Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon

Jehuda ben Saul ibn Tibbon (* 1120 in Granada, † 1190 in Marseille) was a Jewish translators of the Middle Ages. He is the progenitor of the Ibn Tibbon family (" ibn " means son, Yehudah ibn Tibbon is the first known representative of the family, if he was still named after his father is unknown) and was nicknamed Father of the translator.

Yehuda ibn Tibbon moved, probably due to the onset of the persecution of the Jews during his lifetime in Moorish Spain, the south of France in 1150 and settled in Lunel, where he practiced medicine. From his will, is to recognize that the achievements of his son Samuel ibn Tibbon did not meet his expectations. Jude was primarily known as a translator of Arabic works into Hebrew. In the introduction to his translation of the ethical work Chowot ha - Lewawot ( " Duties of the Heart" ) by Bahya ibn Pakuda explains Yehuda ibn Tibbon that Jews in Islamic countries, which wanted to maintain their interest in secular studies, in contrast to their co-religionists under Christian rule were forced to study Arabic instead of Hebrew, since the Arabic language by distinguishing richness and clarity; a more pragmatic reasons he gives in his Testament Scriptures, in which he soberly states that many Jews had come solely by the ability to write Arabic in the Arab rulers in rank and position, like his friend Shmuel Nagid. He also noted that for a good translation, a thorough knowledge of the source language, the target language and the subject was required from the the book is about. His other translations include the philosophical works of Judah ha -Levi Kusari, Emunot we- Deot of Saadia Gaon, a Hebrew grammar and a dictionary of Jonah ibn Jana and Tikkun Middot ha - Nefesh of Solomon ibn Gabirol.