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Zechariah ha-Rofé, or "Zechariah the physician", also known as Yiḥye al-Ṭabib, was a Yemenite Jewish scholar of the 15th-century, renowned for his authorship of the work, Midrash ha-Ḥefetz, a commentary and collection of homilies on the Five Books of Moses (Pentateuch) and on the readings from the Prophets which he began to write in 1430, and concluded some years later. The work is unique in that he incorporates therein Aristotelian and Platonic philosophy translated from Greek into Arabic, along with the teachings of Maimonides (1138–1204), and the philosophical notions expressed by Abu Nasr al-Farabi, whom he cites in his work. The author makes use of three languages in his discourse, Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, and Aramaic, interchanging between them whenever he sees fit. All sections of the Judeo-Arabic texts have been translated into Hebrew by Meir Havazelet in his 1990–1992 revised editions of the work, to accommodate a largely Hebrew-speaking readership.
References
- 1 2 3 Yehuda Ratzaby, ed. (1971), "Adani, David ben Amram", Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2, Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, p. 250
- ↑ Neubauer, A. (1893), The Jewish Quarterly Review 5, p. 339
- 1 2 3 Tobi, et al. (2000), p. 197
- 1 2 Ratzaby (1978), p. 103
- ↑ Cf. Jewish Theological Seminary of New York (Ms. 10709)
- ↑ Ratzaby (1989), p. 15 (Preface)
- ↑ Excerpt from Midrash HaGadol, on Genesis, parashat Vayechi, p. 794
