-66 were written after the Babylonian captivity
, Luzzatto maintained that the whole book was written by Isaiah
. He felt that one of the factors that pushed scholars to post-date the latter portion of the book stemmed from a denial of the possibility of prophetic prediction of distant-future events, and therefore was a heretical position. Difference of opinion on this point was one of the causes why Luzzatto, after having maintained a friendly correspondence with Rapoport
, turned against the latter. Another reason for the interruption of his relations with the chief rabbi
of Prague
was that Luzzatto, though otherwise on good terms with Jost
, could not endure the latter's extreme rationalism. He consequently requested Rapoport to cease his relations with Jost; but Rapoport, not knowing Luzzatto personally, ascribed the request to arrogance.
It is for this reason that while praising Maimonides
as the author of the "Yad," Luzzatto blames him severely for being a follower of the Aristotelian philosophy, which, he says, brought no good to himself while causing much evil to other Jews ("Penine Shadal," p. 417). Luzzatto attacked Abraham ibn Ezra
also, declaring that the latter's works were not the products of a scientific mind, and that as it was necessary for him in order to secure a livelihood to write a book in every town in which he sojourned, the number of his books corresponded with the number of towns he visited. Ibn Ezra's material, he declared, was always the same, the form being changed sometimes slightly, and at other times entirely ("Kerem Ḥemed," iv. 131 et seq.). Luzzatto's pessimistic opinion of philosophy made him naturally the adversary of Spinoza, whom he attacked on more than one occasion.
Isaiah Luzzatto published (Padua, 1881), under the respective Hebrew and Italian titles "Reshimat *Ma'amare SHeDaL" and "Catalogo Ragionato degli Scritti Sparsi di S. D. Luzzatto," an index of all the articles which Luzzatto had written in various periodicals.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums
Wissenschaft des Judentums
Wissenschaft des Judentums , refers to a nineteenth-century movement premised on the critical investigation of Jewish literature and culture, including rabbinic literature, using scientific methods to analyze the origins of Jewish traditions.-The Verein für Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden:The ...
movement. He is also known by his Hebrew acronym, Shadal (שד"ל).
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
on 22 August 1800 (Rosh Hodesh, 1 Elul, 5560); died at Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
on 30 September 1865 (Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
, 10 Tishrei 5626). While still a boy he entered the Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of public primary school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew, the Scriptures , and the Talmud...
of his native city, where besides Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, in which he was taught by Abraham Eliezer ha-Levi http://books.google.com/books?id=E0RU0gMX7WkC&pg=PA282&lpg=PA282&dq=%22abraham+eliezer%22+%22halevi%22+%22trieste%22&source=bl&ots=A7PtcbE5j8&sig=Fm2SYW32UMVGz851oDXV5EhrbSk&hl=en&ei=PCQ9S8KwIM_FlAezyZWzAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22abraham%20eliezer%22%20%22halevi%22%20%22trieste%22&f=false, chief rabbi of Trieste and a distinguished pilpul
Pilpul
Pilpul refers to a method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis in attempts to either explain conceptual differences between various halakhic rulings or to reconcile any apparent contradictions presented from various readings of different texts.Pilpul has entered English as a...
ist, he studied ancient and modern languages and science under Mordechai de Cologna, Leon Vita Saraval, and Raphael Baruch Segré, whose son-in-law he later became. He studied the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
also at home, with his father, who, though a turner
Turning
Turning is the process whereby a single point cutting tool is parallel to the surface. It can be done manually, in a traditional form of lathe, which frequently requires continuous supervision by the operator, or by using a computer controlled and automated lathe which does not. This type of...
by trade, was an eminent Talmudist.
Early ability
Book of Job
The Book of Job , commonly referred to simply as Job, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a...
at school he formed the intention to write a commentary thereon, considering the existing commentaries to be deficient. In 1811 he received as a prize Montesquieu's "Considérations sur les Causes de la Grandeur des Romains," etc., which contributed much to the development of his critical faculties. Indeed, his literary activity began in that very year, for it was then that he undertook to write a Hebrew grammar in Italian, translated into Hebrew the life of Aesop
Aesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
, and wrote exegetical notes on the Pentateuch (comp. "Il Vessillo Israelitico," xxv. 374, xxvi. 16). The discovery of an unpublished commentary on the Targum
Targum
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
of Onkelos
Onkelos
Onkelos is the name of a famous convert to Judaism in Tannaic times . He is considered to be the author of the famous Targum Onkelos .-Onkelos in the Talmud:...
induced him to study Aramaic (preface to his "Oheb Ger").
