Arabic Versions of the Pentateuch

Ronny Vollandt, Ph.D. (2011), is a Professor of Jewish Studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich. His research focuses on the Arabic versions of the Bible and biblical exegesis in the Arabic language, more broadly, medieval Christian- and Judaeo-Arabic literature.

'Ronny Vollandt’s Arabic Versions of the Pentateuch is without a doubt the most important study of the Bible in Arabic to appear in recent decades. He combines close textual study of the earliest Arabic version of the Pentateuch, translated from the Syriac Peshitta in the early ninth century CE, with a masterful overview of Arabic Bible translations in general and their importance for the history of the largely Jewish and Christian communities in which they were produced. The book is a ground-breaking contribution to a long neglected area of study that is crucial to the history of 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, Washington'Vollandt has succeeded admirably in his goal of arguing for the importance and relevance of the Arabic versions in biblical scholarship, and it is hoped that he and others will build on this work by engaging in similar studies of other sections of the Bible. Brill’s recently launched Biblia Arabica series, of which this is the second volume to appear, will serve as an excellent forum for such future efforts'. - John Kaltner, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee [Review published by RBL © 09/2016 by the Society of Biblical Literature]

• TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSPREFACE CHAPTER ONE - PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP: CONCERNS AND LIMITATIONS CHAPTER TWO - “A CLEAR LANGUAGE THAT ORDINARY PEOPLE UNDERSTAND”: THE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND The Melkites The Syriac Orthodox Church The Church of the East The Copts Jewish Communities The Samaritans CHAPTER THREE - THE RISE OF ARABIC TRANSLATIONS Melkite Translations West- and East-Syriac Translations Coptic Translations Mozarabic Translations Jewish Translations Early Non-Saadianic Translations The Tafsīr of Saadiah Gaon Qaraite Translations Samaritan Translations CHAPTER FOUR - MUSLIMS AND THEIR USE OF THE ARABIC PENTATEUCH ʿAlī ibn RabbanIbn QutaybaAl-Ṭabarī Ibn Ḥazm CHAPTER FIVE - THE ARABIC PENTATEUCH IN EARLY PRINTED BOOKS The Constantinople Polyglot Pentateuchus Mosis Arabicè The Paris Polyglot The London Polyglot Biblia Sacra Arabica (1671–73) CHAPTER SIX - SUMMARY CHAPTER SEVEN - INTRODUCTION The Manuscripts Textual affinities Text Divisions CHAPTER EIGHT - TRANSLATION TECHNIQUESyntaxWord OrderCoordinate clauses Subordinate clauses Conditional clauses Interrogative clauses Moods Infinitives Participles Negation The Vocative SummaryVocabulary Use of cognates Transliterations Homophonic roots Islamic vocabulary Alternative translations Lexical consistency Names The lexical representation of anthropomorphismsSummaryParticles The accusative marker ܬܝ The accusative marker -ܠThe particle of being ܬܝܐ The particles of similitude ܬܘܟܐ , ܟܝܐ , and ܟܝܐThe particle of possession -ܝܕ The particle ܐܗ Prepositions SummaryStyleAdditions Omissions Substitutions SummaryCHAPTER NINE - CONCLUSION APPENDICESInventory of manuscriptsArabHeb: Translations from the Hebrew ArabSyr: Translations from the SyriacArabSyr_Hex: Translations from the Syro-Hexapla ArabGreek: A Translation from the Greek ArabCopt: Translations from the Copticmanuscripts based on prints Unidentified or not accessible Text Divisions BIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX