A Judeo-Arabic Parody of the Life of Jesus: The Toledot Yeshu Helene Narrative 9783161618864, 3161618866

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction
1. An Anti-Passion Story: The Pilate Narrative
2. A Jewish “Infancy Gospel”: The Helene Narrative
3. The State of the Field
Chapter 2: Manuscript Evidence of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic
1. A Typology of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic
2. Continued Lifespan of TY in the Near East During the Ottoman Period
Chapter 3: Judeo-Arabic in the Early and Classical Period – A Very Brief Introduction
1. Arabic for All
2. Register in Arabic and Judeo-Arabic
3. “Arabic in Hebrew Letters”
4. Phonetic and Standard Judeo-Arabic Orthography : How Do You Represent Arabic in the Hebrew Alphabet?
5. Transition to Late Judeo-Arabic
Chapter 4: Linguistic Transformations – From Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew
1. Distance from the Surrounding Culture
2. Hebrew as the Language “That All Understand”
3. The Role of Judeo-Arabic
Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic
1. The Linguistics of Late Judeo-Arabic: A Very Short General Introduction
2. Late Judeo-Arabic in TY Fragments: Textual Examples
3. Anonymous and Malleable
4. Story Collections: Developments in TY during the Ottoman Period
Chapter 6: Oldest Texts
1. Notes on the Edition
2. JTS ENA 3317.21
3. CUL T-S NS 298.58
4. JTS ENA NS 32.5
5. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1033
6. CUL T-S NS 298.57
7. CUL T-S NS 164.26
8. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092
9. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035
10. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993
Chapter 7: Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension (LMJAR)
1. Linguistic Features of LMJAR
2. Arabic-Rabbinic Preface
3. Midrashic Compilation on Stealing the Name and Zoharic Parallels
4. Parodying the Story of the True Cross
5. Development within Judeo-Arabic TY Texts
6. Relationship of LMJAR to the Italian A (1a/1b) Hebrew Version of TY
Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts
1. Notes on the Edition
2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005
3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919
4. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343
5. Sixteenth-Century RNL Manuscript
6. BL Or. 10435, f. 18
7. JTS ENA 1726, ff. 4–5
Appendix 1: Manuscripts Arranged by Plot Element
Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed
1. Description of Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts
2. Description of Hebrew Manuscripts
3. Guide to Markings and Terminology
Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation
1. Description of Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts
2. Description of Hebrew Manuscripts
Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections from the Mid to Late Ottoman Period
1. Literary Context of Near Eastern Manuscripts That Are Cited and Transcribed in Meerson-Schäfer Volumes
2. Ottoman Period Manuscripts Not Included in Meerson-Schäfer Volumes, All Languages
Appendix 5: Bilʿam and Stealing the Name in LMJAR and the Zohar
Bibliography
Index of Toledot Yeshu manuscripts
Subject Index

Citation preview

Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum Edited by Maren Niehoff (Jerusalem) Annette Y. Reed (Cambridge, MA) Seth Schwartz (New York, NY) Moulie Vidas (Princeton, NJ)

186

Miriam Goldstein

A Judeo-Arabic Parody of the Life of Jesus The Toledot Yeshu Helene Narrative

Mohr Siebeck

Miriam Goldstein, born 1976; 1999 AB, Harvard College; 2001 M.Phil, University of Cambridge; 2007 PhD, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Professor in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. orcid.org/0000-0002-7629-4637

ISBN 978-3-16-161886-4 / eISBN 978-3-16-162183-3 DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-162183-3 ISSN 0721-8753 / eISSN 2568-9525 (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism) The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Inernet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2023  by Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany.  www.mohrsiebeck.com This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was typeset by Martin Fischer in Tübingen, printed by Gulde Druck in Tübingen on non-aging paper and bound by Buchbinderei Spinner in Ottersweier. Printed in Germany.

Acknowledgments I am deeply grateful to the institutions, colleagues, friends, and family who have made this book a pleasure to research and write. My work on the Judeo-Arabic cultural heritage and my manuscript research have been enriched by the devoted support and attention of many friends and colleagues. First and foremost I thank my teacher Haggai Ben-Shammai for discussions broad-ranging and specific, enlightening and witty, and for his faithful and erudite mentorship over the past twenty-one years. I also thank my friend and neighbor Yitzchack Gila for sharing with me his broad knowledge and thoughtful consideration of many of the topics included here, as well as for his assistance regarding the catalog and digitized manuscripts of the National Library of Israel. I am also grateful to Dotan Arad, Nabih Bashir, Gad Freudenthal, Daniel J. Lasker, Sergey Minov, Barbara Roggema, Gregor Schwarb, Bernard Septimus, David Sklare, Sarah Stroumsa, and Sasha Treiger, for discussions over the years that have contributed to the creation of this book. Over the past few years I have had the privilege of being part of a friendly and generous circle of scholars united by their interest in the Toledot Yeshu (TY) literature, and I thank my colleagues for their encouragement and assistance in my research on the Judeo-Arabic renditions of TY. These include Daniel Barbu, Jonatan Benarroch, Gideon Bohak, Yaacov Deutsch, Sarit Kattan Gribetz, Evi Michels, Riccardo Di Segni, Peter Schäfer, and Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra. I am especially grateful to Gideon Bohak for extensive comments on an early draft of this book and for his generous support and guidance in all things related to TY. Other colleagues provided important counsel in instances where TY led me into areas arcane to me yet quotidian to them, including Galit Hasan-Rokem, Matti Huss, Ron Lassri, Mila Neishtadt, and David Rotman; I thank them for sharing their expertise with me. I am particularly grateful to Edna Engel for her valuable comments on paleography and manuscript dating. I thank academic colleagues from around the world who have been sources of wisdom and guidance on this as on other projects, as well as on life in general, most notably Daniel Frank, Walid Saleh, and Paola Tartakoff. Many institutions have provided crucial support for the research that underlies this book. I began research on this project under the auspices of a Starr Fellowship from the Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies, and received generous funding over subsequent years from the Badihi Family Trust at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, Misgav Yeru-

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Acknowledgments

shalayim at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Yuval Haiman Memorial Prize of the Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History. Important foundations for my work on this project include the magnificent digitized treasures of the National Library of Israel and the Friedberg Genizah Project, and I am obliged to these two institutions and their staff for the prescience and skill with which they make medieval manuscripts available to me and others. Finally, I am grateful for what I call paradise, my desk at the Polonsky Library of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in Jerusalem, Israel, where I wrote most of what you will read here. Reading Arabic and Judeo-Arabic texts with students is a valuable element in my research, and I read many of the fragments presented in this volume with MA students in courses that I taught at the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem over recent years. I am grateful to all of my students, especially Eli Shaubi, Firyal Qazaz, Hana ʿObeid, Maram Jaraysi, Mariam Touma, Narmeen Idrees, Noya Duanis, Taher ʿAzzam, Yinon Kahan and Yonatan Negev, for the hours spent poring over manuscript readings together and discussing these Judeo-Arabic texts in Hebrew and in Arabic, and for the many interesting questions, suggestions and challenges they raised during class time. Some of these suggestions have been incorporated into the book, with due recognition. I am grateful to my research assistants during this project: I thank Antonio Di Gesù for his painstaking work on the Hebrew versions of TY and for his help in preparing endless synoptic tables of comparison between the Judeo-Arabic and the Hebrew versions, and I thank Yinon Kahan for his dedicated assistance with the tables in appendix 4. For the editing of my final draft, I thank the eminently professional Tim Curnow. The details of everyday life and routine inevitably shape periods of research and writing, and I have been blessed in many of these routine details. To Ariel Guez, Eitan Jacobson, Erez Sariel, and Ronit Moshel, my swimming partners on the “Swim now, breathe later” Masters Swim Team of Giv‘at Ram, I send a hearty thanks for our swimming partnership of the past four years and onward. The clarity, optimism, and inspiration that accompany and follow swim practices with you are crucial for everything I do. I thank my dear parents-in-law, Ira and Lonya, for the devoted weekly visits to our home in Jerusalem, visits that enabled me to put in extended work days to bring this book to a finish. Finally, I am deeply grateful to my beloved parents, Joan and Bob, for their steady encouragement and keen interest in this project, as in all other parts of my life. Finally, and most importantly. Your steady and loving encouragement and partnership, Mish, along the path of life, and the joy brought to our lives by Gili, Ruthie, Shulie, and Shira, have sustained me beyond anything else. It is to my family that I dedicate this book. Jerusalem, Israel June 2022

Table of Contents Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V

Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. An Anti-Passion Story: The Pilate Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. A Jewish “Infancy Gospel”: The Helene Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3. The State of the Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chapter 2: Manuscript Evidence of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 1. A Typology of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2. Continued Lifespan of TY in the Near East During the Ottoman Period . . . 22

Chapter 3: Judeo-Arabic in the Early and Classical Period – A Very Brief Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 1. Arabic for All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2. Register in Arabic and Judeo-Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 3. “Arabic in Hebrew Letters” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 4. Phonetic and Standard Judeo-Arabic Orthography: How Do You Represent Arabic in the Hebrew Alphabet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5. Transition to Late Judeo-Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chapter 4: Linguistic Transformations – From Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 1. Distance from the Surrounding Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 2. Hebrew as the Language “That All Understand” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 3. The Role of Judeo-Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic . . . . . . . . . 47 1. The Linguistics of Late Judeo-Arabic: A Very Short General Introduction . 48 2. Late Judeo-Arabic in TY Fragments: Textual Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 3. Anonymous and Malleable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4. Story Collections: Developments in TY during the Ottoman Period . . . . . . 59

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Chapter 6: Oldest Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 1. Notes on the Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 2. JTS ENA 3317.21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 3. CUL T-S NS 298.58 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 4. JTS ENA NS 32.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 5. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1033 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 6. CUL T-S NS 298.57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 7. CUL T-S NS 164.26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 8. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 9. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 10. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Chapter 7: Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension (LMJAR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 1. Linguistic Features of LMJAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 2. Arabic-Rabbinic Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 3. Midrashic Compilation on Stealing the Name and Zoharic Parallels . . . . . . 103 4. Parodying the Story of the True Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 5. Development within Judeo-Arabic TY Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 6. Relationship of LMJAR to the Italian A (1a/1b) Hebrew Version of TY . . . 113

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts . . . . . 121 1. Notes on the Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 4. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 5. Sixteenth-Century RNL Manuscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 6. BL Or. 10435, f. 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 7. JTS ENA 1726, ff. 4–5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Appendix 1: Manuscripts Arranged by Plot Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 1. Description of Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 2. Description of Hebrew Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 3. Guide to Markings and Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 1. Description of Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 2. Description of Hebrew Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

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Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collectionsfrom the Mid to Late Ottoman Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 1. Literary Context of Near Eastern Manuscripts That Are Cited and Transcribed in Meerson-Schäfer Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 2. Ottoman Period Manuscripts Not Included in Meerson-Schäfer Volumes, All Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Appendix 5: Bilʿam and Stealing the Name in LMJAR and the Zohar . . 218 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Index of Toledot Yeshu manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Chapter 1

Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction The polemical anti-Christian narrative Toledot Yeshu (henceforth, TY), is the earliest freestanding composition written by Jews in response to central tenets of Christianity. Composed in Aramaic at some point during late antiquity or the early Islamic period, the narrative is a subversive and parodical rendering of central aspects of the life of Jesus. The work circulated among Jews over a wide geographical span throughout the medieval and modern periods. TY existed in two major forms, a “short” version and a “long” version, and each version has numerous subtypes. The shorter narrative is called the “Pilate” narrative in scholarship, named after the governor who ruled at the time according to that narrative; the longer narrative is called the “Helene” narrative after the female ruler who features in it prominently.1 This narrative was, not surprisingly, popular among Jews living in Christian Europe, and a recent project has made available some seventy Hebrew manuscripts of the work that circulated in Europe between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Perhaps somewhat less expected is the extensive Near Eastern attestation of the work during this period: Nearly thirty manuscripts in Hebrew and Aramaic deriving from the Near East were identified in the same Hebrew manuscript project.2 But even more surprising is the fact that numerous fragments of TY in JudeoArabic are preserved in manuscript collections originating in the Near East, both in the Cairo Genizah as well as in the Firkovich collection of the Russian National Library. The former, a trove preserved in a synagogue in Old Cairo, gained fame toward the end of the nineteenth century when its fragments were acquired and divided up among major libraries, most notably that of the University of Cambridge.3 The Firkovich collection was gathered during the second 1 This categorization was initially formulated by Riccardo Di Segni, and these appellations have been adopted in recent research. See Riccardo Di Segni, Il vangelo del ghetto (Rome: Newton Compton, 1985). 2 For the printed publication resulting from this project, see Michael Meerson and Peter Schäfer, Toledot Yeshu: The Life Story of Jesus, 2 vols. (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014). The internet version is accessible for registered users at https://online.mohr.de/toledot (accessed August 16, 2021). 3  For detailed description of the gradual discovery and acquisition of this genizah, that of the Ben ‘Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo, see Rebecca J. W. Jefferson, The Cairo Genizah and

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Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

half of the nineteenth century by the learned, inspired and determined Karaite collector and community leader Abraham Firkovich (d. 1874), and is currently held at the Russian National Library. These TY fragments, originating in some twenty distinct manuscripts, represent copies of TY that circulated in JudeoArabic from the eleventh century until the sixteenth or seventeenth century, and are testimony to the interest in this work among the Jews of the Near East. The Jews of the Near East during that period were living in a Muslimruled milieu, one that sanctioned the existence of non-Muslim religions such as Judaism and Christianity, and one that governed adherents of these “book religions” with a code of laws known as the dhimma, protecting their rights of worship, but at the same time anchoring them to a variety of social and communal limitations.4 This multireligious environment, with its legal framework sanctioning a variety of religious beliefs and practices, contrasted greatly to life in Christian Europe, with its pressures to convert and its marked intolerance of Jewish practice.5 It makes sense that Jews in Europe would have read, listened to, copied, and transmitted a work like TY. But why would the Jews of the Near East have been so interested in reading a parody of the life of Jesus? This book is one way to tell the story of that interest. Its centerpiece is the Judeo-Arabic texts of the “Life Story of Jesus,” in particular the various renditions of the Helene narrative. Each manuscript text of that particular narrative is presented in the original Judeo-Arabic, accompanied by an annotated translation in English (chapters 6 and 8). Approximately half of these represent a single family of Judeo-Arabic texts that I refer to as the late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic recension (LMJAR), and I devote a specialized introduction to this family of texts and its unique characteristics (chapter 7). In the remainder of this chapter (chapter 1), I will set out the background of the formation and development of TY, for the first time including new research in Judeo-Arabic, discoveries that change the way the story of TY should be told. These new texts (introduced in chapter 2) will serve scholars of TY, as well as historians and literary historians of the Near East, and they will also raise fruitful questions for readers interested in the European attestation of TY. For readers not familiar with medieval Judeo-Arabic literature, I provide an introduction to this body of literature and how it developed over a period of more than a millennium, with specific focus on the TY texts represented over this time (chapters 3 and 4). Finally, I will also address a number of the major questions raised by this the Age of Discovery in Egypt: The History and Provenance of a Jewish Archive (London: I. B.  Tauris, 2022). 4 See on this, for example, Fred Astren, “Dhimma,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman A. Stillman (Leiden: Brill, 2010), http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1878-9781ejiw-all. 5  On this topic, see Mark R. Cohen, Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008).

1. An Anti-Passion Story: The Pilate Narrative

3

extensive Near Eastern attestation of TY, most importantly, why this parodical narrative had such a long life in the Near East under Muslim rule (chapter 5). In my study of the Judeo-Arabic versions of the TY Helene narrative, I focus on illuminating the broad picture of the development of TY, including the fundamental piece that has been missing until now – approximately a millennium of textual and narrative development among Arabic-speaking Jews, significantly predating the appearance of the TY Helene manuscripts preserved in Europe that have been the focus of research over the past decades. I also discuss the TY manuscripts in the wider literary and cultural context in which they play a role: Judeo-Arabic literature, as well as Mamluk and Ottoman literature. I compare the Judeo-Arabic versions of TY Helene to the Hebrew versions to some extent, in chapter 2 as well as in chapters 6 and 8 where the Judeo-Arabic texts are presented, but the majority of the comparative textual work is work for another project. Specific literary and theological analyses of the Judeo-Arabic texts presented in this work are mentioned here but not discussed in full, as they appear in earlier articles that I have published.

1. An Anti-Passion Story: The Pilate Narrative The earliest evidence of the existence of the TY narrative, in the view of many researchers, is an anonymous work focused on the trial and execution of Jesus (henceforth referred to as Yeshu, in the context of the TY narrative). This early work was known as Gzar dina de-Yeshu (The sentencing of Yeshu).6 Often referred to as the Pilate narrative after the ruler who sentenced Yeshu to death, this narrative of TY was originally composed in Aramaic. Scholars of the text have proposed widely varying dates of origin, ranging from the second century ce through the early Islamic period, although in recent years, consensus has centered around a view situating the work somewhere in late antiquity, or at the latest, around the time of the rise of Islam.7 The Pilate narrative of TY incorporates certain key elements from earlier traditions relating to Jesus. These include the echoes of talmudic allusions to the birth of Jesus, the incorporation of the “name” narrative of Jesus’ disciples from the Talmud, and finally, allusions to Jesus’ questionable student-teacher relation-

6 See Gideon Bohak, “Jesus the Magician in the ‘Pilate’ Recension of Toledot Yeshu,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 86. 7  The most current overview of questions of dating, along with a summary and citations of earlier writing on the topic, is provided in Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch, “Reading Toledot Yeshu in Context,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 6.

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Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

ship with the sages, especially with Yehoshuʿa b. Peraḥya.8 These traditional elements are shaped into a new freestanding narrative that follows Yeshu from trial to execution. Yeshu is arrested, interrogated, and put on trial; after attempting miracles such as the creation of a stone fetus in Caesar’s daughter, he is sentenced to death. He takes flight but is downed by a Jewish hero whose identity varies in the texts, and is in the end executed and buried, following which his body is dishonorably exhumed to be dragged through the streets. In its aggressive tone and its incorporation of numerous texts from the Talmud that verge on polemic, this narrative likely emerged from a charged environment, although its exact location of origin is unclear. Willem Smelik and Michael Sokoloff have presented analyses locating the Aramaic of the narrative alternately in the Byzantine Levant or in Babylonia.9 The narrative is anonymous, as were many Jewish texts from the period of late antiquity and the early Islamic period.10 The earliest surviving manuscripts of the Pilate narrative postdate even the most conservative and late estimates of the text’s composition by a number of centuries. These early documents consist of undated Aramaic manuscripts that are likely from the eleventh century, preserved in the collections of the Cairo Genizah. All told, five Aramaic manuscripts of the Pilate narrative are attested, likely dating between the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries on the basis of their paleography. The first to focus on these manuscripts was William Horbury, in his dissertation completed in 1970, and since then, these Aramaic manuscripts have been studied by Yaacov Deutsch and Gideon Bohak and have been republished by Michael Meerson and Peter Schäfer. Three Hebrew manuscript  8 On

the birth of Jesus, see BT Shabb. 104b (preserved only in uncensored versions of the Talmud). On the “name” narrative, see BT Sanh. 43a; see also Gideon Bohak, “A New Genizah Fragment of Toledot Yeshu in Aramaic,” [in Hebrew], Tarbiz 85 (2018): 647. On the studentteacher relationship, see BT Sanh. 107b and BT Sotah 47a. The full version of these episodes is preserved only in uncensored manuscript versions of the Talmud. For discussion of these and other descriptions of Jesus in the Talmud, as well as the censorship of such passages, see Peter Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007).  9 See Willem F. Smelik, “The Aramaic Dialect(s) of the Toldot Yeshu Fragments,” Aramaic Studies 7 (2009): 39–73; Michael Sokoloff, “The Date and Provenance of the Aramaic Toledot Yeshu on the Basis of Aramaic Dialectology,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 13–26. See also the comments in Bohak, “Jesus the Magician in the ‘Pilate’ Recension of Toledot Yeshu,” 89. 10 Conceptions of composition and authorship among Jewish scholars underwent a transformation during the ninth and tenth centuries. A traditional and long-held emphasis on the oral transmission of knowledge and a tendency to anonymous or pseudonymous creation was replaced by a growing trend toward organized recorded compositions created by declared authors, for the most part in Judeo-Arabic. This gradual transition is aptly described in detail in Rina Drory, The Emergence of Jewish-Arabic Literary Contacts at the Beginning of the Tenth Century, [in Hebrew] (Tel Aviv: Ha-Kibbutz ha-Meʾuhad, 1988); Rina Drory, Models and Contacts: Arabic Literature and Its Impact on Medieval Jewish Culture (Leiden: Brill, 2000).

1. An Anti-Passion Story: The Pilate Narrative

5

fragments of the Pilate narrative have also been identified, likely dating to the thirteenth century.11 Judeo-Arabic manuscripts of the Pilate narrative are attested from a relatively early period as well, in collections originating in the Cairo Genizah. At least three manuscript fragments are attested as early as the eleventh century, and given the variety among them, it is likely that the narrative circulated even earlier. Gideon Bohak has carried out insightful comparative work among these early Pilate fragments, demonstrating clear textual connections between the Aramaic and the Judeo-Arabic fragments. The connections between the fragments are on the level of content – they share nearly identical plot elements in both languages and, more significantly, can be aligned on a detailed linguistic level. Some of the Judeo-Arabic Pilate fragments are linguistically dependent on the Aramaic fragments and were apparently translated from them. In contrast, no direct connection appears to exist between the Aramaic Pilate fragments and the Hebrew fragments.12 The circulation described above is a strictly Near Eastern one, entirely in Hebrew characters. The first European references to the Pilate narrative of TY originate in non-Jewish circles. This early medieval Christian testimony suggests that this TY narrative was circulating in southern France at least a century prior to its earliest manuscript attestation in the Near East (although even the latest estimates regarding the Middle Eastern origins of TY in Aramaic predate this European Christian testimony). The ninth-century bishop of Lyons, Agobard, references a number of traditions identified with TY in a letter, De Judaicis superstitionibus (On the Jewish superstitions), addressed to King Louis, which he authored with two of his fellow bishops during the first half of the

11  The Aramaic Pilate manuscripts are the following: Cambridge CUL T-S Misc. 35.87, Cambridge CUL T-S Misc. 35.88, New York JTS 2529.1, St. Petersburg RNL Evr. 105.9, Manchester Rylands B3791, and two fragments originating in the same manuscript, New York JTS 2529.2 and Cambridge CUL T-S Misc. 298.56. The Hebrew representatives of the Pilate narrative are a pair of fragments originating in the same manuscript copy (Paris Mosseri 1.81 and Cambridge CUL T-S NS 329.820) as well as New York JTS 8998, which includes two different versions of the Pilate narrative in Hebrew. For the most up-to-date listing and examination of these Pilate fragments, which corrects a number of earlier categorizations and datings, see Bohak, “New Genizah fragment.” Bohak also presents a comparison of the Judeo-Arabic and Aramaic fragments in Bohak, “Jesus the Magician in the ‘Pilate’ Recension of Toledot Yeshu.” Earlier studies include Yaacov Deutsch, “New Evidence of Early Versions of Toledot Yeshu,” [in Hebrew], Tarbiz 69 (2000): 177–97; William Horbury, “A Critical Examination of the Toledoth Jeshu” (PhD diss., University of Cambridge, 1970); Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:49–64. 12  See Bohak, “New Genizah Fragment.” This statement does not apply to the unique Byzantine manuscript, St. Petersburg RNL Evr. I:274, discussed in the context of Aramaic fragments in Deutsch, “Early Versions of Toledot Yeshu.” Gideon Bohak is currently preparing a monograph devoted to the Pilate narrative of TY, in its Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, and Hebrew forms.

6

Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

ninth century.13 Agobard’s successor, Amulo, in his Contra Judaeos, completed in 847, references yet other Jewish traditions, pertaining to Jesus’ exhumation after burial as well as to his birth. Relating to the means of transmission of these narratives, Agobard notes that Jews “read” (legant, lectitant) these works, but from his description, it seems likely that he heard of these traditions orally, and is not referring to a written version.14 What is clear from the references of both Amulo and Agobard, though, is that the Pilate version of TY, created in the East some centuries earlier, was known to Christian scholars and churchmen, and presumably to Jews as well, by the ninth century in at least one European community on the western edges of the Mediterranean. Later European evidence of the Pilate narrative surfaces in the works of Abner of Burgos, a learned Jew who converted, taking on the new name of Alfonso de Valladolid. Abner/Alfonso was a prolific writer both before and after his conversion; following his conversion in 1320, he composed a number of polemical works in Hebrew and Castilian, in which he cites directly from the Pilate as well as the Helene narrative.15 These references can be found in his anti-Jewish composition Moreh ṣedeq or Mostrador de justicia (Teacher of righteousness), originally composed in Hebrew but surviving only in a later Castilian translation; the Castilian of the surviving text turns out to preserve these two narratives of TY. Abner also took up the claims of TY in his Sefer milḥamot Adonai (Book of the wars of the Lord), a work that appears to have been originally composed in Hebrew and translated into Castilian by Abner himself. While the Sefer milḥamot is lost, quotations from it have been preserved in later works, including in the response composed by Shem Tov ibn Shaprut in the 1380s, entitled Even boḥan (The touchstone).16 The citations from Agobard, Amulo, and Abner/Alfonso demonstrate, then, that the Pilate narrative of TY was known in Europe, and these references, especially in the case of Abner/Alfonso, preserve important textual witnesses. That said, not a single manuscript copy of the Pilate narrative has survived on that continent, and our only evidence of this TY narrative in its original languages is preserved in Near Eastern manuscript copies.

13  On this literary specimen, as well as the next, see the illuminating discussion in Peter Schäfer, “Agobard’s and Amulo’s Toledot Yeshu,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 27–48. 14  Patrologia Latina 104, cols. 87B–D. 15 See Ryan Szpiech, “The Book of Nestor the Priest and the Toledot Yeshu in the Polemics of Abner of Burgos/Alfonso of Valladolid,” in Polemical and Exegetical Polarities in Medieval Jewish Literature: Studies in Honor of Daniel J. Lasker, ed. Ehud Krinis et al. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 269–300. 16  See Szpiech. Shem Tov’s work is briefly discussed in Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:12–14.

1. An Anti-Passion Story: The Pilate Narrative

7

This Near Eastern attestation of the Pilate narrative, though, is not long-lived, and its presence in the Near East wanes steadily during the Mamluk period (1250–1517). Regarding Judeo-Arabic, the process is very clear: The manuscript evidence of this anti-passion narrative in Judeo-Arabic recedes toward the thirteenth century, and from the fourteenth century, it is completely absent from the manuscript record. In Hebrew, after the thirteenth century it is not the Pilate narrative itself that is apparent, but rather an amalgam, which appears to be some kind of combination of the Pilate and Helene narratives. This interesting rendition, whose genesis and development are not clear, is preserved in two Yemenite manuscripts, dating roughly to the seventeenth century and labeled “Early Yemenite” by Meerson and Schäfer.17 Elements of the Pilate narrative combined with Helene elements are also preserved in a sui generis manuscript originating in Byzantium and dated to 1536 in its colophon.18 Why did the original and brief account of TY, a parody of the momentous events surrounding the end of Jesus’ life, fade to this extent? Manuscript evidence in Judeo-Arabic suggests that its near-extinction was caused by a textual development – the creation of an expanded account that was likely even more entertaining to Jewish readers and listeners in the Near East, and which seems to have taken the place of the Pilate version. This expanded narrative is known to modern researchers as the Helene narrative, and its first appearance is in JudeoArabic manuscripts.19

17  The rendition labeled “Early Yemenite” is described in Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:65–70. The dating and categorization of these manuscripts is as yet unclear, requiring further consideration. 18  This is St. Petersburg RNL Evr. I:274. On this manuscript, see Deutsch, “Early Versions of Toledot Yeshu”; Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:155–66. 19  I have drawn these conclusions regarding the relationship between the two narratives on the basis of my perusal of the textual evidence available to me. A full consideration of the development of the Pilate and Helene narratives and their relationship to each other will be possible only after the publication of all textual witnesses. A similar opinion, holding the Helene narrative to be a development following the Pilate narrative, is held by Di Segni as well as by Meerson and Schäfer; see Di Segni, Il vangelo del ghetto, 218; Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:30. However, they date the Helene version too late, in my opinion, because they take only Aramaic and Hebrew sources into account. A number of researchers have written recently proposing that the two versions developed in parallel; see Daniel Barbu, “The Textual Traditions of Toledot Yeshu” (Habilitationsschrift, University of Bern, 2019); William Horbury, “Titles and Origins of Toledot Yeshu,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 13–42; Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, “On Some Early Traditions in Toledot Yeshu and the Antiquity of the Helena Recension,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 43–58.

8

Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

2. A Jewish “Infancy Gospel”: The Helene Narrative The earliest evidence of a second and expanded TY narrative is revealed by Judeo-Arabic manuscripts that can be dated, on the basis of their script, to around the eleventh century. This expanded account adds a birth story to the narrative, as well as tales of Yeshu’s youth. It adds action elements in which the renegade Yeshu, accompanied by a substantial horde of followers – whose number varies, depending on the rendition – is pursued between the Galilee and Jerusalem. Like the Pilate narrative, it recounts the last days of Yeshu’s life – his execution and burial – in descriptions evidencing certain parallels with the shorter account. This expanded narrative concludes with counter-historical renditions of the “parting of the ways” between Judaism and Christianity, in which Jewish secret agents are responsible for causing the followers of Yeshu to separate from the faithful Jews. The Helene account is named after the queen, an enigmatic figure, who it says ruled Judea during the time of Yeshu and who is in this version responsible for his sentencing.20 These eleventh-century Judeo-Arabic manuscripts of the Helene narrative of TY survive in very fragmentary form, and represent only a fraction of the elements of the complete narrative. One of these plot elements, however, adds crucial evidence to knowledge regarding the creation of the Helene narrative. The early manuscripts include the parodical birth narrative, a leitmotif of the Helene narrative, which has been asserted recently to be a medieval European creation.21 The appearance of the TY birth narrative in these early Judeo-Arabic fragments demonstrates the existence of the Helene narrative quite early in the Near East, prior to European references to it, and predating by far the much later manuscript evidence of the Helene narrative on that continent.22 Moreover, the Judeo-Arabic Helene narrative was likely attested in the Near East at least a century or more prior to these early fragments.23 One indicator of this early attestation is the multiplicity of versions already existing in JudeoArabic in the early fragments. Another is the appearance of TY-related themes in tenth-century literary creations in the Near East; specifically, anti-Chris20  On the figure of Helene, see Galit Hasan-Rokem, “Polymorphic Helena: Toledot Yeshu as a Palimpsest of Religious Narratives and Identities,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 247–82. 21 See, for example, Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:54. 22 I discuss this early attestation of the birth narrative in the Near East and its significance in Miriam Goldstein, “Early Judeo-Arabic Birth Narratives in the Polemical Story ‘Life of Jesus’ (Toledot Yeshu),” Harvard Theological Review 113 (2020): 354–77. 23  I have discussed this possibility at length elsewhere, and of necessity include only a brief survey of the evidence here. See Miriam Goldstein, “Jesus in Arabic, Jesus in Judeo-Arabic: The Origins of the Helene Version of the Jewish ‘Life of Jesus’ (Toledot Yeshu),” Jewish Quarterly Review 111 (2021): 83–104.

2. A Jewish “Infancy Gospel”: The Helene Narrative

9

tian liturgical poetry in Hebrew employing epithets for Jesus and his mother as well as other elements of the TY Helene narrative, which were apparently commonly recognized.24 Finally, the charged interreligious polemical environment of the first few Islamic centuries, as well as the multiplicity of Christian and Muslim stories about Jesus and his mother, contributed to create an atmosphere that would motivate the composition of a Jewish parody relating to these central cultural figures. The creation of an expanded Judeo-Arabic version treating Yeshu’s life as a whole, in addition to his last days as described in the Pilate narrative of TY, would have joined a number of other notable Judeo-Arabic works polemicizing against Christianity.25 Near Eastern manuscripts likely dating to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries reveal further elements of the Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic. The fullest survival of the TY Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic is in a manuscript that dates roughly to the thirteenth or fourteenth century (St. Petersburg RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005). Numerous manuscripts are preserved following this period, and in this way, the Helene account of TY is well-attested in Judeo-Arabic manuscripts through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in a variety of Genizah collections. These manuscripts represent a number of different textual traditions, as will become apparent below. They cover approximately two-thirds of the work in its entirety, and I present them in a convenient chart, arranged by plot element, in appendix 1. Some centuries after its initial attestation in the Near East in Judeo-Arabic, the Helene narrative of TY begins to make its appearance in Europe – initially in literary references and quotations. The thirteenth-century Dominican monk and scholar Ramon Martí (Raymond Martini) includes a direct quotation, in a Latin translation, of a rendition of the TY Helene narrative in his polemical tract Pugio fidei (Dagger of faith). This rendition does not include a birth narrative, but begins with a central element of the Helene narrative – Yeshu’s stealing the Ineffable Name from the Temple. Martí’s text ends with Yeshu’s execution.26 As noted above, the prolific philosopher turned polemicist Alfonso of Valla­ dolid (Abner of Burgos), included excerpts of both narratives of TY in two works 24  See Michael Rand, “An Anti-Christian Polemical Piyyut by Yosef ibn Avitur Employing Elements from Toledot Yeshu,” European Journal of Jewish Studies 7 (2013): 1–16. 25  These include works that adopt a rough and insulting tone similar to that found in TY Helene: al-Radd ʿalā al-naṣārā min ṭarīq al-qiyās (The logical refutation of Christianity) as well as Kitāb al-ḍarāʾa (The book of urging on to attack), both by the ninth-century Dāwūd ibn Marwān al-Muqammaṣ. A third work by al-Muqammaṣ, his ʿIshrūn maqāla (Twenty chapters), includes more sober and rationally argued polemic against Christianity. On this variety of genres in Jewish polemic against Christianity see Daniel J. Lasker, “Popular Polemics and Philosophical Truth in the Medieval Jewish Critique of Christianity,” The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 8 (1999): 243–59. 26  For a discussion of this polemical work in the context of TY, see Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:10–12.

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Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

composed in the early thirteenth century. In the Mostrador de justicia, Abner/ Alfonso evidences detailed knowledge of both narratives of TY, and clearly distinguishes between an Aramaic rendition and one in Hebrew, which were likely the Pilate and Helene narratives respectively.27 TY seems to have become more widely known in Europe in the fourteenth century, and is mentioned in passing in a number of polemical documents and compositions. An inquisitorial dossier from this period preserved in the archive of the Cathedral of Barcelona mentions the work, noting that Jews read “the book of the devil [i. e., TY] […] in order to bring back those who dare to make themselves Christians” – apparently, to return conversos to Judaism.28 In the fifteenth century, a full rendition of the Helene account of TY in Europe was published in Latin by Thomas Ebendorfer as part of a collection intended to expose a variety of Jewish anti-Christian compositions. Ebendorfer’s publication was the first time that the notorious conception story was given in full in Europe; Abner/Alfonso’s thirteenth-century rendition of both the Pilate and the Helene narratives had only paraphrased this element. Ebendorfer also included other elements of the TY narrative that were ostensibly viewed as problematic and had been omitted in earlier mentions of the work.29 These European references to TY including translated citations from it predate actual manuscripts of TY in Europe by a significant period. The earliest preserved European manuscripts of TY in Hebrew date to the late sixteenth century, and were copied in Italy. These earliest witnesses represent the Helene narrative alone, as I have noted above, and they are the oldest of a body of some thirty European manuscripts of TY in Hebrew, the majority of which date to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.30 27  See Szpiech, “The Book of Nestor the Priest and the Toledot Yeshu in the Polemics of Abner of Burgos/Alfonso of Valladolid,” 284–95, especially p. 289. 28  The quotation is from the Vida de Jesucrist by the fourteenth-century Franciscan scholar Francesc Eiximenis, quoted in Paola Tartakoff, “The Toledot Yeshu and Jewish-Christian Conflict in the Medieval Crown of Aragon,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 295–309. 29  On this work, see Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:14. On Abner/Alfonso’s awareness of the conception story, see the citations in Szpiech, “The Book of Nestor the Priest and the Toledot Yeshu in the Polemics of Abner of Burgos/Alfonso of Valladolid,” 290–91. Szpiech cites manuscript versions of Mostrador de justicia as well as Mettman’s edition (Westdeutscher Verlag, 1994; 1996), clearly indicating awareness of the incendiary narrative: “Ca quando era Jhesu Christo de .XX. annos, començó a mostrar sus ssignos e sus miraglos ante las gentes, como lo cuenta el libro que es poblicado entre los judios de ffazienda de Jhesu, que diz que los judios peleauan con él quando amostraua rrazones de la Ley ante su maestro, e apusiéronle que merescia muerte por ello, e que se leuantó vno de los sabios, que dizen que auie nonbre Rrabi Ssimon ben Satah, que les dixo que bien auie ueynte annos que uino a él Rrabi Yohanan, marido de Maria, e quel dixo que era concebida Maria en adulterio. E desde entonçe ffuxo Jhesu de entre los sabios e ouo mester a fazer miraglos” (Mostrador, 211v/2:158–59). 30  For a list and description of these manuscripts, see Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of

2. A Jewish “Infancy Gospel”: The Helene Narrative

11

Hebrew renditions of the TY Helene narrative circulated in the Near East in the early modern period as well, alongside the Judeo-Arabic texts that will form the centerpiece of what follows. The earliest Near Eastern attestation of the Helene narrative in Hebrew dates to the early eighteenth century, although a version that blends elements of both Pilate and Helene is attested in Yemenite communities from at least the sixteenth century, as discussed above in relation to the Pilate narrative.31 The work became popular in a variety of languages around the Near East and Mediterranean, in interesting literary contexts, in story collections as well as in sections of the Yemenite prayerbook, the Tiklāl. I discuss the literary contexts of TY in its variety of Near Eastern languages in chapter 5. The discussion above indicates that TY is extensively represented in manuscripts in the Near East – there are more than fifty surviving manuscripts with renditions of the TY narrative in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic from the Jewish communities of this Islamic-ruled region. Taking into account further versions of the story that I have identified in Judeo-Persian, the number rises to some sixty manuscripts. These numbers are surprisingly large especially when compared to the number of Helene manuscripts attested in Christian-ruled Europe.32 Even taking into account the vagaries of manuscript survival, whether due to climate or historical events or to community usage,33 this manuscript representation speaks to a strong interest in transmitting the work and in preserving it, in the communities of the Near East and Mediterranean – and it is this commitment to the narrative, whose character changed and developed over time, to which this study is devoted. The history of TY that I have recounted above has for the first time told the story of the narrative with the inclusion of its Judeo-Arabic versions and in light of manuscript identifications made over the past decade. This account is built, however, on a substantial body of research that has been carried out over the past 120 years.

Jesus, 2:2–41. In this tally I have not included the more expanded narrative labeled “Group III” in this source. 31  This is the version labeled “Early Yemenite” in recent research; see Meerson and Schäfer, 2:65–70. 32  My summation of the Near Eastern manuscripts takes into account the Pilate narrative (attested only in the Near East) as well as the Helene narrative. A count of the manuscripts collected by Meerson and Schäfer adds up to a total of 73, including 27 of what they refer to as the “Group II” Helene type and a 45 of what they label as the “Group III” Helene type (Wagenseil and the Slavic recensions). 33 For a brief discussion of a number of issues surrounding the survival of manuscripts, see Malachi Beit-Arie, Hebrew Codicology: Historical and Comparative Typology of Hebrew Medieval Codices Based on the Documentation of the Extant Dated Manuscripts Using a Quantitative Approach (Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, pre-print internet English version 0.4), 64–67.

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Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

3. The State of the Field The scholarly study of TY began with the pioneering work of Samuel Krauss published in 1902, Das Leben Jesu.34 Krauss took up the explosive piece of writing that had until that point been shunned by earlier Jewish scholars, and adopted it as a composition worthy of textual analysis and historical consideration. In his monograph he transcribed a significant number of TY manuscripts for the first time, publishing them together with a German translation of their contents. Krauss popularized a division and categorization of the manuscripts based to some extent on that proposed earlier by his colleague and one-time friend Erich Bischoff, a scholar whose later work took up anti-Semitic claims under a veil of scholarship. In his volume, Krauss also provided pioneering considerations regarding a variety of important related topics, many of which remain relevant and even unsolved until today. These include, for example, the suggestion of a relationship with various apocryphal texts, as well as the consideration of folkloristic motifs in TY, a significant subject that has received little attention since Krauss’s publication. Most importantly, Krauss’s choice of manuscript texts created a basis for many later studies, and his volume became the central resource for texts of TY for more than a century. Scholars did not immediately follow Krauss’s lead in exploring this for­merly spurned text, yet gradually, over the following century, textual studies and analyses of this polemical work were taken up, building the scholarly understanding of TY. A major step forward was made with the 1970 doctoral dissertation of William Horbury, who provided a pathbreaking study of the early Aramaic manuscripts of the Pilate account of TY on the basis of Cambridge manuscripts that he examined firsthand, as well as Hebrew versions of TY.35 Research over the past twenty years has decisively built our knowledge of the work, primarily regarding the Aramaic and Hebrew versions of TY as well as their historical context. Yaacov Deutsch and William Horbury have made significant contributions to the textual study of TY in Aramaic and in Hebrew, as has Gideon Bohak, who has published studies devoted to the Pilate narrative in various renditions including Judeo-Arabic.36 Peter Schäfer has examined 34 Samuel Krauss, Das Leben Jesu nach jüdischen Quellen (Berlin: S. Calvary, 1902). On negative Jewish evaluations of TY in the early modern and Enlightenment period, see Daniel Barbu, “Some Remarks on the Jewish Life of Jesus (Toledot Yeshu) in Early Modern Europe,” Journal for Religion, Film and Media 5 (2019): 29–45. On Krauss and Bischoff, see Yonatan Moss, “‘I Am Not Writing an Apology’: Samuel Krauss’s Das Leben Jesu in Context,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 317–40. 35  Horbury, “A Critical Examination of the Toledoth Jeshu.” 36  Deutsch, “Early Versions of Toledot Yeshu”; William Horbury, “The Strasbourg Text of the Toledot,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 49–

3. The State of the Field

13

the talmudic traditions about Jesus in comparison with TY, as well as the early European attestation of the work.37 Michael Sokoloff and Willem Smelik have discussed the Aramaic of the early manuscripts of TY.38 Daniel Barbu, Yann Dahhaoui, Ryan Szpiech and Paola Tartakoff have considered the history and function of TY in a number of its medieval European contexts; Ram BenShalom has examined TY in the context of Jewish conceptions of and portrayals of their history.39 Studies of the historical-literary background of the work have been undertaken by Sarit Kattan Gribetz and Ruth Mazo Karras.40 Gideon Bohak and Alexandra Cuffel have discussed the presentation of magic in TY.41 Mika Ahuvia and John Gager, Craig Evans and Marijn van Putten, Hillel Newman, and Pierluigi Piovanelli have analyzed TY in light of Christian traditions and texts.42 Philip Alexander, Alexandra Cuffel, and Eli Yassif have suggest60; Bohak, “New Genizah fragment”; Bohak, “Jesus the Magician in the ‘Pilate’ Recension of Toledot Yeshu”; Horbury, “Titles and Origins.” 37  Schäfer, “Agobard and Amulo”; Peter Schäfer, “Jesus’ Origin, Birth and Childhood According to the Toledot Yeshu and the Talmud,” in Judaea-Palaestina, Babylon and Rome: Jews in Antiquity, ed. Benjamin Isaac and Yuval Shahar (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012), 139–64. 38 Sokoloff, “Date and Provenance”; Smelik, “The Aramaic Dialect(s).” 39 Daniel Barbu, “The Case about Jesus: (Counter-)History and Casuistry in Toledot Yeshu,” in A Historical Approach to Casuistry: Norms and Exceptions in a Comparative Perspective, ed. Carlo Ginzberg and Lucio Biasori (London: Bloomsbury, 2018), 65–97; Barbu, “Early Modern Europe”; Barbu, “The Textual Traditions of Toledot Yeshu”; Daniel Barbu and Yann Dahhaoui, “Un manuscrit français des Toledot Yeshu: le ms. lat. 12722 et l’enquête de 1429 sur les juifs de Trévoux,” Henoch 40 (2018): 223–88; Daniel Barbu and Yann Dahhaoui, “The Secret Booklet from Germany: Circulation and Transmission of Toledot Yeshu at the Borders of the Empire,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 138–62; Ram Ben-Shalom, “The Converso as Subversive: Jewish Traditions or Christian Libel?,” Journal of Jewish Studies 50 (1999): 259–83; Ram BenShalom, Medieval Jews and the Christian Past: Jewish Historical Consciousness in Spain and Southern France (Liverpool: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2015); Szpiech, “The Book of Nestor the Priest and the Toledot Yeshu in the Polemics of Abner of Burgos/Alfonso of Valladolid”; Tartakoff, “Medieval Crown of Aragon.” 40  Sarit Kattan Gribetz, “Hanged and Crucified: The Book of Esther and Toledot Yeshu,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 158–80; Sarit Kattan Gribetz, “Jesus and the Clay Birds: Reading Toledot Yeshu in Light of the Infancy Gospels,” in Envisioning Judaism: Studies in Honor of Peter Schäfer on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, ed. Raʿanan Boustan et al. (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013), 2:1021–48; Ruth Mazo Karras, “The Aerial Battle in the Toledot Yeshu and Sodomy in the Late Middle Ages,” Medieval Encounters 19 (2013): 493–533. 41  Bohak, “Jesus the Magician in the ‘Pilate’ Recension of Toledot Yeshu”; Alexandra Cuffel, “Jesus, the Misguided Magician: The (Re-) Emergence of the Toledot Yeshu in Medieval Iberia and Its Retelling in Ibn Sahula’s Fables from the Distant Past,” Henoch 37 (2015): 4–16. 42 Hillel I. Newman, “The Death of Jesus in the Toledot Yeshu Literature,” The Journal of Theological Studies 50 (1999): 59–79; Pierluigi Piovanelli, “The Toledot Yeshu and Christian Apocryphal Literature: The Formative Years,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 89–100; John G. Gager, “Simon Peter, Founder of Christianity or Saviour of Israel,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton

14

Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

ed new understandings of the work from the field of comparative literature, especially that of the Near East.43 The present author has written on the JudeoArabic texts of the work, especially in light of surrounding Christian and Muslim culture in Arabic.44 Evi Michels and Michael Stanislawski have provided important studies of TY in a variety of Yiddish renditions.45 Significantly for the availability of texts, Peter Schäfer and Michael Meerson carried out a project at Princeton University with the aspiration of editing and translating all known Hebrew and Aramaic versions of TY. This project resulted in two volumes and an internet database of Hebrew texts, which provide a crucial base for further research on the narrative.46 Two collected volumes have been published in the past decade containing a variety of discussions on the narrative from a broad range of fields.47 Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 221–45; John G. Gager and Mika Ahuvia, “Some Notes on Jesus and His Parents: From the New Testament Gospels to the Toledot Yeshu,” in Envisioning Judaism: Studies in Honor of Peter Schäfer on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, ed. Raʿanan Boustan et al. (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013), 2:997–1019; Marijn van Putten and Craig A. Evans, “‘I Am the Messiah and I Can Revive the Dead’: A Critical Note on T-S. NS 164.26, a Fragment of the Toledot Yeshu,” Journal of the Jesus Movement in Its Jewish Setting 6 (2019): 110–28. 43  Philip Alexander, “The Toledot Yeshu in the Context of Jewish-Muslim Debate,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 137–58; Eli Yassif, “Toledot Yeshu: Folk Narrative as Polemics and Self-Criticism,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 101–35; Alexandra Cuffel, “Between Epic Entertainment and Polemical Exegesis: Jesus as Antihero in Toledot Yeshu,” in Medieval Exegesis and Religious Difference: Commentary, Conflict, and Community in the Premodern Mediterranean, ed. Ryan Szpiech (New York: Fordham University Press, 2015), 155–70; Alexandra Cuffel, “Toledot Yeshu in the Context of Polemic and Sira Literature in the Middle East from the Fatimid to the Mamluk Era,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 131–67. 44 Miriam Goldstein, “Judeo-Arabic Versions of Toledot Yeshu,” Ginzei Qedem 6 (2010): 9*– 42*; Miriam Goldstein, “A Polemical Tale and Its Function in the Jewish Communities of the Mediterranean and the Near East: Toledot Yeshu in Judeo-Arabic,” Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 7 (2019): 192–227; Goldstein, “Early Judeo-Arabic Birth Narratives”; Goldstein, “Jesus in Arabic”; Miriam Goldstein, “The Finding of the ‘True Cross’ in Judah Hadassi’s Eshkol Ha-Kofer and the Polemical Parody Toledot Yeshu,” in Polemical and Exegetical Polarities in Medieval Jewish Literature: Studies in Honor of Daniel J. Lasker, ed. Ehud Krinis et al. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 251–68. 45  On these, see immediately below. 46  This source, which has been referred to several times above, is Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus. This is a valuable publication but contains flaws in the categorization of manuscripts, and use of its manuscript transcriptions requires collation against the original. See, for example, Stökl Ben Ezra, “Early Traditions”; Barbu and Deutsch, “Reading Toledot Yeshu in Context,” 5–7. 47  Yaacov Deutsch, Michael Meerson, and Peter Schäfer, eds., Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011); Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch, eds., Toledot Yeshu in Context (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020). A number of the articles referred to above form part of these collections.

3. The State of the Field

15

As yet relatively unexplored remain two significant bodies of TY texts, without which our understanding of the development and function of TY in its diverse geographical contexts remains limited, and the conclusions of the valuable research described above remain incomplete. These are the exemplars of the Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic and in Yiddish. Both of these are well-attested in manuscript. In the case of Judeo-Arabic, manuscripts are attested as early as the eleventh century, as I have detailed in the survey above. In the case of Yiddish, manuscripts are robustly attested beginning in the seventeenth century, around the same time as the earliest Hebrew manuscripts of the Helene narrative. The manuscripts of the TY Helene narrative in both of these languages clearly derive from the same broad textual tradition as that of the Hebrew manuscripts, but they represent important variations that shed light on the historical development of the TY literature as a whole. The Yiddish manuscripts of TY have steadily become a focus in research on medieval and early modern Yiddish literature. These manuscripts frequently include illuminating scribal information, where copyists include introductions in which they describe working from a number of Hebrew manuscripts and combining them in order to create their own versions.48 Yiddish versions of TY can also offer interesting insights on reading practices of TY in Europe – elements that remain invisible in the high-register texts that are preserved in Hebrew in European contexts.49 Research on the Judeo-Arabic tradition of TY has begun in recent years to contribute a steady stream of insights to the field, as well as raising questions relevant for the Hebrew versions of TY. As I have noted in detail above in discussion of the Helene narrative, a number of these Judeo-Arabic texts predate our earliest Hebrew manuscripts by as much as half a millennium, and these have rewritten earlier assumptions regarding the textual development of the Helene narrative. It is now clear that TY cannot be regarded as a phenomenon that is primarily European, with its earliest roots in the Near East. This varied and popular family of texts underwent central and significant literary development in 48 The earliest known Yiddish manuscript is Harvard Houghton Hebrew 101, which dates to the mid-seventeenth century. On the Yiddish manuscripts, see Evi Michels, Jiddische Handschriften der Niederlande (Leiden: Brill, 2013); Evi Michels, “Jiddische Jesus-Polemiken (Toledot Yeshu),” Jiddistik Mitteilungen 57/58 (2017): 1–26; Evi Michels, “Yiddish Toledot Yeshu Manuscripts from the Netherlands,” in Toledot Yeshu in Context, ed. Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 231–62; Claudia Rosenzweig, “When Jesus Spoke Yiddish: Some Remarks on a Yiddish Manuscript of the ‘Toledot Yeshu’ (MS Günzburg 1730),” Pardes 21 (2015): 199–214; Michael Stanislawski, “A Preliminary Study of a Yiddish ‘Life of Jesus’: JTS Ms. 2211,” in Toledot Yeshu (“The Life Story of Jesus”) Revisited: A Princeton Conference, ed. Peter Schäfer, Yaacov Deutsch, and Michael Meerson (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 79–87. 49  I discuss this further in section 3 of chapter 5; on the general topic, see Kirsten Fudeman, Vernacular Voices: Language and Identity in Medieval French Jewish Communities (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010).

16

Chapter 1: Toledot Yeshu – An Introduction

the Islamic-ruled Near East, both before and during its transmission in Europe. The material to which I will now turn provides a significant contribution to the developing textual study of TY, and, no less important, it is meaningful testimony to the literary tastes and practices of the Jews of Arabic-speaking lands, over a period of more than one thousand years.

Chapter 2

Manuscript Evidence of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic This study is devoted to the TY Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic, in textual representations dating between the eleventh and the seventeenth centuries. I have identified eighteen fragments of the TY Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic, which represent fifteen distinct manuscripts of the work. None of them have colophons or any identifying information relating to scribe or date, and they have been dated based on estimated evaluations of their script.1 The fragments originate in the manuscript collections of a number of institutions, most significantly the Cambridge University Library (CUL), the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) Library, and the Firkovich collection of the Russian National Library (RNL). The TY Helene narrative is well-attested in Judeo-Arabic throughout the Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman periods in the Near East. The earliest attestation is found in a number of fragments deriving from what is known as the classical Genizah period, that is, the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries.2 Early representatives of these, likely dating to the eleventh or twelfth century, are the following: CUL T-S NS 298.58 JTS ENA 3317.21 Four fragments date to the twelfth or thirteenth centuries: JTS ENA NS 32.5 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1033 CUL T-S NS 298.57 CUL T-S NS 164.26 The longest of the preserved manuscripts dates to the thirteenth or fourteenth century; this is the seven-folio RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, whose first page is preserved in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345. 1 I am grateful to Dr. Edna Engel of the National Library of Israel for her guidance on the paleographical conclusions presented here and in the textual sections that follow. 2  On the definition of this period, see Shlomo Dov Goitein, A Mediterranean Society (Berkeley: University of California, 1967–1988), 1:19. I discuss Goitein’s use of this term further in chapter 5.

18

Chapter 2: Manuscript Evidence of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic

Five fragments date to the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries: RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035 Finally, five fragments date to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, including a group of three fragments from the Russian National Library, which all derive from the same manuscript and which represent most of the second half of the Helene narrative. British Library (BL) Or. 10435, f. 18 JTS ENA 1726, ff. 4–5 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550 RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, ff. 120–25 I present the entirety of these Judeo-Arabic fragments in chapters 6 and 8 in annotated transcriptions with English translation.

1. A Typology of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic These Judeo-Arabic fragments can be divided into two major subgroups. Approximately half of the Judeo-Arabic TY Helene material represents a single family of texts that I have named the late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic recension (LMJAR). LMJAR texts demonstrate unique literary and stylistic elements that unify them as a group; I discuss these elements in chapter 7 and present the texts in chapter 8. The remainder of the TY Helene fragments that I have identified, of which the majority predate the fourteenth century, are presented in chapter 6, each of them prefaced with its own introduction. Between them, these Judeo-Arabic manuscript fragments include almost the entire plot of the TY Helene narrative: The only elements that are completely unrepresented in this corpus are Finding Disciples and Miracles.3 A number of the plot elements are represented by more than one fragment; a chart arranged by plot element is included in appendix 1. The existence of multiple fragments for the same plot element reveals that even in the early centuries of attestation of the Judeo-Arabic text of TY Helene (the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries), a variety of Judeo-Arabic renditions of the narrative were in existence. The rise 3  In discussing plot elements of TY, I adopt the titles that are used in Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus.

1. A Typology of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic

19

of the Judeo-Arabic tradition of TY, then, can be dated some time prior to this initial attestation, to account for the development of these variants.4 A few specific examples can demonstrate the significance of the multiple representation of plot elements in Judeo-Arabic and how comparison of these early fragments can illuminate the development of the TY Helene narrative. One of the best-attested TY plot elements, Truth Revealed, is preserved in Judeo-Arabic in four manuscript fragments dating between approximately the twelfth and the fifteenth centuries: JTS ENA NS 32.5, CUL T-S NS 298.57, RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993, and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005; I include a chart comparing these four Judeo-Arabic manuscript sections, together with relevant Hebrew versions, as appendix 2. Three of the Judeo-Arabic representatives are early texts representing a variety of versions; the fourth is from LMJAR. The textual traditions of all four are quite different. The linguistic development evident in the Judeo-Arabic texts, from the oldest fragments to the most recent ones, sheds light on the function of the work in Arabic-speaking communities: Together with other evidence, it strongly suggests that TY had become a text read for entertainment, notwithstanding its original polemical core.5 Comparison of the parallel fragments of Truth Revealed can also demonstrate that in Judeo-Arabic there existed at least two different renditions of the interrogation of Miriam by the sages; these different renditions also find voice in a number of the versions of TY attested in Hebrew from a later period. The JudeoArabic and the Hebrew manuscripts clearly divide into two major groups when it comes to this plot element. In the first group, represented by RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 and the Hebrew version Italian A, the sages ask Miriam a number of questions: whose daughter she is and/or whether she is married,6 what her name is, and what her husband’s name is. These three or four questions are completely unattested in the other manuscripts, which comprise the three other Judeo-Arabic fragments as well as the Hebrew versions known as Ashkenazi A, Late Yemenite A and B, and Late Oriental. In chapter 7, I discuss a broad range of additional similarities between the first group – the LMJAR family, here represented by RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 – and the Hebrew version Italian A. In the second group of Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic versions, the sages ask Miriam only one question, phrased in a variety of ways: “Who is the father of this boy?”7 Following this question, the same three themes appear in Miriam’s 4  The multiple versions apparent already in the early fragments are one of a number of elements supporting my explanation of the rise of the Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic; see Goldstein, “Jesus in Arabic.” 5  I discuss these findings and the conclusions that can be drawn from them in Goldstein, “Polemical Tale.” 6  On possible textual developments here between Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew, see Goldstein, “Early Judeo-Arabic Birth Narratives,” 366. 7  CUL T-S NS 298.57 does not preserve the beginning of this section, but demonstrates

20

Chapter 2: Manuscript Evidence of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic

response and the ensuing interchange between her and the rabbis. First, states Miriam, Yeshu is the son of Yoḥanan; this rendition references the conception of Yeshu, using wording relating to “impregnation” or “becoming pregnant” (Heb. nitʿabarti, Arab. aḥbalani). Second, she indicates that Yoḥanan has left her and is in Babylon. Third, the sages respond and inform her that it has been testified that her son is a bastard and the son of a menstruant. Importantly, these three JudeoArabic manuscripts, while similar, nonetheless represent three distinct textual renditions of the same tradition, and all demonstrate an affinity to the Hebrew renditions (with the exception of Italian A, described in the previous paragraph). The two major Judeo-Arabic textual traditions of this plot element, then, point to the existence of textual traditions that are evident in the Hebrew versions as well. In turn, it becomes apparent that the Hebrew version in Italian A includes elements of both traditions. As I have noted above, Italian A is the sole Hebrew version that aligns with RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 in this particular plot element, with the inclusion of three questions rather than the single question of the others. Yet, Italian A also includes the single question attested in the other group of versions, stating: “This boy, whose son is he?” Because of the doubling of the sets of questions, Italian A ends up presenting certain information twice: For example, Miriam’s assertion that her husband has left her and that she “has not seen him till now.” The text in Italian A seems to be a harmonization between at least two different versions of this element, versions that are reflected in independent form in the two groupings of Judeo-Arabic fragments that I have discussed above. The plot element First Separation, which is a parodic description of the “parting of the ways” between Judaism and Christianity, also existed in at least two major recensions in Judeo-Arabic. A comprehensive chart of this element is presented in appendix 3, including the two major relevant Hebrew versions as well as the three Judeo-Arabic manuscripts that include this element: RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005, RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, and RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092. I present here a few preliminary conclusions based on this comparative chart. One important contrast between the two Judeo-Arabic versions relates to miracles carried out by a Jewish secret agent named Eliyahu or Khidr. These miracles are standard in all of the preserved Hebrew versions of TY Helene. Interestingly, however, the Judeo-Arabic manuscripts from the LMJAR family recount no miracles carried out by the secret agent, an omission which could derive from a scribal error in the text found in two parallel manuscripts. In contrast, an alternate Judeo-Arabic version is preserved in RNL Evr.Arab. II:1092. This manuscript consists of a single folio dated to the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and it preserves a small section containing a distinct version of this element, which describes a number of miracles carried out by one similarities to this group in the remainder of the section, beginning with the reminiscence of the rabbi.

1. A Typology of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic

21

and the same secret agent. These miracles, involving a lame man and a leper, correspond directly with what is found in the Hebrew versions of Ashkenazi A and Late Yemenite A.8 The single folio preserved in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 also preserves other elements that are also quite different from those found in LMJAR – for example, names and terminology. In the single-folio Judeo-Arabic fragment, the secret agent is called only by his Hebrew name, in the shortened form Eliyah; his Arabicized name Khidr, which is the usage found in LMJAR, makes no appearance. The Ineffable Name of God, which in all other Judeo-Arabic renderings of TY appears as some form of the Hebrew term ‫השם המפורש‬, appears in this folio in a purely Arabic form, “the greatest name [of God]” (alism al-aʿẓam).9 The existence of these significant differences between RNL Evr.Arab. II:1092 and LMJAR, then, demonstrate that at least two Judeo-Arabic versions of First Separation were in existence around the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Finally, another plot element, Envoys, has survived in an early manuscript estimated to date to the eleventh century, JTS ENA 3317.21, as well as in the thirteenth-century fragment CUL T-S NS 164.26 and a fourteenth- or fifteenthcentury fragment, RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035. While these damaged texts are quite fragmentary, synoptic comparison demonstrates that the two earlier fragments consistently preserve different vocabulary for the same items. This is the case, for example, for Yeshu’s action of “leading astray”10 and for the “horsemen” sent by the queen;11 and the “fighting” between the people of the Galilee and the horsemen is described consistently with two different Arabic roots.12 The differences between the fragments become even more pronounced when the later fragment RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035 is added to the synoptic comparison, with

 8 The parallels can be found as follows: Ashkenazi A: Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 137r; Late Yemenite A: Cambridge CUL Or. 557, f. 187. I do not include these manuscripts in the comparison presented in appendix 3, which is focused on the extensive parallels between the long preserved sections of this plot element in Italian A and LMJAR.  9  While it is not clear to what extent the Arabic usage is attested in Judeo-Arabic texts as a whole, certainly in the Judeo-Arabic TY texts it is rare. A search on this term in the JudeoArabic textual corpus of the Friedberg Judeo-Arabic project reveals a single but significant usage, in Maimonides Book of Commandments (Sefer mizvot), in the sixtieth negative commandment which is titled “The prohibition against the vilification of the greatest name (al-ism al-aʿẓam), may He be exalted, well beyond what the ignorant claim.” .‫אלגאהלין עלווא כבירא‬ ̇ ‫ תעאלי עמא יקול‬,‫אלאעטם‬ ̇ ‫אלדי נהינא ען סב אלאסם‬ ̇ ‫אלנהי‬ This term may well be further attested in medieval Judeo-Arabic literature, given that the contents of the transcribed texts in the Friedberg project are circumscribed. I thank Haggai BenShammai for enlightening correspondence on this issue. 10  CUL T-S NS 164.26 reads ‫ ;אטגא‬JTS ENA 3317.21 reads ‫אצל‬. ̇ 11  CUL T-S NS 164.26 reads ‫;אלכיאלה‬ ̇ JTS ENA 3317.21 reads ‫אלפרסאן‬. 12 CUL T-S NS 164.26 uses q.t.l; JTS ENA 3317.21 uses ḥ.r.b.

22

Chapter 2: Manuscript Evidence of the TY Helene Narrative in Judeo-Arabic

different vocabulary items for “signs and miracles”13 as well as for “they told her [= the queen].”14 These examples and others that I have presented at greater length in other publications are only a few examples of the textual conclusions that can be drawn on the basis of comparison among these fragments, including conclusions that can reflect on the development of the Hebrew versions of TY.

2. Continued Lifespan of TY in the Near East During the Ottoman Period The current study is devoted to the TY Helene narrative in a single language, Judeo-Arabic, during a particular time range, from the eleventh to the seventeenth century. This narrative, though, enjoyed a continuing existence in the Near East and Mediterranean, in circulation well beyond the seventeenthcentury end point of the current study. The parodical work, apparently considered quite entertaining among Near Eastern Jews, is extremely well-attested in the region for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, included in more than thirty manuscripts originating in the Near East from this later period, from areas as far-flung as Bukhara, Yemen, and Morocco. Many of these renditions of TY are in Hebrew, with a small minority in Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Persian, and I have thus far identified a single one in Judeo-Spanish. These later Near Eastern copies are differentiated from the earlier JudeoArabic copies in a crucial way, beyond the obvious distinction of language, since the majority of them are in Hebrew. In these later recensions, TY is part of collections of texts. This reveals the literary context in which the work was transmitted and, likely, read – a context that is entirely lacking for the earlier fragments that I include here in chapters 6–8. These have been preserved only in individual folios or groups of folios. This literary context provides a window into community perceptions of the narrative in the Near East during the Ottoman period, illuminating possible ways to interpret the function of TY a millennium or more after its initial composition as a polemical narrative. The literary context also points up the striking differences between the European and the Near Eastern circulations of the TY narratives.15 I discuss these later renditions of TY and the literary collections of the Ottoman period in which they are collated, in chapter 5, on the basis of a comprehensive chart of the contents of these collections, included as appendix 4. Detailed textual analysis of these numerous

 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035 reads ‫;עגאיב ובראהין‬ ̇ JTS ENA 3317.21 reads ‫ואלאעגובאת‬ ̇ ‫אלאיאת‬.  RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035 reads ‫ ;ואחכו להא‬JTS ENA 3317.21 reads ‫ואכברוהא‬. ̇ 15  I have addressed this point briefly in Goldstein, “Polemical Tale,” 215–16.

13

14

2. Continued Lifespan of TY in the Near East During the Ottoman Period

23

later manuscripts, on the other hand, will require a separate investigation that will take into account the varied languages in which the narrative is represented. Before examining the content of the TY fragments in Judeo-Arabic, we must first consider the language in which they were written – a medium of communication and transmission that led to sweeping changes in Jewish culture during late antiquity and the early Islamic period. As I will show, the extant manuscripts of the TY Helene narrative discussed here, which span some six hundred years, are themselves an apt prism of the developments in Judeo-Arabic literature as a whole. Thus, I now turn to a discussion of the origins and growth of Judeo-Arabic composition and scholarship in the medieval period, as a crucial backdrop for understanding how TY developed and spread in Judeo-Arabic.

Chapter 3

Judeo-Arabic in the Early and Classical Period – A Very Brief Introduction The TY Helene manuscripts that are the subject of this study are written in Judeo-Arabic, the Arabic language as employed by Jewish scribes and authors. Given the wide span of their estimated dates of copying, they evidence a variety of types of Judeo-Arabic, and demonstrate the development of written JudeoArabic over a period of some six hundred years. These manuscripts thus provide valuable evidence of the changes that took place over this period. This chapter is a brief introduction to Judeo-Arabic. I intend it to be clear and comprehensive enough for the needs of nonspecialists seeking to gain an understanding of the literary and cultural realms that were the home of the TY Helene manuscripts presented here. I have chosen to tell the story of the development of Judeo-Arabic via the prism of the manuscript corpus of TY. In this way, I hope also to demonstrate to specialists in Judeo-Arabic how this corpus can contribute to the study of the historical development of the language, illustrating the linguistic changes that took place in the Jewish communities of the Near East over the millennium and a half of transmission of a single – if varying – narrative.

1. Arabic for All The Jews of the Near East had likely begun to use Arabic as a language of everyday life even prior to the rise and spread of Islam. One indicator of this is the large-scale integration of Jewish motifs and concepts into the nascent Islamic scripture and literature.1 Following the Islamic conquest, the Arabic language spread extremely quickly across the Middle East and North Africa – likely even more quickly than the new religion. Along with the majority of the other residents of these areas, the Jewish communities of the Middle East and the North Africa began to use Arabic for day-to-day communication.2 1  This claim is aptly formulated and demonstrated in Haggai Ben-Shammai, “Observations on the Beginnings of Judeo-Arabic Civilization,” in Beyond Religious Borders: Interaction and Intellectual Exchange in the Medieval Islamic World, ed. David Freidenreich and Miriam Goldstein (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011), 13–29. 2  For a discussion of this development, see Joshua Blau, The Emergence and Linguis-

26

Chapter 3: Judeo-Arabic in the Early and Classical Period

Arabic soon became the lingua franca among many Jewish communities of these areas, replacing Aramaic in this role. Jews were increasingly turning to Arabic as their language of choice for religious affairs as well, even beyond the obvious function of everyday communication. This is voiced, for example, in the request of some unidentified Jews who wrote to the religious leader and scholar Naṭronai Gaon around the middle of the ninth century ce, requesting permission to read the translation of the Torah in “our language,” in place of the Aramaic translation known as Targum Onqelos.3 “Our language” was apparently Arabic, and despite the fact that Naṭronai rejected their request, within two generations no less a figure than the gaon himself, Saʿadya b. Yosef al-Fayyūmī (882–942), had composed a translation of the Torah into Judeo-Arabic that fast became canonical, even if it never replaced the traditional Aramaic reading of the synagogue, which gradually faded out in most Jewish communities around the world.4 The first tangible evidence that Jews were writing in Arabic survives from the ninth century. Preserved in early papyri and parchment are a variety of genres that Jews wrote in Arabic, including biblical material such as glossaries, translations, and commentaries, as well as legal and documentary material such as letters and contracts.5 An even wider variety of texts is preserved from the tenth century. It is clear that Jews, along with the other communities in the Arabicspeaking sphere, were participants in a growing “writerly culture,” and that Jewish scholars were among the actors and shapers of a period in which fundamental

tic Background of Judaeo-Arabic: A Study of the Origins of Neo-Arabic and Middle Arabic, 3rd ed. (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 1999), 19–50; Kees Versteegh, The Arabic Language (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014), 93–98. In Persian-speaking areas of the Middle East, the situation was quite different, and while Arabic prevailed as the language of administration, scholarship, and religion for an extended period of time, Jews, like other inhabitants of this area, largely continued using varieties of Persian for everyday affairs. On this, see Versteegh, 94–95. In the mountainous regions of Iraq, Aramaic remained the spoken language of Jews even once Arabic had become the majority language throughout most of the region; on this continuity see Geoffrey Khan, “The Neo-Aramaic Dialects of Northern Iraq,” in The Languages and Linguistics of Western Asia: An Areal Perspective, ed. Geoffrey Haig and Geoffrey Khan (Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton, 2018), 305–11. 3 For the text, see Robert Brody, The Responsa of Rav Naṭronai bar Hillai Ga’on, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Makhon Ofek, 1994), 1:152–54. 4  For an approximation of when European Jews ceased to read the Aramaic translation in synagogue, see Gabriel Wasserman, “Aramaic, between Heaven and Earth: On the Use of Aramaic in the Liturgical Life of Medieval European Jewry,” in Hebrew between Jews and Christians, ed. Daniel Stein Kokin (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2022), 93–122. See further on Saʿadya below. 5  For an introduction to these early texts as well as editions of numerous fragments of Bible translation and exegesis, see Joshua Blau and Simon Hopkins, Early Judaeo-Arabic in Phonetic Spelling: Texts from the End of the First Millennium, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 2017).

2. Register in Arabic and Judeo-Arabic

27

concepts of authorship and composition were developing in Arabic.6 Within this cultural and literary landscape, written Judeo-Arabic literature began to grow and thrive, leading to sweeping transformations in Jewish literature.

2. Register in Arabic and Judeo-Arabic For the Jewish communities of the Near East – some 90 percent of the Jewish population of the world at the time – adopting Arabic was a gradual and natural process, as well a practical one. After all, Arabic was not only the language of the Jews’ neighbors; it had become the language of administration and government following the rise of Islam and the Islamic conquests in the Near East and around the Mediterranean and, as stated above, had likely been used in certain Jewish communities for some time even prior to the rise of Islam. Genres of literature were common ground among scholars of different religions, who read and discussed each others’ works avidly, especially during the first few centuries of Islamic rule (largely between the ninth and twelfth centuries ce). The term developed by Marshall Hodgson to describe this multireligious civilization, “Islamicate,” expresses the concept of this shared literary community.7 The way Jewish scholars wrote Arabic, though, was different from that of their Muslim neighbors and governors, and for this reason the distinct name “Judeo-Arabic” is appropriate for describing their prolific composition beginning around the ninth century. That is, while genres and content were often shared across religious boundaries, there are notable differences in the way Muslims and non-Muslims used Arabic in written form. The major differences appear in their attitudes to register, that is, varieties of language defined according to their use in social situations. Arabic is characterized by diglossia – the use of two clearly differentiated registers, one for written and formal speech, and the other for everyday contexts and informal speech. Written Arabic and spoken Arabic are two very different 6  The development in the ninth century of concepts of authorship in Arabic has been skillfully discussed in recent scholarly literature, and the term “writerly culture” to describe this era was popularized by Shawkat Toorawa. Foundational discussions of this transition can be found in Gregor Schoeler, The Genesis of Literature in Islam: From the Aural to the Read, trans. Shawkat M. Toorawa (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009); Shawkat M. Toorawa, Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr and Arabic Writerly Culture: A Ninth-Century Bookman in Baghdad (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005). See also the recent collection of articles on the topic of authorship in Julia Rubanovich and Miriam Goldstein, eds., “Authorship in Mediaeval Arabic and Persian Literatures (Special Issue),” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 45 (2019). 7  On this term, see Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010), 1:57–60. A central branch of Judeo-Arabic research with a vast number of published studies is devoted to probing the connections between Judeo-Arabic literature and the surrounding Arabic intellectual milieu.

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entities, and are used and considered appropriate in distinct contexts. The concept of diglossia with its idea that there are two types of Arabic, “written” and “spoken,” is of course a way of speaking about a more complex reality: The fact that Arabic exists in a continuum of registers, and that native speakers familiar with higher registers of language move among a variety of linguistic registers depending on need and context. These different registers, and especially the two major categories of “written” and “spoken” Arabic, are characterized by significant differences regarding the way words are constructed – morphology – as well as the way sentences are put together – syntax.8 Diglossia has been a feature of the Arabic language from the early development of the language,9 and was one of the factors leading to the composition of the earliest Arabic grammatical and linguistic works. This cultural development was related to political realities. As noted above, a major result of the Islamic conquests beginning in the mid-seventh century ce was the spread of the Arabic language throughout the Near East. Already during this early period, Arabic was used in a variety of different spoken forms. As the language, already a spoken language of communication, spread over a wide geographic area, formal rules were set down regarding linguistic usage in order to regulate and preserve forms of written Arabic. The norms of the written Arabic language, which contrasted to those of spoken Arabic, were codified quite early on during this period, and consisted of strict and complex grammatical rules. This codification of Arabic grammar is a fascinating story that is told, and at times invented, in Arabic sources of the eighth and ninth centuries ce.10 Written Arabic, then, became a linguistic entity that was fixed to particular norms of grammar – while spoken Arabic could continue to develop more freely. The existence of different registers of the Arabic language, used for different purposes and in different contexts, is not just a linguistic given. It is also, to a large extent, the result of a conscious and explicit religious dogma. In Islam, this compliance with grammatical norms for writing Arabic, and the attempt to avoid mixing the spoken and written registers, is a theological tenet. According to this tenet, the Arabic language is the means for a divine message – the Qurʾan – a work that is elevated above any possible human endeavor, according to the principle of iʿjāz, the inimitability of the Qurʾan. Replete with self 8 The application of the term diglossia to Arabic gained currency largely due to the discussion in Charles A. Ferguson, “Diglossia,” Word 15 (1959): 325–40. For an updated discussion including a summary of studies refining the conclusions presented by Ferguson, see Versteegh, The Arabic Language, 189–208. See also the concise and clear explanation in Esther-Miriam Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic in Letters from the Cairo Genizah (Leiden: Brill, 2010), 1–10.  9  Ferguson, “Diglossia,” 327. 10  For a comprehensive account of this development, see Versteegh, The Arabic Language, 53–73, 93–113.

2. Register in Arabic and Judeo-Arabic

29

referential statements, the Qurʾan asserts of itself time and time again that it was written in Arabic: Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the clear book. Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic recitation in order that you might understand. (Qurʾan 12:1–2) By the clear book: we have made it an Arabic recitation in order that you might understand. (Qurʾan 43:2–3)

This assertion gives rise to a host of other principles regarding the Arabic language, many of them rooted in earlier conceptions of holy language in the Near East. The Qurʾan is an assertedly Arabic text, and concomitantly, the Arabic language is the language of God and of divine scripture. Maintaining the division of function between registers of spoken Arabic and registers of written Arabic – the latter’s high status reaching its highest point in the inimitable Arabic of the Qurʾan – is equivalent to compliance with the divine order.11 For many Muslim authors, then, maintaining the distinction between the Arabic they wrote and the Arabic they spoke was of utmost importance, and carried theological weight. For Jewish authors, the situation was somewhat different. As members of a scholarly Arabic-speaking elite, these authors would have internalized the linguistic norm of diglossia. They would certainly have been aware that Arabic was ideally written and spoken in distinct manners. Furthermore, these scholars would have been – for the most part – capable of producing such a contrast, given that they were demonstrably well-read in Arabic literature. It is clear from their own writing that Jewish intellectuals were familiar with Arabic literature of a wide variety of genres, by Jewish and nonJewish authors. Nonetheless, in distinction to Muslim scholars, this adherence to the grammatical norms of written Arabic would not have had religious significance for these Jewish scholars. Maintaining a distinction between spoken and written Arabic would have derived from linguistic and cultural norms, rather than from religious principles. They would have strived for a beautiful written Arabic, one distinguished from everyday spoken Arabic, simply as part of their commitment to Arabic linguistic eloquence, faṣāḥa, rather than as a religious tenet. Variations in their attitudes to distinctions between registers of Arabic were a major divider between medieval Arabic as written by Jews and that written by Muslims. Jewish authors were in most cases less exacting regarding Arabic 11 On iʿjāz and theological conceptions surrounding the use of Arabic, see the discussion and bibliography in Richard C. Martin, “Inimitability,” in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Leiden: Brill), http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00093. For a thoughtful consideration of attitudes to the theological status of languages in the Near East, prior to the rise of Islam, see Milka Rubin, “The Language of Creation or the Primordial Language: A Case of Cultural Polemics in Antiquity,” Journal of Jewish Studies 49 (1998): 306–33.

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grammar and syntax, and their compositions are replete with nonstandard forms and constructions. In a similar way, they sanctioned a range of register in composition which was wider than what is found among Muslim authors: JudeoArabic includes forms and words characteristic of spoken registers, together with forms that are representative of Classical Arabic, in one and the same text. The level of distinction from Classical Arabic grammar as well as the degree of blending of registers depends on the specific work, and medieval Judeo-Arabic texts represent a broad continuum of register, depending on when texts were written and their genre.12 This blend of forms and registers came to characterize bodies of texts in JudeoArabic as a whole, notwithstanding individual exceptions among particular authors or genres.13 Joshua Blau has defined Judeo-Arabic as part of a subgroup of Arabic called “Middle Arabic,” with “middle” representing a stylistic observation rather than a chronological definition.14 Notably, some Muslims did employ this freer Arabic style as well, in early texts such as administrative papyri from the early Islamic period but also in later texts, including letters as well as geographical works, historiography, and biographical dictionaries. One well-known problem in modern textual editions over the past century has been the tendency of editors to “correct” these varieties of Arabic in works by Muslim authors.15 Reading Judeo-Arabic texts, then, requires sensitivity to a wide variety of types of Arabic. For the most part, authors composed these texts in a form different from the Arabic they spoke and heard, making at least some effort to create a distinction between how they spoke and how they wrote. The most classicizing Judeo-Arabic texts largely adhere to the norms of Classical Arabic, 12  Note that this broad range of registers does not necessarily characterize Arabic as written by Christians during the same period, although the development and usage of Christian Arabic are still becoming clear. For one, Christian Arabic is, for the most part, written in Arabic characters; the language known as Garshūnī  – Arabic in Syriac letters, containing many of the nonstandard features typical of Christian Arabic in general – was used at a relatively late point in time, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. While Arabic texts composed by Christians demonstrate a gamut of registers, many of them, perhaps the majority, present no differently than Muslim texts; cf. Samir Khalil Samir, La tradition arabe chrétienne: état de la question, problèmes et besoins (Rome: Pontificium Institutum Studiorum Orientalium, 1982). For a corpus of texts composed by Christians with numerous features common to the JudeoArabic that I describe in the main text, see Joshua Blau, A Grammar of Christian Arabic: Based Mainly on South-Palestinian Texts from the First Millennium (Louvain: Secrétariat du Corpus SCO, 1966). 13  See the discussion (including additional notes in the third edition) in Blau, Emergence, 19–50, 228–50. 14  On this term, see the considerations presented in Blau, 216–18. For an overview of Middle Arabic as used in a variety of populations of Arabic speakers, see Versteegh, The Arabic Language, 114–29. 15  See Versteegh, The Arabic Language, 119.

