[1][2][3][4] After acquiring in his native town a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, rabbinic literature, mathematics, and philosophy, he went to Rome to study medicine.
There his learning won for him a prominent place among scholars; and when Reuchlin was at Rome (1498-1500) and desired to perfect his knowledge of Hebrew literature, Cardinal Domenico Grimani advised him to apply to Obadiah.
[6] At the request of Israel ben Jehiel Ashkenazi, rabbi of Rome, Obadiah issued a decision in the case of Donina, daughter of Samuel Ẓdarfati, the renowned physician of the pope.
He possessed well-known judgment in selecting explanations from earlier exegetes, such as Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra, the Rashbam, and Nahmanides, and he very often gave original interpretations that showed extensive philological knowledge.
In the introduction, Obadiah says he was induced to write his work because even so great a man as Maimonides had expressed that all Aristotle's theories concerning the sublunary world are correct.