MOSES CHOREXEXSIS
6S8
MOSES DE COUCY
sckickte d. Israelilen, p. 281 sq. ; Braunschweiger, Ge- schickte d. Juden in den romanischen Stuuten, p. '22 sq. ; Basiiaffe, Hist, of the Jews, p. GOG (Engl, transl. by Tay- lor); Miimaii, UUt. of the Jews, iii, 15G sq. ; Da Costa, Israel and the Gentiles, p. 250 sq. ; id. Hist, of the Jews in Spdiit, p. 55 (Engl, transl. by E. D. G. M. Kirwan, Canibritlge, 1S51) ; Lindo, I list, of the Jews in Spain and l'oitu(/ul, p. 45 sq. ; Smucker, Jlist. of the Modern Jews, p. 112; Etheridgo, Introduction to Hebrew Litera- ture, p. 211 sq. ; i'inn, iSephardim, p. 150 sq, ; S. Seck- ler, in Jewish Messenger, 1874 ("'Some Jewish Rabbis"), art. XV. (15. P.)
Moses Choreuensis, surnamed "the father of poets and savans," an Armenian theologian, flourished in the 5th century. He was a nephew of Mesrop (q. v.), and besides being trained by that learned man, enjoyed all the educational advantages which he could secure at Alexandria, where he spent seven years in study under Cyril ^Vlexandrinus, and others etjually renowned. He next visited Rome, Athens, and Constantinople, and re- turned home after years of closest application in those great centres of learning. He entered the service of the Church, and was shortly promoted to the bishopric of Bagrevand, During the rule of the I'ersians over his native country he refused to occupy any ecclesiasti- cal i)ositions, and retired to the wilderness. He died at the advanced age of 120. His works are numerous. Among his ablest are the History of Armenia, written in 481 by request of prince Sabak, which covers the his- tory of that country down to A.D. 441, and a Manual of Rhetoric. He also devoted much time to the writing of hymns, and many of these are- still retained in the di- vine service of the Armenian Church. An edition of his works, excepting only fragments and hymns, was pub- lished at Venice in 1813, See Neale, Hist, of the East- ern Church (Armenia); Aschhuch, Kirchen-Lexikon.'w. 27« ; JuhrlMch deulsch. Theol. 1868, vol, iv, (J. H, W,)
Moses ha-Cohen ricn-Samuel Gikatii.la (also called Ilm-GikatiUu), a noted Jewish writer, flourish- ed at Cordova near the opening of the 12th century. He was a pupil of the celebrated Ibn-Ganacli, and is known to have been one of the most extensive commen- tators and grammarians, though, unfortunately for Bib- lical learning, none of his works seem to be extant. Only fragments of his arc preserved in the writings of other commentators, which reveal him to have been a superior scholar and master of Biblical lore. Unlike most of the interpreters of his time, he endeavored to explain away all the Messianic prophecies of the O. T. (comj). Aben-Ezra on Isa. xi), and assigned the author- ship of some psalms to the Babylonian captivity (comp. Aben-Ezra on /'*■«. xlii), at the time when both the Synagogue and the Church believed that the whole Psalter proceeded from David. Like Ibn-Saadia, he frequently departed from the Masoretic division of the text. Thus -|i3=-C>, at the end of ver. ol, in Job xxxvi, he took over to CSS hv, in the following verse ; i.e." He giveth meat in abundance, covering the hands with light" (comp. also Ilabak. iii). The influence v.-hich this critic must have exercised u])on contem- porary and subseipient expositors of the Bible may be judged of from the fact that the eminent Aben-Ezra quotes his work so largely. He is generally quoted by Aben-Ezra as iTiSDH •{nzT\ nr'S \ \l. :Moses ha- Cohen ha-Sephardi, i.e. the Spaniard; (>r"|n=n nr- i. K. Moses ha-C«dien; or iTSCn .TwB S, R. IVIose ha- Sei)hardi ; or simiily n"r"3 'l, R. :\Iose. These ditTerent ai)pellations must be borne in mind by the student of Hebrew exegesis to identify this celebrated commenta- tor. Dr. (iinsburg, in his article on (iikatilla in Kitto, ii, 120, gives a list of the places where his writings are quoted by commentators. It is more comjilete than the list furnished by Dukes, lieitrmje zur dltesten Ausle(/un(j (Stattg. 1844), "ii, 180 sq.
