Al-Ba?ak, Ma?li'a? ben Elijah Ibn
AL-BA?AK, MA?LI'A? BEN ELIJAH IBN
AL-BA?AK, MA?LI'A? BEN ELIJAH IBN (11th century), dayyan in Sicily. Ma?li'a? was a pupil of *Hai Gaon in Pumbedita and later he apparently migrated to Sicily where he was appointed dayyan.*Nathan b. Jehiel, author of the Arukh, was his pupil and it is quite likely that the explanations of Arabic and Persian terms appearing in Nathan's work were derived from his teacher. Ma?li'a? wrote a letter in Arabic to Samuel ha-Nagid, concerning Hai Gaon, of which fragments only are extant. One fragment has a commentary by Hai Gaon to Psalms 103:5, and in another it is stated that Hai Gaon, with a view to seeking a correct interpretation of Psalms 141:5, sent Ma?li'a? to the Nestorian patriarch, who showed him the Syriac version. On a journey to Europe – or on some other occasion – Ma?li'a? stopped over in Ere? Israel, when he acted as a judge in a civil dispute in Ramleh.
bibliography:
Steinschneider, Arab Lit, 132; idem, Gesammelte Schriften, 1 (1925), 67, n. 87; Mann, in: jqr, 9 (1918/19), 151; Vogelstein-Rieger, 1 (1896), 358; Neubauer, in: Israelitische Letterbode, 2 (1876–77), 177; Lewin, in: Ginzei Kedem, 3 (1925), 67–68; Assaf, in: ks, 2 (1925/26), 184; Krauss, in: hhy, 11 (1927), 204–5.
[Umberto (Moses David) Cassuto]