3. “Arabic in Hebrew Letters”

31

while including a certain, and standardized, degree of distance from these norms, in specific and largely consistent cases.16 On the other end of the continuum are Judeo-Arabic texts whose authors or copyists were less knowledgeable regarding Arabic grammar. While these authors may have intended to adhere – at least to some degree – to the norms of written Arabic, they fall short of these norms, and the resulting creations are texts that include a much greater degree of colloquial and popular usage. Judeo-Arabic texts of all types are inevitably marked by artificial forms known as hypercorrections, which result from authors or copyists desiring to write Classical Arabic but lacking an exact knowledge of the forms. The resulting unique forms were then transmitted within the corpus of Judeo-Arabic literature for hundreds of years.17 The corpus of TY Helene manuscripts presented here clearly exemplifies this range of registers in Judeo-Arabic literature. Furthermore, examination of the TY texts can contribute to the understanding of how Judeo-Arabic literature developed following its classical period, developments that are related to societal and historical changes that I will discuss toward the end of this chapter and in chapter 4. Linguistic register, then, is a central identifying feature of how Jews composed their works in Arabic. But how were these works physically denoted on the page?

3. “Arabic in Hebrew Letters” Judeo-Arabic is often defined on the basis of its graphic representation, and is broadly asserted to be “Arabic written in Hebrew letters.”18 Yet at the time of the early development of Judeo-Arabic, when Arabic was being adopted by Jews in the ninth and tenth centuries, they did use Arabic script, perhaps even broadly and extensively. This tendency may have been especially notable within certain circles of the Karaite movement, which grew and became powerful during that period.19 At that time, the Karaites developed numerous innovations in theological tenets, religious practice, and scholarship, innovations that may have 16  On this basis, Joshua Blau created his grammar, a standard reference in the field: Joshua Blau, A Grammar of Medieval Judaeo-Arabic, [in Hebrew], 2nd ed. (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1995). I reference this grammar frequently in explaining linguistic phenomena in chapters 6 and 8. 17  The particularities of the deviations from the norms of Classical Arabic in written Judeo-Arabic are cataloged in detail in Blau. For a discussion of hypercorrections, see Blau, Emergence, 29–34. For numerous further examples, see the index on that term. 18  See, for example, Geoffrey Khan, “Judeo-Arabic,” in Handbook of Jewish Languages, ed. Aaron D. Rubin and Lily Kahn (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 23–24. 19  On Karaites as using Arabic script, see Blau, Emergence, 42–44, 245–47; Blau and Hopkins, Early Judaeo-Arabic, 36, 48–51.

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been spurred by a relative readiness to adopt the scholarly practices of non-Jewish groups.20 Arabic script seems to have been widely used by certain Karaite subgroups who were well-ensconced in a broader interreligious milieu.21 A representative legal discussion by the Karaite theologian and exegete Yaʿqūb al-Qirqisānī, for example, is clearly built on the assumption that many members of his Karaite readership own Jewish books written in Arabic script and use them in their religious practice.22 Not only that, it appears from al-Qirqisānī’s discussion that both Arabic and Hebrew are rendered in Arabic script in these books, and preserved in the Cairo Genizah we do find, for example, transcriptions of the Bible in Hebrew into Arabic letters produced by Karaites. These texts were apparently intended to ensure the correct reading of the Bible, anchoring the exact pronunciation of biblical Hebrew by representing it in an alternate script.23 JudeoArabic, then, is attested, and perhaps even well-attested, in Arabic script in its early period of development – depending on the particular community of Jews and their level of acculturation to the surrounding Arabic-speaking environment. Following this early period, Near Eastern Jews seem to have gradually abandoned the use of Arabic script for their compositions in the Arabic language. In the eleventh century and beyond, the majority of compositions written by Jewish scholars in Arabic were written in Hebrew script. There are, of course, some exceptions to this trend: One is the work of the eleventh-century Jerusalem Karaite ʿAli b. Sulaymān al-Muqaddasī. Many of Ibn Sulaymān’s autograph copies of his own works and his abridgments of the works of others have been preserved, and he normally wrote in Arabic script with an intermingling of biblical verses in Hebrew; the verses were penned in Hebrew script.24 Another example is represented in the letter of the eleventh-century Karaite scholar 20 In her work cited in chapter 1, Rina Drory emphasizes the role of Karaite scholars in creating the innovations apparent in Judeo-Arabic literature of the ninth and tenth centuries; see Drory, Models and Contacts, 147–57. Drory may have over-emphasized the point, minimizing the possibility that innovative Rabbanite scholars were also a significant motivating force of these changes, but her evaluation of Karaite scholarship as a significant force of change remains valuable and important. 21  Other Karaite subgroups seem to represent the opposite – isolation from a broader Arabicspeaking milieu – in that they are not familiar with how Arabic is written in Arabic letters. See Blau and Hopkins, Early Judaeo-Arabic, 48–51. 22 The text is presented and analyzed in Haggai Ben-Shammai, “Hebrew in Arabic Script: Qirqisani’s View,” in Studies in Judaica, Karaitica, and Islamica: Presented to Leon Nemoy on His Eightieth Birthday, ed. Sheldon R. Brunswick (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 1982), 115–26. 23  This phenomenon is illuminated in Geoffrey Khan, Karaite Bible Manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). 24  On this figure, see Miriam Goldstein, “ʿAli b. Sulaymān,” in Encyclopedia of Islam, Three, ed. Gudrun Krämer et al. (Leiden: Brill, 2010), http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ ei3_COM_24205.

4. Phonetic and Standard Judeo-Arabic Orthography

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Yeshuʿah b. Yehudah, resident in Jerusalem, who asks the Egyptian recipients of his Arabic-language commentary on the Pentateuch, whether they would prefer that it be written in Hebrew or in Arabic script.25 The overwhelming majority of works during this “classical” period of Judeo-Arabic, though, were composed in Arabic but written in Hebrew script. With these nuances in mind, then, we can establish that in the period from which texts are well-attested, Hebrew script is a defining feature of JudeoArabic. The way this script was used to represent Arabic, though, varied over the centuries.

4. Phonetic and Standard Judeo-Arabic Orthography: How Do You Represent Arabic in the Hebrew Alphabet? Over the centuries, Judeo-Arabic has been written in a variety of different ways, and these can be divided into three major stages, of which the second and third are represented in the Judeo-Arabic TY texts presented here.26 I begin, though, with a discussion of the initial stage of Judeo-Arabic, since it is important for a complete understanding of the second and third stages, as well as to underscore the relevance of the fact that TY texts in this initial type of orthography are not attested at all. I will then discuss the second stage of Judeo-Arabic, in which the earliest TY Pilate and TY Helene texts are written. Discussion of the third stage of Judeo-Arabic, which characterizes a significant portion of the TY Helene material that I have identified, will be treated in chapters 4 and 5. The first stage of Judeo-Arabic in Hebrew letters is a phonetic one, represented in documents dating to the ninth century. These documents demonstrate that initially, Jews wrote Arabic words according to the way they sounded. This was significant for orthography because Arabic pronunciation does not correspond fully with the written representation of words, and moreover, the pronunciation of certain Arabic consonants varies depending on dialect. For these reasons, phonetic representations in Hebrew differed, sometimes to a great extent, from the way the same word would have been written in Arabic letters. This method of writing, labeled early phonetic Judeo-Arabic script, can be found in a variety of types of documents, most of them from a relatively early period. These in25 This was the Jerusalem Karaite Yeshuʿah b. Yehudah; see the text and discussion in Geoffrey Khan, “On the Question of Script in Medieval Karaite Manuscripts: New Evidence from the Genizah,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 75, no. 3 (1993): 132–41. 26  For comprehensive general discussions of the three major phases of Judeo-Arabic, as well as detailed descriptions of terms such as “classical Judeo-Arabic,” see Khan, “Judeo-Arabic”; Norman A. Stillman, “Judeo-Arabic: History and Linguistic Description,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman A. Stillman (Leiden: Brill, 2010), http://dx.doi. org/10.1163/1878-9781-ejiw-all.

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cluded legal and documentary material such as letters and contracts as well as early Bible translations and biblical material such as glossaries, translations, and commentaries.27 In the first half of the tenth century, this practice began to change, and a new form of rendering Arabic in Hebrew letters, an imitative orthography, developed. This second stage, known as “standard script,” was likely created by Jewish scholars who were well-read in Arabic literature, used to reading Arabic script.28 The method bridged between the language and the script by assigning a single Hebrew letter to each Arabic letter. In order to represent the additional six letters, since Hebrew has twenty-two alphabetic characters and Arabic has twenty-eight, this method employed a system of dots. The system was largely intuitive, given that many letters are shared between the two Semitic languages, and even the letters that were not shared could be logically linked. For example, in representing the Arabic letter ‫( ض‬ḍād), which does not exist in Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic in this conservative-classical stage of development used the Hebrew equivalent of the ‫( ص‬ṣād), ‫( צ‬ṣadeh), with a dot, pairing the two letters graphically just as they were paired in Arabic script. In putting letters together to form words, this system for the most part mimicked the way Arabic is written in Arabic letters, prioritizing paralleling letters between the two alphabets even when phonetics and pronunciation are at odds with orthography. For example, the definite marker al- would be written aleflamed in Hebrew, representing the Arabic alif-lām, even in instances in which the lām phonetically assimilates to the next letter in pronunciation – that is, in instances including the fourteen consonants that Arabic grammar calls “sun letters,” as in the word pronounced ash-shams, “the sun.” In this way, the imitative orthography differed greatly from the phonetic method of writing. For Jewish scholars, many of whom were well-read in classical and contemporaneous Arabic works, it must have seemed quite natural to write using the Hebrew letters they likely knew best (after all, Hebrew literacy would have been the first reading and writing methods to which they were exposed), but in a form that was similar to the Classical Arabic orthography with which they were familiar.29 The phonetic and the standard scripts coexisted for at least a century, and a number of important texts circulated simultaneously in both.30 By the early 27  For a selection of texts using this orthography, see Blau and Hopkins, Early JudaeoArabic. 28 This “standard script” is described well in Blau and Hopkins, 23–25. 29 On education in reading and writing, see Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 2:178–79. An apt summary of the correspondences between Hebrew and Arabic orthography in this second stage of writing Judeo-Arabic in Hebrew script can be found in Blau and Hopkins, Early Judaeo-Arabic, 23–24. 30  For a description of the relatively fluid movement between the two types of Hebrew orthography as well as in and out of Arabic script, which is apparent in ninth- and tenth-century texts, see Blau and Hopkins, Early Judaeo-Arabic, 34–37.

5. Transition to Late Judeo-Arabic

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eleventh century, the phonetic script is no longer attested, and during what is known as the “classical period” of Judeo-Arabic literature, between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, authors and scribes wrote Arabic in Hebrew letters nearly exclusively with the imitative standard method.31 One reason this transformation occurred was likely the spread of the writings of Saʿadya Gaon, the theologian, Bible commentator, and leader of the Rabbanite Jewish community, whose tenth-century works were influential – even revolutionary – in a wide variety of literary and theological fields. Saʿadya adopted the standard script for Judeo-Arabic in his varied works, and the awareness and adoption of this method of writing seems to have been impelled forward by the wide reception of his oeuvre, especially his eloquent translation of the Torah into Arabic.32 During this classical period in Judeo-Arabic literature, the macro and the micro of composing in Arabic were imitative. That is, along with this aspiration toward Arabic-paralleled orthography, Jewish authors in this period were also likely to parallel the style of Muslim Arabic works, and to strive for an elevated register of composition. The language and structure of Judeo-Arabic works of this classical period, then, while not identical to those of works composed in Classical Arabic, were in many cases highly similar. This period of scholarship, with its close identity with forms and styles of composition well-known in Classical Arabic, lasted approximately through the thirteenth century. The earliest manuscripts of TY in Judeo-Arabic, representing both the Pilate and the Helene narratives and dating between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, exemplify this second stage of Judeo-Arabic style and writing traditions, as will be apparent in the manuscripts of the TY Helene narrative that I include in chapter 6.

5. Transition to Late Judeo-Arabic Around the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the document record shows a trend toward a different kind of Judeo-Arabic, a form of writing that was much less closely linked to classical forms and styles of Arabic composition. This third phase is frequently labeled “late Judeo-Arabic,” and will be discussed at length 31  On the definition of the “classical period” of Judeo-Arabic literature, see Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 1:19. From here onward I will use this phrase without quotation marks. For further consideration of the terms “classical” and “late” in this context, see the footnote in section 5 below. 32 On Saʿadya as community leader and revolutionary yet conservative scholar, see Robert Brody, The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998); Yerahmiel (Robert) Brody, Rav Saʿadya Gaʾon, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Shazar, 2006). On the disappearance of the phonetic script as well as the role of Saʿadya’s works in promoting the acceptance of the imitative method, see the discussion in Blau and Hopkins, Early Judaeo-Arabic, 42.

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in the following chapters.33 This third phase of Judeo-Arabic was heralded and shaped by an increasing cultural and societal change. Compositions by Jewish scholars, while never isolated from their authors’ surroundings, were no longer the integral part of Islamicate culture that they had been during earlier periods. The immersion in surrounding Arabic scholarship and literature that had characterized earlier periods of Jewish scholarship in Judeo-Arabic was on the wane. Furthermore, Jewish authors writing in genres intended for elite and learned audiences increasingly began to turn to Hebrew as their language of composition. In parallel, the Judeo-Arabic language gradually yet steadily became a medium for popular genres of composition directed at less learned audiences. The Judeo-Arabic transmission of TY during this later period reflects these broad societal changes among the Jewish communities of the Near East and Mediterranean. Before turning in chapter 5 to a characterization of late JudeoArabic and a consideration of the popular genres composed in it, including TY, it is important to examine the events and trends that brought about these linguistic transformations among the Jewish communities of the Near East and Mediterranean.

33  I will refer to this phase of Judeo-Arabic without quotation marks in what follows. While I use here the terms “classical” and “late” for ease of reference, I do not intend to imply a decline. The plethora of documents and literature composed in late Judeo-Arabic are invaluable for the understanding of the late Mamluk and Ottoman periods in Jewish communities, and the use of the term “classical” as opposed to “late” should not be understood as a denigration of their worth. For a useful chart representing the three phases of Judeo-Arabic, see Benjamin H. Hary, Translating Religion: Linguistic Analysis of Judeo-Arabic Sacred Texts from Egypt (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 34.

Chapter 4

Linguistic Transformations – From Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew One of the major cultural changes shaping developments in Judeo-Arabic literary production around the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was the fact that educated Jews in the Near East and Mediterranean were increasingly less familiar with classical and contemporaneous Arabic – and even Judeo-Arabic – works. This cultural change coincided with the influx of Iberian Jews into the Near East, among them scholars who had been composing in Hebrew for centuries, and led to the development of different roles for Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew.1 The understanding of these transformations will establish the background for understanding how TY in Judeo-Arabic was transmitted and read in the late Mamluk and early Ottoman periods, a topic to which I will turn in chapter 5.

1. Distance from the Surrounding Culture In the earlier period described in the previous chapter, Jewish scholars were for the most part extremely well-read in Arabic literature. Works in Judeo-Arabic composed by such scholars between the late ninth century and into the thirteenth and perhaps the fourteenth centuries evidence their authors’ participation in a vibrant shared intellectual culture in Arabic, as well as their familiarity with a broad range of classical and contemporaneous works in Arabic by scholars of a variety of religious affiliations. The same was true of educated members of other professions, such as physicians and traders, who were of necessity proficient in reading Arabic script and thus had the ability, and likely the desire, to read a wide variety of works in Arabic.2 Research in the field of medieval JudeoArabic culture and literature is replete with studies of these interconnections and the tracing of shared sources. Following this earlier period when Jewish scholars created numerous works in Arabic, from around the fourteenth century this rich interconnection with the 1 I am indebted to Dotan Arad for enlightening conversations on this topic, which have greatly enriched my understanding of it. As an introduction to the topic of this linguistic shift, see Dotan Arad, “Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew among the Jews of Syria, Palestine and Egypt,” [in Hebrew], Peʿamim: Studies in Oriental Jewry 121 (2009): 101–29. 2  On this topic, see Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 5:415–96, especially pp. 415–426.

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Chapter 4: Linguistic Transformations – From Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew

concepts and trends found in the surrounding scholarly environment became increasingly less common. To some extent, Jews continued to read the classic Judeo-Arabic works of the past – but it is likely that elements of these works that were rooted in earlier literary and theological currents were no longer relevant or even necessarily understandable for their readers in later periods, who lacked the background to engage with them. Readers at time expressed frustration with the high-register Judeo-Arabic in the classic Jewish works, such as those of Saʿadya Gaon, or with classic works in Arabic from an earlier period, noting that they could not easily understand their content because of the challenge presented by their elevated linguistic register. These feelings are expressed by educated scholars and authors, speaking about themselves as well as about other members of their community.3 Moreover, works composed by Jews in the Near East, regardless of their language of composition, whether Judeo-Arabic or Hebrew, demonstrate a waning connection to the broader Arabic scholarly and cultural milieu, both past and present. The rich background of awareness of contemporaneous theology, philosophy, and science that characterizes works of the classical Genizah period is largely absent from Jewish works composed in later periods, such as the exegetical compilations that characterize the thirteenth century and beyond.4 A significant exception to this trend of increasing isolation is the genre to which I will turn in the next chapter – popular literature. In that area, shared materials were standard fare. The results of this increasing distance from the surrounding scholarly culture shaped the way Jews wrote, when composing or writing in their native Arabic. The fact that Jews were increasingly less likely to seek out Arabic literature originating outside the community also meant, on the practical level, that Jewish authors of scholarly works, or even Jewish writers of epistles, were simply not used to seeing Arabic words written in Arabic characters. Even their reading of Judeo-Arabic classics from the earlier period apparently did not serve to remind them of other orthographical options from the not-so-distant past. In consequence, the possibility that these authors and writers would mimic Arabic orthography diminished and, in the end, a style of writing in Judeo-Arabic with 3  See Arad, “Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew,” 108–12. An indication that there was nonetheless some degree of continued familiarity with certain classical Judeo-Arabic sources is apparent in the relatively continuous manuscript tradition of Saʿadya’s Book of Beliefs and Opinions; see the survey of existing fragments in Haggai Ben-Shammai, A Leader’s Project: Studies in the Philosophical and Exegetical Works of Saʿadya Gaon, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2015), 66–82. These fragments are consistently copied in standard Judeo-Arabic orthography despite being copied at a time when this writing style was not at all common. 4  For one possible exception to this trend among post-thirteenth-century Jewish scholars, see Miriam Goldstein and Bruno Chiesa, “Yefet ibn Saghir’s Sefer Mitzvot: A Karaite View of Jewish History and Philosophy of Religion,” Ginzei Qedem 16 (2016): 13–44.

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significantly diminished connection to standard Arabic forms of writing became the norm – the late Judeo-Arabic noted above.5 Changing reading practices and the growing intellectual insularity of Arabicspeaking Jewish communities engendered, then, the development of new varieties of written Judeo-Arabic. But well beyond specific questions of how Judeo-Arabic texts would be composed and written, an even more significant transformation was occurring. Hebrew was beginning to assume the role of the language of choice for scholarly composition in these Arabic-speaking communities, and thus the very decision to compose in Arabic was becoming more and more rare.

2. Hebrew as the Language “That All Understand” The growing adoption of Hebrew as the default language of scholarship in Jewish communities was a significant change in the Near East. After taking the lead as the language of Jewish scholarship around the ninth century, the Arabic language had been the largely unquestioned dominant medium in Jewish scholarly and intellectual discourse. Arabic had been a major, if not the major, language of communication among scholars in Jewish communities in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean. It had been the language in which a Jewish scholar hoping to garner a broad audience and wide publicity would choose to communicate. This had been the case for three centuries at the least, and the imprint of Judeo-Arabic and Arabic on Jewish culture was deep and lasting. But times were changing, and Hebrew was quickly becoming the language of choice for Jewish scholars, even those who were native Arabic speakers living in Arabic-speaking environments. “Creators and missionaries” of science and philosophy in Hebrew, scholars native to Iberia, were already at work on a systematic transfer of these subjects from Arabic into Hebrew, as early as the twelfth century.6 Furthermore, beginning in the second half of the twelfth century, Hebrew-literate Jewish communities located on the edges of the Mediterranean had been steadily joining the scholarly discourse that had earlier been centered in the East and founded on the use of Arabic. The correspondence between members of these communities, largely in the Midi (Provence), and Jewish scholars in Egypt as well as their neighbors in the Iberian Peninsula reveals their growing interest 5 For a similar explanation linking Judeo-Arabic orthography with “different degrees of rapprochement between Jewish and Muslim literature and culture at the various periods,” see Khan, “Judeo-Arabic,” 30. This phenomenon is also discussed in Hary, Translating Religion, 33. 6  These included most notably Abraham bar Ḥiyya (d. 1136) and Abraham ibn Ezra (d. 1165), and the quoted phrase was coined by Gad Freudenthal; See Gad Freudenthal, “Science and Medicine,” in The Cambridge History of Judaism, vol. 6, The Middle Ages: The Christian World, ed. Robert Chazan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 707–9.

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in foundational works of Judeo-Arabic civilization.7 As a result of the interest revealed by these communities, and also the emigration of Jewish scholars from Andalusia, many classic Judeo-Arabic texts were translated into Hebrew during the centuries of transition.8 One of the celebrated examples of the beginning of the process of translation from Judeo-Arabic into Hebrew was the translation of the first chapter of Baḥya ibn Paquda’s ethical work on the commandments, Guide to the Duties of the Hearts.9 Active in the role of translation was the Ibn Tibbon family, beginning with Judah, a native of Granada (d. ca. 1290). The translation project was continued by Judah’s son Samuel, who served as translator for Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed in the early thirteenth century, an undertaking carried out in concert with Maimonides himself, as well as by Samuel’s son Moses and his son-in-law Jacob Anatoli.10 Readers, especially in the Midi, gained a deep appreciation for the JudeoArabic scholarship of previous centuries via these Hebrew translations as well as new compositions in Hebrew, whose authors composed in genres and styles shaped by earlier Judeo-Arabic works. The literary language in which authors and translators expressed themselves, though, was not Arabic, but Hebrew. They composed in the new developing forms of medieval Hebrew, the language used by Jewish communities throughout Europe – a language that was also in many ways shaped by the Judeo-Arabic vocabulary and phrasing of earlier works.11

 7  For a masterful overview of the interests and accomplishments of this community between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries, see Freudenthal, 710–30.  8  On the factors contributing to this movement, see Gad Freudenthal, “Causes and Motivations for the Emergence of the Translation Movement in Twelfth-Century Lunel: Judah b. Shaul ibn Tibbon and His Patrons R. Meshullam b. R. Yaakov and R. Asher b. R. Meshullam,” in Ta Shma: Studies in Judaica in Memory of Israel M. Ta-Shma, ed. Avraham Reiner et al. (Alon Shevut: Tevunot Press, 2011), 649–70; Isadore Twersky, “Aspects of the Social and Cultural History of Provençal Jewry,” Journal of World History 11 (1968): 185–207.  9  For a reconsideration of the dating of the preparation of this translation, as well as a sensitive renewed analysis of Judah’s intellectual biography and scholarly intent, see Reimund Leicht, “Judah ibn Tibbon: The Cultural and Intellectual Profile of the ‘Father of the Hebrew Translation Movement,’” in Studies in the Formation of Medieval Hebrew Philosophical Terminology, ed. Reimund Leicht and Giuseppe Veltri (Leiden: Brill, 2019), 104–30. 10  On these figures, see James T. Robinson, “Samuel ibn Tibbon,” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta (2019), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/ win2019/entries/tibbon/ (accessed August 16, 2021). See also Freudenthal, “Science and Medicine,” 710–20. On the correspondence between Samuel ibn Tibbon and Maimonides during the translation of the Guide, see Carlos Fraenkel, From Maimonides to Samuel ibn Tibbon, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2007), 60–80. 11  On the formation of this medieval Hebrew, in poetry and prose, largely focusing on Iberia and Provence, see Angel Sáenz-Badillos, A History of the Hebrew Language, trans. John Elwolde (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 202–66.

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This geographical and linguistic transition is evident in a number of letters written by arguably the most famous author of Judeo-Arabic works, the philosopher and legal scholar Moses Maimonides, born in Córdoba and at the time resident in Egypt. In them, he explicitly considers the ramifications of writing in Hebrew versus in Judeo-Arabic, and reflects on his own aspirations as an author. As he wrote in his well-known Hebrew responsum to the community of Tyre regarding his Book of Commandments, composed in Judeo-Arabic and completed around the year 1168, his plan was to prepare a Hebrew version of the work in order to make it more generally accessible:12 That book, I composed in the Arabic language […] and I regret very much having composed it in the Arabic language, because everyone should [be able to] read it.13 I am currently anticipating translating it into the holy language, with the help of God.

The question of language arises time and time again in Maimonides’ correspondence. Around the year 1192, he received a letter from a Baghdadi Jew, Yosef b. Jābir, who was apparently an avid reader of Maimonides’ Judeo-Arabic works. Ibn Jābir requested that Maimonides translate his Mishneh Torah into Arabic, since his Hebrew was not up to the task of reading it. Maimonides responded with gentle encouragement that his Baghdadi reader learn the level of Hebrew required to read the work, which could be “easily understood.” The letter is preserved partially in the original Judeo-Arabic and fully in an anonymous Hebrew translation, and states:14 […] I tell you, do not minimize your capabilities, and do not lose hope of achieving perfection. Many of our great sages began studying at a late age, and achieved great things. It is incumbent upon you too, to learn that extent of the holy tongue that we used in composing this work, for it is easy to understand and not at all difficult to learn, and after you practice it in one part (of the fourteen), you will understand the whole composition.15 I refuse to even consider translating it into the Arabic language, for its grace will be lost. Indeed, I am hoping to translate the Commentary on the Mishnah and the Book of Commandments to the holy tongue. That I should translate this composition [Mishneh Torah] into the Arabic language – request this not!

Notwithstanding Maimonides’ own response to Ibn Jābir’s request, his Hebrew magnum opus was indeed translated into Judeo-Arabic a little over a century 12  The text of this letter, which dates to the late 1170s, is edited in two collections: Maimonides, Responsa, ed. Joshua Blau [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Mekizei Nirdamim, 1957), 2:725. Yitzhak Sheilat, ed., The Epistles of Maimonides, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Maaliyot, 1994), 1:218–23. The translation is mine. 13  ‫מפני שהכל צריכין לקרותו‬. Another possible translation of this phrase is simply the prescriptive “because everyone should read it.” 14  The text is presented in Sheilat, Epistles, 1:402–18. I have based my translation upon the Judeo-Arabic text on p. 406, except where the anonymous Hebrew translation published by Sheilat includes sections not found in the Judeo-Arabic text (p. 409). 15  The Judeo-Arabic version of the letter does not include the remainder of the paragraph.

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later. Translations and glossaries of the Mishneh Torah are attested from the early fourteenth century, within Ibn Jābir’s Iraqi community as well as in other Arabic-speaking Jewish communities throughout the Near East.16 Maimonides’ statement, though, speaks to a reality in which Hebrew was quickly surpassing Judeo-Arabic as the language of choice for Jewish scholarship. Jews such as Ibn Jābir, unable to read these works in Hebrew, would increasingly find themselves cut off from current intellectual trends. Indeed, as he explicitly noted to Ibn Jābir in this letter, Maimonides was actually hoping to accomplish a contrasting goal – translating his numerous Arabic works, at least those devoted to religious topics, into Hebrew. Maimonides writes more specifically about his linguistic plans for his works in correspondence with one of the major “consumers” of Hebrew translations of his Arabic works, the community of Lunel, in Provence, headed by R. Jonathan ha-Kohen, with whom Maimonides exchanged a number of letters. He expresses the following thoughts in a Hebrew epistle sent to R. Jonathan’s community around the year 1200:17 With the present text I enclose the third part of the Guide of the Perplexed in Arabic. With regard to your request that I would translate it for you into the holy tongue – would that I were young enough to be able to comply with this request, with regard to this book and the other books that I have composed in the language of “Qedar,” whose sun has darkened, for I have dwelled in their tents. I would gain great pleasure from this – to “extract the precious from the vile” (Jer. 15:19) and to “restore the lost item to its rightful owner.” But the eddies of time have surrounded me; and even some commentaries I have written, and others that I composed in the rabbinic language, which contain certain obscurities, I do not have the time to correct them carefully so that they may be distributed, much less to translate them from one language into another. I swear, my honored masters and friends, I have no leisure even for writing a short chapter, neither during the day nor at night. Only due to my respect for you, I took pains and expended effort to write this entire letter with my own hand.

Maimonides here envisions and gives voice to a future of Jewish scholarship that is centered on the use of Hebrew, aware of its growing importance despite his obvious commitment to the Judeo-Arabic and Arabic scholarly traditions on which he had been raised. Ideally, he says, he would occupy himself with the translation of his Judeo-Arabic works into Hebrew so that all would have access to them. Moreover, Maimonides’ reference to this possibility is classically Andalusian, conveying his historical and religious commitment to Hebrew as a Jew. He goes so far as to describe Arabic as a language whose time has passed (Heb. leshon qedar asher hiqdir shimshah) – it is ambiguous in this context 16  See Yosef Tobi, “Arabic Translations and Dictionaries of Maimonides’ ‘Mishneh Torah,’” [in Hebrew], Sefunot 20 (1990): 203–22. 17 Sheilat, Epistles, 2:557–59. My translation here is based upon the eloquent English rendition generously shared with me by Gad Freudenthal.

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whether Maimonides refers to the dimming future of Arabic as a language for Jewish scholarship, or in a wider sense, for scholarship in general. Maimonides’ sentiments are at odds with statements made by near contemporaries, translators such as Judah b. Tibbon as well as his son Samuel, who created a trope in which they lamented the limited capabilities of Hebrew in contrast to the broad potential of expression when using Arabic.18 Maimonides, writing in the East, is aware of the linguistic changes occurring in the Jewish world and their far-reaching effect. This reality would come to shape the writing of Jewish scholars in the Arabic-speaking East along with that of the European West.19 Students of Jewish history would echo the sentiments expressed by Maimonides in these letters. By the end of the twelfth century, with the growth of important Jewish scholarly centers around the Mediterranean as well as in northern Europe, and their increasingly prolific composition, it was becoming more and more apparent, even to Jewish authors in an Arabic-speaking milieu, that not Arabic, but Hebrew, was the language in which they would best achieve a broad audience of readers. Indeed, Hebrew was quickly becoming the lingua franca that would connect Jewish communities East and West, on three different continents bordering the Mediterranean Sea, following many centuries during which Judeo-Arabic had fulfilled this function. Waves of emigration from European Jewish communities toward the eastern Mediterranean further contributed to the decline in the use of Judeo-Arabic in scholarly settings. As a result of the expulsions of Jewish communities from the Iberian Peninsula in 1391 and 1492 and the welcome that refugees received from the developing Ottoman Empire, Jews from Iberia had begun to arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in great numbers. The arrival of Iberian scholars impacted Near Eastern Jewish communities in striking and varied ways.20 With this population influx, the question of language of composition became relevant for more than communication with far-flung Jewish communities on the other side of the Mediterranean. It became a local issue, relating to the language in which 18  This topos appears in numerous locations in the introductions with which Judah and Samuel prefaced their translations from Arabic. See, for example, Judah’s comments regarding Arabic in the introduction with which he prefaced his translation of the first chapter of Baḥya’s Duties of the Hearts: “For the entire nation understands this language, and furthermore, it is a broad language, comprehending all issues and needs, for all speakers and authors.” All this, in contrast to Hebrew, with its more limited array of model texts, which Judah deems “not sufficient for all of a speaker’s needs.” See Baḥya ibn Paqudah, Duties of the Hearts, [in Hebrew] ed. Abraham Zifroni, trans. Judah ibn Tibbon (Jerusalem: Levin-Epstein, 1928), 6. 19 The geographic and linguistic transition I have described above is also succinctly and lucidly presented in Sarah Stroumsa, Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012), 18–22. 20  On this topic, see Joseph Hacker, “Patterns of the Intellectual Activity of Ottoman Jewry in the 16th and 17th Centuries,” [in Hebrew], Tarbiz 53 (1984): 569.

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the immigrant scholars were accustomed to writing, and their growing involvement in their new Near Eastern contexts. These population changes strengthened the trend toward composing scholarly works in Hebrew rather than in Arabic. Native Arabic-speaking scholars resident in the Arabic-speaking Near East became even more likely to write their works in Hebrew rather than in Arabic.21 These scholars were no doubt eager to reach broader audiences and to become part of the Jewish intellectual conversation that was now being carried out in Hebrew, and which encompassed increasingly broader regions outside the Arabicspeaking Near East.

3. The Role of Judeo-Arabic By the fourteenth century, Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic were taking on differing and relatively clearly defined roles in Jewish communities in the Arabic-speaking world. Hebrew had become the language of choice for scholarly works directed at an elite audience, for both secular and religious topics.22 In Arabic-speaking locales, Judeo-Arabic became increasingly reserved for a number of specific nonscholarly genres. One of these was correspondence (“utility prose”), whether relating to personal or business issues and of course depending on the addressee’s ability to understand that language. Hebrew did play some role in these genres: In correspondence, for example, Hebrew was often used for ornate introductions and honorifics even while the content of the letters was most frequently in Judeo-Arabic.23 Judeo-Arabic also remained the primary choice of language for genres of writing such as popular literature in prose or poetry, or other types of works whose audience included the unlearned. Form followed function in these popular genres, and authors and copyists writing in Judeo-Arabic employed in this popular literature a form and a style that differed greatly from the higher registers of language employed during the first few centuries of written composition in Judeo-Arabic. In this third phase of writing, late Judeo-Arabic, connections to Classical Arabic were weakened and the inclusion of spoken dialect became more and more common. Judeo-Arabic manuscripts of the TY Helene narrative clearly evidence these linguistic phenomena, with the earliest example attested from approximately the 21 For

apt examples, see the authors noted in Arad, “Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew,” 104–5. in one representative genre of composition in Hebrew, the works surveyed in Mauro Zonta, “Philosophy,” in The Cambridge History of Judaism, vol. 6, The Middle Ages: The Christian World, ed. Robert Chazan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 678–701. 23 On Judeo-Arabic epistles over nearly a millennium, clearly differentiated by period, see Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic in Letters from the Cairo Genizah. See also the letters presented in Jessica Goldberg, Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Geniza Merchants and Their Business World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016). 22 See,

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thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. In the next chapter I turn to these later manuscripts, summarizing the major characteristics of this form of Judeo-Arabic, in order to lead the reader through the complexities of these highly dialectal texts. The texts themselves are presented in chapter 8. The discussion of these detailed linguistic topics in the next chapter will also lead to broader considerations of the literary position of the TY Helene narrative in the region. During the late Mamluk and early Ottoman period, the narrative originally composed as a polemical parody had joined a developing and relatively fixed group of works of popular literature being transmitted in JudeoArabic and in Hebrew. Observation of these literary contexts of TY during this later period will illuminate central aspects of the functions of the narrative in the Near East.

Chapter 5

TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic During the late Mamluk period, the Judeo-Arabic manuscript record demonstrates the waning of the cultural commitment of Jewish authors and copyists to eloquent and grammatical written Arabic. Jewish writing in Arabic in the fourteenth century and beyond is replete with nonclassical style, evidencing an increasingly relaxed approach to Arabic grammatical norms. Writing in JudeoArabic is pervaded, or perhaps enriched, by ever-increasing levels of spoken and colloquial speech. While authors and scribes still strived to some degree to achieve a written Arabic that was distinct from what they spoke, a significant degree of dialectal Arabic style nonetheless found its way into these written texts, contrasting with the greater commitment to the norms of classical Arabic demonstrated in earlier periods of Judeo-Arabic composition. Scribes and authors also recorded Judeo-Arabic on the page quite differently in this period, gradually taking up (again) a more phonetic orthography, composing and copying in a form of the language whose connection to the forms of words in Arabic script becomes more tenuous.1 By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries this means of writing Arabic becomes the standard means of composing literary sources in Judeo-Arabic, although these forms are attested in personal and business correspondence somewhat earlier.2 This new development in the way Jews wrote Arabic is called late Judeo-Arabic. Late Judeo-Arabic is a defining feature of a large body of texts in JudeoArabic from approximately the fourteenth century on, preserved in Genizah collections around the world including the Firkovich collection of the Russian National Library. These documents and compositions are often referred to as “late Genizah” texts, a term distinguishing them from the Judeo-Arabic texts known as “classical Genizah” texts.3 These later Judeo-Arabic texts are in recent 1  This is not a continuity from the early stage of phonetic transcription in Judeo-Arabic described in chapter 3, but rather was a natural development occurring in the writing of authors and copyists not familiar with the way Arabic was written in Arabic characters. See discussion in Blau and Hopkins, Early Judaeo-Arabic, 29. 2 This is apparent in the corpora of dated letters from distinct periods between the eleventh and nineteenth centuries surveyed by Miriam-Esther Wagner; see Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic in Letters from the Cairo Genizah, 227–33. 3  For the use of the term “classical Genizah,” see Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 1:19; Shlomo Dov Goitein, Jewish Education in Muslim Countries: New Sources from the Genizah, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East,

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years playing an increasing role in historical and literary studies of the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, but they have not gained near the degree of attention won by the texts labeled “classical.”4 In the case of the study of the TY Helene narrative, the use of texts originating in the fourteenth century and beyond is not only productive; it is essential in order to understand the trajectory and development of the narrative in Judeo-Arabic in the Near East. Furthermore, these later Judeo-Arabic texts are crucial in honing our understanding of the developments of TY in Europe, in that the textual version they represent demonstrates important lines of similarity with particular versions that circulated in Europe. Finally, as I will show, the preservation and study of the corpus of later TY Helene manuscripts have important implications for the study of popular Arabic literature in general in the late Mamluk and the Ottoman periods.

1. The Linguistics of Late Judeo-Arabic: A Very Short General Introduction Many of the later TY manuscripts are barely readable without an awareness of the Judeo-Arabic linguistic phenomena that appear in texts composed and copied following the fourteenth century. In addition to these phenomena, the texts are replete with a plethora of vocabulary – words and phrases – deriving from Egyptian Arabic dialects. In recent years, Benjamin Hary, Rachel Hasson-Kenat, Geoffrey Khan, and Esther-Miriam Wagner have analyzed late Judeo-Arabic as found in both literary material and epistles, with copious attention to the morphology and syntax of 1962), 12. As has been noted by Dotan Arad in recent lectures, Goitein frequently used the word “Genizah” to mean the texts of the tenth to the thirteenth centuries alone, apparently excluding documents from the fourteenth century and beyond. This view is apparent, for example, in the opening paragraph of the first volume of Goitein’s A Mediterranean Society, the magnum opus that would eventually comprise five volumes: “A little-known but fairly representative section of the medieval world is portrayed in this book with the aid of a unique source, the documents of the Cairo Geniza […] Here, middle-class people of the tenth through the thirteenth centuries have left their letters, court records, contracts, accounts, and other writings […]” (Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 1:vii.) I thank Dotan Arad for this reference. Arad presented his research on this issue in Dotan Arad, “‘Late’ Genizah? Toward a New Conceptualization of the Genizah Collections” (presentation at the conference “From Fustat to Haifa: An International Conference Celebrating 120 Years of Genizah Research,” Haifa, May 2017). 4  Recent historical studies of these late Judeo-Arabic documents include Dotan Arad, “‘A Pleasant Voice and an Expert in Every Matter’: On Karaite and Rabbanite Cantors in SixteenthCentury Egypt,” [in Hebrew], Ginzei Qedem 12 (2016): 9–31; Dotan Arad, “Welfare and Charity in a Sixteenth-Century Jewish Community in Egypt: A Study of Genizah Documents,” Al-Masāq 29 (2017): 258–72; Haggai Ben-Shammai, “New Sources for the History of the Karaites in Sixteenth-Century Egypt (A Preliminary Description),” [in Hebrew], Ginzei Qedem 2 (2006): 9–26. Studies of popular literature in the Judeo-Arabic of this period will be discussed below, especially the work of Rachel Hasson-Kenat.

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this phase of the written language.5 In the following brief presentation, I focus on the central linguistic phenomena that appear in the TY corpus in Judeo-Arabic, in order to aid readers of the fragments from the late Mediterranean JudeoArabic recension discussed in chapters 7 and 8. The orthography found in these late manuscripts is frequently phonetic, with full spelling (scriptio plena) of short vowels that would not be represented in standard Classical Arabic or classical Judeo-Arabic. The object pronoun for the third-person masculine singular is written with a vav rather than a heh as in classical Judeo-Arabic, reflecting a colloquial pronunciation, -o.6 A very noticeable feature is that authors and scribes use the letter alef in a relatively fluid way, both using it in cases where it is superfluous as well as omitting it in cases where Classical Arabic orthography would require an alif.7 There is frequent doubling of consonantal vav and yud, much beyond what is attested in earlier strata of Judeo-Arabic.8 Frequently the definite article is separated from the word defined by it.9 The verbs used in the fragments often take colloquial forms, employing the spoken b-form rather than the Classical Arabic verb forms normally attested for imperfect verbs in written Arabic.10 Certain verbal roots function in a way that is typical of colloquial Arabic, rather than Classical Arabic. One example is the frequent use of the verb baqiya/baqā, which is used in these texts with the meaning “to be,” rather than the Classical Arabic “to remain.”11 The texts also frequently evidence the Maghrebi differentiation between the first-person singular and the first-person plural, using a nafʿalū form for the first-person plural.12

 5  See Benjamin H. Hary, Multiglossia in Judeo-Arabic (Leiden: Brill, 1992); Hary, Translating Religion; Rachel Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts Written in Late Judaeo-Arabic from the Firkovitch Collection: Classification, Description and Sample Texts,” [in Hebrew] (PhD diss., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2016); Geoffrey Khan, “A Linguistic Analysis of the Judaeo-Arabic of Late Genizah Documents and Its Comparison with Classical JudaeoArabic,” [in Hebrew], Sefunot 20 (1991): 223–34; Khan, “Judeo-Arabic”; Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic in Letters from the Cairo Genizah.  6  In the classical period of Judeo-Arabic, the Hebrew heh would parallel the Arabic hā’ in this usage. On the phenomenon of using the Hebrew vav instead, as attested toward the end of the classical period of Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Grammar, 59. To be sure, it is likely that even texts including a heh would have been read in accordance with colloquial pronunciation; certain cases in which Hebrew-script Judeo-Arabic manuscripts are vocalized (most often, with Arabic vowels) make this clear.  7 Regarding this phenomenon and its possible interpretation, see Hary, Translating Religion, 98–99. This orthography does not necessarily reflect pronunciation.  8 On this feature in earlier texts, see Blau, Grammar, 49.  9 On this, see Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic,” 73–74. 10  On the rareness of this form in classical period Judeo-Arabic texts, see Blau, Grammar, 70. 11  Regarding the form of this verb and its usage in late Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, 90, 187. 12  On this, see Blau, Emergence, 52–53, 58–60.

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Finally and quite notably, the syntax of the later TY manuscripts is unsophisticated. In constructing phrases, the relative particles illī and alladhī intermix freely, and are used in fossilized form, not inflecting for gender or number.13 The sentence construction is relatively simple, reflecting a style that is closer to spoken Arabic than to written Classical Arabic. Their recorders and scribes most often link phrases with the conjunction wa-, “and,” rather than employing the more complex possibilities of Arabic sentence structure that make frequent appearance in earlier recensions of TY in Judeo-Arabic. The simple style of the later manuscripts of TY, especially those of LMJAR, contrasts strongly with the types of construction attested in manuscripts from earlier periods.

2. Late Judeo-Arabic in TY Fragments: Textual Examples The TY manuscripts from the LMJAR family, presented in chapter 8 with translations, represent a range of late Judeo-Arabic features, with some fragments more highly dialectal and others less so. Certain plot elements, especially those toward the end of the narrative, are overall more dialectal than other, earlier plot elements. The kinds of differences that exist between later and earlier fragments of TY Helene are easily seen via textual examples. A variety of prototypical examples of late Judeo-Arabic are apparent in a single line from the LMJAR fragment RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014, which dates approximately to the sixteenth century.14 This line contains a description of the queen’s threat to the Jews, following her discovery that Yeshu’s body is missing from the grave. .‫נכאלי מן שונאי ישראל אחדן‬ ̇ ‫ לם‬,‫ אן מא בקא שי פי אלקבר‬,‫בעתת ורא כול אליהוד וקאלת להום‬ ̇ ‫פי‬ Then she sent for all the Jews, and said to them, “If there’s nothing left in the grave, I will not leave a single one of the ‘enemies of Israel’15 alive.”

Instead of the Classical Arabic particle fa-, “then,” the queen’s words begin with fay – a particle quite common in Judeo-Arabic of a dialectal register. Numerous words are written with full spelling of vowels, explicitly rendering as an alphabetic character what would be merely a vowel sign in Classical Arabic; that is, writing the vowel as if it were long rather than short. For example, kull, “all,” is written using a vav, despite the fact that the Arabic word contains only a short vowel ḍamma. Similarly, “to them” is also written with a vav as if the word had a long vowel, when the Arabic lahum in standard orthography includes only short Grammar, 338–39.  For a full transcription and translation of this manuscript with annotations and explanations, see chapter 8. 15  This Hebrew antiphrasis is common in the Babylonian Talmud and other rabbinic writings when discussing events that could happen to the Jewish people. 13 Blau, 14

2. Late Judeo-Arabic in TY Fragments: Textual Examples

51

vowels. The scribe includes the letter alef in nonstandard locations, as in the phrase “I will not leave,” which is written as nukhālī or nukhāllī instead of the expected nukhallī. This verb form also exhibits the use of the nun form for the first-person singular, instead of the expected form beginning with alef, a usage that is found at times in classical Judeo-Arabic but which becomes increasingly common in late Judeo-Arabic. Finally, phonetic representation is also typical of these later Judeo-Arabic texts. In the queen’s short statement, the word for “a single one,” with basic form aḥad, evidences the attempt to employ the Classical Arabic ending for the indefinite direct object, -an, but does so using a phonetic method, a consonantal nun, rather than employing an alef, which would parallel Classical Arabic orthography accurately. Fragments such as the one above, which represent the latest and most colloquially phrased Judeo-Arabic representatives of TY, contrast greatly with the earliest and most classical representatives of the work. In those early fragments of TY, high-register Judeo-Arabic is found even in sections that include conversation. One such example is found in the thirteenth-century single-folio fragment CUL T-S NS 298.57. In the element Truth Revealed, Miriam and the sages are conversing, following Shimʿon’s revelations regarding Yeshu’s parentage. ‫ פקאלת להם‬.‫אלרגל אלטמא פקולי לנא מן הו‬ ̇ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫אלחאצרין אן כנתי תערפי מן הו‬ ̇ ‫פקאלו להא‬ ‫[ר]גת מן‬ ̇ ‫פכ‬ ̇ ,‫[רו]ג מ[ן בין י]דיהם‬ ̇ ‫[באל]כ‬ ‫להא‬ ̇ ‫[פא]דנו‬ .‫פנדירה‬ ̇ ‫בעד אלפעל תביין לי אנה יוסף בן‬ .‫ומצת‬ ̇ ‫בין ידיהם‬ Those present said to her, “If you know who this impure man was, then tell us who he was.” She said to them, “After it happened, it became clear to me that he was Yosef ben Pandera,” and they allowed her to depart from their presence, and she left their presence and went away.

The sages’ statements are worded in a relatively complex phrasing, with a conditional structure, “If you know … then tell us.”16 Similarly, Miriam is made to respond in a sentence whose morphology and structure accord with written Arabic; given the diglossic nature of Arabic, a sentence of this type would certainly have been phrased differently in everyday Arabic conversation. This is not to say that readers or narrators would not have “translated” these written forms from Classical Arabic or classical Judeo-Arabic into colloquial forms. For example, Miriam employs a common particle whose use is limited to Classical Arabic: annahu, “that.” Medieval readers of the text would likely have pronounced this word as the colloquial form inno, rather than annahu – indeed, this same word is recorded as inno in phonetic orthography in later Judeo-Arabic TY texts. Regardless of possible methods of pronunciation during performance 16  For discussion of the use of the conditional form in classical Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Grammar, 184, 251.

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Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic

or declamation, noteworthy here is the written representation which adheres to the requirements of the formal register of written Judeo-Arabic. Indeed, this written text is characterized by artificiality, with little attempt to reflect actual speech, a practice that contrasts to that employed in a somewhat later period, where scribes and compilers of medieval Arabic texts attempted to enliven the conversations of their characters by peppering them with colloquial expressions even while adhering overall to the formal structures of Classical Arabic.17 It is not only word choice and the way these words are written that makes the later Judeo-Arabic TY texts different from earlier examples of the narrative. Style plays a role that is perhaps even more significant. The writing style in the later manuscripts is informal and of an extremely colloquial register. Verb forms are those of spoken dialect, rather than written Arabic – in particular, the imperfect forms with b- described above. Sentences are composed in a spontaneous-sounding and simple way that seems to reflect actual speech, without the more complex syntactic structures that normally characterize written material, especially in Arabic. One apt example of the informal style characteristic of the later manuscripts can be found in the account by Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ in the plot element Truth Revealed, as found in the manuscript RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993, dating roughly to the fourteenth or fifteenth century.18 The register of this manuscript is relatively high, but in instances of direct speech it employs a colloquial register, which contrasts to parallel elements in earlier fragments. I will compare this rendition briefly with its parallel in the thirteenth-century fragment cited above, CUL T-S NS 298.57. This analysis is based on the comparative chart presented in appendix 2.19 ‫ פקלת להו אסכת לא בד יאתי‬.‫ פי ̇גארנא ̇דלרשע יוסף פנדירא‬,‫פקל[ת ל]הו בתשהד פי מין? קאל לי‬ .‫ וסכת ̇דלמסכין‬.‫ותבת עליה בעידים‬ ̇ ‫אכר‬ ̇ ‫להא טריק‬ I said to him, “Who do you suspect?” He said to me, “Our neighbor, that wicked man, Yosef Pandera.” I said to him, “Stay silent, there is no doubt that he will try to come to her once again, and you will [be able to] verify it with witnesses.” That poor guy remained silent.

In this later fragment, the rabbi’s question has an entirely colloquial and informal air. The word order of the sentence is reversed, as in spoken Egyptian Arabic; indeed, this delaying of the question word till the end of the sentence is one of the most well-known features of that dialect. The verbs in these questions are also inflected according to spoken Arabic, and the word for “who” is 17 For examples of texts employing this kind of patchwork, see Versteegh, The Arabic Language, 116–17. 18  For a translation of this fragment with full annotations and explanations, see chapter 6. 19  I have discussed the conclusions based on this chart at length in Goldstein, “Polemical Tale.”

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53

explicitly written in dialectal form, mīn, with a yud, in contrast to the Classical Arabic form of the word, man: btashhad fī mīn? “Who do you suspect?” This fragment also exhibits the use of ḏi- and ḏa-, demonstratives used in colloquial Egyptian Arabic: ḏal-rashaʿ, “that wicked man,” with the noun in Hebrew; ḏalmiskīn, “that poor guy.” The sentence is not entirely dialectal, since these demonstratives precede the noun, the appropriate position for Classical Arabic demonstratives; in a pure Egyptian colloquial sentence they would follow the noun.20 Yoḥanan responds in kind to the rabbi, using a truncated phrase rather than a full sentence: fī jārnā ḏal-rashaʿ Yosef Pandera, “our neighbor, that wicked man, Yosef Pandera.” The informal nature of this representation contrasts strongly with a parallel rendering in the earlier manuscript CUL T-S NS 298.57. As noted above, in this fragment, the entire narrative is recorded in a high-register Judeo-Arabic, even in cases such as this one, rendering spoken dialogue. Thus, in the parallel section of the plot, the conversation between the rabbi and Miriam’s husband goes like this: .]‫רגל פאסד ולא שך אנה אלפ[אעל‬ ̇ ‫בגוא[רנא] וכאן‬ ̇ ] [ ‫וק[לת ל]ה במן תתהמהא? וקאל לי אנסאן‬ .‫אכרי‬ ̇ ‫תצפר בה מרה‬ ̇ ‫ לעל‬,‫[פקל]ת לה אסכת‬ I said to him, “Regarding whom do you suspect her?” and he said to me, “A man who lives near us, and he’s a disreputable man, and there’s no doubt that he is the doer.” I said to him, “Stay silent, perchance you will defeat him the next time.”

The rabbi’s question preserves the required syntax of Classical Arabic, biman tattahimuhā, “Regarding whom do you suspect her?” Yoḥanan’s response is similarly crafted, and he is made to speak in a relatively elevated register of classical Judeo-Arabic. He uses expressions and particles associated with Classical Arabic rather than spoken dialect, as well as structures emblematic of written Arabic, as in the phrase wa-lā shakk annahu al-f[āʿil], “there’s no doubt that he is the doer.” The rabbi’s response also employs particles of a Classical Arabic register, as in his expression of the probability that Yoḥanan will encounter his enemy Yosef Pandera once more, and defeat him: laʿalla taḍfar21 bihi, “perchance you will defeat him.” The construction of sentences in the two manuscripts is also quite distinct, as is plainly evident in the sections that follow this exchange. CUL T-S NS 298.57 presents a well-crafted narrative sequence, whose composer is quite clearly striving for an elevated register:

20 In this way, this paragraph demonstrates the blend of registers that characterizes JudeoArabic. On this consistent characteristic of Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Emergence, 24–34. 21  This verb reflects the Arabic ‫تظفر‬, but the copyist has written it with the equivalent of the Arabic letter ḍād rather than with ẓāʾ: The interchange of these two letters is common in all registers of Judeo-Arabic, due to their merged pronunciation in many Arabic dialects.

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Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic

‫ר]ג מן‬ ̇ ‫וכ‬ ̇ ‫ פאסתחא מן אלנ[אס‬.‫זוג[תה באנ]הא חבלי מן זנות‬ ̇ ‫זוגהא אלי אן שאע ̇כבר‬ ̇ ‫פסכת יוחנן‬ ‫ ומרים‬.‫אכוהא‬ ̇ ‫[יה]ושע באסם‬ ‫[ו]הדה מרים ולדתה ו[א]סמתה‬ .]‫[בגד]א[ד‬ ‫אלי‬ ̇ ‫אלבלד והרב ̇וגא‬ .‫זוגהא פי ̇דלך אלוקת‬ ̇ ‫הדה מא ילזמהא שי לאנהא מא ערפת אנה ליס‬ ̇ So her husband Yoḥanan remained silent until the news spread regarding his wife that she was pregnant from adultery; thereupon he became ashamed and left the town and fled and came to [Baghdad]. This Miriam gave birth to him and named him Yehoshuʿa after her brother, and this Miriam is not guilty at all, because she did not know that he was not her husband at that time.

This same section is rendered in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993 in simple staccato sentences: .‫ והרב עלי ראסו אלי בבל‬,‫ ולא אטאק שי יסמע אלמעירה‬,‫אלכבר אן מרים חבלה‬ ̇ ‫פענד ̇דלך אשתעל‬ .‫והדיל אלמרה מא ילזמהא אלקתל לאנהא חסבתו ̇גוזהא ומא עליהא עידים‬ ̇ At that time, the news spread like wildfire that Miriam was pregnant, and he could not stand hearing this shame and fled desperately to Babylon. This woman – she does not deserve death, because she reckoned he was her husband and there are no witnesses against her.

The near-exact parallel content presented in these two manuscript fragments points up a prominent difference in register, this time on the level of sentence structure. The earlier manuscript links its phrases in one lengthy sentence which is a well-crafted mixture of independent and dependent clauses: “Yoḥanan remained silent until the news spread … that she was pregnant … thereupon he became ashamed.” The words used to link these clauses are high-register particles: “until” translates the entirely Classical Arabic phrase ilā an; the same is true of “that she was” (bi-annaha); and even the word for “thereupon” is not the ever-present wa- so common in the other fragment, but rather a sequential fa-. In contrast, the sentences of RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993 are far less complex, with few dependent clauses; they are for the most part joined with a simple wa-, “and.” A strikingly parallel usage in the two manuscripts, with a crucial difference, can point up the distinction in register. Both the early and the late renditions use an identical verb in describing Yoḥanan’s response to the events: harab, “he fled”; this verb appears in a third Judeo-Arabic version as well and was likely an expected narrative element at this stage in the story.22 The literary contexts of the usage, though, are quite different. CUL T-S NS 298.57 includes “fled” in a well-constructed description of chronological process describing Yoḥanan’s actions: “Thereupon he became ashamed and left the town and fled and came to [Baghdad].” RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993 frames “fled” in a much more colloquial sentence: “He could not stand hearing this shame and fled desperately to Babylon,” using the colloquial negative particle shayʾ in the phrase “could not  This third parallel rendition appears in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1r.

22

3. Anonymous and Malleable

55

stand,” together with the colloquial expression ʿalā rāso, literally, “on his head,” to reflect Yoḥanan’s desperation as he fled. The manuscripts of TY from the fourteenth century and beyond, then, gradually move toward a dialectal style of Judeo-Arabic, in which the blend of registers that characterizes all phases of Judeo-Arabic becomes increasingly weighted toward a popular register. The development apparent in TY over the centuries can help us to derive conclusions regarding how medieval copyists and audiences in the Near East viewed this narrative and even how it functioned in their societies.

3. Anonymous and Malleable The development of TY within the Judeo-Arabic corpus, from high-register texts in the early centuries of circulation, to lower-register and dialectal texts in later periods, demonstrates that TY was understood by copyists, transmitters, and perhaps reader-performers in the Near East to be a malleable narrative. That is, as writing styles in Judeo-Arabic developed and changed, in part due to the historical and societal transitions discussed in the previous chapter, the various types of creators involved in the transmission of the narratives felt free to modify elements of language and formulation. These written developments were surely impelled, in addition, by what must have been a robust oral circulation of TY alongside written transmission, which I will discuss further below. It was far more than the linguistic register of TY alone, though, that developed over the centuries. The view of the narrative as a text open to creative additions opened it to literary development, and major lines of these changes in content were discussed in detail in chapter 1. The earliest texts of TY, representatives of the Pilate narrative, exist in a variety of versions in every language in which they are attested (Aramaic, Hebrew, and Judeo-Arabic). The creation of the expanded Helene narrative, likely on the basis of these earlier models, is a striking example of the impulse to embellish the slimmer Pilate narrative.23 The Helene narrative in turn evolved into a wide variety of versions, categorized into groups of texts first by Di Segni and updated more recently by Meerson and Schäfer.24 The fact that these versions exist throughout Europe as well as the Near East, demonstrates that this perception of TY as an open text was widespread, and that Jewish communities across the world viewed this anonymous text as one that could 23 For this view of the Helene narrative, based on manuscript evidence available to me, see chapter 1, as well as Goldstein, “Jesus in Arabic.” For alternate views of how the Helene version came about, see the discussion and notes in chapter 1. 24 See Di Segni, Il vangelo del ghetto, 33–40; Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:28–39.

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Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic

be modified and added to in order to increase its literary quality, its humor, its polemical qualities, or whatever other aspects were seen as significant. Beyond these major transformations via the creation of expanded narratives, transformations are readily apparent within the TY Helene corpus in JudeoArabic itself, as is demonstrated by the texts included in chapters 6, 7, and 8. The texts in chapter 6 represent a variety of versions, as is clear from comparisons of the instances in which parallel plot elements are preserved (see one example in appendix 2). These texts developed from some point during the ʿAbbasid period and through the Mamluk period (from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries). Further developments are clear in the existence of the unified group of texts that begins its development in this early period but becomes exceptionally wellattested in fragments copied in the fifteenth century and beyond, the late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic recension. The distinctions among these renditions of the TY Helene narrative can be seen on the basis of the comparative charts in appendices 2 and 3, as well as in section 1 of chapter 2. One notable reason that TY could continue to change and develop related to conceptions of authorship in the surrounding literary culture, which had undergone a revolution during the ninth and tenth centuries, the early period of composition of Judeo-Arabic literature. My focus here is on the Near East, although the concepts discussed are certainly of relevance to Jewish perceptions of TY in Europe as well.25 These changes shaped the approaches of Jewish scholars and elites writing in Arabic as well as those of their contemporaries in the surrounding intellectual environment of the Near East. New norms governed how compositions were to be written and how they should be organized, as well as authors’ relationships to their works. Authors were increasingly aware of the need to establish mechanisms of protection for what they had written, often warning copyists explicitly against changing their texts. These developments, which cannot be discussed in depth here, had far-ranging consequences for Jewish scholarship in general, as well as for the concept of the authored composition in Arabic.26 25 Issues relating to authorship are discussed regarding the European sphere, with consideration of Jewish scholarship in the Islamicate sphere as well, in Israel M. Ta-Shma, “The Open Book in Medieval Hebrew Literature: The Problem of Authorized Editions,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 75, no. 3 (1993): 17–24. 26  This transformation occurred within Muslim scholarly communities of the Near East as well. On the adoption of new forms of composition by Jewish authors, see Brody, Geonim of Babylonia, 156–61, 267–82; Drory, Jewish-Arab literary contacts, 97–103; David Sklare, Samuel Ben Hofni Gaon and His Cultural World: Texts and Studies (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 50– 67. For discussion of a variety of approaches of authors toward the issue of “protecting” their works, see Miriam Frenkel, “Literary Canon and Social Elite in the Genizah Society,” [in Hebrew], in Uncovering the Canon: Studies in Canonicity and Genizah, ed. Donna Shalev et al. (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2010), 102–8. See also the articles presented in Rubanovich and Goldstein, “Authorship in Mediaeval Arabic and Persian Literatures (Special Issue).” For one example of how these approaches to composition shaped the field of Bible exegesis and the

3. Anonymous and Malleable

57

The TY narratives were clearly not “authored” in the way that many other contemporaneous texts were. Likely emerging in Judeo-Arabic during this period, the narratives fit few of the new literary norms, if any, and assuredly had no author. They were in this way akin to earlier anonymous literature. Not associated with holiness or inspiration of any form, the TY narratives could be confidently modified in many ways by those transmitting them, whether in written or oral form. This attitude to the texts, it seems, held throughout their existence in Judeo-Arabic, even beyond this early period of development. Conceptions of authorship provide one key to understanding the wide range of Judeo-Arabic register represented in TY Helene manuscript copies. Few other texts in the medieval Judeo-Arabic corpus exhibit this range of registers through their history, and few of them can, like Judeo-Arabic TY, serve to demonstrate the continuum of linguistic development through two phases of Judeo-Arabic via a single work. This is because authored works could not be transformed as freely, and the broad linguistic adaptation and reworking that is so apparent in TY does not occur in other Judeo-Arabic works. These other works, often created during the classical Genizah period, were preserved and transmitted in copies that even in later periods demonstrated nearly the same classical Judeo-Arabic register as that in which they were composed. One can cite, for example, the Judeo-Arabic works of Maimonides, or the Book of Beliefs and Opinions by Saʿadya Gaon, not to mention the numerous Karaite Bible commentaries composed during the tenth and eleventh centuries. The Judeo-Arabic register of these works remains classical, and all the more so, their wording remains largely consistent, even in copies created as late as the nineteenth century, and despite the obvious vagaries of texts subject to copyists’ errors and whims.27

way Jews viewed Scripture, see Miriam Goldstein, “‘Arabic Composition 101’ and the Early Development of Judeo-Arabic Bible Exegesis,” Journal of Semitic Studies 55 (2010): 451–78. 27  As demonstrated, for example, in the manuscript-copying project carried out by R. Moshe ha-Levī al-Qudsī, who served as chief rabbi of the Egyptian Karaite community during the late nineteenth century. On this figure and his activity, see Zeev Elkin and Menahem Ben-Sasson, “Abraham Firkovich and the Cairo Genizas in the Light of His Personal Archive,” [in Hebrew], Peʿamim: Studies in Oriental Jewry 90 (2002): 65 including note 48; Paul B. Fenton, “Karaism and Sufism,” in Karaite Judaism: A Guide to Its History and Literary Sources, ed. Meira Polliack (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 208–9. On Beliefs and Opinions, see the manuscript tradition described in detail in Ben-Shammai, A Leader’s Project: Studies in the Philosophical and Exegetical Works of Saʿadya Gaon, 66–82. Regarding Saʿadya’s Tafsīr, I am referring to manuscript fragments of the original Judeo-Arabic Tafsīr and not to the later evolutions known as shurūḥ that were created in Jewish communities around the Near East and the Mediterranean; on these, and their relationship to Saʿadya’s Tafsīr, see Benjamin H. Hary et al., “Bible Translations,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman A. Stillman (Leiden: Brill, 2010), http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1878-9781-ejiw-all.

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Another reason for the malleability of TY is that the narrative was likely transmitted along parallel routes, oral and written, in the Near East.28 This parallel transmission would allow for development and embellishment over each performance as well as in the long-term over centuries. Moreover, scribes copying the text would have been likely to add or modify on the basis of oral renditions they had witnessed. Hints toward oral performance can be found in LMJAR, which includes a number of rhetorical questions in extremely dialectal Arabic (in Heresies of Yeshu, for example) that would be quite natural as directed from a performer or narrator to an audience. Parallel oral and written transmission is likely to have characterized the transmission of the narrative in Europe as well. The overwhelming majority of European copies of TY are in Hebrew, and relatively high registers of Hebrew at that – the written Hebrew that characterized most written Jewish production in Europe during the medieval and early modern period exhibits variations but is normally in a relatively high register overall.29 Jewish audiences of TY, native speakers of dialects of European languages, would not have been proficient in this type of language, and it seems that renditions of TY would have been necessarily mediated into local dialects, in processes similar to those described by Kirsten Fudeman in recent research devoted to Jews in medieval France.30 Note that the case of Yiddish seems to be a singular one: TY was, beginning in the seventeenth century, widely recorded in writing in the vernacular. The harmonization of varieties of written versions is also a recorded fact in the European context. This is patently clear in Yiddish manuscripts of TY, of which some thirty copies have been preserved. In these recensions of TY in Yiddish, scribes prefaced their written renderings with introductions describing the variety of different versions that they were attempting to combine into one.31 The malleability of the TY Helene narrative, though, was not limited only to the linguistic features or the content of the text, and is evidenced in broader conceptions of genre and function as well. Over more than a millennium of devel-

28  See the general discussion of the assumption of parallel oral and written transmission of popular literature in Dan Ben Amos, “Foreword,” in The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre, Meaning, by Eli Yassif (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), vii–xvii. This suggestion regarding TY is also put forth in Di Segni, Il vangelo del ghetto, 222. 29 See the concise discussion in Sáenz-Badillos, A History of the Hebrew Language, 202–9. 30  See the sensitive discussion of the variety of languages present and used in these Jewish communities, including a useful distinction between French as “mother tongue” and Hebrew as “father tongue,” in Fudeman, Vernacular Voices, 13–25. 31 This is apparent, for example, in the introduction composed to the Yiddish version preserved in the manuscript Harvard Houghton Hebrew 101, which was copied in Prague. See also the discussion in Michels, “Yiddish Toledot Yeshu Manuscripts from the Netherlands,” 234. I am grateful to Evi Michels for generous correspondence and discussions regarding the Yiddish manuscripts of TY.

4. Story Collections: Developments in TY during the Ottoman Period

59

opment in the Near East, the Helene narrative undergoes a transformation in genre, and it is to this central development that I turn next.

4. Story Collections: Developments in TY during the Ottoman Period TY was first created in Aramaic as a polemical narrative, and likely developed in Judeo-Arabic as the expanded Helene narrative in the first few centuries following its Aramaic beginnings. As I explained in chapter 1, I believe that the creation of this Judeo-Arabic Helene narrative occurred in the early Islamic centuries; one of the primary motivations to create this expanded narrative during this period was likely anti-Christian polemical intent.32 During the ensuing periods of Islamic rule, however, the anti-Christian polemical need dulled, and a millennium later, the TY Helene narrative appears to have gradually taken on a different role. This is apparent on the basis of the later literary contexts in which TY is found. The Helene narrative of TY is surprisingly well-attested in collections of texts from the Ottoman period, in a variety of languages, including among them both Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew. These include the various Hebrew versions of TY Helene included in the Meerson-Schäfer volumes, largely deriving from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as numerous other examples of TY from this period that I have located in manuscript collections, and which I present in appendix 4. These exemplars of TY, the majority of which date to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, fall outside the period of the texts analyzed in this volume, and are primarily in Hebrew. Their value to the current study lies in their literary context – the fact that they are consistently included with a relatively fixed collection of other texts. In this way, they can provide valuable information regarding community perceptions and reading practices of TY in the Near East of the mid to late Ottoman period. These later representatives of TY demonstrate two important characteristics that are lacking in the pre-seventeenth-century texts, fragments from medieval manuscript collections, which are the focus of this volume. For one, in these later collections, copies of TY are collected and preserved together with other texts. As we shall see, this literary context provides important information regarding the function of the work in Jewish society. Second, these collections frequently include colophons with dates. This richer codicological evidence contrasts with the earlier folios and fragments of the TY Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic – those presented in chapters 6 and 8 – which are preserved singly, without any  See also the more comprehensive discussion in Goldstein, “Jesus in Arabic.”

32

60

Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic

literary context if such context once existed.33 Furthermore, none of these earlier manuscripts have colophons that survived. Put another way, the Judeo-Arabic fragments that form the focus of this work preserve a rich textual tradition of TY that can contribute much to the understanding of the development of the text and its versions, and perhaps even the way the text was transmitted between communities in both the East and the West; I have begun to sketch an approach to this question in chapter 7.34 But the pre-seventeenth-century Judeo-Arabic corpus does not preserve codicological information that could help us understand where copies of TY circulated, or whether they were bound with other texts or compositions, which could lead to conclusions regarding when or why they were read. The fact that later texts do preserve this context provides us with important information regarding reading practices of TY from the region, during a somewhat later period. The eighteenth- and nineteenth-century manuscripts that I have identified as containing TY Helene demonstrate that throughout the Near East and Mediterranean, copies of the narrative circulated in collections of a variety of types of literature. The “neighbors” of TY in these collections are a relatively fixed group of texts including midrashic compilations, pseudo-historical narratives, popular astronomy, and ethics. I have identified more than thirty compilations of this type that also include the TY Helene narrative, representing a wide variety of Near Eastern languages and originating from areas as disparate as Bukhara and Morocco. In appendix 4, I describe the literary contexts of the manuscripts that include copies of the TY Helene narrative which I have identified via the catalog of the Institute for Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the National Library of Israel. This list is comprehensive but not exhaustive, and it is representative of the important literary development regarding the circulation of TY Helene in the Near East and Mediterranean, in which TY is a fixed member of collections of midrashic and popular literature. Some of the best-attested works in these collections include the following, although these represent only a fraction of the works listed in the appendix: Abraham and Nimrod, The Alfa Beta of Ben Sira, The Book of Zerubbabel, The Chronicles of Moses, The Death of Moses, and The Letter of Eldad the Danite.35 33  Rachel Hasson-Kenat informs me that she has discovered these types of collated texts in her cataloging work on the Firkovich collection of the Russian National Library. According to Dr. Hasson-Kenat, these compilations are often also datable to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and frequently include groupings of texts intended for liturgical purposes. 34 See section 6 in chapter 7. 35 On the Alfa Beta of Ben Sira, see Eli Yassif, The Tales of Ben Sira in the Middle Ages: A Critical Text and Literary Studies, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1984). On The Chronicles of Moses, see Anat Reizel, Introduction to the Midrashic Literature, [in Hebrew] (Alon Shevut: Tevunot Press, 2011), 434–37. I have not found any study of these early modern Near Eastern compilations that would be equivalent to, for example, the study of European

4. Story Collections: Developments in TY during the Ottoman Period

61

The Yemenite transmission of the TY Helene narrative is consistent with these literary contexts but has a unique dimension. As is clear from appendix 4, independent Yemenite compilations of stories similar to those found around the Near East were in existence. Furthermore, similar types of compilations are also found as part of the prayerbook, the Tiklāl – and thus numerous copies of the TY Helene narrative can be found in Yemenite prayerbooks. Finally, an additional context in which TY was transmitted in Yemen was in the fourteenth-century midrashic compendium Midrash ha-gadol. The narrative is at times included in the text itself and at times in the margins; I have included examples from Midrash ha-gadol in the table in appendix 4 but do not sum it in my enumeration of this type of compilation.36 While the works chosen for inclusion with TY in these compilations of the Ottoman period are a relatively fixed group, the compilations are extremely varied linguistically. Multiple languages are employed within a single collection, and the languages represented are usually found in pairs, depending on geographical origin. That is to say, Hebrew is usually paired in them with a local spoken language such as Judeo-Arabic or Judeo-Persian. In this way, TY narratives and the other literary works included in these compilations are attested in Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Persian, and Judeo-Spanish. The creation and diffusion of these literary compilations seems to have become a feature of Jewish culture in the Near East and Mediterranean especially following the rise of print; they are notably well-attested in the early production of Jewish printers in the Ottoman Empire.37 The manuscript attestation noted in appendix 4 shows the continuation of the manuscript tradition of literary compilations alongside print; for the purposes of the analysis here of the TY Helene narrative, both types of transmission are significant. These compilations are, on the one hand, a continuation of earlier techniques of anthologizing and compilation in Jewish literature, such as in the collections of rabbinic midrash such as early collections of tales about R. Joshua b. Levi, or framed compilations of midrash such as the Alfa Beta of Ben Sira (between the eighth and tenth compilations as carried out in Eli Yassif, “Sefer ha-Maʿasim,” [in Hebrew], Tarbiz 53 (1984): 409–29; Rella Kushelevsky, Tales in Context: Sefer Ha-Maʿasim in Medieval Northern France (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2017). 36  On this composition, see Yosef Tobi, “Midrash ha-gadol: Sources and Structure,” [in Hebrew] (PhD diss., Jerusalem, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1993). The inclusion of TY in Midrash ha-gadol is a fascinating phenomenon that is worthy of study in its own right. 37 On this phenomenon as well as what is apparently the first printed collection of popular literature in the Ottoman Empire, see David Rotman, “A Lamb and a Wolf, an Author and Fiction: Hebrew Adaptations of Aesop’s Fables from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era,” [in Hebrew], in Essays in Folklore and Jewish Studies in Honor of Professor Eli Yassif, ed. Tova Rosen et al. (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2018), 495–537. See also the study of a collection first printed in 1554, in Vered Tohar, The Book of Tales, Sermons and Legends (Ferrara 1554): An Anthology of Hebrew Stories from the Print Era, [in Hebrew] (Tel Aviv: Ha-Kibbutz haMeʾuhad, 2016).

62

Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic

centuries), mentioned above, or Midrash ʿaseret ha-dibberot (between the seventh and eleventh centuries).38 On the other hand, while earlier compilations created an organic whole, shaping selected rabbinic materials around organizing themes, the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century compilations that include TY collect these individual literary units together without attempting to create unified entities with frames.39 Important conclusions regarding the reading practices of TY Helene in the Near East can be derived from the consistent inclusion of the narrative with this relatively fixed array of other literary works.40 One of these relates to the perception of TY in the Near East, during the late Mamluk and early Ottoman period. The consistent literary context in which the work is found suggests that “consumers” of the narrative in the Near East viewed TY Helene as akin to the numerous pseudo-historical and midrashic narratives compiled with it. That is, Near Eastern readers would have encountered TY as a work of literature, perhaps with some vague connection to a historical reality. The polemical kernel of the work was of course still present, but was not the primary identity of the work, which would have been read in the context of other literary narratives, for multiple reasons: entertainment, moral edification, expansions on the lives of biblical figures, and more.41 These eighteenth- and nineteenth-century codicological contexts, then, reveal that the TY Helene narrative had undergone a gradual but definitive development in its own Near Eastern birthplace. From its creation as a polemical literary work in late antiquity and the early Islamic period, TY was now, more than a millen38  On Midrash ʿaseret ha-dibberot see Anat Shapira, Midrash ʿaseret ha-dibberot: Text, Sources and Interpretation, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2005). For an overview and updated bibliography of the work, see Reizel, Introduction to the Midrashic Literature, 438–43. 39  On contrasts in types of anthologizing, see Yosef Dan, The Hebrew Story in the Middle Ages, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Keter, 1974), 18–20. For important theoretical considerations on anthologies in general, with relevance to medieval anthologies such as these, see David Stern, “The Anthology in Jewish Literature: An Introduction,” in The Anthology in Jewish Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 4–7. 40  While my focus here is the examination of broad literary context and the historical conclusions that can be drawn from these compilations, the examination of the later renditions of TY Helene that are represented in a variety of languages in these late Near Eastern collections is an important next step for TY research. This textual analysis would ideally be carried out with a geographically centered focus. The correct framework of analysis of, for example, Hebrew versions of TY that were copied or transmitted in Iraq or in Yemen (Late Oriental and three different Yemenite versions, respectively, in the categorization of Meerson and Schäfer) is in the context of other Near Eastern renditions of the narrative, including the Judeo-Arabic renditions included in the current study. 41  Earlier readers of TY Helene in its Hebrew versions have suggested its identification as a work of popular literature, but without reference to the Judeo-Arabic linguistic features or the study of literary context, which have enabled me to construct my argument here. See Di Segni, Il vangelo del ghetto, 222; Yassif, “Folk Narrative as Polemics.”

4. Story Collections: Developments in TY during the Ottoman Period

63

nium later in the same region, read for entertainment, for moral edification, for national or historical reasons – in addition to whatever polemical kernel readers were still aware of. This, in turn, helps us to understand the longevity of the work, long beyond the time when polemicizing against Christianity or telling Jewish versions of stories about Jesus were an urgent need. Included in these literary anthologies, TY of the Mamluk period remained a relevant and desirable text for transmission among the Jewish communities of the Near East. An additional conclusion relates to a critical difference regarding the circulation of the TY Helene narrative in the Near East in contrast to its European contexts. The findings included in appendix 4 belie earlier assessments labeling the Near Eastern and Mediterranean circulation of TY as “random,” in contrast to the supposedly unique fixed nature of its European circulation, where it was “frequently appended to other polemical works.”42 It is indeed the case that in Europe, TY circulated exclusively with polemical treatises, most frequently the anonymous thirteenth-century compilation Niṣṣahon yashan, a compendium of arguments against Christianity, or the sixteenth-century anti-Christian Ḥizzuq emunah, authored by the Karaite Isaac of Troki, which had become a bestseller with Rabbanites and Karaites alike. Yet as has become clear, the examination of the Near Eastern circulation of TY reveals a no less fixed context, and one that demonstrates a striking contrast to the European circulation. The marked and consistent difference in contexts of transmission is unmistakable in the instances where Near Eastern scribes copied TY Helene from European exemplars, as occurred in a number of instances in the nineteenth century. One scribe, for example, writing in North Africa in 1810, explains that he copied his Hebrew rendition of TY from a volume including Ḥizzuq emunah. Notwithstanding the polemical context of the original collection, the scribe chose to include his copying of TY in a compilation reflecting the typical Near Eastern literary context of the work, that is, together with the Alfa Beta of Ben Sira, various other midrashic and pseudo-historical narratives, and two ethical works.43 Another example of the contrast between the Near Eastern and European literary contexts of TY is found in the case of a number of Judeo-Arabic folios of TY copied in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries by a single scribe; these folios represent the LMJAR version and may have been part of a single manu-

42 “[I]n the Orient, the choice of works accompanying Toledot Yeshu was random, not necessarily including polemical and anti-Christian treatises”; see Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:1. 43  This is the manuscript Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 3397, and the scribal note regarding the source of the manuscript is found on f. 58r. TY appears here in the Wagenseil version, further confirming that the volume from which the scribe copied had originated in a European Jewish community.

