SOURCE: Feldman, Seymour. “Composition and Style of The Wars of the Lord.” In The Wars of the Lord, Book One: Immortality of the Soul, by Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides), translated by Seymour Feldman, pp. 55-60. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1984.

In the following excerpt, Feldman summarizes the literary history of The Wars of the Lord and defends Gersonides's monotonous style by explaining that he sought clarity, not literary flourish.

Chronology of the Wars of the Lord

Even a superficial reading of The Wars of the Lord could give the impression that this work was written at the height of Gersonides' intellectual powers, perhaps in the latest period of his intellectual development and philosophical career. But such an impression would be mistaken. In fact, the final version of Levi's magnum opus was completed at the end of what one could call his “middle period”—1329. But philosophical books...