Page 211 - GQ 12

20* Bruno Chiesa and Miriam Goldstein

the story of Sodom, ‘I will go down now, and see whether they have
done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me;
and if not, I will know’ (Gen. 18:21).

Yefet formulates his main thesis regarding the question of God’s knowledge
so as to include the question of divine reward and punishment as well. This
is because divine foreknowledge of all events could imply determinism,
yet Yefet aspires to preserve the concept of reward and punishment, which
he believes to be based on free will. For this reason, he explains that
even though human actions are pre-known by God, there is no reward or
punishment until the act actually occurs. The seemingly problematic verses
therefore do not relate to God’s knowledge, but rather serve to announce
that actions have taken place and that their agent will receive his due. Yefet
states as follows (f. 8ra15 ff.):

‫ פהו ליערף מנהם אנה‬,‫ואלגואב פי אלגמיע ואחד פאמא קו' ואם לא אדעה כי עתה ידעתי‬
‫קד וקע פיכון אלפעל מעלומא אנה קד וקע ללנ ̇טר ויציר עמלכם מוגודא פתסתחקוא‬
‫אלתואב או אלעקאב ויעלמוא אלנאס אן אלדי גרי עליכם באסתחקאק ולם יוגד (צ"ל‬

.‫יוגב) ̇דלך חדו ̇ת עלם ואנמא אוגב חדו ̇ת פעל‬
The answer is identical in all cases. Regarding the verses ‘If not, I will
know’ (Gen. 18:21) and ‘for now I know [that thou art a God-fearing
man]’ (Gen. 22:12), the intent is that it is known that their (action)
occurred, and thus the act is known because it is visible (to all). In
this way your act comes into existence and thus you deserve either
reward or punishment for it, and all will know that you rightfully
deserved whatever happened to you (afterwards). Thus the intent (of
the verses) is not the coming into being of new knowledge but rather,
the coming into being of new acts.

The third faṣl (f.8v–10r) deals with the Written Torah and the purported
Oral Torah. Regarding the Torah that is accepted by all Jews, Karaites and
Rabbanites alike (al-naql al-muǧma‘ ‘alayhi), Yefet states that God ordered
Moses to record in writing (tadwīn) the miracles witnessed by the Children
of Israel, the narratives and the laws ‘sent down’ to them and that ‘he