64

Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic

script.44 These Judeo-Arabic folios were at some point separated, and in the ensuing centuries were included in two compilations of differing types – one of the “Near Eastern” type and one of the “European” type, with two different shelfmarks. The single folio of TY in Judeo-Arabic is preserved as BL Or. 10435, f. 18, and is transcribed in chapter 8. The booklet in which it is found is a compilation of midrashic and pseudo-historical texts quite similar to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century examples included in appendix 4. The texts included in its eighteen folios date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and appear in a variety of different scribal hands. It is not possible to say when these texts were gathered together as a single unit, but it seems likely that this occurred at some point in the eighteenth or nineteenth century, the period in which the collections in appendix 4 were being copied. What can be said for certain is that by the time this small booklet was acquired by the scholar, rabbi, and collector of folklore Moses Gaster (d. 1939), the folio of TY had already been put together with other narratives, including The Story of Abraham and Nimrod, The Chronicles of Moses, The Story of Esther, The Book of Zerubbabel, and others – the standard literary compilation typical of the Near East at this time. Meanwhile, two additional folios of what may have been the same original manuscript of TY are preserved as JTS ENA 1726, ff. 4–5, also transcribed in chapter 8. In contrast to the fate of the folio bound in BL Or. 10435, these additional two TY folios in Judeo-Arabic were bound together with a Hebrew version of the rough polemical work Disputation of the Priest, and the collection as a whole forms the shelfmark JTS ENA 1726.45 This compilation is representative of European literary contexts of TY and was likely created in a European context, although at this point it is impossible to say when or where, or to trace the dispersal of these fragmentary pages of Judeo-Arabic TY. The evidence that I have presented above, regarding the way TY Helene was read in the Near East, is especially important in light of our growing understanding of the broad audience for popular literature in Arabic developing during the Mamluk period. Studies of reading practices in this period, such as those of Thomas Bauer and Konrad Hirschler, have focused on the Muslim Arabicspeaking community, and have shown that a broader reading and writing public developed during this time, with associated changes in Arabic writing and composition style.46 Despite this evidence of a growing audience, especially for 44  The script of the folios is identical, but in other codicological aspects they differ; furthermore, they are not continuous. For these reasons, it may also be that the folios represent two distinct manuscripts copied by the same scribe. 45  On the Disputation, see Daniel J. Lasker and Sarah Stroumsa, The Polemic of Nestor the Priest: Qiṣṣat Mujādalat al-Usquf and Sefer Nestor Ha-Komer, 2 vols. (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 1996). 46  Konrad Hirschler, The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands: A Social and Cultural

4. Story Collections: Developments in TY during the Ottoman Period

65

epics and other works of popular literature, there is a dearth of manuscripts: As noted by Hirschler, many of the relevant Arabic manuscripts are attested only from the fifteenth century, although significant interest is documented centuries earlier; Hirschler further emphasizes the importance of taking other religious and linguistic communities into consideration in further studies of this period.47 The continuous attestation of a work like TY Helene within the Jewish communities of the Near East, and especially the changes apparent during the Mamluk and early Ottoman periods as described above, can contribute valuable additional testimony to the consumption of Arabic popular literature within a specific Arabic-speaking religious community during this period.48 In the five chapters so far I have brought the reader along on a journey – from the origins of the TY narrative at some point in late antiquity in the Near East as the Pilate narrative, through the varied attestations of the Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic, and into the early modern period in which the Helene narrative finds its place in compilations of midrash and other literature. At this point our journey will take a step back, to the earliest attestations of the TY Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic. In chapter 6, the reader will meet the manuscripts representing the earliest Helene traditions in Judeo-Arabic, dating between the eleventh and the fifteenth centuries. In chapters 7 and 8, I will provide further details of the recension known as LMJAR that is well-attested in later manuscripts. It is my hope that by presenting the sum total of the Judeo-Arabic manuscripts that I have located containing the TY Helene narrative, I have opened a view toward new understandings of the development of the narrative as well as appreciation of its function in the Near Eastern and Mediterranean spheres. I hope also that in comparing the two corpora, the Hebrew and the Judeo-Arabic, if only in a modest way, I have History of Reading Practices (Edinburgh: University Press, 2012); Thomas Bauer, “‘Ayna Hādhā Min al-Mutanabbī!’ Toward an Aesthetics of Mamluk Literature,” Mamluk Studies Review 17 (2013): 5–22. 47  Hirschler, The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands, 24, 28–29. 48  The same can be said for the publications of Rachel Hasson-Kenat in recent years, which focus on popular literature in Judeo-Arabic in the Firkovich collection of the Russian National Library; see Rachel Hasson-Kenat, “The Story of Zayd and Kaḥlā’: A Folk Story from the Firkovitch Collection,” [in Hebrew], Ginzei Qedem (2010): 23–87; Rachel Hasson-Kenat, “The Story of Zayd and Kaḥlā’: A Folk Story in a Judaeo-Arabic Manuscript,” in Middle Arabic and Mixed Arabic: Diachrony and Synchrony, ed. Zack Liesbeth and Arie Schippers (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 145–56; Rachel Hasson-Kenat, “Qiṣṣat al-Maṣrī Wa-l-Rīfī: A Popular Poem in JudeoArabic from the Firkovich Collection,” [in Hebrew], in Studies in Judeo-Arabic Culture: Proceedings of the Fourteenth Conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies, ed. Yoram Erder, Haggai Ben-Shammai, Aron Dotan, and Mordechai Akiva Friedman (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2014), 209–33; Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic.” See also the republication of of Qiṣṣat al-maṣrī wa-l-rīfī in Magdalen Connolly, “‘The Tale of the Cairene and the Countryman’: A Late Judaeo-Arabic Narrative Revisited,” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 20 (2020): 91–104, https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.7948.

66

Chapter 5: TY and Popular Literature in Late Judeo-Arabic

created impetus towards a more comprehensive understanding of the diffusion of this ever-popular work among a wide variety of Jewish communities, East and West.

Chapter 6

Oldest Texts This chapter includes the earliest manuscripts of the TY Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic that I have located, those dating between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries on the basis of paleographical analysis. I have also included here those manuscripts that are from a somewhat later period but which do not derive from the family of manuscripts labeled LMJAR and which have characteristics akin to those of the earlier TY manuscripts, including high-register Judeo-Arabic as well as similar phrasing of parallel elements. The manuscript fragments are presented and discussed in roughly chronological order.

1. Notes on the Edition Given the extremely poor preservation of certain early manuscript fragments, I have provided suggested English renderings for sections missing in JudeoArabic. These English completions are based upon the consideration of Hebrew versions of TY as well as parallel Judeo-Arabic manuscripts where possible. In each case, I note the sources for these translation completions in the introduction to the fragment. These completions are included only in instances where the missing text is quite certain on the basis of context and comparison of parallel texts. These suggested English completions are marked in bracketed italics in order to differentiate them from the translation of visible Judeo-Arabic manuscript text. Wherever possible, I have indicated whether similarities exist to particular versions of the TY Helene narrative in Hebrew, and I have detailed these similarities in the introduction to each fragment. Detailed synoptic consideration of each of these Judeo-Arabic fragments in light of attested Hebrew versions of TY is an important project which requires a separate and future study, and my comments here are intended as a foundation for future comparative research. In the case of manuscripts that are extremely poorly preserved, I present the text and translation in numbered lines. For fragments containing a well-preserved section of text, I have created paragraphs according to content, rather than preserving original manuscript line breaks. Thus manuscript line numbers are given only for the first three edited fragments, which are presented line by line; the remaining edited fragments, which are much better preserved, are presented by paragraph.

68

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

For the most part, these manuscripts demonstrate a high-register Judeo-Arabic. I discuss particular linguistic characteristics, where relevant, in the introduction to each manuscript. In the transcriptions, I do not mark or discuss linguistic elements that are standard in Judeo-Arabic, such as the omission of final hamza, the omission of alif fāṣila in plural verbs, the interchange of the Arabic letters ḍād and ẓā’ (as represented by their Hebrew equivalents ‫ ̇צ‬and ‫)ט‬, ̇ and more. Annotations include reference to the dictionary of Joshua Blau for words and meanings unique to Judeo-Arabic, the dictionary of Badawi and Hinds for Egyptian vocabulary items, and the grammar of Joshua Blau for exceptional grammatical constructions important to the understanding of the passage.1 The following conventions are used in the transcriptions and translations in this and later chapters: (‫ב‬1)

Page turns are marked in the Judeo-Arabic text, but not in the English translation. (!) An exclamation mark in parentheses in the Judeo-Arabic text indicates that the text is unusual in some way; I do not include the exclamation mark if I discuss the phenomenon in a footnote. [‫ ]א‬ Square brackets including letters or words in the Judeo-Arabic text indicate missing or faded words that I have completed on the basis of partial preservation and context. ]?‫ ק[ביח‬ Square brackets including letters or words in the Judeo-Arabic text followed by a question mark indicate missing or faded words that I have completed on the basis of partial preservation and context, but which are conjectures. ]‫יגדיל ויאדיר‬ =[ '‫ יג' ויא‬Explanations of abbreviations within the Judeo-Arabic text are indicated in square brackets after an equals sign. [ ] Empty square brackets in the Judeo-Arabic text indicate a short lacuna. […] Ellipses in the Judeo-Arabic text and the English translation indicate lengthy lacunae or the truncated end of a manuscript fragment. [him] Italic text in square brackets in the English translation indicates words that I have supplemented in the English translation, despite lacunae in the Judeo-Arabic text (indicated as above). These words, then, are my own conjecture in order to aid readers in understanding the narrative flow, but are not represented in the Judeo-Arabic original. At times the lacuna in the original Judeo-Arabic derives not from a missing or faded folio but from scribal errors, especially in LMJAR (chapter 8). [saw] Non-italic text in square brackets in the English translation represents the translation of missing or faded words that I have 1  Joshua Blau, A Dictionary of Medieval Judaeo-Arabic Texts, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Academy of the Hebrew Language, 2006); El-Said Badawi and Martin Hinds, A Dictionary of Egyptian Arabic (Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1986); Blau, Grammar.

2. JTS ENA 3317.21

[= Yeshu] (instead)

(Ps. 2:7)

69

reconstructed in the Judeo-Arabic text on the basis of partial preservation and context. Clarifications in the English translation are indicated in square brackets after an equals sign. Non-italic text in parentheses in the English translation represents words that I have included for the sake of narrative flow; they are not represented in the Judeo-Arabic text, nor is there a lacuna in the Judeo-Arabic. Biblical verses are cited according to the JPS new translation unless otherwise indicated, and are identified only in the English translation.2 (New Testament verses, cited occasionally in the notes, are given following the NIV translation.)

2. JTS ENA 3317.21 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript contains a single folio with 18 lines per page, and likely dates to the eleventh century. It is quite ripped and damaged; only half of each side is preserved. It is written in a square and ornate Eastern script. The JudeoArabic is high-register Arabic, which also includes very conservative and relatively unique orthographical features, including the use of alef on plural verbs to represent the Classical Arabic alif fāṣila. It demonstrates the use of Tiberian vowels, for example on the name “Yeshu”; some of the voweling indicates colloquial pronunciations, such as in the case of the word ‫אצחאבה‬ ֻ on the first line of f. 1r. Diacritical markings are used to differentiate Arabic characters that would otherwise be written with the same Hebrew alphabet letters. Certain similarities can be noted to published Hebrew versions of TY. The first half of the preserved account is quite parallel to the Italian A3 Hebrew version (Yale Beinecke Heb. 5, ff. 7r–8r) as well as the Ashkenazi A Hebrew version (Budapest Kaufmann 299, ff. 2r–2v). The second half demonstrates parallels with the Italian A Hebrew version, in the subversions A1a (Leipzig BH 17, ff. 6r–6v) and A1b (Budapest Kaufmann A 559, ff. 15–17). I have completed missing sections in the English translation (marked in italics) on the basis of comparison to these similar Hebrew versions. I have not translated the final few lines of the folio verso due to their extremely fragmentary preservation. The fragment contains the plot elements Request and Envoys. The missing section on the first page (lines 10–13) likely contained the miracle of the clay birds.

2  JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh: The Traditional Hebrew Text and the New JPS Translation (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2000).

70

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

Request, Envoys 1. […] villains [became numerous] and joined him, and there was serious fighting [in Israel] 2. […] and Yeshu and his company. Yeshu went to [the Upper Galilee] 3. and the rest of the Jews assembled [and came before the queen] 4. and they said to her, “Our Lady, [he has magic, and he deceives] 5. people via these means, and for this reason he fled.” So she sent [horsemen] 6. to pursue him, and they found him practicing deception on the people of [the Galilee, and he would say to them,] 7. “I am the son of God, who is written in the [Scripture].” 8. When the horsemen attempted to [arrest him,] 9. the people of the Galilee did not permit them to do so. [Yeshu said to them,] 10. “[Do not fight]! Sit […] 11. […] not […] 12. […] before […]3 13. […] prostrating themselves […] 14. […] you (pl.) tell those […] 15. […] millstone 16. [and throw it into the water. Then] they brought him 17. [the millstone …] [then] he alighted upon it […] 18. […] and it began to […] 1. “You walk on the dry land, and tell 2. [the queen what] you [saw].”4 The wind carried him, and he walked

] ‫א) פריצים וצחבוה וכאן קתאל חא[ד‬1( .1 ]      ‫ואצחאבה פסאר יֵ ש[ו‬ ֻ ‫ ויֵ ׁשו‬.2 ]     [ ‫פאגתמעוא סאיר ישראל‬ ̇ .3 ]      [ ‫[ס]ידתנא‬ ‫ וקאלוא להא יא‬.4 ]  ‫[ה]רב פא[רסלת‬ ‫ולדלך‬ ̇ ‫אלכלק‬ ̇ ‫ בה‬.5 ]  ‫[אלגליל‬ ‫אהל‬ ̇ ‫אצל‬ ̇ ‫ווגדוה קד‬ ̇ ‫ בסבבה‬.6

/‫ אנא הו אבן אללה אלמכתוב פי א[לתורה‬. 7 ]?‫לכתאב‬ ‫יק[בצוה‬ ̇ ]‫ [פ]ל[מ]א אראדוא אלפרסאן א[ן‬.8 ]‫לם‬ ]  [ ]‫אלגליל וח[ארבוהם‬ ̇ ‫ [יתר]כוהם אהל‬.9 ‫[    ]ם‬ ]‫אגלס[וא‬ ̇ ‫ ל[א תתחארבו]א‬.10 ‫[    ]ד‬ ‫ [    ] לא‬.11 ‫ [     ק]דאמ[  ]ם‬.12 ]…‫ו[גוההם‬ ̇ ‫ [      ]יקעון עלי‬.13 ]…[ ‫ [      ]לוא אנתם להולי‬.14 ‫ [        ]לל[ ] ארחי‬.15 ‫[       ]גוא קדאמה‬ ̇ .16 ‫[       תם ט]ל[ע] עליהא‬ ̇ .17 ‫ [           ] וסארת‬.18 ‫ואכב[רו]א‬ ̇ ‫סי]רוא אנתם פי אלבר‬ [ )‫ב‬1( .1 ‫וחמלתה אלרי[ח פ]סאר‬ ֻ ‫ראי]תם‬ [ .2

3 This very damaged section apparently contained the miracle of the clay birds and the miracle of the floating millstone. 4  This statement of Yeshu, including a command to “walk on the dry land” followed by a command to report back to the queen and his being “picked up” by the wind, is quite similar to what is found in Italian A with slight abbreviation. The same abbreviated rendition is found in the Late Oriental Hebrew version: There too Yeshu follows his command to “walk on the dry

71

2. JTS ENA 3317.21

3. [on the water at that instant] and the horsemen5 [returned] and went [to] the queen 4. [and said to her, “We did] as you commanded us, and we found him 5. [doing] signs and wonders,” and they told her 6. [all of what they saw] and she was greatly amazed. 7. She [gathered all of] the elders of the Jews, and she said to them, 8. [“You have said] that Yeshu is a magician; lo, he accomplishes 9. wonders and miracles every day anew,7 and he is none other than 10. [the son of God] just as he claimed.” They said to her, “Our Lady, 11. Do not […] in your mind9 12. […] let him appear together with us before you [and we will reveal his disgrace] 13. [...] 14. [...] 15. [...] 16. his companions [...] 17. […] the elders of Israel10 […]

‫[אלי] אלמלכה‬ ‫ומצוא‬ ̇ ‫אלכיאלה‬ ̇ ‫ [ ]א‬.3 ‫ווגדנאה‬ ̇ ‫ [ ]ד אמרתינא‬.4 ‫ואכברוהא‬ ̇ ‫ואלאעגובאת‬ ̇ ‫אלאי]את‬ [ .5 6‫כבירא‬

‫תעגב‬ ̇ ‫ותעגבת‬ ̇ ‫ובה]תת‬ [ .6

‫שיוך ישראל וקאלת להם‬ ̇ ‫ [ ]ת‬.7 ‫הודא הו יעמל‬ ̇ ‫א]ן יֵ שּו סאחר‬ [ .8 ]‫תתגדד לה וליס ה[ו י]ש[ו‬ ̇ ‫עגאי]ב ובראהין‬ [ ̇ .9

8

‫ לא[נה אבן אללה כ]מא אדעא קאלוא להא‬.10 )!( ‫יאסידתנא‬ ‫] פי עקלך‬ ‫ מ[א‬.11 ] [ ‫פיח]צר מע[נ]א בין ידיך‬ [‫פ‬ ̇ .12 ]…[ ‫אנפדת ורא[ה …] ל‬ ̇ ?‫בה‬  .13 ]…[ ‫אלדי‬ ?‫   פריצים‬  ̇ .14 ]          [ .15 ]        ‫ אצחא[בה‬.16 ]… ‫שיוך י[שראל‬ ̇ .17

land” with a command to go and inform the queen about his miracles – rather than, as in the majority of the Hebrew versions, an assertion about himself walking on water. The text in this Late Oriental version appears as follows (Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 864, f. 82v): ‫ ורכב עליה ואמר לפרשים תלכו אתם ביבשה ותגידו למלכה‬,‫מה עשה קרא עליה שם וצפה על פני המים‬ .)!( ‫מה שראיתם בעינכם‬  5  Note that many manuscripts of the Italian A Hebrew version confuse “horsemen” and “villains” here. This Judeo-Arabic version preserves what appears to be the correct reading, “horsemen,” despite numerous other similarities to Italian A.  6  Both words in this final phrase are vocalized with fatḥatān.  7 The Judeo-Arabic formulation demonstrates a close parallel to the formulation found in Italian A (Leipzig BH 17, f. 6v): ‫הלא אמרתם בי(!) יש"ו בכישוף הוא עושה כל מה שעושה תשמע אזניכם האותות אשר עשה והמופתים‬ .‫והחידושים שמחדש בכל יום‬  8  I have completed this faded section on the basis of comparison to the witnesses from Italian A1a and A1b: Kaufmann A 559, f. 16 and Leipzig BH 17, f. 6v.  9 While this section is quite fragmentary, it clearly parallels the formulation appearing in Italian A1b, Leipzig BH 17, f. 6v, with ‫פי עקלך‬, “in your mind,” as the equivalent of the Hebrew ‫בלבך‬, “in your heart”: ‫ענו לה הזקנים ואמרו לה גבירתינו המלכה אל תנסי אותו ויחזור לבך אחרי‬ ‫מעשיו הרעים וכשופיו‬. 10  This is apparently the beginning of the plot element Yehudah Learning the Name.

72

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

3. CUL T-S NS 298.58 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript contains a single folio with 17 lines per page. It dates, at the latest, to the twelfth century. It is quite ripped and damaged, and is missing significant sections of two corners. It is written in a square and ornate Eastern script with very conservative orthographical features, including frequent use of alef on plural verbs to represent the Classical Arabic alif fāṣila. It demonstrates the use of Tiberian vowels in biblical citations, along with using the notation of indicating fricative consonants by marking a line above them. It employs a mixture of Tiberian vowels and Arabic vowels in Judeo-Arabic words. In one important case (f. 1r, line 16) the use of Arabic voweling is useful in deciphering a significant missing word. The Arabic register of the manuscript is overall quite elevated. The fragment includes the plot elements Escape, Return to Jerusalem, and Betrayal. It exhibits some degree of similarity to published Hebrew versions of TY, especially to Late Yemenite A; the final lines of the fragment are parallel to it, nearly word-for-word. There are also similarities to the rendition of Ashkenazi A that is found in Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974; this similarity makes sense given the frequent literary parallels between Late Yemenite A and Ashkenazi A.11 In light of the fragmentary preservation of the manuscript, I have completed the Judeo-Arabic text wherever possible. In many cases I have completed missing portions of the narrative based on the published Hebrew versions of TY – in this case, on the basis of Late Yemenite A. Escape, Return to Jerusalem, Betrayal, Arrest of Yeshu 1. They remained there12 until the time [of the Passover, which occurred in that] 2. year, [on the] Sabbath, and he arrived with [his disciples to Jerusalem] 3. on the eve of Passover, which was a Friday. [He rode on a donkey] 4. and he said to his disciples, “Of me Scripture said, [‘Rejoice greatly,]

]    ‫א) ואקאמוא הנאך אלי ו[קת‬1( .1 ]   [ ‫[פי אלסב]ת ווצל הו מע‬ ‫ אלסנה‬.2 ]   [ ‫אלגמעה‬ ̇ ‫[י]ום‬ ‫ בערב הפסח והו‬.3 ‫לתלאמידה עלי קאל אלכ[תאב‬ ̇ ‫ וכאן קאל‬.4 ]‫גילי מאד‬

11 I discuss this manuscript fragment, and the connections between the Hebrew Late Yemenite A and Ashkenazi A versions, more fully in Miriam Goldstein, “The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus: A Unique and Early Fragment of Toledot Yeshu in Judeo-Arabic,” in “A Language Vast and Bright”: Studies in Judeo-Arabic Culture (Festschrift), ed. Phillip I. Ackerman-Lieberman and Miriam Frenkel, forthcoming. 12  Apparently, in Antioch, assuming similarity to the Hebrew versions.

73

3. CUL T-S NS 298.58

5. daughter of Zion, cry out, daughter of Jerusalem, behold, [your king comes to you,] 6. he is triumphant and victorious, lowly, and riding [upon an ass, even upon a colt,] 7. the foal of an ass’ (Zech. 9:9).” Immediately they all wept and prostrated [themselves to him, and he entered] 8. the Temple,15 and his disciples were with him, the three [hundred] 9. and twelve16 corrupters of the world, and they are his group17 [  ] 10. […] in Jerusalem.18 One of them approached, and his name was [Gweisa], 11. and he said to the sages and the elders, “Do you want the cursed [Yeshu]?” 12. They said to him, “Where is he located?” He said to them, “In the [Temple with those]19 13. who had arrived from Antioch to pray and [  ]”

‫[מלכך יבא‬ ‫ בת ציון הריעי בת ירושלם הנה‬.5 ]‫לך‬ ‫[על חמור ועל‬ ‫ ונושע עני ורוכב‬13‫ צדיק הוא‬.6 ]‫עיר‬ ‫ כלהם‬14‫ בן אתונות ללוקת בכוא‬.7 ]   [ ‫וסגדוא‬ ̇ ]‫[לת מיה‬ ̇ ‫ות[ל]אמידה מעה ̇ת‬ ̇ ‫ לבית המקדש‬.8 ‫והם‬ ֻ ‫ וי'ב' אלמפסדין פי אלעאלם‬.9 ]   [ ‫צחבתה‬ ֻ ‫ פי ירושלם ̇גא ואח[ד מנ]הם וכאן יסמ[א‬.10 ]‫גויסא‬ ‫[ת]רידוא‬ ‫וללשיוך‬ ̇ ‫ פקאל ללח[כ]מים‬.11 ]‫[ישו‬ ‫אללעין‬ ‫[א]ין מכאנה קאל להם פי‬ ‫ קאלוא לה‬.12 ]   ‫בית מקדש‬/‫אל[מקדש‬ 21]  [‫ וי‬20‫ליצליוא‬

‫ [וצ]לוא מן אנטאכיה‬.13

13 The scribe is likely quoting from memory, and has inverted two words. The Masoretic Text reads: ‫עיִ ר‬-‫ל‬ ַ ‫ וְ ַע‬,‫חמֹור‬-‫ל‬ ֲ ‫נֹוׁשע הּוא; ָענִ י וְ ר ֵֹכב ַע‬ ָ ְ‫ ַצ ִּדיק ו‬,‫ ִהּנֵ ה ַמ ְל ֵּכְך יָבֹוא ָלְך‬,ִ‫רּוׁש ַלם‬ ָ ְ‫יעי ַּבת י‬ ִ ‫ ָה ִר‬,‫צּיֹון‬-‫ת‬ ִ ‫ּגִ ִילי ְמאֹד ַּב‬ ‫אתֹנֹות‬-‫ן‬ ֲ ‫ֶּב‬ 14  The bet is slightly faded due to a fold in the manuscript here. Another possible reading is ‫כבוא‬, from the root ّ‫كب‬, “they fell upon their faces.” Most likely is the reading “wept” that I include above, given its similarities to many of the versions of TY in Hebrew. 15  Manuscripts in Judeo-Arabic and in Hebrew seem to alternate the similar-sounding Hebrew phrases “the Temple” and “the house of study,” ‫ בית המדרש‬and ‫בית המקדש‬, in this plot element. Strikingly, while “the Temple” is mentioned here, the continuation of this JudeoArabic manuscript describes the group as being in “the house of study.” The Late Yemenite A tradition reads “Temple” here. The Ashkenazi A manuscripts exhibit variation here: Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 172v, reads “house of study,” while Budapest Kaufmann 299, f. 3v, reads “Temple,” as in the Judeo-Arabic version. Interestingly, both variants are included, along with a scribal note, in the next paragraph in Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974. 16  This number ascribed to Yeshu’s followers varies between versions and manuscripts, ranging between 300 and 330, as well as within this single folio (see below, line 16). 17  The additional description here is not attested in any of the parallel Hebrew manuscripts. 18  Neither Late Yemenite A nor Ashkenazi A mention Jerusalem here. 19 This description of Yeshu’s followers having arrived from Antioch to pray is found in Late Yemenite A but not in Ashkenazi A. 20  On this form of the imperfect third-person plural, see Blau, Grammar, 91. 21 Perhaps ‫ויחגוא‬, ̇ “and to make pilgrimage.” This additional verb is not attested in Late Yemenite A.

74

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

14. They said to him, “Show them to us!” He said to them, “We have already [sworn] 15. [by the Ten Commandments that] we would not identify him and would not say, ‘This is [he].’” 16. [They were all dressed]22 alike; Gweisa [said] to them, 17. [“When you come in the morning and greet him in the Temple23] 1. [I] will come in to you. When 2. [you see] someone to whom I prostrate myself, 3. [he is] that cursed one, himself!” Thus they did. 4. [They gathered in] Jerusalem, and they went and greeted 5. [those who had arrived from] all of these countries and places for prayer 6. on Passover on the Mount of Olives.25 Then 7. [they went to] the house of study, where the group that had arrived from Antioch was staying. 8. That cursed Yeshu was with them. They greeted 9. [them and] sat with them to find out the state of

‫[אר]ינאהם קאל להם‬ ‫ [קאלו]א לה‬.14 ]  ‫אננ[א‬ ]‫ [   א]לא נערף בה ולא נקול א[נה הו‬.15 ]‫ [   ]ً ואחד[א קא]ל להם גויס[א‬.16 ]…[ .17 ‫אדא‬ ̇ ‫[    א]דכל עליכם‬ )‫ב‬1( ̇ .1 ‫[אסג]ד לה‬ ‫אלנאס‬ ̇ ‫בעץ‬ ̇ ]    [ .2 ‫ ̇דלך‬24‫ [    אל]לעין בנפסה פפעלו‬.3 ‫[י]רושלם וסארוא וסלמוא עלי‬ ]  [ .4 ‫ [  מן ̇גמי]ע אלבלאד ואלאמאכן ללצלוה‬.5 ‫יתים ̇תם‬ ִ ֵ‫ [פי חג] ַה ַמּצֹות ופי הר הז‬.6 26‫המ ְד ָרש‬ ‫אלדי נזל פיה אלקום‬ ̇ ִ ‫ [  ] בית‬.7 ‫אלואצלון‬

‫ [מן אנטא]כיה וכאן אללעין יֵ שּו מעהם‬. 8 ‫פסלמוא‬ ‫יסתכברוא מנהם כיף‬ ̇ ‫ [עליהם ̇וג]לסוא‬.9 ‫אחואל‬

22 This line is nearly entirely ripped. Nonetheless, the appearance here of the fatḥatān, the Arabic vowel sign for marking a direct object, on the very edge of the tear, along with the remnants of the Arabic word ‫ואחד‬, leads to the conclusion that the “identical dress” motif, which appears in Late Yemenite A, is also incorporated in the account here. The Judeo-Arabic text likely reads ‫פלבסוא כלהם לבאסא ואחדא‬. 23  I propose this English translation on the basis of the rendition found in Late Yemenite A, Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 949, f. 355r: ‫אלא אמ' להם גסיא לחכמ' כשאתם באים בבקר תנו עלינו שלום בבית המקדש והרי אני נכנס על אותו האיש‬ .‫וכשתראו אותי כשאלך לאותו רשע ואתן לו כריעה הוא הרשע בעצמו‬ 24 The use of alif fāṣila in accordance with the forms of Classical Arabic is not fully consistent in this fragment; here, the verb is lacking the additional alif. 25 This description parallels the Hebrew rendition in Ashkenazi A (the rendition of Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 172v alone) nearly word for word, while Late Yemenite A does not include it. 26  The Temple as the location of this event is also attested in Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 172v; while Budapest Kaufmann 299, f. 3v, and Late Yemenite A (Jerusalem NLI 8° 949, f. 354r) have ‫בית המקדש‬.

4. JTS ENA NS 32.5

75

10. the Jews of the Exile,27 until Gweisa ‫[ג]ויסא ותרך‬ ‫ל‬ ָ ‫דכ‬ ̇ ‫אלגֹולה אלי אן‬ ָ ]‫ [יהוד‬.10 came in and left the other ‫̇גמיע אל‬ 11. [corruptors] and went up to the ]‫ ותקדם אלי אל[ל]עין יֵ [שו‬28‫ [   ]ן‬.11 cursed Yeshu and bowed to him alone. ‫וחדה‬ ֻ ‫וסגד לה‬ ̇ 12. [They understood] immediately ‫אלצאל‬ ̇ ‫ [פהמוא פי] אלחאל אנה אל[ל]עין‬.12 that he was the cursed one, who ‫אלכלאיק‬ ̇ ‫אלמצל‬ ̇ went astray and was leading people astray.29 13. [They went and captured him,] and ̇ .13 ‫] וקאלוא לה אמא אנת הו‬30‫ [ צבטוה‬ they said to him, “If you are the Mes]‫אלמסי[ח‬ siah 14. [and you said, ‘I am] he,’ then where ]‫ [  אנ]א הו אין הי אלאיאת ואלבראה[ין א‬.14 are the signs and miracles about ]‫ל[תי‬ which 15. you tell the people?” He was dis]  [‫ [ת]ק[ו]ל ללנאס פבהת ואנקט[ע] פי צי‬.15 mayed, and [fell silent] 16. [  ] the group of three hundred and ]  ‫ ̇גמאעה אלפסק[ה‬31'‫ [  ]א אלש' וי'ד‬.16 fourteen villains [were dismayed.] 17. They tried to save him and [could] ‫[אר]אדוא  יכל[צוה  ו]לם‬ ̇ .17 not […] ]   ‫י[תמכנוא‬

4. JTS ENA NS 32.5 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript contains a single folio with 15 lines per page. It dates to the thirteenth century or perhaps as early as the twelfth century. It is very ripped and damaged, and approximately half of the folio is missing. It is written in a professional and neat semicursive script, and the register of the text is quite close to Classical Arabic. It contains the end of the plot element Heresies of Yeshu and the majority of Truth Revealed. The verso of the fragment is actually the beginning of the text.

27 I

have not found this detail attested in Hebrew manuscripts of TY.  This word, based on context, is likely to be ‫מפסדין‬, “corruptors,” or ‫חאצרין‬, ̇ “those present.” 29  From here till the end of the fragment, the textual version is parallel to Late Yemenite A, nearly word for word. In contrast, one rendition of Ashkenazi A (Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, ff. 172v–173r) includes here the “name” interchange deriving from the Talmud (the uncensored version of BT Sanhedrin 43a–b), a unit not included in Late Yemenite A nor in the Budapest Kaufmann 299 rendition of Ashkenazi A. On this early baraita in the Talmud, see Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud, 75–81. 30  The remains of a bet and a ṭet can be made out. 31  These letters are each marked with a symbol of three dots. Note that the number of followers here is different from that on the previous page. 28

76

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

The version of the text that survives in this manuscript folio is similar to that preserved in CUL T-S NS 298.57, a fragment deriving from around the same time period, but the versions are not identical – see appendix 2 for a comparative chart of the element Truth Revealed as preserved in these two fragments and others (briefly discussed in chapter 2). I have supplemented the English translation here with completions based on T-S NS 298.57 as well as, to some extent, on the basis of the Hebrew versions of TY, especially Italian A and Late Yemenite A. Heresies of Yeshu, Truth Revealed 1. [who is the rabbi and not even] who is the student. 2. [… when] the sages [heard] 3. [his heretical speech against] the sages and the Torah, 4. [they said, “There is no avoiding] 5. [an investigation of] [foul (?)] speech, 6. [and in this way] we will know who he is.” They sent [to his mother,] 7. [and she came] before the sages. They said to her, 8. [“The son of whom] is this boy?” She said to them, “The son of Yoḥanan 9. [my fiancé/husband]; he caused me to become pregnant, left (the house), and left me, and I do not know 10. [what has become of him.”] They said to her, “Indeed, the sages 11. [have testified against him that he is] a bastard and the son of a menstruant.” Shimʿon answered 12. “[…] thirty years [ago] Yoḥanan came to me and told 13. [me what had happened] with his wife, and that he wanted 14. […] men […] with their wives, twice […] 15. She rebuked him for this and said to him,

‫[   ולא חת]י מן הו אלתלמיד‬ )‫ב‬1( .1 ‫ [       חכמ]ים אן‬.2 ‫ [     אלעל]מא ואלתורה‬.3 ]        [ .4 ]?‫ [        כ]לאם ק[ביח‬.5 ‫בעתו‬ ̇ ‫ [       נער]ף מן הו‬.6 ‫[ידי] אלחכמים קאלו להא‬ ‫ [   ] ב[י]ן‬.7 ‫ [   אל]צבי פקאלת להם אבן יוחנן‬.8 ‫וכלאני ומא אערף‬ ̇ ‫רג‬ ̇ ‫ [   ] אח[ב]לני ̇כ‬.9 ‫פהודא אלחכמים‬ ̇ ‫ [   ] קאלו להא‬.10 ‫פאגאב שמעון‬ ̇ .‫ [   ] ממזר ובן הנדה‬.11 ‫לתין סנה ̇גא אלי ענדי יוחנן‬ ̇ ‫ [   ] ̇ת‬. 12 ‫וקאל‬ 32‫זוגתה ואנה ראד‬ ̇ ‫ [   ] לה מע‬.13 ‫ [   ]וה אלנאס מע נסאהם דפעתין‬.14 ‫ [   ] אנכרת עליה ̇דלך וקאלת לה‬.15

32  For the first form of the root r.w.d as equivalent to the fourth form, “want,” see Blau, Dictionary, 265.

77

5. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1033

1. ‘How […]’ 2. and he came […] 3. ‘Regarding whom do you suspect her?’ […] 4. […] 5. [That righteous man] remained silent […] 6. that she […] 7. from the town and fled […] 8. She named him Yeshuʿa [like her brother’s name, and] 9. this [Miriam] is not guilty at all, because she [did not know] 10. at that time [that] he was not her husband.” When [she heard] 11. Shimʿon ben Shataḥ’s words, she was afraid. 12. Those present [said to her,33] “If you know [who the villain was,] 13. then tell them who he was.” She said to them “[Afterwards it became clear] 14. to me that Yosef ben Pandera [was the villain.” They allowed her to leave] 15. their presence, and she left [their presence.] 16. The sages [said,34] “It has now become clear [that he is a bastard, the son of a] 17. menstruant. A bastard, because she was a married woman, [and son of a menstruant …]”

] [ ‫א) כיף‬1( .1 ] [ ‫ ̇וגא‬.2 ] ‫ במ[ן] תת[המהא‬.3 ]…[ .4 ] ‫ פסכ[ת‬.5 ] [ ‫ אנהא‬. 6 ] ‫ מן אלבלד והר[ב‬.7 ] [ ‫ ואסמת אסמה ישוע‬.8 ] [ ‫הדה מא ילזמהא שי ל[אנה]א‬ ̇ .9 ] ‫זוגהא פי ̇דלך אלוקת פל[מא‬ ̇ ‫ ליס‬.10 ] [ ‫ כלאם שמעון בן שטח ̇כאפת‬.11 ] [‫אלחאצרין אן כנתי תערפי מ‬ ̇ .12 ] [ ‫ פקולי להם מן הו פקאלת להם‬.13 ] [‫ לי אן יוסף בן פנדירא ה‬.14 ] [ ‫רגת מן‬ ̇ ‫פכ‬ ̇ ‫ מן בין ידיהם‬.15 ] [‫ אלחכמים קד תביין אלאן ל‬.16 ] ‫[איש‬ ‫ נ[י]דה ממזר כי היא אשת‬.17

5. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1033 Introduction to the Manuscript This fragment dates to the twelfth or thirteenth century. It is a single folio, largely intact but with significant smudging and wear visible in letters and ink, to the point that sections have been entirely rubbed off. It is written in careful, professional, semicursive Eastern script. It is composed in a high-register JudeoArabic, employing forms that are associated most frequently with Classical Arabic, with a relatively minimal use of dialectal forms. 33  This conjectured phrase would actually appear on the previous line in Arabic, preceding the subject, but I include it here due to the constraints of English translation. 34 This conjectured verb would appear on the previous line in Arabic, preceding the subject, but I include it here due to the constraints of English translation.

78

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

The folio contains interesting and unique renditions of the plot element Burial and is the only Judeo-Arabic fragment that contains any remnant of the initial sections of this element, in which the queen communicates with the Jewish elders. One interesting detail of this fragment is the mention of Yeshu’s burial by the “waters of the spring of Siloam,” a detail paralleled in the related Hebrew versions mentioned below. The content of the folio and, at times, the wording demonstrate striking similarities to manuscripts of certain Hebrew versions of TY. These include frequent nearly verbatim parallels to the Late Yemenite A version (see, for example, Jerusalem NLI 8° 949, f. 355v), and parallels in a number of other different instances to a particular subversion of Ashkenazi A (Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, ff. 173r–173v). As I have noted above, the Late Yemenite A and the Ashkenazi A Hebrew versions demonstrate frequent and close parallels, which deserve further research. The significant parallels between those Hebrew versions and this manuscript suggest that textual comparative work devoted to this early Judeo-Arabic fragment alongside the later preserved Hebrew manuscripts of Late Yemenite A and Ashkenazi A can shed light on early stages of the coalescence of this reading tradition of TY. In light of the fragmentary preservation of the manuscript, I have completed Judeo-Arabic words wherever possible. In many cases it is possible to fill in missing portions of text based on the published Hebrew versions of TY, and I have done so in the English, in order to facilitate the reading of the translation and the understanding of the intent of the narrative. Such completions in English are italicized. Burial “O Ruler, that one that the Jews killed was the Messiah! See how many signs and miracles he demonstrated during his life! Now, following his death, they buried him, and he is not in his grave. Rather, he has ascended to heaven, since he prophesied about himself, ‘He will take me. Selah’ (Ps. 49:16).”

‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫הדא‬ ̇ )!( ‫א) יאמולאתנא‬1( ‫ תאמלי‬.‫קתלוה אליהוד הו אלמסיח‬ ‫אטהר פי‬ ̇ ‫ואלאעגובאת‬ ̇ ‫כם מן אלאיאת‬ ‫ ואלאן בעד ממאתה דפנוה וליס‬.‫חיאתה‬ ‫הו פי קברה בל אנה טלע אלסמא לאנה‬ .‫(!) סלה‬ ‫תנבא עלי נפסה כי יקחיני‬

Then she sent for them and said to the elders and the sages, “That [man], what did you do with him?” They said to her, “We killed him, because [we judged him] with a sentence.” She said, “Since you killed him, what did you do with him?” They said, “We crucified him and buried him.”

‫[פ]א[רסל]ת להם וקאלת אלי‬ ‫אלרגל אי]ש‬ ̇ ‫הד[א‬ ̇ ‫[ואל]עלמא‬ ‫אלשיוך‬ ̇ ‫פעלתם בה? קאלו להא קתלנאה‬ .‫[  ] עליה ענדנא פי אלחכם‬ ‫לאן‬ 35‫חית וקתל[תוה‬ ‫א]ישאלדי‬ ̇ ̇ ‫פקאלת‬ .‫פעלתו בה? קאלו צלבנאה ודפנאה‬

35 Regarding the superfluous vav at the beginning of this Judeo-Arabic word, see the similar constructions cited in Blau, Grammar, 195.

5. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1033

79

She [sent] messengers with them to his grave, and they dug, and they did not find him. She said, “You buried him in this grave – so where is he?”37 The sages were bewildered, and they did not know what to answer her, because a man had come at night and lifted him out of the grave and brought him to his garden and cut off the stream of water, then dug in the sand and buried him. He had re-established the stream and restored the water to its original path in the garden.

‫[רס]ל לקברה‬ ‫[פאופ]דת מעהם‬ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫ קאל[ת] פי‬.‫[ו]נבשו ולם ̇יגדוה‬ ‫ אין הו? פאנבהתו‬,‫אלקבר קברתוה‬ ‫ לאן‬,‫אלשיוך ולם יערפו מא ̇יגיבוהא‬ ̇ ‫כאן קד ̇גא אנסאן פי אלליל ורפעה‬ ‫[וקט]ע‬ ‫לג[נאנ]ה‬ ̇ ‫מן אלקבר וודאה‬ ‫ ̇תם חפר פי אלרמל‬.‫ אלמא‬36‫מגראה‬ ̇ ‫אלמגראה ורד אלמא‬ ̇ ‫[וא]צלח‬ ‫ודפנה‬ .]‫פי[אלג]נא[ן‬ ̇ ‫עלי רסם מא תקדם‬

Helene said to the sages and the elders, “If you do not show me Yeshu [whom] you killed, I will not leave one of the ‘enemies of Israel’ as ‘a survivor [or a fugitive].’”38 They said to her, “O Ruler, grant us a respite of time so that we can examine and ascertain the situation.”39 [The queen] granted them [a respite of time].

‫אד‬ ̇ ,‫וללשיוך‬ ̇ '‫ק[אלת] ה[י]לני ללחכמ‬ ‫[אלדי קתל]תוה מא‬ ‫ישו‬ ̇ ‫לם תרוני‬ .]‫אתרך מן שונאי ישר' ש[ריד ופליט‬ ‫(!) אלמלכה‬ ‫פ[קא]לו להא יאמולאתנא‬ ‫וננטר איש‬ ̇ ]‫אמ[הלינא מהלה ל]נפ[חץ‬ .]‫ פאמהלתהם א[למלכה מהלה‬.‫הדא‬ ̇

The Jews imposed a fast and prayer and crying and public supplication before God in all of the land of Israel, and the sinning scoundrels found what to say and what to accuse,42 and they said to the sages, “You killed the Messiah of God.”

‫ ישראל צום וצלאה ובכא‬40‫ואגזרו‬ ̇ )‫ב‬1( ‫וטלבה בין ידי אללה פי ̇גמיע ארץ‬ 41‫ווגדו אלאוגאד אלמענתין‬ ̇ ‫ישראל‬ ‫מא יקולו ומא יתעלקו בה וכאנו יקולו‬ .‫ללעלמא אנתו קתלתו מסיח אללה‬

 On this form, see Blau, Grammar, 43.  This sentence, which is constructed awkwardly in Arabic, exactly reflects the question of the queen in Late Yemenite A and Ashkenazi A. In this Judeo-Arabic rendition the queen asks two questions; the doubled question format is quite similar to what is found in the Ashkenazi A version preserved in Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 173v: ‫שלחה לחכמים ואמרה מה עשיתם אותו ואמרו לה הרגנו אותו שכך היה דינו אמרה להם אם הרגתם אותו‬ .‫מה עשיתם אמרו לה קברנו אותו‬ The text as found in Budapest Kaufmann 299 (f. 4r) reads differently; it has “we hanged him on a tree” as well as other differences. The interchange of the terms “crucified” and “hanged” is a frequent phenomenon in other Jewish texts as well; see Kattan Gribetz, “Hanged and Crucified.” 38  The term “enemies of Israel” is a common euphemism for the Jews themselves, and is attested in similar usage in earlier texts including the Babylonian Talmud (Ber. 4b). The phrase I have translated as “a survivor or a fugitive” is an allusion to Josh. 8:22, and I have translated it literally rather than following the JPS translation. 39  Lit. “examine and ascertain what this (is).” “What” is the Arabic aysh, a colloquial usage that appears in literary texts from time to time. 40 RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014 begins with the themes found here, although it clearly represents a divergent version of the plot element. Regarding the Hebrew-based root and the form of the verb ‫אגזר‬, ̇ see Blau, 87; Blau, Grammar, 75. 41 On this word, see Blau, Dictionary, 462. 42  Regarding this definition, see Blau, Dictionary, 452. 36 37

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Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

The Jews were in great distress. When the respite of time that the queen had granted them had come to an end, and they did not find him, the sages and the elders fled from place to place in immense fear.

‫ ולמא‬.‫עטימה‬ ̇ ‫וכאנו ישראל פי שדה‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫כמלת מדה זמאן אלמהלה‬ ‫אמהלתהם אלמלכה ולם ̇יגדוה והרבו‬ ‫ואלשיוך מן מכאן אלי מכאן מן‬ ̇ ‫אלעלמא‬ .‫אלכוף‬ ̇ ‫כתרה‬ ̇

Among those who went out45 was an elder named Rabbi Tanḥuma, and he was passing by, walking in the field, crying, fasting, and sorrowful due to what had befallen the nation. The owner of the garden met him, and he was eating something. Rabbi Tanḥuma said to him, “You wicked one, you are breaking the fast! How can you eat46 while the community of Israel is fasting, crying, and making supplications before God?” He said to him, “What is the reason for their distress?” Rabbi Tanḥuma said to him, “Because of that cursed Yeshu, who led people astray, till the Jews killed him and crucified him and buried him close to the waters of the spring of Siloam. Then the villainous group who were led astray by him began to say […]47

'‫שיך ואחד ואסמה ר‬ ̇ ‫רג‬ ̇ ‫ופי ̇גמלה מן ̇כ‬ ‫תנחומא פמאר סאיר פי אלבריה באכי‬ ‫אגתמע‬ ̇ .‫צאים חזין עלי מא לחק אלאמה‬ ‫ קאל‬.‫אלגנאן ומעה שי יאכל‬ ̇ ‫בה צאחב‬ ‫לה ר' תנחומא יא רשע אנת פאטר כיף‬ ‫יתאכל לך טעאם ̇וגמאעה ישראל ציאם‬ ‫יתצרעו בין ידי אללה?! קאל לה‬ ̇ ‫באכין‬ ?‫ הם פיהא‬43‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫הדה אלשדה‬ ̇ ‫עלי מא‬ ‫קאל לה ר' תנחומא בסבב ̇דאך אללעין‬ ‫ קתלוה‬44‫אלכלאיק למא‬ ̇ ‫א[צ]ל‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫ישו‬ ‫[ישרא]ל וצלבוה וד[פ]נו[ה] קריב ממא‬ ‫[תם] קאמו אלקום אלפסאק‬ ̇ .‫עין סלואן‬ ]…[ ‫אצלהם וקאלו‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇

 A fossilized use of the Classical Arabic relative particle alladhī, common in Judeo-Arabic; see Blau, Grammar, 235. Alternately, this word may be the expected feminine form allatī in which the tav is somewhat rubbed away. 44  On this usage, see Blau, 249. 45  This is a curious phrase found in Judeo-Arabic in this fragment as well as in a parallel Hebrew phrasing in a number of Hebrew renditions. The text of one rendition of Ashkenazi A (Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 173) is highly similar to the Judeo-Arabic rendition here: ‫ ויצא מהם זקן‬.‫והיו כל ישראל בצער גדול והיו חכמים וכל ארץ ישראל בורחים ממקום למקום מרוב הפחד‬ .‫א' ושמו ר' תנחומא והיה הולך ובוכה בשדה‬ It is clear that a number of the Hebrew renditions attempt to make sense of the phrase “going out,” by adding additional details, as in Budapest Kaufmann 299, f. 32, which specifies that R. Tanḥuma went out “from the city”: ‫ ביום ההוא יצא ר' תנחומא מהעיר והיה‬.‫והחכמים גלו במקום למקום מפחד גדול שקרב יום ה' ולא נמצא‬ .‫ הלוך ובכה וצועק‬,‫בורח בגנות‬ 46 The literal meaning of this expression is “How can the food be eaten/digested by you?” 47 In this Judeo-Arabic version, the section related to R. Tanḥuma reflects a version quite similar to what is found in Late Yemenite A, as found in Cambridge CUL Or. 557, f. 186r. ‫א"ל מפני מה א"ל בשביל אותו ממזר שהיה מטעה את הבריות והרגוהו ישראל וקברוהו קרוב למי השילוח‬ ‫ועכשיו אינו מצוי בקברו ועמדו הרשעים שהיה מטעה אותם ואמרו שכבר עלה לשמים ושלחה המלכה לפני‬ ‫החכמים ואמרה להם אם לא תמציאוהו לי לא אניח מכם שריד ופליט והרי ישראל בצער כמה ימים ובצום‬ .‫ובכי ומספד‬ 43

6. CUL T-S NS 298.57

81

6. CUL T-S NS 298.57 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript is a single folio with 15 lines per page. It dates approximately to the thirteenth century. It is somewhat faded with some holes and tears in the paper. It is written in a semicursive Eastern script, in a professional and consistent hand with wide margins and few mistakes. The fragment begins in the middle of a sentence. The Arabic register of the manuscript is quite elevated, and adheres nearly entirely to Classical Arabic syntax. The morphology is typical of classical JudeoArabic. This fragment and the next one to be discussed, CUL T-S NS 164.26, derive from the same manuscript of TY. These fragments between them contain renditions of the plot elements Truth Revealed, Excommunication, Stealing the Name, First Trial, Request, and Envoys. I have not found any similarity between these renditions and any Hebrew version of TY. Truth Revealed “[…] He told me his tale, and I said to him, ‘Whom do you suspect regarding her?’ He said to me, ‘A man48 who lives near us, a wicked man, and there is no doubt that he is the perpetrator.’ I said to him, ‘Be quiet, perhaps you may overcome him the next time.’

‫ וק[לת ל]ה‬,‫חד[י]תה‬ ̇ ‫[וחד]תני‬ )‫א‬1( ̇ ] [ ‫במן תתהמהא? וקאל לי אנסאן‬ ‫רגל פאסד ולא שך אנה‬ ̇ ‫בגוא[רנא] כאן‬ ̇ ‫[פקל]ת לה אסכת לעל‬ .]‫אלפ[אעל‬ .‫אכרי‬ ̇ ‫תצפר בה מרה‬ ̇

So her husband Yoḥanan remained silent until the news spread regarding his wife that she was pregnant from adultery; thereupon he became ashamed49 and left the town and fled and came to [Baghdad]. This Miriam gave birth to him and named him Yehoshuʿa after her brother,50 and this Miriam is not guilty at all, because she did not know that he was not her husband at that time.”

‫זוגהא אלי אן שאע ̇כבר‬ ̇ ‫פסכת יוחנן‬ ‫ פאסתחא‬.‫זוג[תה באנ]הא חבלי מן זנות‬ ̇ ‫ר]ג מן אלבלד והרב ̇וגא‬ ̇ ‫וכ‬ ̇ ‫מן אלנא[ס‬ ‫[ו]לדתה‬ ‫[ו]הדה מרים‬ .]‫[בגד]א[ד‬ ‫אלי‬ ̇ .‫אכוהא‬ ̇ ‫[יה]ושע באסם‬ ‫ו[א]סמתה‬ ‫הדה מא ילזמהא שי לאנהא מא‬ ̇ ‫ומרים‬ .‫זוגהא פי ̇דלך אלוקת‬ ̇ ‫ערפת אנה ליס‬

 There is a word modifying “man” which is too faded to make out; it may end in gimel. “ashamed of the people.” 50  This detail is relatively unique here; in the majority of other renditions of TY, this “brother’s name explanation” appears only in the birth and childhood narrative, and does not appear in the repetition of the birth story included in Truth Revealed. It appears similarly in JTS ENA NS 32.5, f. 1r. 48

49 Lit.

82

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

When Miriam heard the words of R. Shimʿon ben Shataḥ, she was afraid and frightened, and those present said to her, “If you knew who this impure man was, then tell us who he was.” She said to them, “After it happened, it became clear to me that he was Yosef ben Pandera.” They allowed her to depart from their presence, and she left their presence and went away. The sages said, “It is now clear to us that he is a bastard and the son of a menstruant: A ‘bastard’ because she was a married woman, and ‘son of a menstruant’ because she was in the period of niddah.”

‫פלמא סמעת מרים כלאם ר' שמעון‬ ‫ פקאלו להא‬.‫בן שטח ̇כאפת ופזעת‬ ‫אלחאצרין אן כנתי תערפי מן‬ ̇ ‫אלרגל אלטמא פקולי לנא מן‬ ̇ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫הו‬ ‫ פקאלת להם בעד אלפעל תביין לי‬.‫הו‬ ‫[פא]דנו‬ .‫פנדירה‬ ̇ )!( ‫ב) יוסף בן‬1( ‫אנה‬ ‫[רו]ג מ[ן בין י]דיהם‬ ̇ ‫[באל]כ‬ ̇ ‫להא‬ ‫ פקאלו‬.‫ומצת‬ ̇ ‫[ר]גת מן בין ידיהם‬ ̇ ‫פכ‬ ̇ ‫אלחכמים קד תביין אלאן לנא אנה‬ ‫ממזר בן נדה ממזר כי היא אשת איש‬ .‫ובן נדה כי היתה נדה‬

Excommunication When he [= Yeshu] too heard that his matter had become public [knowledge], that he was [  ], and that his reputation was sullied and that they had imposed a death sentence upon him because he made legal judgments in the presence of the scholars, he left Tiberias and fled to Jerusalem.

‫איצא אן אמ[רה] קד‬ ̇ ‫פלמא סמע הו‬ ‫רג לה אסם‬ ̇ ‫וכ‬ ̇ 51]  [ ‫אשתהר אנה‬ ‫פאו[גבו] עליה אלקתל לאנה אפתא‬ ̇ ‫רדי‬ ‫ר[ג] מן טברייה‬ ̇ ‫בחצרה אלעלמ[א] ̇כ‬ ̇ .‫והרב אלי ירושלם‬

Stealing the Name The land of Israel was at that time ruled by a Byzantine55 woman who was ruling at that time, and her name was Helene. There was in the Temple a stone called the Libation Stone, and this was the stone that our forefather Jacob had anointed with oil, and incised upon it were the names56 […]

‫וכאנת ארץ ישראל פי ̇דלך אלוקת‬ ‫ אמראה רומיה מאלכה פי‬52‫תחת יד‬ ‫ ואסמהא הילני וכאן פי‬53‫̇דלך אלוקת‬ ‫ אבן‬54‫חגר וכאן אסמהא‬ ̇ ‫בית אלמקדס‬ ‫אלדי צב עליהא‬ ̇ ‫אלחגר‬ ̇ ‫השתיה והי‬ ‫יעקב אבינו אלדהן וכאן עליהא מנקוש‬ ]…[ ‫מן אסמא‬

51 There is the remainder of a lamed and the first word may be ‫ולד‬, suggesting a whole phrase, perhaps ‫ולד מן זנא‬. 52  Attempting to write ‫אמראה‬, the scribe seems to have first begun to write ‫ אר‬in error, and then to have marked it with dots for erasure. 53  The phrase “at that time” appears twice in the sentence. 54  The use of the feminine is likely due to the principle of attraction, in this case to the Hebrew word ‫ אבן‬which is of feminine gender. On this widespread phenomenon in Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Grammar, 135–37. The nonstandard use of feminine gender for the Arabic ḥajar continues in the next phrase. 55  Arabic rūmiyyah. This adjective has numerous meanings; in this context it could also mean “Christian.” 56 The use of the words “names” in the plural is uniquely attested here – and difficult to explain. All other texts of TY in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic read here “name” in the singular.

7. CUL T-S NS 164.26

83

7. CUL T-S NS 164.26 Introduction to the Manuscript This fragment derives from the same manuscript of TY as the preceding fragment, CUL T-S NS 298.57. This manuscript is a single folio with 15 lines per page. It dates approximately to the thirteenth century. The folio is ripped in its upper corner, creating lacunae in the first two lines of each side, but is generally in good condition. It is written in a semicursive Eastern script, in a professional and consistent hand with wide margins and few mistakes. The side of the folio labeled “verso” is actually the first page. The Arabic register of the manuscript is quite elevated, and adheres nearly entirely to Classical Arabic syntax. The morphology is typical of classical JudeoArabic. Biblical verses are quoted in Judeo-Arabic translation. The source of these translations is not clear, but certain instances demonstrate similarity to the Judeo-Arabic Tafsīr of Saʿadya Gaon. This fragment is the sole representative of the plot element First Trial among the surviving Judeo-Arabic manuscripts. The elements Request and Envoys are represented in two additional manuscripts (JTS ENA 3317.21 and RNL Evr.Arab. II:2035, respectively). For preliminary conclusions on the comparison of these three Judeo-Arabic fragments, see section 1 of chapter 2. The text in this fragment is strikingly similar to two Hebrew versions of TY, including Late Yemenite A and both subversions of Ashkenazi A.57 First Trial “[…] the verse that was said about him, ‘That false prophet [shall be killed]’ (Deut. 18:20) ‘and you shall remove the [evil] people [from] your midst’ (Deut. 13:6).58 [Furthermore,]59

‫[פליקתל‬ ‫אלדי אקיל עליה‬ ̇ ‫ב) אלקול‬1( ]‫̇דלך אל] מתנבי ותנפי אהל אל[שר מן‬

57  This fragment was published recently in van Putten and Evans, “‘I Am the Messiah and I Can Revive the Dead’: A Critical Note on T-S. NS 164.26, a Fragment of the Toledot Yeshu.” My readings of the Judeo-Arabic here and my suggested completions of the text are to be preferred. 58  The biblical citation here combines two distinct verses from Deuteronomy, in a blend nearly identical to what appears in the Late Yemenite A versions in Hebrew: ‫ומת הנביא ההוא‬ ‫( ובערת הרע מקרביך‬Cambridge CUL Or. 557, f. 184r). The citation is presented in a JudeoArabic translation that is quite similar to what is found in the Tafsīr of Saʿadya Gaon, and I have completed the reference to Deut. 18:20 on the basis of Saʿadya’s Judeo-Arabic formulation. Note that while the Masoretic Text has the abstract Hebrew noun raʿ, “evil,” in Deut. 18:20, Saʿadya reinterprets in his translation, as he often did, by adding the word ahl, “the people of,” indicating possession or adherence. This reinterpretation is one of the elements marking the translation as likely related to Saʿadya’s. 59  This connecting word or phrase is not paralleled in the similar Hebrew versions, which use

84

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

the Messiah who was mentioned by our prophets, peace be upon them, carries out60 signs and miracles. Among them, that he will cause enemies to perish with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips, he will kill the tyrants.61

‫אלדי ̇דכרוה‬ ̇ ‫בינ[ך כמא] אן אלמסיח‬ .‫אנביאנא ע’ אלס’ לה עלאמאת ואיאת‬ ‫בקציב פאה‬ ̇ ‫ומן ̇גמלתהא יהלך אלאעדא‬ .‫אלצאלמין‬ ̇ ‫ובריח שפתיה יקתל‬

Also among his miracles is that in his time, all of Israel will be freed, and they will live in security from their enemies,64 and this man has none of these [signs].”

‫ אן פי‬62‫ואיצא מן ̇גמלתהא איאתה‬ ̇ ‫יפרג ען ̇גמיע ישראל ויסכנו‬ ̇ ‫איאמה‬ ‫והדא ליס פיה מן‬ ̇ ‫ מן אלאעדא‬63‫ואתקה‬ ̇ .‫הדה כלה שי‬ ̇

Then Yeshu said to her, “I am the Messiah, and I revive the dead!” So she sent trustworthy messengers, and they brought a corpse that was just about to be buried, and he said the Name over it. Then the corpse rose and immediately stood on its feet. The queen was amazed, and she said, “This is certainly a great miracle,” and then rebuked the sages. So they left her presence, [confused and in] great [distress].65

‫פקאל להא ישו אנא אלמסיח ואנא אחיי‬ ‫פאגאבו‬ ̇ ‫אלמותא פארסלת רסל ̇תקאת‬ ‫פדכר אלשם‬ ̇ .‫מיית כאנו ראיחין ידפנוה‬ ‫רגליה פי‬ ̇ ‫עליה פקאם אלמיית וקף עלי‬ ‫ פדהשת אלמלכה וקאלת‬.‫̇דלך אלסאעה‬ ‫ פאנתהרת‬.‫עצימה‬ ̇ ‫הדה אלא איה‬ ̇ ‫מא‬ ] [ )‫א‬1( ‫רגו מן בין ידיהא‬ ̇ ‫פכ‬ ̇ '‫אלחכמ‬ .‫עצימה‬ ̇

Request [The villains] began to join him, and he left Jerusalem and went to the Upper Galilee. The sages assembled and returned to Queen Helene,

.‫[יגתמ]עו אליה‬  ̇ 66‫[אלפריצי]ם‬ ‫ואבתדו‬ ‫אלגליל אלעאלי‬ ̇ ‫ומצא מן אלקדס אלי‬ ̇ ‫ורגעו אלי הילני‬ ̇ '‫ואגתמעו אלחכמ‬ ̇

a simple “and.” The fragment here is ripped but clearly allows room for an entire word; I have suggested one possibility here, based on the continuation in the next line. 60  Lit. “has.” 61 This is an unmarked Judeo-Arabic translation of Isa. 11:4, which is paraphrastic and is quite different from that of Saʿadya. In this text, the Judeo-Arabic translation of the verse has become part of the narrative. In the Hebrew narratives, such as Late Yemenite A, the citation is explicitly marked with “it is written,” as in Cambridge CUL Or. 557, f. 184r: ‫ומשיח שאנו מחכים ומקוים לו יש לו כ"ב אותיות וכתיב בו והכה ארץ בשבט פיו וברוח שפתיו ימות רשע‬ .‫וכתיב בימיו תושע יהודה וישראל ישכון לבטח וזה אין בו לא האותיות ולא האותות‬ 62  This word is superfluous here; it may be a kind of alternate reading. 63 The scribe’s intent seems to have been the use of the adverbial form ً ‫ ;واثقا‬using heh – representing tāʾ marbūṭa – instead of the alif used in Classical Arabic. This type of nonstandard spelling arose in Judeo-Arabic due to the wide variety of possibilities of how to represent the sound “a” at the end of a word in Arabic; for discussion regarding these nonstandard forms, see Blau, Grammar, 42–45. 64  This is an unmarked and approximate translation of Jer. 23:6, which is cited explicitly in the version transmitted in Late Yemenite A. 65  I have completed this translation on the basis of Ashkenazi A manuscripts. A possible Judeo-Arabic formulation, based on other plot elements found in other Judeo-Arabic manuscripts, would be ‫עטימה‬ ̇ ‫חאירין ופי שדה‬. 66  I have completed ‫ אלפריצים‬on the basis of the Hebrew parallel texts.

8. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092

and said to her, “O Lady, because of the magic he has, he left, escaped, in order to evade you and us, and lo, he is going around ruining people and deceiving them.”

85

‫אלמלכה וקאלו להא יֵ א סידתנא בסבב‬ ‫יתכלץ‬ ̇ ‫רג הרב חתי‬ ̇ ‫אלדי פיה ̇כ‬ ̇ ‫אלסחר‬ ‫והודא הו מאר יתלף אלנאס‬ ̇ ‫מנך ומנא‬ .‫ויגויהם‬

Envoys The queen sent horsemen after him, and they found him in the Galilee, after having led its people astray, saying to them, “I am the son of God, and thus the prophet67 has said, ‘He said to me, you are my son’ (Ps. 2:7).” The horsemen stopped so that they could grasp him and lead him to the queen, but the people of the Galilee did not allow them [to do so], and intended to fight them. Yeshu said to them, “Do not fight them, so that I can show them and show you the wonders of my father in heaven, and his miracles.”

‫פוגדוה‬ ̇ ‫ארסלת אלמלכה וראה ̇כיאלה‬ ‫אלגליל וקד אטגא אהלהא וקאל להם‬ ̇ ‫פי‬ ‫(!) אלנביא‬ ‫וכדי קאל פיי‬ ̇ ‫אנא אבן אללה‬ ‫אלכיאלה‬ ̇ ‫ וקפת‬.‫אמר אלי בני אתה‬ ‫יקבצוה ויסירו בה אלי אלמלכה‬ ̇ ‫חתי‬ ‫אלגליל ועולו עלי‬ ̇ ‫פלם ימכנוהם אהל‬ ‫ פקאל להם ישו לא‬.‫אן יקאתלוהם‬ ‫עגאיב‬ ̇ ‫תקאתלוהם חתי אוריהם ואוריכם‬ ]…[ ‫אלדי פי אלסמא ואיאתה‬ ̇ ‫אבי‬

8. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript dates approximately to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. It is a single folio written in semicursive Eastern script with 12 lines per page. The line filler is a letter or two from the next line in the text. The morphology of the words in this fragment is largely conservative, close to an elevated Classical Arabic register. In contrast to the morphology, the syntax does not adhere to that of Classical Arabic. Consecutive sentences are not always logically connected, nor are sentences well-constructed. The Arabic particle fa-, which normally implies causation or subsequence, is used in nonstandard ways, and does not always indicate actual connections between neighboring phrases and sentences. For this reason, in my translation I have added parenthetical words or phrases more frequently than usual, in order to convey my understanding of the connections between sentences.

67 The use of the word “prophet” for David is a common phenomenon in Judeo-Arabic texts of all periods. For example, in Saʿadya’s translation and commentary of Psalms, the term ‫אלנבי‬, “the prophet,” appears thirty-three times, and the term ‫אלולי‬, “the holy man” or “close associate of God,” appears four times. Saʿadya uses these two terms identically to refer to King David, the ostensible author of Psalms. I thank Haggai Ben-Shammai for illuminating correspondence and conversations on this subject.

86

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

The fragment contains a section of the plot element known as First Separation. The presentation of this element in the current fragment is unique and distinct from the way it appears in LMJAR fragments (see chapter 8). For one, here the secret agent is labeled with the Hebrew name Eliyah (a variant of Eliyahu); his Arabicized name Khidr, which is standard in LMJAR, makes no appearance. Very significant here is that the secret agent carries out miracles. These miracles, involving a lame man and a leper, correspond directly with what is found in Ashkenazi A and Late Yemenite A Hebrew texts.68 These miracles are entirely absent in the parallel Judeo-Arabic version preserved in LMJAR. The Ineffable Name of God, which in all other Judeo-Arabic renderings of TY appears as some form of the traditional Hebrew phrase ‫השם המפורש‬, appears here in its purely Arabic form, “the greatest name ]of God[” (al-ism al-aʿẓam). The Arabicized term is not found anywhere else in the Judeo-Arabic fragments of TY that I have identified thus far.69 These differences between First Separation as it appears in LMJAR (in complete form) and the clearly distinct rendition here (albeit truncated) demonstrate that there existed at least two different JudeoArabic versions of this element in the medieval period.70 First Separation [They said] to him, “We will bring you a lame man, (to see) if you can cause him to stand on his legs.” He said to them, “Bring him before me.” They brought him before him, and Eliyah pronounced the Great Name over the lame man, and he arose and stood on his feet. Then they brought him a leper, and he pronounced the Great Name, and he was healed immediately.

‫[…] לה נחן ̇נגיב לך כסיח אן כאן‬ )‫א‬1( ‫ פקאל להם‬.‫רגליה‬ ̇ ‫תקדר לוקופה עלי‬ .‫פאחצרוה קדאמה‬ ̇ ,‫אחצרוה קדאמי‬ ̇ ‫אלאעטם עלי‬ ̇ ‫פדכר אליה אלאסם‬ ̇ ‫ ̇תם‬.‫רגליה‬ ̇ ‫אלכסיח פקאם וקף עלי‬ ‫פדכר עליה אלאסם‬ ̇ ‫אגאבו לה אברץ‬ ̇ .‫אלאעטם פברי פי סאעתה‬ ̇

68 The parallels can be found as follows: Ashkenazi A: Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 137r; Late Yemenite A: Cambridge CUL Or. 557, f. 187. 69  The usage of this phrase in medieval Judeo-Arabic literature as a whole requires consideration. A search in the Friedberg Judeo-Arabic project reveals a single but significant usage, in Maimonides’ Sefer mizvot (Book of commandments), in the sixtieth negative commandment, titled “The prohibition against the vilification of the greatest name (al-ism al-aʿẓam), may He be exalted, well beyond what the ignorant claim.” .‫אלגאהלין עלווא כבירא‬ ̇ ‫ תעאלי עמא יקול‬,‫אלאעטם‬ ̇ ‫אלדי נהינא ען סב אלאסם‬ ̇ ‫אלנהי‬ This term may well be further attested in medieval Judeo-Arabic literature, given the limitations of the corpus of transcribed Judeo-Arabic texts in the Friedberg database. I thank Haggai BenShammai for this reference and for enlightening discussion of this issue. For a consideration of this term and its usage in Jewish and Muslim contexts, see Yonatan Negev, “The Concept of God’s Greatest Name (ism allāh al-aʿẓam) in Sunnī and Twelver-Shīʿī Sources,” [in Hebrew] (MA thesis, Jerusalem, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2017). 70  See the discussion in a more general context in section 1 of chapter 2.

8. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092

87

When those present saw what Eliyah had done, they prostrated themselves to him and said to him that he was without a doubt (a messenger) sent by God.

‫אלחאצרין מא פעלה אליה‬ ̇ ‫נטרו‬ ̇ ‫פלמא‬ ‫פסגדו לה עלי ̇וגוההם וקאלו לה אנה‬ ̇ .‫ לא שך‬71‫מרסול‬

Eliyah said to them, “If you believe that Yeshu was sent by God,74 and that he is seated in heaven, (know that) he said, ‘Anyone who believes in what I say, he will gain the bliss of the world to come – (and should) leave the community of the Jews and should do an act (of labor) on Saturday, which God, the exalted and praised, has proscribed,75 (instead) choosing76 Sunday, which is the first of the days, and when the illuminator of the world was created.’77 They should do this because Yeshu – they said that he rose from his grave on that day, which was Sunday.”78

‫פקאל להם אליה אן כאן תאמנו באן‬ ‫ישו כאן מרסול והו ̇גאלס פי אלסמא‬ ‫פאנה כאן קאל כל מן יאמן בכלאמי‬ – ‫אלאכרה‬ ̇ ‫ לנעים‬72‫ב) פאנה מסתעד‬1( ‫רג מן ̇גמע אליהוד ויפעל צנעה פי יום‬ ̇ ‫̇יכ‬ ,‫אלדי אללה סב' ותע' חרמה‬ ̇ ‫אלסבת‬ ‫אלדי הו אול‬ ̇ ‫ויכתאר יום אלאחד‬ ̇ .‫אלדי ̇כלק פיה מניר אלעאלם‬ ̇ ‫אלאיאם‬ ‫ ̇דלך בסבב אן ישו קאלו אנה‬73‫ופעלו‬ ‫אלדי הו‬ ̇ ‫הדא אליום‬ ̇ ‫קאם מן קברה פי‬ .‫יום אלאחד‬

 For the meaning of this form, see Blau, Dictionary, 249. On this nonstandard form of the passive participle in Judeo-Arabic first-form verbs, see Blau, Grammar, 73. 72  Lit. “prepared” or “ready.” 73  This verb should likely read ‫ואפעלו‬, “do” (2nd pl.) or ‫ויפעלו‬, “they should do.” 74  The term used here is identical to that used above to describe Eliyah. 75  The object of this verb is ambiguous in context; it seems that the text claims that instead of “sanctifying” Saturday, God has done the opposite, “proscribing” it. The Hebrew manuscripts employ different formulations here, and use the verb “hate” to describe God’s approach to Saturday. 76 I interpret this verb with “God” as subject: God has negated Saturday as a holy day and has chosen Sunday. Another option is to understand the verb as representing the choice of the believer in Yeshu mentioned earlier, who is told to do an act of labor on Saturday, and to “choose” Sunday as his day of rest. 77  It is possible that this Judeo-Arabic reference to “the illuminator of the world” is a reference to Yeshu/Jesus, alluding to John 8:12 (“I am the light of the world; Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”) and John 9:5 (“When I am in the world, I am the light of the world”). It may also simply be a reference to the fact that light was created on Sunday, the first day of creation. This is the rendition found in the Hebrew Ashkenazi A version (Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 174v): ‫ישו אמר לכם כל מי שיהיה בחזקתי יחלל השבת שכבר שנא אותו הקב"ה וישמור יום ראשון תחתיו כי בו‬ .‫האיר הקב"ה עולמו‬ Not surprisingly, given the connections between the Ashkenazi A and Late Yemenite A versions, a similar description is found in Late Yemenite A (Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 949, f. 365r): ‫ ויהיה יום ראשון‬,‫ישו יאמ' לכם שכל מי שירצה להיות עמי יהיה בחזקתו יעשה בשביל שבת ששונא אותו‬ .‫טוב לכל הימים שבו האיר הקב"ה לעולמו‬ 78 The syntax of this sentence is not smooth, and I have to some extent preserved its disjointed nature in translation. The narrative’s assertion here that Yeshu was resurrected on Sunday accords with all four canonical Gospels, which report that on Sunday before dawn Jesus’ close female followers went to the grave and found it empty (Matt. 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:1, John 20:1). These confirm the tradition reported in 1 Cor. 15:4, according to which Jesus was resurrected on the third day after his crucifixion, which had occurred according to the Gospels 71

88

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

He also said, “One who desires to be circumcised may do so, and one who does not desire to be circumcised need not do so. Anyone who subverts this issue, whether big or small, his blood will be spilled immediately. If a Jew strikes you […]

‫איצא מן אראד ̇יכתתן ̇יכתתן ומן‬ ̇ ‫וקאל‬ ‫ וכל מן‬.‫אראד לא ̇יכתתן לא ̇יכתתן‬ ‫הדא אלאמר מן כביר אלי צגיר‬ ̇ ‫̇כאלף‬ ‫ יהודי‬79‫ ואן קתלכם‬.‫ספך דמה ללוקת‬ ]…[ '‫א‬

9. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript contains a single folio with 17 lines per page, and dates to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The first eight lines of the folio were written by a scribe with a thick quill, and the remaining text on both pages was written by a different scribe with a thinner quill. The script is a semicursive Eastern one, one that is associated with Karaites and is attested over a long period of time. The folio demonstrates plentiful diacritical marking, including notation of the shadda. The Judeo-Arabic register of the text is relatively dialectal, including constant use of the auxiliary verb baqiya/baqā as well as frequent verb forms marked with bet for the indicative.80 It also incorporates a large degree of scriptio plena. The name Yeshu is marked as an abbreviation, with a line over it. Biblical verses are quoted in the original Hebrew. This fragment contains part of the plot element Envoys, beginning with the final section of the miracle of the clay birds that Yeshu causes to fly in the air. It also contains Yehudah Learning the Name and Second Trial.

on a Friday. A similar explanation of the significance of Sundays is found in the Hebrew rendition of Ashkenazi B (Amsterdam Rosenthaliana 414, f. 10v) which emphasizes Yeshu’s rising from his grave, as is found here: ‫יש''ו אומר שתעשו מלאכה ביום השבת אך שבתו ביום ראשון מהשבוע והוא שיצא יש''ו מקברו והלך‬ .‫לשמים‬ 79  I have modified my translation of this verb to accord with what is found in Late Yemenite A and Ashkenazi A, rather than literally translating the Judeo-Arabic verb. 80  On this topic, see discussion in section 1 of chapter 5.

89

9. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035

Envoys […] they began to fly in the sky. At that time, the horsemen fell off their horses before him; then they came to82 and prostrated themselves to him. After that he said to them, “Bring a large stone!” They brought him a millstone, and he threw it into the sea, and he pronounced the Name over it, and alighted upon it, and began to float on it, from bank to bank. All the people were amazed, and the horsemen returned to the queen, in wonderment, and said to her, “The man you sent us to, we saw him in the Galilee, carrying out miracles and wonders,” and they told her what he had done in their presence, in its entirety.

‫א) בקו יטירו פי אלסמא פפי ̇דלך‬1( ‫אלכיאלה מן עלי ̇כיולהם‬ ̇ ‫אלוקת סקטת‬ ‫ ובעדו קאל להם‬.‫וסגדו לו‬ ̇ ‫̇תם פאקו‬ ‫טאחון‬ ‫חגר‬ ̇ ‫חגר כביר פאתו לו‬ ̇ ‫האתו לי‬ ‫וארמאה פי אלבחר וקסם עליה באלשם‬ ‫וטלעו פוקו וצאר עאים בו מן אלבר‬ ‫ורגעו‬ ̇ ‫ פאנדהשת ̇גמיע אלנאס‬.‫ללבר‬ ‫אלכיאלה והום מדהושין ללמלכא וקאלו‬ ̇ 81 ‫אלדי ארסלתינאלו‬ ̇ ‫אלשכץ‬ ̇ ,‫להא‬ ‫עגאיב‬ ̇ ‫אלגליל ביפעל‬ ̇ ‫ראינאה פי‬ ‫כתיר ואחכו להא מא פעל פי‬ ̇ ‫ובראהין‬ .‫חצורהם עלי אלתמאם‬ ̇

Yehudah Learning the Name Then the queen sent for the elders of Israel, all of them, and for the sages, and said to them, “This man, who you say is a magician, he is none other than the son of God, due to the miracles he does every day.” The sages said to her, “O Queen, do not be fooled by his doings! He has no miracles, because everything he does is magic! However, we will reveal his magic to you, and we will reveal to you his falsehood and all of his magic, and you will believe us.” Then the queen sent for Yeshu, and brought him. Then the sages took a man whose name was Judah Iskaryūmā, and brought him into the Temple, and he wrote those letters down on a paper. He cleaved his shoulder and placed it i­nside, and left the Temple, and memorized the Ineffable Name.

