Page - 16 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

Christian interpretations of the prophecies contained in the Hebrew Bible, pro- viding detailed responses as well as objections to Christian doctrine formulated by the author himself. The second section deals with supposed contradictions and errors in the New Testament, especially those involving Christological in- terpretations of the Hebrew Bible and the prophecies, in other words, a major part of the loci classici in Christian literature about the Hebrew Bible (e.g. Isaiah 7:14; Jeremiah 31:31; Zechariah 9:9). The focus of both sections is primarily on the character of the Messiah, aiming to reject the identification of the Messiah awaited by the Jews with Jesus of Nazareth. The author uses the entire first chapter to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was not the expected Messiah, which it proposes is evident from his pedigree (he was not a descendant of David), from his acts (he did not come to make peace on earth), from the period in which he lived (he did not come on the latter day) and from the absence during his exist- ence of the fulfillment of the promises that are to be realized on the advent of the Messiah (e.g. at the time of the Messiah there is to be only one kingdom, one creed and one religion).18 The manuscript of Sefer Ḥizzuq Emunah was completed by a disciple of Isaac ben Abraham after his death. His pupil Yosef ben Mordechai Malinowski (c. 1569–1610) took it upon himself to complete the indexes and he also added a preface.19 In this preface, he argues that one can reach the truth by following two parallel and complementary paths: the first corroborates the claim, while the second refutes assertions contrary to that claim. For this reason the book is divided into two parts.20 In 1621 the Spanish rabbi and leader of the Sephardic congregation of Ham- burg Isaac Athias (? – after 1626/7) translated Sefer Ḥizzuq Emunah into Span- ish.21 Manuscript copies of this translation of Sefer Ḥizzuq Emunah were held subsequently by the Sephardi community in Amsterdam, as is confirmed by their presence in the Ets Haim library.22 This collection also contains other Span- ish translations as well as translations into Dutch, French and Portuguese.23 The first printed edition of Sefer Ḥizzuq Emunah was a product of the Chris- tian world. In the second half of the 17th century, Hebraist Johann Christoph Wagenseil (1633–1705),24 a polymath Lutheran theologian from Altdorf, pub- 18 Deutsch 1873, 30–38. 19 On Yosef ben Mordechai Malinowski’s biography see Muchowski/Yariv 2014. 20 Deutsch 1873, 1–6. 21 One copy of Isaac Athias’ translation can be found at the Talmud Torah Library of Livorno; Perani 1997, n. 57. 22 Fuks 1975, n. 188, 192, 211, 212, 217, 222. 23 Fuks 1975, n. 188, 222 (Spanish); 211 (Dutch), 212 (French), 217 (Portuguese). 24 For further biographical details see Werner 1943, 438; Roth-Scholtz 1719; Zohn 1954, 35–40; Schoeps 1952, 67–68, 146, 153–154; Blastenbrei 2004. 16 | Miriam Benfatto www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1