David ben Judah He-ḥasid
DAVID BEN JUDAH HE-ḤASID
DAVID BEN JUDAH HE-ḤASID (early 14th century), Spanish kabbalist. He claimed to be the grandson of *Naḥmanides and a descendant of *Judah b. Samuel he-Ḥasid of Regensburg. David wrote several books which reflect the development of the different trends in Kabbalah after the publication of the *Zohar. Besides the teachings of Naḥmanides, these also included traditions that evolved from the sayings of the Castilian kabbalists, the Zohar, and the *Ḥasidei Ashkenaz. David was the author of the first extant commentary on one part of the Zohar, Sefer ha-Gevul (on Idra Rabba). He also wrote: Marot ha-Ẓove'ot al ha-Torah (preserved only in part), based on the Zohar, which he quotes in Hebrew translation, with the addition of numerous sayings from other sources; Or Zaru'a, a lengthy kabbalistic commentary on the order of the prayers; and treatises on the mysteries of the alphabet, on the Creation, and on *Merkabah mysticism. His works, extant only in several manuscripts, were quoted by many kabbalists even into the Safed period. Sefer Livnat ha-Sappir (1914), published under his name, was written in 1326 by R. Joseph Angelino, to judge from a comparison between it and David's works.
bibliography:
Scholem, in: ks, 4 (1928), 302–27; D.S. Sas-soon, Ohel Dawid (1932), nos. 1001–10; A. Marmorstein, in: mgwj, 71 (1927), 39–48.
[Gershom Scholem]