‫משאיך‬ ̇ ‫̇תם אן אלמלכא ארסלת ̇כלף‬ ‫(!) וורא אלחכמים וקאלת‬ ‫ישראל ̇גמיע‬ ‫אלדי בתקולו עליה‬ ̇ ‫אלשכץ‬ ̇ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ,‫להם‬ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫אנו סאחר מא הו אלא אבן א' מן‬ ‫ פקאלו‬.‫ כל יום‬83‫אלדי ביעמלהא‬ ̇ ‫אלמעגז‬ ̇ ‫להא אלחכמים יא איהא אלמלכא לא‬ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫מעגז לאן כל‬ ̇ ‫יגרך פעלהו ולא מעה‬ ‫אלדי ביעמלהו סחר ולאכן נחן נביין‬ ̇ )‫ב‬1( ‫כדבו וכל סחרו‬ ̇ ‫לכי סחרו ונערפכי‬ .‫ותבקי תצדקינא‬ ‫̇תם אן אלמלכא ארסלת ורא ישו‬ ‫ואכ ̇דו‬ ̇ ‫ ̇תם אן אלחכמים‬.‫ואחצרתו‬ ̇ ‫שכץ וכאן אסמו יהודה אסכריומא‬ ̇ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫ודכלוה לבית המקדש וכתב‬ ̇ ‫אלאחרף פי ורק ושק כתפו וחטהא פיה‬ ‫וחפץ אלשם‬ ̇ ‫רג לברא לבית המקדש‬ ̇ ‫וכ‬ ̇ .‫המפורש‬ 84

 Correction of the manuscript, which reads ‫שכץ‬. ̇  Arabic fāqū, lit. “they woke up.” The Italian A version makes use of a similar image, the Hebrew ‫וחיו‬, “and they came to life.” 83  This phrase contains a lack of correspondence between the singular “miracle” and the plural object of the verb ‫בעמלהא‬. 84  This is a classic example of the syntactic phenomenon of isolation typical of Judeo-Arabic; see Blau, Grammar, 200–207. 81 82

90

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

Second Trial Then the sages brought him [= Judah] to the queen, in the court chamber, and Yeshu was sitting next to her with all of his company around him. When he saw that the Jews had come to him, before the queen, he said to them, “Do you not see Scripture, how it says, ‘For dogs have surrounded me, an assembly of evildoers has enclosed me,’ (Ps. 22:17) and about me it says, ‘Do not fear them; be not dismayed at them.’”85

‫חצרוה אלחכמים קודאם אלמלכא‬ ̇ ‫̇תם‬ ‫בגנבהא‬ ̇ ‫אלגלסא וישו כאן ̇גאלס‬ ̇ ‫פי‬ ‫נצר‬ ̇ ‫ פלמא‬.‫חדאה‬ ̇ ‫̇וגמיע טאיפתהו‬ ‫ישראל אתוה קודאם אלמלכא קאל‬ ‫תנצרו אלנץ כיף קאל כי‬ ̇ ‫ מא‬,‫להם‬ .‫סבבוני כלבים עדת מרעים הקיפוני‬ ‫ועליא קאל לא תירא מהם ומפניהם אל‬ .‫תחת‬

The sages and elders said to him, “Do you not know, you evil one, what is said in the exalted87 Torah, ‘If there appears among you a prophet or a dream-diviner […] even if the sign or portent that he named to you comes true […] do not assent or give heed to him. Show him no pity […] but take his life. Let your hand be the first against him […]’ (Deut. 13:2–3, 9–10).88 It also says, ‘As for that prophet or dream-diviner, he shall be put to death; for he urged disloyalty to the Lord your God’ (Deut. 13:6). But you, O Queen, we are asking you to turn him over to us […]”

‫ מא‬,‫פקאלו להו אלחכמים ואלזקנים‬ '‫אלדי קאל פי אלתו' יג‬ ̇ ‫תעלם יא רשע‬ ‫פי אלתורה יגדיל ויאדיר] כי יקום‬ =[ '‫ויא‬ ‫בקרבך נביא או חולם חלום ובא האות‬ ‫והמופת לא תאבה לו ולא תשמע אליו‬ ‫ולא תחוס עינך עליו כי הרג תהרגנו‬ ‫ואיצא קאל והנביא ההוא‬ ̇ .‫ידך תהיה בו‬ ‫ ההוא יומת כי דבר‬86‫או החולם חלום‬ ‫ ואמא אנתי יא מלכא‬.‫סרה על יי אלהים‬ ]…[ ‫נסאל מנך אנך סלמיה לנא‬

10. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993 Introduction to the Manuscript This single folio contains 19 lines per page and likely dates to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. It has a catchword at the end of f. 1v. The text is written in semicursive Eastern script and includes intermittent diacritical markings, such as on the letter gimel to indicate the Arabic jīm. The register of the folio is relatively elevated. It does demonstrate some degree of late Judeo-Arabic, in its first-person plural forms (‫ננצרו‬ ̇ ,‫)נפתשו‬, the use of the fixed form ‫אלדי‬ ̇ as a relative pronoun, and a single use of a b- imperfect verb. The latter, used in a question put to Yoḥanan by R. Shimʿon b. Shataḥ, may represent an attempt to provide a “colloquial” quality to the conversation recounted in the

85 This citation is an amalgam of a number of biblical verses including phrases from Jer. 1:8 and 1:17, and Ezek. 2:6. 86 MT ‫ח ֵֹלם ַה ֲחלֹום‬. 87  Lit. Heb. “may it be made great and aggrandized.” 88  The verses are quoted in abbreviated phrases in the Judeo-Arabic text.

10. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993

91

text. When Hebrew words appear in the text, they are frequently transcribed in the nonstandard ways characteristic of late Judeo-Arabic. The folio includes the plot elements Heresies of Yeshu, Truth Revealed, and Excommunication of Yeshu, as well as the beginning of Stealing the Name. It includes a title at the top of f. 1r, “The story of the wicked Yeshu in the Temple”: ‫[קצ]ת ישו הרשע במקדש‬ This manuscript was likely checked and corrected, apparently by the scribe himself. For example a correction appears in the margin relating to the element Truth Revealed – the phrase ‫וקאלו להא‬, “they said to her,” is marked for erasure and replaced with a marginal note in what appears to be the same scribal hand: ‫וסאלוהא‬, “they asked her,” labeled as ‫צח‬, “correct.” I compare this fragment with three other Judeo-Arabic fragments and a number of Hebrew versions in appendix 2, and I discuss the results of the comparison in section 1 of chapter 2. Heresies of Yeshu […] exegeses and explanations (to) the sages, and one got up and said to him, “You, haven’t you read that ‘He who teaches in the presence of his teacher deserves death’?” That wicked one answered and said, “Look at Moses and Jethro. Moses was the foremost of the prophets and the first of the sages, yet he learned from Jethro, who was a foreign man, and if you say that Jethro was the teacher of Moses, then you annul the memory of Moses and the testimony of the Torah about him, since it says regarding him, ‘Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses’ (Deut. 34:10).”

‫[…] אלחכמים תפאסיר ושרוחאת‬ )‫א‬1( ‫ אנת מא קרית‬,‫פקאם אחד קאל להו‬ ?‫באלהמורה הלכה בפני רבו חייב מיתה‬ ‫אנצרו משה‬ ̇ ‫הדא אלרשע וקאל‬ ̇ 89‫פואגב‬ ̇ ‫ויתרו! משה כאן ראס אלנביאים וראס‬ ‫אלדי כאן‬ ̇ ‫אלחכאמים ואתעלם מן יתרו‬ ‫(!) יתרו‬ ‫ ואן כנתו תקול‬.‫אגנבי‬ ̇ ‫רגל‬ ̇ 90‫אסתאד משה פקד תבטלו בזכרית‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫(!) פיה‬ ‫משה ושהאדת אלתורא‬ ‫(!) נביא עוד‬ ‫קאלת עליה ולא קאם‬ .‫בישראל כמשה‬

When the sages heard his words and the ugli­ ness of his face,91 they said, “We must search out about this wicked one, and we will examine his origin.”

‫פלמא סמעו אלחכמים כלאמו וקבאחת‬ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫̇וגהו פקאלו לא בד נפתשו עלי‬ .‫וננצרו אצלו‬ ̇ ‫אלרשע‬

 This should read ‫פגאוב‬. ̇ is a phonetic rendering of the word ‫ذكرى‬, “memory,” apparently based on pronunciation in the local dialect. Regarding the use of the tav at the end of the word as well as the use of the preposition bi, see Blau, Grammar, 43, 178. 91  Most Hebrew versions of this element mention “insolence” here (‫)חוצפה‬, and this Arabic phrase may be an idiomatic expression meaning the same. That said, I was not able to find evidence for this idiomatic meaning to date. 89

90 This

92

Chapter 6: Oldest Texts

Truth Revealed Then they sent for his mother, and they asked her, and she said to them, “This is the son of Rabbi Yoḥanan, and he is in Babylon.” The sages said to her that they testified against him that he was a bastard and the son of a menstruant.

92 ‫בעתו ורא אמו וסאלוהא‬ ̇ )!( ‫פענד‬ ‫(!) רבי יוחנן‬ ‫(!) בן‬ ‫האדא‬ ̇ ,‫פקאלת להם‬ ‫ פקאלו להא אלחכמים אן‬.‫ואנהו פי בבל‬ .‫ ובר הנדה‬93‫שהדו עליה אנו ממזר‬

Then Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ said, “Listen to what happened to me. I was sitting one day, and Rabbi Yoḥanan came and said to me, ‘Listen, you don’t know what happened to me last night. I came to my wife, and she said to me, “What is this deed that you did to me when I was in the niddah period and I was saying to you, ‘Get away from me!’ and you didn’t even listen to me.” When I heard what she said, I was astounded, and I went crazy. I said to myself, that cursed one, our neighbor, had relations with her, and the poor woman thought that he was me.’ I said to him, ‘Who do you suspect?’ He said, ‘Our neighbor, that wicked man Yosef Pandera!’ I said to him, ‘Be silent, there is no doubt that he will try to come to her once again, and you will [be able to] verify it with witnesses.’ That poor guy remained silent.

‫פקאל רבן שמעון בן שטח אעלמו מא‬ ‫ אנא קאעד ̇דאת יום אלא ̇וגאני‬.‫̇גרא לי‬ ‫ אסמע מא תערף איש‬,‫ר' יוחנן וקאל לי‬ .‫ אלא ̇גוזתי‬95‫דכל‬ ̇ ‫ אללילה‬94‫̇גרא לי דהא‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫הדא אלעמלה‬ ̇ ‫פקאלת לי איש‬ ‫ ואנא אקול‬,‫ ואנא פי נדה‬,‫עמלתהא בי‬ ‫רצית תסמע מני! ולמן‬ ̇ ‫לך אבעד עני ומא‬ ‫ וקלת פי‬,‫וכבלת‬ ̇ ‫סמעת קולהא אנדהשת‬ )‫ב‬1( ‫הדא אלארור ̇גארנא אפתעל‬ ̇ ‫עקלי‬ ‫ ואלמסכינה חסבתו פי‬,‫פיהא בעלא‬ ‫ פקל[ת ל]הו בתשהד‬.‫עקלהא אנה אנא‬ ‫פי מין? קאל לי פי ̇גארנא ̇דל רשע יוסף‬ ‫ פקלת להו אסכת לא בד יאתי‬.‫פנדירא‬ 97 .‫ותבת עליה בעידים‬ ̇ ‫אכר‬ ̇ 96‫להא טריק‬ .‫וסכת ̇דלמסכין‬

At that time, the news spread like wildfire that Miriam was pregnant, and he could not stand hearing this shame and fled desperately to Babylon. This woman – she does not deserve death, because she reckoned he was her husband, and there are no witnesses against her.”

‫אלכבר אן מרים‬ ̇ ‫פענד ̇דלך אשתעל‬ ‫ יסמע אלמעירה‬98‫חבלה ולא אטאק שי‬ ‫והדיל‬ ̇ .‫והרב עלי ראסו אלי בבל‬ ‫(!) מא ילזמהא אלקתל לאנהא‬ ‫אלמרה‬ .‫חסבתו ̇גוזהא ומא עליהא עידים‬

92 In the margin, the phrase ‫ וסאלוהא צח‬appears. In the text, the words ‫ וקאלו להא‬are marked for erasure. 93  This word has lines marked over its letters, which normally indicates an erasure, but the text reads well with the inclusion of the word. 94  Apparently a letter inversion for ‫הדא‬. ̇ The gender here is not in agreement, which is common in this fragment. 95 This verb should read ‫;דכלת‬ ̇ the scribe seems to have erred due to the complexity of the back and forth conversation here. 96  For this meaning of ṭarīq as “instance,” see Blau, Dictionary, 400. 97  Scriptio plena for the Hebrew ‫עדים‬, “witnesses.” 98  On this word as a negative particle in Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Grammar, 144–45.

10. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993

When she heard that she was not sentenced to death, she confessed, and said to them, “Yes, this is what happened to me.” The sages said to her, “Do you know that man from whom you became pregnant?” She said to them, “When he seized me the first time, I thought that he was my husband, and when he seized me the second time, I realized with certainty that he was Yosef. His action was violently coercive against me.” The sages let her be, and she went.

93

‫פלמא סמעת אן מא ילזמהא קתל‬ ‫האכדא ̇גרא‬ ̇ ‫ וקאלת להם נעם‬99‫קרת‬ ‫ פקאלו להא אלחכמים אנתי תערפי‬.‫לי‬ ‫אלדי חמלתי מנו? פקאלת להם‬ ̇ ‫אלשכץ‬ ̇ .‫ חסבתו ̇גוזי‬,‫ענד מא מסכני אול מרה‬ ‫ולמא מסכני ̇תאני מרה תחקקת אנו‬ .‫ וכאן אלפעל מנהו באלגצב עני‬.‫יוסף‬ .‫פאסאבוהא אלחכמים ואראחת‬

Excommunication of Yeshu When Yeshu heard their words, that the matter had became known in the town that he was the son of a prostitute and a bastard and the son of a menstruant and that he was sentenced to death for speaking in the presence of the sages, he went at that moment to Jerusalem.

‫הדא‬ ̇ )!( ‫פלמן סמע י'ש'ו' כלאמהם אין‬ ‫אלאמר אשתהר פי אלבלד אנהו אבן‬ ‫קחבה וממזר ובר הנדה אן לזמה אלקתל‬ ‫בחצרה אלחכמים‬ ̇ ‫אגל אנהו תכלם‬ ̇ ‫מן‬ .‫מצא אלא ירושלם‬ ̇ 100‫ופאלחין‬

At that time in Jerusalem, a queen ruled, and her name was Helena, from the lands of the Byzantines, ruling over all the people. There was in the Temple a stone, and written on it […]

‫וכאן פי ̇דאלך אלזמאן פי ירושלם תחכם‬ ‫(!) הילאנה מן‬ ‫סלטאנה וכאן אסמה‬ ‫בלאד אלרום חאכמה עלי ̇גמיע אלנאס‬ ]…[ ‫חגר מכתוב‬ ̇ ‫וכאן פי בית המקדש‬

 99  The verb ‫ קרת‬here is a development from the standard Arabic fourth-form verb ‫اقرّت‬, “she admitted.” On the interchange of the first and fourth verb forms in Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, 75–77. 100  Equivalent to ‫في الحين‬.

Chapter 7

Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension(LMJAR) Following the presentation in chapter 6 of the earliest appearances of TY Helene in Judeo-Arabic, in a variety of renditions, I turn in this chapter to the later-attested recension of TY in Judeo-Arabic that I refer to as LMJAR. This recension is represented by six distinct manuscript copies found over nine fragments, dating from the fourteenth to the sixteenth or seventeenth century. The longest of these by far is the manuscript represented by RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005. The manuscripts and fragments are, in approximate chronological order: 1. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343 4. An RNL manuscript, consisting of three discontinuous fragments, estimated to have been copied in the sixteenth century: a. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550 b. RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014 c. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, ff. 120–25 5. BL Or. 10435, f. 181 6. JTS ENA 1726, ff. 4–5 The Helene narrative as attested in LMJAR is an extended one, and seems to have included all known plot elements of TY Helene, although not all of these elements are extant within the identified fragments presented here. Not represented at all is the middle of the narrative, from Finding Disciples through Betrayal, but these sections were certainly part of the Judeo-Arabic narrative of LMJAR in its full and original form. Two of the final elements of the composition, First Separation and Final Separation, are especially well-represented in this family, surviving in a number of distinct manuscript copies. The elements represented in each of the fragments are detailed in the chart in appendix 1. Significantly, LMJAR includes sections that appear later in the TY plot, such as Final Separation and Finding of the Holy Cross, which are represented in only 1  This fragment and the next were copied by the same scribe, but due to codicological differences between them, it is unclear whether they came from a single manuscript or from two different copyings of TY Helene. I discuss them in section 4 of chapter 5.

96

Chapter 7: Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension

a few of the Hebrew versions of Helene TY. Immediately below I discuss the conclusions that may be drawn from this representation, most importantly, the connection between LMJAR and the Italian A Hebrew versions. While the texts preserved in the LMJAR manuscript fragments edited here are quite similar, the relationship among them does not appear to be a direct one, and I have not found evidence that certain manuscripts were copied from others. There are a number of fixed features that unify all representatives of this Judeo-Arabic textual family, and it is to these linguistic and literary features that I turn next. They comprise a wide range of features, from minute linguistic details to broad elements such as plot items that are uniquely attested in LMJAR, being absent from all other Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew exemplars of Helene TY.

1. Linguistic Features of LMJAR Colloquial Register One of the most prominent characteristics that first strikes the eye – or the ear – in the LMJAR texts is their colloquial register. I have described the linguistics of these late manuscripts in chapter 5. On the continuum that is Judeo-Arabic of this period, the LMJAR texts are highly colloquial and exhibit a significant degree of the linguistic features of late Judeo-Arabic described there. A common error in this family of manuscripts is the frequent occurrence of interchanged letters even in simple words that should not have presented a difficulty for the copyist; for example, ‫ כאלם‬instead of ‫כלאם‬, “speech,” or ‫פראחן‬ instead of ‫פרחאן‬, “rejoicing.” It seems that in other cases, corruption in the manuscripts derives from the fact that the words used were not clear to copyists, or that the texts from which they copied were themselves defective; for this reason, certain words and sentences in the texts that follow, are not fully comprehensible. The casual and informal nature of this recension increases in the final sections of LMJAR. The plot elements First Separation and Final Separation present a text that is significantly more colloquial than the earlier sections. Examples of the increased colloquialism include a greater use of nonstandard orthography, such as ‫ אזי‬for “if,” which would normally be written ‫אדא‬, ̇ as well as colloquial phrasings such as those found in the plot element Nestorians: ‫דא מושי אבן אלאה‬, ̇ “He wasn’t the son of God”; or ‫'אנא ̇כטרי נעמל קרבאן לי'ש'ו‬, “I want to make a sacrifice to Yeshu” (both in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3r). Another frequent phenomenon in these later sections is a nonstandard form of writing words prefixed by l-, “to,” with the definite article; as in ‫אבעת לי מלכה‬, ̇ “Send to the queen” (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 2v) alongside the somewhat more standard rendering ‫פי קאלו ליל מלכה‬, “Then they said to the queen” (f. 4v).

1. Linguistic Features of LMJAR

97

These colloquial forms combined with attempts toward literary Judeo-Arabic make the text of LMJAR more difficult, for the modern researcher as well as – possibly – for the medieval scribes, and it is frequently corrupt. In the edition that follows, I have noted the instances in which the text seems to be corrupt, as well as cases where the text can be improved via comparison to other fragments. In many cases, the problematic or corrupted text is the only formulation attested in the available fragments of LMJAR, even when parallel texts exist. The Egyptian dialect is frequently represented in this family of texts. One example is the emphasis on the penultimate syllable indicated via the written form of the words, such as the additional vav added in a number of nouns (underlined) in the following sentence describing the habits adopted by the Jewish secret agent in First Separation (RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 4v): .)!( ‫(!) ̇נגאס‬ ‫הדא אלחכם חתא לא יטמא לא בכלוהם ולא בשרבוהום לאן כול אכלהום כואלו‬ ̇ ‫וכול פעל‬ That sage made great efforts not to defile himself with their food and drink, because all of their food is impure.

Other elements characteristic of the Egyptian dialect in this family of texts include vocabulary items, such as ‫קוי‬, “very,” and ‫אדי‬, “lo, here.” Most, if not all, of the LMJAR manuscripts seem to have been copied in Egypt. Formulaic Phrases One of the major indicators of the unique nature of the LMJAR rendition are the recurring fixed phrases used within all of its representatives. For one, the TY narrative in the LMJAR fragments are organized via the recurring phrase “then after that” (thumma baʿda dhālika) to link sections of text. This phrase is used consistently and frequently throughout all LMJAR fragments, and is completely absent from the earlier fragments. A representative example can be found in the chart in appendix 2, in the plot element Truth Revealed: When the sages ask Miriam to appear before them, this is introduced in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 with this phrase, while the other two extant and earlier fragments do not include this phrase. At times the use of this fixed expression is extremely artificial. One example is in the Midrash on Stealing the Name, a segment in LMJAR that follows the account of Yeshu’s stealing the Ineffable Name of God. In the attempt to naturally append this midrash to what precedes it, the narrative uses the stock formula, “then after that.” In this case, it is followed immediately with the word “before,” in order to describe all of the biblical figures who had stolen the Ineffable Name before Yeshu:2  RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 7r.

2

98

Chapter 7: Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension

]…[ ‫אכ ̇דהו ואחד מן שבט דן‬ ̇ ‫ כאן‬,‫אסתכדם בהו‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫ קבל מא סרק ̇דל נעיל אלשם‬,‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך‬ Then after that, before that cursed one stole the Name that he used, a man from the tribe of Dan had taken it […]

I will discuss this further below, when considering this midrashic compilation unique to LMJAR. The artificial circumstances in which this stock formula is used are also evident in the story of the finding of the True Cross (Finding of the Holy Cross, RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 2v). The opening of this plot section begins in JudeoArabic with the usual LMJAR recurring phrase “then after that” – where “after” means a long time after indeed, since the period of time in between the plot elements discussed extends from the crucifixion of Yeshu all the way to the time of Constantine. These cases demonstrate that the phrase is employed as a fixed and fossilized stylistic usage that is at times in contradiction with the actual flow of the narrative – perhaps suggesting the importance of these formulae for oral presentation of the narrative. Another recurring phrase used to introduce transitions within sections of the narrative of LMJAR fragments is the expression illā wa-, “and then.” This Arabic phrase is commonly used in descriptions in Arabic, especially in folk narratives and storytelling, to represent sudden change or action.3 In the LMJAR texts, more often than not, illā wa- simply signifies a transition to the next element of the plot. It often follows directly after the phrase discussed above, “then after that.” A number of other fixed phrases recur throughout the LMJAR texts. These include phrases such as “they rejoiced with great joy,” ‫עטים‬ ̇ ‫פרחו פרחאן אן‬, a phrase that demonstrates the use of a syntactic marker an that is typical of JudeoArabic texts of all periods.4 Another is the phrase “value and honor,” ‫קימה וכבוד‬, meaning “great respect,” which pairs the Arabic word for “value” with the Hebrew word for “honor.”5 The phrase is found three times in LMJAR: in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 5v, regarding the respect due the rabbis which is absent in Yeshu’s behavior; in f. 3r, discussing Shimʿon Kefa and the promises made to him by the Jews; and in f. 4v, considering Shimʿon Kefa and the honor he received in practice. The usage of fixed phrases is not only a useful marker for suggesting that a fragment belongs to LMJAR, but it is also helpful in defining the literary character of TY. Such recurring usages are emblematic of folk narratives or tales, 3  This presentative usage of illā wa- is found in many dialects. See Blau, Grammar, 32; Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 32. Other Judeo-Arabic examples from popular literature are discussed in Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic,” 113. 4  On this see Blau, Grammar, 128. 5  I have not found the doubled phrase attested in other Judeo-Arabic texts or dictionaries. The phrase ‫ עמל לה קימה‬is attested in the writings of R. David Ha-Nagid (1212–1300); see Blau, Dictionary, 575.

1. Linguistic Features of LMJAR

99

and their development in the TY Helene narrative provides important information about how the work was viewed, as discussed in chapter 5.6 Another fixed usage in LMJAR is the description of how figures “use” the Ineffable Name of God – always with the same verb paired with a nonstandard preposition – istakhdam bi-. The earlier fragments of Helene TY that attest the use of the name contain other phrasings and do not include this particular combination. One example in LMJAR occurs in Yeshu’s notorious use of the Name:7 ‫ואסתכדם‬ ̇ ‫(!) פיהא ̇דלך אלשם המפורש וקראה מא פיה‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫פכ ̇דהו וטלע אלורקה‬ ̇ ‫ובעד אן טלע שק‬ .‫בו‬ After he went out, he cleaved his thigh and took out the paper that had that Ineffable Name on it and read what was on it and used it.

Khidr, the secret agent, is said to have used the name in First Separation, and again the same phrasing is used:8 .‫אסתכדם בו‬ ̇ ‫ואכ ̇ד אלשם‬ ̇ '‫פי אסרע אלחכם לבית המקדש ועמל זאי מא עמל י'ש'ו‬ The sage hurried to the Temple and did what Yeshu did and took the Name [and] used it.

And finally, the expression is present in Finding of the Holy Cross, where Rabbi Yehudah uses the Name to carry out miracles in front of the queen: ‫ואכ ̇ד אלשם‬ ̇ ‫ואסתכדם בהו‬, ̇ “He took that Name and used it” (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 4r). Another fixed phrase in this rendition appears consistently in the element First Separation, where the phrase wa-ayḍan kamān is a refrain used to introduce new subsections of the supposed laws introduced by the secret agent. Literally the phrase means “also also,” pairing two synonyms for “also,” from Classical Arabic and spoken Arabic. This expression appears, predictably, nine times in First Separation alone, as well as elsewhere in LMJAR; it is a clear leitmotif of the LMJAR family of texts. Specifically in First Separation, the use of this fixed repetitive element provided this section with malleability, fairly inviting additions by further scribes and narrators. I discuss these textual developments further in section 5 below. LMJAR is also marked by the use of rhetorical questions or narratorial interjections. In one of them, Heresies of Yeshu, the narrator peppers the interchange between the “heretic” Yeshu and the sages with the question “What did he respond to them and say?” (RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 6r). In another instance, the 6  On the use of recurring elements in folk narratives, see, for example, Albert Bates Lord, The Singer of Tales (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960), 30–67. Regarding this phenomenon in Judeo-Arabic texts, see Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late JudaeoArabic,” 49–51. 7  RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 7r 8  RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 2r.

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narrator reminds the listeners or readers where “we” are in the narrative, summing up the major points so far: “We’re back to the story of that cursed one, Yosef Pandera, who is going around telling people what happened, the story that he fornicated with the woman, the righteous Yoḥanan’s wife” (RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 5v). LMJAR in certain cases exhibits differences regarding names. For example, in the element First Separation, LMJAR texts call the secret agent “Khidr” in all instances; this is in contrast to an alternate version represented in RNL Evr.Arab. II:1092 where he is “Eliyah,” similar to what is found in most Hebrew versions.9 Note that the name is written with the letter dalet, which corresponds to the Arabic dāl, while the usual spelling of the Arabic is Khiḍr, containing the consonant ḍād; this phonetic exchange occurs frequently in late Judeo-Arabic texts. The figure of Paul is normally referenced with the Arabic al-Anpolī and alAnpolū; in a single instance he is called al-Anponī (RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3r).

2. Arabic-Rabbinic Preface One of the unique elements of this family of texts is that it includes a preface to the text of TY, which is preserved in two distinct fragments. The preface is unexpected to a reader familiar only with the Hebrew versions of TY, which rarely contain any introductory material at all. When the Hebrew versions do contain such material, it is quite brief. The manuscript Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, for example, opens with the words “The beginning of the creation of Yeshu”; the Late Yemenite A version begins “The story of Yeshu son of Pandera.” A number of Hebrew versions begin with brief chronological descriptions, short phrases that serve to situate the story in its context; this is found, for example, in the Wagenseil version or the Ashkenazi B version. None of these is comparable to the lengthy and formulaic preface form found in LMJAR, which appears to be entirely unique in the TY literature. The preface is preserved in three distinct fragments of the LMJAR family identified to date; these texts are presented in chapter 8, and demonstrate slight variations between them. I have not found evidence of the preface in the earlier Judeo-Arabic material. It seems that at some point in the history of the Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic, this preface was added to the conception story, and it became part of the LMJAR family of the narrative at some point during this later period. This preface does not seem to have been transmitted to other regions or languages representing the TY literature and studied to date. 9  The interchange of Hebrew and Arabic names for people and places is variable in JudeoArabic. For example, Saʿadya Gaon often uses the Arabic equivalents for people and places from the Bible in his Tafsīr, while Karaite exegetes such as those from the Jerusalem center in the tenth and eleventh centuries used the Hebrew originals even within their Judeo-Arabic translations.

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While it is unique, then, in the TY literature, the preface in LMJAR is not in the least unique in its Arabic-speaking milieu, where the use of introductions in a particular formulaic style was standard and expected from at least the end of the ninth century.10 The preface is creatively crafted, and combines a typical Arabic prefatory form with a familiar rabbinic literary motif. In this way, this introduction is a creative and even humorous combination of two distinct literary forms originating in different cultures and periods. The preface begins with the ḥamdala, or initial section of praise, which was the standard opening section for the classical Arabic preface. The introduction praises God generally for his subduing of blasphemers and oppressors, and for choosing the faithful, Israel, as his beloved people over all others. This blessing and description use a typical style, employing sajʿ, Arabic rhyming prose.11 As is often the case in Arabic prefaces, this praise of God in the ḥamdala proves to relate directly to the subject of the composition that follows – in this case, the overcoming of a threat to the Jewish people. Following the general praise regarding God’s subduing of the mighty and the oppressive, the introduction turns to specifically anti-Christian polemical themes, citing the salvation of Israel from the particular danger of the “pharaohs, who are the Christian people.” The preface explains that God saved Israel from Christian oppression by providing the Christians with the questionable leadership of Jesus, cited in the form Yeshuʿa hannoṣeri, who led them astray and thus away from the Jewish people. The preface adds a number of details regarding Jesus’ actions as leader, likely in anticipation of the beginning of the parodical narrative focused on his life. This preface, then, is in many ways a typical product of its Arabic-speaking surroundings. Yet these forms customary in Arabic soon give way to a wellknown rabbinic literary motif, which is put to use in the transition between the appended preface and the beginning of the Helene narrative:12 ‫אלדי פיה ויהי‬ ̇ ‫מוצע‬ ̇ ‫ לאן ענדנא כל‬,‫רגע‬ ̇ ‫ירגעוה ולא‬ ̇ ‫כתיר ואראדו אנהם‬ ̇ ‫ מנהו ישראל שדאיד‬13‫וקאסו‬ ]…[ ‫(!) וזירו‬ ‫מתל מא קאל ויהי בימי טברינוס קיסור הורודוס‬ ̇ ‫כתיר‬ ̇ ‫יטהר לנא ען שדאיד‬ ̇ Israel suffered great difficulties on his account and they tried14 to return him [to the correct path], but he did not return, because in our [writings] every place where it is written “In 10  The most comprehensive study on the Arabic preface remains Peter Freimark, “Das Vorwort als literarische Form in der arabischen Literatur” (PhD diss., Münster, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, 1967). For a consideration of the Syriac models that shaped the Arabic preface, see Eva Riad, Studies in the Syriac Preface (Uppsala: Uppsala University Press, 1988). 11  Sajʿ is a pre-Islamic form of Arabic expression that reached a high point of popularity in the tenth century ce (third century AH), becoming a required style for nearly all forms of prose literature. 12  RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345, f. 1v. 13  On this verb, see Blau, Dictionary, 545. 14  Lit. “they wanted them to return him.” This sentence is somewhat unclear.

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the time of” indicates great difficulties, as it is said, “In the time of Tiberius Caesar [and] his vizier Herod” […]

This transition alludes to a well-known rabbinic statement found in BT Megillah 10b, where the rabbis cite the first verse of the book of Esther, “Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus,” and comment: R. Levi, or some say R. Jonathan, said: The following remark is a tradition handed down to us from the Men of the Great Assembly: Wherever in the Scripture we find the term vayehi, it indicates [the approach of] trouble. Thus, “Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus” (Esther 1:1) – there was Haman. “And it came to pass in the days when the Judges judged” (Ruth 1:1) – there was a famine.

The Talmud then relays a litany of examples, citing verse after verse beginning with vayehi along with the calamity that follows each one, including the story of the Flood, the Tower of Babel, and more. By including this rabbinic statement in the preface, then, its composer builds on the Talmudic source and explicitly links the TY narrative to this list of scriptural episodes. TY, of course, does not begin with vayehi in any form or language currently extant, and it seems unlikely that this connection was made on the basis of literary evidence or on the basis of some Hebrew version available to an Arabicspeaking narrator or scribe. Rather, the connection is thematic. This introduction establishes TY as another narrative in the biblical genre of suffering and deliverance as found in the book of Esther and a host of other biblical narratives. Positing such bold and creative connections between scriptural and nonscriptural sources would not have been foreign to Jewish audiences in the Near East, who, after the eleventh century, would have been familiar with a similar approach linking diverse literatures, in the work of R. Nissim b. Jacob ibn Shāhīn. R. Nissim created his al-Faraj baʿd al-shidda as a rewriting of talmudic narratives in the Arabic genre of “relief after adversity,” and it became a medieval bestseller East and West.15 Rewriting the beginning of TY as a classically-styled Arabic preface that then accords with rabbinic literary motifs would have seemed perfectly logical to the Arabic-speaking Jewish community of readers and listeners. Moreover, emphasizing this thematic connection of adversity and salvation, rooted earlier in rabbinic sources, might even have suggested to its audience the aptness of the TY narrative to this regional Islamicate genre itself. 15 R. Nissim b. Jacob ibn Shāhīn taught and wrote in Qairawān in the eleventh century; his composition al-Faraj baʿd al-shidda, or in its Hebrew translation, Ḥibbur yafeh min hayeshuʿah, is the most famous and well-preserved of his numerous works. See Nahem Ilan, “Ibn Shāhīn, Nissim Ben Jacob,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman A. Stillman (Leiden: Brill, 2010), http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1878-9781-ejiw-all; Israel M. Ta-Shma, “Nissim Ben Jacob Ben Nissim ibn Shahin,” in Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. Fred Skolnik, 2nd ed. (Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2007), 15:279–80.

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103

3. Midrashic Compilation on Stealing the Name and Zoharic Parallels Another unique feature of the LMJAR manuscript family is a narrative element that appears to be unattested in any other version of TY currently extant. This element follows immediately upon the description of Yeshu’s ploy to abscond from the Temple with knowledge of the Ineffable Name, one of the hallmarks of the TY narrative by any account, and which appears in all of the Helene versions. Yeshu’s flight and aerial battle with Judah Iscariot are its well-known, even notorious continuation in most renditions of TY.16 LMJAR contrasts with this usual narrative progression, and, following the Ineffable Name account, incorporates a new literary creation. While this creation contains certain narrative elements that are familiar from midrashic literature, as a unified whole (albeit only partially preserved), it seems to be unique to TY in its Judeo-Arabic versions. It is truncated in both of its preserved witnesses, and thus its nature is as yet not entirely clear. The element is a type of midrashic compilation, elaborating on the pre-history of the concept of stealing the divine name, in what was apparently deemed a suitable follow-up to the section Stealing the Name. The compilation is preserved in its most lengthy form in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 7; a smaller segment of it is also preserved, with largely similar wording, in JTS ENA 1726, f. 5. While they were penned by two different copyists, the scribal tradition of these two fragments is largely similar, with large square letters used for most of the proper names in the section, while the central text is in semicursive Eastern script. The original length of this midrashic compilation is difficult to determine, due to the truncation of both of these textual representatives. The folio preserved in JTS ENA 1726 ends abruptly in the middle of the page, and the text in RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005 is truncated due to missing folios. The compilation begins with little fanfare – it is veritably camouflaged so as to appear to be an organic section of the narrative. This literary camouflage is accomplished via the use of a typical formula: the recurring transition phrase used to link most of the discrete sections of narrative in LMJAR, “Then after that” (‫)תם בעד ̇דלך‬. ̇ This attempt to maintain literary continuity is stymied by the fact that the events recounted are actually labeled as having happened before Yeshu’s use of the Name, as discussed above. What results is an unlikely blend of chronological description: “Then after that, before that cursed one stole the Name that he used, a man from the tribe of Dan had taken it …” The unexpected combination of “before” and “after” undermines the effort to seamlessly incorporate the compilation into the narrative. 16  For an illuminating analysis of this element of TY in the medieval European context, see Karras, “Aerial Battle.”

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It soon becomes clear that this section is in reality no continuation of the TY narrative, which has until this point proceeded chronologically, but is rather a digression. The aim of the digression, in accordance with its introductory lines, is to present a list of the figures who used the Ineffable Name of God prior to its use by Yeshu. The compilation begins with a version of the story of the death of Bilʿam. It details the mid-air chase, via the powers of the Ineffable Name, by righteous zealots including Pinḥas and one Zaliah, a relatively unknown figure, who will become important below. The Bilʿam story, which resonates with numerous earlier Jewish sources, ends before the actual execution of the gentile prophet. The account continues with “the second one who took that Name,” Nebuchadnezzar. He is said to have seized the Ineffable Name when he conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and exiled the people of Judah. The narrative is cut off before we learn exactly how the Babylonian king used the Ineffable Name, although it is possible that Nebuchadnezzar’s use of the Name relates to his creation of the golden idol described in the third chapter of Daniel.17 The lacuna is a large one, and the TY narrative as preserved in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 resumes only following Yeshu’s execution; the elements in between are not extant in any LMJAR manuscripts. In this way, not only are the dimensions of this midrashic compilation unclear, but it is also uncertain how the TY narrative resumes, following the conclusion of the compilation. Linguistically speaking, the section is unique. It is extremely dialectal and abounds with corrupt transcription of the Judeo-Arabic, to the extent that certain phrases are not fully comprehensible. While dialectal Arabic characterizes the LMJAR recension as a whole, the linguistic level in this section is significantly more dialectal and corrupt than that found in other sections (see notes to the text in chapter 8 for examples). Another point of interest is this midrashic compilation’s connection to other bodies of Jewish literature. While the story of the mid-air battle and subsequent execution of Bilʿam appears in a variety of earlier Jewish sources, including Aramaic translations as well as midrash,18 this Judeo-Arabic rendition bears great similarity to the story found in the Zohar in the weekly portion Balaq 17  The reference may have been to the midrashic narrative in Shir ha-shirim rabbah 7:15, in which Nebuchadnezzar places the priestly crown with the name of God into the idol in order to endow it with power; Daniel tricks the king and removes the priestly crown, thus rendering the idol powerless. I thank Jonatan Benarroch for this reference. 18  The account of the mid-air battle with Pinḥas and the subsequent execution of Bilʿam appears, for example, in two sources that likely date to the eighth or ninth centuries: the Targum Yerushalmi to Numbers 31:8 and the Tanḥuma Yelammedenu on the same verse; see Menaḥem Mendel Kasher, Torah Shelemah (Jerusalem: Torah Shelemah, 1995), 44:78. I thank Bernard Septimus for this reference. Ellen Haskell notes other, later, sources that may be dependent on these in their description of the flight of Bilʿam, in Ellen Davina Haskell, Mystical Resistance: Uncovering the Zohar’s Conversations with Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 77–81.

3. Midrashic Compilation on Stealing the Name and Zoharic Parallels

105

(3:193b–194b). This section in the Zohar includes a description of an aerial battle and the ensuing execution of Bilʿam, and describes the figure of Zaliah, the Danite, who aids Pinḥas in defeating Bilʿam. This addition to TY raises interesting possibilities regarding medieval intertextuality, and may indicate a familiarity with zoharic texts, or their predecessors, in the eastern Mediterranean around the fourteenth century. Connections between the Zohar and TY have been noted by earlier scholars; however, in all cases, these are focused on the identification of the Zohar’s debt to TY. Early examples of such observations can be found in the writings of Gershom Scholem and Louis Ginzberg.19 Recently, Jonatan Benarroch has decisively demonstrated the dependence of the Zohar on versions of TY, in a number of its anti-Christian homilies; Ellen Haskell has suggested the indebtedness of the Zohar to TY traditions in a textual analysis of the zoharic description of Bilʿam’s execution.20 Here in LMJAR, it seems, the direction is opposite. The LMJAR recension of TY makes use of the account of the Zohar or some earlier shared source in order to construct its midrashic addition to the story of Yeshu’s use of the Ineffable Name. That is, the Jesus-Bilʿam pairing that is hinted at or explicit in other bodies of Jewish literature, as delineated in the studies above, is not the central feature of the parallel here. In this midrashic creation and addition to the LMJAR narrative, Bilʿam is one of many figures chosen as examples of the illicit use of the Ineffable Name, prior to Yeshu’s daring actions in the TY narrative. In the following few pages, I will briefly present the interconnections between the Bilʿam midrash as found in LMJAR and that found in the printed versions of the Zohar. This section of the Zohar has an interesting history. Relating to the weekly portion Balaq, it is part of the latest strata of the Zohar, likely composed toward the end of the thirteenth century, and is not extant in many of the early manuscripts of the Zohar. Indeed, in certain printed editions, it appears nearly in its entirety in the weekly portion Devarim rather than Balaq, indicating that printers were not always sure exactly where to properly place it.21 19  In his magnum opus penned at the beginning of the previous century, Ginzberg included the aerial battle including the killing of Bilʿam in his narrative, and noted that this description in early midrashic literature has points of similarity with the aerial battle found in the TY literature; see Louis Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2003), 410–11 as well as notes 854 and 855. In his notes to the Zohar, Scholem also comments on the similarity between the two narratives of aerial battle; see Gershom Scholem, Gershom Scholem’s Annotated Zohar, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1992), 2940–41. I am grateful to Jonatan Benarroch for bringing my attention to Scholem’s note. 20 See Jonatan M. Benarroch, “‘Son of an Israelite Woman and an Egyptian Man’ – Jesus as the Blasphemer (Lev. 24:10–23): An Anti-Gospel Polemic in the Zohar,” Harvard Theological Review 110 (2017): 100–124; Haskell, Mystical Resistance, 66–106. 21  On this section of the Zohar and its transmission and reception, see Jonatan Benarroch, The Yanuqa of Rav Hamnuna Sava: Analysis and Critical Edition of the Yanuqa Story (Zohar III,

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The textual examples chosen for presentation here derive from the complete comparative table that I include as appendix 5, which compares Zohar Balaq with LMJAR.22 Both texts are composed of two sections – a narrative outer section describing the chase and execution of Bilʿam, which envelops a second and self-contained inner section, an exegetical passage devoted to Genesis 49:17–18. As I will demonstrate, many of the narrative details in the Bilʿam stories of each text are parallel, and the exegetical passages that are framed by the story reference identical verses in both. The major plot lines of the two narratives are strikingly similar. Both mention the figure of Zaliah, who rises to the challenge when Pinḥas calls for someone to fly after Bilʿam. In LMJAR, Zaliah is first mentioned using the fixed transition phrasing found throughout the text, a phrasing that highlights his use of the Ineffable Name: Then after that, before that cursed one stole the Name that he used, a man from the tribe of Dan had taken it, and his name was Zaliah, because the accursed Bilʿam had fled, he and his two sons, because they were magicians, he and his sons, one of whom was named Anīs and one was Samarīm.23

The introduction to the story in the Zohar cites many similar details regarding Bilʿam, albeit without any mention of the use of the Ineffable Name, or of the figure of Zaliah at all – Zaliah is introduced in the narrative of the Zohar only in the context of rising to the call of Pinḥas, and appears as follows: As soon as he saw Pinḥas, he flew in the air with his two sons, Yannes and Yambres. […] However, that wicked one knew all the sorceries of the world, and he absorbed the sorcery of his sons, who were familiar with it, and with this he flew away.

Both the Zohar and LMJAR name Bilʿam’s two sons; the Judeo-Arabic forms Anis and Samarīs/Samarīm appear to be adaptations of the Hebrew forms Yannes and Yambres, Egyptian sorcerers who are richly documented in late antique traditions.24

186a–192a), [in Hebrew] (Los Angeles: Cherub Press, 2019), 131–43. I am grateful to Jonatan Benarroch for his kind guidance in the labyrinths of these complex textual issues. 22 In the current discussion as well as in appendix 5, I quote the Zohar in the translation of D. Matt in the Pritzker edition, Daniel C. Matt, The Zohar (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2016), 9:367–70. The citations from LMJAR are my translation of the Judeo-Arabic as found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, ff. 7r–7v. See chapter 8 for the full annotated text and translation. 23 This name appears as Samarīs in the parallel version in JTS ENA 1726, f. 5r. This interchange derives from the fact that samekh and final mem are visually similar in many varieties of Hebrew script. 24  The literature on the figures Yannes and Yumbres or Yumbrus is extensive. A comprehensive summary of the late antique texts on these figures can be found in Albert Pietersma, The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres, the Magicians (Leiden: Brill, 1994). I have not found other testimony regarding the forms taken by these names in Arabic or Judeo-Arabic.

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Following this, LMJAR echoes the Zohar’s version, in “reintroducing” Zaliah and his action in taking flight after Bilʿam. This mention of Zaliah in the Zohar has been thought to be unique in Jewish tradition: As noted by Gershom Scholem, Zaliah “of the tribe of Dan” is “an innovation of the Zohar.”25 Finding the name Zaliah in the TY narrative of LMJAR, then, strongly links the two texts. Zohar Balaq

Toledot Yeshu, LMJAR

Pinḥas saw that someone was flying in the air, disappearing from sight. He shouted to the soldiers, “Is there anyone who knows how to fly after that wicked one, for it is Bilʿam?” They saw him flying. Zaliah, a member of the tribe of Dan, rose and seized the dominion ruling over sorcery, and flew away.

When they flew in heaven, the honorable Pinḥas, peace be upon him, became confused. The one whose name was Zaliah who was from the tribe of Dan took that Name from the Temple and used it and flew after the cursed Bilʿam.

The narratives diverge here regarding the use of the Ineffable Name of God. In the LMJAR rendition of TY in Judeo-Arabic, the use of the Name is a centerpiece of the narrative as a whole. Moreover, in LMJAR, Zaliah’s ability to fly is founded on his knowledge of the Name, thus anchoring this section solidly in the TY narrative. In the Zohar, in contrast, Zaliah’s action is associated with theosophical terminology, referring to the “dominion over sorcery.” The use of the Name is strikingly absent from the zoharic rendition, which actually specifically negates the use of the Name, in that later on, Pinḥas warns Zaliah not to use the Name when executing Bilʿam.26 The incorporation here of the use of the Ineffable Name seems to be part of how LMJAR accommodates this text within its narrative.27 The description of how Zaliah and Pinḥas engage with Bilʿam and his two sons, flying between different layers of the heavens, is largely parallel in the Zohar and LMJAR, including specific details as well as specific numbers. Zohar Balaq

Toledot Yeshu, LMJAR

As soon as that wicked one saw him, he changed course in the air and penetrated five layers of the atmosphere, ­disappearing from sight.

When Bilʿam saw that Zaliah his son28 had gone out after him to the seventh heaven and had gone down to the fifth heaven […]

 See Scholem, Gershom Scholem’s Annotated Zohar, 2940–41.  The use of the Ineffable Name is nonetheless central to other narratives in the Zohar; see, for example, the analysis found in Benarroch, “Jesus as the Blasphemer,” 107–14. 27 This use of the Name may derive from earlier versions of this story. For example, the earlier midrashic texts that transmit this account also note the use of the divine name, attributing its use to Pinḥas and even, in certain texts, to Bilʿam. In the Tanḥuma Yelammedenu, both Bilʿam and Pinḥas make use of the divine name, while in the Targum, Bilʿam makes use of sorcery and is not attributed knowledge of the divine name. 28  This seems to be an error in the text. 25 26

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Chapter 7: Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension

Following this mid-air engagement, both Zohar and LMJAR accounts include a second unit, enmeshed within the Bilʿam narrative. This unit is an exegetical explanation focused on a number of verses from Genesis 49. It is taken up in both texts at the same point of high action, when Pinḥas and Zaliah are undertaking a last-ditch effort to corner Bilʿam and his sons who have disappeared in the “fifth layer” of the atmosphere. Zaliah takes off after Bilʿam, a pursuit linked to the verse in Genesis 49:17, “May Dan be a serpent on the way, a viper along the path”: Zaliah as a Danite is the “viper” who went along the “path” taken by Bilʿam. In both texts, the exegetical explanation then continues, providing midrashic explanations for the remainder of the biblical verse as well as the next, before returning to the framing narrative of the mid-air battle. While these two textual units are paired in both renditions, the transition between the two is smooth in one rendition, awkward in the other. In the Zohar’s version, the exegesis of Genesis 49:17, “Dan shall be a serpent (naḥash) by the road, a viper (shefifon) by the path,” is a relatively natural continuation of the story of Bilʿam: Immediately, [Bilʿam] appeared, and both of them descended in front of Pinḥas. Come and see: Of that wicked one it is written, “He went off shefi, smoothly” (Num. 23:3) – this is the highest of his rungs, a male serpent. Zaliah took two – male and female – and thereby overpowered him, since he seized the dominion ruling over them and they were subjugated to him. This was “a viper (shefifon) by the path” (Gen. 49:17) – on that path taken by the wicked one, as is written: “May Dan be a serpent by the road” (Gen. 49:17) – Samson. “A viper by the path” – Zaliah.

Bilʿam’s use of shefi (Num. 23:3), understood as a male serpent, is trumped by Zaliah’s use of shefifon (Gen. 49:17), understood as male and female serpents together. In contrast to the organic connection found in the Zohar, the connection between the two sections of narrative is neither smooth nor natural in the JudeoArabic version. The compiler of the Judeo-Arabic text was clearly aware of a tradition linking the two units of text, but seems not to have been familiar with a version that included the transition appearing in the Zohar. LMJAR begins, as does the Zohar, with a description of Bilʿam’s action (which is somewhat unclear in the Judeo-Arabic here): “Then he [=  Pinḥas] crushed his hair and he [= Bilʿam] descended upon it to under the honored Pinḥas, he and his two sons.” Following this, the unit of exegesis linking Numbers and Genesis is absent; Numbers is not mentioned at all, and the account continues directly with a somewhat awkward and ill-fitting introduction to the section from Genesis 49, in great contrast to the smooth exegetical connection found in the Zohar. The Judeo-Arabic text reads: “Here is the conclusion: The honorable Jacob, peace be upon him, by the power of prophecy […]”

3. Midrashic Compilation on Stealing the Name and Zoharic Parallels

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Notwithstanding these differences, the exegetical units based on Genesis 49:17–18 as found in the Zohar and LMJAR are still quite similar, in that they center on the identification of two further heroes from the tribe of Dan (following Zaliah) who play important roles in battles in the past as well as in future messianic occurrences. At the conclusion of the exegetical section, the Zohar’s transition is once again smooth and intuitive. Both texts conclude with the citation of Genesis 49:18, “Your deliverance I await, O Lord!” In the Zohar, the verse is a natural continuation of the discussion of the messianic period introduced by the hero Seraiah. The Judeo-Arabic version concludes the exegesis somewhat awkwardly, and mentions the verse from Genesis 49:18 as if it were an afterthought, repeating an introductory phrase mentioning Jacob, the speaker of these verses in the Bible. Zohar Balaq

Toledot Yeshu, LMJAR

“So that his rider is thrown backward” (Gen. 49:17) – Seraiah, who is destined to come with the Messiah of Ephraim and will be from the tribe of Dan and is destined to wreak vengeance and wage war on the other nations.

“So that his rider is thrown backward” (Gen. 49:17). That is one whose name is Seraiah and he is from the tribe of Dan, who will be accompanied by the Messiah King, of the tribe of Ephraim, and will take vengeance on the Nations.

When this one arises, then you may expect the redemption of Israel.

When that one comes, accompanied by the Messiah of the tribe of Ephraim, good will come to Israel. Here is the conclusion: The honorable Jacob, peace be upon him, by the power of prophecy regarding Dan.

As is written: “Your deliverance I await, O Lord!” (Gen. 49:18).

The honorable Jacob, peace be upon him, also said “Your deliverance I await, O Lord!” (Gen. 49:18).

Both texts return at this point to the account of the execution of Bilʿam; the Zohar continues with further detail regarding the conclusion of the battle and the execution of Bilʿam, while the Judeo-Arabic version in LMJAR concludes the Bilʿam narrative without describing the execution. Instead, faithful to its purpose, LMJAR continues to the next figure in the list of those who used the Ineffable Name, Nebuchadnezzar. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, this story is truncated after a few lines, and this lacuna makes it impossible to see how the TY narrative resumed again following this compilation of traditions on the theme of the Name. The textual tradition of LMJAR, then, includes sources rendered in JudeoArabic that are found in very similar formulation and arrangement in the collection that became known as the Zohar. These sources were included in LMJAR as part of a midrashic compilation centering on the concept of the use of

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the Ineffable Name of God, and this compiled unit seems to be a unique creation, in the TY literature as well as in general. The apparent textual connections between LMJAR and the Zohar are undoubtedly elusive, and could derive from a number of scenarios. One possibility is that the Zohar, or a pre-zoharic text, is the source for the textual tradition found in LMJAR. For this to hold, zoharic texts must have been circulating in the eastern Mediterranean as early as the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a period that coincides with the composition of such materials in Iberia.29 In this case, it could be posited that the more polished structure and organic transitions of this narrative-exegetical unit as found in the Zohar reflect a more original and authoritative version, which was adopted and adapted as the LMJAR tradition of TY developed, with its strikingly popular register in Judeo-Arabic. Another possibility is that both the zoharic section of Balaq and this TY rendition demonstrate familiarity with an earlier and as yet unidentified midrashic source relating to the execution of Bilʿam, which as we have seen, was a topic frequently taken up in antiquity. Towards the end of the LMJAR narrative appears another plot element parodying central Christian legends, again an element attested uniquely in the LMJAR family of texts within the Judeo-Arabic TY corpus. This element is a parody of the late antique story of the True Cross.

4. Parodying the Story of the True Cross This parody of the story of the True Cross, unique to LMJAR among the JudeoArabic versions, is preserved in a single manuscript, the four-folio fragment RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919. This story in its original form is a legend that developed in Jerusalem around the fourth century in Syriac; it was well-known in a variety of Christian communities in the Near East and Mediterranean, attested in three major versions and in a wide variety of languages.30 The version preserved in LMJAR, Finding of the Holy Cross, is a subversive rendering of this wellknown legend in its Judas Cyriacus type. This Judeo-Arabic text has parallels in 29  Boaz Huss, The Zohar: Reception and Impact, trans. Yudith Nave (Oxford: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2016), 36–66. This would support the early Eastern Mediterranean circulation of the Zohar proposed in Avishai Bar-Asher, “The Earliest ‘Sefer haZohar’ in Jerusalem: Early Manuscripts of Zoharic Texts and an Unknown Fragment from ‘Midrash ha-Neʿlam’[?],” [in Hebrew], Tarbiz 84 (2016): 575–614 as well as the approach put forth in Ronit Meroz, Headwaters of the Zohar: Analysis and Annotated Critical Edition of the Exodus Section of the Zohar, [in Hebrew] (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press, 2019). 30  For material on the True Cross, see Hans J. W. Drijvers and Jan Willem Drijvers, The Finding of the True Cross: The Judas Kyriakos Legend in Syriac (Louvain: Peeters, 1997). Regarding the Legenda aurea see Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, trans. William Granger Ryan, 2 vols. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995).

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a number of Hebrew TY texts, all of them subversions of the Italian A version; I will discuss these parallels as an entirety below.31 It is not entirely clear how this story was transmitted to Jewish communities. One possibility route of transmission is in Italy, as the Christian story could have become familiar to Jewish communities there via the preaching of Dominican friars – preaching to which Jews were forced to listen, beginning in the thirteenth century, and which was enforced more and more stringently toward the end of the sixteenth century. These friars likely based their renderings, delivered before these forced audiences, on the version of the tale preserved in the Legenda aurea of Jacob de Voragine. Jewish familiarity with the story could have led to the production of yet another parodical text that could be appended, in a more or less makeshift way, to the already existing parodical narrative of TY Helene.32 Given that the manuscript preservation of LMJAR is fragmentary, it cannot be said with certainty whether Finding of the Holy Cross was included in more than one single manuscript. In particular, the most extensive representative of LMJAR, RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, is cut off slightly before the end of Final Separation. The True Cross episode may have followed this element, but this is impossible to know. An additional possible scenario is that the story was added to the Judeo-Arabic tradition of TY in the LMJAR rendition, during the period between the copying of RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 around the fourteenth century and RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 in the sixteenth century or later.

5. Development within Judeo-Arabic TY Texts Examination of the LMJAR texts provides evidence of textual development in Judeo-Arabic TY texts over generations of retelling and copying. An apt example can be found in the plot element First Separation. This section of the narrative is well-represented in Judeo-Arabic, and appears in three fragments in the present corpus, two of which provide a complete version of the plot element. 31  Specifically, there are parallels in Italian A 1a, 1b, 3, and 4. On these subversions, see Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:136–38. 32  On this Dominican preaching, see Attilio Milano, Storia degli ebrei in Italia (Turin: Giulio Einaudi, 1963), 598–600. Regarding this suggested means of transfer, I am indebted to an enlightening seminar paper written by Antonio Di Gesù. See also the consideration of the development of this TY plot element in Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:120–24. Alexandra Cuffel provides a thoughtful consideration of the story of the True Cross in its Christian contexts, and suggests possibilities of how the TY parodical response Finding of the Holy Cross arose, on the basis of evidence available at the time, and attributing this to the early Aramaic versions; see Cuffel, “Between Epic Entertainment and Polemical Exegesis.” Given what we now know about the development of TY Helene, and the existence of the LMJAR family of texts and their differences from the earlier Judeo-Arabic manuscripts of TY, these possibilities can no longer be entertained.

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Of these three fragments in Judeo-Arabic, two are of the LMJAR family. The third is a manuscript that was copied around the same time period, a one-folio fragment that includes a section of the plot that is completely absent from the LMJAR exemplars (RNL Evr.-Arab II:1092), and I have discussed this unique manuscript in section 1 of chapter 2. A consideration of the long list of commands included in First Separation, instructions presented by the secret agent named Eliyahu/Khidr as coming from Yeshu, suggests that this section was highly malleable. According to the plot of TY, these are subversive commands that will cause a separation between the followers of Yeshu and the “true” group of Jews who do not accept him as a leader or a divine figure. In this way, the Jews who reject Yeshu – those who have appointed the secret agent – are actually the real movers causing the “first separation” between themselves and the supporters of Yeshu. Adding further laws to this section would likely have been an attractive option, given that many of the laws parody actual Christian sayings (such as “turning the other cheek”) or Christian practices (constructing the cross, establishing Sunday as a holy day). Attributing these notable Christian traditions to a Jewish secret agent would have been a creative – and no less satisfying – way to embellish the text on the part of copyists who recognized its polemical value. Moreover, a particular formulaic usage in this section made these additions simple to include – this is the doubled “also” that I have discussed above as a formulaic leitmotif of the LMJAR family of texts. Examination of the Judeo-Arabic rendition presented in LMJAR suggests that these additions actually occurred in practice. For one, this Judeo-Arabic version duplicates certain literary units, such as one forbidding Yeshu’s followers from marrying Jewish women. The initial prohibition reads as follows:33 ‫(!) רזקהום ולא פי אנפסהום ולא פי‬ ‫תגווזוהם מנהום לא כביר ולא סגיר מן נסואנהום ולא פי פי‬ ̇ ‫ולא‬ .)!( ‫אמכנהום‬ Do not marry their women, neither old nor young, and [do not cause damage to]34 their livelihood, nor their persons, nor their places.

A strikingly similar injunction is recorded in the continuation of this element, on the following side of the manuscript folio:35 33 RNL

Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 2r. rendition in Judeo-Arabic appears to be missing a phrase; I have supplemented a phrase in the translation in accordance with the parallel text as found in the Italian A version. The reading in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, ff. 121v–122r is relatively similar and does not aid in solving the issue. In Italian A, the double agent warns his listeners not to cause damage to the Jews, and the mention of “livelihood” and “persons” is parallel. Their “places” seems to be a unique addition to the Judeo-Arabic. The phrase appears as follows in Leipzig BH 17, f. 13v: .‫ולא תעשו נקום נזק והפסד בגופם ולא בממונם של ישראל‬ 35  RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 2v. 34 The

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.‫(!) בהם‬ ‫אווגו‬ ̇ ‫תג‬ ̇ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום כול מן ירוקוד מעא יהודייא ירוח ̇גהנם ולא‬ ̇ He also told them, “Anyone who sleeps with a Jewish woman will go to hell, and do not marry them.”

The repetitive overlap between the two segments suggests that copyists felt free to add to this section over the centuries, apparently without careful consideration of what elements might already be included in the text. Comparison to Hebrew versions of this plot element further highlights the possibility that sections of text were added in Judeo-Arabic. The theme of refraining from marrying Jewish women appears only once, not twice, in the Hebrew renditions of Italian A, which are normally highly parallel to LMJAR as I will discuss immediately below. That is, the first of the prohibitions above – refraining from marrying Jewish women of any age – has no parallel in the Hebrew renditions of Italian A, and seems to be unique to this Judeo-Arabic family of texts. The second quotation, on the other hand, corresponds to the mention of this “law” in Leipzig BH 17, f. 13v, and the parallel is relatively literal. The attractiveness of adding to the laws proposed by Eliyahu/Khidr was apparent to copyists and transmitters in Europe as well, and the Hebrew versions also demonstrate a diverse array regarding these laws, which vary and increase from version to version. Careful synoptic comparison of the Hebrew versions on their own, as well as alongside the Judeo-Arabic versions, will present interesting results for the future. As a first step, I present a preliminary synoptic comparison of the plot element of First Separation in its entirety, with the three Judeo-Arabic representatives and two representatives of Italian A, in appendix 3.

6. Relationship of LMJAR to the Italian A (1a/1b) Hebrew Version of TY One of the rewarding aspects of research on the Judeo-Arabic renditions of TY is the possibility of revealing and documenting the relationships between the Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic versions of the text, and in this way, shedding light on possible routes of textual transmission of TY between and among Jewish communities in the Mediterranean and in Europe. One of the relationships that has become clear during my work on the Judeo-Arabic Helene texts presented in this study is that the TY text preserved in LMJAR demonstrates marked and consistent affinities to the text preserved in Hebrew in the Italian A version. These parallels are evident in two specific subversions of Italian A, those labeled 1a and 1b in the Meerson-Schäfer edition.36 36  See Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:136. For comparative purposes, I have used Leipzig BH 17 as a representative of 1a, and Budapest Kaufmann A559 as a representative of 1b.

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The similarity is quite evident on the micro level, including chronological signposts in the composition, parallel narrative elements, and at times, parallel narrative formulations. The parallels also exist on the macro level: unique transitional sections found in both corpora, as well as a unique shared plot element, the Finding of the Holy Cross, which I discussed briefly above. Numerous specific details recounted in Italian A and in LMJAR are identical. Both versions begin with chronological details locating the story in the time of Tiberius Caesar (Ṭabarinus Qaysar) and Herod (Horodus), and specifically situating the night of Yeshu’s conception “in the month of Nisan after the end of Passover.” Many specific numbers that play a role in the plot of TY, as well as their specific literary context, are identical in the Italian A (1a/1b) versions and in LMJAR; these contrast to numbers included in other Hebrew versions. For example, after Yeshu’s execution, the queen gives a “five-day time limit” for the Jews to find his body in both Italian A (all subversions) and LMJAR, while other Hebrew versions note a variety of other periods of time.37 Another example relates to the time period that passes between Yeshu’s conception and the arrogant behavior that leads to the public revealing of the truth about his birth. These “thirty years” are explicitly mentioned in all Italian A subversions and LMJAR, and in both versions this mention is found at the beginning of the section Heresies of Yeshu; no other Hebrew versions mention this time period explicitly.38 To be sure, this time period echoes the age at which Jesus began his ministry according to the New Testament (Luke 3:23) and may be implicit in other Hebrew versions, but the explicit mention of the passing of time, along with the textual location where it is mentioned, is unique to these two renditions. Both LMJAR and Italian A (1a/1b) employ transitional sentences and paragraphs that do not appear in other Hebrew or Judeo-Arabic versions. These transitional units are a consistent and unique element that characterizes both of 37  For example, Ashkenazi A has “a certain time” (Budapest Kaufmann 299, f. 4r): ‫ לא אשאיר מכם שריד אמרו לה תני לנו זמן ונחפש אחריו נתנה להם‬,‫אמרה להם הביאו אותו לי ואם לאו‬ .‫זמן ובקשו ולא מצאוהו‬ Ashkenazi B, on the other hand, has “a week’s time” as well as “thirty days” (Amsterdam Rosenthaliana 414, f. 8v): .‫ויאמרו לה תנה לנו זמן שבוע א' ונבקשנו ונתנה להם חודש ימים‬ Late Yemenite A simply uses “time” (Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 949, f. 355v): .‫אמרו לה תני לנו זמן עד שנפשפש נתנה להם זמן‬ Late Oriental gives “three days and three nights” (Jerusalem Benayahu 25.4, f. 38r): ‫אבל תני לנו זמן שלושה ימים ושלושה לילות הלכו בבית המקדש והיו בוכים מפני הגזרה שנגזרה עליהם‬ .‫כשנמלאו ימי זמן שלושה ימים שנתנה להם‬ Late Yemenite B has “three days” (Jerusalem NLI Heb. 4° 15, f. 4): .‫א''ל תני לנו זמן נתנה להם זמן ג' ימים‬ These are my translations; the full Hebrew texts are available online at https://online.mohr.de/ toledot for registered users (accessed August 16, 2021). 38 This feature of the text and the following are also found in Italian B, but Italian B is likely based on Italian A. See Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:32–33.

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these versions of TY Helene. One appears at the beginning of the unit Birth and Childhood of Yeshu, which follows the unit in which Miriam’s husband reports the Friday evening incident to his rabbi (Disclosure). While it is standard in this unit to describe the youthful Yeshu’s superiority in school, as a segue into the discussion of his heresies and rude behavior, both Italian A and LMJAR include a transitional paragraph summarizing the denouement of the events described in the previous unit. These include a number of statements unique in the TY literature: Yeshu is explicitly stated to have been circumcised, and the rapist publicly brags about his act, while it is explicitly stated that Miriam does not know the identity of the father of Yeshu. These statements are not found in other Hebrew or Judeo-Arabic versions of the TY Helene narrative. The section appears as follows in LMJAR:39 Afterwards, the news was heard in the town that Miriam, the wife of the righteous man Yoḥanan, was pregnant and was close to giving birth. She gave birth to a child and named him Yeshuʿa. She, the poor woman, had no idea; she thought only that he was from her actual husband. We’re back to the story of that cursed one, Yosef Pandera, who is going around telling people what happened, the story that he fornicated with the woman, the righteous Yoḥanan’s wife. He told the people, “That boy who was born is my son.” When the Jews heard that he was of Jewish stock, they circumcised him.

The version as found in Italian A is quite similar.40 A rumor went around the city, that Miriam, the wife of Yosef,41 was pregnant. And so, on December 25, Miriam gave birth to a son and called his name Yehoshuʿa, after his uncle, the brother of his mother. And he was circumcised on the eighth day. She always thought that he was the son of her husband Yosef. And the wicked one, Yoḥanan, revealed the matter, and he said to the whole world, “This boy is my son. Such-and-such happened to me, and so I made him with Miriam under the prohibition concerning a married woman and a menstruating one.” The people were gossiping about this matter, and she did not 39  This text appears in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, ff. 5r–5v; the original Judeo-Arabic text and linguistic notes on this section appear in chapter 8. 40  Leipzig BH 17, f. 2v. My translation is a modified rendition of Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:235–36. ‫(!) ילדה מרים בן וקראה שמו יהושע ע"ש‬ ‫יצא קול בעיר כי מרים אשת יוסף מעוברת וכן בכ"ה דיצימיר‬ ‫דודו אחי אמו ונימול לח' ימים והיא היתה חושבת לעולם שהוא בן בעלה יוסף והרשע יוחנן גלה הדבר והוא‬ ‫אמר לכל העולם הנער הזה בני הוא כך וכך אירע לי וכן עשיתי אותו עם מרים באיסור אשת יוסף והעם היו‬ ‫מרננים במעשה הזה והיא לא היתה יודעת דבר וכשנתגדל הנער שמה אתו ללמוד תורה והרשע היה ממזר‬ ‫ופקח והיה לומד ביום אחד מה שלא היה לומד אחר בשנה אחת וע"כ אמרו רז"ל רוב ממזרים פקחים וכל‬ ‫שכן זה שהיה ממזר ובן הנדה ויוסף היה שם ָב ֶבל מירושלם מהלך שלשה חדשים ולעולם לא שאל בעבורה‬ ‫ולא הודיע לשום אדם עניינו ולשם עמד כל ימיו והוא היה מרבה בחכמה כ"כ שלא היה חושב לכלום לא‬ .‫לרבו ולא לחכמי ישראל‬ 41 As I discuss immediately below, in the Italian A version with all of its subversions, the hero becomes Yosef, and the villain becomes Yoḥanan. This surprising transposition of hero and villain in variant versions of a narrative, while not common, is attested in folktale traditions. For example, in the figure of Reyhan in the popular Turkic epic of Köroğlu/Göroġlï, Reyhan appears as enemy in a number of versions, yet features as an admired companion in others (email correspondence with Prof. Karl Reichl).

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know a thing. When the boy grew up, she sent him to learn Scripture, and the wicked one was a bastard and a clever one, and he learned in one day what another did not learn in one year. Therefore our rabbis, may their memories be blessed, said, “Most bastards are clever,” and all the more so this one, who is a bastard and the son of a menstruating woman. Yosef was there [in] Babylonia, three months’ journey from Jerusalem, and he never asked about her and did not tell anyone about his situation. He stayed there all of his days, and he [= Yeshu] increased in wisdom so much that he began to scorn his rabbi and the sages of Israel.

There are five major lines of similarity between the two texts: – A “rumor” circulates in the city. – The rumor highlights Miriam’s pregnancy, which leads to the birth of Yeshu. – The narrative asserts that Miriam is ignorant of the facts of the matter. – The adulterer publicly announces the facts of the matter. – The boy is circumcised (LMJAR emphasizes the Jewish ancestry of the child at this point, while Italian A includes that information earlier). These two texts are not directly related via translation, and they are not identical. For one, the Italian versions of TY Helene interchange the names of the men in the story: Yeshu’s actual father – the rapist – is named Yoḥanan, while Miriam’s husband is named Yosef. Italian A adds a number of additional details at the end that are not found in LMJAR, and it is only LMJAR that includes the narratorial interjection “We’re back to the story of ….” That said, it is clear that all five of these major elements are found in both – and this transitional paragraph is unparalleled in other renditions in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic. A second parallel transitional element bridges between the enumeration of the Heresies of Yeshu and the unit Truth Revealed in which the sages summon Miriam for questioning. Most versions move directly from the first plot element to the next, and indeed, this is the natural direction of the plot: Yeshu’s impertinent behavior in Heresies of Yeshu is what leads the rabbis to question his background, and they immediately summon his mother, as described in Truth Revealed. Notwithstanding this organic connection, already existing in most versions of TY, both Italian A (1a/1b) and LMJAR add a paragraph (labeled Transition-Recapitulation in chapter 8) that recapitulates the events of the story to that point – in this way, it reiterates and emphasizes the central polemical points of the narrative. In most of the Italian A subversions, the section appears as follows:42

42 Leipzig BH 17, f. 3r. The section is similar in the other Italian A subversions (1b, 2, and 3). My translation is a modified rendition of Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 1:237. ‫כששמעו החכמים כך שאומר הממזר מיד קמו כל החכמים ונתקבצו יחד ויספרו להם המרד והשמועות‬ ‫והכפירות שהיה אומר את הממזר והסכימו כולם ואמרו אנו חייבים לפשפש ולחקור עליו מי הוא אביו ומי‬ ‫הוא(!) אמו ומה משפחתו ומה שמועתו באר היטב להוציא הדבר לאמתו ונתגלה המעשה הזה באזני כל‬ ‫העם והיו אומרים כך שמענו על אמו שזנתה תחת בעלה והממזר זה הרשע הוא בנו של יוחנן הנואף ואישה‬ .‫מפני הבושה ברח ואין אנו יודעים ממנו דבר‬

6. Relationship of LMJAR to the Italian A (1a/1b) Hebrew Version of TY

117

When the sages heard what the bastard said, all the sages immediately arose and gathered together and spoke about the rebellion and the rumors and the heresies that the bastard said. And they all agreed and said, “We are obligated to scrutinize and to investigate regarding him: Who is his father, and who is his mother, and what is his family, and what are his deeds, clarifying fully in order to discover the truth.” And this deed was revealed among all of the people, and they said, “Thus we heard about his mother, that she whored against her husband, and the bastard, this villain, is the son of Yoḥanan the adulterer. And because of the shame, her husband fled, and we have heard nothing from him.”

The Judeo-Arabic version presented in LMJAR presents a strikingly similar and lengthy transition section, largely parallel to the Italian versions with the exception of the transposition of the names of the husband and the rapist. The unit appears as follows in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 6r: When the students heard those words and the heresy that he explicitly uttered, they went and told the sages, and the sages asked about him and found out that he was a bastard and the son of a menstruant from the villain Yosef who came to his mother at night when she was in the niddah period, and that the righteous man fled and left her an agunah because he found out what had happened and went to Baghdad.

These sections of the Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic versions are not related via translation. The two renditions are formulated differently and do not demonstrate word-for-word parallels. Nonetheless, the major units of content are identical, as is the clever use of communication between a variety of groups: in Italian A, between the sages and “the people,” and in LMJAR, between the students and the sages and, implicitly, the townsfolk who are “asked” about Yeshu and so are likely present. This lengthy transitional segment is absent from the other Hebrew versions of TY, which include only a single sentence bridging between Heresies of Yeshu and Truth Revealed. An example of this can be seen in the Ashkenazi A version: “When the sages heard this, they said, ‘Since he is so arrogant, let us investigate him.’”43 Moreover, the additional transition material added to the two renditions, in Hebrew and in Judeo-Arabic, is unnecessary to the plot. For one, parts of it are a repetition of what is already known to the audience. Not only that, other parts of this additional section could be considered to interfere with plot development, in that they present material that is meant to surface later. According to this transitional section, in Italian A as well as in LMJAR, the sages already possess the knowledge that Yeshu is “a bastard and the son of a menstruant,” even before they carry out the interrogation of Yeshu’s mother in the later section called Truth Revealed. If the rabbis already know about Yeshu’s questionable 43  The Hebrew text is found in Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 170v: ‫וכששמעו החכמים כך‬ ‫אמרו הואיל ומעיז כל כך נפשפש אחריו‬. My translation is a modified rendition of Meerson and Schäfer, 1:169.

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Chapter 7: Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension

background, why do they need to summon his mother and ask her questions in the next section, questions which in most TY versions are intended to confirm what were only suspicions, prior? The fact that both LMJAR and Italian A choose to include this largely identical transitional segment, along with its apparent muddle regarding who knew what and when, further points to a relationship between them. A third and final transitional element shared between the two families of manuscripts is the unit Excommunication of Yeshu. This segment bridges between Truth Revealed and the response of Yeshu in Stealing the Name, providing a detailed and repetitive report of the results of the sages’ examination and conclusions. The text appears as follows in Leipzig BH 17, ff. 3v–4r: Then all of the sages agreed to kill him by strangulation, on account of the fact that he taught halakhah in the presence of his rabbi, and that he spoke with arrogance. And then they instituted a ban in Israel, that they no longer would call his name Yehoshuʿa, but rather, Yeshu, that is to say in notariqon, “May his name and memory be erased.” And so they called him by that name from then onward. When he heard that it had become known that he was a bastard and the son of a menstruating woman, and that his mother whored against her husband, and that they had sentenced him to death, trembling took hold of him. And he immediately ran away from Tiberias and went to Jerusalem. Then the Jews caught Yoḥanan the adulterer and killed him on account of the fact that he did the deed, he confessed in the presence of a court. And concerning this, our rabbis, may their memories be blessed, said, “Confession in the court is more valuable than a hundred witnesses.” And Miriam remained in her house, and they sent to Babylonia in order to know the truth of the matter from her husband himself. And it became known that for that reason he had gone to Babylonia.44

The information included in this transitional unit in LMJAR is quite similar. Then after that, the sages sent for the debauched Yosef Pandera, and they captured him and killed him. The people realized that he [= Yeshu] was a bastard and the son of a menstruant, and they changed his name, which was Yeshuʿa, and named him Y.Sh.W., an acronym for “May his name and remembrance be effaced.” Then after that, the sage sent for the righteous Yoḥanan, and he came from Baghdad, and gave the writ of divorce to the woman, because she had been forbidden to him. Then the cursed Yeshu, when he heard those words, fled and went to Tiberias, and from Tiberias he went to Jerusalem and went around in Jerusalem.

44 My translation is a modified rendition of Meerson and Schäfer, 1:238–39. ‫אז הסכימו כל החכמים להורגו בחנק מפני שהיה מורה הלכה לפני רבו ומדבר דברים כלפי מעלה ואז החרימו‬ ‫חרם בישראל שלא יקראו עוד שמו יהושע אלא ישו כלומר בנוטרייקון ימח שמו וזכרו וכן קראוהו משם‬ ‫ואילך בזה השם וכשמעו שנתפרסם הדבר שהיה ממזר ובן הנדה ושזנתה אמו תחת בעלה ושחייבוהו מיתה‬ ‫רעדה אחזתהו ומיד ברח מטברייא והלך לירושלם אז תפשו ישראל את יוחנן הנואף והרגוהו על ענין זה‬ ‫שעשה המעשה והורה בפני ב"ד וע"כ אז"ל הודאת פיו בפני ב"ד כמאה עדים דמיא ומרים נשארה בביתה‬ .‫וישלחו לבבל לדעת אמתת הדבר מפי בעלה ונודע כי על זה הלך לבבל‬

6. Relationship of LMJAR to the Italian A (1a/1b) Hebrew Version of TY

119

While a number of other TY versions in Hebrew and in Judeo-Arabic include this plot element, Italian A and LMJAR include unique details that do not appear as a group in other versions, among them: – The leveling of a death sentence against the rapist (in the Italian texts, a death sentence is issued against Yeshu as well). – Explicit discussion of the modification of Yeshu’s name into the notariqon familiar from other polemical texts. – Communication with Miriam’s husband (whether to hear the truth, or to obtain a writ of divorce). – Yeshu’s flight from Tiberias to Jerusalem once having realized what had happened. In addition to the three transitional elements parallel between Italian A and LMJAR that I have enumerated above, a final significant link between these two textual traditions is the section that concludes both of them, the element Finding of the Holy Cross. As I have noted above, this narrative unit is preserved in a single rendition in Judeo-Arabic, the fragment RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919. Among the Hebrew versions of TY, the episode of the True Cross is preserved in the Italian A tradition alone.45 The inclusion of this parodical story in LMJAR, then, adds further evidence to the interdependence of LMJAR and the textual tradition of Italian A.46 The parallels between LMJAR and the various subversions of Italian A are unmistakable, evident in details of numbers and chronological information, as well as in narrative units both short and long. In the discussion above I have collected examples from the entirety of the narrative. The connection between the two families of texts can be further seen via synoptic comparison of particular sections of the plot, and as already mentioned, synoptic charts of the elements Truth Revealed and First Separation can be found in appendices 2 and 3. These present a detailed comparison of the two families of texts (alongside other parallel TY texts, in the case of Truth Revealed). These consistent and numerous connections emphasize that the Judeo-Arabic versions of TY are no isolated branch of the TY narrative, but rather, are an integral part of the development of its textual tradition. It is clear that LMJAR and the Italian A Hebrew versions are closely related in the family of TY versions. Further detailed comparison of these renditions can provide a clearer picture of the development of the narrative in Mediterranean areas and its transmission between the Near East and Europe. 45 In

all subversions except for Italian A 2.  The appearance of this legend in Hebrew versions of TY is noted in Witold Witakowski, “Ethiopic and Hebrew Versions of the Legend of the Finding of the Holy Cross,” Studia Patristica 35 (2001): 527–35. Witakowski provides a brief discussion of the narrative sequence in TY, on the basis of the texts published by Samuel Krauss (see chapter 1). 46

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Chapter 7: Toledot Yeshu in the Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension

The development of TY was likely that of a classic “open text,”47 and it is important to consider elements of the narrative as units that could have been added at different periods in history, and in this way to consider scenarios under which certain plot elements originated in Judeo-Arabic while others originated in Hebrew. It is possible, for example, that the earlier sections of the TY narrative originated in Judeo-Arabic, and that later sections, such as the Finding of the Holy Cross, originated in Hebrew, and were added to the already existing JudeoArabic versions. Further examination of the relationship between LMJAR and the Italian A subversions will shed light on such questions. The overview of LMJAR that I have provided in this chapter, as well as the full presentation of annotated and translated texts in the next, serves inter alia to lay a framework for such future research.

 See discussion in section 3 of chapter 5.

47

Chapter 8

Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts This chapter includes the entirety of the manuscript fragments that I have identified as belonging to the family of LMJAR texts, representing a single late version of the TY Helene narrative. I include an annotated transcription of each, divided by plot elements as well as by sub-elements, with English translations (except where the texts are highly similar in different manuscripts). Each manuscript is prefaced by a short description of its codicological features or other relevant information.

