T-S AS 72.79 and T-S Ar.1a.38 contain the text of Saadya Gaonâs translation (tafsÄ«r) on Exodus 32:2 and 25:3â5.1 The tafsÄ«r constitutes the main Judaeo-Arabic translation tradition in the Genizah corpus and so âanother two fragmentsâ are admittedly not a great source of astonishment. And yet, despite the fact that the text is so frequently found, the two leaves caught my eye immediately: they are virtually identical to the recently discovered manuscript St Petersburg RNL Yevr. II C 1, which contains the earliest known copy of the complete Pentateuch translation of Saadya. This copy was completed about sixty years after the demise of the Gaon and it preserves his translation in the most precise and accurate way, both in wording and language.
The two Genizah fragments originate without any doubt from the same hand. They are identical, but only cover the book of Exodus, apparently attesting that the scribe produced a separate copy of that book for an unknown purchaser. The Hebrew text is presented in large, calligraphic, oriental square letters with full Tiberian vocalisation; beneath it, Saadyaâs translation is found in smaller semi-cursive letters. The St Petersburg manuscript embraces 720 folio pages; nevertheless, rather large parts are missing. It was copied by Samuel ben Jacob, who is known as an expert producer of Masoretic model codices.2 Likewise the magnificent Leningrad Codex (RNL Yevr. B 19a) was written and vocalised by him in the year 1008â1009â¯CE in Fusá¹Äá¹. Although no date is given in the former manuscript it may be assumed that it was copied around the same time as the latter.
MS St Petersburg RNL Yevr. IIÂ C 1 opens with an ownership note, which is repeated at the beginning of every book, stating that this codex was commissioned by Solomon ben Abraham. Two Genizah fragments indicate that he was involved in trading with the Levantine coast, particularly with Tyre. His engagement in commerce and his consequent prestigious statusâas indicated by the honorary title ha-Paqid in the manuscriptâpermitted him to commission such a splendid codex. A second ownership note leads directly to Tyre, for it appears that Solomon ha-Kohen, brother ofâand Av Bet Din underâGaon Evyatar (Abiathar) ha-Kohen, acquired the codex. Under his father, Elijah ha-Kohen Gaon, the Palestinian academy moved to Tyre as a result of the Seljuk conquest of Palestine. The date of purchase is given as 1084, thus the transfer of ownership must have taken place immediately after the appointment of Evyatar ha-Kohen as Gaon.
The Genizah fragments and the St Petersburg manuscript resemble each other in another feature. Foreign to Saadyaâs practiceâand even antipodal to his own concept of scriptural translationâthey exhibit innumerable alternative renderings, which are introduced by the Arabic terms wa-qÄ«l or wa-yuqÄl. It is noteworthy that they only occur in the book of Exodus, mainly after Parashat Mishpatim, where they are at times found in every verse, or even twice in one verse.
Hitherto, alternative renderings were considered an exclusive and distinctive hallmark of the pre-Saadianic and Karaite translation traditions. The total absence of that feature in the bulk of the Genizah material, as well in later manuscripts, allows no other assumption than that the alternative renderings were introduced as a kind of internal gloss by the scribe Samuel ben Jacob himself (as already pointed out by Ben-Shammai 2000). The additional Genizah fragments stemming from his hand, in which they are incorporated in the very same manner, prove this. Internal evidence may also be found in the translation of Exodus 29:9. In the first half of the verse, â®
Certain tendencies may be detected: the glosses typically occur when Saadyaâs translation is difficult for the reader to comprehend. On those occasions when the Gaon commits himself to translate the Hebrew into idiosyncratic, high-standard Classical Arabic, an alternative rendering in Middle Arabic is frequently found. Equally, highly synthetic translations are annotated by an explanatory gloss. Further, a need was felt to append a gloss to Saadyaâs usages of homophonous cognates in Arabic.
A close scrutiny of later manuscriptsâwhether of early oriental or relatively late Yemenite provenanceâreveals, however, that these also occasionally feature readings akin to the glosses of MS St Petersburg RNL Yevr. II C 1. This fact evokes the crucial question: on which traditions did Samuel ben Jacob rely? Could it be that the glosses in fact draw upon genuine Saadianic material that resurfaced in the margins of the standardised transmission of the short tafsÄ«r? Considering the Genizah fragmentsâ readings at Exodus 23:1 and 29:20, this might very likely be the case. In one of the fragments of his commentary on Exodus (published by Y. Raztaby 1998), Saadya informs us of his difficulties in translating the Hebrew â®
In summary, it stands to reason that the glosses were introduced by the scribe Samuel ben Jacob by incorporating material of Saadyaâs commentary on Exodus. The additional Genizah fragments stemming from his hand, into which that material is interwoven in the very same manner, prove this. The glosses, thus, have to be seen in the light of intentional scribal editorial activity.
This article was originally published as the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unitâs Fragment of the Month for November 2009, where it appeared with the title: âTwo fragments (T-S AS 72.79 and T-S Ar.1a.38) of Saadiahâs tafsÄ«r by Samuel ben Jacobâ (
Editorâs note: For more recent discoveries of manuscripts copied by Samuel ben Jacob, see in the present volume, âMore Genizah Bible Fragments Written by Samuel b. Jacobâ by Kim Phillips.
References
J. Blau, âSaadya Gaonâs Pentateuch translation in the Light of an Early-Eleventh-Century Egyptian Manuscriptâ, Leshonenu 61 (1998), pp. 111â130.
R. Gottheil, âSome Hebrew Manuscripts in Cairoâ, JQR 17 (1905), pp. 609â655; no. 27, pp. 636â637.
S.D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, Berkeley 1967â1993, vol. I, p. 362.
E. Bareket, The Jews of Egypt 1007â1055, Jerusalem 1995, Document no. 88, pp. 155â157.
J. Mann, The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the Fatimid caliphs, Oxford 1969, pp. 178â201.
J. Mann, Texts and Studies, Cincinnati 1931â1935, Vol. 1, pp. 249â251.
Harkavy/Strackâs, Catalog der hebräischen Bibelhandschriften der Kaiserlichen-öffentlichen Bibliothek in St. Petersburg, St Petersburg 1875, pp. 269ff.
M. Polliack, The Karaite tradition of Arabic Bible translation, Leiden 1997, pp. 181â200.
M. Polliack, âAlternative renderings and additions in the Yeshuah ben Yehudahâs translation of the Pentateuchâ, JQR 84 (1993â1994), pp. 209â224.
H. Ben-Shammai, âNew and Old: Saadyaâs Two Introductions to his Translations of the Pentateuchâ, Tarbiz 69 (2000), pp. 199â210.
H. Ben-Shammai, Yefet ben Ê¿Eli al-Baá¹£ri, Commentary on Genesis, Jerusalem 2000, pp. 181â206 (esp. pp. 197â199).
Y. Ratzaby, Rav Saadyaâs Commentary on Exodus, Jerusalem 1998.