MATTATHIAS HA-YIẒHARI

MATTATHIAS HA-YIẒHARI (14th–15th century), Spanish scholar. He was a descendant of a Narbonne family which immigrated to Aragon after the expulsion from France in 1306. Mattathias, who had a profound knowledge of philosophy, was apparently a pupil of Ḥasdai Crescas . A commentary on Psalm 119 is attributed to him (Venice, 1546, partly translated into Latin by Philippe d'Aquin, Paris, 1629). Mattathias also wrote a number of other works, including a commentary on Avot (extant in Ms.) and homiletical explanations to the Pentateuch, known only by later references. It is possible, however, that at least some of them were written by an earlier Mattathias ha-Yiẓhari, perhaps his grandfather. He played a prominent but not overly courageous part in the disputation of tortosa (1413–14), where he was one of the representatives of the Saragossa community. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Baer, Spain, index; Renan, Ecrivains, 432f.; S. Buber, Midrash Tehillim (1891), introd.; A. Pacios López, Disputa de Tortosa (1957), index.