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Monday, August 5, 2013

The Prophecy of Yosef Ibn Yahya: the birth of the state of Israel in the 1940s

Jewish Literature is replete with warnings against calculating the end of days and the coming of Mashiach, but predictions of the era of Mashiach are nearly as common. Some turned out to be more accurate then others, others far off. Here is a lesser known one, which turned out to be surprisingly on the mark, it is found in the commentary of Yosef ben David Ibn Yahya's commentary on the Megillot and Daniel, printed in Bologna in 1538.
Joseph ibn Yahya ben David, was an Italian exegete and philosopher born at Florence 1494 died at Imola 1539. His son was Gedaliah, author of Shalshelet Hakabbalah. He was the author of two works: (1) "Perush" (Bologna, 1538), a commentary on the Five Scrolls and Ketuvim, and (2) "Torah Or" (ib. 1537-38), a treatise on theology and eschatology.
Here is the paragraph from the book where the prediction is made, it appears on page קי in the Bologne edition, in the line that starts with the word באופן
"      באופן כי בסוף החמשת אלפים ושבע מאות שנה לבריאת העולם בקירוב אם מעט אחר כך יבוא קצנו בעזרת ה למען יוכלו לשבת בני ישראל בטח על אדמתם כשלש מאות שנה מהאלף הששי למען יתראה לעין כל היות האמת אתם....."
"In the end of five thousand and seven hundred years from creation (equivalent to the year 1940), or a bit before or a bit after will come the time with the help of god that the nation of Israel may settle securely on their land, for approximately 300 years of the sixth millennium ......."

Now that the author has proven himself with foretelling the future, the second part of his paragraph may not be as eagerly anticipated:
באלף השביעי יהפך העולם לתהו In the Year 6000 (2240 A.D.) the world will transform to emptiness.

2 comments:

  1. Betach al admatam seems exaggerated.

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    1. relative to Jewish life a few short years earlier in Europe, I would argue that Israel is very safe indeed

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