Abraham Ibn Ezra on Elections, Interrogations, and Medical Astrology
A Parallel Hebrew-English Critical Edition of the Book of Elections (3 Versions), the Book of Interrogations (3 Versions), and the Book of the Luminaries
This volume offers the first critical edition of the Hebrew text, with English translation and commentary, of seven astrological treatises by Abraham Ibn Ezra: the Book of Elections (3 versions); the Book of Interrogations (3 versions); and the Book of the Luminaries. This volume, then, covers the astrological doctrine of elections, which is concerned with finding the best time to begin a particular activity; the doctrine of interrogations, designed to allow astrologers to reply to questions related to daily life; and the astrological theory behind the doctrine of the critical days, when marked changes take place in the symptoms of a disease. These three systems of astrology were combined in a single volume because Ibn Ezra considers them to be closely interrelated.
"Despite these quibbles, Shlomo Sela is to be congratulated for making Ibn Ezra’s astrological treatises available in a modern edition of very high quality."
Bernard Goldstein, University of Pittsburgh
Shlomo Sela is a lecturer in the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University. His research focuses on Jewish attitudes toward the sciences, with special interest in the history of astrology in the Middle Ages. He has recently published: Abraham Ibn Ezra: The Book of Reasons, A Parallel Hebrew-English Critical Edition of the Two Versions of the Text (Brill, 2007), and Abraham Ibn Ezra: The Book of the World, A Parallel Hebrew-English Critical Edition of the Two Versions of the Text (Brill, 2010). With this volume he continues the publication of Ibn Ezra’s complete works on astrology.
"Shlomo Sela is to be congratulated for making Ibn Ezra’s astrological treatises available in a modern edition of very high quality."
Bernard Goldstein, University of Pittsburgh
"[W]hat Sela has done here and is doing in this series is simply invaluable. Not only does he open up the astrological thought of Ibn Ezra himself, but he provides a doorway to the Arabic astrological tradition. Explaining technical terms, giving their history and the context of their transmission, he is contributing greatly not only to scholars of medieval Hebrew thought but to anyone interested in making sense of the basic concepts and practices of medieval astrology."
Those interested in the history of science in general and medieval history of science in particular, history of astrology and astronomy among Jews in the medieval period, Jewish history, Jewish philosophy and biblical exegesis.