Shem Tov ben Abraham ibn Gaon (1283 – c. 1330) (Hebrew: שם טוב בן אברהם אבן גאון) was a Spanish Talmudist and kabbalist.
Zunz[2] and Geiger[3] however, suppose "Gaon" to be the Hebrew transliteration of "Jaén", indicating that Shem Tov's family originally came from that Spanish city.
[4] After he had studied Talmud under Solomon ben Adret and kabbalah under Isaac ben Todros (RIBaT, which is the abbreviation of "R. Joseph b. Tobiah" according to David Conforte[5]), Shem Tov moved to the Land of Israel in the hope of finding in the Holy Land a more suitable place for kabbalistic meditation.
[4]' At Safed Shem Tov wrote the following works,[4] of which only the first two have been published: In a manuscript containing piyyutim of various liturgists, there is one written by a Shem Tov b. Abraham, whom L. Dukes[12] supposes to be identical with the subject of this article.
[4] The following works are erroneously attributed to Shem Tov b. Abraham ibn Gaon by Wolf[14] and by other bibliographers: Keter Shem Tov (Venice, 1601), a collection of sermons, and Ma'amar Mordekai (Constantinople, 1585), a commentary on Book of Esther, the author of both works being Shem Tov Melammed; also a kabbalistic treatise by an unknown author on the crowns ("taggin") of the letters.