At the age of thirteen Luzzatto was withdrawn from school, attending only the lectures in Talmud of Abraham Eliezer ha-Levi. While he was reading the "'Ein Ya'aqob" by Jacob ibn Habib
Jacob ibn Habib
Jacob ben Solomon ibn Habib was a rabbi and talmudist born at Zamora, Spain. In his youth Ibn Ḥabib studied the Talmud under R...
, he came to the conclusion that the vowels and accents did not exist in the time of the Talmudists, and that the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
, speaking as it does of vowels and accents, must necessarily be of later composition. He propounded this theory in a pamphlet which was the origin of his later work "Wikkuaḥ 'al ha-Ḳabbalah."
In 1814 there began a most trying time for Luzzatto. As his mother died in that year, he had to do the housework, including cooking, and to help his father in his work as a turner. Nevertheless, by the end of 1815 he had composed thirty-seven poems, which form a part of his "Kinnor Na'im," and in 1817 had finished his "Ma'amar ha-Niqqud," a treatise on the vowels. In 1818 he began to write his "Torah Nidreshet," a philosophico-theological work of which he composed only twenty-four chapters, the first twelve being published in the "Kokhebe Yiẓḥaḳ," vols. xvi.-xvii., xxi.-xxiv., xxvi., and the remainder translated into the Italian language by M. Coen-Porto and published in "Mosé," i-ii. In 1879 Coen-Porto published a translation of the whole work in book form. In spite of his father's desire that he should learn a trade, Luzzatto had no inclination for one, and in order to earn his livelihood he was obliged to give private lessons, finding pupils with great difficulty on account of his timidity. From 1824, in which year his father died, he had to depend entirely upon himself. Until 1829 he earned a livelihood by giving lessons and by writing for the "Bikkure ha-'Ittim"; in that year he was appointed professor at the rabbinical college
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
of Padua.
Critical treatment of the Bible
Samaritan
The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism...
.
He was also one of the first Jews who permitted themselves to emend the text of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
(Others, though with a lesser degree of originality, include Samson Cohen Modon http://www.jstor.org/pss/1451090http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=36656&pgnum=71 and Manassa of Ilya http://www.jstor.org/pss/1454276); many of his emendations met with the approval of critical scholars
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
of the day. Through a careful examination of the Book of Ecclesiastes, Luzzatto came to the conclusion that its author was not Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, but someone who lived several centuries later and whose name was "Kohelet". The author, Luzzatto thinks, ascribed his work to Solomon, but his contemporaries, having discovered the forgery, substituted the correct name "Qohelet" for "Solomon" wherever the latter occurred in the book. While the notion of the non-Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes is today accepted by secular scholars, most modern scholars do not ascribe the work to an actual individual named "Qohelet", but rather regard the term as a label or designation of some kind, akin to the Septuagint's translation of "Preacher."
As to the Book of Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
, in spite of the prevalent opinion that chapters 40-66 were written after the Babylonian captivity
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
, Luzzatto maintained that the whole book was written by Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
. He felt that one of the factors that pushed scholars to post-date the latter portion of the book stemmed from a denial of the possibility of prophetic prediction of distant-future events, and therefore was a heretical position. Difference of opinion on this point was one of the causes why Luzzatto, after having maintained a friendly correspondence with Rapoport
Samuel Judah Löb Rapoport
Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport , was a Galician rabbi and Jewish scholar. He was born in Lemberg, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria. He married the daughter of the famed Ketoz hachosen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryeh_Leib_Heller, and was instrumental in publishing the work Avnie Miluim of...
