Pilzarro, Abraham Israel

Pilzarro, Abraham Israel of Amsterdam, a Jewish litterateur, was of Portuguese origin, and flourished in Italy near the opening of this century. He wrote Discursos y exposiciosnes sobre la vara de Jeuda, an exposition of Jacob's prophecy, entitled "the Scepter of Judah," in which he complains of the unfair manner in which Christians expound the Scriptures, of their unfitness for such a task, and the danger of conflicting their interpretations. On account of its odious contents it was suppressed by the leaders of the congregation (a MS. copy of this work is to be found in the Saracin Library). See De Rossi, Dizionario storico degli mautori Ebrei, p. 264; id. Bibl. Jud. Antichrist. (Parma, 1800), p. 92; Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. 3, 42; De Long, Bibl. Sacra, 2, i94 (where the author is called Bizaro); Lindo, Hist. of the Jews in Spain and Portugal, p. 369. (B. P.)