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Part of 18 Daniel - 18.4 Secondary Translations 18.4.8.1 BackgroundThe book of Daniel was translated into Arabic no later than the early ninth century c.e. In the following centuries, several idiosyncratic or interrelated translations appeared. In addition to the corpus transmitted in mt (Daniel 1–12; 18.2.2), most manuscripts further contain the Additions to Daniel (ii.3) as an integral part of Daniel 3 (i.e., the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men) and Bel and the Dragon at the end of the book. Susanna is included in some versions while excluded in others. 18.4.8.2 Ori…

Part of 20 1–2 Chronicles - 20.4 Secondary Translations 20.4.8.1 BackgroundThe Arabic versions of the two books of Chronicles are yet to be thoroughly studied. In his well-known work on Christian Arabic literature, Graf mentions a few manuscripts as containing the Chronicles only in passing.1 Samir supplements Graf’s work and furnishes a provisional classification of various Arabic versions of Chronicles in the Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 6.2 The manuscripts located in the Monastery of Saint Catherine are not taken into account by Samir; therefore, the manusc…

Part of 1 Overview Articles - 1.1 The Canonical Histories of the Deuterocanonical Texts1.1.10.1 IntroductionAs a physical object, parts of the Bible were rendered into Arabic shortly after the rise of Islam, partly as a direct consequence of a written Qurʾān.1 Some scholars argue for the plausibility of pre-Islamic Bible translations but we do not have firm textual evidence of Arabic renditions until the ninth or possibly late eighth century C.E. (1.2.12; I.1.4.11). Textual corruption and traces of revision in many extant manuscripts suggest that a number of books m…

Part of 11 Prayer of Manasseh 11.10.1 Arabic ReceptionThe Arabic reception of the Prayer of Manasseh has not yet been properly studied, and many relevant sources, especially liturgical manuscripts, are still unedited and inadequately described in manuscript catalogues. Also, the Arabic reception generally reflects the usage in other church languages and should not be regarded as a completely independent tradition (1.1.10). For instance, today the Arabic Prayer of Manasseh is included among the Biblical Odes and in Horologia in the Byzantine Arabic tradition ( al-rūm al-urthūdhu…

Part of 11 Job - 11.4 Secondary Translations 11.4.8.1 BackgroundSeveral ninth-century c.e. translations of the book of Job have been identified among our earliest Christian Arabic texts. We may therefore surmise that the sufferings of Job intrigued Arabic-speaking Christians more than many other books in the Christian Old Testament. In contrast, based on the number of extant manuscripts, few new translations or reproductions of the early manuscripts appear to have been produced between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. 11.4.8.2 Original Form, Editions, ToolsIn his famous * gc…

Part of 12 Proverbs - 12.4 Secondary Translations 12.4.8.1 BackgroundBy the turn of the tenth and eleventh centuries, at least two disparate versions of the Arabic book of Proverbs had appeared. One version represents a free translation from the Syriac Peshiṭta (12.3.4) whose earliest text witness is dated to the year 1002 c.e. The second version appears to be translated from lxx (12.3.1) and transmitted in liturgical collections. The earliest representative of the latter is attested in a manuscript dated to the tenth century. Another Greek-based version…

Part of 1 Overview Articles - 1.2 The Textual Histories of the Deuterocanonical Texts1.2.12.1 IntroductionThe field of Arabic Bible translations (I.1.4.11) suffers from many lacunae, especially with regard to the deuterocanonical books. With a few notable exceptions,1 only meagre scholarly attention has been paid to the reception of these books in Arabic among Near Eastern Christian communities (cf. 1.2.12.5). So far, there are no comprehensive bibliographies that cover the field, no encompassing lexica relating to specific Christ…

Part of 2 Baruch/Jeremiah - 2.1 1 Baruch 2.1.10.1 BackgroundIt appears that Baruch was rendered into Arabic at a relatively late stage. While many other biblical books were translated by the ninth century C.E., Arabic versions of Baruch are in principle attested to only from the fourteenth century onwards. Nevertheless, passages from the book that are used in the Byzantine liturgy are preserved from the twelfth century.It is commonly assumed that Christian Arabic Bible translations were initially produced by members of the Church of the East (Nestorians) and …

