The Samaritan Version of Saadya Gaon's Translation of the Pentateuch. Critical Edition and Study of MS BL OR7562 and Related MSS

https://biblia-arabica.com/bibl/MNR7NU3W

Preferred Citation

Zewi, Tamar. The Samaritan Version of Saadya Gaon’s Translation of the Pentateuch. Critical Edition and Study of MS BL OR7562 and Related MSS. Biblia Arabica 3. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2015.

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Abstract

This book contains an edtion and a thorough study of the Samaritan adaptation of Saadiah’s Pentateuch translation which is found in the Arabic column of MS: London, British Library, Or. 7562. The author examines the palaeographical features of the manuscript, the different changes and additions made by later hands, its orthography and linguistic characteristics, and the way the Saadian translation was modified to fit the Samaritan Pentateuch where it differs from the Masoretic Text. In order to determine the provenance of this Saadian text, the author undertakes extensive comparisons to other Pentateuch translations, with special attention to those readings of the manuscript that are not shared by other versions of the Tafsīr. For the latter, Jewish textual witnesses (such as MS: St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Evr. II C 1) as well as adaptions of the Tafsīr that were in use in among Coptic (MS: Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or. 112) and Syriac communities (Genesis of MS: Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or. 57 and MS: London, Britsh Library, Add. 11855) are consulted; but also Non-Saadian texts such as old Syriac Christian translations from the Peshitta (MS: Sinai, St. Catherine’s Monastery, Ar. 2 and 4) and the Samaritan translations from Shehadeh’s edition (see https://biblia-arabica.com/bibl/IZFNRHBX) are taken into account. The author finds that there is a significant number of agreements between MS London and the different Syriac versions, while pointing out common readings in manuscripts of the Old Samaritan translation and some parallels to Qaraite translations as well. She concludes that the Arabic text of MS London is an eclectic recension that was influenced by all these sources. From certain scribal errors, one may deduce that the text was copied from a vorlage in Arabic script. Apart from that, parallels between the Syriac Christian versions and the Old and Revised Samaritan translation can be shown as well. In the light of her findings, the author puts forward the hypothesis that at first, a Saadian-type text was more widespread among the Samaritans than previously assumed. The source of this text was a Syriac Christian version of the Tafsīr, along with Christian translations from the Peshitta, but it had been adapted to the peculiarities of the Samaritan Pentateuch. Creating their own translation (the „Old Samaritan translation“ in the classification of Shehadeh) at a later time (with the oldest MS dated 1204 C. E.), the Samaritans were able to draw upon this text. The Old Samaritan translation, in turn, influenced the earlier Saadian text when it was used for the production of MS London (around 1300 C. E.). The edition is based on the Arabic text of MS London. Great care is taken to distinguish the later scribal interferences, such as erasures, additions, and corrections, from the original layer of the text by various graphical devices. Some leaves at the beginning and the end of the manuscript have been torn from the manuscript and restored in the 19th century with a Non-Saadian translation. Three fragments that have been identified as original leaves of the manuscript (MS: St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Sam. IIa 179; MS: St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Sam. IIa 178.2-3, MS: Manchester, John Rylands Library, Sam. 73) are edited in a separate appendix. Two more Samaritan manuscripts are known to contain a Saadian version only partially (MS: Manchester, John Rylands Library, Sam. 2; MS: Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Or. 139). The passages in question are edited in an additional appendix. For a review of this work see https://biblia-arabica.com/bibl/TETNIZR6.

Full Citation Information

Publication

Title: The Samaritan Version of Saadya Gaon's Translation of the Pentateuch. Critical Edition and Study of MS BL OR7562 and Related MSS

Author: Tamar Zewi

URI: https://biblia-arabica.com/bibl/MNR7NU3W  Link to Biblia Arabica bibliography Bibliographic Record.

TextLang:

Place of Publication: Leiden, Boston

Publisher: Brill

Date of Publication: 2015

Series

Title: Biblia Arabica

 Zotero

Subject Headings

Old Testament  Christian  Coptic  East Syriac  Jewish  Qaraite  Samaritan  West Syriac  Pentateuch  Greek  Hebrew  Syriac  Editions  Abū Saʿīd  Abū al-Faraj Hārūn  Daniel al-Qūmisī  David b. Boaz  Saadiah Gaon  Sahl ben Maṣliaḥ  Salmon ben Yeruḥam  Yefet ben ʿEli  Yeshuʿah ben Yehudah  Yūsuf b. Nūḥ  ʿAlī b. Sulaymān the Qaraite 

Cited Manuscripts

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Or. Qu. 1082  Cairo, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Bibl. 22  Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, Mosseri vi.45  Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, T-S Ar. 19.152  Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, T-S Ar. 1a.140  Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, T-S Ar. 21.183  Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, T-S Ar. 28.154  Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, T-S Ar. 28.168  Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, T-S Ar. 53.8  Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or. 112 (formerly 21)  Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or. 57 (formerly 12)  Istanbul, Topkapı Sarayı Library, Ahmet III 3522  Leiden, University of Leiden Library, Or. 377  London, British Library, Add. 11855  London, British Library, Or. 1041  London, British Library, Or. 2544  London, British Library, Or. 2545  London, British Library, Or. 2546  London, British Library, Or. 5562a  London, British Library, Or. 7562  Manchester, John Rylands Library, Sam. 2  Manchester, John Rylands Library, Sam. 73 (= Gaster 2106/3)  Nablus, Samaritan Synagogue, 6  New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, ENA 2570.1  New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, ENA 3753  New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, Lutzki 154  Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Heb. c. 19/3  Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Hunt. 424  Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Or. 139  Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Poc. 395-396  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ar. 1  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ar. 5  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ar. 6  Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery, Ar. 2  Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery, Ar. 4  St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Evr. II C 1  St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Sam. IIa 178  St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Sam. IIa 178.2-3  St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Sam. IIa 179  Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barberini Or. 1 
 

About this Online Entry

Editorial Responsibility:

  • Ronny Vollandt, general editor, Biblia Arabica
  • Ronny Vollandt and Nathan P. Gibson, editors, Biblia Arabica
  • rvollandt, entry contributor, “The Samaritan Version of Saadya Gaon's Translation of the Pentateuch. Critical Edition and Study of MS BL OR7562 and Related MSS”
  • Leonhard Becker, entry contributor, “The Samaritan Version of Saadya Gaon's Translation of the Pentateuch. Critical Edition and Study of MS BL OR7562 and Related MSS”

Additional Credit:

  • Record added to Zotero by rvollandt
  • Primary editing by Leonhard Becker

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