Ohr Amim [“Light of the Nations”: philosophy, opposing Aristotelianism]

SFORNO, OBADIAH

The Company of Silk Weavers

Bologna

1537

FIRST EDITION. Initial word within decorative frame. A wide-margined copy

Vinograd, Bologna 8; Mehlman 1219

Obadiah Sforno of Bologna (known in Latin as Salvadeus), (ca. 1470-ca. 1550), was a physician by profession. Primarily known for his commentaries on the Torah and other parts of the Bible, he wrote this volume to refute the views of Aristotle which he held to be in contradiction with many of the major principles of Judaism. Sforno employs some of Aristotle's own principles to refute his ideas. He also quotes abundantly from the the Arab philosophers Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and al-Ghazali. A Latin translation of the work appeared under the title Lumen Gentium (Bologna, 1548). See EJ, Vol. XIV, cols. 1209-1210. For an analysis of the book and its content, see R. Bonfil, Eshel, Beer Sheva, Vol. I, pp. 208-211 The first of only nine books printed by the Jewish Silk Weaver’s Guild of Bologna. See Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy, pp. 232-35