Part of 2 Baruch/Jeremiah - 2.4 Letter of Jeremiah 2.4.10.1 BackgroundThe Letter of Jeremiah is sparsely encountered in the vast and heterogenous corpus of Christian Arabic Bible translations (1.1.10). While many other biblical books had been rendered into Arabic by the ninth century C.E., the earliest version of the Letter of Jeremiah is so far attested to only in the fourteenth century. The textual history of the Letter of Jeremiah is in general similar to the one of Baruch (see 2.1.10 for further details). 2.4.10.2 ManuscriptsAs with Baruch, at least two different versions of…

Part of 3 Daniel, Additions to3.10.1 BackgroundThe Prayer of Azariah, The Song of the Three Young Men, and Bel and the Dragon were translated by Christians into Arabic around the ninth century C.E., as evident from extant manuscript sources. Susanna is not attested until the eleventh century (I.18.4.8). It is commonly assumed that early Christian-Arabic translations were initially produced by members of the Church of the East (Nestorians) and in the Byzantine communities under Muslim rule ( Rūm or Greek Orthodox/Melkites). At a later stage, some of these translations wer…

Part of 15 Wisdom of Solomon 15.10.1 BackgroundThe Wisdom of Solomon was originally composed in Greek (15.2) in a Jewish context, probably in Alexandria in the first century C.E. (15.1.1). Although it was often excluded from Eastern Christian canon lists in Patristic times (1.1.2), it grew immensely popular among Christians, not the least for theological reasons, and found its way into the Eastern liturgy and eventually into the canon. 15.10.2 The Arabic Reception: Canonical StatusThe Wisdom of Solomon appears in several lists of canonical books composed by Christians…

Part of 18 Daniel - 18.3 Primary Translations 18.3.7.1 BackgroundThe book of Daniel was one of the most widely studied biblical books during the Middle Ages.1 Thus, it is of no surprise that by the tenth and eleventh centuries, several Judeo-Arabic translations of the book of Daniel had appeared. Saadia Gaon b. Joseph al-Fayyūmī (882–942 c.e.) translated Daniel and supplied it with a commentary for the benefit of his community, as did his younger Karaite contemporaries, Salmon b. Yerūḥim and Yefet ben ʿElī (tenth century). No extant pre-Saadian Jud…

Part of 6–9 Latter Prophets - 6–9.2 Secondary Translations 6–9.2.8.1 BackgroundAt least two versions of the Arabic Prophets are possibly traceable to the ninth and tenth centuries. The ninth-century c.e. monk Pethion from Mesopotamia is believed to have translated the Prophets into Arabic from a Syriac Vorlage (6–9.1.4; 6–9.2.4) and the tenth-century c.e. priest al-ʿAlam of Alexandria translated from the Greek lxx (6.3; 7.3; 8.3; 9.3). Textual witnesses of these two translations do not predate the thirteenth century. However, in this connection, it shoul…

Part of 1 History of Research Despite their old age and despite the fact that Arabic Bible translations were known since a long time, the study of primary (I.1.3.6) and secondary Arabic translations (I.1.4.11; II.1.2.12) did not enjoy much attention in the academia. Much of the scholarly effort so far was focused on the study of individual manuscripts and textual witnesses. A history of research on the textual criticism of Arabic Bible translations needs thus to focus more on the development of these traditions than on critical …

Part of 13–17 Five Scrolls - 13–17.2 Secondary Translations13–17.2.8.1 RuthThe history of the Arabic book of Ruth has been mapped out more carefully than many other Arabic Bible translations. It is not represented by a large number of manuscripts and appears to have been translated into Arabic at a relatively late stage; the earliest extant manuscripts so far are dated to the thirteenth century.The location of Ruth in the biblical corpus varies. It usually follows Judges or the books of Kings but is at times excluded from larger biblical collections.1 A study confined to the Arabic …