Melech, Salomo Ibn

Melech, Salomo Ibn, a Jewish writer of the 16th century, was a resident at Constantinople, where he published, in 1554, his מַכלִל יֹפַי, "The Perfection of Beauty," scholia on the Hebrew Bible. It has been repeatedly edited, but the best edition is that of Amsterdam (1685, fol.), with Abendana's additions. It is a very valuable contribution to grammatical exegesis, since it is brief and condensed, giving almost exclusively grammatical and lexical explanations, for the most part from Kimchi's writings. It has been highly valued among Christians, and several parts of it have been translated into Latin; that on Canticles, by Chr. Molitor (Altdorf, 1659); on Joshua and Malachi, by Nik. Koppen (Greifswalde, 1708, 1709); on Ruth, by J.B. Carpzov, reprinted in his Collegium Rabbinico-Biblicum (Leipsic, 1705); on Jonah, by G. Chr. Bureklin (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1697), Job. Leusden (ibid. 1692), and E. Chr. Fabricius (Gottingen, 1792); on Obadiah, by Brodberg (Upsala, 1711), etc. See Ffurst, Bibl. Jud. 2:350; Etheridge, Introduction to Jewish Lit. page 417; De' Rossi, Dizionario Storico Degli Autori (Germ. transl. by Hamburger), page 217; Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. 1:1075 sq. 3:1055 sq. (B.P.)