Arabic Versions of the Pentateuch: A Comparative Study of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Sources

350 Pages·2015·3.71 MB·English

by  Ronny Vollandt

25 mm
BIAR
This work offers a seminal research into Arabic translations of 2 Arabic Versions
the Pentateuch. It is no exaggeration to speak of this field as a
terra incognita. Biblical versions in Arabic were produced over R A
many centuries, on the basis of a wide range of source languages o r of the Pentateuch
n
a
(Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, or Coptic), and in varying contexts. The n
y b
textual evidence for this study is exclusively based on a corpus V i
of about 150 manuscripts, containing the Pentateuch in Arabic o c

or parts thereof. ll V A Comparative Study of Jewish,
a
n e
d r
Ronny Vollandt t s Christian, and Muslim Sources
Ph.D. (2011), is Professor of Jewish Studies at the Ludwig- i
o
Maximilians-Universität, Munich. His research focuses on the n
Arabic versions of the Bible and biblical exegesis in the Arabic s Ronny Vollandt
language, more broadly, medieval Christian- and Judaeo-Arabic o
literature. f

t
h
e
“Ronny Vollandt’s Arabic Versions of the Pentateuch is without a

doubt the most important study of the Bible in Arabic to appear P
in recent decades. He combines close textual study of the earliest e
n
Arabic version of the Pentateuch, translated from the Syriac
t
Peshitta in the early ninth century CE, with a masterful overview a
of Arabic Bible translations in general and their importance for the t
e
history of the largely Jewish and Christian communities in which
u
they were produced. The book is a ground-breaking contribution c
to a long neglected area of study that is crucial to the history of h
the relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Vollandt

prepares the way for future scholars of the Bible in Arabic in many
ways, one of the most important of them being his careful listing
and description of all the available manuscripts of the Pentateuch
in Arabic translation, scattered in libraries around the world or
available in digitized form. His method of analyzing the Arabic
translators’ technique of translation is masterful and sets a new
standard for this exacting task, which, when well done, tells the
historian much about the circumstances in synagogue or church life
in which the translation was produced. Vollandt’s Arabic Versions
of the Pentateuch is a must-read for any future scholar who would
study the Arabic translation of a biblical book and one hopes that
his success will inspire a new generation to discover the joys and
benefits of Arabic Bible research.”
–Sidney H. Griffith, Institute of Christian Oriental Research,
The Catholic University of America
ISBN: 978-90-04-28991-8
Biblia Arabica 2
ISSN 2213-6401
9 789004 289918
brill.com/biar
Arabic Versions of the Pentateuch
Biblia Arabica
Editorial Board
Camilla Adang (Tel Aviv University)
Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala (Universidad de Córdoba)
Meira Polliack (Tel Aviv University)
Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
Alexander Treiger (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada)
VOLUME 2
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/biar
Arabic Versions of the Pentateuch
A Comparative Study of Jewish, Christian,
and Muslim Sources
By
Ronny Vollandt
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Sinai, MS Ar. 2, fol. 2r, © St Catherine’s Monastery
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vollandt, Ronny.
 Arabic versions of the Pentateuch : a comparative study of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources /
by Ronny Vollandt.
  pages cm. — (Biblia Arabica, ISSN 2213-6401 ; VOLUME 2)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-28991-8 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-28993-2 (e-book) 1. Bible. Pentateuch
Arabic—Versions. 2. Bible. Pentateuch—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Bible. Pentateuch—
Translating. 4. Manuscripts, Arabic. 5. Bible. Pentateuch I. Title.
BS315.A69V65 2015
222’.1046—dc23
2014048667
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 2213-6401
isbn 978-90-04-28991-8 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-28993-2 (e-book)
Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff and Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
Preface  ix
Acknowledgements  xv
List of Illustrations  xvii
part 1
1 Previous Scholarship: Concerns and Limitations  3
2 “A Clear Language that Ordinary People Understand”: The Linguistic
Background  22
2.1 The Melkites  26
2.2 The Syriac-Orthodox Church  30
2.3 The Church of the East  32
2.4 The Copts  34
2.5 Jewish Communities  36
2.6 The Samaritans  38
3 The Rise of Arabic Translations  40
3.1 Melkite Translations  53
3.2 West- and East-Syriac Translations  60
3.3 Coptic Translations  67
3.4 Mozarabic Translations  70
3.5 Jewish Translations  73
3.5.1 Early Non-Saadianic Translations  75
3.5.2 The Tafsīr of Saadiah Gaon  80
3.5.3 Qaraite Translations  84
3.6 Samaritan Translations  87
4 Muslims and Their Use of the Arabic Pentateuch  90
4.1 ʿAlī ibn Rabban  91
4.2 Ibn Qutayba  97
4.3 Al-Ṭabarī  103
4.4 Ibn Ḥazm  105
5 The Arabic Pentateuch in Early Printed Books  109
5.1 The Constantinople Polyglot  115
5.2 Pentateuchus Mosis Arabicè  117
vi contents
5.3 The Paris Polyglot  118
5.4 The London Polyglot  128
5.5 Biblia Sacra Arabica (1671–73)  129
6 Summary  133
part 2
7 Introduction  141
7.1 The Manuscripts  142
7.1.1 Sinai, ms Ar. 2  142
7.1.2 Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Hunt. 186  151
7.1.3 St. Petersburg, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts,
MS D 226  152
7.2 Textual Affinities  152
7.3 Text Divisions  154
8 Translation Technique  159
8.1 Syntax  163
8.1.1 Word Order  163
8.1.2 Coordinate Clauses  166
8.1.3 Subordinate Clauses  168
8.1.4 Conditional Clauses  172
8.1.5 Interrogative Clauses  173
8.1.6 Moods  174
8.1.7 Infinitives  175
8.1.8 Participles  178
8.1.9 Negation  180
8.1.10 The Vocative  182
8.1.11 Summary  182
8.2 Vocabulary  184
8.2.1 Use of Cognates  184
8.2.2 Transliterations  187
8.2.3 Homophonic Roots  188
8.2.4 Islamic Vocabulary  189
8.2.5 Alternative Translations  190
8.2.6 Lexical Consistency  192
8.2.7 Names  193
8.2.8 The Lexical Representation of Anthropomorphisms  198
8.2.9 Summary  198
contents vii
8.3 Particles  199
8.3.1 The Accusative Marker ܬܝ  200
8.3.2 The Accusative Marker -ܠ  201
8.3.3 The Particle of Being ܬܝܐ  201
8.3.4 The Particles of Similitude ܟܝܐ ,ܬܘܟܐ, and ܐܢܟܝܐ  201
8.3.5 The Particle of Possession -ܠܝܕ  202
8.3.6 The Particle ܐܗ  203
8.3.7 Prepositions  205
8.3.8 Summary  206
8.4 Style  206
8.4.1 Additions  207
8.4.2 Omissions  211
8.4.3 Substitutions  212
8.4.4 Summary  216
9 Conclusion  217
9.1 The Division into Elements or Segments  217
9.2 Addition or Subtraction of Elements  217
9.3 Consistency and Inconsistency  218
9.4 Accuracy and Conveyance of Semantic Information  218
9.5 Coded “Etymological” Indication of Formal/Semantic Relationships
Found in the Source Language  218
9.6 Level of Text and Level of Analysis  219
Appendices  221
Inventory of Manuscripts  221
1. ArabHeb: Translations from the Hebrew  221
2. ArabSyr: Translations from the Syriac  244
3. ArabSyr_Hex: Translations from the Syro-Hexapla  253
4. ArabGreek: A Translation from the Greek  264
5. ArabCopt: Translations from the Coptic  264
6. Manuscripts Based on Prints  272
7. Unidentified or Not Accessible  276
Text Divisions  276
Bibliography  281
Index of Subjects  318
Index of Sources  321
Index of Manuscripts  325