1. Notes on the Edition The late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic recension does not survive in its entirety, and the currently identified extant fragments contain a large lacuna in the middle of the work. As a result, the following plot elements of TY Helene are not attested in LMJAR: Finding Disciples, Miracles, First Trial, Request, Envoys, Yehudah Learning the Name, Second Trial, Flying Contest, Flagellation, Escape, Return to Jerusalem, and Betrayal. Note that many of these elements are attested in the (primarily earlier) Judeo-Arabic fragments presented in chapter 6. I have arranged the manuscripts in this chapter in rough chronological order, according to their estimated date of copying. The manuscript RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 (with its first folio RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345) is the longest and fullest of the fragments, and I present it here in its entirety, with accompanying notes and translation. Since RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 contains what seems to be the only surviving Judeo-Arabic rendition of the TY parody of the True Cross narrative, I present it in full with translation as well. In the notes to these long manuscripts, I have noted instances where the smaller fragments aid in correcting or deciphering a reading. I also present and transcribe all of RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343, and the first part of the three-fragment manuscript that I refer to as the sixteenthcentury RNL manuscript. The final elements of TY are well-represented in LMJAR, often by two or even three distinct fragments. These include the remainder of the three-fragment manuscript, and the remaining two manuscripts, BL Or. 10435 and JTS ENA 1726. The renditions found in these fragments are relatively similar to those of the longer manuscripts, and I transcribe them without English translation.

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Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

Most of these fragments include diacritical markings only partially or not at all. I have added full diacritical markings to indicate consonants that would be dotted in Arabic script. I have discussed late Judeo-Arabic and its linguistic particularities in chapter 5, and in these transcriptions I do not mark the most common irregularities of this style of Arabic; marking all of these numerous examples would unnecessarily burden the text and render it nearly unreadable.1 While particular types of textual corruptions, such as interchanged letters in words, are relatively numerous in LMJAR, I have not corrected the text in such cases, preferring to render the fragments as they appear. I mark words with (!) only in cases of mistakes or corruptions in the text, as well as in instances where not marking a form as irregular could lead to an incorrect understanding of the text. When I include extended explanation in a footnote, I do not use the (!) marking. I note unique aspects of each fragment’s linguistic characteristics in its introduction. Annotations include reference to the dictionary of Joshua Blau for words and meanings unique to Judeo-Arabic, the dictionary of Badawi and Hinds for Egyptian vocabulary items, and the grammar of Joshua Blau for exceptional grammatical constructions important to the understanding of the passage.2 I have indicated similarities to particular versions of the TY Helene narrative in Hebrew, for the instances in which I have been able to identify such similarities. I have detailed these findings in the introduction to each fragment. As I have discussed in chapter 7, the LMJAR family is consistently parallel to the text preserved in Hebrew in the Italian A version, particularly those labeled 1a and 1b in the Meerson-Schäfer edition.3 For this reason, in the texts that follow, I include a significant degree of comparison to these Italian A renditions. Hebrew manuscript citations derive from the Meerson-Schäfer database. They have been collated against the original manuscripts in digital versions, largely from the Ktiv website of the National Library of Israel. Corrections to the Meerson-Schäfer edition have been made where required, but have not been marked explicitly. The manuscript copied in Meerson-Schäfer as New York JTS 2221 should actually be labeled Paris BnF Héb. 1384.1. For the conventions used in the transcriptions and translations, please see the introduction to chapter 6.

1  Beyond what I have discussed in chapter 5, the central linguistic features of late JudeoArabic can be found described in detail in Hary, Multiglossia; Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic in Letters from the Cairo Genizah; Khan, “Judeo-Arabic”; Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic.” 2  Blau, Dictionary; Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic; Blau, Grammar. 3  See on this categorization Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:136.

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

123

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript, preserved in two separate shelf marks, contains eight folios and was likely copied around the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It is written in semicursive Eastern script, and it contains 24–28 closely spaced lines per page. Letters are tightly spaced as well, and are extended to the end of the line in order to fill lines evenly. Larger square letters are used to set off proper names as well as section transitions within the plot. Folio seven, including Midrash on Stealing the Name, employs a sign approximating a colon, in many instances for punctuating sentences, but in others, it is seemingly superfluous. This manuscript is the most complete version of LMJAR. It is disordered in its current pagination, but includes the preface that is unique to this version, and continues through to Stealing the Name. It also contains the unique midrashic compilation inserted following the section Stealing the Name (see chapter 7 on these unique sections). The midrashic compilation is truncated in the middle, and one or two of the following folios are missing. The fragment resumes with the plot element Burial. It is then truncated before it reaches the end of Final Separation, making it impossible to know if it included Finding of the Holy Cross, currently uniquely attested in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919. The name Yeshu is represented as an abbreviation in sections following Excommunication of Yeshu, and is written with a short diagonal line over each letter. Preface Praised be God, the God of Israel, creator of the heavens and the earth in his power and greatness (who)6 destroyed the blaspheming tyrants and caused the beloved righteous to multiply. Master of masters, motivator of the heavenly forces, emancipator of captives, mover of clouds, ruler of rulers, the all-powerful and the staunch, the clear truth, crusher of the polytheists, humbler of the blasphemers, destroyer of the oppressors, annihilator of the wicked and protector of those close to him and the righteous,

4 The

‫ תבארך אללה אלאה ישראל‬4)‫א‬1( ‫ואלאראצי בקודרתהי‬ ̇ ‫̇כאלק אלסמאואת‬ ‫אלגבאברה אלכאפרין‬ ̇ ‫ועטמתהי ואהלך‬ ̇ ‫ רב‬.‫ואכתר פי אלאחבאב אלצאלחין‬ ̇ ‫אלארבאב מסבב אלאסבאב ומועתק‬ ‫(!) ומסייר אלסחאב סולטאן‬ ‫אלארקבא‬ ‫ אלאמין אלחק‬5‫אלסלאטין אלטאיק‬ ‫אלמבין כאסר אלמשרכין וקאמי‬ ‫אלטאלמין ומביד‬ ̇ ‫אלכאפרין ומהלך‬ ,‫וחאפץ אלאוליא ואלצאלחין‬ ̇ ‫אלטאלחין‬

text begins with RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345, 1r.  This usage as an epithet of God and a standard translation for the Hebrew ‫ אל‬is common in Judeo-Arabic, while it is completely unattested in Classical Arabic; see Blau, Dictionary, 412. 6  The original Judeo-Arabic reads “and,” although the verb forms are not parallel. I have modified the syntax for the sake of smoothness in translation. 5

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Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

who saved the children of Israel from the pharaohs, who are the Christian infidel people, and who gave them the cursed Yeshuʿa the Nazarene, and who caused them to follow him in severe blasphemy due to his great ignorance, and utterly destroyed their foundations by means of cursed counsel and caused them to worship wood and idols, and God, the blessed and exalted, caused him to perish before his appointed time, because of his blasphemy and overstepping of bounds.9 Israel suffered great difficulties on his account, and they tried10 to return him [to the correct path], but he did not return,

‫אלדי ̇כלץ בני ישראל מן אלפראענא‬ ̇ ,‫אלדי הום קום אלנצארה אלכאפרין‬ ̇ ‫אלדי אעטאהום אלמנעול ישוע הנצרי‬ ̇ ‫בגהלו‬ ̇ ‫ולמהום וראה פי אלכופר אלשדיד‬ ‫אלעטים ואתלף קאעדתהם באלשורה‬ ̇ ,‫אלכשב ואלאצנאם‬ ̇ ‫אלמלעונא ועבדהום‬ ‫ואהלכה אללה ס'ת' פי אקל מן אלאיאם‬ ‫ מנהו‬8‫ וקאסו‬7.‫עלא שאן כופרו ותוגיו‬ ‫כתיר ואראדו אנהם‬ ̇ ‫ישראל שדאיד‬ ,‫רגע‬ ̇ ‫ירגעוה ולא‬ ̇

because in our (writings) every place where it is written “In the time of” indicates great difficulties,12 as it is said, “In the time of Tiberius Caesar (and) his vizier Herod,”

‫יטהר‬ ̇ ‫אלדי פיה ויהי‬ ̇ ‫מוצע‬ ̇ ‫לאן ענדנא כל‬ ‫מתל מא קאל ויהי‬ ̇ ‫כתיר‬ ̇ ‫לנא ען שדאיד‬ ‫ וזירו‬11‫בימי טברינוס קיסור הורודוס‬

Conception of Yeshu In those days, there was a man descended from David, peace be upon him, and his name was Yoḥanan, and he had a beautiful wife whose name was Miriam. Her husband was Godfearing and was a student of Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ, peace be upon him. He had a villainous neighbor whose name was Yosef Pandera, and

‫רגל מן נסל‬ ̇ ‫פי ̇דיך אלאיאם וכאן ̇טהר‬ ‫ וכאן‬.‫דוד המלך על'ה' וכאן אסמהו יוחנן‬ ‫אלמנצר ואסמהא‬ ̇ ‫להו אמראה חסנת‬ ‫ וכאן ̇גוזהא ̇כאיף מן אללה וכאן‬,‫מרים‬ .'‫תלאמיד רבי שמעון בן שטח ע'אס‬ ̇ ‫מן‬ ‫וכאן להו ̇גאר רשע ואסמהו יוסף‬ ‫ ואלרשע כאן מפסוד קאוי וכאן‬,‫פנדירא‬

 7  The intent of this word is apparently the Arabic ‫ طغيا‬or ‫طغوى‬, “the exceeding of proper bounds” or even “oppression.” The Judeo-Arabic word is written here with a tav, in contrast to the standard spelling with ṭet that would parallel the Arabic ṭāʾ, but interchange between these two letters is well-attested in later Judeo-Arabic texts; see Blau, Grammar, 39. 8  On this verb, see Blau, Dictionary, 545.  9  The word I have translated as “overstepping of bounds” is a fraught and negative theological term in Arabic. For example, it is used to describe the actions of the arch-idolator Pharaoh in Qurʾan 20:43, in a chapter largely devoted to the description of Pharaoh’s idolatrous behavior. The use of this specific verb may even relate to the mention of “the pharaohs” a line or two earlier in this Judeo-Arabic text.  10  Lit. “they wanted them to return him.” This sentence is somewhat unclear. 11 The “and” is lacking in Judeo-Arabic. The name of Herod also appears in this spelling in all Italian A and B manuscripts as well as in the Byzantine version. 12  Here the writer alludes to the midrash in BT Megillah 10a, which lists numerous biblical verses beginning with the word vayehi. In this way, TY is seemingly introduced into the biblical canon. I have analyzed this literary usage in section 2 of chapter 7, as well as in Goldstein, “Early Judeo-Arabic Birth Narratives.”

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

this villain was completely debauched, and never took his eyes off the women. He cast his eye on this Yoḥanan’s wife, and it was the month of Nisan after the end of Passover. This righteous man would arise to go to the yeshivot at night. So one of the nights, he arose to go to the yeshiva, and he closed the door. Suddenly he [= Yosef] slipped into the righteous man’s house and locked the door, and the poor man did not know; he had gone to the yeshiva as usual. Miriam, the wife of Yoḥanan, was in the state of niddah,21 separated from her husband, and that villain came to her and wanted to have relations with her, and she cried out and said, “I am impure; do not do this act with me!” That cursed one refused to let her go, when he was having relations with her. She thought that he was her husband because she did (not) know any (man)22 other than her husband, and she had never met this man who had relations with her.

125

.‫ עינו מא ישילהא מן אלנסא‬13‫דאמיא‬ ‫אלמדכור וכאן‬ ̇ ‫וחט עינו עלא ̇גוזת יוחנן‬ .‫רוג פסח‬ ̇ ‫פי חדש ניסן פי בעד ̇כ‬ ‫וכאן ̇דלך אלחסיד יקום ללישיבות פי‬ ‫לאגל‬ ̇ ‫ פקאם לילה מן אלליאלי‬.‫אלליל‬ 14)‫א‬5( ‫ והו ביגלק‬,‫מא יקום ללישיבה‬ ‫ ואנזבק אלי בית אלחסיד‬15‫אלבאב אלא‬ ‫וקפל אלבאב ולם ביעלם אלמסכין‬ ‫ וכאנת‬.‫ ללישיבה זי אלעאדה‬16‫אראח‬ ‫מרים ̇גוזת יוחנן פי אלנדה והי בעידה ען‬ ‫ודלך אלרשע ̇גא לענדהא ואראד‬ ̇ ,‫̇גוזהא‬ ‫ וכאנת‬,‫ פיהא‬17‫אן יסתפעל‬ ‫ ליס תפעל‬19‫ ותקול אנא טמיא‬18‫תזעק‬ ‫רצי אלמלעון אן‬ ̇ ‫ ולם‬.‫הדא אלפעל מעי‬ ̇ ‫ והי‬.‫(!) פיהא‬ ‫יפארקהא למא אסתפעאל‬ 20‫בתחסב אנהו ̇גוזהא לאן הי בתעלם‬ ‫בדלך‬ ̇ ‫ ומא להא עלם‬,‫אחדא גיר ̇גוזהא‬ .‫אלדי אסתפעל פיהא‬ ̇ ‫אלרגל‬ ̇

13 Apparently intended to be ‫דאימא‬, lit. “always.” There is an Arabic vowel marking fatḥatān over the alef. 14  The second fragment begins here, and the text continues with RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 5r. 15  I have described this presentative usage of illā wa- as a fixed feature of LMJAR in the d­ iscussion of formulaic phrases in section 1 of chapter 7. See the folkloristic examples ­discussed in Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic,” 113. See also Blau, Grammar, 32; Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 32. The phrase recurs throughout the text that follows, but I have not marked it, and have normally translated simply as “then.” 16  Expected rāḥ. The attested form does not necessarily reflect the common Judeo-Arabic phenomenon of interchange between first-form and fourth-form verbs, but rather is a specific feature of Cairene Judeo-Arabic; see Blau, Grammar, 77; Blau, Dictionary, 263. 17 This combination of verb and preposition appears here in the tenth form; the combination is attested in the first form in this meaning in colloquial Egyptian Arabic. See Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 663. 18  This verb is likely the colloquial second form, found in Egyptian Arabic; see Badawi and Hinds, 371. 19 This word is unique to Judeo-Arabic and is apparently a formation based on Aramaic and Hebrew. See Blau, Dictionary, 408–9; Joshua Blau, “Arabic Lexicographical Miscellanies,” Journal of Semitic Studies 17 (1972): 177–79. 20 The text is missing a term of negation, which I have added to the English translation. 21  On the use of Hebrew and Aramaic terms in Judeo-Arabic texts for religious concepts such as this one, the monthly separation between husband and wife according to Jewish law, see Blau, Emergence, 133–66. 22  Lit. “anyone.”

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Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

Disclosure When morning came, that villain ran away, and after an hour, lo, the righteous man came from the yeshiva, and his wife said to him, “It can’t be that you committed that act with me.” He said, “What is the act that I committed with you?” Then his wife said, “This evening you slept with me, while I was in the state of niddah!” When her husband heard that, he said, “God forbid!” – that is, God forbid25 – and became silent. He left her and went to his sage, Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ, peace be upon him, and told him about the incident that had happened to him.

‫אלרגל‬ ̇ ‫פלמא צבח אלנהאר הרב ̇דלך‬ ‫ ובעד סאעה אלא ואלחסיד ̇גא מן‬.‫אלרשע‬ ‫ פעלת‬23‫אלישיבה פקאלת להו ̇גוזתו ליס‬ )!( ‫ פקאל לאה‬.)!( ‫הדא אלפעל מעי‬ ̇ ‫מעי‬ .‫אלדי פעלתו מעכי‬ ̇ ‫הדא אלפעל‬ ̇ ‫̇גוזהא איש‬ ‫פקאלת להו ̇גוזתו אללילה רקדת מעי ואנא‬ ‫ פלמא סמע ̇גוזהא קאל חס ושלום‬.‫פי אלנדה‬ ‫וכלאהא ואראח‬ ̇ .‫יעני חאשא וכלא וכאן סכת‬ ‫ רבי שמעון בן שטח‬24‫לענד אלחכם בתאעו‬ .‫אלדי ̇גרת להו‬ ̇ ‫אלמוגרא‬ ̇ ‫ע'ה' ואחכא להו‬

The sage Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ, peace be upon him, said to him, “What will be? There are no witnesses. Rather, write it down for yourself, until I consider the situation and see what happens.” The righteous man said to Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ, peace be upon him, “O sage, I have stopped allowing her to go to the ritual bath, and I have not had relations with her, until I consider the matter.” Then due to the great grief that took over that righteous man, he could not tolerate staying in that town, so that righteous man fled to the city of Baghdad and settled there.

‫פקאל להו אלחכם רבי שמעון בן שטח‬ ,‫ איש יכון אלעמל עדים מא פי שי‬,'‫ע'ה‬ ‫ננצור אלחאל כיף‬ ̇ ‫ואלא אכתבו ענדך למא‬ ‫ פקאל אלחסיד לרבי שמעון‬.‫יכון אלעמל‬ ‫ יא חכם אנא לם בקית‬,'‫בן שטח ע'ה‬ ‫ ולא בקית‬,‫הדא אלמטבל‬ ̇ 26‫אכליהא תנטבל‬ ̇ .‫ננצור אלאמר כיף אלחאל‬ ̇ ‫אגאמעהא למא‬ ̇ ‫אכדו ̇דלך אלחסיד‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫כותר אלקהר‬ ̇ ‫ומן‬ ‫ אלבלד יקעד פיהא פהרב ̇דלך‬27‫פמא תקשי‬ .‫אלחסיד אלי בלד בגדאד וקעד פיהא‬

23  Another possible interpretation of this word is that rather than the Classical Arabic laysa, it is a colloquial rendering similar to le:sh (“why”) but with a North African s-sh interchange. 24  Prior to this word, ‫ בתעו‬is marked for erasure with lines over the letters. 25  Arabic ‫حاشا وكال‬. The first phrase is in Hebrew, and the second is a Judeo-Arabic gloss explaining the Hebrew expression. 26  See Blau, Dictionary, 395. 27  The text (here and in JTS ENA 1726, f. 4r, ‫ )פמא תאקשי אל בלד‬is corrupt. Apparently what is intended is a phrase similar to the parallel rendering in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993, 1v, ‫מא אטאק‬ ‫שי‬: “He could not tolerate.”

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

127

Birth and Childhood of Yeshu Afterwards, the news was heard in the town that Miriam, the wife of the righteous man Yoḥanan, was pregnant and was close to giving birth. She gave birth to a child and named him Yeshuʿa. She, the poor woman, had no idea; she thought only that he was from her actual husband. We’re back to the story of that cursed one, Yosef Pandera, who is going around telling people what happened, the story that he fornicated with the woman, the righteous Yoḥanan’s wife. He told the people, “That boy who was born is my son.” When the Jews heard that he was of Jewish stock, they circumcised him.

‫אלכבר פי אלבלד‬ ̇ ‫פבעד איאם אנסמע‬ ‫ב) באן מרים ̇גוזת אלחסיד יוחנן אן‬5( ‫ פולדת ולד‬.‫חבלה וקרבת ללולאדה‬ ‫ אלמסכינה מא‬28‫ואסמתהו ישוע והיא‬ ‫להא עלם מא בתחסב אלא אנהו מן‬ ‫ אחנא פי ̇דל מנעול‬.‫̇גוזהא אלחקאני‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫יוסף פנדירא דאיר ביחכי ללנאס‬ ‫אלדי אזנא מע‬ ̇ ‫קציית‬ ̇ ‫צאר מנהו מן‬ ‫ ובקא‬,‫(!) ̇גוזת אלחסיד יוחנן‬ ‫אלאמרהא‬ 29 ‫אלדי אתאלד‬ ̇ ‫הדא אלולד‬ ̇ ‫יקול ללנאס‬ ‫ פלמא סמעו אליהוד אנהו‬.‫ אבני‬30‫הוא‬ .‫(!) עמלו לו מילה‬ ‫מן בר ישראל פקמאו‬

That boy grew older and went to school and turned out very clever and expert,34 and learned reading and writing better35 than the children in the school, because the schoolchildren were considered to be nothing in comparison to him.

‫פכובר ̇דאלך אלולד ואראח אלכתאב‬ 31 ‫ובקא חריף שאטר קוי ואתעלם‬ ‫אכתר מן אלאולאד‬ ̇ ‫אלקראה ואלכתאבה‬ ‫ לאן אולאד אלכתאב‬,‫בתוע אלכתאב‬ .‫ קדאמו כלא שי‬33‫ כאנו יונחסבו‬32‫לם‬

Heresies of Yeshu Then thirty years later, the boy’s age was [ ].36 Then one day Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ, peace be upon him, was in the market with two great sages, and the custom of the townsfolk was to stand upright and praise

‫לאתין סנה בקא עומרוהו‬ ̇ ‫̇תם בעד ̇ת‬ ‫(!) אלא ויום מן אלאיאם כאן רבי‬ ‫אלולד‬ ‫אתנין‬ ̇ ‫שמעון בן שטח ע'ה' פי אלסוק ומעהו‬ .‫חכמים גדולים‬

28  Regarding this form, contrasting with the Classical Arabic form of the feminine pronoun but common in Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Grammar, 57. 29  This root, a.l.d, which appears here in the fifth form with a prosthetic alef, is attested in the second form in Blau, Dictionary, 16. 30  This form of the masculine pronoun contrasts with the expected form in Classical Arabic; see Blau, Grammar, 57. 31  This fifth-form verb is written with a prosthetic alef; see Blau, 77. 32  This sentence is composed with a double negative, lit. “The schoolchildren were not considered before him to be nothing.” 33 On this verb form see Blau, Grammar, 78. 34  This meaning for ‫ حرّيف‬is attested in Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 199. 35  Lit. “more.” 36  While there is no physical lacuna in the fragment, there is a word or phrase missing here and indicating Yeshu’s age. In any case, the age of thirty is clear from the preceding phrase.

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Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

the sage and to kiss his hands, and that cursed one did not rise before the sage and did not show him honor and respect39 like the other townsfolk.

37 ‫ועאדת אהל אלבלד יקומו עלי חילהם‬ ‫והדא‬ ̇ ,‫ ללחכם ויקבלו איאדיה‬38‫ויתטאובו‬ ‫(!) לם כאן יקום ללחכם ולא יעמל‬ ‫אלמעון‬ .‫להו לא קימה ולא כבוד זי אהל אלבלד‬

Then after that, Yeshuʿa went to the “big house of study” in Tiberias where the judge Shimʿon ben Shataḥ was, and one of the sages rose and said, “A person like that, who does not rise and honor our sage, that one is definitely a bastard,” and another one stood up and said, “Yes, he’s a bastard and the son of a menstruant.” When he came to them, they said to him, “You, don’t you know how to read, because it’s written in the Torah, anyone who does not rise and show honor to the sages or to Torah scholars, he deserves the death penalty, and if you weren’t a bastard and the son of a menstruant, you would not have sat without honoring the sage.”

‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אלא וישוע כאן ירוח‬ ‫אלדי פי טבריא אלדפי‬ ̇ ‫ללמדרש אלכביר‬ ‫ פאקאם‬.'‫אלדיין רבי שמעון בן שטח ע'ה‬ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫מתל‬ ̇ ‫רגל‬ ̇ ,‫ואחד מן אלחכמים וקאל‬ ‫אלדי לם יעמל קימה ולא כבוד ללחכם‬ ̇ )!( ‫ פאקם‬.‫בתאענא ̇דא לם בד מאהו ממזר‬ .‫ נעם אנהו ממזר ובר נדה‬,‫אכר וקאל‬ ̇ ‫ואחד‬ 41 ‫ אנתה‬,‫פלמא ̇גא לענדהום פקאלו להו‬ ‫(!) תערף תקרא לאן מכתוב פי‬ ‫מה‬ ‫אלתורה כל מן לא יעמל קימה ולא כבוד‬ ,‫ללחכמים או לבעלי תורה יסתחק אלקתל‬ ‫א) ולולא אנת ממזר ובר נדה לם קעדת‬6( .‫ קימה ללחכם‬42‫בלא עמליל‬

What did he respond to them and say? “You are the ones who are evil men and bastards, and you have no sense at all, and if you had sense, you would understand from me the few words45 that I will say to you.” They said to him, “What are they, the ‘few words’ that you want to say to us?” He responded and said to them, “Who is wiser, Jethro or Moses? If you say ‘Jethro’ you annul the prophecies of Moses, about whom it is said, ‘My servant Moses is not so; he is trusted in all My house’ (Num. 12:7). Also, if you say, ‘Moses,’ well, he took counsel with Jethro regarding the

‫אלגואב וקאל להם? אנתו‬ ̇ ‫איש רד להם‬ ‫אלי רשעים וממזרים ומא לכם עקאל בשי‬ ‫ולו כאן לכ[ם] עקל כונתו תפהמו מני ̇דל‬ ‫ פקאלו להו איש‬.‫אלדי נקול לכום‬ ̇ ‫כלמתין‬ ‫אלדי תקול לנא? פרד‬ ̇ ‫הום אלכלמתין‬ ‫ יתרו‬,‫אכתר חכם‬ ̇ ‫ מן הו‬,‫אלגואב וקאל להם‬ ̇ ‫או משה? פאן כאן תקולו יתרו פתבטלו‬ ‫ אנקאל פי חקהו בכל‬43‫נבואת משה אל‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן אן כאן תקולו‬ ̇ .‫ביתי נאמן הוא‬ ‫קצית‬ ̇ ‫ מן יתרו מן‬44‫אכ ̇ד אלשורה‬ ̇ ‫משה ̇דא‬ ‫אלחוכאם אל חטהם מן תחת אידו בתוע‬ ‫שרי מאות ושרי חמשים ושרי עשרות פי‬ ‫קאלו לו לולא תחט ̇דל חוכאם‬

40

 For this phrase, see Blau, Dictionary, 159.  I have not found a dictionary definition of this verb that accords precisely with the form and the context here, and the alef may be pleonastic, as is often the case in LMJAR. This root appears in the second form with the meaning of “to praise (in the liturgy)” in Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 549. A similar form appears later in the narrative as well, in the plot element Final Separation, in the phrase ‫(!) לאצנאם‬ ‫ יטוואבו‬where it conveys the idea of worshipping idols. 39 On the phrase ‫עמל לה קימה‬, see Blau, Dictionary, 575. I have discussed this phrase above in the discussion of formulaic phrases in section 1 of chapter 7. 40 The intent of this phrase is ‫אלדי פיה‬. ̇ 41 On this form, see Blau, Grammar, 75. 42 In this word, the definite article has been separated from the following word, and appended onto the previous word ‫ עמל‬with a variant spelling. 43 The intent is the colloquial relative pronoun ‫الّي‬. 44  The intent is the term ‫شورى‬, “counsel.” 45 Lit. “two words.” 37 38

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

issue of the governors that he placed under his control, that is ‘the officers of hundreds and officers of fifties and officers of tens’ (Exod. 18:21). Then he said to him, ‘If you don’t appoint those governors over the people of Israel, all of the responsibility will be yours alone.’ He accepted the counsel from him.”

129

.‫ ישראל יבקא אלתעב כולו עליך‬46‫אלא‬ .‫ואכ ̇ד מנו אלשורה‬ ̇

Transition-Recapitulation When the students heard those words and the heresy that he explicitly uttered, they went and told the sages, and the sages asked about him and found out that he was a bastard and the son of a menstruant from the villain Yosef who came to his mother at night when she was in the niddah period, and that the righteous man fled and left her an agunah because he found out what had happened and went to Baghdad.

)!( ‫(!) סמעו אלתלמידים ̇דלך אלכאלם‬ ‫פלמה‬ ‫אלדי קאלו מן פמהו פאראחו‬ ̇ )!( ‫ואלכפור‬ ‫פוגדו‬ ̇ ‫ואחכו ללחכמים פסאלו ענהו אלחכמים‬ ‫אלדי ̇גא‬ ̇ ‫אנהו ממזר ובר נדה מן יוסף אלרשע‬ ‫פי אלליל עלי אומהו והי פי אלנדה ואלחסיד‬ ‫ לאנהו עלם אלאמר‬47‫וכלאהא עגופה‬ ̇ ‫הרב‬ .‫ואראח לבוגדאד‬

Truth Revealed Then after that, the sages sent for his mother and said to her, “Are you a virgin or a married woman, and who are you?” She said to them, “I am of the seed of King David, peace be upon him.” They said to her, “What is your name?” She said to them, “My name is Miriam.” “And what is your husband’s name?” She said to them, “His name is Yoḥanan, and lo, he has been absent from me for thirty years in the region of Baghdad, and I have not seen him.” The sages said to her: “Don’t you know that your husband Rabbi Yoḥanan came here and told me50 the account:

‫בעתו ורא‬ ̇ ‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אלא ואלחכמים‬ )!( ‫אומהו וקאלו להא אנתי בנת ואו‬ ‫(!) ומן תכוני? פקאלת להם אנא מן‬ ‫מארה‬ ‫ פקאלו להא איש‬.'‫̇דריית דווד המלך ע'א'ס‬ ‫אסמך קאלת להם אסמי מרים ומא אסם‬ 48 ‫̇גוזך? פקאלת להם אסמהו יוחנן ואדי‬ ‫ארץ בוגדאד‬ ̇ ‫לאתין סנה והו גאיב עני פי‬ ̇ ‫̇ת‬ ‫ פקאלו להא אלחכמים‬.)!( ‫ואנא לם ראיתי‬ ‫ ̇גא הנא רבי יוחנן ̇גוזך‬49‫מא תעלמי בן‬ .‫באלקציה‬ ̇ )!( ‫וחכא לי‬ )‫ב‬6(

46  The interchange of ʿalā, “over,” and ilā, “to,” is common in Judeo-Arabic; see Blau, Grammar, 115. 47 The intent is apparently ‫עגונה‬. 48  For this colloquial usage, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 1. 49  The intent is ‫באן‬. 50  The singular pronoun does not accord with the stated speakers, “the sages.”

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Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

‘One night I got up to go to the yeshiva, and I closed the door. We had this neighbor, whose name was Yosef Pandera. He was always paying attention to my wife, but I did not get involved with him. When I came from the yeshiva, my wife said to me: “What got into you last night?54 You slept with me last night, and did you not know that I am menstruating? Then I began to cry and to bawl and to say: ‘What is this deed that you committed this night!’”’

‫אן לילה מן אלליאלי ̇גית אקום ללישיבה‬ ‫אלגאר בתאענא ואסמהו‬ ̇ ‫ורדית אלבאב וכאן‬ ‫(!) באלו‬ ‫יוסף פנדירה וכאן דאמן חאטת‬ ‫ ולמא‬51.‫אכ ̇דת פיה ולא אעטת‬ ̇ ‫במראתי ולא‬ ‫̇גית מן אלישיבה פקאלת אלי ̇גוזתי איש‬ ‫דלילה אלי צאר מנך אלי רקדת מעי אלילה‬ ?‫ מא בתעלם אלא אנא פי אלנדה‬52‫ואנא‬ ‫ ונקול מא הדא‬53‫ואנא בקית נבכי ועייט‬ .‫אלעמלה אל עמלתהא פי אללילה‬

The righteous man, her husband, did not talk to her, but went to the sage and told him,55 and left and fled and traveled to Baghdad.” When the sage finished talking, the woman said to them, “Yes, this is what happened to me, and I, my lord, thought that he was my husband, and I did not know this until this instant.”

‫(!) פאראח ללחכם‬ ‫ולא כלמהא אלחסיד ̇גוזה‬ .‫ואחכי לו ואראח הרב וסאפר לבוגדאד‬ ‫ פקאלת להם‬.‫פלמא פרג אלחכם מן כלאמו‬ ‫אלמראה נעם צדר מני אלאמר ואנא יסיידי‬ .‫בדלך אלא ̇דולקת‬ ̇ ‫חסבי אנהו ̇גוזי ולא בעלם‬

Excommunication of Yeshu Then after that, the sages sent for the debauched Yosef Pandera and they captured him and killed him. The people realized that he [= Yeshu] was a bastard and the son of a menstruant and they changed his name, which was Yeshuʿa, and named him Y.Sh.W., an acronym for “May his name and remembrance be effaced.”57 Then

‫(!) ורא‬ ‫בעתוה‬ ̇ ‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אלא ואלחכמים‬ ‫יוסף פנדירא אלמפסוד ומסכוה ̇וצרבוה ̇צרב‬ ‫ ואעתרפת בו אלנאס אנהו ממזר ובר‬.‫אלמות‬ ‫נדה ואקלבו אסמהו אלי כאן ישוע וסמוה‬ ‫בעת אלחכם‬ ̇ ‫ ̇תם בעד ̇דלך‬.'‫ י'ש'ו‬56‫י'ש'ו' דת‬

51  This is a dialectal expression familiar in Levantine Arabic. The verbal noun form is attested in Leonhard Bauer and Anton Spitaler, Deutsch-arabisches Wörterbuch der Umgangssprache in Palästina und im Libanon (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1957), 334. 52  The intent is apparently “you,” (m.s.), and in the translation I have corrected this occurrence. 53  For this root, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 613. 54  My translation here approximates the intent and style of a colloquial phrasing that translates literally as “What is this night that happened to you?” 55  This wording presents another inconsistency in this complicated narrative within a narrative; the rabbi telling the story refers to himself in the third person when recounting the events of thirty years before. 56 The manuscript reads ‫ דת‬but this is likely a corrupted rendition of ‫רת‬, an abbreviation for the Hebrew phrase ‫ראשי תיבות‬, “acronym.” I thank Antonio Di Gesù for this observation. 57  Hebrew manuscripts approximately parallel to this rendition usually cite and explain the use of a notariqon for Yeshu’s name, in which the letters ‫ ישו‬are explicitly presented as an abbreviation for the mocking phrase ‫יימח שמו וזכרו‬, “May his name and remembrance be effaced.” I have completed this expanded explanation in the translation here, despite the fact that in the Judeo-Arabic original, it is the abbreviation itself that appears twice.

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

after that, the sage sent for the righteous Yoḥanan, and he came from Baghdad, and gave the writ of divorce to the woman, because she had been forbidden to him.

131

‫ורא אלחסיד יוחנן ̇וגא מן בוגדאד ואעטא גט‬ .‫אלאמראה לאנהא חורמת עליה‬

Stealing the Name Then the cursed Yeshu, when he heard those words, fled and went to Tiberias,59 and from Tiberias he went to Jerusalem and went around in Jerusalem. He entered the Temple, because at that time the Jews were ruled by a queen, the wife of the king Caesar in the city of Constantinople, and what did that cursed Yeshu do? He went into the Temple and there was a place there called the Foundation Stone, that is, the Rock of the Rock, and it is the one that Jacob our forefather, peace be upon him, anointed, and the Ineffable Name is written upon it. One who knows the Name that is written on it can do anything that he wants with it.60

‫הדא אלכלאם‬ ̇ ‫אלא ואללעין י'ש'ו' ולמא סמע‬ ‫הרב ואראח אל טבריא ומן טבריא אראח‬ ‫ודכל פי בית‬ ̇ .‫לירושלים ודאר פי ירושלים‬ ‫ לאן פי ̇דלך אלזמאן כאנו ישראל‬,‫המקדש‬ ‫תחת יד מלכה ̇גוזת אלמלך קיסר פי בלד‬ ‫דכל‬ ̇ '‫קשטנטינא פאיש פעל אלנעיל י'ש'ו‬ ‫מוצע אסמהו אבן‬ ̇ ‫לבית המקדש והנאך‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫ והיא‬58‫אלסכרה‬ ̇ ‫חגר‬ ̇ ‫השתיה יעני‬ ‫א) והי מכתוב עליהא‬7( '‫דהנהא יעקב א'ע'ה‬ ‫אלדי מכתוב‬ ̇ ‫שם המפורש וכול מן יערף שם‬ ‫עליהא עמל בו כל שי אן יריד יפעל מעו‬ .‫יפעל‬

The Jews64 took great pains65 with respect to that Name; they made themselves two lions of copper, using the power of the Ineffable Name, and they were placed on two iron pillars at the door of the Temple. Anyone who reads that name – they shriek at him, and from the force of the shriek, he forgets everything he learned, and even someone who writes that Name, they do not let him exit, and suddenly they shriek at him, and he forgets due to the force of the shriek.

‫אתנין‬ ̇ ‫פכאפו ישראל עלי ̇דל שם עמלו להם‬ ̇ ‫ מן נחאס בקות אלשם המפורש‬61‫סבועה‬ ‫אתנין עואמיד מן אלחדיד‬ ̇ ‫ עלי‬62‫ומחטוטין‬ ‫ וכל מן יקרא ̇דלך‬.‫עלי באב בית המקדש‬ ‫עוטם אלזעקה ינסא כל‬ ̇ ‫אלשם יזעקו פיה ומן‬ ‫ואיצא חתי כול מן יכתב‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלדי יתעלמו‬ ̇ ‫ יזעקו פיה‬63‫רג חתי‬ ̇ ‫הדא אלשם לם ̇יכלוה ̇יכ‬ ̇ .‫עוטם אלזעקה‬ ̇ ‫וינסא מן‬

58  “Stone” appears here in a nonstandard Judeo-Arabic spelling for the Arabic ‫صخرة‬. I have not found any parallels for the repetitive phrase “the Rock of the Rock” as a name for the Temple Mount. 59  According to the locations mentioned till now in the narrative, Yeshu is currently in Tiberias, and thus the movements described here lack logic. 60  The syntax of this sentence is confused, as if the scribe lost track in the middle and began a new sentence using the apodosis as a new protasis. 61 The scribe uses this plural form for “lion,” apparently a dialectal development from the Classical Arabic asbuʿ. 62 The syntax of this Judeo-Arabic sentence is not completely smooth. For this word as “placed,” see Blau, Dictionary, 131–32. 63 For this meaning of ḥattā, see Blau, 110. 64  Lit. “Israel.” 65  Lit. “afraid,” as in the Italian A subversions.

132

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

What did that doubly cursed66 Yeshu do? He wrote the Name on a paper and cleaved his thigh and placed it inside his thigh and sewed it up. As he began to leave, the lions shrieked at him and he forgot what he had learned. After he went out, he cleaved his thigh and took out the paper that had that Ineffable Name on it and read what was on it and used it.

‫איש עמל אלנעיל י'ש'ו' מלעון? כתב אלשם‬ ‫וכייט‬ ̇ ‫פכ ̇דו‬ ̇ ‫פכ ̇דו וחטהא פי‬ ̇ ‫עלי ורקה ושק‬ ‫ ולמא ̇גא יטלע זעקו פיה אלסבועה‬.‫עליהא‬ ‫פכ ̇דהו‬ ̇ ‫ ובעד אן טלע שק‬.‫אלדי אתעלמו‬ ̇ ‫ונסי‬ ‫(!) פיהא ̇דלך אלשם‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫וטלע אלורקה‬ .‫ואסתכדם בו‬ ̇ ‫המפורש וקראה מא פיה‬

Midrash on Stealing the Name Then after that,67 before that cursed one stole the Name that he used, a man from the tribe of Dan had taken it, and his name was Zaliah; because the accursed Bilʿam had fled, he and his two sons, because they were magicians, he and his sons, one of whom was named Anīs and one was Samarīm.68

‫ קבל מא סרק ̇דל נעיל אלשם‬,‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך‬ ‫אכ ̇דהו ואחד‬ ̇ ‫ כאן‬,‫אסתכדם בהו‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫מן שבט דן וכאן אסמהו צליה לאן בלעם‬ ‫ואתנין אולאדה לאנהם‬ ̇ ‫אלנעיל כאן הרב הו‬ ‫אלדי אסמהו‬ ̇ ‫כאנו סחארין הו ואולאדו‬ .‫ואלתאני אסמהו סמרים‬ ̇ ‫אלאחד אניס‬

When they flew in heaven, the honored Pinḥas, peace be upon him, became confused. The one whose name was Zaliah who was from the tribe of Dan took that Name from the Temple and used it and flew after the cursed Bilʿam.

‫ פי אלסמא פבקא מחתאר‬69‫פי למא טארו‬ .‫(!) אמרהו‬ ‫אלסייד פינחס ע'א'ס' פי פי‬ 70 ‫אלדי מן‬ ̇ ‫אלדי אסמהו צליה‬ ̇ ‫פאקאם‬ ‫אכ ̇ד ̇דל שם מן בית המקדש‬ ̇ ‫שב[ט] דן‬ 71.‫ואסתכדם בהו וטאר ורא אלנעיל בלעם‬ ̇

When Bilʿam saw that Zaliah his son72 had gone out after him to the seventh heaven and had gone down to the fifth heaven, Pinḥas shouted to Zaliah from underneath and said to him, “Why are you so confused?” Zaliah said to Pinḥas, “I didn’t find him.”

‫נצר בלעם אן צליה אבנהו טלע‬ ̇ ‫פלמא‬ ‫וראה ללסמא אלסאבעה וכאן הבט לתחת‬ ‫אלכאמסה וכאן זעק פינחס‬ ̇ ‫אלסמא‬ ‫כדא‬ ̇ ‫ וקאל להו מא לך‬,‫(!) מן תחת‬ ‫לציה‬ ‫(!) פקאל צליה לפנחס מא ̇וגדתו‬ ‫מחטאר‬ )‫ב‬7( .‫שי‬

66  Lit. “the cursed accursed Yeshu,” combining standard and colloquial Arabic words with identical meaning. 67 This phrase is the fixed expression used formulaically in this rendition of TY to introduce new plot elements, and its use here is artificial. I discuss this expression, as well as this example, in the discussion of formulaic phrases in section 1 of chapter 7. 68 This name appears as Samarīs in the parallel version in JTS ENA 1726. A comprehensive summary of the late antique texts on Yannes and Yumbres/Yumbrus can be found in Pietersma, The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres, the Magicians. 69 This reading is preferable to ‫ ̇טהרו‬as found in JTS ENA 1726. 70  This verb is equivalent to ‫ ;קאם‬on the common interchange of first-form and fourth-form verbs in Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Grammar, 75. 71  JTS ENA 1726, f. 5v, adds here ‫ואלדהו‬. 72  This is apparently a mistake.

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

133

Pinḥas said to him, “That one went down from you to the fifth heaven, and lo, I will place for him a magical covering of hair, so that he can hide in it.” Then he [= Pinḥas] crushed73 his hair, and he descended upon it to under the honored Pinḥas, he [and] his two sons.

‫פקאל להו פנחס ̇דאך הובט מנך ללסמא‬ ‫אלכאמסה ואני ̇געל להו סתר מן שער מן‬ ̇ ‫חיניד דק פיה‬ ̇ .‫לאגל אני ינסתר בו‬ ̇ ‫אלסחר‬ ‫מן שערה ונזל בה לתחת קדאם אלסייד‬ .‫(!) אולאדו‬ ‫אתנין‬ ̇ ‫פנחס הו‬

Here is the prophecy that the honorable Jacob, our forefather, peace be upon him, prophesied in the weekly portion Vayeḥi, saying, “Dan shall be a serpent by the road” (Gen. 49:17). That is Samson, who fought the uncircumcised Philistines, thousands along the path, that is, on the earth.

‫אלדי אנתבא עליהא‬ ̇ ‫ואדי אלנבואה‬ ‫ השלום פי פרשת‬75'‫ יעקב א'ב'ע‬74‫אלסייד‬ ‫ ̇דא‬.‫ אלי קאל יהי דן נחש עלי דרך‬,‫ויחי‬ ‫אלדי קאתל אלפלסטין אלערלים‬ ̇ ,‫שמשון‬ .‫אלארץ‬ ̇ ‫אלוף פי אלטריק יעני עלי‬

“A viper by the path” – that is Zaliah, who set out to the heavens and brought (down) the cursed Bilʿam.

‫ ̇דא הו צליה אלי טלע‬,‫שפיפון עלי אורח‬ .‫ללסמא ̇וגאב אל[נ]עיל בלעם‬

The one “that bites the horse’s heels” (Gen. 49:17) – that is Ira,76 because he too is from the tribe of Dan and he would fight on behalf of the ruler. The strong one who was with David was none other than Ira, as it is written in the second book of Samuel, “David hamstrung all the chariot horses” (2 Sam. 8:4).

)!( ‫ ̇דא עירה‬,‫ואלדי הו הנושך עקבי סוס‬ ̇ ‫אלאכר כאן מן שבט דן וכאן‬ ̇ ‫לאן הו‬ ‫ ומא כאן ענד דוד‬.‫ביעארך מן אלסולטאן‬ ‫קויא אלא אסמהו עירה כמא הו מכתוב פי‬ .‫ספר שמואל שני ויעקר דויד את כל הרכב‬

“So that his rider is thrown backward” (Gen. 49:17). That is one whose name is Seraiah and he is from the tribe of Dan, and will be accompanied by the Messiah King, of the tribe of Ephraim, and will take vengeance on the nations. When that one comes, accompanied by the Messiah of the tribe of Ephraim, good will come to Israel.

‫ ̇דא ואחד אסמהו‬,‫ויפול רכבו אחור‬ ‫(!) והו מן שבט דן אלי יאתה‬ ‫שירה‬ ‫ ויסתנקם מן‬,‫מעה מלך המשיח בן אפרים‬ ‫אלאומות ולמא יקום ̇דא מעה אלמשיח בן‬ .‫(!) ישראל‬ ‫אלכיר אל‬ ̇ ‫אפרים יאתי‬

Here is the conclusion: The honorable Jacob, peace be upon him, by the power of prophecy regarding79 Dan. The honorable Jacob, peace be upon him, also said, “Your deliverance I await, O Lord!” (Gen. 49:18).

‫אלכתאם אלסייד יעקב א'ע'ה' בקווה‬ ̇ ‫ואדי‬ ‫ בתאע דן וכמאן קאל אלסייד‬78‫אלגבוה‬ .‫יעקב ע'ה' לישועתך קויתי יי‬

77

 The meaning of this image is unclear in Judeo-Arabic.  A sign resembling a colon, whose intent is not apparent, follows this word. The sign reappears intermittently on the page. 75  Abbreviation for ‫השלום‬ ‫אבינו עליו‬. 76  The biblical figure ‫ עירא‬appears in 2 Sam. 20:26 as well as elsewhere in the Bible as a figure with connections to David. 77  Perhaps intended to be ‫יאתי‬. 78  Intended to be ‫נבוה‬, “prophecy.” 79  The literal translation of the Judeo-Arabic ‫ בתאע‬is “belonging to.” 73 74

134

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

At that moment, Pinḥas said to Zaliah, “You brought him; you kill him, because I’m a priest; I can’t kill him.” The second one who took that Name was Nebuchadnezzar, when he went up to Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple and took Israel into the Babylonian exile and took the vessels of the Temple and the treasures belonging to the Temple. Among them he took that Ineffable Name, and made for himself an idol of gold […]

‫ אנתה‬,‫פדיך לסאעה קאל פנחס לצליה‬ ̇ ‫̇גבתו אנתה אקתלו לאן אנא כהן לא‬ .‫נקדרש נקתלהו‬ ‫אכ ̇דו נבוכדנצאר‬ ̇ ‫אכ ̇ד ̇דל שם‬ ̇ ‫ואלתאני אלי‬ ̇ ‫וכרב בית המקדש‬ ̇ ‫למא טלע לירושלים‬ ‫ואכ ̇ד אלכלים‬ ̇ ‫ואכ ̇ד ישראל לגלות בבל‬ ̇ ‫אלדי כאנו‬ ̇ ‫ואלכיראת‬ ̇ ‫בתוע בית המקדש‬ ‫אכ ̇ד ̇דל שם‬ ̇ ‫ ומן ̇גמלתהום‬.‫פי בית המקדש‬ ]…[ ‫אלדהב‬ ̇ ‫המפורש ועמל להו צנם מן‬

Missing Plot Elements All plot elements from Finding Disciples to Burial are absent here, due to missing and disordered folios. The text resumes on folio 1r with Burial. Burial […] and he was crying and entreating God. When he saw Judah the gardener, who was mentioned earlier, standing and eating in comfort, Rabbi Tanḥuma said to him, “The people of Israel are suffering, crying, and fasting, and you are eating comfortably?” The man said to him, “Why are the Jews fasting?” He said to him, “Because of Yeshu, whom the Jews killed and buried. But his companions looked for him in the grave (and) didn’t find him, so they carried out a ruse on the Jews so as to get their revenge on them because they killed Yeshu. We don’t know what happened to him, whether a wild beast ate him or if it’s a ruse against us that his companions are carrying out. They went and complained about us to the queen. Then she sent for all the Jews,

‫ פלמא ראה‬.‫א) והו יבכי ויטלוב מן אללה‬1( ‫אלמדכור סאבק ואקף יאכול‬ ̇ ‫אלכולי‬ ̇ ‫יהודה‬ ‫והו משרוח פקאל להו רבי תנחומא ישראל‬ ‫פי צער ופי בכא ותענית ואנתא בתאכול‬ ‫אלרגול עלא אייש‬ ̇ ‫ומנשרח? פקאל להו‬ ‫אליהוד פי תענית? פי קאל להו עלא שאן‬ ‫י'ש'ו' אלי קתלו אלייהוד ודפנו ואמא רפקתו‬ ‫יפתשו עליה פי אלקבר לם ̇וגדו פי קאמו‬ 80 ‫לאגל מא‬ ̇ ‫עמלוהא חיילה עלא אלייהוד‬ ‫ י'ש'ו' ולא‬81‫יסתנקמו מנהום עלי שאן קבלו‬ 83 ‫ אן כאן אכלו אלוחוש‬82‫נערפו אייש ̇גרא פי‬ ‫ וארחו‬.‫או חילה עלינא בעמלוהא רפקתו‬ ‫בעתת ורא‬ ̇ ‫ פי‬.‫ פינא ליל מלכא‬84‫אשתכו‬ ‫כול אליהוד וקאלת להם אן מא בקא שי פי‬ ‫נכאלי מן שונאי ישראל אחדן‬ ̇ ‫אלקבר לם‬

 For this typically Egyptian usage of ma, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 8.  Intended to be ‫קתלו‬. The same error is found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014. An alternate and less convincing reading possibility is to maintain the reading of “accepted,” in which case the subject would be “companions.” 82 The intent here is ‫פיה‬, “regarding him.” 83  The letters ‫ חוש‬are marked for erasure prior to this word. For this reason, even though the vav is not completely apparent in the corrected word, I have chosen to transcribe it. 84 This verb is discussed in Blau, Dictionary, 346. The eighth form represented here is standard usage, but the use of the preposition fī is unexpected and is not discussed there. 80

81

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

and said to them, ‘If (he) is not in the grave,86 I won’t leave a single one of the “enemies of Israel”87 alive.’ She gave us a deadline of five days, and here it’s the fifth day, and we are in great sorrow, (not knowing) what to do.” Then the gardener said to the rabbi, “I heard his companions saying to each other, ‘Let’s steal Yeshu from the grave, and we’ll go and say to the queen, “Our Lady, the Jews were the ones who killed Jesus and put him and buried him in the grave,96 and he flew in the sky and his father took him.”’ I, before they went [to do this], I took note of the place, and I went at night, and I took him from the grave and buried him in another place because of my fear for the Jews, so they wouldn’t do evil to them and wouldn’t go and complain to the queen regarding the Jews. So I know where he is: He’s buried in my (field).97” The sage said to him, “May you be worthy of fulfilling

135

‫ ̇כמסת איאם ואדי‬85‫מיגאל‬ ̇ ‫ואעטת לנא‬ .‫̇כאמס יום ואחנא פי צער גדול כייף אלעמל‬

‫ אלחכם אנא סמעת‬88‫פי קאל אלגייטנאי‬ ‫לבעצהום אלבעץ תעלו חתא‬ ̇ ‫רפקתו קאלו‬ )!( ‫ אלקבר ונרוחו נקואל‬89‫נסרקו י'ש'ו' מן‬ ‫ יא סתנא כאן אליהוד אלי קתלו‬,‫ללמלכא‬ ‫י'ש'ו' וחטו ודפנו פי אלקבר וכאן טאר פי‬ ‫ וכונת קבל מא‬90.‫אכ ̇דוה‬ ̇ ‫אלסמא ואבוה‬ ‫אראחו עלמת אלמטרח ורוחת פי אלליל‬ ‫אכר מן‬ ̇ ‫מוצע‬ ̇ ‫ואכ ̇דתו מן אלקבר ודפנתוה פי‬ ̇ ‫ עליהום וירוחו‬91‫(!) עלי אליהוד לא יאסו‬ ‫̇כפוי‬ ‫ ואנא אערף‬.‫וישתכו לילמלכה עלי אליהוד‬ ‫ קאלו אלחכם‬94‫ וכאן‬.‫ ענדי‬93‫ מדפון‬92‫טריקו‬ 95 ‫תזכה למצות! ופרח אלחכם פרחאן אן‬

word is ‫مئجال‬, which is found as échéance, “deadline,” in Albin Kazimirski, Dictionnaire arabe-français (Paris: Maisonneuve, 1860), 15. 86  I translate here in accordance with the late usage reflected throughout this manuscript, where b.q.y is parallel to kān. Accordingly, shay is not the subject of the sentence, but is a negative marker. 87  Hebrew ‫שונאי ישראל‬, an antiphrasis referring to the Jews. 88  For this word as “gardener,” based on ‫غيطان‬, “field,” see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 636; Blau, Dictionary, 488. The word includes a letter interchange and should read ‫גייטאני‬. In other parallel LMJAR fragments the word used for gardener is khawlī (RNL Evr.Arab. I:3014, f. 1r). 89 RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014 ends here. 90 In this verb, the direct object is doubly marked, with a vav as in colloquial late JudeoArabic as well as with a heh mimicking Classical Arabic. 91  This verb in Judeo-Arabic is formed from the root ‫אסי‬, which is secondarily derived from the Classical Arabic root ‫سوأ‬, and is attested in Judeo-Arabic in second and fourth form. On this, see Blau, Dictionary, 12, 314. On the interchange of ‫ الى‬and ‫ على‬see Blau, Grammar, 115. 92  For this usage, see Socrates Spiro, Arabic-English Dictionary of the Modern Arabic of Egypt (Cairo: al-Mokattam Press, 1895), 365. 93  The word ‫ הו‬serving as subject of a second and run-on sentence may be missing here. 94  The use of ‫ كان‬here and in the continuation of the text does not reflect past perfect, but is rather an analytic indicator of the past tense. See Blau, Grammar, 184. 95  On this remnant of the tanwīn in the use of an as an independent particle, common in Judeo-Arabic in this syntactic context, see Blau, 56, 128. 96  This somewhat awkward construction is the literal translation of the Arabic, with “put” and “buried” preceding “grave.”  97 Lit. “buried with me.” 85 This

136

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

commandments!” The sage rejoiced, and he went to the Jews and told them the good news, saying to them, “We found Yeshu!”

‫(!) אליהוד ובשרהום‬ ‫עטים וכאן ארחליל‬ ̇ !'‫(!) י'ש'ו‬ ‫וקאל להום אלתקנא‬

The Jews went to the gardener (and said) to him, “Where is that cursed one buried?” Then he went with them to the place where he was buried, where he had buried him with his own hands, and they said to him, “How did you do it?” He told them what had happened to him, and he said to them, “I will sell him for thirty silver coins; give me thirty silver coins.” They gave him thirty silver coins and took him from him106 and took him out of his grave and tied a rope to his legs and dragged him from the garden, until they brought him before the queen. This was a disgrace before all who were watching. The queen said to them, “I saw him, your god, that he is cursed and all of his actions were deception.” Then the queen said, “You have nothing more to say against the Jews.”

,‫ להו‬98‫פי אראחו אליהוד לענד אלגיטאני‬ ‫פן ̇דל ארור מדפון? וארח מעהם מטרח‬ ‫ פי קאלו להו‬.‫אלי מדפון אלי דפנוה באיידו‬ ‫באלקצייה אלי‬ ̇ ‫כייף עמלת? פי חכא להום‬ 100 ‫ אנא כאלפותו‬99‫ פי קאל לוהום‬.‫̇גרת להו‬ .‫פצה‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלתין‬ ̇ ‫ ̇ת‬101‫פצה אדוני‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלתין‬ ̇ ‫̇ת‬ ‫ואכ ̇דוה‬ ̇ )‫ב‬1( ,‫פצה‬ ̇ ‫אלתין‬ ̇ ‫וכאנו אעטו לו ̇ת‬ ‫רגליה‬ ̇ ‫ וטלעו מן קברו ורבטו חבל פי‬.‫מנהו‬ ‫ וצלו בו קודאם‬102‫רגרוה מן אלגיט למא‬ ̇ ‫̇וג‬ .‫ינצרו‬ ̇ ‫ לילנאס‬103‫ פי בקא התיכא‬.‫אלמלכה‬ ‫ ראיתוה אלהכום‬,‫פי קאלת להום אלמלכא‬ ‫ פי קאלת‬104.‫אנהו מלעון וכול פעלו באלגיש‬ ‫(!) ענד‬ ‫ לכום כאלם‬105‫אלמלכא מבקא‬ .‫אליהוד‬

First Separation Then after that, the Jews took counsel among themselves, to find someone clever, expert and wise, (so that)107 they [= the followers of Yeshu] would turn aside and leave the religious community of Israel

‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אסתשארו אליהוד מעא‬ )!( ‫לינצורולהם ואחד מהום‬ ̇ ‫אלבעץ‬ ̇ ‫בעצהום‬ ̇ ‫רגו מן מלת‬ ̇ ‫ויכ‬ ̇ ‫ וייוואלו‬,‫וחאדק ועאקל‬ ̇ ‫שאטר‬

 Missing: ‫ פקאלו‬or ‫פי קאלו‬.  The vowels in this scriptio plena are reflective of Egyptian colloquial speech. 100  This word can be interpreted as deriving from either the root ‫خلف‬, “to exchange,” or the root ‫كلف‬, “to cost.” Either way the intent is clear. Of the Hebrew versions of TY, only Italian A includes this element. 101  For this verb, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 13. 102  For this meaning of lammā as “until,” see Badawi and Hinds, 800. 103 The intent is ‫هتيكة‬, “disgrace”; see Badawi and Hinds, 899. 104  The intent is ّ‫غش‬, and the word is written with scriptio plena. The Hebrew letter ṭet is marked for erasure in the beginning of the word. 105 The intent is apparently ‫מא בקא‬. 106  Apparently, took Jesus from the gardener. 107  The text actually reads “and,” but it is clear here that the description refers to an attempt to cause the believers in Yeshu to leave the Jewish population, that is, a parody of the “parting of the ways” that gives the Jews full agency.  98

 99

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

137

for the religious community of the cursed [= the Christians], and they [= the Jews] would take upon themselves all of the sins that he would commit, and they would guarantee him the world to come.114 He would appear to those [= the followers of Yeshu] and would set a religion and a basis for them to follow, and would distance them from the Jews, and from the conflicts and rebellions and wars regarding which the cursed ones were informing on them to the queen. Then he would say to them, “That Yeshu is alive and well in the sky, living,” and he will not accrue any sin due to that heresy of theirs, and he will return them to their religion.115

‫ ויקבלו‬108,‫(!) מלת אלמלאעין‬ ‫ישראל אלא‬ 109‫אלכאטייאת‬ ‫אלדי יפעלוהום‬ ̇ ̇ ‫עליהם סאיר‬ ,‫ לו חיי העולם הבא‬111‫ויצמאנו‬ ̇ 110,‫עליהם‬ )!( ‫(!) וקעאדה‬ ‫לדול יעמלהום דון‬ ̇ ‫ויטהר‬ ̇ ‫(!) עאן אליהוד ועאן‬ ‫ וימנאהום‬,‫ימשו עליהא‬ ‫ חרוב אלי כאנו לי‬112‫̇דיל קתל ואלפתן ולא‬ ‫ ויבקא‬,‫ עליהום לילמלכא‬113‫מלאעין יפתס‬ ,‫יקול להום ̇דא י'ש'ו' טאייב פי אלסמא חי‬ ,‫ולא להו עון מן ̇דלך אלכופר אלי יכפרו‬ .)!( ‫וירגעהום לידנהום‬ ̇

After that they found a clever, well-spoken, wise, and understanding man, and his name was Khidr al-Akhdar and they went to him and said, “You are clever, well-spoken, wise, and understanding; you will save ­Israel from distress and will do something

‫ ואחד שאטר פציח ועקל‬116‫ובעד ̇דלך להו‬ ‫ פי אראחו‬.‫אלאכדר‬ ̇ ‫ ̇כדר‬117‫ופהים ואסמהו‬ )!( ‫ אנך שאטר ופציח ועקל‬,‫להו וקאלו‬ ‫(!) ותעמל‬ ‫תכלץ ישראל מן שדא‬ ̇ ‫ופהים אנך‬ ‫ אן כול סאעה‬,‫לנא אמר מעא ̇דיל מלאעין‬ ‫ מענא וביטלבו שרנא וירידו‬118‫ביתכ ̇דו‬ ̇

108 The

parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120r, begins here. word intended here is ‫خطيئات‬, a plural form of ‫خطيئة‬, recorded here with a pleonastic alef as is common in this Judeo-Arabic rendering. 110  This word seems to be an unnecessary repetition. 111  Likely intended is the first-form verb, regardless of the pleonastic alef. 112 This should read ‫ואלחרוב‬. An identical mistake is found in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120r. 113 The parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120r, reads ‫ יפתש‬and I have translated in accordance with that parallel. For ‫ فتش‬as “inform on,” see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 639. Interchange between sin and shin occurs intermittently in this Judeo-Arabic rendition; on this phenomenon see Blau, Grammar, 37, 287. 114  The intent here is the plot detail in which the Jewish trickster sage is pardoned in advance of all of the commandments he will have to break in order to carry out his trick to rid the Jews of the Yeshu-believers. 115  That is, the Jewish double agent will cause the followers of Yeshu to leave the Jewish community. 116  The word recorded here is incomprehensible in context, and appears identically in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120r. The word intended may be ‫לאקו‬, “they found”; I have reflected this possibility in the English translation. Another possibility is that a verb is missing and that ‫להו‬ is a usage of the dativus ethicus. On the dativus ethicus in Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Emergence, 262. 117  An extra alef is added to this word, but is crossed out. The rendering in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120r, includes the alef. 118  On the sixth form of the root ‫ اخذ‬as “to carry on a dispute,” see Blau, Dictionary, 6. This is likely intended here given the flexible inclusion and omission of alef in the orthography of this manuscript. 109 The

138

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

(to solve our issues) with these cursed ones who are always disputing with us, wishing evil upon us, and seeking to kill us. Take action for us against them, and cause them to separate from us. And you, fear not, as long as your heart is with God, you have a portion in the world to come even more than before, and you will extricate Israel from this misfortune that they are in. Go124 to the Temple, and take the Name, and write and make use of it – God will forgive you for that sin – so that they will believe in you just like they believed in Yeshu.”

‫וכאליהום‬ ̇ ‫ מעהום‬119‫ אעמלנא קאל‬.‫יקתלונא‬ ‫תכאף לאין טול‬ ̇ ‫ ואנתה מא‬.‫יתמנעו עננא‬ ‫מא אנתה קלבך מעא אללה לך חלק לעולם‬ ‫ותכלץ ישראל מן‬ ̇ ,‫ מא כונת‬120‫הבא אכטר‬ ‫ ואראחו לבית‬.‫אלדי הום פייהא‬ ̇ ‫̇דיל שדה‬ ‫ ותעמל‬122‫ אלשם ותכתוב‬121‫ותאכ ̇דו‬ ̇ ‫המקדש‬ ‫לאגל מא‬ ̇ ,‫(!) מן ̇דיל עון‬ ‫ אללה יסמחך‬,‫בו‬ )‫א‬2( .'‫ י'ש'ו‬123‫(!) מא אמנו פיה‬ ‫יאמנו בך זיא‬

The sage hurried to the Temple and did what Yeshu did and took the Name (and) used it.125 After that he went to the cursed ones and said to them, “That Yeshu is my master, and he sent me so that I can guide you and show you how to be patient (and wait) for Yeshu, and I will show you the good path and cause you to walk on it.”

‫פי אסרע אלחכם לבית המקדש ועמל זאי‬ ‫ ̇תם‬.‫אסתכדם בו‬ ̇ ‫ואכ ̇ד אלשם‬ ̇ '‫מא עמל י'ש'ו‬ ,‫(!) ליל מלאעין וקאל להום‬ ‫בעד ̇דלך ארח‬ ‫̇דא י'ש'ו' כבירי והוא ארסלני חתא נהאדיכום‬ ‫ ונוואריכום אלטריק‬,'‫ונריכום צבר עלא י'ש'ו‬ .‫אלטייבה ונמאשיכום פיהא‬

At that time the cursed ones rejoiced greatly, and they said […]126 [and he said to them,]

‫עטים‬ ̇ ‫חיניד פרחו אלמלאעין פרחאן אן‬ ̇ ‫ ענד אבוה אלי פי‬,)!( ‫(!) להום‬ ‫וקאלו‬

119  The word ‫ קאל‬is clearly written in this manuscript as well as in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120v. This appears to be a mistake, and I assume that the correct phrasing would read ‫אעמל‬ ‫ לנא אמר‬as is found a few lines above. 120 The intent is ‫اكثر‬, “more,” where a velarized letter ṭet is substituted for an original thāʾ. 121 This is likely a case of inverted letters, as occurs frequently in this manuscript, and the word intended is ‫וד‬ ̇ ‫תאכ‬. ̇ Another option is to interpret this form as including a repetitive object pronoun even prior to the use of “the Name” as the specific direct object. 122  The preferable reading ‫ותכתבו‬, “and write it,” is found in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120v. 123 Expected ‫في‬. This mistake also appears in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120v. 124 This is not the literal translation of the verb form found in the original. The plural verb form ‫ אראחו‬is likely a mistake, an instance of linguistic attraction, and should appear as the dialectal imperative rūḥ, “go.” The same error is found in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 120v. 125  This detailed scenario of executing the instruction to steal the Name appears in parallel but abbreviated form in Italian A: ‫וכך קבל ועשה‬, “Thus he accepted and did” (Leipzig BH 17, f. 13r). 126  I believe that a haplography has occurred here in the manuscript, where the word ‫קאלו‬ caused the scribe’s eye to miss a few lines and jump to another instance of ‫ קאל‬or ‫קאלו‬. There are a number of markers that indicate this occurrence. The formulation of the Judeo-Arabic is problematic, with illogical verb forms (plural vs. singular) and pronouns, if the conversation is continued between Eliyahu/Khidr and the listening followers of Yeshu. Furthermore, the JudeoArabic version omits a standard element here, in which Eliyahu carries out a number of miracles in order to demonstrate the truth of his claims, as well as the explicit question leading to the next statement, “Where is so-and-so?” – a question that, oddly, while not asked in the JudeoArabic text, receives an answer in it. These elements omitted from the Judeo-Arabic of LMJAR

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

139

“(He) is with his father in heaven, and he instructed me as follows: that I come down to you and guide you out of your misfortune. Thus he said to me, ‘All who heed these words and love me and believe in me, will gain my reward and will remain by my side.’

‫כדא וצאני אני ננזל לכם‬ ̇ ‫ והו‬,‫אלסמא‬ ‫וכדלך‬ ̇ .)!( ‫ אלי אנתו פיה‬127‫ונהדיכום אלעלה‬ ‫(!) ויחבני‬ ‫קאל לי כול מן יסמע אלכאלם‬ ‫ ויבקא מן‬129‫אגר עבדו‬ ̇ ‫ להו‬128‫ויאמן בי ויכון‬ 130.‫נחייתי‬

O children, hear my words that I am speaking to you, lo, you see that the Jews hate me, and just as they hate me, you should hate them and separate yourselves from them and their Sabbaths and their festivals and their (declarations of the) months; they should all be hateful to you. Rather, accept my words, I advise you that their Sabbaths be lay (for you) and that your Sabbath be Sunday.

‫אלדי נקולו‬ ̇ ‫יא אולאד אסמעו לי אלכלאם‬ ‫נצרתו באן אליהוד‬ ̇ ‫ אדי‬.‫לכום‬ .‫וזאי מא הום יכרהוני פי אנתו אכראהוהום‬ ‫ואתמנעו ענהום ומן סבותיהם ואעיאדהום ומן‬ .‫ ̇כליהום יבקו מכרוהין ענדכום‬,‫אשהורהום‬ ‫ אני מוציכום באן‬,‫אלא אקבלו כלאמי‬ 132 .‫סבתהום יכון חול וסבתכום יכון אלחד‬

Also after that Yeshu instructed me that you should create an image like his image and you should prostrate yourselves to it, and that you should also make images of the cross on which the Jews crucified him, and (representations of) the blows the Jews

131,‫יבקהוני‬

‫ י'ש'ו' באנוכום‬133‫ואיצא בעד ̇דלך אצאני‬ ̇ ‫ותסגדו להו‬ ̇ ‫מתל צורתו‬ ̇ ‫תצאורו לו צורה‬ ‫ אלצליב‬134‫ואיצא תעמלו להו תצוויראת‬ ̇ ‫ואלצרב ̇צרבו אליהוד‬ ̇ ‫אלדי צלבו אליהוד‬ ̇ ‫ורגליה‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלדי סמרו איידא‬ ̇ ‫ואלמסאמיר‬ ‫וידכור במא‬ ̇ ‫אלאתנין מן שאן יקבל עליהו‬ ̇

are found in nearly all exemplars of the parallel Italian A version, and lead to the conclusion that a few lines have been skipped. The section appears as follows in Leipzig BH 17, f. 13r: ‫ומיד שמחו ונאספו ויאמרו תנה לנו אות ומופת היאך אתה תלמידו של פלוני אמר להם הביאו לי אדם מת‬ ‫ואחייהו ועוד אדם עור ואתן לו אורה וראות וגם פסח ואעשה אותו בריא ויעמוד על רגליו וכל מה שתרצו‬ ‫לעשות תבחנו אותי ותמצאו דברי אמיתיים וכן עשה בכח שם המפורש אז ענו הפריצים ואמרו כולם הנה‬ ‫זה אלדינו קוינו לו ויקדו וישתחוו אח"כ שאלו לו איה הוא פלוני ימח ויסח ויכרת שמו א"ל פלוני בשמים עם‬ ‫אביו ויאמר להם שמעו נא דברי פלוני והשליחות אשר צוה עלי לאמר לכם ואיש מכם אל יעבור והמקיים‬ .‫דברי יהיה עמו ובמחיצתו‬ 127  For this meaning of ʿallah, see J. G Hava, Al-Farāʾid Arabic-English Dictionary (Beirut: Catholic Press, 1964), 492. 128  For sentences of this type, in which vav introduces the apodosis of a conditional form in Judeo-Arabic texts, see Blau, Grammar, 193–94. 129  Expected ‫ ענדה‬or ‫ענדי‬, referring to Jesus. The word appears in identical, apparently corrupt, form in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 121r. 130  I believe that the word intended here is nāḥiyah, and I have translated accordingly; for this meaning, see Blau, Dictionary, 685. This is corroborated by comparison to the Hebrew rendering found in the Italian A version, Leipzig BH 17, f. 13r: ‫במחיצתו‬, where the pronoun refers to Jesus. 131  This word is unintelligible and appears in similar form in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 121r. From the context it seems that the word for “hate” is expected, and the scribe may have intended to write a form like ‫בכרהוני‬, using the colloquial ba- prefixed form of the verb. 132  This is a typical Egyptian usage for “Sunday”; see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 194. 133  This is likely a secondary root from the primary root w.ṣ.y which is used repeatedly in this passage. 134 For this word as “effigies, images” or “pictures,” see Edward William Lane and Stanley Lane-Poole, An Arabic-English Lexicon (London: Williams and Norgate, 1863), 1755.

140

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

gave him, and the nails that they pierced his hands and feet with, so that (you) can kiss them and remember what happened to him; he will be an eternal remembrance for you. Just as he accepted their blows and torments, thus you too, accept everything that the Jews do to you.

‫ וזאי‬135.‫תדכר דייאמן‬ ̇ ‫̇גרא להו יבקא לכום‬ )!( ‫ואלעדב‬ ̇ ‫אלדי ̇צרבוה‬ ̇ ‫מא הוא קבל עליה‬ ‫ כול שי‬136‫כדלך אנתו תקבלו עלי‬ ̇ ‫עדבו‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ .‫אן יעמלו פיכום אליהוד‬

Do not marry their women, neither old nor young, and [do not cause damage to] their livelihood, nor their persons, nor their places.137

‫תגווזוהם מנהום לא כביר ולא סגיר‬ ̇ ‫ולא‬ ‫(!) רזקהום ולא פי‬ ‫מן נסואנהום ולא פי פי‬ .)!( ‫ב) אמכנהום‬2( ‫אנפסהום ולא פי‬

Anyone who transgresses these words will be under a ban of excommunication pronounced by Yeshu his master and will be deprived of the world to come and will not gain reward.”138 When they heard this statement, they rejoiced greatly.139 He also told them, “Anyone who kills a Jew will be killed.”

‫וכול מן יעדי עלא ̇דיל כלאם יכון פי חרם‬ ‫ ויכון ממנוע מן ̇דיך‬,‫ונדוי מן פום י'ש'ו' סידו‬ ‫ פלמא סמעו ̇דלך‬.‫אגר‬ ̇ ‫אלדניא ולא יכון להו‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן‬ ̇ .‫עטים‬ ̇ ‫(!) אן‬ ‫אלסמע פרחו פרחן‬ .‫קאל להום כול מן יקתלו יהודי יקתל‬

He also told them, “When you come to pray, never pray near them at all, rather, make your own synagogue, and be a Christian community.”

‫(!) תצלו‬ ‫תגי‬ ̇ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום למא‬ ̇ ‫[אל]א אעמלו לכום‬ ,‫ חדהום‬140‫מא תצלו שי‬ .)!( ‫כניסה וחדכום תבקו מלה נצאנייה‬

He also told them, “Anyone who sleeps with a Jewish woman will go to hell, and do not marry them.”

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום כול מן ירוקוד מעא‬ ̇ .‫(!) בהם‬ ‫אווגו‬ ̇ ‫תג‬ ̇ ‫יהודייא ירוח ̇גהנם ולא‬

He also told them, “Do not call impure anything that God created, in the seas and

‫תנגסולכום‬ ̇ 141‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום למא‬ ̇ ‫כול שי אן ̇כלק אללה פי אלאבחר ופי‬

135  I have replaced with the Judeo-Arabic phrasing from RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 121v. The original reading in this rendition is ‫ואריאץ‬, ̇ which is unintelligible in context. Another possibility is that the text here is a corruption of ‫ואיצא‬ – ̇ a recurring phrase in the introductory phrases of new sections in this element of the plot. Leipzig BH 17, f. 13v, preserves an abbreviated version that accords with RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036: ‫כדי שיהא לכם לזכרון‬, “so that it will be a remembrance for you.” 136 The reading ‫ עליכום‬in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 121v, is preferable here. 137  The section about refraining from marrying Jews has no parallel in the Hebrew renditions of Italian A, and may represent a textual corruption. Furthermore, the second half of the JudeoArabic sentence, phrases that mention the livelihood of the Jews, appears to be missing a phrase. For discussion of these issues, see section 6 of chapter 7. 138  The Hebrew formulation found in Leipzig BH 17, f. 13v, is relatively similar, but adds the mention of “this world”: .‫והעובר על זה יהיה מנודה בעה"ז ובעה"ב ולא יהיה לו חלק בג"ע‬ 139  The “rejoicing” is a trope of this section, but it is unexpected here, as it is not clear what the group might be rejoicing about. 140  The manuscript here has ‫בשי‬. I have revised according to the reading in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036. 141  I have translated so as to interpret the lamed as an emphatic particle. Another possibility is

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

141

in the rivers; everything that flutters over the earth is permissible for you to eat.”

‫אלארץ יכון‬ ̇ ‫אלדי ירף עלא‬ ̇ ‫אלאנהר וכול‬ 142.‫לכום ̇גאיז ללמאל‬

Also, anyone who wants may be circumcised.144

̇ .‫ ויטהר‬143‫ואיצא כמאן קאל כל מן ירוד‬

He also told them, “If a Jew requests of you […]147 a slap on the right cheek, present him the other cheek, and also say to the Jew who struck him [= you], ‘This blow is for the sake of the love of Yeshu, because the Jews would strike Yeshu, and he would be silent, without saying anything.’”

)!( ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אן כאן אליהוד‬ ̇ ‫יטלוב מן ואחד מנכום סבה מן ̇כדה אלימין‬ ‫ואיצא‬ ̇ )!( ‫ואצא‬ ̇ .‫אלתאני‬ ̇ )!( ‫אעטו להו ̇כד‬ 145‫(!) אליסתהני‬ ‫כמאן קול ליהודי אסבה‬ ‫(!) ̇יצרבו‬ ‫לאגל מחבת י'ש'ו' לאן כאן אליהודי‬ ̇ 146 .‫י'ש'ו' והו סאכת לם כאן יתכלם שי‬

He also said to them, “Separate from them, and do not dwell with them, not in their neighborhoods and not in the Hebrews’

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אתבעדו ענהום ולא‬ ̇ ‫(!) ולא פי‬ ‫תסכונו מעהום ולא פי חרתוהם‬ ‫(!) עלא שן אן עדו עלא‬ ‫(!) אלעברנייה‬ ‫חרת‬ .‫בחר אלקולזום‬

to read this sentence as a rhetorical question li-mā, “Why should you call impure …?” This opening phrase is absent in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 122r, which simply begins ‫כל שי אן ̇כלק אללה‬. 142  The intent is ‫ללמאכל‬, “for eating.” 143  This should read ‫יריד‬, “wants.” 144 This is a cryptically abbreviated and possibly corrupt sentence, which is absent in the parallel section in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036. In the earlier manuscript RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 this sentence appears in a more complete form: .‫איצא מן אראד ̇יכתתן ̇יכתתן ומן אראד לא ̇יכתתן לא ̇יכתתן‬ ̇ ‫וקאל‬ “He also said, ‘One who desires to be circumcised, may do so, and one who does not desire to be circumcised, need not do so.’” There is no mention of circumcision in the Italian versions, normally quite close to this JudeoArabic version. Interestingly, this mention of circumcision seems to reflect the longer formulation that is found, for example, in the Ashkenazi A version in this section: “Anyone who wants to become circumcised, let him become circumcised, and he who does not want, let him not become circumcised.” 145  This word is not clear in context and may have been corrupted in transmission. It is absent in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 122v, which reads here ‫לאגל מחבת י'ש'ו‬ ̇ ‫'אלסכה‬. ̇ 146  The rendition in this section is to some degree corrupt, and the reading should accord with that found in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, using the word sakhkha, “slap,” as opposed to the visually similar but unintelligible form that is found here, ‫סבה‬. For the root s.kh.kh, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 402. It appears as follows in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 122v: ‫ואיצא‬ ̇ ‫אלתאני‬ ̇ ‫סכה מן ̇כד אלימין אעטי להו‬ ̇ ‫(!) יטלוב מן ואחד מנכום‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אן כאן אליהוד‬ ̇ … '‫לאגל מחבת י'ש'ו‬ ̇ ‫אלסכה‬ ̇ )!( ‫יקול להודי‬ 147  The use of the word “requests” is odd here, and the phrase appears similarly in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 122v. Comparison with Hebrew versions reveals that the Judeo-Arabic text that is preserved here omits a line or two, and in this way the resulting narrative combines two of Eliyahu’s injunctions, that related to the request to “walk a mile” with a Jew and the injunction related to “turning the other cheek,” both of them parodies of New Testament texts (Matt. 5:38–42 and Luke 6:27–31). This may have happened due to a possible repetition of the phrase ‫ואחד מנכם‬, “one of you,” in the missing text. The Hebrew rendering appears as follows in Leipzig BH 17, f. 13v: ‫שאם יאמר לכם שום יהודי לך עמי מיל להנחותי הדרך שתלכו עמי ב' מילין שתלכו עמו ב' מילין ותשלחוהו‬ ‫לשל' כי כך מן ה' עוד הוא גוזר עליכם שאם שום יהודי יכה אתכם או לא' מכם על פניכם מצד שמאל תנו‬ .‫לו גם צד ימין לעשות כרצונו ותאמרו באהבת פלוני אני מקבלו‬

142

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

neighborhood, because they crossed the Red Sea.”148 He also said to them, “If one of the Jews humiliates you, be silent and do not respond to them, but rather say to him,149 ‘You have no power against me, because I am going to be better than Yeshu.’150

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אזי בהדלכום ואחד‬ ̇ ‫ פי אסכתו ולא תרודו פי ̇וגההום‬,‫מן אליהוד‬ ‫(!) להו מא בידך חילה‬ ‫ אלא תקואלו‬,‫̇כטאב‬ .'‫לאין אנא ראייח נכון אנא אחסן מן י'ש'ו‬ )‫א‬3(

He says to you, ‘If you desire to accept (this) from me, you will be near me in the Garden of Eden, and you will have an extra portion (in the world to come).’”151 At that time, they accepted this; they rose and said all together, “We accept upon ourselves all that you instruct us.”

