Reckoning the End of Days: A Study in Yefet ben ʻEli's Biblical Exegesis

It is known that Jews engaged in reckoning the end of days by the ninth century. In his commentary on the book of Daniel, Yefet ben ‘Eli (10th century) claims that it is impossible to know when the end of days will come. He presents the opinions of the sages and of Saʿadia Gaon, as well as of the Karaites Yūsuf ben Baḥtāwī, Binyamīn Al-Nahawandī, and Salmon ben Yerūḥam, and rejects the claims of each regarding the date of the end of days. However, in his commentary on the Book of Haggai he does present several possibilities for determining the time of the end of days. This article presents Yefet’s attitude regarding the time of the end of days, including a discussion of Yefet’s commentary on Haggai 2:6–9.