R. Samuel b. Judah Ibn Tibbon (c. 1160–c. 1230) is criticized in his father's admonitory will for anti-intellectual and wayward behavior as a youth. When Samuel left Lunel to live in Arles, Beziers, and Marseilles, he began to develop those cultural interests which had characterized the life of his father. Samuel is best known for his Hebrew version of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed, which he prepared in response to a request by some intellectuals in Lunel, notably Jonathan ha-Kohen. Seeking the help and guidance of Maimonides, he received a detailed statement on translation in general, and explanations of difficulties to be encountered in translating the Guide in particular. In his introduction, Samuel gives an account of his method relating, for example, to questions of gender, terminology, and sentence structure. His translation brought him great honor, and he, even more than his father, established the style of philosophic Hebrew which was followed for centuries. Samuel compiled a glossary, alphabetically arranged, of the unusual words which appeared in his version of the Guide, and occasionally developed lengthy explanatory discussions. Of Maimonides' other writings, he translated the tract on Resurrection, the Epistle to Yemen, and the commentary on Avot together with the introduction, called Shemonah Perakim. His translations of medical works include Ali ibn Ridwan's commentary on Galen's Ars Parva, which is entitled Perush Melakhah Ketannah. As an author, he is known for a commentary on Kohelet, and a study of water and bodies of water which he entitled Yikkavu ha-Mayim.

מאמר פילוסופי על פרשת בריאת העולם ועל טבע המים והימים. דף XII-X: מכתב תודה מאחי ידידי מה"ו אפרים ביסלכיס נ"י.