R. Judah b. Saul ibn Tibbon was born at Granada, Spain, 1120; died after 1190. He left his native place in 1150, probably on account of persecution by the Almohades, and went to Lunel in southern France. R. Benjamin of Tudela mentions him as a physician there in 1160. R. Judah lived on terms of intimacy with R. Meshullam ben Jacob and with Meshullam's two sons, R. Asher and R. Aaron, whom in his will he recommends as friends to his only son, Samuel. He was also a close friend of R. Abraham ben David of Posquières and of R. Zerahiah ha-Levi, the latter of whom he freely recognized as a greater scholar than himself, and whose son he also wished to have as a friend for his own son. He had two daughters whose marriage caused him much anxiety. R. Judah was very active as a translator, his works including the translation into Hebrew of the following: R. Bahya ben Joseph ibn Pakuda's work under the title "Torat Hobot ha-Lebabot." ; R. Solomon ibn Gabirol's work under the title "Tikkun Middot ha-Nefesh" (printed together with the first-mentioned translation at Constantinople in 1550). R. Judah ha-Levi's work under the title "Sefer ha-Kuzari" (1167; printed at Fano in 1506 and many timessince). Two works by Ibn Janah: "Sefer ha-Rikmah" and "Sefer ha-Shorashim". R. Saadia's work under the title "Sefer ha-Emunot weha-De'ot" (1186; first ed. Constantinople, 1562). Other works are attributed to R. Judah.

f.t.: Physica Hebraea rabbi Aben Tybbon ... nunc primum edita, & ... Ioanne Isaac Levita Latina facta.

Bound with:

Iggeret (responsa) of Maimonides to the Jews of Marseilles regarding astrological readings and chance. In the responsa written in 1194 Maimonides strongly denounces astrology as a pseudoscience opposed to the true science of astronomy, an opinion rarely expressed by Jewish scholars in the Middle Ages. In this letter Maimonides stated that astrology was the first secular subject he studied, and that he had read everything available in Arabic on the discipline.

f.t.: filii Meimon epistola ... nunc primum edita & latina Joanne Isaac Leuita germano aucktore...