COMMENTARIES



Commentaries

Don Isaac Abarbanel’s Commentaries

Don Isaac Abarbanel was one of the most prolific commentators on the Bible (Tanach). He expounded on the Chumash (Five Books of Moses), the Prophets (Nevi’im) and other works. Until recently much of his writings were out-of-print or only available in Hebrew. We’re happy to report that his works and wisdom are becoming increasingly accessible to all thanks to a new boom in English translations and abridged compilations.

The best place to search for and obtain Don Isaac’s work is on Amazon.com. In the “Books” category just type in “Abarbanel” and a whole treasure trove of his writings will be just a click away. Among the most compelling of the translations are Rabbi Israel Lazar’s series of abridged commentaries in English, Hal Miller’s translations of Don Isaac’s commentaries of the Books of Judges and Joshua along with Rabbi Pinchas Kasnett’s encapsulated commentaries in “Abarbanel on the Torah,” which is organized in a parsha-by-parsha (weekly Torah portion) format with Abarbanel’s questions and answers in a quick easy-to-read and understand format accessible for everybody. . Rabbi Kasnett recently released a new book called “The Essential Abarbanel” which takes a look at Abarbanel’s philosophies across multiple platforms also in an easily accessible English format.

TorahFor those more proficient in Hebrew quite a few Judaica shops and Jewish book merchants both in the US and Israel have many of his works back in print. Israel’s Feldheim Publishers has a five volume hardcover set of Don Isaac’s complete commentaries in Hebrew of the Five Books of Moses (Chumash) called “Abarbanel Al HaTorah” which is available online as well.

Amazon also has editions of Don Isaac’s works in Hebrew, French and Spanish as well as English. Thanks to the internet and the prodigious efforts of many dedicated scholars, Abarbanel’s works are now reaching a wide audience. Enrich yourself with his words.