, turned against the latter. Another reason for the interruption of his relations with the chief rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
was that Luzzatto, though otherwise on good terms with Jost
Isaak Markus Jost
Isaak Marcus Jost was a Jewish historical writer.He studied at the universities of Göttingen and Berlin. In Berlin he began to teach, and in 1835 received the appointment of upper master in the Jewish commercial school at Frankfort-on-the-Main...
, could not endure the latter's extreme rationalism. He consequently requested Rapoport to cease his relations with Jost; but Rapoport, not knowing Luzzatto personally, ascribed the request to arrogance.
Views on philosophy
Luzzatto was a warm defender of Biblical and Talmudical Judaism; and his strong opposition to philosophical Judaism (or "atticism" as he terms it) brought him many opponents among his contemporaries. However, his antagonism to philosophy was not the result of fanaticism nor of lack of understanding. He claimed to have read during twenty-four years all the ancient philosophers, and that the more he read them the more he found them deviating from the truth. What one approves the other disproves; and so the philosophers themselves go astray and mislead students. Another of Luzzatto's main criticisms of philosophy is its inability to engender compassion towards other humans, which is the focus of traditional Judaism (or, as Luzzatto terms it, "Abrahamism").It is for this reason that while praising Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
as the author of the "Yad," Luzzatto blames him severely for being a follower of the Aristotelian philosophy, which, he says, brought no good to himself while causing much evil to other Jews ("Penine Shadal," p. 417). Luzzatto attacked Abraham ibn Ezra
Abraham ibn Ezra
Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra....
also, declaring that the latter's works were not the products of a scientific mind, and that as it was necessary for him in order to secure a livelihood to write a book in every town in which he sojourned, the number of his books corresponded with the number of towns he visited. Ibn Ezra's material, he declared, was always the same, the form being changed sometimes slightly, and at other times entirely ("Kerem Ḥemed," iv. 131 et seq.). Luzzatto's pessimistic opinion of philosophy made him naturally the adversary of Spinoza, whom he attacked on more than one occasion.
Luzzatto's works
During his literary career of more than fifty years, Luzzatto wrote a great number of works and scholarly correspondences in Hebrew, Italian, German and French. Besides he contributed to most of the Hebrew and Jewish periodicals of his time. His correspondence with his contemporaries is both voluminous and instructive; there being hardly any subject in connection with Judaism on which he did not write.In Hebrew
- Kinnor Na'im, collection of poems. Vol. i., Vienna, 1825; vol. ii., Padua, 1879.
- Ḳinah, elegy on the death of Abraham Eliezer ha-Levi. Triest, 1826.
- Oheb Ger, guide to the understanding of the Targum of Onḳelos, with notes and variants; accompanied by a short Syriac grammar and notes on and variants in the Targum of Psalms. Vienna, 1830.
- Hafla'ah sheba-'Arakin of Isaiah Berlin, edited by Luzzatto, with notes of his own. Part i., Breslau, 1830; part ii., Vienna, 1859.
- Seder Tannaïm wa-Amoraïm, revised and edited with variants. Prague, 1839.
- Betulat Bat Yehudah, extracts from the diwan of Judah ha-Levi, edited with notes and an introduction. Prague, 1840.
- Abne Zikkaron, seventy-six epitaphs from the cemetery of Toledo, followed by a commentary on Micah by Jacob Pardo, edited with notes. Prague, 1841.
- Bet ha-Oẓar, collection of essays on the Hebrew language, exegetical and archeological notes, collectanea, and ancient poetry. Vol. i., Lemberg, 1847; vol. ii., Przemysl, 1888; vol. iii., Cracow, 1889.
- Ha-Mishtaddel, scholia to the Pentateuch. Vienna, 1849.
- Wikkuaḥ 'al ha-Ḳabbalah, dialogues on Cabala and on the antiquity of punctuation. Göritz, 1852.
- Sefer Yesha'yah, the Book of Isaiah edited with an Italian translation and a Hebrew commentary. Padua, 1855-67.
- Mebo, a historical and critical introduction to the Maḥzor. Leghorn, 1856.
- Diwan, eighty-six religious poems of Judah ha-Levi corrected, vocalized, and edited, with a commentary and introduction. Lyck, 1864.