Preface
This book presents a fresh investigation into Arabic versions of the Pentateuch.
It is no exaggeration to speak of this field as a terra that is in many respects
almost incognita.1 Arabic translations of the Bible were produced over many
centuries, from a wide range of source languages, and in varying contexts. They
were used in the liturgy, studied, copied, and transmitted by different com-
munities—Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian, in their various denominations.
In addition, some medieval Muslim authors evinced great interest in them.
Biblical narratives derived from the “People of the Book” (ahl al-kitāb) and
given Arabic garb, resound in the Qurʾān and early Muslim literature, though
direct quotations are conspicuously absent. On the other hand, the emergence
of Arabic translations of the Jewish and Christian Bible may be considered
as a counterpoint to the Arabic Scripture of Islam to some extent. As is the
case for other ancient versions, it is misleading to speak of the Arabic Bible.
Any manuscript copy of a collection of biblical books in Arabic is likely to be
an amalgam, of which each section has a long and separate textual history.
It is a relatively unknown fact that Arabic versions far outnumber all other
known translation traditions. Another important characteristic is their great
mobility. For example, Saadiah’s originally Judaeo-Arabic Tafsīr was adopted
by Samaritan, Syriac-Orthodox, and Coptic communities. A translation of
East-Syriac provenance, designated ArabSyr2 in this study, was borrowed by
the Syriac-Orthodox Church but also circulated among the Mozarabs of Spain.
In the course of diffusion from one contemporary cultural context to another,
texts were often significantly transformed and adapted to the receptor com-
munity. But changes also occurred in diachronic transmission. Older registers
of Arabic may not have been understood by later copyists and readers. The
same is true for the specific translation language, which at times was modeled
on a strict and uncompromising formal equivalence to the source language
as a didactic technique and often had rules of its own. These features were
habitually subject to modifications. Thus plurality and variability constitute
the dominant trait of this genre.
Biblical accounts in Arabic assume different shapes. Some were transmit-
ted and alluded to in an islamicized form in the Qurʾān and other branches of
Muslim literature. Short passages were collected as proof-texts in polemical
1  In the pregnant phrase of Bengt Knutsson, Studies in the Text and Language of Three Syriac-
Arabic Versions of the Book of Judicum, with Special Reference to the Middle Arabic Elements:
Introductions, Linguistic Notes, Texts (Leiden: Brill, 1974): xi.