Shem Tov (“Good Name” in Hebrew) was a 14thcentury
Castilian Jew who composed poetry in
both Spanish and Hebrew during the reigns of Alfonso
XI (1312–50), and his son and successor
Pedro I (1350–69). He was born and lived in the
town of Carrión de los Condes in Castile. In his
Proverbios morales (Moral proverbs), his bestknown
work, he uses the Spanish-sounding name
of Santob de Carrión, and presents the text as
counsel from a “white-haired poet” to King Pedro,
known as “the Cruel.” Pedro was a monarch particularly
known for his tolerance of Jews, and therefore
an appropriate audience for Shem Tov’s verse.
The Proverbios morales is written in 686 stanzas
of four heptasyllabic (seven-syllable) Spanish lines
rhyming abab. As such it is the first Jewish literary
text written in Spanish. Inspired by the biblical
genre of wisdom books like Proverbs and Ecclesiastes,
Shem Tov’s Proverbios morales represent the
first verse treatment in Spanish of the wisdom genre
(known in Hebrew as musar). Shem Tov drew some
of his inspiration from the Bible, from the Talmud,
and from the 11th-century Spanish Jewish philosopher
Avicebron, but he seems to have based a number
of his proverbs on his own philosophy. The
work deals with questions of ethics and philosophy,
and survives in five manuscripts. The rabbi rather
conventionally promotes work and study in his
proverbs, and warns of the harm that a king might
cause through injustice and profligate living. But
more radically Shem Tov also expresses a deep skepticism
and relativism concerning philosophical and
religious questions, most of which he sees as inherently
subjective. Only God, the king, and the law
are beyond question for Shem Tov.
Several Hebrew works are also attributed to
Shem Tov. In about 1345, he composed a rhymed
prose narrative (a form called a mag¯ama). Two of
his other texts are intended for the liturgy—a
hymn called Vidui Gadol (Confession on Yom Kippur)
and a prayer of supplication (or bakkashah).
Shem Tov also translated a liturgical work by Israel
ben Israel into Hebrew. But it is the enigmatic
Proverbios morales upon which his modern reputation
rests. Shem Tov’s proverbs influenced a number
of subsequent Spanish poets, including
SANTILLANA, who imitated them. The work is unusual
for the Middle Ages, and in many ways looks
forward to the Renaissance.
Bibliography
Santob de Carrión. Proverbios morales. Edited by
Theodore A. Perry. Madison, Wisc.: Hispanic
Seminary for Medieval Studies, 1986.
———. The Moral Proverbs of Santob de Carrión:
Jewish Wisdom in Christian Spain. Translated by
Theodore A. Perry. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1987.
Shepard, Sanford. Shem Tov: His World and His
Works. Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1978.