Sefer HaIkkarim (“Book of Principles”) by Yosef Albo: what it is and structure

October 18, 2026

The Sefer HaIkkarim (ספר העיקרים), “Book of Principles,” is the main work of Rabbi Yosef Albo, a 15th-century Castilian rabbi and philosopher and a disciple of Hasdai Crescas. It is a religious-philosophical exposition of the foundations of the Jewish faith.

Quick facts

How it was written

Albo first published the first part as an independent work. It drew so much criticism that he added three more sections, as an expansion and commentary. That is why the second discourse opens with a defense against his critics. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the first part was written before the death of his teacher Crescas.

The three principles

Unlike Maimonides, who bases faith on thirteen principles, and Crescas, who proposes six, Albo reduces the roots of faith to three:

1. The existence of G-d, which includes His unity, incorporeality, independence of time and perfection.
2. Revelation, which includes prophecy, the unique greatness of Moshe and the binding force of the Mosaic law.
3. Divine retribution (or, if preferred, immortality), which includes the resurrection of the dead.

From them derive eight derived principles (shorashim): four from the existence of G-d, three from revelation and one from retribution. And he adds six branches (anafim): creation from nothing, the unique greatness of Moshe’s prophecy, the eternity of the Torah, that a single commandment suffices for the world to come, resurrection and the Messiah.

Relation to Maimonides and Crescas

Albo agrees in his three principles with Shimon ben Yosef of Lunel (Duran) and disagrees with Maimonides’ thirteen and Crescas’ six. He criticizes both for not applying their own criterion, the “absolute indispensability” of a principle. He rejects that creation from nothing is essential to belief in G-d, and leaves out the messianic dogma, which appears among the branches: Abravanel and others criticized him for this. The Jewish Encyclopedia links this to the polemic with Christianity, and notes that Albo did not write mainly to abbreviate Maimonides’ thirteen principles, but to show that Judaism is the true revealed religion. See the biography of Maimonides.

Editions, commentaries and translations

• First edition: Soncino, 1485.
• Commentaries: Ohel Yaakov, by Yaakov ben Shmuel Koppelman ben Bunem (Freiburg, 1584, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia), and Etz Shatul, by Gedaliah ben Shlomo Lipschitz (Venice, 1618).
• Translations: into German, by W. Schlesinger (Frankfurt, 1844); into English, by Isaac Husik, in a bilingual edition of the Jewish Publication Society (sources give 1929 and 1946); and into French, a critical edition of chapter III, 25 by Philippe Bobichon (Madrid, 2015).
• Censorship: the passages criticizing the Christian faith (book III, chapters 25–26) were removed from later editions. Gilbert Génébrard wrote a refutation, published in Paris in 1566.

How scholars assess it

Most see in its internal contradictions an eclectic and unoriginal work. Recent scholars read them as a method of Albo for conveying esoteric messages, and others see a well-conceived contribution to the apologetics of Judaism. He was accused of plagiarizing Crescas; the sources consider the similarities normal between teacher and disciple.

Frequently asked questions

How many principles of faith does it propose?

Three roots (the existence of G-d, revelation and retribution), eight derived principles and six branches.

How does it differ from Maimonides?

In that it reduces the foundations to three and does not include among them the Messiah or creation from nothing.

When was it printed?

In Soncino, in 1485.