‫וביקול לכום אן כאן תרידו תקבלו מני תבקו‬ ‫חיניד‬ ̇ .‫חדא פי גן עדן ויבקא לכום חלק זאיד‬ ‫תקבלו קאמו וקאלו כולוהום נקבל עלינא‬ .‫סאיר מא תחכום פינא‬

Then after that, that Jew went to Tiberias, and said, “Everyone who follows Yeshu should come to me.” Three hundred and ten villains came to him, and they joined together and obeyed him. Then after that, he did miracles for them with the Ineffable Name, and did exactly what Yeshu did, and likewise they believed in him.153 They said to him, “What is your name,” and he said to them, “My name is al-Anpolī.”154 At that time, they became tranquil and ceased fights and disagreements.

‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אראח ̇דיל יהודי פי אלבלד‬ ‫טבריה וכאן יקול כול מן תבע י'ש'ו' ̇יגי‬ ‫ולת מיאה ועשרה‬ ̇ ‫אלת‬ ̇ ‫ וכאנו ̇גו לענדו‬.‫לענדי‬ ‫אלבעץ וטאעו‬ ̇ ‫בעצהום‬ ̇ ‫ פי למו‬152‫משארירו‬ ‫ ̇תם בעד ̇דלך עמלהום איאת וברהין‬.‫לו‬ ‫בדלך אלשם המפורש ובקא יפעל זאי מא‬ ̇ ‫ פי קאלו לו איש‬.‫וכדלך אמנו בו‬ ̇ ,'‫פעל י'ש'ו‬ )!( ‫ חנידי‬.‫אסמך קאל להום אסמי אלאנפולי‬ .‫(!) מן אלערך ואלפתן‬ ‫הדויו‬

148  The prohibition on dwelling near the Jews is not found in any other versions of TY with which I am familiar. The reference to the Red Sea may allude to an element found in some Hebrew versions of TY, in which the followers of Yeshu are told to adopt a different name from the Jews, who are to be called Hebrews, because they “crossed the river.” Leipzig BH 17, f. 13v, reads: ‫עוד גוזר עליכם כי להם תקראו שמם עברים עבור שהם ממשפחת עבר הנהר ואתם יקרא שמכם גוי כלומר‬ .‫גוי נתתי למכים‬ 149  The original text uses both “them” and “him” indiscriminately in this sentence. 150  The intent of the phrase “better than Yeshu” is not entirely clear; I have not found any similar phrase in the Hebrew TY versions. 151  This sentence is not entirely clear, due to the obscurity of the Judeo-Arabic phrase ‫תבקו‬ ‫חדא‬. I have translated so as to echo Jesus’ words in Luke 23:43 as well as what is found in Leipzig BH 17, f. 14r: ‫עוד גוזר עליכם שאם תרצו שיהיה חלקכם עם פלוני לעה"ב כל רעות שירצו לעשות עליכם היהודים שתקבלו‬ .‫הכל עליכם שכל הטובות שתוכלו לעשות להם שתעשו בכל עת ובכל מקום‬ 152  I have not found this word attested in dictionaries, but it is clearly derived from the root ‫ش ّر‬, “bad.” In the Hebrew texts the dysphemism used, as a play on the word ‫תלמידיו‬, is ‫תשמידיו‬. 153  Accomplishing miracles via the use of the divine Name is attested here in the Italian A manuscripts as well. 154  The name of this figure, who appears as some version of the name “Paul” in Hebrew texts, has three variants in Judeo-Arabic texts: al-Anponī, al-Anpolī, and al-Anpolū. All of these variants are attested in the text that follows.

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

143

Nestorians Then after that, a man whose name was Nestor appeared to them, and he gathered them and said to them, “What did alAnponī say to you, that you shouldn’t circumcise yourselves? Yeshu was circumcised.” After that, Nestor said to them, “What more did al-Anpolī say to you, that he [= Yeshu] was the son of God? He is lying to you. He wasn’t the son of God, he was the son of a woman, but he was a prophet like the prophets and did things that no one else could do.”

‫ להום ואחד‬155‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אלא ואוהור‬ ,‫ואסמה נסתור פי ̇גמעהום נסתור וקאל להום‬ ?‫איש קאל לכום אלאנפוני אנכום מא תטהורו‬ ‫ ובעד ̇דלך קאל להום‬.‫̇דא י'ש'ו' כאן מטהר‬ ‫נסתור איש קאל לכום כמאן אלאנפולי אן‬ ‫ ̇דא מושי‬,‫ביכדב עליכום‬ ̇ ‫הוא אבן אללה? ̇דא‬ ‫אבן אלאה ̇דא אבן מרה אלא כאן הו נבי זאי‬ ‫ אחדן‬156‫ ופעל שי אלי לם יגדר‬,‫אלאנבייא‬ .‫יפעלהו‬

Then after that, Nestor went to the women and said to them, “That al-Anpolī set down laws for your husbands that they should marry additional wives, and you would become like maidservants to them. But as for me, I will do something kind for you, that anyone who marries one of you, he may never divorce her and may never marry an additional wife.” And thus he did. A great strife arose between Nestor and al-Anpolī. Nestor’s group would not mingle with alAnpolī’s group. Nestor was a ruthless man; no one could overcome him.

‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אראח נסתור ליל נסוואן‬ ‫ ̇דא אלאנפולי עטא דסתור‬,‫וקאל להום‬ ‫יתגאוזו עליכום ותבקו זאיי‬ ̇ ‫לאגווזוכם אן‬ ̇ ‫ נעמל מעכום‬157‫ אלאנא‬,‫אלגואר ענדהום‬ ̇ ‫יתגאווז מנכום אחדה‬ ̇ ‫̇גמיל באין כול מן‬ ‫וכדלך‬ ̇ ,‫יאכוד עליהא‬ ̇ ‫עמרו לם יטלקהא ולם‬ ‫ כבירה‬159‫ פי אקאמת ערכה‬158.‫כדא‬ ̇ ‫עמל‬ 160 ‫בין נסתור ובין אלאנפולי ולא בקת ̇גמעת‬ ‫נסתור תקבל מעא ̇גמעת אלאנפולי ונסתור‬ .‫רוגול ̇גבאר לם אחדן יגדר יטיקו‬ ̇ ‫כאן‬

Then after that, Nestor said to his group, “I want to make a sacrifice to Yeshu, of meat and wine.”162 While he was making the ­sacrifice to Yeshu, he bent down in order to

‫ אנא ̇כטרי‬,‫לגמעתו‬ ̇ ‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך קאל נסתור‬ ‫ ופי‬.‫נביד‬ ̇ ‫נעמל קרבאן לי'ש'ו' מן לחם ומן‬ ‫סאעת אן נטלע אלקרבאן לי'ש'ו' הו ביעמל פי‬ ‫ חתי עמל‬161‫ב) טאטא‬3( )!( ‫אלקובראן‬

word is corrupt, and likely reflects a dialectal pronunciation of ‫ظهر‬, “appeared.”  This word is likely derived from the root q.d.r and appears below as well, in description of Nestor. The q-g exchange is a phenomenon that commonly occurs in a number of Arabic dialects and especially among Bedouin speakers. For this phenomenon in Judeo-Arabic texts, see Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic,” 84–85. 157 I understand this word as representing ‫ااّلّ انا‬. This is the rendering in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 123v. 158  This sentence reflects a common trend in this rendition, pairing Classical Arabic and dialectal variations of the same lexeme. Here, the paired lexeme is “thus, like so,” ‫ كذلك‬and ‫كذا‬. 159  For this word, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 574. 160  This word, apparently ‫جمعة‬, is not attested in the dictionaries that I have consulted. It is the word of choice in this section for “group,” which would normally be written as ‫ جماعة‬or ‫مجموعة‬. 161  For this root as “to bow or lower (one’s head),” see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 540. 162  The Hebrew renditions of Italian A read here “bread” (leḥem), which is phonetically similar to the Judeo-Arabic for “meat” (laḥm). 155 The 156

144

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

carry out the sacrifice.167 When they saw he had bent down, they took the meat cleavers and they hit him two blows to the head, because they considered him to have humiliated them, and he would say to them, “Come so that we can present the sacrifice to Yeshu; for he flew to his father in heaven.”168

‫אכ ̇דו‬ ̇ ‫נצרוה מטאטי‬ ̇ ‫אלקרובאן (!) פלמא‬ ‫ לאן כאנו‬165,‫ קמעתין‬164‫ וסטוה‬163‫אלסואטיר‬ ‫ ויקול להם תעאלו חתי‬,‫בינצרו ביבהדל פיהום‬ ̇ ‫ טאר ענד‬166‫(!) לי'ש'ו' אהוא‬ ‫נודו אלקרובאן‬ .‫אבוה אלי פי אלסמא‬

Final Separation Then after that, a wise man appeared among the Jews, and his name was Rabbi Shimʿon ben Kefa, and he was chief among the musicians. And why was his name Ben Kefa? Because he was always standing on the rock of Ezekiel the prophet, peace be upon him, on a place called the River of Chebar, and a divine revelation came to him every day and would tell him everything that was occurring in the world.172

‫ פי אליהוד‬169‫ורוגול עלם‬ ̇ ‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אלא‬ 170‫ואסמהו רבי שמעון בן כיפא וכאן בשא‬ ‫ אסמהו בן כיפא? עלאשן‬171‫ ולא‬.‫אלמנגמין‬ ‫חגר בתאע‬ ̇ ‫(!) ואקף עלא‬ ‫כאן דיאמן‬ ‫מוצע אסמהו נהר‬ ̇ ‫יחזקאל אלנבי ע'א'ס' פי‬ ‫תגי כל יום אליה ותקול‬ ̇ ‫ וכאנת בת קול‬,‫כבר‬ .‫להו כול יום אן ̇יגרא פי אלדוניא‬

 For the meaning of this specific weapon, see Badawi and Hinds, 412. the root ‫ سطط‬as “strike, hit” in Badawi and Hinds, 412. 165 For the meaning of the verb ‫قمع‬, “to strike someone on the head,” see Hava, Al-Farāʾid, 628. In this instance, the scribe seems to have written ‫ קטעתין‬and later changed the ‫ ט‬to a ‫מ‬. The initial rendition ‫ קטעתין‬is what is attested in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 124r. 166  This is a “demonstrative drawing attention to preceding or following noun” in the Egyptian dialect; see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 43. 167  The Judeo-Arabic rendering is not entirely clear, and I have translated as best possible. This rendition seems closest to that found in Leipzig BH 17, f. 15r: ‫וכך היה מנהג לאחר שנתנה אחת מהן הקרבן לחם ויין היתה מניחה אותו בארץ והוא משפיל עצמו ליטול‬ .‫(!) של ברזל מכות גדולות עד שמת‬ ‫הקרבן ומכין אותו הנשים במטפחות‬ This Hebrew rendition inexplicably mentions “scarves” of iron – this rendering is found only in the 1a subversion of Italian A. The largely parallel version of this section as found in Ashkenazi A (Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 175r) has the more logical iron object “keys,” which is similar to “scarves” in Hebrew, visually and phonetically (‫מפתחות‬-‫)מטפחות‬. Other Italian renditions omit reference to any object: Italian A1b (Budapest Kaufmann A559, f. 41) has simply ‫מכות‬ ‫ ;גדולות‬Italian A3 (Yale Beinecke Heb. 5, f. 15v) states simply ‫והרגוהו‬. The rendering in the four Italian B subversions is invariably ‫המיתוהו‬. Italian A4 does not mention Nestor’s death, and the entire episode is absent from Italian A2. 168  This additional statement regarding humiliation is not found in any of the Hebrew versions of this element. 169  This form is unclear. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 124v, reads ‫עאלם‬. 170  The intent is apparently ‫باشا‬, a high ranking official; see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 49. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 124v, reads ‫באש‬. 171  This is likely the colloquial wa-le:. The parallel version in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 124v, ‫ ליס‬may also reflect a North African dialectal pronunciation of le:sh. 172  Lit. “every day that was occurring in the world.” This unexpected construction is identically presented in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 124v. 163

164 See

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

145

This was at the time that this confusion was happening.174 His name was Kefa, and the (Aramaic) Targum for “the rock”175 is Kefa. At that time the cursed Christians were jealous of him. And when the time of the Sukkot holiday came, that sage went up to a place called the Mount of Olives. They went up to him and began to stare and to say to each other, “We cannot leave a person like this among the Jews, because if he remains with them, he will corrupt our religion and falsify it.”

‫ ונחנא נעמלך סידנא וכול‬,‫ואדכול פי דיננא‬ ̇ .‫וכאן פי אלזמאן אלי כאן ̇דיל כרכבה ̇די‬ ‫ואסמהו כיפא ואלתרגום בתאע אלסלע‬ ‫ וכאן פי ̇דלך אלזמאן יגרו מנהו‬,‫כיפא‬ ‫ פי למא ̇גא אוואן‬173.‫(!) אלמצרים‬ ‫אלמלעין‬ ‫למוצע אסמא‬ ̇ ‫עיד סוכות טלע ̇דלך אלחכם‬ ‫ינצרו ויקולו‬ ̇ ‫ טלעו להו ובקאו‬.‫הר הזיתים‬ ‫(!) שי ואחד‬ ‫נכלאי‬ ̇ ‫ מא‬,‫אלבעץ‬ ̇ ‫לבעצהום‬ ̇ ‫הדא בין אליהוד לאין אזא קאעד‬ ̇ ‫מתל‬ ̇ .‫מעהום ביתלף דיננא ויבטלו‬

The cursed ones went to the sage Ben Kefa and said to him, “Come to us, and we will show you respect and honor176 just like the Jews. Everything of theirs, we will also say, and we will add from our own.177 Come to

‫פי אראחו אלמלעין ליל חכם בן כיפא וקאלו‬ ‫תגי לענדנא ואחנא נעמלו לך קימה‬ ̇ ,‫להו‬ ‫ כול מא להום נקולו‬.‫וכבוד ̇דול אליהוד‬ )!( ‫ תעלא ענדא‬.‫אחנא כול מא לנא בנזיד‬

173 This seems to be an error for the Hebrew ‫נוצרים‬, “Christians,” which would be visually parallel in Hebrew script. The parallel version in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 124v, reads ‫המצרים‬. Christians are mentioned in this location in the Italian A Hebrew versions. For example, in Leipzig BH 17, f. 15r: ‫(!) קול והיה לו חכמה גדולה מאד והיו מקנאים‬ ‫וכיון ששמעו וראו הנוצרים ששמעון כיפה היה משתמש בתת‬ .‫השרים בישראל‬ 174 This sentence, with its description of strife, may be out of place in this Judeo-Arabic version. It may be related to a brief section that appears in a number of Hebrew versions, which is a description of a strife among the followers of Yeshu that precedes First Separation. It might also refer to the “disagreement” (‫ )מחלוקת‬that breaks out following the execution of Nestor by the women in the section immediately preceding this one. The former strife is described as follows in Leipzig BH 17, f. 12v: ‫והיה מריבה גדולה ורציחה והרגו בניהם הרג גדול בהפסד ממון ואם היו פוגעים איש את אחיו והיה יכול‬ ‫להרגו היה הורג אותו כן היו עושים ולא היה רחמנות להם זה על זה ובכל זאת לא היו יוצאים מכלל ישראל‬ .‫ולא היה להם רשות ליכנס בב"ה‬ The text appears as follows in Ashkenazi A (Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 174r; Cambridge T-S Or. 557), f. 186v): ‫(!) ובלבול תפלות והפסדות‬ ‫ורבים מבני פריצי עמנו תעו אחריו והיתה מחלוקת בניהם ולבין ישראל והכאות‬ ‫ממון וכל מקום שהיו רואין את ישראל הפריצים היו אומרים לישראל אתם הרגתם את משיח ה' וישראל היו‬ ‫אומרים להם בני מות אתם שתאמינו בנביא שקר בכל זאת לא יצאו מכלל ישראל והיתה מחלוקת וקטטה‬ .‫ביניהם ולא היה מנוחה לישראל‬ The latter description of strife, between the plot elements Nestorius and Final Separation, appears as follows in Leipzig BH 17, f. 15r: .‫והיה המחלוקת בין הנשים עד חצי היום וכל ארץ ישראל היתה תחת ידן‬ This latter description appears as follows in Ashkenazi A (Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 175r): .‫והיתה מחלוקת ביניהם עד זמן גדול וראש מסנהדרין ושמו שמעון כיפה‬ 175  This word appears in the text in Hebrew, ‫סלע‬, as is found in the Italian A Hebrew versions, and the use of the word targum in Arabic refers to the Aramaic Targum Onqelos. 176 This is a fixed phrase in LMJAR, discussed in section 1 of chapter 7. 177  This seems to be a brief rendition of material that is represented more fully in the Italian A version, where the Christians converse with Ben Kefa, explicitly mentioning “adding and taking away,” as well as alluding to the early Jewish origins of Christian law. The passage appears as follows in Leipzig BH 17, ff. 15r–15v:

146

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

us, join our religion, and we will make you our master, and we will do everything you tell us to do.” He did not respond to them and he was quiet, and left them.

‫ פי מא רד‬.‫(!) בהו נפעלהו‬ ‫שי אן תאמרונוא‬ .)!( ‫וכאלהום‬ ̇ ‫להום ̇גאווב וסכת‬

The cursed ones took counsel to kill all the Jews. After that, when the Jews heard this, they gathered and went to Ben Kefa and cried and pleaded with him not to let them do evil to the Jews, and they forced him to join with them in their religion182 in order to save the Jews from being killed and so that the Jews183 would not perish.

‫(!) אלמלעין ליקתולו כול‬ ‫פי אסטשארו‬ 178.‫אלדי יהוד‬ ‫חיניד למא סמעו אליהוד‬ ̇ ̇ ‫אגתמעו ואראחו לענד בן כיפא‬ ̇ ‫ פי‬,‫בדלך‬ ̇ ‫ באין לם‬,‫ להו קודאמו‬179‫ובכיו ואתחננו‬ ‫ ואלזמו‬.‫ עלא אליהוד‬180‫̇יכאליהום יאסו‬ ‫לאגל מא‬ ̇ ‫ידכול מעהום פי דינהום‬ ̇ ‫אן‬ ‫̇יכלץ אליהוד מן קתל ולא ̇יצייע מן שונאי‬ 181.‫ישראל‬

After that, when Ben Kefa saw the trouble that the Jews were in, he said to himself, “May one hundred like Ben Kefa die, and let not the smallest of Israel die!” So Ben Kefa went to the priests and to their [pope]187 and said to them, “If you want me to join your religion, then, regarding the Jews – let not a single person from you injure them. And also, if you heed my words – if you heed the words of al-Anpolī – I will not join your religion, because I know all of my words

‫נצר בן כיפא דלך‬ ̇ ‫א) למא‬4( ‫בעד ̇דלך פי‬ ‫אלשדה אלי פיהא ישראל פי קאל פי‬ ‫מתל בן כיפא ולא‬ ̇ ‫ ימות מאייה‬,‫נפסהו‬ ‫ פי ארח בן כיפא ליל‬.‫ימות סגיר מן ישראל‬ ‫(!) בתעהום וקאל‬ ‫ וליל בכץ‬184‫קוסאסה‬ ‫נדכול פי דינכום‬ ̇ ‫ אן כאן תרידו אני‬,‫להום‬ .‫ עליהום‬185‫אליהוד מא אחדן מנכום יאסי‬ 186‫(!) כאן ואן‬ ‫ואיצא אן כאן תסמעו לכלמי‬ ̇ ‫אדכול פי‬ ̇ ‫(!) אלאנפולי לם‬ ‫סמעתו כלם‬ '‫דינכום לאני אנא נערף כול כלאמי מן י'ש'ו‬

‫מיד תפשוהו וא"ל דברים טובים באמרם ידענו כי אין בישראל כמוך ובידך להוסיף ולגרוע לבטל ולקיים‬ ‫לרבות או למעט וה' יתן לך לפני פלוני לקיים דתינו וכל חכמים שלנו יהודים היו ובראותם המעשה אמת באו‬ ‫לקיים לנו דת וחקים ואנחנו בכל יום פרים ורבים והיהודים לאחור ואדם כמוך אין ראוי להיות בתוך היהודים‬ )15v( ‫אלא תבא אלינו ותראה לנו חקים ומצות טובים ותנחילנו חיי העה'ב ונקבל אותך לראש ולקצין עלינו‬ .‫ואין מי יומר לך מה תעשה‬ 178 The rendition found in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 125r, is identical. The text is likely somewhat corrupt. 179 On this verb, see Blau, Dictionary, 149. 180 On this, see Blau, 12, 314. 181 Following this word, the letters ‫ חדתהום‬appear, with dots over them signifying deletion. The same word with a slightly different spelling, ‫חדתוהם‬, appears in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, f. 125v, as part of the accepted text itself. The text in both of these instances is likely corrupt, and originally read ‫אחדא‬, with the meaning “not a single Jew would perish.” Once this word became corrupted, it was marked for erasure. 182  Apparently, the religion of the Christians. This statement, which creates a duplication in the plot, is not found in the Hebrew versions of this element of the story. 183  An antiphrasis; lit. “the haters of Israel.” 184  On this plural form for priests, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 699. 185  On this verb, see under the entry ‫ سوأ‬in Blau, Dictionary, 314. 186  RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036 ends here. 187  The Judeo-Arabic formulation here is unclear, and I have completed the text according to the parallel Hebrew versions, as referring to the pope. The parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036 is also corrupted, and reflects yet another meaningless variant, ‫וליס בבץ‬.

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

147

from Yeshu your master.191 And also, if you want me to behave like you, let the Jews enter your churches – hopefully they will be saved and will accept your religion and will not think at all that we are afraid that they will see our shame.”192

‫ואיצא אן כאן תרידו נעמל זייכום‬ ̇ .‫סידכום‬ ‫ידכולו ̇גוואה כנאסוכום‬ ̇ ‫תכאלו אליהוד‬ ̇ ‫וידכולו פי דינכום כלא שי‬ ̇ 189‫ינגרו‬ ̇ 188‫איאך‬ 190.‫וכאייפין יורונא ערוהם‬ ̇

Then they accepted upon themselves to do what al-Anpolī had instructed them, according to the vow.193 He also said to them, “On Fridays you must fast for the sake of the one in the spirit, and also on Wednesday you must not eat meat or drink wine,194 so that you may think of Yeshu’s presence, and so

‫חיניד קבלו מנהו עליהום באנהום יעמלו‬ ̇ )!( ‫ואצא‬ ̇ .‫(!) אלאנפולי זאיי אלנדר‬ ‫כאלם‬ ‫אלגמעה תצומו עלא אלי פי‬ ̇ ‫קאל להום יום‬ ‫(!) יום אלארבע לא‬ ‫ואיצא כאמן‬ ̇ ,‫אלרוח‬ ‫נביד מן שאן אן‬ ̇ ‫תאכלו לחם ולא תשרבו‬ .‫חצרת י'ש'ו' ולא ̇יציע מן כלאם‬ ̇ ‫תפתכרו‬ ‫ונסאל מנכום אן תעמלו לי קלעה נקועד‬

188  While this particle can indicate a warning, I read it here as “an introductory particle signaling hopefulness”; see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 47. 189  I read this word as ‫ينجرّوا‬ – i. e., “they will be impelled toward [your religion].” Another possibility is that this was a miscopying for ‫ינגדו‬, ̇ in which case the translation would be “they will be saved.” The parallels in Hebrew texts are phrased somewhat differently, and do not help in determining which of these two is more likely. 190 This transcription may be corrupt, and likely reflects the Arabic ‫عورة‬, “shame,” as a dysphemism for the Christian religion. In the Hebrew versions, the dysphemism used here is ‫חרפה‬. 191  In this Judeo-Arabic rendition, Ben Kefa appears to distinguish between the teachings of al-Anpolī (Paul) and those of Yeshu, hinting that al-Anpolī’s teachings are an aberration from Yeshu’s teachings, and are not authoritative. In contrast, the Hebrew renditions of Italian A present the teachings of Paul as said in the name of Yeshu, and R. Shimʿon intimates that the words of both should be fulfilled. Drawing a critical distinction between Jesus and Paul was a well-known polemical technique in the Arabic-speaking world, adopted by Muslim and Jewish scholars; see, for example, Bruno Chiesa and Wilfrid Lockwood, On Jewish Sects and Christianity: A Translation of Kitāb al-Anwār, Book I, Judentum Und Umwelt, 10 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1984), 135–39; Gabriel Said Reynolds, A Muslim Theologian in a Sectarian Milieu: Abd al-Jabbar and the Critique of Christian Origins (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 107–10. 192  This Judeo-Arabic rendering is not fully clear. I have translated roughly in accordance with two Hebrew renditions of Italian A, in which Ben Kefa explains that letting Jews enter the Christian churches “ensures” that they will not develop conspiracy theories or damning evaluations of what is going on inside them. The text appears as follows in Budapest Kaufmann A559, ff. 42–43: ‫ואומר לכם שתניחו מלסקול היהודים ולהניחם ליכנס בביתם ולא נתעזבו כשתרצו וכן בבתי כנסיות שלכם‬ ‫תניחום כדי שיוכלו גם הם לבא להאמין ביש"ו כי אם לא תעשו כן יאמרו היהודים כי אתם רודפים אותם כדי‬ .‫שלא יראו פעולתכם שהם הבלים ושקרים‬ The text appears as follows in Leipzig BH 17, f. 15v: ‫וזה אשר יש לכם לעשות ולקבל מחדש ולקיים עליכם התנאים האלה ושתניחו ליכנס בב"ה כל היהודים בכל‬ ‫עת שרוצים בלי עכוב וכן כל ימי עולם כשיכנסו בבית תפלותכם שידעו ויכירו ואולי יאמינו ואל תמנעום מבא‬ .‫בבית תפלותכם יאמרו כי אינם עושים אותי אל שלא נראו את חרפתכם ויחשבו כי כל מעשיכם תוהו והבל‬ 193 The “vow” referred to relates to the statement above, indicating that the Christians should allow the Jews to come and go freely in their churches. 194 This element is presented differently in the Hebrew renditions of this section found in Italian A, in which the dietary restrictions are observed by Ben Kefa himself in addition to his listeners (Leipzig BH 17, f. 15v): ‫וא"ל הנני גוזר עליכם ואני מקבל עלי כנדר כי כל ימי לא אוכל בשר ביום ו' מפני שבאותו היום נהרג פלוני‬ .‫(!) דאגותי‬ ‫ולא שום דבר בעולם אלא שאתענה בו ולא אשתה יין כל ימי כדי שלא ישמח לבי כעבור‬

148

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

that he will not go unmentioned.196 I ask of you to build me a tower in which I will sit,197 so that I will not see a single one of the Jews. I will not eat meat nor bread nor water nor fruit,198 and I ask you to make me a tower that I will sit in for my whole life, so that I do not see a single one of the Jews so that they will not come to drive me crazy199 as they did with Yeshu.

.‫ננצור חד מן אליהוד‬ ̇ ‫פיהא וחתי מא‬ )!( ‫ נאכול לחם ולא ̇כובז ולא מה‬195‫ולא‬ ‫ ואנא בסאל מנכום תעמלו לי‬.‫ולא פוואכה‬ ‫ חתי לא‬,‫קלעה נקועד פיהא בוטול עמרי‬ )!( ‫אנצור אחדן מן אליהוד חתי לא ̇יגו ̇יצעו‬ ̇ .'‫(!) פי י'ש'ו‬ ‫עקלי זאי מא עאמלו‬

From this time on, do not force any Jew toward your religion. Only if (someone) comes to you voluntarily, who is (at least) thirty years old. Leave him in a particular house, of his own free will, and he201 will ask him every day [= regarding his desire to join their religion]. Then if he asks him on the final day and he says to you, “I do not want to adopt your religion,” do not accept him [= into your religion]. Let him go, without harm. If a child of [ten]202 years of age said to you, “I want to join your religion,” do not accept him, because he is young, only [ten] years old, and he does not have consideration or understanding.

‫ומן ̇דיל וקת וראייח ולא תגצבו עלא אחדן‬ ‫ אלא אן כאן ̇יגי לכום‬,‫מן אליהוד פי דינוכם‬ .‫לאתין סנה‬ ̇ ‫ ויכון עמרהו ̇ת‬200‫מוכטר‬ ̇ ‫טאיע‬ )!( ‫מוכטר וכואל‬ ̇ ‫(!) ואחד‬ ‫ותכליה פי לבית‬ ̇ ‫אלאכראני‬ ̇ ‫ ואן כאן יום‬.‫ב) יסאלה‬4( ‫יום‬ ‫נדכול פי‬ ̇ ‫ מא נריד‬,‫יסאלה ויקול לכום‬ .‫דינכום מא תקבלו סייבו ולא עליה באס‬ ‫ואזא כאן ולד עומורהו סנין וקאל לכום‬ ‫ מא תקבלו לאנהו‬,‫אדכול פי דינכום‬ ̇ ‫אריד‬ .‫(!) לם להו עקל ולא פהם‬ ‫סגיר אבן סנין‬

They accepted upon themselves everything that he commanded them, and they honored him greatly, and they made him a papaz,

.‫חיניד קבלו עליהום כול שי אן אמרהום בהו‬ ̇ ‫ ועמלו פפז פאפה‬203‫עמלו להו כבוד זאידיה‬ .‫כביר ̇וגעל אסמהו אלי קאלדי‬

 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 begins here.  The original Judeo-Arabic here is obscure. 197  The manuscript seems to have an extraneous repetition here; the request to sit in a tower appears twice in short succession. 198  Curiously, in this Judeo-Arabic rendition, the list of foods from which Ben Kefa will refrain accords nearly exactly with the few foods that he is specifically permitted to eat in Leipzig BH 17, f. 16r: .‫ושלא אוכל אלא לחם ומים ונזיד עדשים ופירות‬ 199  The parallel rendering in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 is preferable here; it reads ‫יציעו‬, ̇ i. e., the second and active form of the root ‫ضيع‬. Regarding the pairing with ‫עקל‬, I have not found this expression attested in Arabic dictionaries. The Hebrew rendition found in Leipzig BH 17, f. 16r, is ‫שלא יבלבלו דעתי‬, which accords with the translation I suggest here for the Arabic, on the basis of the basic meaning of both words. 200  This hendiadys is well-attested in the meaning of “possessing freedom of belief” in Classical Arabic texts. The word intended here is ‫مختار‬, and the Judeo-Arabic spelling reflects a number of features of late Judeo-Arabic, including pleonastic vav, ṭet-tav interchange, and the elision of an alef. 201  Apparently, the householder with whom the would-be Jew is staying. 202  The manuscript is missing a word here before the word “years,” as well as in the following phrase; the parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 can be used to complete the age as “ten.” 203  This version has omitted a word here, and thus contains an unexpected usage of the fem195 196

2. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005

149

“big pope,”204 and his name was called Illi Kaldī.205 That sage made great efforts207 not to defile himself with their food and drink, because all of their food is impure with impure blood, and also not to worship208 their idols because they are impure like them. And during the time that he dwelled with them, he created for the Jews in his great love, liturgical poems, of his own invention209 and in his own name.210

‫הדא אלחכם חתא לא יטמא לא‬ ̇ ‫וכול פעל‬ ‫ לאן כול אכלהום‬,‫בכלוהם ולא בשרבוהום‬ ,)!( ‫אלנגסאה‬ ̇ ‫(!) באלדם‬ ‫(!) ̇נגאס‬ ‫כואלו‬ ,‫ומן שאן כמאן לא יטוואבו לאצנמהום‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫ פי ̇דלך אלזמן‬.‫מתלהום‬ ̇ ‫לאנהום ̇נגסין‬ ‫קעד ענדהום עמל לישראל בחבוה וואסע‬ ‫פרג מן באלו‬ ̇ 206‫והאתור להום טהטיר‬ .‫ועמלהם עלא אסמהו‬

inine singular. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 1v, contains both words and reads ‫קימה וכבוד זאידיה‬. On this phrase, see section 1 of chapter 7. 204  The Judeo-Arabic texts present here two words, one of which is the standard Romance language rendering for “pope,” ‫פאפה‬, and the second of which is unclear. The parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 adds an explanatory element – ‫יעני‬, “that is to say” – between these two words, and reads ‫פאפז יעני פאפה כביר‬. The distinction is likely between a regular priest and a “big priest,” i. e., a pope. In the Hebrew texts of the Italian versions, the word that appears here is ‫פפא‬, “papa,” and these usages suit the suggestion of a connection between LMJAR and Italian A, discussed in chapter 7. 205  This expression appears in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 1v, as ‫אל קאלדי‬. Italian A calls this figure al-Kaloyero, and adds the phrase ‫וזהו הכומר הראשון שהיה בעולם‬. Both of these forms seem to derive from some Jewish approximation of the Greek kaloyeros (καλόγερος, “monk,” deriving from kalos, “good,” and geros, “old man”). The parallel texts in the Italian versions demonstrate a variety of different forms: Leipzig BH 17, f. 17r, and Rostock Or. 381, f. 20r, have ‫ ;קלויירו‬Yale Beinecke Heb. 5, f. 30, has ‫ ;קאלוריו‬Budapest Kaufmann A559, f. 44, and Parma 2083, f. 67v, have ‫ ;קלויאורו‬Paris BnF Héb. 1384.1, f. 19r, has ‫ ;קלדיארו‬and London BL Or. 10457, f. 21v, has ‫קורדאורו‬. 206 This line and the previous line are not fully decipherable and likely have mistakes accrued during transmission. I have translated by means of comparison to the texts preserved in the Hebrew renditions of the Italian A version. Regarding my suggested translation of the difficult form ‫ טהטיר‬as “liturgical poems,” it should be noted that the the basic meaning of the root r.h.ṭ in Hebrew usage relates to liturgical poetry, and serves as a foundation for words referring to a variety of poetic forms in early and medieval Hebrew religious poetry. This root appears in Judeo-Arabic as both a verb and a substantive referring to the composition of liturgical poems; on this, see Blau, Dictionary, 262. I accordingly analyze the form ‫ טהטיר‬as belonging to the tafˁīl pattern gerund (maṣdar) form of the II stem verb; the initial ṭ in ‫ טהטיר‬can be attributed to an emphatization process (t > ṭ) which occurred due to the adjacent emphatic environment, and at some point the word underwent a consonant interchange as occurs commonly in LMJAR. This word appears in identical form in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 1v. I thank Mila Neishtadt and Jonathan Vardi for correspondence on this topic. 207  While the Judeo-Arabic text can be translated as I have done, comparison with the manuscripts of Italian A suggests that some word may be missing here, meaning “trickery.” 208  Lit. “to praise”; this root as a second-form verb is attested in this meaning in Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 549. Here, I have translated in accordance with the immediate context. 209  Lit. “which he showed from his mind,” reading the verb in the second form. 210  This may be a reference to a poet’s signing his own name via an acrostic, as is common in many forms of piyyut; notwithstanding this possibility, I have translated the Judeo-Arabic literally.

150

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

He also (wrote) a book for the Jews with these words, saying to them, “I have written a book for the Holy People, Israel, who are faithful worshippers of the one God, and to the valuable Torah, which is called the ‘perfect Torah of God, pure and spiritreviving.’ My heart is with you, due to the difficult times you are experiencing, due to those cursed Jews who did all of those things, and brought you all of this hardship.

‫בהדא‬ ̇ ‫ לישראל‬211‫ואיצא כמאן כתאב‬ ̇ ‫ כתבת כתאב לעם‬,‫(!) וקאל להום‬ ‫כאלם‬ ‫ בתווחיד אלאה‬212‫הקודש ישראל נאמים‬ 213,‫ובתורה אלקימומה‬ ‫ היא תסמת‬214‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫ וקלבי‬.‫תורת יי תמימה טהורה משיבת נפש‬ 215 ‫אלדי ̇גאר עליכום‬ ̇ ‫ענדכום מן אלרשדה‬ ‫(!) אלי עאמל כול ̇דל‬ ‫(!) ארור‬ ‫מן ̇דל יהד‬ 216 .‫עמאיל ̇וגבלכום כול ̇דל שדה‬

All of this (is from me), I am Rabbi Shimʿon ben Kefa, so receive this book from me with tranquility, and I have created this testament for you from me. Request forgiveness for me from God, for this heresy that I carry out every day. God knows (that it is) in order to save Israel from their hands. From this time on, fear nothing, because you have a great reward.” Then the Jews received this book from his hand, and they were very happy, all of the Jews and the sages and the Sanhedrin.

‫וכול ̇דא אנא רבי שמעון בן כיפא פי‬ ‫ ̇דל כתאב בל אטמאניה‬217‫קלבי מנהו‬ ‫ ואנא עמלת לכום כול וצייה מן‬.‫עליכום‬ )!( ‫ ואטלובו לי מן אללה יסמחני‬,‫עקלי‬ ‫אלדי בנכפרו כל יום אללה‬ ̇ ‫עלי ̇דל כופר‬ .‫נכלץ ישראל מן ידיהום‬ ̇ ‫לאגל מא‬ ̇ ‫יערף‬ ‫תכאפו מן שי לאין לכום‬ ̇ ‫ומן ̇דל וקת לם‬ ‫ וקבלו אליהוד אלכתאב מן‬.‫כתיר‬ ̇ ‫אגר אן‬ ̇ ‫עטים כול ישראל‬ ̇ ‫ידו ופרחו פראחן אן‬ 219 .]‫[ואלסנהדרין‬ ‫ואלחכמים‬ 218

3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript was likely copied in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. It is in semicursive Eastern script, of a type that is conservative and that lasted for a number of centuries. It contains four folios, with 15 lines per page. Letters are 211  This text is corrupt and should likely read ‫וכתב כתאב‬, as a parallel to many of the Hebrew examples of the Italian A version. 212 This seems to be an error for the intended Hebrew word ‫ נאמנים‬which is attested in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 2r. Hebrew versions read ‫מאמינים‬, “believers,” here. 213 I have not found this form attested in any dictionary, and have translated in accordance with the Arabic word with a similar root, “value” (qīma). 214 On this fossilized use of the masculine relative singular pronoun following a feminine noun, see Blau, Grammar, 235–36. 215  The rendition here is likely corrupt, and I translate according to the rendition found in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 2r, which reads ‫אלשדה‬. 216  The text is corrupt here and reads ‫לדל שדה‬ ̇ ‫פי‬. I have corrected according to the parallel in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 2r. 217  The text is corrupt here, and should likely be emended to the phrase ‫פי קבלו מני‬, “so receive from me.” The parallel text in Leipzig BH 17, f. 16v reads ‫ותקבלו אותם הפיוטים ממני‬ ‫ בשמחה ובטוב לבב‬. This emendation is further confirmed by the phrase occurring several lines later: ‫(!) אלכתאב מן ידו‬ ‫וקבלו אליהוד מן‬. I thank Antonio Di Gesù for this suggestion. 218  Regarding the form ‫אטמאניה‬, unique to Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Dictionary, 408. 219  The completed text is based on the rendition in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, f. 2v.

3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919

151

extended to the end of the line in order to fill lines evenly. Its words are closely spaced, which makes it difficult at times to ascertain the breaks between them, especially in cases where there seem to have occurred mistakes in transmission. The name Yeshu is written with a small dash above it to mark it as an abbreviation. The textual tradition of RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 is quite similar to that of RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, a fact apparent on the basis of comparison of the limited section of the plot element Final Separation in which they are parallel. Comparison of the two textual versions reveals that the manuscripts are not directly related, but that they both reflect the textual version of LMJAR. That said, in many cases, examples of corrupt transmission appear similarly in the two parallel texts. In certain instances, RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 presents a better version than Evr.-Arab. I:3005; for example in the description of the means of conversion to Judaism. In this section, there are obvious omissions in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 such as the age of the prospective convert, as apparent in the previous section. These phrases and words are not missing in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919, and apparently the later manuscript has been corrected. In other instances, apparent mistakes are present in both manuscripts, for example in the section relating to the literary creations created by Rabbi Shimʿon, which is so corrupt as to be incomprehensible without reference to parallels in Hebrew. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 is notable in that it is the only TY Judeo-Arabic manuscript to preserve the parody of the legend called Finding of the Holy Cross, described in chapter 7 and preserved in LMJAR as well as in Italian A. This JudeoArabic fragment preserves the majority of the story and seems to be missing only a single folio at the end. Final Separation “[…] neither meat, nor bread, nor water, nor fruit.220 I request of you that you prepare a tower for me, where I will stay for my entire life, so that I never see one of the Jews, so they will not drive me crazy,221 as they did to Yeshu.

‫[…] לא לחם ולא ̇כובז ולא מא ולא‬ )‫א‬1( ‫ ואנא בנסאל מנכום תעמלו לי קלעה‬.‫פוואכה‬ ‫אנצור אחדן‬ ̇ ‫ חתי לא‬,‫נקעוד פיהא בטול עמרי‬ ‫ חתי לא ̇יגו ̇יציעו עקלי זאיי מא‬,‫מן אליהוד‬ .‫עמלו פי יש"ו‬

220 As noted above, in this Judeo-Arabic rendition, the list of foods from which Ben Kefa will refrain accords nearly exactly with the few foods that he is specifically permitted to eat, in Leipzig BH 17, f. 16r: .‫ושלא אוכל אלא לחם ומים ונזיד עדשים ופירות‬ 221 As noted above, this rendering which reads ‫יציעו‬, ̇ i. e., the second and active form of the root ‫ضيع‬, is preferable to that found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005. Regarding the pairing with ‫עקל‬,

152

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

From this time on, do not be angered223 at any Jew with respect to your religion. Only if (someone) comes to you voluntarily, who is (at least) thirty years old, and you leave him in a particular house, of his own free will, and he224 will ask him every day [= regarding his desire to join their religion]. If they ask him, on the final day, and he says to you, ‘I do not want to adopt your religion,’ do not accept him [= into your religion]. Let him go, without harm. If a child of ten years of age says to you, ‘I want to join your religion,’ do not accept him, because he is young, only ten years old, and he does not have consideration or understanding.”

‫תגצבו עלא אחדן‬ ̇ ‫ומן ̇דיל וקת וראייח לא‬ ‫מן אליהוד פי דינכום אלא אן כאן ̇יגי לכום‬ .‫לאתין סנה‬ ̇ ‫(!) ויכון עמרהו ̇ת‬ 222‫מוכטר‬ ̇ ‫טאיע‬ )!( ‫(!) וכואל‬ ‫מוכטר‬ ̇ ‫ותכלוה פי בית ואחד‬ ̇ ‫אלאכראני יסאלוה‬ ̇ ‫ ואן כאן יום‬,‫יום יסאלוה‬ ‫ מא‬,‫נדכול פי דינכום‬ ̇ )!( ‫ויקול לכום מא נירד‬ ‫ ואזא כאן ולד‬.‫תקבלו סייבו ולא עליה באס‬ ‫אדכול פי‬ ̇ ‫עומרהו י' סנין וקאל לכום אריד‬ '‫ מא תקבלו לאנהו סגיר אבן י‬,)‫ב‬1( ‫דינכום‬ .‫סנין לם להו עקל ולא פהם‬

Then they accepted upon themselves everything about which he commanded them, and they provided him with effusive respect,225 and they made him papaz, that is to say, a great pope,226 and they called him by the name of al-Kaldī.227

.‫חיניד קבלו עליהום כול שי אן אמרהום בהו‬ ̇ ‫עמלו להו קימה וכבוד זאידיה ועמלו פאפז‬ .‫יעני פאפה כביר ̇וגעלו אסמהו אל קאלדי‬

I have not found this expression attested in dictionaries. The Hebrew rendition found in Leipzig BH 17, f. 16r is ‫שלא יבלבלו דעתי‬. 222  This hendiadys is well-attested in the meaning of “possessing freedom of belief” in Classical Arabic texts. The word intended here is ‫مختار‬, and the Judeo-Arabic spelling reflects a number of features of late Judeo-Arabic, including pleonastic vav, ṭet-tav interchange, and the elision of an alef. 223  The parallel section in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 has ‫לא תגצבו‬, “do not force,” which makes more sense in context. I translate here in accordance with the manuscript reading here, in which the ṣadeh appears with a diacritical dot. 224 Apparently, the householder with whom the prospective convert is staying. 225  Lit. “value and honor.” This doubled phrase, combining the Arabic for “value” and the Hebrew for “honor,” is used three times in LMJAR. See discussion in section 1 of chapter 7. 226 The Judeo-Arabic texts represent “pope” with two words, one of which is the standard Romance language rendering for “pope,” ‫פאפה‬, and the second of which is unclear. The text here adds an explanatory element – ‫יעני‬, “that is to say” – between these two words. The distinction is likely between a regular priest and a “big priest,” i. e., a pope. In the Hebrew texts of the Italian versions, the word that appears here is ‫פפא‬, “papa,” and this word suits the suggestion of a connection between LMJAR and Italian A, discussed in chapter 7. 227 This name is found similarly in the parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 4v, as ‫אלי‬ ‫קאלד‬. Italian A calls this figure al-Kaloyero, and adds the phrase ‫וזהו הכומר הראשון שהיה בעולם‬. Both of these forms seem to derive from some Jewish approximation of the Greek kaloyeros (καλόγερος, “monk,” deriving from kalos, “good,” and geros, “old man”). The parallel texts in the Italian versions demonstrate a variety of ways in which this form appears: Leipzig BH 17, f. 17r, and Rostock Or. 381, f. 20r, have ‫ ;קלויירו‬Yale Beinecke Heb. 5, f. 30, has ‫;קאלוריו‬ Budapest Kaufmann A559, f. 44, and Parma 2083, f. 67v, have ‫ ;קלויאורו‬Paris BnF Héb. 1384.1, f. 19r, has ‫ ;קלדיארו‬and London BL Or. 10457, f. 21v, has ‫קורדאורו‬.

3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919

153

That sage made great efforts230 not to defile himself with their food and drink, because all of their food is impure with impure blood; and also not to worship231 their idols because they are impure like them. During that time that he dwelled with them, he created for the Jews in his great love, liturgical poems, of his own invention232 and in his own name.233

‫הדא אלחכם חתי לא יטמא לא‬ ̇ ‫וכול פעל‬ ‫ לאן כול אכלהום‬,)!( ‫בכלוהם ולא בשורהום‬ 228 ,)!( ‫אלנגסאה‬ ̇ ‫(!) ̇נגס באלדמאם‬ ‫כואלו‬ ,‫ומן שאן כמאן לא יטוואבו לאצנמהום‬ ‫ ופי ̇דלך אלזמן‬.‫מתלהום‬ ̇ ‫לאנהום ̇נגסין‬ ‫אלדי קעד ענדהום עמל לישראל בחבוה‬ ̇ ‫פרג מן באלו‬ ̇ 229‫וואסע והאתור להום טהטיר‬ .‫ועמלהום עלא אסמהו‬

He also wrote a book for the Jews with these words, saying to them, “I have written a book for the Holy People, Israel, who are faithful to the sole worship of God, and to the valuable Torah, which is called the ‘perfect Torah of God, pure and spiritreviving.’ My heart is with you, due to the difficult times you are experiencing, due to those cursed Jews who did all of those things, and brought you all of this hardship.

‫בהדא‬ ̇ ‫א) לישראל‬2( 234‫ואיצא כמאן כתאת‬ ̇ ‫ כתבת כתאב לעם‬,‫(!) וקאל להום‬ ‫כאלם‬ ‫הקדש ישראל נאמנים בתווחיד אלאה‬ 235 ‫ היא‬236‫אלדי‬ ̇ ,‫ובתורה אלקימימה‬ ‫ תורת ה' תמימה טהורה משיבת‬237‫אתסמת‬ ‫אלדי ̇גאר‬ ̇ ‫ וקלבי ענדכום מן אלשדה‬.‫נפש‬ ‫עליכום מן ̇דל יהוד ארור אלי עאמל כול ̇דל‬ .‫(!) ̇דל שדה‬ ‫עמאיל ̇וגבלכום כיל‬

All of this (is from me), I am Rabbi Shimʿon ben Kefa, so receive this book

‫וכול ̇דא אנא רבי שמעון בין כיפא פי קלבי‬ .‫ עליכום‬239‫ ̇דל כתאב בל אטמאניה‬238‫מנו‬

228 RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 4v, reads ‫באלדם‬, which is the expected form. The form found here is not represented elsewhere. 229 See discussion above regarding this word in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005. 230 While the Judeo-Arabic text can be translated as I have done, comparison with the manuscripts of Italian A suggests that a word may be missing here, meaning “trickery.” 231 Lit. “to praise”; this root as a second-form verb is attested in this meaning in Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 549. Here, I have translated in accordance with the immediate context., 232  Lit. “which he showed from his mind,” reading the verb in the second form. 233  This may be a reference to a poet’s signing his own name via an acrostic, as is common in many forms of piyyuṭ; notwithstanding this possibility, I have translated the Judeo-Arabic literally. 234  This text is corrupt and should likely read ‫וכתב כתאב‬, as a parallel to many of the Hebrew examples of the Italian A version. I have translated in accordance with this proposed emendation. The parallel rendering in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 reads ‫בהדא‬ ̇ ‫ואיצא כמאן כתאב לישראל‬ ̇ ‫ כאלם‬which seems to reflect erroneous transmission as well. 235  This word appears as ‫ קימומה‬in the parallel in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 4v. I have not found this form attested in any dictionary, and have translated in accordance with the Arabic word with a similar root, “value” (qīma). 236  On this fossilized use of the masculine relative singular pronoun following a feminine noun, see Blau, Grammar, 235–36. 237 This rendering of the fifth form with initial alef reflects colloquial pronunciation. See Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic,” 100. 238 The text is corrupt here (as it is in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005) and should be emended to something like ‫פי קבלו מני‬, “so receive from me.” The parallel text in Leipzig BH 17, f. 16v, reads ‫ותקבלו אותם הפיוטים ממני בשמחה ובטוב לבב‬. This emendation is further confirmed by the phrase occurring several lines later: ‫(!) אלכתאב מן ידו‬ ‫וקבלו אליהוד מן‬. I thank Antonio Di Gesù for this suggestion. 239 Regarding the form ‫אטמאניה‬, unique to Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Dictionary, 408.

154

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

from me with tranquility, and I have created this testament for you from me. Request forgiveness for me from God, for this heresy that I commit daily. God knows (that it is) in order to save Israel from their hands. Now, fear nothing, because you have a great reward.” The Jews received this book from his hand, and they were very happy, all of the Jews and the sages and the Sanhedrin.

‫ ואטלובו‬.‫ואנא עמלת לכום כול וצייה מן בלי‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫(!) עלי ̇דל כופר‬ ‫לי מן אללה יסמחני‬ ‫לאגל מא‬ ̇ )‫ב‬2( ‫ אללה יערף‬.‫בנכפרו כל יום‬ ‫תכפו‬ ̇ ‫ודל וקת לא‬ ̇ .‫נכלץ ישראל מן ידיהום‬ ̇ ‫ וקבלו אליהוד‬.‫כתיר‬ ̇ ‫אגר אן‬ ̇ ‫מן שי לאין לכום‬ ‫(!) אן‬ ‫(!) אלכתאב מן ידו ופרחו פראחן‬ ‫מן‬ .‫עטים כול ישראל ואלחכמים ואלסנהדרין‬ ̇

Finding of the Holy Cross Then after that, the king Caesar and the wife of the king Caesar, and his name was Qulṣit,243 and that king was afflicted with itching, and all the doctors and physicians were upset about him, for they could not cure him, because the doctors said to him, “Your only cure is the piece of wood on which the Jews hanged Yeshu. Send for the queen, and tell her, the Jews are responsible for this issue.” And all of these conflicts were (the fault) of the Christian doctors.244

‫ ואלמלך קיסר ומרת אלמלך‬240‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך‬ ‫(!) וכאן אסמהו קולצית וכאן ̇דלך‬ ‫אליסר‬ ‫ וזעלת אל חוכמא‬.‫אלמלך מרעי באלחכה‬ ‫ מא קדרו ידאוה לאניהום‬,‫ואלאטיבא פיה‬ ‫ אלעצאה‬241‫ מא דאווך‬,‫קאלו להו אלחכמא‬ ‫אבעת‬ ̇ .‫(!) פיהא יש"ו אליהוד‬ ‫אלדי שנאקו‬ ̇ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ‫ לי יהוד עלא‬,‫ קול להא‬242‫לי מלכה‬ ‫א) מן אלחוכמא‬3( ‫הדה אלפתן‬ ̇ ‫ וכול‬.‫אלאמר‬ .‫אלארוואם‬

240  The letters '‫ ואל‬appear here in the manuscript following the introductory phrase. On the one hand, this item may be a line filler. Another possibility is that what has been recorded here as ‫ ואל‬may be a corruption of the phrase ‫אלא ו‬, a formula frequently found in LMJAR following the phrase ‫תם בעד ̇דלך‬. ̇ Both formulas are discussed in chapter 7. I thank Antonio Di Gesù for this suggestion. 241  The word illā is missing here in order to complete the double negative in Arabic syntax; there is no parallel manuscript to confirm this suggestion. 242  This sentence provides an apt example of how the expressions “to the queen” and “to the Jews” are most frequently written respectively ‫ לי מלכה‬and ‫ לי יהוד‬in this manuscript, rather than ‫ לליהוד‬and ‫ ללמלכה‬as expected according to classical Judeo-Arabic orthography. I have noted this phenomenon in the discussion of colloquial register in section 1 of chapter 7. 243  This name seems to be a development from Constantine, who is the figure referenced here. The text may be corrupt here, since the sentence is missing a verb. 244  The connection between this sentence and the previous one is not entirely clear. This statement can be understood as an interjection of the narrator, characterizing the trickery of the Christian sages. There is some type of parallel to this external narration in a unique Hebrew version of Italian A, London BL Or. 3660. This parallel appears somewhat earlier in the section: ‫עד כי הרופאים כלם פה אחת היו אומרים שלא יחיה מחולי זה ולא מצאו רפואה לחליו אז הפריצים כדי‬ ‫שיאמין גם הוא בממזר ולצער את היהודים ולהלחם בם אמרו לו שיקחו את העץ אשר נתלה עליו יש"ו‬ .‫וישימו אותו עליו ויתרפא מיד‬ “[…] to the point that the doctors all agreed and said that he would not survive this illness, and they found no cure for his illness. Then, the villains, so that he would believe in the bastard and in order to cause trouble for the Jews and to fight with them, told him to take the tree

3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919

The letter reached the queen, and she ­opened that letter, and read it and sent for the important Jews and the sages, and said to them, “Bring me the piece of wood on which you hanged Yeshu, for you killed the son of God, and [if not, I will kill you].” When the Jews heard this, they said to her, “O Lady, we do not know anything about this, but rather (ask) the Jews who are in Jerusalem.” So she rode, and went to Jerusalem, and said to the Jews living in Jerusalem, “Give me the piece of wood on which you hanged Yeshu, and if you don’t bring it, I will kill you.” The Jews responded, saying to her, “O my Lady, indeed, the only ones who will know the answer are the old people!”

155

‫(!) אלמכתוב לענד אלמלכה ופתחת‬ ‫פיגא‬ ̇ ‫ ורא אליהוד‬246‫ ושאיועת‬245‫̇דול מכתוב קרית‬ ‫אחצרו‬ ̇ ‫ וקאלת להום‬.‫אלכובאר ואלחכמים‬ ,‫(!) אלי שנאקתו פיהא יש"ו‬ ‫לי באל ועוציי‬ ‫ פי‬247.‫ואנתו קתלתו אבן אללה וקאל קתלכום‬ 248 ,‫למא סמעו אליהוד ̇דלך אלסמע קאלו להו‬ ‫בדלך אלא‬ ̇ ‫יא סיתי אחנא מא לנא עלם‬ ‫(!) וארחת‬ ‫ פי רבכת‬.‫אליהוד אלי פי ירושלם‬ ‫ וקאל להום לי יהוד אלי סכנין‬,‫לירושלים‬ ‫אלדי שנקתו‬ ̇ ‫ אעטוני אלעצאה‬249,‫פירושלים‬ .‫תגיבוהא נקתלכום‬ ̇ ‫ ואן כאן מא‬,‫פיהא יש"ו‬ ‫ יא‬,‫(!) אליהוד וקאלו להא‬ ‫פי רדו להא ̇גאווב‬ ‫אלגוואב אלא‬ ̇ ‫ יערף ̇דלך‬250‫ב) נעאם‬3( ‫סיתי‬ .‫אכטיארייה‬ ̇

Then she arrested them and began to torture them and to say to them, “Bring me the piece of wood upon which you hanged Yeshu, and he was the son of God, and you deserve death!” Then, because of the severe torture with which she tortured them, they led to her one elder, who knew all the secrets, and his name was Rabbi Yehudah.

‫תעדבהום ותקול‬ ̇ ‫(!) ובקת‬ ‫חיניד מסכתוהם‬ ̇ ‫אלדי שנקתו‬ ̇ ‫אחצרו לי באלעצאה‬ ̇ ,‫להום‬ ‫ ואנתו מוסתחקין‬,‫פיהא יש"ו והו אבן אללה‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלעדב‬ ̇ ‫כותר‬ ̇ ‫חיניד מן‬ ̇ .‫אלקתל‬ ‫(!) וכאנו קאדו להא בוואחד זקן‬ ‫עדבותהום‬ ̇ ‫ כול אלאסור ואסמהו‬251‫לאנהו כאן יערף פי‬ .‫רבי יהודה‬

She seized him and tortured him greatly, and she said to him, “Tell the truth, you cursed one, for you all deserve death since

‫(!) אן שדיד‬ ‫עדב‬ ̇ ‫ועדבתוה‬ ̇ ‫פי מסכתהו‬ ‫ אנתו‬,‫ קול אלחק יא מלעון ̇דא‬,‫וקאלת להו‬ .‫(!) יש"ו‬ ‫ קתלכו‬252‫תסתחקו אלקתל באעום‬

that Yeshu was crucified on, and to lay it upon him, and that he would be cured immediately.” (London BL Or. 3660, f. 5r, left column) 245 This is a common Judeo-Arabic rendering for “read”; on the merging of final-alif verbs and weak verbs, see Blau, Grammar, 84. 246 This verb represents the Arabic ‫ ;شيّعت‬for the meaning “sent,” see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 490. 247 This rendition of the phrase is corrupt, and should include something like “And if not, I will kill you”; I have translated accordingly. 248  This should read ‫להא‬. 249  On the abbreviated use of the word ‫פי‬, see Blau, Grammar, 117. 250  Notwithstanding its slightly different form, this usage may reflect the meaning found in Blau, Dictionary, 705. The phrase following this word is missing a required initial negative particle. 251  This nonstandard use of the preposition ‫ פי‬is common in spoken dialects of Arabic. 252  The expected rendering here is ‫באנכום‬, however instead of the letters ‫ נכ‬the scribe has written the letter ʿayin, perhaps due to misreading the manuscript from which he copied. In other instances in this manuscript, the letters nun and kaf are clearly separated, as can be demonstrated via examples of words found on f. 1r of this manuscript, ‫מנכום דינכום‬.

156

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

you killed Yeshu! Listen, you Jew, if you bring us the piece of wood that belonged to him, [well,]253 and if you do not bring it, I will kill all of you.”

‫תגיבו לנא אלעצאה‬ ̇ ‫אסמע יא יהודי אן‬ ,‫תגובוהא שי‬ ̇ ‫ ואן כאן מא‬.‫ כאן‬,‫בתאעו‬ .‫נקתולכום כולכום‬

The elder answered, in his wisdom, and said to her, “O my Lady, as you say, it will be.” Then he sent to the Jews, saying, “You there, by God, bring me pieces of wood, quickly and secretly, that look very old like these ones, and put them in a patch of dirt, so that they will not protrude and it will not seem that they are new.”

,‫פי רד ̇גוואב אלזקן במערפתהו וקאל להא‬ ‫חיניד שאייע‬ ̇ .‫כדלך יכון אלאמר‬ ̇ ‫יא סיתי‬ ‫ האתו לי‬,‫ יא אללה יא אנתו‬,‫קאל לי יהוד‬ 254‫א) קוואם‬4( ‫עצאיא‬ ‫ יכונו זאי‬,‫באלמוכפי‬ ̇ 256 ‫מוצע נווחי‬ ̇ ‫ וארמהום פי‬255‫̇דוך הומאן‬ 257 ‫לאגל מא יבקוש ויבאנו אנהום‬ ̇ ,‫אלתראב‬ .‫̇גודד‬

So the Jews did so, and buried them as he commanded them. And he also said to them, “Give the Name to the wise man [= to me],260 and I will pronounce it over the king who is afflicted with scabies, and I will cure him.” Then the queen commanded them, saying that they should seize that elder, and torture him with crucibles and needles to tear his flesh.

‫כדלך ודפנוהם זאיי מא‬ ̇ ‫פי עמלו ישראל‬ ‫ואיצא קאל להום האתו אלשם‬ ̇ .)!( ‫אמרוהם‬ ‫אלדי מבתלי‬ ̇ ‫לי חכם ואקרא עלא אלסולטאן‬ ‫ אלמלכה‬258‫חיניד ווצט‬ ̇ .‫באלחכא נאשפה‬ ‫(!) ימסכו ̇דלך אלזקן‬ ‫וקאלת באניכום‬ ‫תכרק‬ ̇ ‫ לאמא‬259‫ויעדבהו באלבותאת ואובר‬ ̇ .‫לחמו‬

 The protasis is missing in the Judeo-Arabic original, and I have restored it in the translation. 254  This is a colloquial usage; see Spiro, Arabic-English Dictionary of the Modern Arabic of Egypt, 472. 255  This word, with unclear morphology, may derive from h.m.m, “very old”; see Hava, Al-Farāʾid, 834. This Arabic root, however, normally refers only to people. Another option, requiring textual emendation, is that it derives from the Arabic root h.r.m, “old, decrepit, of advanced age,” also attested in the very relevant word ‫هرمى‬, “dry wood”; see Hava, 825. 256  This verb is better read in the plural as the continuation of the command to the group of Jews, and could be corrected to ‫וארמוהם‬, on the basis of the common phenomenon of interchanged letters in this manuscript. 257  These verbs appear in the manuscript with very little space in between them; I believe this is the most likely interpretation of a somewhat obscure construction. 258  Expected form ‫וצת‬, reflecting the Arabic ‫ ;وصّت‬regarding this effect of neighboring emphatic consonants, see Blau, Grammar, 33. 259 The word ‫ בותאת‬is interpreted here as a rendering of the Arabic ‫ ;بوتقات‬see Spiro, ArabicEnglish Dictionary of the Modern Arabic of Egypt, 62. In this way, it would nearly exactly reflect the type of torture used in the Legenda aurea (see introductory paragraphs to this fragment). I thank Antonio Di Gesù for this explanation. 260 I read the phrase ‫ לי חכם‬as another example of the elision of a lamed in the phrase “to the,” as is found numerous times in this fragment. 253

3. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919

157

When they brought him before the queen to torture him, he said to her, “O my Lady, here I am, in front of you. Give me three days to go to the Temple.” He took that Name and used it. Then after three days, the sage went to the queen and said to her, “Arise, my Lady, ride with me, and I will show you the place where the pieces of Yeshu’s wood are buried.”

‫ליעדבוה פי קאל‬ ̇ ‫פי למא ̇גאבו לענד אלמלכה‬ ‫ אמהלי עליא‬.‫ יא סיתי אדיני בין אידיכי‬,‫להא‬ ‫ואכ ̇ד ̇דלך אלשם‬ ̇ .‫לת איאם לבית המקדש‬ ̇ ‫̇ת‬ ‫ ̇תום בעד ג' יום אלא ואלחכם‬.‫ואסתכדם בהו‬ ̇ ‫ קומי‬,‫ארח (!) לענד אלמלכה וקאל להא‬ ‫מוצע‬ ̇ ‫ ואנא אוריכו‬261‫יא סיתי ארכבי מבכו‬ .‫ב) פן מדפונין‬4( ‫אלעצייא בתאע יש"ו‬

So the queen rode, and they went. When they came to the place where the pieces of wood that262 […] Then the Christians and the (Christian) doctors said to her, “O my Queen, how do you know it was them and no other?” The sage said to them, “O my Lady, put one of them on a dead man, and it will revive him.”

‫למוצע‬ ̇ ‫ למא אתו‬.‫פי רכבת אלמלכה וארחו‬ ‫אלדי פיה אלעוציי אלי פי קאלו להא‬ ̇ ‫ יא סיתי מן אן תערפי‬,‫אלארוואם ואלחכמא‬ ‫ פי קאל להום‬.‫אן כאן הום ולא גירהם‬ ‫ יא סיתי חוטו ואחדה מנהום עלי‬,‫אלחכם‬ .‫מיית והוא ייסתחייה‬

Then from far away they heard loud cries and screams, and they said to the queen, “What is the crying we hear? There is a dead man there!” She said, “Bring us the dead man.” They brought her the dead man,266 and they put one of the pieces of wood on him and the sage used the Name, and revived him, and he got up on his own two feet.

‫ ובוכא‬263‫פי סמעו מן בועד חייס עייאט‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫ מא אלבוכא‬,‫ מלכה‬264‫פי קאלו ליל‬ ‫ האתו‬,‫ פי קאלת‬.‫בנסמעוה? פי ̇דא מאיית‬ ‫וחצר פי חאטו‬ ̇ ,‫ פי ̇גאבו להא אלמיית‬.‫לנא‬ ‫ וקרא אלשם‬,‫עליה אלעצאה מן אלעוציי‬ ‫ ועלי‬265‫אלחכם פי אסתחייא וקאם עלי חילו‬ .‫רגליה‬ ̇

261 This is likely a copyist’s misrendering of ‫מעי‬. Another possibility is that it is the infinitive absolute of the verb used to describe the queen’s action in riding. 262  There is a missing sentence or two in the text here. This is clear from the Judeo-Arabic text, which is strangely formulated here despite the absence of physical lacunae, as well as on the basis of comparison to the Hebrew Italian versions that include this element. I thank Antonio Di Gesù for suggesting the possibility of this omission. The missing text reads as follows in Leipzig BH 17, f. 17r-v, and this element is relatively standard among the various renditions of the Italian A Hebrew version: ‫ מיד ותקם המלכה‬.‫(!) בואו עמי כי גלו לי המקום שגנזו בו העץ‬ ‫ויהי ביום השלישי ויבא לפניה ויאמרו‬ ‫ ויאמר‬.‫ב) אל המקום אשר היו העצים קבורים בו‬17( ‫ונערותיה ויועציה ולקחה ר׳ יהודה הזקן עמה ויילכו‬ ‫לה ר' יהודה "האמת את המלכה שעל ידיך היה עתיד לגלות הסוד הזה שלא יגלה לשום מלך ולא לשום‬ ‫" והוא היה הולך מקיף ולוחש בפיו וכולם‬.‫" ויאמר להם ר' יהודה בחכמה "בואו אחרי‬.‫שר אשר היו לפניך‬ ‫ מיד נבהלה המלכה והשרים ויאמרו‬.‫הולכים אחריו ועמד ואמר "חפרו פה!" ויחפרו וימצאו שם שלשה עצים‬ ".‫לו "באיזה דבר נודע מי הוא העץ שבו נתלה יש"ו הנוצרי‬ 263 The spelling of these words is nonstandard, and I understand them to reflect the words ‫عياط‬ ّ‫ ;حس‬on the meaning of ّ‫ حس‬as “sound,” see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 205. 264  The complete writing of the morpheme lil- here is exceptional in this text. 265  For this expression, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 236. 266  Lit. “and he was present,” apparently referring to the corpse.

158

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

All of this was because of the power of the Name that Rabbi Yehudah the elder used. Then the queen and those who were with her were amazed, and they said to her, “Without a doubt, that is the piece of wood belonging to Yeshu, who […] that entire secret […]”269

‫ אלשם אלי עמלו רבי‬267‫עטום‬ ̇ ‫הדא מן‬ ̇ ‫וכול‬ ‫אסתעגבת אלמלכה וכול‬ ̇ ‫חיניד‬ ̇ .‫יהודה אלזקן‬ ,‫חצרין חדיהא וקאלו להא‬ ̇ ‫אלנאס אלי כאנו‬ ‫הדא אלעצאה בתאע יש"ו‬ ̇ 268‫מא פי אלכלאם‬ ]…[ ‫אלי ̇דל סר כולו‬

4. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343 Introduction to the Manuscript This manuscript comprises a single folio, containing the beginning of the composition. The manuscript is written in a typically Karaite semicursive Eastern script and one that is conservative; this script spans a wide period, between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. That said, the spelling is highly phonetic, indicative of a relatively late copying date. The folios have been inverted, and the recto is the second page of text. It seems that the scribe was preparing this section in order to connect to a second manuscript that was missing its first page, since f. 1v has twenty lines, but f. 1r ends with long extended lines of script in order to cover the entire page but to reach a particular section of text. The copying begins with ornamental and bold square script. Lines are filled via elongation of the final Hebrew letter. The definite article is written consistently as a separate element from the word defined. The folio preserves the preface to LMJAR, as well as the beginning of the narrative, the plot element Conception of Yeshu. The content of the preface and the beginning of the narrative is similar to that found in the parallel manuscript RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345, but the wording of the two renditions is not identical. The folio uses the name Yasūʿ for Jesus, adopting the form of the name as used by Arabic-speaking Christians, in contrast to the usual Jewish use of Yeshuʿa, which is used in the preface (as opposed to Yeshu, in the main text) in the parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345.

 Scriptio plena and interchange of consonants, intended ‫عظم‬. idiomatic expression, indicating affirmation, should rightly read ‫ما في كالم‬. 269 There is likely one folio missing, required to complete the story of the Finding of the Holy Cross, and it is not clear how the final three words in Judeo-Arabic fit into the plot, even following comparison with the Hebrew versions. The ending of this TY element varies widely across the Hebrew Italian A subversions, and this Judeo-Arabic rendition may be yet another version of the ending. 267

268 This

4. RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343

159

Preface Praised be God, the God of Israel, creator of the heavens and the earth in his power and greatness (who)271 destroyed the blaspheming tyrants and showed preference to the beloved righteous. Master of masters, motivator of the heavenly forces, emancipator of captives, mover of clouds, ruler of rulers, the all-powerful and the staunch, the clear truth, crusher of the polytheists, humbler of the blasphemers, destroyer of the oppressors, annihilator of the wicked and protector of those close to him and the righteous,

‫ב) תבארך אללה אלאה ישראל ̇כאלק אל‬1( ‫אראצי בקודרתהו ועוזמתהו‬ ̇ ‫סמאוואת ואל‬ 270 ‫ואכטאר‬ ̇ ‫ואהלך אל ̇גבאברה אל כאפרין‬ ‫ רב אל ארבאב‬.‫פי אל אחבאב אל צאלחין‬ ‫מוסבב אל אסבאב ומועתק אל ארקאב‬ ‫ומוסייר אל סחאב צולטאן אל צלאטין אל‬ ‫טאייק אל אמין אל חק אל מובין כאסר‬ ‫אל מושרכין וקאמי אל כאפרין ומוהלך‬ ‫וחאפץ אל‬ ̇ ‫אל ̇טאלמין ומוביד אל טאלחין‬ ,‫אוולייא ואל צאלחין‬

who saved the children of Israel from the pharaohs, who are the Christian infidel people, and who gave them the cursed Yasūʿ272 the Nazarene, and who caused them to follow him in severe blasphemy due to his great ignorance, and caused their leaders to perish by means of cursed counsel and caused them to worship wood and idols, and God, the blessed and exalted, caused him to perish within a short time because of his blasphemy and overstepping of bounds. And Israel suffered great difficulties on his account, and they tried to return him [= to the correct path], but they could not, because in our sources, every place where it is written vayehi indicates great difficulties, as it is said, “In the time of Tiberius Caesar (and) his vizier Qorodos,”

‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫אלדי ̇כלץ בני ישראל מן אל פראענא‬ ̇ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫הום קום אל נצארה אל כאפרין‬ ‫אעטאהום אלמנעול יסוע ולמהום וראה פאל‬ ‫עטים ואתלף‬ ̇ ‫בגוהלו אל‬ ̇ ‫כופר אל שדיד‬ ‫קעידתהום באל שורה אל מלעונא ועבדהום‬ ‫אל ̇כשב ואל אצנאם ואהלכו אללה תע' פי‬ .‫אקל מן אל איאם עלא שאן כופרו ותוגייו‬ ‫כתיר ואראדו‬ ̇ ‫וקאצו מנהו ישראל שדאייד‬ ‫מוצע‬ ̇ ‫ לאן ענדנא כל‬,‫רגע‬ ̇ ‫ירגעוה ולם‬ ̇ ‫אנהום‬ ‫כתיר‬ ̇ ‫אלדי פיה ויהי בימי יזהר ען שדאייד‬ ̇ ‫ ויהי בימי טברינוס קסאר‬,‫כמתל מא קאל‬ ̇ ‫(!) וזירו‬ ‫ובימי קורדוס‬

Conception of Yeshu In those days, there was a man descended from David, peace be upon him, and his name was Yoḥanan, and he had a beautiful

‫רוגול מן נסל דוד‬ ̇ ‫פי ̇דיך אל איאם זוהור‬ ‫ וכאן לו מרה חסנת‬.‫המלך ואסמהו יוחנן‬ ‫רוגול‬ ̇ ‫והאדל‬ ̇ ,‫מנצר ואסמהא מרים‬ ̇ ‫א) אל‬1(

270  This verb appears as ‫אכתר‬, ̇ “caused to multiply” in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345, f. 1r. I have interpreted the word here as the Arabic verb ‫اختار‬, “chose, preferred.” 271 The original reads “and” ungrammatically; I translate in accordance with the intent of the parallel phrases. 272  As noted in the preface, the text here employs the traditional way that Jesus is referred to by Arabic-speaking Christians (in contrast to the typical Jewish usages, Yeshu or Yeshuʿa, or the Muslim usage, ʿĪsā).

160

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

wife whose name was Miriam. Her husband was God-fearing and was a student of Rabbi Shimʿon ben Shataḥ, peace be upon him. He had a villainous neighbor whose name was Yosef Pandera, and this villain was completely debauched, and never took his eyes off the women. He cast his eye on this Yoḥanan’s wife, and it was the month of Nisan after the end of Passover.

‫תלאמיד רבי שמעון‬ ̇ ‫כאן ̇כאיף אללה וכאן מן‬ ‫רוגול כאן לו ̇גאר רשע‬ ̇ ‫ודאך אל‬ ̇ .‫בן שטח‬ ‫ודלך אל רשע‬ ̇ ,‫ואסמו יוסף פנדירה אל רשע‬ ‫כאן מפסוד ודאימן עינו מא ישילהא מן אל‬ ‫מדכור וכאן‬ ̇ ‫ וחט עינו פי ̇גוזת יוחנן אל‬.‫נסא‬ .‫רוג פסח‬ ̇ ‫פי חודש ניסן בעד ̇כ‬

This righteous man arose to go to the yeshiva at night, and he closed the door. Then suddenly he [= Yosef] slipped into the righteous Jew’s house and locked the door, and the poor man did not know; he had gone to the yeshiva as usual. Miriam, the wife of the righteous Jew, was in the period of niddah, separated from her husband, and that villain came to her and wanted to have relations with her, because she was […]

‫ והוא‬,‫קאם ̇דלך אל חסיד לישיבה פי אל ליל‬ ‫אלא בית אל‬273‫ביגלק אל באב אלא ואן זנק‬ ‫ ומרים ̇גוזת אל יהודי אל‬.‫יהודי אל חסיד‬ .‫חסיד כאנת פאל נידה והיא בעידה ען ̇גוזהא‬ ‫(!) אן‬ ‫ודלך אל רשע קאם עליהא וארד‬ ̇ ]…[ ‫ירקוד מעהא לאנהא‬

5. Sixteenth-Century RNL Manuscript General Introduction This manuscript consists of three distinct fragments containing 7 folios in total; ordered consecutively, they are RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550, RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014, and RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036 (ff. 120–25). There is likely one manuscript folio missing between each fragment. The manuscript was copied approximately in the sixteenth century in semicursive Eastern script, and contains 17 lines per page. All of its remaining folios are in good condition, barring a few ink smears. The work is written in a dialectal register, and is especially notable for its random use of the letter alef, including it where unnecessary as well as omitting it where it should be present. The text also exhibits frequent use of the Maghrebi form of the first-person plural, beginning with nun and ending with vav.274 It contains a number of North African dialectal interchanges of s and sh. This manuscript is a unique witness to three of the plot elements of LMJAR: Arrest, Execution, and Burial (initial segment; the final half of Burial is preserved in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 as well). I have translated these elements of 273 This

rendition is corrupt. RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 5r, reads ‫ואנזבק‬.  In classical-period Judeo-Arabic texts, this form is rare; see Blau, Grammar, 70.

274

5. Sixteenth-Century RNL Manuscript

161

LMJAR fully in what follows, but I have not translated the plot elements First Separation and Nestorians. These are in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036 (ff. 120–25), and since they are for the most part parallel to the text preserved in RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005, I include only the transcription of the Judeo-Arabic text, without translation. Regarding the LMJAR plot elements that are preserved only in these fragments, interestingly, the version of Execution here (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550) includes a gardener figure who comes forward and offers his garden with its cabbage to serve as the means of execution. This plot element is represented in some, but not all, Hebrew versions of TY Helene.275 The manuscript is rife with scribal errors, more so than other fragments of LMJAR. In some cases, these have produced unintelligible words that I have not been able to reconstruct. One striking example of scribal error in this particular manuscript is in the conflation of dalet and resh; these errors are found in particular in First Separation (folios from RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036). There are some punctuating dots, similar to colons, in the manuscript, but their function is not clear, and they appear in different places than the dots found in RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005. The text in this rendition of LMJAR does not seem to have been directly copied from other examples of LMJAR included here. In a number of locations, this rendition seems to preserve a better text than that found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005; I have noted these above in footnotes to RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005. In this manuscript, the name Yeshu is written as an abbreviation, alluding to the parodical reinterpretation of his name as representing the Hebrew words ‫יימח‬ ‫שמו וזכרו‬, “may his name and remembrance be erased.”

275 This plot detail is found only in the versions of Italian A, Italian B, and Ashkenazi A. For example, in Italian A1a (Leipzig BH 17, f. 10v): ‫(!) אחד והיה לו בית עם חצר ובחצר היה לו אילן גדול מכרוב יותר ויותר גבוה מתמר ואמר‬ ‫ולשם היה זקנ‬ ‫כי היה לו מסורת מזקנו שהיה יותר ממאה שנה שנפטר שעתיד לבא יהיה מלחמה עם בישראל(!) בעבור‬ ‫ממזר א' שעתיד לבא בעולם ואותו הממזר היה עתיד ליהרג בחנם ושהאילנות לא יהיו סובלין אותו בעבור‬ ‫שהשביע אותם הממזר בשם המפורש ע"כ נטע הכרוב ההוא לשעה ההיא וזה הזקן אמר לזקנים לכו לתלותו‬ .‫באותו הכרוב‬

162

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

Arrest of Yeshu (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550) […] He did not succeed in using that Name.277 When it became clear that he had been caught and had no way to escape, he said, “It is no surprise that I will be killed in front of your eyes, because about me it was said, ‘For your sake we are slain all day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered’ (Ps. 44:23), and it is said about you, ‘Your hands are stained with crime’ (Isa. 1:15), and it said, ‘And they have put your prophets to the sword’ (1 Kings 19:10).” When his disciples heard his words, they cried bitterly.

