Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089/1090, Tudela – 1164?) – Jewish Bible commentator, poet, grammarian, and philosopher.

In 1140, he embarked on his journey, living a life of a wandering scholar. He first went to Italy and stayed in Rome, Lucca (1145), Mantua, and Verona; in 1147, he left for Provence and then for northern France. In 1158, he travelled to London and returned to Narbonne in 1161, he probably visited Palestine. Apart from Rashi, Ibn Ezra was the most influential Jewish biblical commentator. In order to establish the literal meaning of the text, he often used his knowledge of Hebrew grammar and etymology. He was the first person to suggest that Moses might not have been the author of the Pentateuch. In his commentary to the Book of Isaiah, he stated that the chapters from number 40 onwards were written by a different prophet than the previous ones, with the second author being active during the Babylonian captivity (after 587 BC). In his commentaries, Ibn Ezra argued with the Karaites, although he often drew inspiration from their writings. He translated D. Hajjuj’s Arabic works on Hebrew grammar. He was also the author of his own works in this field, e.g. Maznei loshon ha-kodesh (Hebrew: “Balance of the Holy Language [Hebrew language]”). He wrote liturgical poems, many of which found their way into Jewish prayer books, as well as secular poetry modelled on Arabic poetry. As a philosopher, he was not an original creator and was strongly influenced by the Neoplatonic views of Ibn Gabirol.

The entry was written on the basis of source materials of the PWN printing house.