From Persia with Love: The Arabic Translation and Homiletical Commentary of Salmon Ben Yeruam on the Book of Esther. Karaite Texts and Studies

Description

This volume comprises an edition and translation of one of the earliest specimens of Jewish programmatic commentary on the book of Esther. The commentary’s author, Salmon b. Yerōḥām, is a central early figure in the “Golden Age” of Karaism (late-9th–11th cent.), a Jewish scripturalist and penitential movement centered at that time in Jerusalem. Among the various facets of Salmon’s commentary that we explore in our introduction are his translation technique, exegetical method, homiletical emphases, and polemical concerns. We also explore his use of sources, both explicit and tacit (in the latter case to a surprisingly broad degree as regards rabbinic sources and Saadia), as well as the reception of Salmon’s commentary in subsequent Jewish exegetical tradition. Front Cover ‎Half-Title Page ‎Series Title Page ‎Title Page ‎Copyright Page ‎Contents ‎Preface ‎Transliteration Tables ‎Introduction ‎Overview: Salmon’s Exegetical Enterprise ‎Methods and Themes in Salmon’s Commentary on Esther ‎1. The Linguistic-Contextual Foundation ‎1.1. Translation as the First Step ‎1.2. Lexical-Grammatical Explanations ‎1.3. Supra-linguistic (Expository) Analogy ‎2. Homiletical Themes ‎2.1. Repentance and Mourning for Zion ‎2.2. Encouragement in Exile ‎2.3. Affirmation of Pious Praxis ‎3. Polemics in the Service of Piety ‎3.1. Against the Rabbanites and Saadia ‎3.2. Against ʿAnan and the ʿAnanites ‎3.3. Against Unspecified Exegetes ‎4. Circumspect Use of Previous Sources ‎4.1. Rabbinic Sources (General) ‎4.2. Saadia Gaon ‎4.3. Undetermined Sources ‎The Reception of Salmon’s Commentary on Esther ‎1. In Judaeo-Arabic Exegetical Tradition ‎1.1. Yefet ben ʿEli ‎1.2. An Exegetical Digest from the School of Yūsuf b. Nūḥ ‎1.3. Tanḥum ha-Yerushalmi ‎1.4. Judah Meʾir Tawrīzī ‎1.5. Further Traces ‎2. In Hebrew Exegetical Tradition ‎2.1. A Byzantine Exegetical Compilation from the School of Tobiah b. Moses ‎2.2. Further Traces ‎Written Witnesses Employed for the Present Edition ‎1. Primary Witnesses to Salmon’s Commentary on Esther ‎1.1. MS ‮א‬‎ ‎1.2. MS ‮ב‬‎ ‎1.3. MS ‮ג‬‎ (NLR Evr.-Arab. II 3350) (Plate 3) ‎1.4. MS ‮ד‬‎ (NLR Evr.-Arab. II 29, fol. 1r–v) (Plate 4) ‎1.5. MS ‮ה‬‎ ‎2. Secondary Witnesses to Salmon’s Commentary on Esther: Judaeo-Arabic Reworkings, Citations, and Shared Sources ‎2.1. An Expanded Reworking of Salmon’s Commentary (MS NLR Evr.-Arab. I 4021) (‮أ‬‎) (Plate 5) ‎2.2. An Abridged Reworking of Salmon’s Commentary on Esther (MS NLR Evr.-Arab. I 3699, fol. 24r–v) (‮ب‬‎) (Plate 6) ‎2.3. Citations and Shared Sources ‎3. Relationship of the Manuscript Witnesses ‎3.1. Text Type 1 (MSS ‮ג‬‎, ‮ד‬‎, and ‮ה‬‎) ‎3.2. Text Type 2 (MSS ‮א‬‎ and ‮ב‬‎) ‎3.3. The Reworkings (MSS ‮أ‬‎ and ‮ب‬‎) ‎3.4. The Possibility of an Arabic-Script Vorlage ‎3.5. A Preliminary Manuscript Stemma ‎Editorial Method ‎1. The Basic Text and General Principles ‎2. The Apparatuses ‎Some Methodological Remarks on the Annotated English Translation ‎Signs, Sigla, and Abbreviations ‎English Translation ‎[Commentary on the Scroll of Esther] ‎Appendix 1. Two Judaeo-Arabic Reworkings of Salmon’s Commentary on the Book of Esther ‎Appendix 2. Salmon’s Linguistic Terminology: A Preliminary Inventory ‎Appendix 3. Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq al-Qirqisānī, Kitāb al-anwār wa-ʾl-marāqib, Section IX, Chapters 15–17 ‎Bibliographical Abbreviations ‎Index of Manuscripts ‎Index of Hebrew Bible ‎Index of Rabbinic Literature ‎Index of Medieval and Early-Modern Authors and Works ‎General Index ‎Plates ‎‮[תפסיר מגילת אסתר]‬‎ Back Cover