Judah ibn Shabbethai


Judah ibn Shabbethai was a Jewish-Spanish poet of the end of the 12th century. He has been identified with the physician Judah b. Isaac of Barcelona, who is praised as a poet by Al-Ḥarizi, but he may also have lived at Burgos.
Judah is a master of the "mosaic" style, and skillfully applies Biblical and Talmudic phrases; his humor is spontaneous. He is the author of Milḥemet ha-Ḥokmah weha-'Osher and Minḥat Yehudah Sone ha-Nashim. The former work is in the style of the "maḳamah," in rimed prose interspersed with short poems. It was written in 1214, and is addressed to the nasi Todros ha-Levi Abulafia, who is called upon, at the end of the work, to act as judge in a poetical dispute. It appeared at Constantinople in 1543, and was probably printed for the last time as an appendix to Abraham ben Ḥasdai's Ben ha-Melek weha-Nazir.
Minḥat Yehudah Sone ha-Nashim likewise is written in the style of the maḳamah. It is a humorous satire on women, and is a much better piece of work than the Milḥemet. It was written in 1218 and dedicated to Abraham al-Fakhkhar. Like the Milḥemet, it appears to have been first printed at Constantinople, in 1543, the last reprint being in Eliezer Ashkenazi's Ṭa'am Zeḳenim.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography