Abstract

Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed begins with the lexicographical analysis of selected biblical terms that are applied anthropomorphically to God. Proceeding on the assumption that God is incorporeal, Maimonides seeks to explain in detail the various terms applied to God that seem to denote human accidents. He maintains that when the Bible ascribes to God actions that are described in terms usually appropriate to human actions, these terms must be understood as having an allegorical sense. To interpret a biblical account as an allegory, however, the metaphorical or figurative meaning of the terms employed—which is derived from its basic sense—must be determined. The first part of the Guide can therefore be construed as a work dealing with the meanings of words, i.e., a work of lexicography. The Guide is examined from the perspective of the Andalusian lexicographical tradition. Following a brief survey of Hebrew lexicography as it developed in the Iberian Peninsula, Maimonides’ comments on Hebrew verbs applied to God and the treatment of their meanings in the Guide are set in the context of this tradition.

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