''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' () or ''Milhamoth Adonai'' (Wars of the Lord) is the title of several Hebrew polemical texts. The phrase is taken from the

Book of the Wars of the Lord The Book of the Wars of the LORD () is one of several non-canonical books referenced in the Bible which have now been completely lost. It is mentioned in Numbers 21:13–14, which reads: David Rosenberg suggests in ''The Book of David'' that ...

referenced in .

''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Salmon ben Jeroham, 10th century

Salmon ben Jeroham's ''The Book of the Wars of the Lord'' is a Karaite refutation of

Saadia Gaon Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, Geonim, gaon, Jews, Jewish philosopher, and exegesis, exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic ...

from the late 900s.

''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Jacob ben Reuben, 12th century

The ''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Jacob ben Reuben, is a 12th-century Jewish apologia against conversion by Christians, consisting of questions and answers from selected texts of

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, including Matt. 1:1–16, 3:13–17, 4:1–11, 5:33–40, 11:25–27, 12:1–8, 26:36–39, 28:16–20. It served as a precedent for the full Hebrew translation and interspersed commentary on Matthew found in

Ibn Shaprut Shem-Tob ben Isaac Shaprut of Tudela () (born at Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre in the middle of the 14th century) was a Spanish Jewish philosopher, physician, and polemicist. He is often confused with the physician Shem-Tob ben Isaac of Tortosa, ...

's '' Touchstone'' c. 1385.

''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Abraham, son of Maimonides, 13th century

Abraham Maimonides Abraham Maimonides (; also known as Rabbeinu Avraham ben ha-Rambam, and Avraham Maimuni, June 13, 1186 – December 7, 1237) was the son of Maimonides and succeeded his father as nagid of the Egyptian Jewish community. Biography Avraham w ...

's ''Wars of the Lord'' is a treatise defending his father

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

against slander.

''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Nachmanides, 13th century

Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban (; ) and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta (; l ...

's ''Wars of the Lord'' is a Halakhic treatise attacking Zerahiah ha-Levi's commentary on Alfasi. The treatise goes in great detail on the piece of Talmud at hand.

''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Levi ben Gershom, 14th century

The ''Wars of the Lord'' of

Gersonides Levi ben Gershon (1288 – 20 April 1344), better known by his Graecized name as Gersonides, or by his Latinized name Magister Leo Hebraeus, or in Hebrew by the abbreviation of first letters as ''RaLBaG'', was a medieval French Jewish philosoph ...

(1288–1344) is a religious, astronomical and philosophical treatise.

''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Abner of Burgos (Alfonso of Valladolid), 14th century.

Abner of Burgos Abner of Burgos (c. 1270 – c. 1347, or a little later) was a Jewish philosopher, a convert to Christianity, and a polemical writer against his former religion. Known after his conversion as Alfonso of Valladolid or "Master Alfonso." Life As a s ...

(ca1260-ca1347) was a convert to Christianity who wrote polemical works in Hebrew between 1320 and 1340. This text is Hebrew anti-Jewish polemic that is now lost but quotations of it survive in the Latin writing of the fifteenth-century convert Paul of Burgos (Scrutinium Scripturarum) and the polemicist Alonso de Espina (Fortalitium fidei). It served as a template for Abner's later work ʾ''Moreh Zedek'', which now survives in a Castilian translation as ''Mostrador de justicia'' and much material from the Sefer is repeated there. Abner translated the work into Castilian himself at the behest of Blanca, Lady of Las Huelgas in Burgos around the year 1320, and a copy of this translation was seen by traveller Ambrosio de Morales in Valladolid in the 16th century.

''Milhamoth ha-Shem'' of Yiḥyeh Qafeḥ, 1931

The seminal work composed by Yiḥyeh Qafeḥ (Hebrew: ), Chief Rabbi of

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

, Yemen and protagonist of the Dor Deah movement in Orthodox Judaism. Qafeḥ's ''Milḥamot HaShem'' (1931), which he began to write in 1914, argues that the

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

is not authentic.

References

{{reflist Jewish apologetics Medieval Jewish history Jewish medieval literature