Those who say father, son, and spirit

Joseph Ibn Abītūr

Late 10th or Early 11th Century

Those who say: Father and Son and Spirit, the third
Those who gather on Sunday and also observe Friday
Those who create a form of clay to worship
Those who are gathered to replace dignity by ignominy
Those who bear witness the one hanged before the sun
Those who bow to the bowed one and [to] five liars
Those who sin against the Living God and worship a…
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This piyyut, meant to be recited on Yom Kippur as part of the Amidah, directly after the verse “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts, whose glory fills the whole earth” (Isaiah 6:3), is an explicitly anti-Christian polemic. Christians interpreted that verse as referring to the Trinity, so Ibn Abitur takes the opportunity to attack those who worship on Sunday and observe Friday, perhaps by fasting. Many of Ibn Abitur’s negative images reflect ideas from the polemical Toledot Yeshu (The Life of Jesus), including references to “those who create a form of clay to worship” and the crucifixion of Jesus on a “cabbage stalk.”

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Related Guide

Early Medieval Liturgical Poetry (Piyyut)

7th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Joseph Ibn Abītūr

ca. 940-after 1024

Joseph ben Isaac Ibn Abītūr, sometimes known as Ibn Shaṭnash, was a prominent Spanish poet active during the period of the great Jewish courtier Ḥasday Ibn Shaprūṭ (ca. 915–ca. 970). Unlike Ibn Shaprūṭ and his circle, Ibn Abītūr was apparently more loyal to eastern modes of writing and thinking than to the emerging Andalusi traditions. Abraham ibn Dā’ūd (ca. 1110–ca. 1180) recounted that Ibn Abītūr interpreted the entire Babylonian Talmud in Arabic for the Muslim ruler. Ibn Dā’ūd further wrote that, following a leadership dispute in Spain, Ibn Abītūr was placed under a ban of excommunication and traveled to the East, where he sought to enlist some support. Ibn Abītūr was a prolific poet; more than four hundred of his poems survive.

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