‫ שי מן ̇דאלך‬276‫[…] מא כאן ישלם‬ )‫א‬1( ‫פלמא תחקק אנו אנמסך ולם‬ .‫אלשם‬ ‫עגב קתלי בין‬ ̇ ‫ קאל מא הו‬,‫בקא להו ̇כלאץ‬ ‫אלדי קיל עליה כי עליך‬ ̇ ‫אידיכום לאן אנא‬ ‫ וקיל‬.‫הורגנו כל היום נחשבנו כצאן טבחה‬ ‫עליכם ידיכם דמים מלאו וקאל ואת נביאיך‬ ‫תלאמידו כלאמו‬ ̇ ‫הרגו בחרב פלמא סמעו‬ .‫בכיו בכא שדיד‬

Execution (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550) After that, the sages wanted to hang him. It was Friday Passover eve, and they were not able to hang him. Rather, every tree on which they tried to hang him would break and would not accept him because when he learned280 the Ineffable Name, he found out that he would die by hanging, and he turned to281 the palms and the trees (requesting)

.‫̇תם בעד ̇דאלך אראדו אלחכמים אן יצלבוה‬ ‫אלגמעה ערב פסח פלם קדרו‬ ̇ ‫וכאן יום‬ ‫ אן יצלבוה‬278‫(!) ̇כשבת‬ ‫יצלבוה אלא כו‬ ‫ ולא תקבלו לאנו למא‬,‫עליהא כאנת תנכסר‬ ‫(!) אלשם אלמפורש עלם אנהו‬ ‫יחפץ‬ ̇ ‫כאן‬ ‫אלנכל‬ ̇ ‫ פקא[ם] עלי‬,‫מא ימות אלא מצלוב‬ ‫ב) אן לם תקבלו ולא ואחדה‬1( 279‫ואלאסגאר‬ ̇

276 The Judeo-Arabic word ‫ ישלם‬should be understood as deriving from the root sh.l.m (Classical Arabic s.l.m), literally “to be free of flaws” or “to serve for something.” This text has other instances as well that demonstrate the alternation of the consonants s and sh; on this phenomenon, see Blau, Grammar, 37. 277  This truncated phrase likely refers to the Ineffable Name; Yeshu attempts to free himself via use of the Ineffable Name but finds that he cannot, following the aerial battle and his becoming impure. While this section is truncated in Judeo-Arabic, it is attested in full in one version of Ashkenazi A (Budapest Kaufmann 299, f. 3v). The description appears as follows in the Hebrew manuscript: ‫וכשהכירוהו עמדו לפניו ותפסוה ואמרו לו האותות והמופתים שהיית עושה למה לא תעשם עוד אם אתה‬ ‫משיח כמו שהיית אומר באותה שעה נבהל מפניהם שלא היה יודע השם שכבר ישכחו כשטימא אותו יהודה‬ ‫ וכשראה שהוא מסור בידם‬.‫אסקריוטא הנז' והפריצים כשראו שהיו רוצים לתפסו קמו כלם ולא יכלו להצילו‬ ‫פתח ואמ' עלי אמר זקני כי עליך הורגנו כל היום ועליכם אמ' ישעיה ידיכם דמים מלאו ועוד אמ' הכתוב‬ .‫ואת נביאיך הרגו בחרב‬ 278  This text should likely read ‫כל ̇כשבה‬, “every tree.” Regarding the following an, which caused the addition of the tav in ‫כשבת‬, ̇ see Blau, Grammar, 56. My English translation reflects the corrected text. 279  This is likely an s-sh interchange for ‫ואלאשגאר‬. ̇ 280  Lit. “memorized.” 281  For this definition of ‫קאם עלי‬, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 723.

5. Sixteenth-Century RNL Manuscript

163

that they should not, any of them, accept him (for hanging) but rather should break. When the fools saw this, they became even more heretical and impious, because they concluded that he was truly a supremely righteous man. While the sages were confused, suddenly a man with a garden saw them, and said to them, “I have in my garden a big head of cabbage, of a large size, come and hang him upon it!”

‫ אזאדו‬,‫אלגהלא ̇דלך‬ ̇ ‫ פלמא ראו‬.‫אלא תנכסר‬ ‫ לאנהם חסבוה אנו צדיק‬282‫כופר ותגיאן‬ ‫ פבין מא כאנו אלחכמים‬.‫ מן חק‬283‫גמוה‬ ‫ורגל צאחב‬ ̇ ‫ אלא‬284‫ אלי וראהם‬,‫חאירין‬ ‫ וקאל להום אנא ענדי פי בוסתאני‬,‫בסתאן‬ 287 ‫ תצאלו‬286,‫ כרונב כביר קדך גמעה‬285‫קחף‬ .‫אצלובוה עליהא‬

When it became clear291 that he would be crucified, he said to the fools who were his followers, “If you do not find me early in the morning, know that I am going up to my father in heaven, as it says, ‘For He will take me’ (Ps. 49:16).”292

‫ללגוהלא‬ ̇ ‫ קאל‬289,‫ אנו פי נצלב‬288‫פלמן תתקק‬ ‫כאנו אצחאבו אן לם תלאקוני ̇וגה אלצבאח‬ ‫אעלמו אנו באטלע לאבי אלי פי אלסמא‬ .‫ קאל כי יקחני סלה‬290‫לא‬

After that, the sages brought him to the garden of that man, and they crucified him on a cabbage on the bank of the river. […]

‫פבעד ̇דאלך אתו בהו אלחכמים אלי בוסתאן‬ ‫ אלכרונב פי‬293‫אלשכץ וצלבוה עלי קרח‬ ̇ ‫הדא‬ ̇ ]…[ ‫שט אלנהר‬

Burial (RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014) […] lamenting, confused, fasting and wearing sackcloth, praying to God to save

‫ חאירין צאימין ולאבסין‬294‫[…] נאעיין‬ )‫א‬1( '‫ וטאלבין מן אללה תע‬295‫אלתלאליס‬

282  Intended Arabic ‫ ;طغيان‬the interchange between t and ṭ is very common in texts of popular register. The phenomenon is described but is noted as a specific and limited phenomenon in the more classical Judeo-Arabic texts surveyed in Blau, Grammar, 39. 283  Many Hebrew versions here mention the phrase ‫צדיק גמור‬, and the meaningless word found here is likely a misrendering of that phrase. For example, Budapest Kaufmann 299, f. 4r: .‫וכיון שראו הפריצים שהעצים נשברים תחתיו חשדוהו צדיק גמור לפי שלא היו העצים מקבלים אותו‬ 284  This is a scribal error, and should likely read ‫אלא וראהם צאחב בסתאן‬. I have translated in accordance with this suggested emendation. 285  The Arabic qiḥf means “skull”; this usage parallels the usage in the Mishnah (Or. 3:7), ‫קולסי כרוב‬, lit. “a skull of cabbage.” 286  The word ‫ גמעה‬or ‫ ̇גמעה‬seems to refer an amount, in context with the preceding ‫ق ّد‬, but the exact usage is not clear to me. 287  I emend to ‫ תעאלו‬and translate accordingly. 288 This is likely a misrendering for ‫תחקק‬. 289  I emend to ‫ בינצלב‬and translate accordingly. 290  This is an error or perhaps an abbreviation for ‫לאנו‬/‫לאנה‬. 291  This element is not found in all of the Hebrew versions. It appears as a quote from Yeshu following his execution in Budapest Kaufmann 299 (Ashkenazi A). 292  The use of this verse in a direct quote by Yeshu is unique here; in all of the various Hebrew versions, this verse is mentioned, but appears in a quotation of Yeshu’s words by his followers, following his death. 293  This word may be a misrendering of the phrase used above, ‫קחף כרונב‬. 294  For this form and meaning, see Blau, Dictionary, 705. 295  For this form and meaning, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 135.

164

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

them from the clutches of the queen. Then the fools said to them, “You heretics who killed the son of God, now see what she will do to you because of that sin!”

‫ ̇תם בקו יקולו‬.‫ מן אידין אלמלכא‬296‫̇יכלצוהם‬ ‫אלדי קתלתו אבן‬ ̇ ‫אלגוהלא להום יא כופרא‬ ̇ ‫בהדא‬ ̇ ‫תנצר איש תפעל פיכום‬ ̇ ‫אללה למא‬ .‫אלכטא‬ ̇

The Jews were in exceedingly great distress, crazy [= with fear], and they began in their confusion to look for a place.300 Then [one] of them left the group, and his name was Tanḥuma, and he was walking, crying, and praying to God, and he saw Judah the gardener who was mentioned earlier, standing and eating, relaxed. Rabbi Tanḥuma said to him, “The Jewish people are in sorrow, weeping and fasting, and you are eating and relaxed?!” The man said to him, “Why are the Jews observing a fast?”

‫עצימה קוי מלעובין‬ ̇ ‫ובקו ישראל פי שדה‬ ‫ וצארו יפתשו ען מכאן והם‬297‫בארואחהום‬ ,‫ מנהם ואסמו תנחומא‬298‫ ̇תם אנכרר‬.‫חאירין‬ .]‫[=אללה‬ '‫וצאר מאשי והו יבכי ויטלוב מן א‬ ‫אלמדכור סאבק‬ ̇ ‫אלכולי‬ ̇ ‫(!) יהודה‬ ‫פראה‬ ‫ פקאל להו רבי‬.‫ואקף יאכול והו מנשרח‬ 299‫תנחומא ישראל פי צער ופי בכא ותעשית‬ ‫אלרגול‬ ̇ ‫ואנתא בתאכול ומנשרח? פקאל להו‬ ?‫ב) תענית‬1( ‫עלא אייש אליהוד פי‬

He said to him, “Because of Yeshu, the one whom the Jews killed and buried. But his companions came and searched for him in the grave and didn’t find him, so they made it into a ruse against the Jews to get revenge on them because they killed Yeshu. We don’t know what happened, whether wild beasts ate him or if it’s a ruse against us by his companions. They went and complained about us to the queen. Then she sent for all the Jews, and said to them, ‘If there’s nothing in the grave, I will not leave a single one of the “enemies of

)!( ‫פי קאל להו עלא שאן י'ש'ו' אלי קתלו אלי‬ ‫ ̇וגו רפקתו יפתשו עליה פי‬,‫יהוד ודפנו‬ ‫ עמלוהא חיילה עלא אליהוד‬,‫אלקבר לם ̇וגדו‬ 301 )!( ‫לאגל יסתנקמו מנהום עלי שאן קבלו‬ ̇ ‫ פי אן כאן אכלו‬.‫ ולא נערפו אייש ̇גרא‬,'‫י'ש'ו‬ .‫אלוחוש או חיילה עלינא עמלוהא רפקתו‬ ‫בעתת‬ ̇ ‫ פי‬.‫(!) אשתכו פינא ליל מלכה‬ ‫וארחו‬ ‫ אן מא‬,‫ וקאלת להום‬,‫ורא כול אליהוד‬ ‫נכאלי מן שונאי‬ ̇ ‫ פי אלקבר לם‬302‫אלכקאשי‬ ‫מיגאל ̇כמסת‬ ̇ ‫ ואעטת לנא‬,‫ישראל אחדן‬

296  The vav here seems to be a scriptio plena transcription of a singular verb, rather than a plural verb. 297  I have not found this two-word phrase attested in dictionaries nor in Arabic speech, and have translated it as “crazy with fear,” which seems to me to be its intent. 298  While the manuscript clearly reads as transcribed, this verb is difficult to interpret here. It may be a miscopying of a similar-looking verb ‫ אנפרד‬, that occurred in this or an earlier transmission, and I have translated as such. The subject of the verb seems to be missing, and I have restored it in English. 299  The manuscript should be corrected to ‫תענית‬. 300 The somewhat strange expression “to look for a place” (to hide?) may be a scribal error. In a number of the Hebrew versions, the sages are described as “fleeing from place to place”; e. g., Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 173v: .‫והיו חכמים וכל ארץ ישראל בורחים ממקום למקום מרוב הפחד‬ 301  The manuscript should be corrected to ‫קתלו‬, and the subject is “the Jews,” mentioned in the previous phrase. This copyist or an earlier one may have rendered the verb as it stands, “accepted,” understanding the subject of the verb to be Yeshu’s followers. 302  This is likely a scribal error for ‫בקא שי‬, which is the reading preserved in RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005, f. 1r.

5. Sixteenth-Century RNL Manuscript

Israel”303 alive.’ She gave us a deadline of five days, and here, the fifth day has arrived, and we are in great sorrow, (not knowing) what to do.” That Jew, the gardener, said to the rabbi, “What I heard was his companions saying to each other, ‘Let’s steal Yeshu from […]’”

165

,‫(!) יום ואחנא פי צער גדול‬ ‫ ואדי ̇כמס‬.‫איאם‬ ‫ פי קאל ̇דול יהוד אלגייטאני‬.‫כייף אלעמל‬ ‫אלדי אנא סמעתו רפקתו קאלו‬ ̇ ,‫אלחכם‬ '‫אלבעץ תעלו חתא נסרקו י'ש'ו‬ ̇ ‫לבעצהום‬ ̇ ]…[ ‫מן‬

First Separation (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, ff. 120–25) Council of the Sages ‫ויצמאנו לו חיי‬ ̇ ‫אלדי יפעלוהם עליהם‬ ̇ ‫אלכאטייאת‬ ̇ ‫[…] אלמלאעין ויקבלו עליהם סאיר‬ )‫א‬120( ‫(!) וקאעדה ימשו עליהא וימנאעהום עאן אליהוד ועאן ̇דיל‬ ‫לדול יעמלהום דון‬ ̇ ‫ויטהר‬ ̇ .‫העולם הבא‬ '‫ ויבקא יקול להום ̇דא י'ש'ו‬.‫ עליהם ליל מלכה‬305‫ חרוב אלי כאנו לי מלאעין יפתש‬304‫קתל ואלפתן ולא‬ .‫וירגעהום לדינהום‬ ̇ ‫טאייב פי אלסמא חי ולא להו עון מן ̇דיל כופר אלי יכפרו‬

The Sages Charge Khidr with the Mission ‫ פי אראחו להו וקאלו להו‬.‫אלאכדר‬ ̇ ‫ ואחד שאטר פציח ועקלי ופהים ואסמהוא ̇כדר‬306‫ובעד ̇דלך להו‬ ‫ תעמל לנא אמר מעא ̇דיל מלאעין אן‬.‫תכלץ ישראל מן ̇דיל שדה‬ ̇ ‫אנך שאטר ופציח ועקל ופהים אנך‬ ‫וכאליהום‬ ̇ ‫ מעהום‬307‫ אעמלנא קאל‬.‫ב) מענא וביטלובו שרנא וירידו יקתלונא‬120( ‫ביתכ ̇דו‬ ̇ ‫כול סאעה‬ 308 ‫תכאף לאין טול מא אנתה קלבך מעא אללה לך חלק לעולם הבא אכטר‬ ̇ ‫ ואנתה מא‬.‫ימתנעו עננא‬ )!( ‫ותאכ ̇דו‬ ̇ ‫ לבית המקדש‬309‫ ואראחו‬.‫אלדי הום פייהא‬ ̇ ‫ותכלץ ישראל מן ̇דיל שדה‬ ̇ )!( ‫מא כובת‬ .'‫ י'ש'ו‬310‫לאגל מא יאמנו ביך זאי מא אמנו פיה‬ ̇ ‫ אללה יסאמחך מן ̇דיל עוון‬,‫אלשם ותכתובו ותעמל בו‬

Khidr Accepts and Begins His Mission ‫ ̇תום בעד ̇דלך‬.‫ואסתכדם בו‬ ̇ ‫ואכ ̇ד אלשם‬ ̇ '‫פי אסרע אלחכם לבית המקדש ועמל זאי מא עמל י'ש'ו‬ )!( ‫א) חתא נהאריכום‬121( ‫(!) ליל מלאעין וקאל להום ̇דא י'ש'ו' כבירי והוא ארסלני לכום‬ ‫ארח‬ 303  The use of this Hebrew antiphrasis when mentioning dangerous or lamentable situations that could befall the Jewish people is common in the BT and other rabbinic writings. 304  This should read ‫ואלחרוב‬. An identical mistake is found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1v. 305  The parallel text in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1v, reads ‫יפתס‬. This is another example of the interchange between s and sh. 306  The word recorded here is incomprehensible in context, and appears identically in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1v. The intended word may be ‫לאקו‬, “they found.” Another possibility is that a verb is missing and that ‫ להו‬is a usage of the dativus ethicus. On the dativus ethicus in Judeo-Arabic, see Blau, Emergence, 262. 307  The word ‫ קאל‬is clearly written in this manuscript as well as in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1v. This appears to be a mistake, and I assume that the correct phrasing would read ‫אעמל לנא‬ ‫ אמר‬as is found a few lines above. 308  The intent is ‫اكثر‬, “more,” where a velarized letter ṭet is substituted for an original thāʾ. I have not found an adequate explanation of this phenomenon. An identical transcription is represented in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1v. 309  This is not the literal translation of the verb form found in the original. The plural verb form ‫ אראחו‬is likely a mistake, an instance of linguistic attraction, and should appear as the dialectal imperative rūḥ, “go.” The same error is found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1v. 310  Expected ‫في‬. This mistake also appears in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 1v.

166

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

)!( ‫חיניד פרחו אלמלעין‬ ̇ .‫(!) צבר עלא י'ש'ו' ונוואריכום אלטריק אלטייבה ונמאשיכום פיהא‬ ‫ונדיכום‬ ‫כדא וצאני אני ננזל לכם ונהדיכום‬ ̇ ‫(!) והו‬ ‫(!) ענד אבוה אלי פי סמא‬ ‫עטים וקאלו להום‬ ̇ ‫פרחאן אן‬ 312 ‫אגר עבדו‬ ̇ ‫ להו‬311‫(!) ויחבני ויאמן בי ויכון‬ ‫וכדלך קאל לי כול מן יסמע כאלמי‬ ̇ ‫עאן אלי אנתו פיה‬ 313 .‫ויבקא מן נחייתי‬

To Avoid the Jewish Sabbath and Holy Days, in Favor of Sunday ‫ זאי מא‬314‫נצרתו באן אליהוד ובקהוני‬ ̇ ‫ אדי אנתו‬.‫(!) לכום‬ ‫אלדי נקלו‬ ̇ ‫יא אולאד אסמעו אלי אלכלאם‬ ‫ כולהום‬,‫ פי אנתו אכראהוהום ואתמנעו ענהום מן סבותיהם ואעיאדהום ומן אשהורהום‬.‫הום יכרהני‬ ‫ב) סבתהום יכון ענדכם חול‬121( ‫ אלא אקבלו כלאמי אני מוציכום באין יום‬.‫יבקו מכרוהין ענדכום‬ 315 .‫וסבתכום יכון אלחד‬

An Account of the Cross ‫ואיצא תעמלו להו‬ ̇ .‫ותסגדו להו‬ ̇ ‫מתל צורתו‬ ̇ ‫ואיצא בעד ̇דלך ווצאני י'ש'ו' באינכום תצאורו לו צורה‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלדי סמרו איידא‬ ̇ ‫ואלצרב ̇צרבו אליהוד ואלמסאמיר‬ ̇ ‫אלדי אצלבו אליהוד‬ ̇ ‫ אלצליב‬316‫תצוויראת‬ .)!( ‫תדכרו דייאמן‬ ̇ ‫וידכור במא ̇גרא להו ויבקא לכום‬ ̇ ‫ מן שאן יקבל עליהו‬,‫אלאתנין‬ ̇ ‫ורגליה‬ ̇

Accepting Mistreatment from the Jews ‫כדלך אנתו תקבלו עליכום כול שי‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלדי ערבו‬ ̇ )!( ‫אלדי ̇צרבוה ואלערב‬ ̇ ‫וזאי מא הוא קבל עליה‬ .‫אן יעמלו פיכום אליהוד‬

Not Marrying Jews and Not Harming Their Property 317

.‫תגאווזוהם לא סגיר ולא כביר מן אליהוד לא פי רזקוהם פי אנפסהום ולא ענדהום‬ ̇ ‫ולא‬

Consequences for Transgression ‫ ממנוע מן‬319‫ ויכון‬,‫ ואלי יעדי עלא ̇דיל כלאם יכון פי חרם ונדוי מן פום י'ש'ו' סידו‬318‫א) כלאם‬122( ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל‬ ̇ .‫עטים‬ ̇ ‫(!) אן‬ ‫ פלמא סמעו ̇דלך אלסמע פרחו פרחן‬.‫אגר‬ ̇ ‫̇דיך אלדניא ולא יכון להו‬ .‫להום כול מן יקתלו יהודי יקתל‬ 311  For sentences of this type, in which vav introduces the apodosis of a conditional form in Judeo-Arabic texts, see Blau, Grammar, 193–94. 312 The expected form would be ‫ ענדה‬or ‫ענדי‬, referring to Yeshu. The word appears in identical, apparently corrupt, form in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 2r. 313 The word intended here is likely nāḥiyah; see Blau, Dictionary, 685. 314 This word is unintelligible and appears in similar but not identical form in RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005, f. 2r. From the context it seems that the word for “hate” is expected, and the scribe may have intended to write ‫בכרהוני‬, using the colloquial ba- prefixed form of the verb. 315  This is a typical Egyptian usage for “Sunday”; see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 194. 316  For this word as “effigies, images” or “pictures,” see Lane and Lane-Poole, An ArabicEnglish Lexicon, 1755. 317  This text appears to be corrupt. The text preserved in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 2r–2v, is relatively similar and does not provide a solution to this issue. 318  This word is extraneous; it is not found in the parallel section in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 2v. It is possible that at one time the phrase used here was ‫ וכל אלי‬and became corrupt. 319 The scribe corrected a haplography here, with a line over the phrase ‫אגר פלמא‬ ̇ ‫ויכון להו‬ ‫סמעו ̇דלך‬.

‫‪167‬‬

‫‪5. Sixteenth-Century RNL Manuscript‬‬

‫‪Making Separate Houses of Worship‬‬ ‫חדאוהם אלא אעמלו לכום כניסה וחדכום‬ ‫תגי‪ )!( ‬תצלו מא תצאלו שי ̇‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום למא ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ותבקו מלה נצנייה‪ )!( ‬וחדכום‪.‬‬

‫‪Not Marrying Jews‬‬ ‫אווגו‪ )!( ‬בהם‪.‬‬ ‫תג ̇‬ ‫ואיצא קאל להום כול מן ירקוד מעא יהודייא ירוח ̇גהנם ולא ̇‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪Not Observing the Dietary Laws‬‬ ‫אלארץ‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי ירף עלא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואציא‪ )!( ‬קאל להום כול שי אן ̇כלק אללה פי אלאבוחר‪ )!( ‬ופי אלאנהור כול‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אגאייז‪ )!( ‬תכלוה‪.‬‬ ‫(‪122‬ב) יכון לכום ̇‬

‫‪Turning the Other Cheek to the Jews‬‬ ‫סכה מן ̇כד אלימין אעטי להו‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אן כאן אליהוד‪ )!( ‬יטלוב מן ואחד מנכום ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לאגל מחבת י'ש'ו' לאן כאנו אליהוד ̇יצרבו י'ש'ו' והו סאכת‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלסכה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואיצא יקול‪ )!( ‬להודי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלתאני‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לם כאן יתכלם שי‪.‬‬

‫‪Living in Separate Neighborhoods‬‬ ‫ואיצא קאל להום אתבעדו ענהום ולא תסכונו מעהום ולא פי חרתוהם‪ )!( ‬פי חרת‪ )!( ‬אלעברנייה‪)!( ‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫עלא שן אן עדו עלי בחר אלקולזום‪.‬‬

‫‪Not Reacting to Insults from Jews‬‬ ‫ואיצא קאל להום אזי בהרלכם‪ )!( ‬ואחד מן אליהוד אלא אסכותו ולא תרודו פי ̇וגההום ̇גאב‪ 320,‬אלא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫תקולו להו מא בידך חילה לאין אנא ראייח נכון אנא אחסן (‪123‬א) מן י'ש'ו'‪.‬‬

‫‪Khidr Sums Up the Conditions for the Christians‬‬ ‫חיניד תקבלו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫וביקול לכום אן כאן תרידו תקבלו מני תבקו חדא‪ 321‬פי גן עדן ויבקא לכום חלק זאיד‪.‬‬ ‫קאמו קאלו כולוהום נקבל עלינא סאיר מא תחכום פינא‪.‬‬

‫‪Khidr Goes to Yeshu’s Disciples in Tiberias‬‬ ‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אראח ̇דיל יהודי פי אלבלד טבריה וכאן יקול כול מן תבע י'ש'ו' ̇יגי לענדי‪ ,‬וכאנו ̇גו לענדו‬ ‫אלבעץ ̇וגו לענדו ואטוובו‪ 323‬לו‪ .‬עמל לוהום איאת‬ ‫̇‬ ‫בעצהום‬ ‫ולת מאיה ועשרה משארירו‪ 322.‬פי למו ̇‬ ‫אלת ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇‪.‬גואב ‪ The intent is‬‬ ‫תבקו ‪sentence is not entirely clear, due to the obscurity of the Judeo-Arabic phrase‬‬ ‫‪. I have translated so as to echo Jesus’ words in Luke 23:43 as well as what is found in‬חדא‬ ‫‪Leipzig BH 17, f. 14r:‬‬ ‫עוד גוזר עליכם שאם תרצו שיהיה חלקכם עם פלוני לעה"ב כל רעות שירצו לעשות עליכם היהודים שתקבלו‬ ‫הכל עליכם שכל הטובות שתוכלו לעשות להם שתעשו בכל עת ובכל מקום‪.‬‬ ‫‪322‬‬ ‫‪ I have not found this word attested in dictionaries, but it is clearly derived from the root‬‬ ‫‪.‬תשמידיו ‪, “bad.” In the Hebrew texts the dysphemism used is‬ش ّر‬ ‫‪323‬‬ ‫‪ This word is followed by a sign with two dots, like a colon, whose function is not clear.‬‬ ‫‪320‬‬

‫‪321 This‬‬

168

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

‫ איש אסמך‬324‫ וקאל להום‬.‫וכדלך אמנו בו‬ ̇ ,'‫בדלך אלשם המפורש ובקא יפעל זאי מא פעל י'ש'ו‬ ̇ ‫וברהאן‬ 325 .‫(!) מן אלערך ואלפתן‬ ‫ב) הדויו‬123( )!( ‫חנידי‬ ̇ .‫קאל להום אסמי אלאנפולו‬

Nestorians (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, ff. 120–25) Nestor Contradicts Al-Anpolī/Al-Anpolū ‫ פי ̇גמעהום נסתור וקאל להום איש קאל‬.‫ להום ואחד ואסמה נסתור‬326‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אלא וזוהור‬ ‫ ובעד ̇דאלך קאל להום נסתור איש קאל לכום‬.‫לכום אלאנפולו אנכום מא תטהרו ̇דא י'ש'ו' כאן מטהר‬ )!( ‫ אבן מרה אלא כאן הו נבי זאי אלאנבייא ופעל שי אלי לם יגרר‬327‫אלאנפולו אן הוא אבן אלאה ̇דא‬ .‫(!) יפעלהו‬ ‫אחרן‬ ‫לאגווזכום אן‬ ̇ )!( ‫(!) עטא רסתור‬ ‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אראח נסתור ליל נסוואן וקאל להום ̇דא אלאנפולי‬ ‫יתגאווז‬ ̇ ‫ אלא אנא נעמל מעכום ̇גמיל באין כול מן‬.‫(!) ענדוהם‬ ‫אלגואד‬ ̇ ‫יתגאוזו עליכום ותבקו זאיי‬ ‫ כבירה בין נסתור ובין אלאנפולי ולא בקת‬328‫ ווקאמת ערכה‬.‫וכדלך עמל‬ ̇ ‫א) מנכום עמרו לם יטלק‬124( .‫ יטיקו‬329‫רוגול ̇גבאר לם אחדן יגדר‬ ̇ ‫ ונסתור כאן‬.‫̇גמעת נסתור תקבל מעא ̇גמעת אלאנפולי‬

Nestor’s Execution ‫ ופי סאעת אן נטלע‬.‫נביד‬ ̇ ‫לגמעתו אנא ̇כטרי נעמל קרבאן לי'ש'ו' מן לחם ומן‬ ̇ ‫ נסתור‬330‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך‬ ‫נצרו אלנסוואן‬ ̇ ‫ פי למא‬.‫ חתי עמל אלקורבאן‬331‫אלקורבאן פי למא לישויהא ביעמל פי אלקרבאן טאטא‬ ‫בינצרו אן ביבהדל פיהום ויקול להם‬ ̇ ‫ לאין כאנו‬334,‫ קטעתין‬333‫ ווסאטוה‬332‫אכ ̇דו אלסוואטיר‬ ̇ ‫מטאטי‬ .)!( ‫ב) לי'ש'ו' הוא טאר ענד אבו אלי אלסמא‬124( ‫תעלו חתא נוואדו אלקורבאן‬

324  This should read )‫קאלו לה(ו‬. In the following phrase the scribe carried out a correction, marking out the phrase ‫ אסמי אלאנפולי‬for erasure. The phrase reappears in the following text, in the correct location. 325  The name of this figure, who appears as some version of the name “Paul” in Hebrew texts, has three variants in Judeo-Arabic texts – al-Anponī, al-Anpolī, and al-Anpolū – as discussed in section 1 of chapter 7. All of these variants are attested in the text that follows. 326 This word reflects a dialectal pronunciation of the word ‫ظهر‬, “appeared.” 327 A line was likely omitted here due to haplography because of the repeated word ‫דא‬, ̇ “that one” or “he”. See RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3r, which includes the missing phrase: “He is lying to you. He wasn’t the son of God, he was the son of a woman.” 328  For this word, see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 574. 329 This word is likely derived from the root q.d.r and appears below as well, in description of Nestor. The interchange of q and g in Judeo-Arabic texts, a phenomenon that commonly occurs in a number of Arabic dialects, especially among Bedouin speakers, is described in HassonKenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic,” 84–85. 330  The word ‫קאל‬, “said,” has been omitted here. 331  For this root as “to bow or lower (one’s head),” see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 540. 332  For the meaning of this specific weapon, see Badawi and Hinds, 412. 333  See the root ‫ سطط‬as “strike, hit” in Badawi and Hinds, 412. 334  This seems to mean “two blows.” The parallel rendering in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3v, reads ‫קמעתין‬, where the scribe appears to have written ‫ קטעתין‬and later changed the letter ‫ט‬ to a ‫מ‬.

‫‪169‬‬

‫‪6. BL Or. 10435, f. 18‬‬

‫)‪Final Separation (RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, ff. 120–25‬‬ ‫‪Introduction of Shimʿon ben Kefa‬‬ ‫ורוגול עאלם פי אליהוד ואסמהו רבי שמעון בן כיפא וכאן באש‪336‬‬ ‫אלמגנין‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫כום‪ 335‬בעד ̇דלך אלא ̇‬ ‫מוצע‬ ‫חגר בתאע יחזקאל אלנבי ע'א'ס' פי ̇‬ ‫וליס אסמהו בן כיפא עלא שן אן כאן דיאמן‪ )!( ‬ואקף עלא ̇‬ ‫תגי כל יום אליה ותקול להו כול יום אן ̇יגרא פי אלדוניא‪.‬‬ ‫אסמהו נהר כבר‪ .‬וכאנת בת קול ̇‬ ‫וכאן פי אלזמאן אלי כאן ̇דיל כרכבה ̇די‪ .‬ואסמהו כיפא ואלתרגום בתאע אלסלע כיפא‪ .‬וכאן פי ̇דלך‬ ‫למוצע‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלזמאן יגרו מנהו אלמלעין‪ )!( ‬המצרים‪ 337.‬פי למא ̇גא אוואן עיר‪ )!( ‬סוכות טלע ̇דלך אלחכם‬ ‫מתל‬ ‫נכלאי‪ )!( ‬שי ואחד ̇‬ ‫אלבעץ מא ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לבעצוהם‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ינצרו ויקולו‬ ‫יוסמא (‪125‬א) הר הזיתים‪ .‬טלע להו ובקא ̇‬ ‫הדא בין אליהוד לאין אזא קאעד מעהום ביתלף דיננא ויבטלו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪Recruitment of Ben Kefa as a Double Agent‬‬ ‫תגי לענדנא ואחנא נעמלו לך קימה וכבוד ̇דול‬ ‫פי אראחו אלמלעון‪ )!( ‬ליל חכם בן כיפא וקאלו להו ̇‬ ‫ואדכיל‪ )!( ‬פי דיננא‪ ,‬ונחנא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אליהוד‪ ,‬כול מא להום יקולו‪ )!( ‬אחנא כול מא לנא בנזיד‪ .‬תעלא ענדא‪)!( ‬‬ ‫נעמלך סידנא וכול שי אן תאמורנא‪ )!( ‬בהו נפעלהו‪.‬‬ ‫‪338‬‬ ‫אלדי יהוד‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫וכאלהום‪ )!( ‬פי אשתשארו‪ )!( ‬אלמלאעין ליקתולו כול‬ ‫פי מא רד להום ̇גאווב וסכת ̇‬ ‫אגתמע‪125( )!( ‬ב) ואראחו לענד בן כופא‪ )!( ‬ובכיו ואתחננו‪339‬‬ ‫בדלך פי ̇‬ ‫חיניד למא סמעו אליהוד ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לאגל‬ ‫ידכול מעהום פי דינהום ̇‬ ‫להו קודאמהו באין לם ̇יכאליהום יאסו‪ 340‬עלא אליהוד‪ ,‬ואלזמו‪ 341‬אן ̇‬ ‫חדתוהם‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מא ̇יכלץ אליהוד מן אלקתל ולא ̇יצייע מן שונאי ישראל‬ ‫נצר בן כיפא דלך אלשרה‪ )!( ‬אלי פיהא ישראל פי קאל פי נפסהו‪ ,‬ימות מאייה‬ ‫בעד ̇דלך פי למא ̇‬ ‫מתל בן כיפא ולא ימות סגיר מן ישראל‪ .‬פי ארח בין כיפא ליל קוסאסה‪ 342‬וליס‪ )!( ‬בבץ‪ )!( ‬בתועוהום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואיצא אן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫נדכול פי דינכום אליהוד מא אחדן מנכום יאסי‪ 343‬עליהום‪.‬‬ ‫וקאל להום‪ ,‬אן יכון תרידו אני ̇‬ ‫כאן תסמעו לכלמי‪ )!( ‬ולא אן‪]…[ ‬‬

‫‪6. BL Or. 10435, f. 18‬‬ ‫‪Introduction to the Manuscript‬‬ ‫‪This is a single folio of the TY Helene narrative containing 17 lines per page,‬‬ ‫‪in semicursive Eastern script. It can be dated to the sixteenth or seventeenth‬‬ ‫‪centuries. It includes the conclusion of the preface as well as Conception of‬‬ ‫‪335‬‬ ‫‪,‬תם בעד ̇דלך ‪ This is clearly a mistake; what is intended is the usual transition formula‬‬ ‫‪̇ as‬‬ ‫‪is found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3v.‬‬ ‫‪336‬‬ ‫‪ – high ranking official; see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian‬باشا ‪ The intent is apparently‬‬ ‫‪.‬בשא ‪Arabic, 49. RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3v, reads‬‬ ‫‪337‬‬ ‫‪, “Christians,” stemming from‬הנוצרים ‪ This is likely a corrupted rendering of the Hebrew‬‬ ‫‪a visual error equating the shapes of letters in Hebrew script. The word appears similarly but‬‬ ‫‪not identically in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3v.‬‬ ‫‪ or some similar variant.‬ליקטולו כול‪ )!( ‬אליהוד ‪338 The text is likely corrupt and should read‬‬ ‫‪The rendition in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 3v, is identical.‬‬ ‫‪339 On this verb, see Blau, Dictionary, 149.‬‬ ‫‪340 On this form, see Blau, 12, 314.‬‬ ‫‪341‬‬ ‫‪ with an affixed object pronoun.‬ואלזמוה ‪ This should read‬‬ ‫‪342 On this plural form for “priests,” see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 699.‬‬ ‫‪343‬‬ ‫‪ On this form, also attested in the previous paragraph, see Blau, Dictionary, 12, 314.‬‬

170

Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts

Yeshu. The folio contains a catchword linking it to JTS ENA 1726 (ff. 4–5), which is written in the same script and includes two additional folios of the narrative. Interestingly, certain codicological identifiers of the two sets of folios differ, an issue that I address in section 4 of chapter 5. The single folio preserved here does not include bold large letters for proper names or transitions, as found in the other fragment; nor does it include the punctuation resembling a colon which is frequently attested in JTS ENA 1726. This single folio of TY is collated together with a number of other literary creations, including midrashim and pseudo-historical narratives. These narratives appear in a variety of different scripts, and the compilation is representative of the contexts of preservation of TY Helene in the Near East during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; I discuss this phenomenon in chapter 5. Preface ‫כתיר‬ ̇ ‫יטהר לנא ען שדאיד‬ ̇ ‫אלדי פיה ויהי‬ ̇ ‫מוצע‬ ̇ ‫רגע לאן ענדנא כל‬ ̇ ‫ירגעוה ולא‬ ̇ ‫א) ואראדו אנהם‬1( )!( ‫(!) וזירי‬ ‫ ויהי בימי טבריאנוס קיסור ובימי הורודוס‬,‫מתל מא קאל‬ ̇

Conception of Yeshu ‫אלרגל מן נסל דוד המלך ע''ה וכאן אסמהו יוחנן וכאן להו אמראה חסנת‬ ̇ ‫פי ̇דיך אלאיאם כאן ̇טהר‬ ‫ וכאן‬.‫תלאמיד רבי שמעון בן שטח עא''ס‬ ̇ ‫(!) מרים וכאן ̇גוזהא ̇כאיף אללה וכאן מן‬ ‫אלמנטר ואסמהו‬ ̇ .)!(‫להו ̇גאר רשע ואסמהו יוסף פנדירא ואלרשע וכאן מפסוד וכאן דאימא עינו מא ישילהא מן אלנשא‬ 344 .‫רוג פסח‬ ̇ ‫אלמדכור וכאן פי חדש ניסן פי בעד ̇כ‬ ̇ ‫וחט עינו עלא ̇גוזת יוחנן‬ )‫ב‬1( ‫לאגל מא יקום ללישיבה‬ ̇ ‫ פקאם לילה מן אלליאלי‬.‫וכאן ̇דלך אלחסיד יקום ללישיבות פי אלליל‬ 346 ‫ ואנזבק אלי בית אלחסיד וקפל אלבאב ולם ביעלם אלמסכ[ין] אראח‬345‫והו ביגלק אלבאב אלא‬ ‫ודלך אלרש[ע] ̇גא לענדהא‬ ̇ ‫ללישיבה זי אלעאדה וכאנת מרים ̇גוזת יוחנן פי אלנדה והי בעידה ען ̇גוזהא‬ ‫הדא אלפעל מעי ולם‬ ̇ ‫ ליס תפעל‬349‫ ותקול אנא טמיא‬348‫ פיהא וכאנת תזעק‬347‫ואראד אן יסתפעל‬ ‫אלדי‬ ̇ ‫אלרגל‬ ̇ ‫בדלך‬ ̇ ‫רצי אן יפארקהא למא אסתפעל פיהא וה[י] בתחסב אנהו ̇גוזהא ומא להא עלם‬ ̇ .‫אסתפעל פיהא‬  These words ‫ פי אלנידה‬are marked for erasure in the text with dots.  I have described this presentative usage of illā wa- as a fixed feature of LMJAR in section 1 of chapter 7. See the examples from popular literature in the Firkovich collection discussed in Hasson-Kenat, “New Manuscripts in Late Judaeo-Arabic,” 113. See also Blau, Grammar, 32; Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 32. 346  This does not necessarily reflect the well-attested Judeo-Arabic phenomenon of the interchange of first-form and fourth-form verbs, but rather is a specific feature of Cairene JudeoArabic; see Blau, Grammar, 77; Blau, Dictionary, 263b. 347  This combination of verb and preposition appears here in the tenth form, but the phrase is attested in the first form in this meaning in colloquial Egyptian Arabic; see Badawi and Hinds, Egyptian Arabic, 663. 348  This verb is likely the colloquial second form, found in Egyptian Arabic; see Badawi and Hinds, 371. 349 On this word, which is unique to Judeo-Arabic and is influenced by Aramaic and Hebrew, see Blau, Dictionary, 408–9; Blau, “Arabic Lexicographical Miscellanies,” 177–79. 344 345

7. JTS ENA 1726, ff. 4–5

171

‫אלרגל אלרשע ובעד סאעה אלא ואלחסי[ד] ̇גא מן אלישיבה פקאלת‬ ̇ ‫פלמא אצבח אלנהאר הרב ̇דלך‬ ‫אלדי פעלתו‬ ̇ ‫הדא אלפעל‬ ̇ ‫(!) פקאל להו ̇גוזהא איש‬ ‫הדא אלפעל מעי‬ ̇ ‫ פעלת מעי‬350‫להו ̇גוזתו ליס‬ ]…[ ‫מעכי קאלת להו ̇גוזתו אללילה‬

7. JTS ENA 1726, ff. 4–5 Introduction to the Manuscript These two discontinuous folios were likely copied in the sixteenth or seventeenth century and contain 17 lines per page. The ink on the folios is quite smeared in certain sections, which causes difficulty in reading. The script is a professional semicursive Eastern script; square and larger script is used for the initial words of new sections and for proper names. The narrative is punctuated with doubled dots, resembling a colon, and this punctuation is sometimes used in unexpected locations; I have rendered the punctuation as it appears in the manuscript. Lines are justified by means of the first letter or two of the next line of the manuscript, or at times, a dash. Folio 4v is legible only with great difficulty due to ink smearing from the facing page. As noted above, f. 4r follows immediately from the folio of TY preserved in BL Or. 10435 (f. 18), and the script is highly similar, but a variety of codicological elements differ between the two fragments; I address this issue in section 4 of chapter 5. There are likely two folios missing between f. 4v and f. 5r. The folios are part of a five-folio booklet, in which the first three folios, in a different script, include sections of the polemic of Nestor the Priest in Hebrew.351 This literary context is entirely unique for the Near East (see chapter 5), and it is unclear how it came about. The first folio includes the final segment of the plot element Disclosure and a nearly full rendition of Birth and Childhood of Yeshu. The second folio contains the final segment of Stealing the Name and the initial section of Midrash on Stealing the Name. This element is truncated in the middle of this latter section, in the middle of the page, where the scribe simply stopped copying for some unknown reason. Disclosure ‫ חס ושלום יעני חאשא וכלא וכאן‬352‫א) אללילה רקדת מעי ואנא פי אלנדה פלמא סמע ̇גוזהא קאל‬4( ‫אלדי ̇גרא‬ ̇ ‫אלמוגרא‬ ̇ ‫וכלאהא ואראח לענד אלחכם בתאעו רבי שמעון בן שטח ע'ה' ואחכא להו‬ ̇ ‫סכת‬ .‫להו‬ 350  Another possible interpretation of this word is that rather than the Classical Arabic laysa, it is a colloquial rendering similar to le:sh (“why”) but with a North African s-sh interchange. 351  On this medieval polemical composition, see Lasker and Stroumsa, Polemic of Nestor. 352  A word is marked for erasure prior to this word, and strangely enough, so is the qof of ‫קאל‬.

‫‪Chapter 8: Late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic Recension – Texts‬‬

‫‪172‬‬

‫פקאל להו אלחכם רבי שמעון בן שטח ע'ה' איש יכון אלעמל עדים מא פישי אלא אכתבו ענדך למא‬ ‫ננצור אלחאל כיף יכון אלעמל‪ .‬פקאל אלחסיד לרבי שמעון בן שטח ע'ה' יא חכם אנא לם בקית‬ ‫̇‬ ‫כותר אלקהר‬ ‫ננצור אלאמר כיף אלחאל ומן ̇‬ ‫אגאמעהא למא ̇‬ ‫הדא אלמטבול ולא בקית ̇‬ ‫אכליהא תנטבל ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אכדו ̇דלך אלחסיד פמא תאקשי‪ 353‬אלבלד יקעד פיהא פהרב ̇דלך אלחסיד אלי בלד בוגדאד‬ ‫אלדי ̇‬ ‫וקעד וסכן פיהא‪.‬‬

‫‪Birth and Childhood of Yeshu‬‬ ‫אלמד חבלה וקרבת‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלכבר פי אלבלד באן מרים ̇גוזת אלחסיד יוחנן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פבעד איאם אנסמע (‪4‬ב)‬ ‫ללולאדה פולדת ולד ואסמתהו ישוע והיא אלמסכינה מא להא עלם מא בתחסב אלא אנהו מן ̇גוזהא‬ ‫אלדי אזנא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫קציית‬ ‫אלדי צאר מנהו מן ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלחקאני‪ .‬אחנא פי ̇דל מנעול יוסף פנדירא דאיר ביחכי ללנאס‬ ‫אלדי אתואלד הוא‪ )!( ‬אבני פלמא‬ ‫הדא אלולד ̇‬ ‫אלמד ובקא יקול ללנאס ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מע אלאמראה מרים ̇גוזת יוחנן‬ ‫סמעו אליהוד אנהו מן בר ישראל פקאמו עמלו לו מילה‪ .‬פכבר ̇דאלך אלולד ואראח אלכתאב ובקא‬ ‫אכתר מן דון אלאולאד בתוע אלכתאב לאן אולאד‬ ‫̇‬ ‫חריף שאטר קוי פאתעלם אלכתאבה ואלקראה‬ ‫אלכתאב לם כאנו יונחסבו קדאמהו‪]…[ ‬‬

‫‪Stealing the Name‬‬ ‫עוטם אלזעקה איש עמל אלנעיל י'ש'ו' מלעון כתב אלשם עלי ורקה ושק‬ ‫(‪5‬א) חתי יזעקו פיה וינסא מן ̇‬ ‫אלדי אתעלמו ובעד אן טלע‬ ‫וכייט עליהא ולמא ̇גא יטלע זעקו פיה אלסבועה ונסי ̇‬ ‫פכ ̇דו ̇‬ ‫פכ ̇דו וחטהא פי ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫‪354‬‬ ‫ואסתכדם בו א'‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי פיהא ̇דלך אלשם המפורש וקראה וערף מא פיה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פכ ̇דהו וטלע אלורקה‬ ‫שק ̇‬

‫‪Midrash on Stealing the Name‬‬ ‫אכ ̇דהו ואחד מן שבט‬ ‫אסדכדם‪ )!( ‬באן‪ 356)!( ‬כאן ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי‬ ‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך קבל מא סריק‪̇ 355‬דל נעיל אלשם ̇‬ ‫ואתנין אולאדה לאנהם כאנו סחרין הו ואלאדו‪)!( ‬‬ ‫דן ואסמהו‪ :‬צליה לאן בלעם אלנעיל כאן הרב הו ̇‬ ‫ואלתאני אסמו סמריס‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי אלוחד‪ )!( ‬אסמו אניס‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פלמא ̇טהרו‪ 357‬פי אלסמא פבקא מחתאר אלסייד פנחס‪ :‬ע'א'ס' פי אמר הו פקאם אלי אסמתו‪ :‬צליה‬ ‫ואסתכדם בהו וטאר ורא אלנעיל בלעם ואלדהו‪358.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אכ ̇ד ̇דל שם מן בית המקדש (‪5‬ב)‬ ‫אלדי מן שבט דן ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלכאמסה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫נצר בלעם אן צליה אבנו טלע וראה ללסמא אלסאבעה וכאן הבט לתחת אלסמא‬ ‫פלמא ̇‬ ‫כדא מחתאר פקאל צליה לפנחס מא ̇וגדתו שי‬ ‫וכאן זעק פינחס לצליה מן‪ ‬תחת וקאל להו מא לך ̇‬ ‫אלכאמסה‪]…[ ‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פקאל להו פינחס ̇דאך הובט מנך ללסמא‬

‫‪353‬‬ ‫‪) is corrupt.‬פמא תקשי אל בלד ‪ The text (here as well as in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 5r,‬‬ ‫‪Apparently what is intended is a phrase similar to the parallel rendering in a non-LMJAR frag‬‬‫‪, “He could not tolerate hearing‬ולא אטאק שי יסמע אלמעירה ‪ment, RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993, f. 1v:‬‬ ‫”‪this shame.‬‬ ‫‪354 The function of this letter or abbreviation is unclear.‬‬ ‫‪ as found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 is preferable here.‬סרק ‪355 The reading‬‬ ‫‪356‬‬ ‫אסתכדם בהו ‪ This phrase should read‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫‪as is found elsewhere in this version.‬‬ ‫‪ as found in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 is preferable here.‬טארו ‪357 The reading‬‬ ‫‪358‬‬ ‫‪ This word is not included in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005.‬‬

Appendix 1: Manuscripts Arranged by Plot Element This table provides an overview of the entirety of the manuscripts of the TY Helene narrative in Judeo-Arabic that I have identified that are dated between the eleventh and the seventeenth centuries. I have arranged the manuscripts in roughly chronological order, and I have grouped together those manuscript fragments that derive from the same original manuscript. Four plot elements are not represented at all in the fragments I have identified (Finding Disciples, Miracles, Flying Contest, Flagellation), but I include them in the left column of the table because of their significance in the TY Helene plot. I have added the plot elements that exist only in Judeo-Arabic (Midrash on Stealing the Name) and only in LMJAR and its Hebrew parallels (Transition-Recapitulation). Parallel sections of the plot are visible at a glance in this table; for Truth Revealed and First Separation, detailed textual comparisons are detailed in appendices 2 and 3, respectively. Note that BL Or. 10435 and JTS ENA 1726 may derive from the same original manuscript; see further in section 4 of chapter 5. The column labeled “16th-c. RNL MS” consists of the three discontinuous fragments RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550, RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014, and RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036 (ff. 120–125), which originally formed part of a single manuscript.

174 Fragment

Appendix 1: Manuscripts Arranged by Plot Element JTS ENA 3317.21

Approximate 11th dating, by century

CUL T-S NS 298.58

JTS ENA NS 32.5

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1033

CUL T-S NS 298.57 and CUL T-S NS 164.26

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

12th

12th–13th

12th–13th

13th

13th–14th

Preface

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1345

Conception of Yeshu

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Disclosure

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Birth and Childhood of Yeshu

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Heresies of Yeshu

JTS ENA NS 32.5

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Transition-­ Recapitulation

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Truth Revealed

JTS ENA NS 32.5

CUL T-S NS 298.57

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Excommunication of Yeshu

CUL T-S NS 298.57

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Stealing the Name

CUL T-S NS 298.57

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Midrash on Stealing the Name

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

(Finding Disciples, Miracles) First Trial

CUL T-S NS 164.26

Request

JTS ENA 3317.21 (end of element)

CUL T-S NS 164.26

Envoys

JTS ENA 3317.21

CUL T-S NS 164.26 (start of element)

175

Appendix 1: Manuscripts Arranged by Plot Element RNL Evr.- RNL Evr.- RNL Evr.- RNL Evr.- 16th-c. RNL MS Arab. Arab. Arab. Arab. II:1993 II:2035 II:1092 II:1343

RNL Evr.- BL Or. 10435 Arab. II:919

JTS ENA 1726

13th–16th

16th–17th

17th

14th–15th

14th–15th

14th–15th

16th

17th

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1343

BL Or. 10435

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1343

BL Or. 10435 JTS ENA 1726 JTS ENA 1726 RNL Evr.Arab. II:1993

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1993 RNL Evr.Arab. II:1993 RNL Evr.Arab. II:1993

JTS ENA 1726 JTS ENA 1726

RNL Evr.Arab. II:2035 (end of element)

176 Fragment

Appendix 1: Manuscripts Arranged by Plot Element JTS ENA 3317.21

Approximate 11th dating, by century

CUL T-S NS 298.58

JTS ENA NS 32.5

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1033

CUL T-S NS 298.57 and CUL T-S NS 164.26

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1345 and RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

12th

12th–13th

12th–13th

13th

13th–14th

Yehudah Learning the Name Second Trial

(Flying Contest, Flagellation) Escape

CUL T-S NS 298.58 (very end of Escape)

Return to Jerusalem, Betrayal

CUL T-S NS 298.58

Arrest of Yeshu

CUL T-S NS 298.58 (start of element)

Execution

Burial

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1033

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

First Separation

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Nestorians

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Final Separation

RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005

Finding of the Holy Cross

177

Appendix 1: Manuscripts Arranged by Plot Element RNL Evr.- RNL Evr.- RNL Evr.- RNL Evr.- 16th-c. RNL MS Arab. Arab. Arab. Arab. II:1993 II:2035 II:1092 II:1343

RNL Evr.- BL Or. 10435 Arab. II:919

JTS ENA 1726

13th–16th

16th–17th

17th

14th–15th

14th–15th

14th–15th

16th

RNL Evr.Arab. II:2035 RNL Evr.Arab. II:2035

RNL Evr.Arab. II:2550 (end of element) RNL Evr.Arab. II:2550 RNL Evr.Arab. I:3014 RNL Evr.Arab. II:1092

RNL Evr.Arab. II:1036 (ff. 120–125) RNL Evr.Arab. II:1036 (ff. 120–125) RNL Evr.- RNL Evr.Arab. Arab. II:919 II:1036 (ff. 120–125) RNL Evr.Arab. II:919

17th

Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed 1. Description of Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts A full description of these manuscripts and an annotated edition and translation of each can be found in chapters 6 and 8. The information included here is limited to what is relevant for the synoptic table. I do not include linguistic explanations of the Judeo-Arabic in the chart. For such linguistic observations, readers may refer to the annotated translation of each manuscript in chapters 6 and 8. – JTS ENA NS 32.5: This manuscript dates to the twelfth or thirteenth century. It contains the entire plot element, but is damaged and fragmentary. – CUL T-S NS 298.57: The manuscript dates approximately to the thirteenth century. It contains one folio, and begins in the middle of the plot element. – RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, ff. 6r–6v: The manuscript dates approximately to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It contains this plot element in its entirety. – RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993: The manuscript dates approximately to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. It contains this plot element in its entirety.

2. Description of Hebrew Manuscripts All transcriptions have been collated against the original Hebrew manuscripts. I have indicated corrections to readings found in the Mohr Siebeck database of texts via an asterisk at the end of the word. For readings that are surprising but correct, I have added the sign (!). – Ashkenazi A: Strasbourg BNU Héb. 3974, f. 170v. This subversion of Ashkenazi A was chosen because the rendition it preserves is closest to the Judeo-Arabic and Late Yemenite versions. – Ashkenazi B: This version is not included in this table because it is extremely detailed and seems to be sui generis in comparison to the other Hebrew versions. It requires a separate investigation, and in the case of this element, does not demonstrate any meaningful connection with the Judeo-Arabic versions. – Italian A: Leipzig BH 17, f. 3r.

Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed

179

– Italian B: This Hebrew version does not contain the element Truth Revealed, so it is not included in the table. – Late Yemenite A: Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 949, f. 354r. – Late Yemenite B: Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 472, f. 82r. – Late Oriental: Jerusalem Benayahu 25.4, f. 35v.

3. Guide to Markings and Terminology I have divided the chart into sub-elements which are labeled for ease of reference. “Not extant”: This section of the manuscript did not survive, so it is impossible to know whether or not the relevant section was present in the rendition of this plot element. Blank cell in table: The manuscript is intact, and this section is not present in this rendition of the plot element. Underlined text indicates an element that appears in different places in one or more versions; the parallel is noted in a footnote to the underlined section.

‫‪180‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Ashkenazi A‬‬

‫‪JTS ENA NS‬‬ ‫‪32.5‬‬

‫‪CUL T-S NS‬‬ ‫‪298.57‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab.‬‬ ‫‪I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.‬‬‫‪Arab. II:1993‬‬

‫‪Decision to examine Yeshu’s background‬‬ ‫ולא חת]י מן הו‬ ‫אלתלמיד‬ ‫וכששמעו החכמים‬ ‫כך אמרו הואיל‬ ‫ומעיז כל כך‬

‫[  חכמ]ים אן‬ ‫[  אלעל]מא‬ ‫ואלתורה‬ ‫[    ]‬ ‫[  כ]לאם‬ ‫ק[ביח?]‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫פלמא סמעו‬ ‫אלחכמים כלאמו‬ ‫וקבאחת ̇וגהו‬

‫נפשפש אחריו‪.‬‬

‫[   נער]ף מן הו‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫פקאלו לא בד נפתשו פאראחו ואחכו‬ ‫הדא אלרשע‬ ‫עלי ̇‬ ‫ללחכמים פסאלו ענהו‬ ‫וננצרו אצלו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלחכמים‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫פוגדו אנהו ממזר ובר‬ ‫̇‬ ‫נדה מן יוסף אלרשע‬ ‫אלדי ̇גא פי אלליל עלי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אומהו והי פי אלנדה‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫וכלאהא‬ ‫ואלחסיד הרב ̇‬ ‫עגונה* לאנהו עלם‬ ‫אלאמר ואראח‬ ‫לבוגדאד‪.‬‬

‫שלחו לאמו לאמר‬

‫בעתו‪ ]  [ ‬ב[י]ן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫[ידי] אלחכמים‬

‫פלמה‪ )!( ‬סמעו‬ ‫אלתלמידים ̇דלך‬ ‫אלכאלם‪)!( ‬‬ ‫אלדי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואלכפור‪)!( ‬‬ ‫קאלו מן פמהו‬

‫‪The sages call for Miriam‬‬ ‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫בעתו ורא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פענד‪)!( ‬‬ ‫אמו‬

‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אלא‬ ‫בעתו ורא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואלחכמים‬ ‫אומהו‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫וקאלו להא אנתי בנת‬ ‫ואו‪ )!( ‬מארה ומן‬ ‫תכוני‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫פקאלת להם אנא‬ ‫מן ̇דריית דווד המלך‬ ‫ע'א'ס'‪.‬‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫פקאלו להא איש‬ ‫אסמך קאלת להם‬ ‫אסמי מרים‪.‬‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫ומא אסם ̇גוזך פקאלת‬ ‫להם אסמהו יוחנן ואדי‬ ‫לאתין סנה והו גאיב‬ ‫̇ת ̇‬ ‫ארץ בוגדאד‬ ‫̇‬ ‫עני פי‬ ‫ואנא לם ראיתי‪.)!( ‬‬

‫‪181‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Late Oriental‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite B‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬

‫‪Italian A‬‬

‫וכששמעו חכמ'* בדבר כך כששמעו החכמים כך‬ ‫אמרו הואיל והעיז פניו כך שאומר הממזר מיד קמו‬ ‫פשפשו אחריו‬ ‫כל החכמים ונתקבצו‬ ‫יחד‪ ,‬ויספרו להם המרד‬ ‫והשמועות והכפירות שהיה‬ ‫אומר את הממזר‬ ‫והסכימו כולם ואמרו אנו‬ ‫חייבים לפשפש ולחקור עליו‬ ‫מי הוא אביו ומי הוא‪)!( ‬‬ ‫אמו ומה משפחתו ומה‬ ‫שמועתו באר היטב להוציא‬ ‫הדבר לאמתו‬ ‫ונתגלה המעשה הזה באזני‬ ‫כל העם והיו אומרים כך‬ ‫שמענו על אמו שזנתה תחת‬ ‫בעלה והממזר זה הרשע‬ ‫הוא בנו של יוחנן הנואף‬ ‫ואישה מפני הבושה ברח‬ ‫ואין אנו יודעים ממנו דבר‬

‫שלחו אחרי אמו‬

‫הלכו אצל אמו‬

‫שלחו אחרי אמו‬

‫אז שלחו כל החכמים בעד‬ ‫עמו‪)!( ‬‬ ‫ובאה לפניהם וישאלו לה‬ ‫בת מי את‬ ‫והיא אמרה ממשפחת דוד‬ ‫המלך‬ ‫וישאלו לה מה שמך ותאמר‬ ‫מרים‬ ‫ומי הוא בעליך אמרה להו*‬ ‫יוסף בן פאנדריא* ואן הוא‬ ‫אמרה הוא כמו שלשים‬ ‫שנה שנפרד ממני ולא‬ ‫ראיתיו עד הנה‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Ashkenazi A‬‬ ‫אמרי לנו ילד‪[ ‬זה‬ ‫מי]‪ 1‬היה אביו‪.‬‬

‫‪JTS ENA NS‬‬ ‫‪32.5‬‬ ‫קאלו להא‬ ‫[ ‪ ‬אל]צבי‬

‫פקאלת להם אבן‬ ‫ענתה ואמרה‬ ‫יוחנן‬ ‫נתעברתי‬ ‫כרג‬ ‫[  ] אח[ב]לני ̇‬ ‫מארושתי‪)!( ‬‬ ‫וכלאני ומא אערף‬ ‫ר'‪[ ‬יוחנן] והלך לבבל ̇‬ ‫[  ]‬ ‫ואיני יודעת מה‬ ‫עשה‪.‬‬ ‫השיבו לה‬ ‫לאמר‪] [ ‬ם הלא‬ ‫העידו עליו שהוא‬ ‫ממזר ובן הנדה‪.‬‬

‫פהודא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫קאלו להא‬ ‫אלחכמים‬ ‫[  ] ממזר ובן‬ ‫הנדה‪.‬‬

‫ענה ר'‪[ ‬שמ]עון בן‬ ‫שטח‬

‫פאגאב שמעון‬ ‫̇‬ ‫[  ]‬

‫‪CUL T-S NS‬‬ ‫‪298.57‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.‬‬‫‪Arab. II:1993‬‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫וסאלוהא‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫פקאלת להם‬ ‫האדא‪ ‬בן‪ )!( ‬רבי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫יוחנן ואנהו פי בבל‪.‬‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫פקאלו להא‬ ‫אלחכמים אן שהדו‬ ‫עליה אנו ממזר ובר‬ ‫הנדה‪.‬‬

‫‪182‬‬ ‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab.‬‬ ‫‪I:3005‬‬

‫‪Rabbis retell and quote from husband‬‬

‫לתין סנה ̇גא אלי‬ ‫היו[ם] ל' שנה שבא ̇ת ̇‬ ‫ענדי יוחנן‬ ‫ר' יוחנן ארושה‬ ‫לפני‪.‬‬ ‫אז‪[ ‬א]מר לי כך וכך וקאל‬ ‫אירע לי‪ .‬ספר כל‬ ‫[  ] לה מע‬ ‫מה שכתוב למעלה‬ ‫זוגתה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מזה‪.‬‬

‫פקאל רבן שמעון‬ ‫בן שטח‬

‫‪Not extant.‬‬

‫חד[י]תה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫[וחד]תני‬ ‫̇‬

‫פקאלו להא אלחכמים‬

‫מא תעלמי בן ̇גא הנא‬ ‫אעלמו מא ̇גרא לי‬ ‫אנא קאעד ̇דאת יום רבי יוחנן ̇גוזך‬ ‫אלא ̇וגאני ר' יוחנן‬ ‫וקאל לי אסמע מא‬ ‫תערף איש ̇גרא‬ ‫לי דהא אללילה‬ ‫דכל‪ )!( ‬אלא ̇גוזתי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פקאלת לי‪.‬‬

‫(‪6‬ב) וחכא לי‪)!( ‬‬ ‫באלקציה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אן לילה מן אלליאלי‬ ‫̇גית אקום ללישיבה‬ ‫ורדית אלבאב וכאן‬ ‫אלגאר בתאענא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואסמהו יוסף פנדירה‬ ‫וכאן דאמן חאטת‪)!( ‬‬ ‫באלו במראתי ולא‬ ‫אכ ̇דת פיה ולא אעטת‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ולמא ̇גית מן אלישיבה‬ ‫פקאלת אלי ̇גוזתי‪.‬‬

‫‪Husband retells wife’s words‬‬ ‫ואנה ראד‬ ‫[ ]וה אלנאס מע‬ ‫נסאהם דפעתין‬ ‫[ ] אנכרת עליה‬ ‫̇דלך וקאלת לה (‪1‬ב)‬ ‫כיף‪] [ ‬וגא‪] [ ‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫הדא אלעמלה‬ ‫איש ̇‬ ‫אלדי עמלתהא בי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואנא פי נדה ואנא‬ ‫אקול לך אבעד עני‬ ‫רצית תסמע‬ ‫ומא ̇‬ ‫מני‪.‬‬

‫איש דלילה אלי צאר‬ ‫מנך אלי רקדת מעי‬ ‫אלילה ואנא‪ )!( ‬מא‬ ‫בתעלם אלא אנא פי‬ ‫אלנדה‪ ,‬ואנא בקית‬ ‫נבכי ועייט ונקול מא‬ ‫הדא אלעמלה אל‬ ‫עמלתהא פי אללילה‪.‬‬

‫‪1 These words are illegible in the manuscript. The other subversion of Ashkenazi A has a dif‬‬‫‪ (Budapest Kaufmann A559, f. 1r).‬אמרי לנו מי הוא אביו של זה ‪ferent formulation:‬‬

‫‪183‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Late Oriental‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite B‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬

‫‪Italian A‬‬

‫ואמרו לה הודיעי אותנו‬ ‫בנך בן מי הוא‪.‬‬

‫אמרו לה מה טיבו שלנער אמ'* לה אמרי לנו ילד זה והנער‪ 2‬הזה בן מי הוא‬ ‫מי אביו‬ ‫הזה‬

‫אמרה להם בן רבי יוחנן‬ ‫בעלישהניח אותי מעברת‬ ‫והלך‬ ‫לו לבבל‪.‬‬

‫אמרהנתעברתי מארוסי‬ ‫יוחנן‬ ‫והלך לבבל ולא ידעתי‬ ‫מה עשה‬

‫אמרו לה העידו על בנך‬ ‫שהוא ממזר ובר נדה‪.‬‬

‫אותה שעה נענה רבי‬ ‫שמעון בן שטח ואמר‪:‬‬ ‫זוכר אני מה שהיה‪,‬‬

‫אמ' להם שמעון בן שטח‬

‫שבה‪ )!( ‬רבי יוחנן אצלי‬

‫וספר לי מה שאירע‬ ‫באשתו‪.‬‬

‫ענתה ואמרה מארוסי רבי א"ל בני הוא כי לקץ שלשה‬ ‫חדשים שנתעברתי* ממנו‬ ‫יוחנן נתעברתי בו והלך‬ ‫יצא והלך לו ולא ראיתיו עוד‬ ‫לבבל‬

‫העידו עליו שהוא ממזר‬ ‫ובן הנדה‪.‬‬

‫א"ל החכמים מעידים עליו‬ ‫שהוא ממזר ובן הנדה‪.‬‬

‫ענה ר"ש בן שטח ואמ'*‬

‫אז זכר ר' שמעון בן שטח‬ ‫ואמר אנא שמעו נא שזאת‬ ‫מרים אומרת על ענין יוסף‬ ‫בעלה אני רוצה להגיד‬ ‫אתכם איך היה הדבר אמת‬ ‫דבריה‬

‫היום ל' שנה שבא ר' יוחנן ואמר כן* הוא הדבר שזה‬ ‫שלשים שנה עברו בא לפני‬ ‫יוסף בעלה והיה הוא לומד‬ ‫עמי הלכה‬ ‫שח לי יוחנן כך וכך‪.‬‬

‫ואמ' לי אוי לי ר' מה אירע ויספר לי כי לילה אחת קם‬ ‫לי בזו* הלילה נכנסתי‬ ‫לבא לבית המדרש והיה‬ ‫אצל ארוסתי מרים‬ ‫שכנו יוחנן הנואף וכשידע‬ ‫שיצא יוסף מביתו והלך‬ ‫לב"ה מיד הלך הרשה‪)!( ‬‬ ‫ההוא ושכב עם זאת‬ ‫האישה פעם א' וב' והיא‬ ‫היתה בנדתה והיא לא ידעה‬ ‫דבר וחשבה בלבה שהוא‬ ‫יוסף בעלה וכשבא יוסף‬ ‫מבית המדרש ומצאה שהיא‬ ‫מקוננת ובוכה‬ ‫ושאל לה למה תבכה ולמה‬ ‫יירע בעיניך‬ ‫ואמרה לי מעולם לא היה ותען ותאמר ואיך לא אבכה‬ ‫לי מנהג כזה שתבוא אלי ולא אצעק ולא אהרוג את‬ ‫בלילה שתי פעמים ועוד‬ ‫עצמי כי התעללתי (!) בי‬ ‫אמרתי לך שאני נדה ולא ובהיותי נדה בלילה הזאת‬ ‫השגחת לי* ועשית חפצך באת עלי ב פעמים כאיש‬ ‫וחזרת פעם שניה‪.‬‬ ‫כופר בעיקר‬

‫‪ is missing. Other‬אמרו לה ‪2 In the transition between the two questions, the phrase‬‬ ‫‪representatives of Italian A include this phrase: Budapest Kaufmann A559, f. 6; and Parma‬‬ ‫‪2083, f. 52r.‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Ashkenazi A‬‬

‫‪JTS ENA NS‬‬ ‫‪32.5‬‬

‫[ומה] שהשיב ר'‬ ‫שמעון לר' יוחנן‪.‬‬

‫במן תת[המהא‪] ‬‬ ‫[  ]‬

‫‪CUL T-S NS‬‬ ‫‪298.57‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.‬‬‫‪Arab. II:1993‬‬

‫‪184‬‬ ‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab.‬‬ ‫‪I:3005‬‬

‫ולמן סמעת קולהא‬ ‫וכבלת‬ ‫אנדהשת ̇‬ ‫הדא‬ ‫וקלת פי עקלי ̇‬ ‫אלארור ̇גארנא‬ ‫אפתעל (‪1‬ב) פיהא‬ ‫בעלא ואלמסכינה‬ ‫חסבתו פי עקלהא‬ ‫אנה אנא‪.‬‬ ‫‪Rabbi gives advice to husband‬‬ ‫וק[לת ל]ה במן‬ ‫תתהמהא וקאל‬ ‫לי אנסאן‪]  [ ‬‬ ‫בגוא[רנא] כאן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫רגל פאסד ולא שך‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אנה אלפ[אעל]‬ ‫[פקל]ת לה אסכת‬ ‫תצפר בה מרה‬ ‫לעל ̇‬ ‫אכרי‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫פקל[ת ל]הו בתשהד‬ ‫פי מין קאל לי פי‬ ‫̇גארנא ̇דל רשע יוסף‬ ‫פנדירא פקלת להו‬ ‫אסכת לא בד יאתי‬ ‫אכר‬ ‫להא טריק ̇‬ ‫ותבת עליה בעידים‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪Husband flees to Babylon/Baghdad‬‬ ‫וכשנתעברה מרוב פסכ[ת  ]‬ ‫חרפתו‪[ ‬הל]ך לבבל אנהא‪]  [ ‬‬ ‫ולא חזר‪.‬‬ ‫מן אלבלד והר[ב‪] ‬‬

‫פסכת יוחנן‬ ‫זוגהא אלי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אן שאע ̇כבר‬ ‫זוג[תה באנ]הא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫חבלי מן זנות‬ ‫פאסתחא מן‬ ‫ר]ג‬ ‫וכ ̇‬ ‫אלנא[ס ̇‬ ‫מן אלבלד‪.‬‬ ‫והרב ̇וגא אלי‬ ‫[בגד]א[ד]‪.‬‬

‫וסכת ̇דלמסכין פענד ולא כלמהא אלחסיד‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇דלך אשתעל‬ ‫אלכבר ̇גוזה‪ )!( ‬פאראח‬ ‫אן מרים חבלה ולא ללחכם ואחכי לו‬ ‫אטאק שי יסמע‬ ‫ואראח הרב וסאפר‬ ‫אלמעירה והרב עלי לבוגדאד‪.‬‬ ‫ראסו אלי בבל‪.‬‬

‫‪Pronouncement – Miriam not guilty‬‬ ‫וזאת מרים ילדה‬ ‫ישו זה‬

‫ואסמת אסמה‬ ‫ישוע‪]  [ ‬‬

‫ואין עליה משפט‬ ‫מות שלא עשתה‬ ‫מדעתה‪ ,‬כי יוסף בן‬ ‫פנדירא רועה זונות‬ ‫כל היום‪.‬‬

‫̇‬ ‫הדה‬ ‫הדה מא ילזמהא שי ומרים ̇‬ ‫ל[אנה]א‪]  [ ‬‬ ‫מא ילזמהא‬ ‫זוגהא פי ̇דלך‬ ‫ליס ̇‬ ‫שי לאנהא מא‬ ‫אלוקת‬ ‫ערפת אנה ליס‬ ‫זוגהא פי ̇דלך‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלוקת‪.‬‬

‫[ו]הדה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מרים‪[ ‬ו]לדתה‬ ‫ו[א]סמתה‬ ‫[יה]ושע באסם‬ ‫אכוהא‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫והדיל אלמרה‪)!( ‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מא ילזמהא אלקתל‬ ‫לאנהא חסבתו‬ ‫̇גוזהא ומא עליהא‬ ‫עידים‪.)!( ‬‬

‫‪185‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Late Oriental‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite B‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬

‫‪Italian A‬‬

‫כששמעתי כך נבהלתי‬ ‫ואמר לי יוסף הנ"ל איך‬ ‫ויצאתי ואמרתי אוי לי מה הבין הענין כי יוחנן הרשע‬ ‫עלתה לי איש אחר נכנס עשה המעשה כי שם עליה‬ ‫אליה וזנה אותה* בנדתה עינו שהיתה בעלת חן ויפה‬ ‫וחשבה העניה בלבה‬ ‫שאני הוא‬

‫אמרתי לו בני במה* אתה‬ ‫חושדה* אמר לי הבחור‬ ‫משכני* ושמו יוסף בן‬ ‫פנדירא והוא רודף אחר‬ ‫הזמה‪ .‬אמרתי לו יש‬ ‫לך עדים אמ'* לי לאו‬ ‫אמרתי לו אם כן שתוק‬ ‫לעצמך אם נכנס פעם‬ ‫אחת אכנס‪ )!( ‬פעם שנייה‬ ‫והזהר והעמד עדים שתק‬ ‫ויצא‬

‫ושמע קול שאומ'* שמרים וראיתי רצון יוסף הנזכר‬ ‫זו מעוברת היא כששמע שהיה בדעתו ללכת לבבל‬ ‫ארוסה הלך לבבל מרוב* ולברוח מפני הבושה וכן‬ ‫חרפתו ולא חזר‪.‬‬ ‫הלך ולא חזר‬

‫ומרים ילדה את ישו‬

‫ועתה זאת האשה אינה‬ ‫חייבת מיתה מפני שהיא‬ ‫אנוסה‪.‬‬

‫אמרו חכמ' מה נעשה‬ ‫באשה אמ' שמעון אינה‬ ‫חייבת כלום שלא עשתה‬ ‫ענייה לדעתה‬

‫והיא אין עליה משפט‬ ‫מות‪.‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Ashkenazi A‬‬

‫‪JTS ENA NS‬‬ ‫‪32.5‬‬

‫וכיון ששמעה מר'‬ ‫שמעון שאין לה‬ ‫משפט מות ענתה‬ ‫גם היא ואמרה כן‬ ‫המעשה והודית‪.‬‬

‫פל[מא ]‬ ‫כלאם שמעון בן‬ ‫שטח ̇כאפת‬

‫‪CUL T-S NS‬‬ ‫‪298.57‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.‬‬‫‪Arab. II:1993‬‬

‫‪186‬‬ ‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab.‬‬ ‫‪I:3005‬‬

‫‪Miriam explains/confesses‬‬ ‫פלמא סמעת‬ ‫מרים כלאם ר'‬ ‫שמעון בן שטח‬ ‫̇כאפת ופזעת‪.‬‬

‫פלמא סמעת אן מא פלמא פרג אלחכם‬ ‫ילזמהא קתל קרת‬ ‫מן כלאמו‪ .‬פקאלת‬ ‫וקאלת להם נעם‬ ‫להם אלמראה נעם‬ ‫האכדא ̇גרא לי‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫צדר מני אלאמר ואנא‬ ‫יסיידי חסבי אנהו ̇גוזי‬ ‫בדלך אלא‬ ‫ולא בעלם ̇‬ ‫̇דולקת‪.‬‬

‫‪Rabbis ask Miriam about the identity of the rapist‬‬ ‫[ ]‬ ‫אלחאצרין אן כנתי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫תערפי מ[ ]‬ ‫פקולי להם מן הו‪.‬‬

‫פקאלו להא‬ ‫אלחאצרין אן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫כנתי תערפי מן‬ ‫אלרגל‬ ‫̇‬ ‫הדא‬ ‫הו ̇‬ ‫אלטמא פקולי‬ ‫לנא מן הו‪.‬‬

‫פקאלו להא‬ ‫אלחכמים אנתי‬ ‫אלדי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלשכץ‬ ‫̇‬ ‫תערפי‬ ‫חמלתי מנו‪.‬‬

‫פקאלת להם‪ ] [ ‬לי פקאלת להם‬ ‫אן יוסף בן פנדירא בעד אלפעל‬ ‫ה[ ]‬ ‫תביין לי אנה‬ ‫(‪1‬ב) יוסף בן‬ ‫פנדירה‪.‬‬

‫פקאלת להם ענד‬ ‫מא מסכני אול מרה‬ ‫חסבתו ̇גוזי ולמא‬ ‫מסכני ̇תאני מרה‬ ‫תחקקת אנו יוסף‬ ‫וכאן אלפעל מנהו‬ ‫באלגצב עני‪.‬‬

‫רגת‬ ‫פכ ̇‬ ‫מן בין ידיהם ̇‬ ‫[פא]דנו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מן‪] [ ‬‬ ‫להא‪[ ‬באל]‬ ‫[רו]ג מ[ן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇כ‬ ‫בין י]דיהם‬ ‫[ר]גת מן בין‬ ‫פכ ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ומצת‪.‬‬ ‫ידיהם ̇‬

‫פאסאבוהא‬ ‫אלחכמים ואראחת‪.‬‬

‫‪Excommunication of Yeshu‬‬

‫‪187‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Late Oriental‬‬

‫כשראתה מרים כי היא‬ ‫פטורה מן המיתה‪ ,‬אמרה‬ ‫להם האמת שאני לא‬ ‫ידעתי בעצמי שהיה יוסף‬ ‫פנטירה שוכב עמה‪)!( ‬‬ ‫וספרה להם כל הענין‬ ‫ואח"כ אמרה להם גדול‬

‫‪Late Yemenite B‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬

‫כיון ששמעה שלא חייבוה מיד ענתה‪ ‬ואמרה*‪ ,‬וכך‬ ‫היה המעשה‪.‬‬ ‫מיתה הגידה להם הדבר‬ ‫ואמרה נגלה לי‬ ‫הדבר אחר כך שהוא יוסף‬ ‫בן פונדירא‪.‬‬

‫עוני מנשוא ונודע להם‬ ‫שהוא ממזר ובר נדה‪.‬‬

‫‪Italian A‬‬

‫עוד אמרה היא רבותי כן‬ ‫היה הדבר וכן עבר המעשה‬ ‫וכן היה ועד הנה לא ידעתי‬ ‫ולא נגלה לי העניין הזה ירא‬ ‫ה' וישפוט הוא יריב את‬ ‫ריבי וידון את דיני כי מעולם‬ ‫לא בהרהור ולא במחשבה‬ ‫לא עלתה על לבי לעשות‬ ‫עברה הזאת ואני חשבתי‬ ‫שהייתי נקייה ועתה נמצאתי‬ ‫טמאה ובעלי נפסד ובני‬ ‫ממזר אוי לי‬ ‫אז אמר ר שמעון בן שטח‬ ‫לזאת הענייה אין לה משפט‬ ‫מות‪3‬‬

‫אמרו לה חכמ'*‪ ,‬תדעי מי‬ ‫הוא הבחור‪.‬‬

‫ענתה ואמרה‪ ,‬לאחר‬ ‫המעשה נתברר לי שיוסף‬ ‫בן פנדירא הוא‪.‬‬

‫ונודע הדבר לחכמים ורצו‬ ‫להרגו לפי שהיה מורא‪)!( ‬‬ ‫הלכה לפני רבו‪.‬‬

‫אז הסכימו כל החכמים‬ ‫להורגו בחנק מפני שהיה‬ ‫מורה הלכה לפני רבו ומדבר‬ ‫דברים כלפי מעלה‬

‫‪3‬‬ ‫‪ In all other versions represented here, the pronouncement that Miriam is not guilty appears‬‬ ‫‪in the previous sub-element.‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Ashkenazi A‬‬

‫‪JTS ENA NS‬‬ ‫‪32.5‬‬

‫‪CUL T-S NS‬‬ ‫‪298.57‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.‬‬‫‪Arab. II:1993‬‬

‫‪188‬‬ ‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab.‬‬ ‫‪I:3005‬‬ ‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אלא‬ ‫בעתוה‪)!( ‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואלחכמים‬ ‫ורא יוסף פנדירא‬ ‫אלמפסוד ומסכוה‬ ‫̇וצרבוה ̇צרב אלמות‪.‬‬

‫אלחכמים קד‬ ‫פקאלו‬ ‫תביין אלאן ל[ ]‬ ‫אלחכמים קד‬ ‫נ[י]דה ממזר כי היא תביין אלאן‬ ‫אשת‪[ ‬איש‪.] ‬‬ ‫לנא אנה ממזר‬ ‫בן נדה ממזר‬ ‫כי היא אשת‬ ‫איש ובן נדה כי‬ ‫היתה נדה‪.‬‬

‫ואעתרפת בו אלנאס‬ ‫אנהו ממזר ובר נדה‪.‬‬

‫ואקלבו אסמהו אלי‬ ‫כאן ישוע וסמוה י'ש'ו'‬ ‫דת‪ )!( ‬י'ש'ו'‪.‬‬

‫בעת‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך‬ ‫אלחכם ורא אלחסיד‬ ‫יוחנן ̇וגא מן בוגדאד‬ ‫ואעטא גט אלאמראה‬ ‫לאנהא חורמת עליה‪.‬‬ ‫)‪Stealing the Name (introductory segment‬‬ ‫ואחר‬ ‫שנתפרסם‪[ ‬הד]בר‬ ‫על ישו כי אומרים‬ ‫לו ממזר ובן הנדה‬ ‫וחייבו לו מיתה יצא‬ ‫ויברח לירושלם‪.‬‬

‫פלמן סמע י'ש'ו'‬ ‫כלאמהם אין‪)!( ‬‬ ‫הדא אלאמר‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אשתהר פי אלבלד‬ ‫אנהו אבן קחבה‬ ‫וממזר ובר הנדה אן‬ ‫אגל‬ ‫לזמה אלקתל מן ̇‬ ‫בחצרה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אנהו תכלם‬ ‫אלחכמים ופאלחין‬ ‫מצא אלא ירושלם‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫אלא ואללעין י'ש'ו'‬ ‫הדא‬ ‫ולמא סמע ̇‬ ‫אלכלאם הרב ואראח‬ ‫אל טבריא ומן טבריא‬ ‫אראח לירושלים ודאר‬ ‫פי ירושלים‪.‬‬

‫‪189‬‬

‫‪Appendix 2: Sample Synoptic Chart – Truth Revealed‬‬ ‫‪Late Oriental‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite B‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬

‫‪Italian A‬‬

‫ואז החרימו חרם בישראל‬ ‫שלא יקראו עוד שמו יהושע‬ ‫אלא ישו כלומר בנוטרייקון‬ ‫ימח שמו וזכרו וכן קראוהו‬ ‫משם ואילך בזה השם‬

‫וברח לירושלים‬

‫כיון ששמע הבן שהודת‪ )!( ‬כיון ששמע שנתפרסם‬ ‫הדבר שזנתה אמו והוא‬ ‫אמו חייבוהו מיתה‬ ‫ממזר ובן נדה וחייבוהו‬ ‫גלה לבית המקדש‪.‬‬ ‫מיתה על שהורה הלכה‬ ‫בפני רבו‪ ,‬מיד יצא וברח‬ ‫לירושלם‬

‫וכשמעו שנתפרסם הדבר‬ ‫שהיה ממזר ובן הנדה‬ ‫ושזנתה אמו תחת בעלה‬ ‫ושחייבוהו מיתה רעדה‬ ‫אחזתהו ומיד ברח מטברייא‬ ‫והלך לירושלם‬

‫אז תפשו ישראל את יוחנן‬ ‫הנואף והרגוהו על ענין זה‬ ‫שעשה המעשה והורה בפני‬ ‫ב"ד‪ 4‬וע"כ אז"ל הודאת‬ ‫פיו בפני ב"ד במאה עדים‬ ‫דמיא ומרים נשארה בביתה‬ ‫וישלחו לבבל לדעת אמתת‬ ‫הדבר מפי בעלה ונודע כי‬ ‫על זה הלך לבבל‪5.‬‬

‫‪4‬‬ ‫‪ There is a parallel description of the killing of the adulterer in the Judeo-Arabic RNL Evr.‬‬‫‪Arab. I:3005, in the previous sub-element.‬‬ ‫‪5 There exists a partial parallel to this plot item about communicating with the absent hus‬‬‫‪band in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, in the previous sub-element.‬‬

Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation This chart presents a synoptic comparison of the three Judeo-Arabic manuscripts that include First Separation, along with the two most relevant Hebrew versions. I have divided this lengthy plot element up into sections to make the parallels between the manuscripts easily apparent. The rendition found in RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 presents this plot element in a unique and distinct way, and I discuss this in detail in section 1 of chapter 2.

