Epikoros (or Apikoros or Apikores; he, אפיקורוס, lit. "

Epicurus Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...

", pl. Epicorsim) is a Jewish term figuratively meaning "a heretic", cited in the Mishnah, referring to one who does not have a share in the world to come: The rabbinic literature uses the term ''Epikoros'', without a specific reference to the Greek philosopher

, yet it is apparent that the term is derived from the Greek philosopher's name, a philosopher whose views contradicted Jewish scripture, the strictly

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...

conception of God in Judaism and the Jewish belief in the world to come; see . The Talmudic interpretation is that the Aramaic word is derived from the root-word (PKR; lit. ''licentious''), hence disrespect, and accordingly: According to Maimonides, scorning a '' Talmid Chacham'' is actually a singular case of disrespecting the entire Torah or its rabbinic scholar-sages. In his work '' Mishneh Torah'' (Yad, Teshuvah 3:8), Maimonides rules that an ''Epikoros'' is a person who denies that God communicates with humans through prophecy, or one who denies the prophecy of

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

, or one who denies God's knowledge of the affairs of humans (i.e., one who maintains there is no

divine providence In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is God's intervention in the Universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which ...

). Maimonides probably encountered the name of Epicurus, the Greek philosopher, some time after composing his commentary on the Mishnah and before composing '' The Guide for the Perplexed''. In the first source he erroneously states that the rabbinic term ''epikoros'' is an Aramaic word, but in the Guide he has already become aware of the atheistic doctrine of the philosopher by that name. He cites the source of his information as Alexander of Aphrodisias' treatise ''On Providence''. Following the Christian censorship of the Talmud, starting with the aftermath of the Disputation of Barcelona and during the Roman Inquisition and the Spanish Inquisition, the term spread within the Jewish classical texts. Censors shunned expressions like '' minim'' ("sectary"), which they viewed as referring to the Christian faith, and replaced them with the term ''Epikoros'' or ''Epicurus'', hence a heretic, since the church would also fight the heretics. The censors also replaced terms that refer to Christians with the word ''akum'', which stands for '' avodas kochavim''. This term literally means "star worshippers", a belief that both Jews and their Christian censors abhorred.

References

{{Reflist Aramaic words and phrases in Jewish law Epicureanism Hebrew words and phrases Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law Heresy in Judaism Talmud concepts and terminology Greek words and phrases in Jewish law

See also

References