View Auction Listing - Me'ir Nativ

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Bidding Information
Lot #		19546
Auction End Date		1/8/2008 10:50:00 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)

Title Information

Title (English)

Me'ir Nativ

Title (Hebrew)

מאיר נתיב

Author

[First Ed.] Mordecai Nathan

City

Venice

Publisher

Daniel Bomberg

Publication Date

1523

Collection Information

Independent Item

This listing is an independent item not part of any collection

Description Information

Physical
Description

First edition. [406] ff., 345:245 mm., light age and damp staining, wide margins, some pinhole worming. A very good copy bound in modern full leather boards, non-matching case.

Detailed
Description

R. Mordecai Nathan (15th cent.), French physician of Avignon, the teacher of R. Joseph b. Solomon Colon. Nathan was mentioned among three "Jews and doctors of medicine" together with three "Christian doctors of medicine in Avignon" in a manuscript entitled "Thoroughly Tested Prescription for Pestilential Disease" (BibliothIque Nationale, Ms. FranLais 630, fol. 54). He is known by his work Me'ir Nativ, also called Ya'ir Nativ (Venice, 1523), the first Hebrew concordance of the Bible, compiled between 1437 and 1448. Nathan was familiar with Christian scholarly circles, and more than once engaged in theological polemics with them. He became convinced from these polemics of the need to prepare a Hebrew concordance of the Bible to make it easier for Hebrew-speaking Jews to reply to Christians. He arranged the books of the Bible in the order of the Vulgate (Latin translation). He explained the roots of the words in the most concise language. Verbs and nouns, however, appear in disorder, and he omitted prepositions and formative letters. He also omitted proper nouns and the Aramaic words in the Bible. Christian scholars engaged in the study of Hebrew attached great importance to the work. Mario de Calascio published the concordance a second time (Rome, 1621) together with a Latin translation, in which the defects of the Hebrew edition were remedied. Differences of opinion have arisen about the identity of the author of Me'ir Nativ. The inner title page gives Mordecai Nathan as the name of the author, whereas the introduction is signed by Isaac Nathan. Johannes Buxtorf concluded, therefore, that Mordecai Nathan was also known as Isaac Nathan. I. S. Reggio concluded that the author was Isaac Nathan and that the name Mordecai on the title page was an error. A. Tauber thought that the author was Mordecai Nathan, while the Isaac, who wrote the introduction, was apparently his relative.

Paragraph 2

הנקרא קונקורדאנשייש... לעמוד על מרוץ הלשון המקודש ושמושיו ושרשיו ולמצוא... הפסוק הנרצה ומוצאו (להחכם ... רבי יצחק נתן זצ"ל)...

בשער: שנת רפ"ד. קולופון: ותהי השלמתו בכ"ו לחדש תשרי שנת רפ"ד... פה ויניציאה. שער-נוסף חלקי: "ספר יאיר נתיב הנקרא בלעז קונקורדאנסייש שחיבר הפילוסוף... החכם ר' מרדכי נתן... שנת רפ"ג...". בספר נמצאת סתירה בשמו של המחבר: בראש ההקדמה ("פתיחה") נאמר: "פתיחת מאיר נתיב לחכם... ר' יצחק נתן", ואילו בשער הנוסף נזכר ר' מרדכי נתן כמחבר הספר. עיין סיכום דיעותיהם של החוקרים שעסקו בשאלה זו: ר' בן שלום, לשאלת מחברה של הקונקורדנציה 'מאיר נתיב', קרית ספר, סד, תשנ"ב-תשנ"ג, עמ' 760-754. מסקנתו של בן שלום היא שהמחבר הוא יצחק נתן; בין השאר משום שבכתב-יד של החיבור, שקדם לדפוס, נזכר רק יצחק נתן. ב"פתיחה" נזכרים תאריכי חיבור הספר: בין השנים קצ"ח-ר"ח, 1445-1437. קיימת אי-התאמה בין תאריך הסיום העברי והכללי. ראה בן שלום, שם, עמ' 759 הערה 42.

Reference
Description

EJ; CD-EPI 0152866

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