Moses Cordovero bex-Jacob (also called Re- mak = ^ -1, from the acrostic of his name,1~'iX"n~ip, Ii. Moses Cordovero), a Jewish savant, was born at Cor- dova in 1522, studied the Cabala under his brother-in- law, Solomon Alkabaz, anil \-ery soon became so distin- guished as a Cabalist and author that his fame travelled to Italy, where his books were greedily bought, Cor- dovero represents the Cabala in its primitive state, since he is chiefly occupied with its scientific speculations, or the sjieculatice Cabala (r'^IT'" n?2p), as can be seen from the following specimen of his lucubrations on the nature of the Deity, " The knowledge of the Creator is different from that of the creature, since in the case of the latter knowledge and the thing known are dis- tinct, thus leading to subjects which are again separate from him. This is described by the three expressions — cogitation, the cogitator, and the cogitated object. Now the Creator is himself knowledge, knowing, and the known object. His knowledge does not consist in the fact that he directs his thoughts to things without him, since in comprehending and knowing himself he com- prehends and knows everything which exists. There is nothing which is not united with him, and which he does not find in his own substance. He is the arche- type of all things existing, and all things are in him in their purest and most perfect form ; so that the perfec- tion of the creatures consists in the support wliereby they are united to the primary source of his existence, and they sink down and fall from that perfect and lofty position in proportion to their separation from him" (^Pardes Rimmonim, 55 a). He died in 1570, Moses wrote an introduction to the Cabala, entitled .1 Sombre or Sweet Light, or -^"_3 "IIX (lirst published in Venice, 1587, then in Cracow, iG47, and in Furth, 1701) -.—The Book of Retirement, or ")"' w1~_5 "lED, Cabalistic reflec- tions and comments on ninety-nine passages of the Bi- ble (Venice, 1543): — The Sacrifices of Peace, or "^HST C^";5'j, a Cabalistic exposition of the Prayer-book j (\.\xhYm,\G\Z):— The Plant of Deborah, OT n'^iZ-I irh, j ten chapters on ethics in the Cabalistic style (Venice, 1589; Livorno, 1794); but his (irincipal work is the Garden of Pomegranates, or CJiST 0^12, which con- sists of thirteen sections or gates (CI"!!*), subdivided into chai)ters, and discusses the SepMroth, the divine names, the import and signification of the letters, etc. (Cracow, 1591). Excerpts of it have been translated into Latin by Bartolocci, liihl. Magna Rabbin, iv, 231 sq. ; and Knorr von Rosenroth, Tractatus de A ninia ex libra Pardes Rimmonim, in his Cabala Denudata (Sulz- bach, 1677). For the other works of Cordovero, see Filrst, Bibl. Jud. i, 187 sq. See also Steinschneider, Catal. Libr. Hebr. in liibl. Bodleiana, col. 1793, etc. ; De Rossi, Dizionario (Cierm. transl.), p. 87 sij. ; Ethcridge, Introd. to Hebr. Liternt. p. 359; (iinsburg, The Kabbalah, p. 132 sq. (Lond. 1865) : Finn, Sephardim, p. 307 sq. ; Lindo, The Jews in Spaiti, p. 359; Basnage, Hist, oj' the Jews (Taylor's transl.), p. 703 ; Jost, Gesch. d. Juden u. s. Sek- ien, iii, 137 sq. ; (Jriitz, Gesch. d. Juden, ix, 444; Zunz, Zur Gesch. v. Lileratur, p. 294; Die Monatstage, p. 35 (Berlin, 1«72), (IJ. P.)