- Yad Yosef, a catalogue of the Library of Joseph Almanzi. Padua, 1864.
- Ma'amar bi-Yesode ha-Diḳduḳ, a treatise on Hebrew grammar. Vienna, 1865.
- Ḥereb ha-Mithappeket, a poem of Abraham BedersiAbraham BedersiAbraham Bedersi was a Provençal Jewish poet; he was born at Béziers . The dates of his birth and death have not been ascertained....
, published for the first time with a preface and a commentary at the beginning of Bedersi's "Ḥotam Toknit." Amsterdam, 1865. - Commentary on the Pentateuch. Padua, 1871.
- Perushe Shedal, commentary on Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Proverbs, and Job. Lemberg, 1876.
- Naḥalat Shedal, in two parts; the first containing a list of the Geonim and Rabbis, and the second one of the payyeṭanim and their piyyuṭim. Berlin, 1878-79.
- Yesode ha-Torah, a treatise on Jewish dogma. Przemysl, 1880.
- Ṭal Orot, a collection of eighty-one unpublished piyyuṭim, amended. Przemysl, 1881.
- Iggerot Shedal, 301 letters, published by Isaiah Luzzatto and prefaced by David Kaufmann. Przemysl, 1882.
- Penine Shedal (see below). Przemysl, 1883
In Italian
- Prolegomeni ad una Grammatica Ragionata della Lingua Ebraica. Padua, 1836. (Annotated English edition by A.D. Rubin, 2005, Gorgias Press.)
- Il Giudaismo Illustrato. Padua, 1848.
- Calendario Ebraico. Padua, 1849.
- Lezioni di Storia Giudaica. Padua, 1852.
- Grammatica della Lingua Ebraica. Padua, 1853.
- Italian translation of Job. Padua, 1853.
- Discorsi Morali agli Studenti Israeliti. Padua, 1857.
- Opere del De Rossi. Milan, 1857.
- Italian translation of the Pentateuch and Hafṭarot. Triest, 1858-60.
- Lezioni di Teologia Morale Israelitica. Padua, 1862.
- Lezioni di Teologia Dogmatica Israelitica. Triest, 1864.
- Elementi Grammaticali del Caldeo Biblico e del Dialetto Talmudico. Padua, 1865. Translated into German by Krüger, Breslau, 1873; into English by Goldammer, New York, 1876; and the part on the Talmudic dialect, into Hebrew by Ḥayyim Ẓebi Lerner, St. Petersburg, 1880.
- Discorsi Storico-Religiosi agli Studenti Israeliti. Padua, 1870.
- Introduzione Critica ed Ermenutica al Pentateuco. Padua, 1870.
- Autobiografia (first published by Luzzatto himself in "Mosé," i-vi.). Padua, 1882.
Isaiah Luzzatto published (Padua, 1881), under the respective Hebrew and Italian titles "Reshimat *Ma'amare SHeDaL" and "Catalogo Ragionato degli Scritti Sparsi di S. D. Luzzatto," an index of all the articles which Luzzatto had written in various periodicals.
- The "Penine Shedal" (= "The Pearls of Samuel David Luzzatto"), published by Luzzatto's sons, is a collection of eighty-nine of the more interesting of Luzzatto's letters. These letters are really scientific treatises, which are divided in this book into different categories as follows: bibliographical (Nos. i.-xxii.), containing letters on Ibn Ezra's "Yesod Mora" and "Yesod Mispar"; liturgical-bibliographical and various other subjects (Nos. xxiii.-xxxi.); Biblical-exegetical (Nos. xxxii.-lii.), containing among others a commentary on Ecclesiastes and a letter on Samaritan writing; other exegetical letters (Nos. liii.-lxii.); grammatical (Nos. lxiii.-lxx.); historical (Nos. lxxi.-lxxvii.), in which the antiquity of the Book of Job is discussed; philosophical (Nos. lxxviii.-lxxxii.), including letters on dreams and on the Aristotelian philosophy; theological (Nos. lxxxiii.-lxxxix.), in the last letter of which Luzzatto proves that Ibn Gabirol's ideas were very different from those of Spinoza, and declares that every honest man should rise against the Spinozists.