Judah Ibn Tibbon

Judah, called the “father of translators,” was born in Granada, but fled (most likely due to the Almohad persecutions) and resettled in Lunel, southern France, where he worked as physician and merchant. Encouraged (and perhaps supported financially) by Meshullam b. Jacob, Abraham b. David of Posquières, and Asher b. Meshullam, Judah produced Hebrew translations of Bahya Ibn Paquda’s Duties of the Heart and Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s Improvement of Moral Qualities. He also translated Saadiah Gaon ’s Book of Beliefs and Opinions, Jonah Ibn Janah’s Book of Roots and Sefer ha-Rikmah, Ibn Gabirol’s Choice of Pearls, Judah Halevi’s Kuzari, and possibly a logical work by the Islamic philosopher al-Farabi (his summary of Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics). Judah’s only surviving original composition is his ethical testament, a lively account of his efforts to educate his son according to his cultural and literary ideals. In this testament, he also refers to his book on grammar (no longer extant). A treatise on divine unity, entitled Sefer Sha’ar ha-Yiḥud, has been attributed to him.