BIBLIOGRAPHY
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Gorfinkle, Joseph I. (Joseph Isaac)
Because of its great popularity, the Pirke Abot has appeared in many editions. There is no Gemara (Talmudic commentary) on the Abot, which undoubtedly accounts for the numerous commentaries on it (21). Because of the attractiveness of its contents, and since it forms a part of the ritual, it has been translated many times into many tongues (22), and a great deal has been written on it. The following bibliography will be helpful to the general reader and to the student who wish to get a more detailed and intimate knowledge of the Abot than can be imparted in this work.
(21) There are more than thirty-five. The best known is that of Maimonides (1135-1204), which was written originally in Arabic, as part of his commentary on the Mishnah. A commentary has been attributed to Rashi. Other commentaries are by
(1) Rabbi Jacob ben Shimshon, found in the Machzor Vitry (see Taylor, Introd., p. 5; Appendix, p. 23;
(2) Rabbi Israel of Toledo, in Arabic (twelfth to thirteenth century; see Taylor, Introd., p. 5, Appendix, p. 46 _et seq.__;
(3) Simon Duran (1361-1444), Magen Abot; first edition, Livorno, 1763; ed. Jellinek, Leipzig, 1855;
(4) Bertinora (died 1510), in his popular commentary on the Mishnah;
(5) Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel, Nachalot Abot; ed. Constantinople, 1505;
(6) Samuel de Uceda, Midrash Shemual; venice, 1579, 1585, 1597, 1600, Cracow, 1594, Frankfurt a. M., 1713, Warsaw, 1876;
(7) Yom Tob Lippman Heller (1579-1654), in Tosefot Yom Tob, on the Mishnah; (8) elijah, Gaon of Wilna (1720-1797), in Siddur Tefillat Yacob, Berlin, 1864; and
(9) S. Baer, in Siddur Abodat Yisroel, Rodelheim, 1868. There is also acommentary, by Naphtali Herts Wessely, known as Yayin Lebanon, Berlin, 1774-1775, which has been translated into English, in the Hebrew Review (edited by Morris J. Raphall, London, 1835-1837), Vol. I, p. 177, p. 193, and further.
(22) Mischoff, in his Kritische Geschichte der Talmud-Uebersetzungen aller Zeigen und Zungen (Frankfurt a. M., 1899), [s] 56, has a list of 62 translations and of 15 partial translations. Others have appeared since this list was made. For English translation, consult this list.
Editions (23), Commentaries, and Translations
(23) A list of editions, mostly earlier than those mentioned here, and of the Abot in Mishnah editions may be found in Steinschneider, Catalogue Librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana (Berlin, 1852-1860), No. 1433-1519, 1982-2034; M. Roest, Catalog der Hebraica und Judaica (Amsterdam, 1875), pp. 818-821, 824-828; and Strack, Spruche, pp. 8-9.
1. Joshua ben Mordecai Falk ha-Kohen, Abne Yehoshua al Pirke Abot (New York, 1860). Text and commentary (24).
(24) Falk has been called the "father of American Hebrew literature."
2. Abraham Geiger, Pirke Aboth, in Nachgelassene Schriften (Berlin, 1877), vol. IV, pp. 281-344. A commentary on Chaps. I-III. Scholarly and valuable.
3. Solomon Schechter, Abot de-Rabbi Natan (Vienna, 1877). Contains two versions, A and B, with an introduction and notes in Hebrew. A scholarly and valuable work.
4. Joseph Jabetz, Pirke Abot, with a commentary (Warsaw, 1880).
5. Charles Taylor, (1) Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, Comprising Pirqe Aboth and Perek R. Meir in Hebrew and English, with Notes and Excurses. Second edition (Cambridge, 1897). (2) An Appendix of the Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, Containing a Catalogue of Manuscripts and Notes on the Text of Aboth (Cambridge, 1900). These works are very comprehensive and full of valuable material.
6. A. Berliner, Commentar zu den Spruchen der Vater, aus Machzor Vitry, mit Beitragen (Frankfurt a. M., 1897).
7. David Hoffmann, Masseket Abot, in Mischnaiot Seder Nesikin (Berlin, 1899), pp. 327-367. Fully annotated, with a translation in German, and constant reference to Rabbinical sources. Excellent.
8. Hermann L. Strack, Die Spruche der Vater, ein ethischer Mischna-Traktat_, third edition (Leipzig, 1901). An excellent text with notes. Very valuable.
9. Lazarus Goldschmidt, in Talmud Babli, Der Babylonische Talmud (Berline, 1903), vol. VII, p. 1151 et seq. Based on oldest texts of Abot. Textual variants and German translation with notes. Very valuable.
10. Simeon Singer, Perke Abot, Ethics of the Fathers, in The Authorized Daily Prayer Book. Eighth edition (London, 5668-1908), pp. 184-209. Hebrew text, with an excellent English translation, and a few notes.
11. Kaim Pollak, Rabbi Nathans System der Ethik un Moral (Budapest, 1905). A translation in German, with notes, of Abot de Rabbi Natan (Schechter's version A).
12. Paul Fiebig, Pirque 'aboth, Der Mischnahtraktat Spruche der Vater (Tubingen, 1906). German translation and notes, with especial reference to the New Testament. The Nachwort, pp. 42-43, consists of a comparison of Abot with the New Testament, pointing out the likenesses and differences.
13. Josef ibn Nachmia's, Perush Pirke Abot, Commentar zu den Pirke Abot . . . nach der Parmaer Hadschrift De Rossi Nr. 1402 . . . mit Anmerkungen von M. L. Bamberger (Berlin, 1907).
14. M. Rawicz, Der Commentar der Maimonides zu den Spruchen der Vater, zum ersten Male ins Deutsch ubertragen (Offenberg [Baden], 1910). Contains "The Eight Chapters" (25).
(25) The Eight Chapters is the introduction of Maimonides to his commentary on Abot. Its Hebrew name is Shemonah Perakim. It is a remarkable instance of the harmonious welding of the ethical principles contained in Abot with mediaeval Aristotelian philosophy.
15. Sefer Musar, Kommentar zum Mischnatraktat Aboth von R. Joseph ben Jehudah. Zum ersten Male herausgegeben von Dr. Wilhelm Bacher. In the Schriften des Vereins Makize Nirdamim. 3. Folge, Nr. 6 (Berlin, 1910).
16. M. Lehmann, Pirke Aboth, Spruche der Vater uberzetzt und erklart (Frankfurt a. M., 1909).
17. Jehudah Leb Gordon, Perki Abot, in Siddur Bet Yehudah (New York, 5672, 1911-12), pp. 106-165. Prayer-book according to the Ashkenazic rite, with Yiddish translation and notes. Contains biographical sketches of all the authorities mentioned in Abot.
18. Jules Wolff, Les Huit Chapitres de Maimonide, ou Introduction a la Mischna d'Aboth, Maximes des Peres (de la Synagogue). Traduits de l'Arabe (Lausanne, Paris, 1912).
19. Joseph I. Gorfinkle, The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics, Edited, Annotated, and Translated with an Introduction (New York, 1912). Columbia University Oriental Studies, vol. VII (26).
(26) A list of MSS., editions, translations, and commentaries of the Eight Chapters, some including Abot, is found on pp.27-33 of this work.
Homiletical Works
1. Lazarus Adler, Spruche der Vater (Furth, 1851).
2. W. Aloys Meisel, Homilien uber die Spruche der Vater (1885).
3. Alexander Kohut, The Ethics of the Fathers (New York, 1885). Translated from the German by Max Cohen.
General Works