Sepharad

From Bible Exegesis

(Obadiah 1:20), some locality unknown. The modern Jews think that Spain is meant, and hence they designate the Spanish Jews “Sephardim,” as they do the German Jews by the name “Ashkenazim,” because the rabbis call Germany Ashkenaz. Others identify it with Sardis, the capital of Lydia. The Latin father Jerome regarded it as an Assyrian word, meaning “boundary,” and interpreted the sentence, “which is in Sepharad,” by “who are scattered abroad in all the boundaries and regions of the earth.” Perowne says: “Whatever uncertainty attaches to the word Sepharad, the drift of the prophecy is clear, viz., that not only the exiles from Babylon, but Jewish captives from other and distant regions, shall be brought back to live prosperously within the enlarged borders of their own land.”

sḗ-fā´rad, sef´a-rad (ספרד, ṣephārādh):

Mentioned in Oba_1:20 as the place of captivity of certain “captives of Jerusalem,” but no clear indication is given of locality. Many conjectures have been made. The Targum of Jonathan identifies with Spain; hence, the Spanish Jews are called Sephardim. Others (Pusey, etc.) have connected it with the “(Tsparda” of the Behistun Inscription, and some have even identified it with “Sardis.” The now generally accepted view is that which connects it with the “Saparda” of the Assyrian inscriptions, though whether this is to be located to the East of Assyria or in Northern Asia Minor is not clear. See Schrader, Cuneiform Inscriptions, II, 145-46; Sayce, HCM, 482-84; articles in DB, HDB, EB, etc.