RALE
890
RALEIGH
Remus, took much trouble to get the book of rabbi Levi, ;i> he calls him (utinam <ij»«l Rabbinos inveniri posses tractatum /.'. Levi qumtum defensionum Dei). The same was done bj Pico de Mirandola and the great Reucblin, who quotes largely from Gersonides. Though
bis authorship with philosophical and scientific productions h hen about thirty | L318), yel he published
Leal work till he was thirty-seven years of age, from which time he unremittingly devoted himself to the exposition of the Bible. His first, commentary is mi the book of Job, and was finished in 1325. Twelve months later I 1326 i he published a commentary en the Song of Songs, and in L328 a commentary en Coheleth, or Ecclesiastes. About the same time Kalbag finished his -commentary on the first chapters of Genesis, treat- ing on the bexahemeron, and shortly after issued an exposition of Esther i L329). The Pentateuch now en- gaged his attention, and after laboring on it eight years (1329 1337), be completed the interpretation of this difficult part of the < Md Test. In 1338 he finished a commentary on the earlier prophets — i. e. Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings together with his com- ments 'in Proverbs, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chron- icles. The following are the editions of his exegetical works: i"!~T~ ~V U." — B, Commentary on th Penta- feucA (first printed at Mantua before 1480, then by Corn. Adelkind, Venice, 1547, and then again in Frankfurter's Rabbinic Bible, Amst. 1724-1727) :— DiS-MS h" ttJl1"»6 ~":""1'N~. Commentary on th Earlier Prophets (Leira, and in all the Rabbinic Bibles; latest edition, Konigs- berg, I860: -excerpts of the commentaries on the Penta- teuch and the earlier prophets, entitled rTPWlP,, Util- ity, were published in 1550, and a Jewish-German ver- sion of them is given in Jekutiel's German translation of the Bible [Amst. 1676-78]) :— ^CJB 5" --"Z. Commentary on Proverbs (Leira, 1492, and in all the Rabbinic Bibles); a Latin translation was published by (Milan, 1620) :_ 2TX bv Bl-Pfi, Commen- tary on Job (Ferrara, 1177. and in all the Rabbinic Bibles); a Latin translation of eh. i v was published by L. II. d'Aquine (Paris, 1623), and of eh. iv-viii by Chr. Ludovicus (Leipsic, 1700): "- ''" -'-" r— ■ r'-rrp -~rx BiTUSH, Commentary on Sony of Songs, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Hath, with an introduc- tion by Jacob Morkaria (Riva, 1560): ~'J - — •: "Hm:~. Commentary on Daniel, published in Italy before 1480, in Pratensis's Rabbinic Bible, and in Frankfurter's. The commentaries on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles, which he finished in 1338, are still in MS., Cod. MSS. Opp. 288 Q. and Mich. 623. -As to his mode of inter- pretation, Ralbag first gives an explanation of the words (m?Bin ~"N") in each section, then propounds the meaning according to the context (UJT'PBin TW^S), and finally gives the utility or application of the passage i:-::t.; See Flirst, Biblioiheca Judaica, i, 82 84; Steinschneider, Catalogus Libr. Jlebr. in Bibl Bodl. col. 1607 L615; Wolf, Biblioiheca Hebr. i, 726, etc. ; iv,892; Ginsburg. in Kit to. b. v.; Joel, in Frankel's Monatsp schrifl, ix, 223, etc. I Leips. I860), x, 11 60, 93 111. 137 145, i".'7 312, 333 344, xi, 20 31, 65 7.".. 101 114; Or.it/. Geschichte d. Juden, vii, 345 352 I Leips. 1873) ; -1 '. d. Judenth ". .■••. Seeten, iii. 83; Etheridge,
I Hebrew Literature, p. 201 sq. ; De Rossi.
Stoi ico degli .1 utori Ebn i, p. 114 sq. (Germ, transl.); Basnage, Histoin des Juifs (Taylor's transit. p. 673: Ueberweg, History of ' Philosophy,!, 121; Prantl, Gesch. d. Logik, ii. 394 396; Margoliouth, Modern Ju- daism Investigated, p. 253 | London, 1843); Levy, Du Exegesi beiden fra >. Israelilen, etc, p. 34 sq. (Leips, 1873). (B. P. Rale (Rasle, or Rasles*. Sebastian, a French
Roman Catholic missionary, was Lorn in 1657 or 1658,
in the province of Franche-Comte. Having entered
the Order of the Jesuits, he was despatched to the for- eign work in 1689. He arrived at Quebec in the fall of that year, and labored faithfully anion- the Indians for their conversion, and for a time with much Bhow of suc- cess. But his venturesome spirit led him into dangerous paths: he frequently went far beyond the territory of
■ those savages friendly u> him, and he finally paid for his daring with his life. He was killed in 1724, while out on an expedition with Indian- : but not by the sav-
j ages — he fell pierced with English bullets. He had been guilty of great cruelty to Englishmen who had fallen into the hands of Indians, and this was only a re- venge for his treachery to the whites. His death was a loss not only to Roman Catholics, but to the world of learning. Rale was a superior linguist, and had made himself master of the aboriginal languages and compiled a dictionary of the Abnaki language- of which the MS. is in the Harvard Library — which was published at the express h ish of great savants. A monument was erect- ed to his memory by bishop Fenwick. Aug. 20, 1833. See Mi moir, by < '. Francis. I ).I ).. in Sparks. . 1 mer. Biog. 2d series, vol. vii. (J. II. \\ .i
Raleigh, Walter, Sir, the distinguished English soldier, navigator, and writer of the Elizabethan age, deserves a place here on account of his contributions to sacred son--. He was horn at Hayes, near the COaBt of Devonshire, in 1552, and was educated at Oriel Col- lege, Oxford. In 1569— about a year after graduation he entered the volunteer corps which, under Cham- pernon, went to 1'rance to fight for the Huguenots. Subsequently he fought, under the prince of Orange, in the Netherlands, against the Spanish. In 1579 he made his first venture in navigation, which through life continued, at intervals, to attract him. He then sailed, in conjunction with his half-brother, sir Hum- phrey Gilbert, with the purpose of founding a colony in North America. But the expedition proved unsuccess- ful; and during the year following he held a captain's commission in Ireland, where, in operations against the rebels, he distinguished himself by his courage and eon- duct. He attracted the notice of queen Elizabeth; and, for some years afterwards, he was constant in his attend- ance upon the queen, who distinguished him by em- ploying him. from time to lime, in various delicate of- fices o| trust, and by substantial marks of her favor. The spirit of enterprise was. however, restless in the man. and in 1584, a patent having been granted him to lake possession of lands to be discovered by him on the continent of North America, he titled out two ships at his own expense, and shortly achieved the discovery and occupation of the territory known as Virginia— a name chosen as containing an allusion to the "virgin queen" herself. Elizabeth also conferred on Raleigh the honor of knighthood. If we except the questiona- ble benefit with which his name remains connected — of the introduction of tobacco into Europe, no imme- diate good came of the colony; and, after some years of struggle, during which he sent out several auxiliary expeditions, he was forced to relinquish hi- connection with it. In 1587 88, the country being menaced by a Spanish invasion, Raleigh was actively and responsibly occupied in organizing a resistance, and held command of the queen's forces m Cornwall. In the latter year he shared, with new access oi honor, in the series of