The Abraham Ibn Ezra-Peter of Limoges Astrological-Exegetical Connection

The article enlarges the circle of the Latin admirers of Abraham Ibn Ezra (ca. 1089-ca. 1161) to include Peter of Limoges (second half of the thirteenth century), who spent most of his life in Paris. The first part shows that Peter of Limoges had a hand in the Latin translation of Ibn Ezra's Sefer ha-Me'orot (Book of the Luminaries), of a section of his Reshit Hokhmah (Beginning of Wisdom), and of selected chapters of Sefer ha-Moladot (Book of Nativities). The second part studies Peter's modus operandi in selecting texts for translation. In particular, it shows that the Latin translations associated with Peter of Limoges were based on Hebrew-into-French translations of Ibn Ezra's astrological works carried out by a certain Hagin le Juif; in addition the earliest available manuscript containing a collection of these French translations belonged to Peter of Limoges, who commissioned it for his own use. The third part shows that Peter of Limoges, unlike other Latin translators of his time, was acquainted not only with Ibn Ezra's astrological work but also with his biblical commentaries.