1. Description of Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts A full description of these manuscripts and an annotated edition and translation of each can be found in chapters 6 and 8. The information included here is limited to what is relevant for the synoptic table. I do not include linguistic explanations of the Judeo-Arabic in the chart, nor do I mark unexpected forms. For such linguistic observations, readers may refer to the annotated translation of each manuscript in chapters 6 and 8. – RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, ff. 1v–3r: The manuscript dates approximately to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It contains this plot element in its entirety. The name of the secret agent is Khidr al-Akhdar. – RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036, ff. 120r–123v: The manuscript dates approximately to the sixteenth century. The text is almost identical to that found in RNL Evr.Arab. I:3005. The name of the secret agent is Khidr al-Akhdar. – RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092: The manuscript dates approximately to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The name of the secret agent is Eliyah, in an alternate rendering of the usual Eliyahu that is found in Hebrew versions of TY Helene.

2. Description of Hebrew Manuscripts All transcriptions have been collated against the original manuscripts. I have indicated corrections to what is found in the Mohr Siebeck database of texts via an asterisk at the end of the word. In instances of readings that are surprising but which correctly reflect the manuscript text, I have added the sign (!).

Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation

191

This table includes the two Italian A versions that are most closely related to LMJAR, Italian A1a, which is the most similar, and Italian A1b, which is slightly less similar. I have not included other Hebrew versions that are similar to the single folio fragment RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 and are noted in chapter 2. The other Italian A versions also include this unit (barring Italian A2, which ends with Yeshu’s burial), but are demonstrably less similar to LMJAR. Italian A3 contains most of the elements found in A1, but is missing key elements that point up the connection between LMJAR and Italian A1 (for example, Eliyahu going to the Temple in Jerusalem to learn the Ineffable Name). The Italian A4 version retells the episode in indirect speech with summaries of dialogue. It further omits one of the central elements of this unit, the new commandments inaugurated by Eliyahu. – Italian A1a: Leipzig BH 17, ff. 12v–14r. – Italian A1b: Budapest Kaufmann A559, ff. 34–40.

‫‪192‬‬ ‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫לדול יעמלהום דון וקעאדה‬ ‫ויטהר ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לדול יעמלהום דון‪ ‬וקאעדה‬ ‫ויטהר ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ימשו עליהא‪ ,‬וימנאהום עאן‬ ‫ימשו עליהא וימנאעהום עאן‬ ‫אליהוד ועאן ̇דיל קתל ואלפתן ולא אליהוד ועאן ̇דיל קתל ואלפתן ולא‬ ‫חרוב אלי כאנו לי מלאעין יפתס‬ ‫חרוב אלי כאנו לי מלאעין יפתש‬ ‫עליהום לילמלכא‪ ,‬ויבקא יקול‬ ‫עליהם ליל מלכה‪ .‬ויבקא יקול‬ ‫להום ̇דא י'ש'ו' טאייב פי אלסמא להום ̇דא י'ש'ו' טאייב פי אלסמא‬ ‫חי‪ ,‬ולא להו עון מן ̇דלך אלכופר‬ ‫חי ולא להו עון מן ̇דיל כופר אלי‬ ‫וירגעהום לידנהום‪.‬‬ ‫אלי יכפרו ̇‬ ‫וירגעהום לדינהום‪.‬‬ ‫יכפרו ̇‬

‫לינצורולהם ואחד מהום שאטר‬ ‫̇‬ ‫(‪120‬א)‪ ]…[ ‬אלמלאעין ויקבלו‬ ‫ויכ ̇‬ ‫וחאדק ועאקל‪ ,‬וייוואלו ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלכאטייאת‬ ‫̇‬ ‫רגו מן עליהם סאיר‬ ‫ויצמאנו לו חיי‬ ‫מלת ישראל אלא מלת אלמלאעין‪ ,‬יפעלוהם עליהם ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ויקבלו עליהם סאיר‬ ‫אלכאטייאת העולם הבא‪.‬‬ ‫ויצמאנו לו‬ ‫אלדי יפעלוהום עליהם‪̇ ,‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫חיי העולם הבא‪.‬‬

‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך אסתשארו אליהוד‬ ‫אלבעץ‬ ‫̇‬ ‫בעצהום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מעא‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫ואמרו‬

‫ואמר אחד לחבירו‬

‫נבחר חכם אחד שיוציא הפריצים‬ ‫האלה מתורתנו ושגם הוא יצא‬ ‫עמהם וחטאו נישא עלינו ונתחייב‬ ‫(‪ )35‬נפשנו בחרם ונדוי לסבול‬ ‫עלינו עונו כדי שיהיה לנו השקט‬ ‫ושלוה ולא נובד ולא נהרג יותר‪.‬‬

‫נבחר ממנו חכם אחד שיוציא‬ ‫הפריצים הללו מכלל ישראל וגם‬ ‫הוא יוצא עמהם ועונו נסבול עלינו‬ ‫על צוארינו ונחייב עצמנו ונפשנו‬ ‫בחרם ובנדוי לקבל עלינו עונשו‬ ‫בעבור שיהיה לנו מנוחא‪ )!( ‬ולא‬ ‫נחרב ונהרג יחד‪.‬‬

‫כבר ל' שנים שנהרג יש"ו ולא‬ ‫הרי היום ל' שנה שנהרג פלוני ולא‬ ‫היה לנו השקט ומנוחה וזה ארע‬ ‫היה לנו מנוחה והשקט והקושיא‬ ‫בעוונותינו הרבים כי ק' פורע לנו עדיין במקומה עומדת מרוב‬ ‫בשביל כמות גדול‪ )!( ‬של עוונותינו עוונותינו שרוצה ה' ליפרע מעוון‬ ‫ועוונות אבותינו וזוכר מהדבור‬ ‫אבותינו וזכר למאמרו שאמר‬ ‫שאמר הם קנאוני בלא אל כעסוני הכתוב הם קנאוני בלא אל כעסוני‬ ‫בהבליהם ואני אקניאם בלא עם‬ ‫בהבליהם ואני אקניאם בלא עם‬ ‫בגוי נבל אכעיסם ואמרו החכמים בגוי נבל אכעיסם ואמרו החכמים‬ ‫עד מתי יהיה זה לנו למוקש‬ ‫עד מתי נסבול העול הקשה עלינו‬ ‫שיהרגו אותנו אלו הפריצים‬ ‫ושיהרגו איש את אביו‬

‫ואמרו‬

‫כאשר ראו זה החכמים נתיעצו‬

‫‪Council of the sages‬‬

‫כיון שראו חכמים כך נתקבצו‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪193‬‬

‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫ואראחו לבית המקדש‬ ‫ותאכ ̇דו אלשם ותכתוב‬ ‫̇‬

‫ואראחו לבית המקדש‬ ‫ותאכ ̇דו אלשם ותכתובו‬ ‫̇‬

‫ואתה צריך שתלך לבית המקדש‬ ‫ותלמוד השם המפורש‬

‫ואתה צריך שתלך לב"ה לאבן‬ ‫שתיה ותלמוד משם השם המפורש‬

‫וכאליהום‬ ‫אעמלנא‪ ,‬קאל מעהום ̇‬ ‫תכאף‬ ‫יתמנעו עננא‪ .‬ואנתה מא ̇‬ ‫לאין טול מא אנתה קלבך מעא‬ ‫אללה לך חלק לעולם הבא אכטר‬ ‫ותכלץ ישראל מן ̇דיל‬ ‫מא כונת‪̇ ,‬‬ ‫אלדי הום פייהא‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫שדה‬

‫וכאליהום‬ ‫אעמלנא קאל מעהום ̇‬ ‫תכאף‬ ‫ימתנעו עננא‪ .‬ואנתה מא ̇‬ ‫לאין טול מא אנתה קלבך מעא‬ ‫אללה לך חלק לעולם הבא אכטר‬ ‫ותכלץ ישראל מן ̇דיל‬ ‫מא כובת ̇‬ ‫אלדי הום פייהא‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫שדה‬

‫על כן כל ישראל גוזרים עליך‬ ‫על כך כל ישראל גוזרים עליך‬ ‫שתבקש אומן לתשועתינו וצריך‬ ‫שתכף תלך להצילנו מיד התועים‬ ‫שתרמה אותם ותוציאם מתורת‬ ‫וטועים האלה ושתלך להטעותם‬ ‫ישראל וכן ג"כ אתה תהיה עמם‬ ‫ולמוציאם‪ )!( ‬מכלל ישראל וגם כן‬ ‫בפה ולא בלב ואנו מקבלים עלינו אתה עמהם בפה ולא בלב ואנחנו‬ ‫בחרם לקבל עלינו כל עונותיך לפני מקבלים עלינו בחרם ובנידוי לחייב‬ ‫ק' על ענין זה‬ ‫עצמנו עליך ושנקבל כל עונשך‬ ‫(‪13‬א) על ענין זה לפני השי"ת‬

‫אנך שאטר ופציח ועקל ופהים‬

‫אנך ̇‬ ‫תכלץ ישראל מן דיל שדה‪.‬‬ ‫תכלץ ישראל מן שדא ותעמל אנך ̇‬ ‫לנא אמר מעא ̇דיל מלאעין‪ ,‬אן‬ ‫תעמל לנא אמר מעא ̇דיל מלאעין‬ ‫̇‬ ‫כול סאעה‬ ‫ביתכ ̇דו (‪120‬ב)‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ביתכ ̇דו מענא וביטלבו אן כול סאעה‬ ‫שרנא וירידו יקתלונא‪.‬‬ ‫מענא וביטלובו שרנא וירידו‬ ‫יקתלונא‪.‬‬

‫ובחרו ביניהם חכם א' שנקרא‬ ‫אליהו ואמרו לו‬

‫ובחרו כולם בחכם א' ושמו אליהו‬ ‫ואמרו לו‬

‫‪Appointing the secret agent‬‬

‫כלנו גזרנו יחד עליך שתהא‬ ‫כולנו הסכמנו בהסכמה א' עליך‬ ‫מושיענו כי אתה יודע את כל‬ ‫שתהיה לנו לגואל כי אתה יודע‬ ‫הצירות והרעות שעברו עלינו‬ ‫הצרות שבאו על ישראל בזמן‬ ‫מזמן יש"ו עד עתה ואין לנו מנוחה פלוני עד היום ואין לנו מנוחה עם‬ ‫מתשמידיו‬ ‫התלמידים והפריצים מפלוני‬

‫אנך שאטר ופציח ועקל ופהים‬

‫ובעד ̇דלך להו ואחד שאטר פציח ובעד ̇דלך להו ואחד שאטר‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ועקל ופהים ואסמהו ̇כדר‬ ‫אלאכדר‪ .‬פציח ועקלי ופהים ואסמהוא ̇כדר‬ ‫פי אראחו להו וקאלו‬ ‫אלאכדר‪ .‬פי אראחו להו וקאלו להו‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫וכבר אנו התרינו זה והזהרנו כל‬ ‫וכבר התרנו בהם והזהרנום היש ל'‬ ‫היום כבר ל' שנים ואנם רוצים‬ ‫שנה ואינם רוצים להניח עצמם בא‬ ‫להניח השקר והכזב ופרשנו שהוא בשקר וכזב ובריא להם והם יודעים‬ ‫ממזר ובר הנדה ולא שבו בתשובה אמיתת הדבר כי הוא היה הוה‬ ‫ואחר שבלבם נכנס שהוא בן‬ ‫ויהיה ממזר ובר נידה ולא חזרו‬ ‫אלוק' יאבדו כאשר נאבד יש"ו‬ ‫בתשובה ומאחר שנכנס בלבם‬ ‫משיחם בדרך שאדם רוצה לילך‬ ‫שהוא פלוני היה משיח מטיח לפי‬ ‫בה מוליכין אותו ונשקוט וננוח‬ ‫טומאתו ילכו לאבדון כאשר הלך‬ ‫ממלחמה וכן גזרו לעשות‬ ‫פלוני ונגיח מלחמה ומריבה ענו‬ ‫כולם כן יהיה הדבר וכן הסכימו‬

‫‪194‬‬ ‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫חיניד פרחו אלמלאעין פרחאן אן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫עטים‬ ‫̇‬

‫ונוואריכום אלטריק אלטייבה‬ ‫ונמאשיכום פיהא‪.‬‬

‫חיניד פרחו אלמלעין פרחאן אן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫עטים‬ ‫̇‬

‫ונוואריכום אלטריק אלטייבה‬ ‫ונמאשיכום פיהא‪.‬‬

‫חתא נהאדיכום ונריכום צבר עלא חתא נהאריכום ונדיכום צבר עלא‬ ‫י'ש'ו'‬ ‫י'ש'ו'‬

‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך ארח ליל מלאעין‬ ‫וקאל להום ̇דא י'ש'ו' כבירי והוא‬ ‫ארסלני‬

‫ואסתכדם בו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואכ ̇ד אלשם‬ ‫̇‬

‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך ארח ליל מלאעין‬ ‫וקאל להום ̇דא י'ש'ו' כבירי והוא‬ ‫ארסלני לכום (‪121‬א)‬

‫אסתכדם בו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואכ ̇ד אלשם‬ ‫̇‬

‫פי אסרע אלחכם לבית המקדש‬ ‫ועמל זאי מא עמל י'ש'ו'‬

‫ותעמל בו‪ ,‬אללה יסאמחך מן ̇דיל‬ ‫לאגל מא יאמנו ביך זאי מא‬ ‫עוון ̇‬ ‫אמנו פיה י'ש'ו'‪.‬‬

‫פי אסרע אלחכם לבית המקדש‬ ‫ועמל זאי מא עמל י'ש'ו'‬

‫ותעמל בו‪ ,‬אללה יסמחך מן ̇דיל‬ ‫לאגל מא יאמנו בך זיא מא‬ ‫עון ̇‬ ‫אמנו פיה י'ש'ו'‪2( .‬א)‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫כמו שעשה יש"ו‬

‫ויתאספו ויאמרו תנה לנו אות או‬ ‫מופת שאתה תלמידו‬

‫ותכף שמחו‬

‫ונאספו ויאמרו תנה לנו אות ומופת‬ ‫היאך אתה תלמידו של פלוני‬

‫‪Yeshu’s followers’ reaction‬‬

‫ומיד שמחו‬

‫להורותיכם הדרך אשר תלכו בה‬ ‫והמעשה אשר תעשו‬

‫להראות אליכם הדרך אשר תלכו‬ ‫בה ואת המעשה אשר תעשו‪.‬‬

‫ותכף הלך לאנטוכיא ששמה היו‬ ‫ומיד הלך זה אליהו לאנטיוכס‬ ‫הפריצים ושילח שיאספו ואסף כל שהיו שם הפריצים מקובצים ושלח‬ ‫הפריצים שהיו בשאר המקומות‬ ‫בעבורם ובעבור כל הפריצים‬ ‫ואמר (‪ )36‬להם אחי בני יש"ו‬ ‫המפוזרים בארצות ויאמר להם‬ ‫תדעו שאני תלמידו של יש"ו והוא אתם בני ר' פלוני לכם לדעת כי‬ ‫אדוני ושלחני אליכם‬ ‫אני תלמידו והוא אדו' ושלחני‬ ‫אליכם‬

‫‪The agent goes to Yeshu’s followers in Antioch‬‬

‫וכן נתריצה‪ )!( ‬לעשות ועשה‬

‫וכך קבל ועשה‬

‫‪The agent accepts the mission and goes to the Temple‬‬

‫כדי שתוכל לעשות כל הניסים‬ ‫שתרצה כדי שיאמינו בך‬

‫כדי שתוכל לפעול כל פעולה‬ ‫שתרצה כדי שיאמינו בך‬

‫כמו שעשה יהודה אסקאריטו‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪195‬‬

‫פקאל להם אליה אן כאן‬ ‫תאמנו באן ישו כאן מרסול‬ ‫והו ̇גאלס פי אלסמא‬

‫פסגדו לה עלי ̇וגוההם וקאלו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לה אנה מרסול לא שך‪.‬‬

‫אלחאצרין מא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫נטרו‬ ‫פלמא ̇‬ ‫פעלה אליה‬

‫רגליה‪̇ .‬תם‬ ‫פקאם וקף עלי ̇‬ ‫פדכר עליה‬ ‫אגאבו לה אברץ ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלאעטם פברי פי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלאסם‬ ‫סאעתה‪.‬‬

‫אלאעטם‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פדכר אליה אלאסם‬ ‫̇‬ ‫עלי אלכסיח‬

‫אחצרוה קדאמי‪,‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פקאל להם‬ ‫פאחצרוה קדאמה‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫[…] לה נחן ̇נגיב לך כסיח‬ ‫אן כאן תקדר לוקופה עלי‬ ‫רגליה‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫וקאלו להום‪ ,‬ענד אבוה אלי פי‬ ‫אלסמא‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫וקאלו להום ענד אבוה אלי פי‬ ‫סמא‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪The agent performs miracles‬‬

‫אמר להם הוא בשמים עם אביו‬

‫א"ל פלוני בשמים עם אביו‬

‫‪The agent expounds his message: Preamble‬‬

‫אז ענו הפריצים ואמרו כולם הנה‬ ‫זה אלדינו קוינו לו ויקדו וישתחוו‬ ‫אח"כ שאלו לו איה הוא פלוני ימח‬ ‫ויסח ויכרת שמו‬

‫‪They believe and inquire about Yeshu‬‬

‫אז אמרו כולם זהו אלוקינו‬ ‫שיושיענו ונקוה לו ויקדו וישתחוו‬ ‫לו אח"כ שאלו אותו אנה היה‬ ‫יש"ו‬

‫וכן עשה בפניה' בכח שם‬ ‫המפורש‪.‬‬

‫וכן עשה בכח שם המפורש‪.‬‬

‫אמר להם הביאו* לי אדם מת‬ ‫אמר להם הביאו לי אדם מת‬ ‫ואחיינו ועוד עור וארפאנו ועוד‬ ‫ואחייהו ועוד אדם עור ואתן לו‬ ‫אדם פיסח וארפאנו וילך על רגליו אורה וראות וגם פסח ואעשה‬ ‫ובכל מה שתרצו לנסותי תנסוני‬ ‫אותו בריא ויעמוד על רגליו וכל‬ ‫ותמצא דברי אמתיים‬ ‫מה שתרצו לעשות תבחנו אותי‬ ‫ותמצאו דברי אמיתיים‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪196‬‬ ‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫נצרתו באן אליהוד יבקהוני‪,‬‬ ‫אדי ̇‬ ‫וזאי מא הום יכרהוני פי אנתו‬ ‫אכראהוהום‪.‬‬

‫כול מן יסמע אלכאלם ויחבני‬ ‫כול מן יסמע כאלמי ויחבני ויאמן‬ ‫ויאמן בי ויכון להו ̇‬ ‫אגר עבדו ויבקא מן‬ ‫אגר עבדו ויבקא בי ויכון להו ̇‬ ‫מן נחייתי‪ .‬יא אולאד אסמעו לי‬ ‫נחייתי‪ .‬יא אולאד אסמעו אלי‬ ‫אלדי נקולו לכום‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלכלאם‬ ‫אלדי נקלו לכום‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלכלאם‬

‫נצרתו באן אליהוד‬ ‫אדי אנתו ̇‬ ‫ובקהוני זאי מא הום יכרהני פי‬ ‫אנתו אכראהוהום‪.‬‬

‫כל מן יאמן בכלאמי (‪1‬ב)‬ ‫פאנה מסתעד לנעים‬ ‫אלאכרה‬ ‫̇‬

‫פאנה כאן קאל‬

‫וכדלך קאל לי‬ ‫̇‬

‫אני ננזל לכם ונהדיכום אלעלה אלי אני ננזל לכם ונהדיכום עאן אלי‬ ‫אנתו פיה‪.‬‬ ‫אנתו פיה‪.‬‬

‫כדא וצאני‬ ‫והו ̇‬

‫כדא וצאני‬ ‫והו ̇‬

‫וכדלך קאל לי‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫עוד אמר‬

‫ומודיעכם שאתם יודעים את אשר‬ ‫עשו לו היהודים‬

‫זאת היא אשר יגזור וגוזר עליכם‬ ‫פלוני והשליחות אשר צוה עלי‬ ‫לאמר לכם‬

‫ויאמר להם‬

‫כי הוא אויב היהודים ונבדל מהם‬ ‫ואמר לכם שתעשו ג"כ אתם‬ ‫ושתרחיקו מהם מכל הדברים כי‬ ‫הוא תועבה לכם‬

‫ומודיעכם כי בעבור שהוא שונא‬ ‫את היהודים והבדיל עצמו מהם‬ ‫אמר לכם שכן תעשו גם אתם‬

‫‪Profane the Sabbath and Jewish holy days‬‬

‫כי בשביל זה שלחו אביו שבשמים שלחו אביו שבשמים כדי‬ ‫להושיעכם וסבל הכל בעדכים‪ )!( ‬להושיעכם והכל סבל* בעבורם‬ ‫וע"כ מצוה לכם שתסבלו גם אתם ולכן גוזר עליכם שתסבלו עליכם‬ ‫כל מה שאצוה (!) אתכם יש"ו‬ ‫כל אשר הוא מצוה בחובתו*‬ ‫ובעצמו‬

‫ואומר לכם שעם‪ )!( ‬כן ובתנאי‬ ‫בגד כפול שבו תלאוהו ובני ראו בן‬ ‫אלוק שנתלה‬

‫קודם מזכיר אתכם מה שעשו לו‬ ‫היהודים‬

‫וזה הוא מה שמצווה אתכם יש"ו‬

‫שמעו מה אמר יש"ו שצווני לומר‬ ‫לכם ואחד מכם לא ימרוד דברו‬ ‫ויקיימוה שהיה עמו למגן‬

‫שמעו נא דברי פלוני והשליחות‬ ‫אשר צוה עלי לאמר לכם ואיש‬ ‫מכם אל יעבור והמקיים דברי יהיה‬ ‫עמו ובמחיצתו‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪197‬‬

‫רג מן ̇גמע אליהוד‬ ‫̇יכ ̇‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫ומיד נשאו ידיהם למעלה לשבח‬ ‫לפלוני‬

‫עוד (‪ )37‬מצוה אתכם שתעשו‬ ‫עוד גוזר עליכם שתעשו צלם א'‬ ‫צורה אחד כמוהו שתשימוהו על ב' כדמותו ממש ושימו אותו בב'‬ ‫עצים שתי וערב והוא באמצע‬ ‫עצים שתי וערב והוא באמצע‬

‫‪Constructing the cross‬‬

‫תכף נשאו הפריצים ידהים‪)!( ‬‬ ‫לשמים והודו ליש"ו‬

‫באמרו הפסוק של חודשכם‬ ‫ומועדכם שנאה נפשי והתחיל‬ ‫לצוותיכם שלא תשמר את השבת‬ ‫שלהם ולא מועדיהם‬

‫באמרו חדשיכם ומועדיכם שנאה‬ ‫נפשי וכו' ובתחילה גוזר עליכם‬ ‫שלא תשמרו השבת שלהם ולא‬ ‫מועדם‬

‫תגווזוהם מנהום לא כביר‬ ‫ולא ̇‬ ‫ולא סגיר מן נסואנהום ולא פי פי‬ ‫רזקהום ולא פי אנפסהום ולא פי‬ ‫(‪2‬ב) אמכנהום‪.‬‬

‫ולא תעשו רע ונזק ליהודים לא‬ ‫תגאווזוהם לא סגיר ולא‬ ‫ולא ̇‬ ‫כביר מן אליהוד לא פי רזקוהם פי בגופם ולא בממונם‬ ‫אנפסהום ולא ענדהום‪122( .‬א)‬

‫וידכור במא‬ ‫מן שאן יקבל עליהו ̇‬ ‫וידכור במא‬ ‫מן שאן יקבל עליהו ̇‬ ‫̇גרא להו יבקא לכום ̇‬ ‫תדכרו‬ ‫תדכר דייאמן‪̇ .‬גרא להו ויבקא לכום ̇‬ ‫אלדי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫וזאי מא הוא קבל עליה‬ ‫דייאמן‪ .‬וזאי מא הוא קבל עליה‬ ‫כדלך‬ ‫עדבו ̇‬ ‫אלדי ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואלעדב‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇צרבוה‬ ‫אלדי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי ̇צרבוה ואלערב‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אנתו תקבלו עלי כול שי אן יעמלו‬ ‫ערבו‪ ‬כדלך אנתו תקבלו עליכום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫פיכום אליהוד‪.‬‬ ‫כול שי אן יעמלו פיכום אליהוד‪.‬‬

‫ולא תעשו נקום נזק והספד‪)!( ‬‬ ‫בגופם ולא בממונם של ישראל‬

‫כדי שיהיה לזכרון כל מה שנעשה כדי שיהא לכם לזכרון כל אשר‬ ‫ליש"ו שסבל המכות וקבל היסורין עשו לפלוני לסבל המכות וקבל‬ ‫הכל לאהבתכם ולא יצא לנקום וכן בעבורכם הכל ולא רצה לנקום‬ ‫תסבלו גם אתם לאהבתו‬ ‫נקמתו מהם כך תסבלו אתם‬ ‫באהבתו‬

‫ואיצא תעמלו להו תצוויראת‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואיצא תעמלו להו תצוויראת‬ ‫̇‬ ‫וג"כ תעשו צורה מהמכות שנתנו וציירו בו המכות שהכוהו היהודים‬ ‫אלדי צלבו אליהוד‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלצליב‬ ‫אלדי אצלבו אליהוד‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלצליב‬ ‫לו ואיך יצא הדם ממנו והידות‪ )!( ‬והדם היאך היה יוצא ממנו‬ ‫ואלצרב ̇צרבו אליהוד ואלמסאמיר‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואלצרב ̇צרבו אליהוד ואלמסאמיר שתקעו בו בזרועותיו וברגליו‬ ‫והמסמרים שתקעו בידיו (‪13‬ב)‬ ‫אלאתנין‬ ‫̇‬ ‫איידא‪ ‬ורגליה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי סמרו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלאתנין‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ורגליה‬ ‫אלדי סמרו איידא ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ובזרועותיו‬

‫ואיצא בעד ̇דלך אצאני י'ש'ו'‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מתל‬ ‫באנוכום תצאורו לו צורה ̇‬ ‫ותסגדו להו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫צורתו‬

‫כולהום יבקו מכרוהין ענדכום‪.‬‬ ‫אלא אקבלו כלאמי אני מוציכום‬ ‫באין יום (‪121‬ב) סבתהום יכון‬ ‫ענדכם חול וסבתכום יכון אלחד‪.‬‬

‫ואיצא בעד ̇דלך ווצאני י'ש'ו'‬ ‫̇‬ ‫מתל‬ ‫באינכום תצאורו לו צורה ̇‬ ‫ותסגדו להו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫צורתו‬

‫̇כליהום יבקו מכרוהין ענדכום‪.‬‬ ‫אלא אקבלו כלאמי אני מוציכום‬ ‫באן סבתהום יכון חול וסבתכום‬ ‫יכון אלחד‪.‬‬

‫ואתמנעו ענהום ומן סבותיהם‬ ‫ואעיאדהום ומן אשהורהום‪,‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫ואתמנעו ענהום מן סבותיהם‬ ‫ואעיאדהום ומן אשהורהום‪,‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫ותרחיקו עצמכם מהם בכל דבר כי‬ ‫היא תועבה לכם כשתקרבו להם‬ ‫במועדם‬

‫‪198‬‬ ‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫תגי‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום למא ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫חדאוהם‬ ‫תצלו מא תצאלו שי ̇‬

‫אווגו בהם‪.‬‬ ‫תג ̇‬ ‫ולא ̇‬

‫כול מן ירוקוד מעא יהודייא ירוח‬ ‫̇גהנם‬ ‫אווגו בהם‪.‬‬ ‫תג ̇‬ ‫ולא ̇‬

‫כול מן ירקוד מעא יהודייא ירוח‬ ‫̇גהנם‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום‬ ‫̇‬

‫ואיצא קאל להום‬ ‫̇‬

‫[אל]א אעמלו לכום כניסה וחדכום אלא אעמלו לכום כניסה וחדכום‬ ‫ותבקו מלה נצנייה וחדכום‪.‬‬ ‫תבקו מלה נצאנייה‪.‬‬

‫תגי‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום למא ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫תצלו מא תצלו שי חדהום‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום כול מן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫יקתלו יהודי יקתל‪.‬‬

‫פלמא סמעו ̇דלך אלסמע פרחו‬ ‫עטים‪.‬‬ ‫פרחן אן ̇‬

‫כלאם ואלי יעדי עלא ̇דיל כלאם‬ ‫יכון פי חרם ונדוי מן פום י'ש'ו'‬ ‫סידו‪ ,‬ויכון ממנוע מן ̇דיך אלדניא‬ ‫אגר‪.‬‬ ‫ולא יכון להו ̇‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום כול מן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫יקתלו יהודי יקתל‪.‬‬

‫פלמא סמעו ̇דלך אלסמע פרחו‬ ‫עטים‪.‬‬ ‫פרחן אן ̇‬

‫וכול מן יעדי עלא ̇דיל כלאם יכון‬ ‫פי חרם ונדוי מן פום י'ש'ו' סידו‪,‬‬ ‫ויכון ממנוע מן ̇דיך אלדניא ולא‬ ‫אגר‪.‬‬ ‫יכון להו ̇‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪Death sentence for killing Jews‬‬

‫והעובר על זה יהיה מנודה בעה"ז‬ ‫ובעה"ב ולא יהיה לו חלק בג"ע‬ ‫כי אם היה רוצה לקחת נקמתו‬ ‫מהם כדי שאתם לא תהיו נידונים‬ ‫בגהינם ע"כ לא רצה לנקום נקמתו‬

‫ומי שישכב עם יהודית אחד‪)!( ‬‬ ‫נפשו תלך לגהינם‬

‫ושתתחתנו זה עם זה ולא תתחתנו‬ ‫בהם‬

‫והשוכב עם יהודית נפשו תהיה‬ ‫לעולם בגהינם‬

‫‪Prohibition on marrying Jewish women‬‬

‫וגם צוה שתעשו תפילותכם‬ ‫בהבדל‬

‫עוד גוזר שתעשו לבדכם תפלותכם‬ ‫ותחנותכם ולא עמהם‬

‫‪Pray separately‬‬

‫עוד מצוה עליכם שכל מי שישפוך והוא גוזר עליכם שכל מי שישפוך‬ ‫דם מישראל באדם דמו ישפך‬ ‫דמו של ישראל ישפך דמו‬

‫ומי שיעבור על זה יהיה מנודה‬ ‫בעולם הזה ולא יהיה לו חלק‬ ‫לעולם הבא בגן עדן והוא רצה‬ ‫לנקום נקמתו כדי שלא תלכו‬ ‫לגהינם‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪199‬‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום‬ ‫̇‬

‫ואיצא קאל להום‬ ‫̇‬

‫איצא מן אראד ̇יכתתן‬ ‫קאל ̇‬ ‫̇יכתתן ומן אראד לא ̇יכתתן‬ ‫לא ̇יכתתן‪.‬‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל כל מן ירוד‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ויטהר‪.‬‬

‫‪Voluntary circumcision‬‬

‫כול שי אן ̇כלק אללה פי אלאבחר כול שי אן ̇כלק אללה פי אלאבוחר כל בהמה חיה ועוף וכל מה שנולד שכל בהמה שברא הקב"ה חיה‬ ‫אלדי ירף עלא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ופי אלאנהר וכול‬ ‫אלדי ירף עלא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ופי אלאנהור כול‬ ‫מאדמה כי ברא ק' בעולמו מכל‬ ‫ועוף וחיות הארץ מן היתוש ועד‬ ‫אלארץ יכון לכום ̇גאיז ללמאל‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלארץ (‪122‬ב) יכון לכום ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אגאייז החי קטן וגדול לכלם תשפכו הדם הפיל הגדול שפכו דמם ואכלוהו‬ ‫תכלוה‪.‬‬ ‫ותאכלום ככתוב כעשב השדה‬ ‫כמו שנאמר בבראשית כירק‬ ‫נתתי לכם את כל לאכלה‬ ‫העשב נתתי לכם את כל קדשוהו‬ ‫ועשו לו שתי וערב‬

‫תנגסולכום‬ ‫למא ̇‬

‫גם מצוה אתכם כי‬

‫עוד גוזר עליכם‬

‫‪Abolition of dietary laws‬‬

‫אלדי הו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ויכתאר יום אלאחד‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלדי ̇כלק פיה‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אול אלאיאם‬ ‫מניר אלעאלם‪ .‬ופעלו ̇דלך‬ ‫בסבב אן ישו קאלו אנה קאם‬ ‫אלדי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫הדא אליום‬ ‫מן קברה פי ̇‬ ‫הו יום אלאחד‪.‬‬

‫ותשמרו יום א' וכו' שבאותו היום‬ ‫עלה פלוני מקברו ועלה לשמים‬

‫ותשמרו לעשות מלאכה ביום א'‬ ‫מהשבוע ולא תנוחו ביום השבת‬ ‫כי יש"ו מואס בם ותשמרו יום א'‬ ‫כי ביום ההוא יש"ו עלה מקברו‬ ‫ועלה לשמים‬

‫אלדי אללה סב' ותע' חרמה‬ ‫̇‬

‫גם מצוה לכם מפני שהיהודים‬ ‫עושים את יום השבת שאתם‬ ‫תעשו פעולתכם ביום ההוא‬

‫ועוד גוזר עליכם כי מפני שישראל‬ ‫שומרים השבת שתעשו אתם‬ ‫מלאכתכם בו ביום ותשמרו יום א'‬ ‫ממלאכה‬

‫‪Observance of Sundays‬‬

‫ולא תנוחו בשבת כי פלוני שונא‬ ‫אותם‬

‫ויפעל צנעה פי יום אלסבת‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪200‬‬ ‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫הדא אלאמר‬ ‫וכל מן ̇כאלף ̇‬ ‫מן כביר אלי צגיר ספך דמה‬ ‫ללוקת‪.‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫‪1 The‬‬

‫עוד מצוה אתכם כי אם יהודי יכה עוד הוא גוזר עליכם שאם שום‬ ‫אתכם באגרוף בצד ימין שתתנו‬ ‫יהודי יכה אתכם או לא' מכם‬ ‫לו בצד שמאל כדי שיעשה רצונו על פניכם מצד שמאל תנו לו גם‬ ‫ותאמרו שתקבלו לאהבת יש"ו‬ ‫צד ימין לעשות כרצונו ותאמרו‬ ‫ולא תתנו ליהודי לא מעט ולא‬ ‫באהבת פלוני אני מקבלו ולא‬ ‫הרבה שום צער‬

‫עוד מצוה אתכם שתקראו ליהודים‬ ‫עברים מפני שהם מעבר הנהר‬ ‫ואתם תקראו גוים כפסוק גוי נתתי‬ ‫למכים ותשימו כי אם היהודים‬ ‫יכופו אתכם לא תשלמו רעה תחת‬ ‫רעה‬

‫‪Call the Jews “Hebrews”1‬‬

‫גם מזהיר אתכם באופן אהבה‬ ‫עוד גוזר עליכם שכל מה שיתקנו‬ ‫(‪ )38‬וציווי שאם יהודי אחד‬ ‫הקדושים בענין הדת שתשמרו‬ ‫אמר לך עמי מיל אחד להקל‬ ‫אתם אותו עוד הוא גוזר עליכם‬ ‫מעלי הדרך שתלכו עמו ב' מלין‬ ‫בדרך אהבה ודרך ציווי שאם‬ ‫ושתשלחנו לשלום כי כן יש"ו רוצה יאמר לכם שום יהודי לך עמי‬ ‫מיל להנחותי הדרך שתלכו עמי‬ ‫ב' מילין שתלכו עמו ב' מילין‬ ‫ותשלחוהו לשל' כי כך מן ה'‬

‫‪Love the Jews‬‬

‫‪section “Call the Jews ‘Hebrews’” appears further on, in Leipzig BH 17.‬‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אן כאן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אן כאן‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אליהוד יטלוב מן ואחד מנכום‬ ‫אליהוד יטלוב מן ואחד מנכום‬ ‫סבה מן ̇כדה אלימין אעטו להו ̇כד‬ ‫סכה מן ̇כד אלימין אעטי להו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלתאני‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬ ‫אלתאני‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪Turn the other cheek‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪201‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום‬ ‫̇‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קאל להום אתבעדו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ענהום ולא תסכונו מעהום ולא פי‬ ‫חרתוהם ולא פי חרת אלעברנייה‬ ‫עלא שן אן עדו עלא בחר‬ ‫אלקולזום‪.‬‬

‫ואיצא קאל להום‬ ‫̇‬

‫ואיצא קאל להום אתבעדו ענהום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ולא תסכונו מעהום ולא פי‬ ‫חרתוהם פי חרת אלעברנייה עלא‬ ‫שן אן עדו עלי בחר אלקולזום‪.‬‬

‫ואיצא כמאן קול ליהודי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואצא‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לאגל‬ ‫אלסכה ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואיצא יקול להודי‬ ‫̇‬ ‫לאגל מחבת‬ ‫אסבה אליסתהני ̇‬ ‫מחבת י'ש'ו' לאן כאנו אליהוד‬ ‫י'ש'ו' לאן כאן אליהודי ̇יצרבו י'ש'ו' ̇יצרבו י'ש'ו' והו סאכת לם כאן‬ ‫והו סאכת לם כאן יתכלם שי‪.‬‬ ‫יתכלם שי‪.‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫עוד גוזר עליכם כי להם תקראו‬ ‫שמם עברים עבור שהם ממשפחת‬ ‫עבר הנהר ואתם יקרא שמכם גוי‬ ‫כלומר גוי נתתי למכים ושימו בלב‬ ‫בלבם שאם יכו אתכם היהודים‬ ‫שאין לכם לחזור להם רעה ברעה‬ ‫הם בדתם ואתם בדתכם‬

‫”‪Call the Jews “Hebrews‬‬

‫כי אם יהיה לכם רצון להיות לכם‬ ‫חלק עם יש"ו בעולם הבא‬

‫עוד מזהר ואומר לכם‬

‫שאם תרצו שיהיה חלקכם עם‬ ‫פלוני לעה"ב‬

‫עוד גוזר עליכם‬

‫‪Accepting mistreatment from the Jews‬‬

‫‪Dwelling in separate neighborhoods‬‬

‫עוד מצוה כי אם יהודי יעלב אתכם עוד גוזר עליכם שאם יחרף‬ ‫שלא תענוהו רק תאמרו גאותך‬ ‫אתכם שום יהודי אל תשיבו לו‬ ‫מגביהך והניחוהו שילך כי על כן‬ ‫אלא תאמרו לו זדון לבך השיאך‬ ‫קבל המיתה יש"ו בעדכם ויהיה‬ ‫ותניחוהו וילך לו (‪14‬א) כי ע"כ‬ ‫לכם מדת ענוה‬ ‫קבל הוא ההריגה בעבורכם ולא‬ ‫תשיבו ויהיה לכם דרך ענוה‬

‫‪Humbly accepting humiliation from the Jews‬‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫יעבור ולא יכה שום א' מכה לשום‬ ‫יהודי‬

‫‪202‬‬ ‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫ואן קתלכם יהודי א'‪]…[ ‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫אזי בהרלכום ואחד מן אליהוד‬

‫חיניד תקבלו קאמו וקאלו כולוהום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫חיניד תקבלו קאמו קאלו כולוהום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫נקבל עלינא סאיר מא תחכום‬ ‫נקבל עלינא סאיר מא תחכום‬ ‫פינא‪.‬‬ ‫פינא‪.‬‬

‫וביקול לכום אן כאן תרידו תקבלו‬ ‫מני תבקו חדא פי גן עדן ויבקא‬ ‫לכום חלק זאיד‪.‬‬

‫וביקול לכום אן כאן תרידו תקבלו‬ ‫מני תבקו חדא פי גן עדן ויבקא‬ ‫לכום חלק זאיד‪.‬‬

‫פי אסכתו ולא תרודו פי ̇וגההום‬ ‫אלא אסכותו ולא תרודו פי ̇וגההום‬ ‫̇כטאב‪ ,‬אלא תקואלו להו מא בידך ̇גאב‪ ,‬אלא תקולו להו מא בידך‬ ‫חילה לאין אנא ראייח נכון אנא‬ ‫חילה לאין אנא ראייח נכון אנא‬ ‫אחסן מן י'ש'ו' (‪3‬א)‬ ‫אחסן (‪123‬א) מן י'ש'ו'‬

‫אזי בהדלכום ואחד מן אליהוד‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫אחר שגמר לדבר עמם אמר להם‬ ‫יש"ו צוני שאבדל מכם ומכל אדם‬ ‫ואשב בדד ולא אוכל בשר ולא‬ ‫אשתה יין כי אם לחם ומים ופרות‬ ‫כדי שאמצא טהור כאשר ירצה‬ ‫לדבר עמי‬

‫כשהשלים לומר דבריו א"ל אחי‬ ‫הוא גוזר עלי שאבדיל עצמי מכם‬ ‫ומכל אומה ושאהיה יחידי ולא‬ ‫אוכל בשר ולא דבר אחר אלא‬ ‫מים ולחם ופירות כדי שימצאני נקי‬ ‫וכשירצה לדבר עמי‬

‫‪The secret agent isolates himself‬‬

‫ענו כלם ואמרו כאשר שמענו כן‬ ‫נעשה‬

‫ענו כולם ואמרו בפה א' כאשר‬ ‫שמענו נעשה‬

‫‪Yeshu’s followers accept the secret agent’s commandments‬‬

‫עוד מזהיר אתכם שתבחרו מהם‬ ‫שיהיו עמכם זקנים להישירכם‬ ‫הדרך שתלכו בה‬

‫עוד גוזר עליכם שתבחרו מכם‬ ‫זקנים ויעמדו עמי לתקן לכם את‬ ‫הדרך אשר יש לכם ללכת בה‬

‫‪Appointing elders‬‬

‫שתקבלו הכל עליכם שכל הטובות‬ ‫שתוכלו לעשות להם שתעשו בכל‬ ‫עת ובכל מקום‬

‫שיגמול לכם שכר טוב בעולם‬ ‫הבא‪.‬‬

‫שתקבלו הכל עליכם באהבה‬ ‫וברצון טוב‬

‫כל הרעות שירצו לעשות לכם‬ ‫היהודים‬

‫כל רעות שירצו לעשות עליכם‬ ‫היהודים‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪203‬‬

‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫̇תם בעד ̇דלך עמלהום איאת‬ ‫בדלך אלשם המפורש‬ ‫וברהין ̇‬ ‫ובקא יפעל זאי מא פעל י'ש'ו'‬

‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אראח ̇דיל יהודי‬ ‫פי אלבלד טבריה וכאן יקול כול‬ ‫מן תבע י'ש'ו' ̇יגי לענדי‪ .‬וכאנו‬ ‫ולת מיאה ועשרה‬ ‫אלת ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇גו לענדו‬ ‫אלבעץ‬ ‫̇‬ ‫בעצהום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫משארירו פי למו‬ ‫וטאעו לו‪.‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪In Tiberias, encounter with Yeshu’s followers‬‬

‫תכף שקטו כל הפריצים ולא (‪ )39‬אחרי כן שאל לפרסם גזרתו בכל‬ ‫עשו יותר רע ליהודים‬ ‫הארץ ויאמינו בו כולם ומיד נחו‬ ‫כל הפריצים ולא היו עושים שום‬ ‫רעה ליהודים‬

‫‪The secret agent spreads Yeshu’s message‬‬

‫בדלך‬ ‫עמל לוהום איאת וברהאן ̇‬ ‫אלשם המפורש ובקא יפעל זאי‬ ‫מא פעל י'ש'ו'‬

‫א"ל תביאו פיסח א' מצורע א'‬ ‫עור א' ואני ארפהו‪ )!( ‬תכף עשו‬ ‫כן והוא עשה כל חפצו ונפלו על‬ ‫פניהם ואמרו‬

‫א"ל הביאו לי מצורע ופסח‬ ‫ועור או איזה דבר שתרצה ואני‬ ‫ארפאהו מיד עשו כן והוא עשה‬ ‫ג"כ כרצונם ויפלו על פניהם‬ ‫ויאמרו‬

‫‪The secret agent performs wonders, and they believe him‬‬

‫אמרו כשתעשה אות נאמין בך‬

‫א"ל עשה לנו איזה נס ונאמין בך‬ ‫שאתה שלוחו‬

‫כדי שתאמינו כי אני* שלוחו‬

‫ואמר להם אני שליח יש"ו ושלחני ויאמר להם שליח של פלוני שלחני‬ ‫אליכם לאמור לכם מה שמצווה‬ ‫אליכם לפרסם לכם מצוותיו א"ל‬ ‫אמרו תנה לנו מופת אמר להם מה תנה לנו אות א"ל איזה אות תרצו‬ ‫אות תרצו שאעשה לכם‬ ‫שאתן לכם‬

‫̇תום בעד ̇דלך אראח ̇דיל יהודי‬ ‫והלך זה אליה לטבריה וכל‬ ‫והלך אליהם זה להפריצים אשר‬ ‫פי אלבלד טבריה וכאן יקול כול‬ ‫הפריצים שהיו מאמינים ליש"ו‬ ‫בטבריא וצוה לתת כרוז בכל א"י‬ ‫מן תבע י'ש'ו' ̇יגי לענדי‪ .‬וכאנו‬ ‫וצוה להודיע כרוז כי השלש מאות על כל הפריצים אשר מאמינים‬ ‫ולת מאיה ועשרה‬ ‫אלת ̇‬ ‫̇‬ ‫̇גו לענדו‬ ‫ועשר תשמידים יבואו ויתחברו‬ ‫בפלוני ש"י שיבואו ויתחבר אליו‬ ‫̇‬ ‫בעצהום‬ ‫̇‬ ‫משארירו‪ .‬פי למו‬ ‫אלבעץ עמו ובאו כלם ואמרו מי אתה‬ ‫ויבואו כולם ויאמרו לו מי אתה‬ ‫̇וגו לענדו ואטוובו לו‪.‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪204‬‬ ‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫וכדלך אמנו בו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫וכדלך אמנו בו‪.‬‬ ‫̇‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫ודאי אנו מאמינים בך כי אתה‬ ‫שלוחו של פלוני שכך היה עושה‬ ‫כמוך ואתה כמוהו ועליך נוכל‬ ‫לומר שלוחו של אדם כמותו‬

‫פלוני גוזר עליכם אלו המצוות‬ ‫הנגזרות לעיל וחזר ופרסם אותם‬ ‫לפניהם וקבלו עליהם מה שגזר‬ ‫פלוני שתעשו‪)!( ‬‬

‫ואמר לנו שעלינו לסבול כל מה‬ ‫שירצו לעשות לנו היהודים והם‬ ‫יהיו עזי נפש ואנחנו בני ענוה שכן‬ ‫כתוב בקשו את ה' כל ענוי ארץ‬

‫שיש"ו רוצה מכם שתבדלו מן‬ ‫רוצה שתבדילו עצמכם מהיהודים‬ ‫היהודים בתורה בלשון בחברה‬ ‫בכתב ובלשון ובחבורה ובשבתות‬ ‫בשבתות ובמועדים ותעשו בתים ובמועדים ותעשו בתים לתפלותכם‬ ‫לתפלתכם וענו כלם ואמרו כאשר ככל הכתוב לעיל וישמעו כל העם‬ ‫אמרת כך נעשה ומשם והלאה‬ ‫ויאמרו כן יהיה (‪14‬ב) וכן יקום‬ ‫נבדלו (‪ )40‬מהיהודים ועשו כל מה ומאז והלאה תבדילו עצמכם מהם‬ ‫שגזר עליהם‪.‬‬ ‫מטוב ועד רע ‪.‬‬

‫אז אמר אליה לתלמידים יש"ו הוא‬ ‫עומד עם אביו שבשמים ורצונו‬ ‫להנקם מאויביו היהודים כי כן‬ ‫אמר דוד במזמור נאם ק' לאדוני‬ ‫שב לימיני עד אשית אויביך הדום‬ ‫לרגליך באותה שעה ברכו אותו‬ ‫התלמידים והוא אמר להם המצוות‬ ‫הנאמרים‪ )!( ‬למעלה וחזר לאמרם‬ ‫בפניהם וקבלו עליהם ואמר העיקר‬

‫אז פתח אליהו את פיו ואמר פלוני‬ ‫שולח לומר לכם לכו עמי שהוא‬ ‫יושב עם אביו שבשמים ורצונו‬ ‫להנקם מהיהודים אויביו שכך‬ ‫אמר דוד בשיריו נאם ה' לאדוני‬ ‫שב לימיני עד אשית אויביך וכו'‬ ‫באותה שעה ברכוהו הפריצים‬ ‫כולם והם הוסיפו שטות על‬ ‫שטותם והיה אומר להם אליהו‬

‫‪Address to Yeshu’s followers in Tiberias‬‬

‫ודאי אנו מאמינים שאת' שלוחו‬ ‫של יש"ו כי גם הוא היה עושה‬ ‫כמוך ועליך נוכל לומר שלוחו של‬ ‫אדם כמותו‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

‫‪205‬‬

‫‪Appendix 3: Sample Synoptic Chart – First Separation‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092‬‬

‫חנידי הדויו מן אלערך ואלפתן‪.‬‬

‫חנידי (‪123‬ב) הדויו מן אלערך‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ואלפתן‪.‬‬

‫ועשו בית לס' פאוולו כדי שישב‬ ‫בה‪ )!( ‬אשר לא יתגאל במאכל‬ ‫ומשתה‬

‫ושקט העולם‬

‫והתלמידים נבדלו זה מזה ונבדלו‬ ‫הרשעים מהיות יהודים‬

‫ויעש לו בית שני פאוולו היה יושב‬ ‫יחידי בבית ההוא ולא היה מטמא‬ ‫עצמו בשום אכילה ושתיה‪.‬‬

‫ובטלו כל המחלוקות ותשקוט‬ ‫הארץ‬

‫והפריצים לאחר שתקן להם‬ ‫הדברים האלו נתפרדו ונבדלו‬ ‫הטועים מישראל‬

‫ומיד זה אליהו הנקרא ס'* פאוולו‬

‫ושאלו לו לאמר מה שמך‬ ‫ויאמר להם ע' פאוולו שמי‬

‫‪Secret agent is asked and reveals his name, “Paul”; Epilogue‬‬ ‫פי קאלו לו איש אסמך קאל להום וקאל להום איש אסמך קאל להום ושאל שמו‬ ‫ואמר ס' פאוולו‬ ‫אסמי אלאנפולו‪.‬‬ ‫אסמי אלאנפולי‪.‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005‬‬

‫‪RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036‬‬

‫‪Budapest Kaufmann 559‬‬

‫‪Leipzig BH 17‬‬

Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections from the Mid to Late Ottoman Period This chart complements my discussion in section 4 of chapter 5, and presents an overview of the literary context of the entirety of the Near Eastern and North African TY Helene manuscripts that I have located, in every instance in which such context is preserved. These compilations include exemplars of TY Helene in Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Persian; the language of TY’s literary “neighbors” varies. Normally collections are limited to two languages, a vernacular such as Judeo-Arabic or Judeo-Persian, paired with Hebrew. I have arranged the manuscripts in rough chronological order to the extent possible. The contents of the compilations surveyed here are not presented in the order in which they appear; instead, I have divided the works that accompany TY in these compilations into the following general rubrics, for the sake of clarity. – Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year – Theology/Ethics – Halakhic/Judicial literature – Astrology/Astronomy/Magic – Midrash, tales, and compilations – Midrash ha-gadol – Non-Jewish literature Some of these compositions are well known; others are much lesser known; further information can be found in secondary works on midrashic literature.1 Following each item noted, I have listed the language in which it appears, on the basis of its cataloging information at the National Library of Israel. In instances where that information was not available online, I have consulted the microfilmed manuscript itself. A number of the Yemenite versions of TY are included in the fourteenthcentury composition Midrash ha-gadol rather than in untitled compilations. At times TY is part of the central text of the composition; at times it is found in the margins. This is part of a broad and varied Yemenite attestation of TY, 1  See, for example, descriptions of many of these works in Dan, The Hebrew Story in the Middle Ages; Yosef Dan, Hebrew Ethical and Homiletical Literature, [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Keter, 1975); Reizel, Introduction to the Midrashic Literature.

207

Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections

which is entirely in Hebrew and consists of at least three different versions of the narrative.2

1. Literary Context of Near Eastern Manuscripts That Are Cited and Transcribed in Meerson-Schäfer Volumes The following chart is dedicated to the TY Helene exemplars included in the 2014 Meerson-Schäfer volumes. In it I demonstrate the consistent literary context of these TY exemplars, adding crucial detail to the scant manuscript information included in those volumes. I note the Meerson-Schäfer categorization of the text and its location in the volumes, in the right-most column.3 Shelf mark

Literary context and language Origin (if known), date, of composition number of ­folios

Letchworth Sassoon 152

Late Yemenite B 16th c. (1574), Midrash ha-gadol. 494 ff. ‫ פירוש ספר‬+ )‫– שמות (עברית‬ ‫( מדרש הגדול‬vol. 2, p. 21) )‫המרגלית (עברית‬

Categorization and location in MeersonSchäfer TY volumes

This is a Tiklāl. Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year ‫ תפילות‬,‫ עם פירושים‬,‫ שבת ועוד‬,‫תפילות חול‬ ,‫ תעניות וסליחות כולל מדרש איכה‬,‫למועדים‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫ ערבית‬,‫ ארמית‬,‫הגדה של פסח (עברית‬ – ‫עוד בתכלאל‬ )‫פיוטים (עברית‬ )‫כתר מלכות לאבן גבירול (עברית‬ Exegetical literature )‫יהודית‬-‫פירוש עשרת הדברות (ערבית‬ Theology/Ethics )‫יהודית‬-‫י"ג קואעד אלשריעה (ערבית‬ )‫ליקוטי דברי חכמים (עברית‬ ‫ספר יורה חטאים לר' אליעזר רבו של הרמב"ן‬ )‫(עברית‬ )‫פרקי דרך ארץ (עברית‬ )‫פרקי אורך ימים (עברית‬ )‫צוואת ר' יהודה החסיד (עברית‬ Halakhic/Judicial literature ,‫יהודית‬-‫ ערבית‬,‫נוסחי גיטין ושטרות (עברית‬ )‫ארמית‬ )‫רשימת תרי"ג מצוות (עברית‬

2  I base this statement on research I carried out together with Jonatan Benarroch; I thank Jonatan for fruitful and pleasant hours discussing this and other aspects of the Yemenite TY tradition. 3  In the following table I will refer to Meerson and Schäfer, Life Story of Jesus, 2:2–41.

‫‪Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections‬‬

‫‪208‬‬

‫‪Literary context and language‬‬ ‫‪Origin (if‬‬ ‫‪known), date, of composition‬‬ ‫‪number of‬‬ ‫‪­folios‬‬

‫‪Shelf mark‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬ ‫‪18th c. (1707), Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫‪397 ff.‬‬ ‫אלרואגף (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫̇‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 11‬באב מערפה‬ ‫ספר פתרון חלומות (עברית) עיבור השנים החל‬ ‫משנת תס"ז (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫שער נפילת התקופות ופירושן (עברית)‬

‫‪Jerusalem‬‬ ‫‪NLI Heb. 8°‬‬ ‫‪949‬‬

‫‪Categorization and‬‬ ‫‪location in Meerson‬‬‫‪Schäfer TY volumes‬‬

‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫אגרת אלדד הדני (עברית)‬ ‫אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (עברית)‬ ‫ייחוסי הצדיקים והחסידים בארץ ישראל ובחוצה‬ ‫לארץ (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מדרש על שמחזאי ועל עזאל (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה בחכם אחד (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה מלכת שבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מעוקבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' יהושע בן לוי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מרב כהנא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה שהיה לישראל באסטנבול (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫פטירת אהרן (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫פטירת משה רבינו (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫צפה ירושלים (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Non-Jewish literature‬‬ ‫̇כבר מדינת אלנחאס וקבה אלרצאץ‬ ‫(ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‪4‬‬ ‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬ ‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 26‬אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (עברית)‬ ‫דברי הימים למשה רבינו (עברית)‬ ‫ייחוסי הצדיקים והחסידים בארץ ישראל ובחוצה‬ ‫לארץ (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מדרש על שמחזאי ועזאל (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה בר' טרפון (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה דבת רבי עקיבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ירושלמי (עברית)‬ ‫גזואת יהושע בן נון (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה מלכת שבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מרב כהנא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ר' אברהם בן עזרא (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה רבי בוסתנאי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה רבי יהושע בן לוי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה שהיה באשכנז (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה שהיה לישראל באצטנבול (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫צפה ירושלים (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬

‫‪18th–19th c.,‬‬ ‫‪90 ff.‬‬

‫‪New York‬‬ ‫‪JTS 4934‬‬ ‫)‪(R1720‬‬

‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬ ‫יורה חטאים (‪ +‬חיבוט הקבר‪ .‬מיוחס לאלעזר‬ ‫מוורמס) (עברית)‬ ‫פרקי אורך ימים (עברית)‬ ‫צוואת ר' יהודה החסיד (עברית)‬

‫‪ This is an individual story taken from the 1001 Nights.‬‬

‫‪4‬‬

‫‪209‬‬

‫‪Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections‬‬

‫‪Categorization and‬‬ ‫‪location in Meerson‬‬‫‪Schäfer TY volumes‬‬

‫‪Literary context and language‬‬ ‫‪Origin (if‬‬ ‫‪known), date, of composition‬‬ ‫‪number of‬‬ ‫‪­folios‬‬

‫‪Shelf mark‬‬

‫‪18th–19th c.,‬‬ ‫‪110 ff.‬‬

‫‪New York‬‬ ‫‪JTS 4934a‬‬ ‫)‪(R2343‬‬

‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬ ‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 25‬אגרת אלדד הדני (עברית)‬ ‫אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (עברית)‬ ‫גורלות אחיתופל (עברית)‬ ‫גזואת יהושע בן נון (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫דברי הימים למשה רבינו (עברית)‬ ‫חכמת שלמה (עברית)‬ ‫מדרש על שמחזאי ועל עזאל (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה באדם אחד שהיה עשיר גדול ומקובל‬ ‫(עברית)‬ ‫מעשה בחיט והדג שקנה לכבוד שבת (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה בחכם אחד (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה ברבי טרפון (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה בת ר' עקיבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה דר' בוסתנאי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה היה בדמשק (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה חירם (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה יואב בן צרויה (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה יעקב והשבטים (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ירושלמי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מיוסף דילה ריינה (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מלכת שבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' אברהם בן עזרא (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' יהושע בן לוי (עברית?)‬ ‫מעשה מרב כהנא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מרש"י (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה נתן דצוציתא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ר' מאיר (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה עוקבא בר אדא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ר' עקיבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה שהיה לישראל באסטנבול (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה שלמה מולכו (עברית)‬ ‫מעשיות נוספות (עברית‪ ,‬ערבית יהודית)‬ ‫עשר אותות (עברית)‬ ‫צפה ארץ ישראל (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫עצת אחיתופל‪ – ‬ספר גורלות (עברית)‬ ‫יורה חטאים (עברית)‬ ‫פרקי אורך ימים (עברית)‬ ‫צוואת ר' יהודה החסיד (עברית)‬

‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬

‫‪Wagenseil‬‬ ‫‪North Africa, Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 14‬אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (עברית)‬ ‫‪19th c. (1810),‬‬ ‫גדולת משה (עברית)‬ ‫‪89 ff.‬‬ ‫פטירת משה רבינו (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬

‫ארחות חיים (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה תורה לרבינו הקדוש (עברית)‬

‫שאלות ותשובות לפום חורפא (עברית)‬

‫‪Other‬‬

‫‪Jerusalem‬‬ ‫‪NLI 8° 3397‬‬

‫‪Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections‬‬

‫‪210‬‬

‫‪Literary context and language‬‬ ‫‪Origin (if‬‬ ‫‪known), date, of composition‬‬ ‫‪number of‬‬ ‫‪­folios‬‬

‫‪Shelf mark‬‬

‫‪Late Oriental‬‬ ‫‪Baghdad, 19th Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 13‬אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (עברית)‬ ‫‪c. (1812),‬‬ ‫מעשה מיוסף דילה ריינה (עברית)‬ ‫‪130 ff.‬‬ ‫מעשה מר' חיים ויטאל (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה משלמה המלך עם הנמלה (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה משלמה מלכו ודוד הראובני (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' אברהם בן עזרא (עברית)‬ ‫סיפורים מסלוניקי‪ ,‬רומא וקושטא (עברית)‬ ‫סיפור משה קפסאלי (עברית)‬

‫‪Jerusalem‬‬ ‫‪NLI Heb. 8°‬‬ ‫‪864‬‬

‫‪Categorization and‬‬ ‫‪location in Meerson‬‬‫‪Schäfer TY volumes‬‬

‫מוסר על פי החידה‬

‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬

‫‪Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year‬‬ ‫בקשת תשליך מנהג א"י (עברית‪ ,‬ארמית)‬ ‫השכבה להמן (עברית)‬ ‫התרת קללות מנהג ירושלים והתרת נדרים‬ ‫(עברית)‬ ‫מסכת פורים (עברית)‬ ‫תיקונים לליל ט"ו בשבט וליקוטי זוהר (עברית)‬ ‫‪Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫השבעות ולחשים (עברית)‬ ‫‪Other‬‬ ‫טופס כתב ששלחו מצפת לעיר לוניל בשנת שפ"ה‬ ‫(עברית)‬ ‫נבואות (עברית)‬ ‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬ ‫‪19th c. (1820), Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫‪114 ff.‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 22‬דברי הימים למשה רבינו עליו השלום (עברית)‬ ‫ייחוסי הצדיקים והחסידים בארץ ישראל ובחוצה‬ ‫לארץ (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה מלכת שבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מרב כהנא (עברית)‬ ‫מדרש על שמחזאי ועל עזאל (עברית)‬

‫‪Nahariya‬‬ ‫‪Menahem‬‬ ‫‪and Saʿaydah‬‬ ‫‪Yaʿacov‬‬ ‫‪Collection‬‬ ‫‪195‬‬

‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬ ‫תפוחי זהב‪ :‬קצור ספר ראשית חכמה מאת אליהו‬ ‫דה וידש ליחיאל מילי (עברית)‬ ‫‪Astrology/­Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫עניני השנה במולדתה כפי מערכת הכוכבים‬ ‫ומשפטי המזלות (עברית)‬ ‫רשימת שנים ב'ר"א‪-‬ב'רלב (‪)1821–1890‬‬ ‫ומזלות (עברית)‬ ‫תואליד אלסנין חסאב (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬ ‫‪19th c. (1849), Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫‪174 ff.‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 9‬אלפא ביתא לבן סירא‪ – ‬שני נוסחים (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה היה בדמשק (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' אברהם בן עזרא (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' בוסתנאי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' יהושע בן לוי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' עקיבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מרב כהנא (עברית)‬

‫‪Jerusalem‬‬ ‫‪Hekhal‬‬ ‫‪Shelomo‬‬ ‫‪Museum 22‬‬

‫‪211‬‬

‫‪Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections‬‬

‫‪Categorization and‬‬ ‫‪location in Meerson‬‬‫‪Schäfer TY volumes‬‬

‫‪Literary context and language‬‬ ‫‪Origin (if‬‬ ‫‪known), date, of composition‬‬ ‫‪number of‬‬ ‫‪­folios‬‬

‫‪Shelf mark‬‬

‫מעשה מרש"י (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה שהיה לישראל באצטנבול (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשיות נוספות (עברית‪ ,‬ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫עשר אותות לרבן יוחנן בן זכאי (עברית)‬ ‫צפה ירושלים עיר הקדש (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Late Yemenite B‬‬ ‫‪Yemen, 19th c. This is a diwān.‬‬ ‫)‪(vol. 2, p. 10‬‬ ‫‪(1850, 1887),‬‬ ‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫‪176 ff.‬‬ ‫אגרת אלדד הדני (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה דור עשירי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מגוי אחד ששבה שני נערים מא"י (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מרב כהנא (עברית)‬ ‫קצה משה בן מימון (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬

‫‪Jerusalem‬‬ ‫‪NLI Heb.‬‬ ‫‪4° 15‬‬

‫‪Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year‬‬ ‫וכד (עברית‪,‬‬ ‫שירות‪ – ‬לשבת‪ ,‬לחתונה ̇‬ ‫ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‪ .‬בין השירים‪ – ‬קציד אלקלב‬ ‫ואלנפס (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‪ ,‬קציד אלמוקרה‬ ‫(ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‪ ,‬זפה והי שירה שבזי‬ ‫(ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫ברכות‪ – ‬ברכת אירוסין‪ ,‬שבע ברכות‪ ,‬סדר‬ ‫המילה‪ ,‬ברכת אורח וכד' (עברית‪ ,‬ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‪.‬‬ ‫טופס הגט (ערבית‪-‬יהודית‪ ,‬ארמית)‬ ‫‪Late Yemenite A‬‬ ‫‪19th c. (1866), Halakhic/Judicial literature‬‬ ‫‪202 ff.‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 6‬מעשה בית דין‪ – ‬פנקס בית דין (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫חיבור הלכתי‪ – ‬נידה‪ ,‬טבילה ועוד (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬

‫‪Cambridge‬‬ ‫‪CUL Or. 557‬‬

‫‪Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫אלנגום (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫̇‬ ‫באב פי מואפקת‬ ‫סאדס צפר‪ – ‬תקופות השנה (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫ספר פתרון חלומות (עברית)‬ ‫תדכרת אלסנין (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫̇‬ ‫‪Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year‬‬ ‫בקשה לר' ישמעאל (עברית)‬ ‫בקשה לשמעון בן שלום שבזי (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫הבדלה כמנהג עיר תונס (ערבית‪-‬יהודית) סידור‬ ‫תפילה‬ ‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫אגרת אלדד הדני (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ברבי עקיבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה הנמלה (עברית)‬ ‫מעשיות נאות (עברית)‬ ‫שערי ג"ע וגיהנם (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫תוכחות מוסר לבן סירא ע"פ מעשה (עברית)‬ ‫‪Late Yemenite B‬‬ ‫‪Yemen, 19th c. Midrash ha-gadol.‬‬ ‫‪(1875), 257 ff.‬‬ ‫)‪ (vol. 2, p. 10‬מדרש הגדול‪ – ‬דברים (עברית‪ ,‬ארמית)‬

‫‪Jerusalem‬‬ ‫‪NLI Heb. 4°‬‬ ‫‪472‬‬

212

Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections

Shelf mark

Literary context and language Origin (if known), date, of composition number of ­folios

Jerusalem ­Benayahu 25.4

19th c., 61 ff.

Categorization and location in MeersonSchäfer TY volumes

Late Oriental Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫( אגרת אלדד הדני (עברית‬vol. 2, p. 9) )‫טוביה וטוביאל (עברית‬ )‫מעשה זרובבל (עברית‬ )‫מעשה ירושלמי (עברית‬ )‫מעשה מהאר"י (עברית‬ )‫מעשה מר' אברהם בן עזרא (עברית‬ )‫מעשה מר' חיים ויטאל (עברית‬ )‫מעשה מיוסף דילה ריינה (עברית‬ )‫מעשה משלמה מולכו (עברית‬ Non-Jewish literature )Prester John( )‫אגרת יוהנס הפרסביטר (עברית‬

Jerusalem NLI Heb. 8° 5187

Late Yemenite A 19th c., 109 ff. Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫יהודית‬-‫ ערבית‬,‫( טעמים נחמדים (עברית‬vol. 2, p. 15) )‫מעשה מלכת שבא (עברית‬ )‫מעשה מרב כהנא (עברית‬ )‫מעשה נתן דצוציתא (עברית‬ )‫מעשה שהיה באשכנז (עברית‬ )‫ ארמית‬,‫עין יעקב (עברית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫– באב לעדד אלנגום (ערבית‬ ‫שיר‬ Halakhic/Judicial literature )‫חיי אברהם לאברהם בן רפאל חלפון (עברית‬

Late Yemenite B New York Midrash, tales, and compilations Sanaʿa (?), JTS 6871 )‫( מעשה נתן דצוציתא (עברית‬vol. 2, p. 26) 19th c., 205 ff. R1037 (Adler )‫מעשה על דור עשירי (עברית‬ 4180) Theology/Ethics )‫ספר קב הישר (עברית‬ Halakhic/Judicial literature ‫ עומר ועוד (עברית‬,‫ קידושין‬,‫– גיטין‬ ‫חיבור הלכתי‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫וערבית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫תפסיר אלכתובה (ערבית‬ ,‫ ספר טעם נחמד‬,‫– ליקוטים שונים‬ ‫הלכות שחיטה‬ ‫ ספר ע' טריפות ועוד (עברית‬,‫ספר פרי צדיק‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫וערבית‬ Princeton 19th c. Firestone Lib. 5 19 Princeton 19th c., 16 ff. Firestone Lib. 216

Late Yemenite A Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫( מעשה ברבי טרפון (עברית‬vol. 2, p. 34) Astrology/Astronomy/Magic

‫חיבורים מאגיים‬

Late Yemenite B Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫( מעשה באדם אחד שהיה רגיל בצדקה (עברית‬vol. 2, p. 35) Astrology/Astronomy/Magic )‫– מאגיה ולחשים (עברית‬ ‫גורל החולה‬

 I was not able to gain access to this manuscript. accessed this manuscript via a digital copy online at https://catalog.princeton.edu/ catalog/3804410 (accessed August 16, 2021). 5

6 I

213

Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections Shelf mark

Literary context and language Origin (if known), date, of composition number of ­folios

Categorization and location in MeersonSchäfer TY volumes

‫מוסר‬ ,‫ ארמית‬,‫ מאגיה (עברית‬,‫– צירופי אותיות‬ ‫צרוף‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫מעט ערבית‬ Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year )‫– כי אשמרה שבת ועוד (עברית‬ ‫מזמורי שבת‬ Princeton Firestone Lib. 207

Astrology/Astronomy/Magic Sephardic ‫ קמיעות ופתרון חלומות‬,‫( חיבורים מאגיים‬vol. 2, p. 34)

Princeton 19th c. Firestone Lib. 268

7 I

was not able to gain access to this manuscript.  I was not able to gain access to this manuscript.

8

Sephardic (not Wagenseil as noted in vol. 2, p. 36)

214

Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections

2. Ottoman Period Manuscripts Not Included in Meerson-Schäfer Volumes, All Languages Shelf mark

Literary context and language of comOrigin (if known), date, position number of folios

Language of TY in the collection

London BL Or. 10435; Gaster 1328

16th–17th c.

Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫יהודית‬-‫דברי הימים למשה (ערבית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫מעשה אברהם ונמרוד (ערבית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫מעשה זרובבל ואסתר (ערבית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫קובץ אגדות (ערבית‬

Judeo-Arabic

Jerusalem NLI 4°1331

17th c. (1617), 157 ff.

Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year + ‫– תפילות וברכות למועדים שונים‬ ‫תכלאל‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫ביאורים בערבית (ערבית וערבית‬ )‫קינה להוצאת ספר תורה (עברית‬ )‫ אזהרה (עברית‬,‫– כתר מלכות‬ ‫פיוטים‬

Hebrew

Jerusalem NLI 8° 2946

19th c. (c. 1820), Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year 58 ff. )‫ יוונית‬,‫ לדינו‬,‫פיוטים (תורכית‬ Other

Jerusalem NLI 8° 357

19th c. (1843), 28 ff.

Ladino

)‫רשימות מסחר וכד' (יוונית‬

Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫מעשה אברהם אבינו עם נמרוד (עברית‬ )‫מעשה באלכסנדרוס מוקדון (עברית‬ )‫מעשה שהיה בימי שלמה המלך (עברית‬

Judeo-Persian

Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year )‫ ארמית‬,‫תרגום מגילת רות (עברית‬ Cincinnati Hebrew Date unknown, Union College Ms. 48 ff. 2172

Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫יהודית‬-‫אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (פרסית‬

Judeo-Persian

Theology/Ethics )‫יהודית‬-‫מכזן אלפנד ליהודה לארי (פרסית‬ Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year )‫יהודית‬-‫דרוש לפורים (פרסית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫הגדה של פסח ומזמורים (פרסית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫תפסיר מגילת אסתר בחרוזים (פרסית‬

Cincinnati Hebrew Date unknown, Union College Ms. 279 ff. 2187

Midrash, tales, and compilations )‫יהודית‬-‫אגרת אלדד הדני (פרסית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫מעשה ירושלמי (פרסית‬ ‫שאהזאדה וצופי לאלישע בן שמואל‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫(פרסית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫משלי סנדאבד (פרסית‬ Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year ‫ הערות‬,‫פיוטי ישראל ̇נגארה (עברית‬ )‫יהודית‬-‫בפרסית‬

Judeo-Persian

‫‪215‬‬

‫‪Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections‬‬

‫‪Language‬‬ ‫‪of TY in the‬‬ ‫‪collection‬‬

‫‪Literary context and language of com‬‬‫‪Origin (if‬‬ ‫‪known), date,‬‬ ‫‪position‬‬ ‫‪number of folios‬‬

‫‪Shelf mark‬‬

‫‪Hebrew‬‬

‫‪Morocco, 19th‬‬ ‫‪c., 282 ff.‬‬

‫‪Jerusalem NLI 8°‬‬ ‫‪5477‬‬

‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫גדולת משה רבינו (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה די ר' יואל בעל שם (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה די שלמה המלך (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה נסים (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה ר' יוסף דילה ריינה (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫פטירת משה רבינו (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫קצת מעשיות (עברית‪ ,‬ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Halakhic/Judicial literature‬‬ ‫קצור מנהגי בדיקות הריאה וחידושים דינים לר'‬ ‫רפאל בירדוגו עם תוספות בנו מימון בירדוגו‬ ‫(עברית)‬ ‫חידושים שונים (עברית)‬ ‫‪Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year‬‬ ‫מפתח פיוטים (עברית)‬ ‫פיוטים לפסח‪ ,‬סוכות‪ ,‬הבדלה ועוד (עברית‪,‬‬ ‫ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫בקשות לשבת (עברית‪ ,‬ערבית ‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫צהיר של פסח (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫גורלות אחיתופל (עברית)‬

‫‪Hebrew‬‬

‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬ ‫פרי עץ הדר מתוך חמדת ימים‬ ‫תיקון שיעור קומה‬

‫‪North Africa,‬‬ ‫‪19th c., 253 ff.‬‬

‫‪Jerusalem NLI 8°‬‬ ‫‪4124‬‬

‫‪Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫סגולות‪ ,‬קמעות (ארמית‪ ,‬עברית‪,‬‬ ‫ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫סימני רעמים ורעשים (עברית‪ ,‬ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫ספר הגורלות של אחיתופל (עברית)‬ ‫עשר אותות (עברית)‬ ‫תיקון סעודת פורים‬ ‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫אלפא ביתא דבן סירא‬ ‫מעשה אחד שהובא בכתבי האר"י (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה אנטונינוס ורבי יהודה הנשיא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה בצדיק אחד (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה בר' חנינא בן דוסא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ברבן גמליאל (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה דע שהרמב"ן (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ישמעאל כהן גדול (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מעשיר מק"ק אסטנבול (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה נתן דצוציתא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה פי איאם דוד המלך (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫ועוד סיפורים‬ ‫רשימת שמות (עברית)‬ ‫‪Hebrew‬‬

‫‪Other‬‬

‫‪Popular literature‬‬ ‫אכתהו = משלי‬ ‫וצאיית חייקאר אלאה אבן ̇‬ ‫אחיקר (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬

‫‪19th c., 41 ff.‬‬

‫‪Jerusalem NLI‬‬ ‫‪Yahuda 154‬‬

‫‪Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections‬‬

‫‪216‬‬

‫‪Language‬‬ ‫‪of TY in the‬‬ ‫‪collection‬‬

‫‪Literary context and language of com‬‬‫‪Origin (if‬‬ ‫‪known), date,‬‬ ‫‪position‬‬ ‫‪number of folios‬‬

‫‪Shelf mark‬‬

‫‪Hebrew‬‬

‫‪No context‬‬

‫‪19th c., 13 ff.‬‬

‫‪Jerusalem Feld‬‬‫‪man 234‬‬

‫‪Hebrew‬‬

‫‪Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year‬‬ ‫תכלאל תימני‪ – ‬סידורים‪ ,‬מחזורים‪ ,‬ברכות וכד'‬ ‫(עברית‪ ,‬ארמית) ‪ +‬פירוש פעמון זהב לר' יצחק‬ ‫ונה (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬

‫‪19th c., 188 ff.‬‬

‫‪Jerusalem Krupp‬‬ ‫‪1990‬‬

‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫אגרת אלדד הדני (עברית)‬ ‫אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (עברית)‬ ‫טעמים נחמדים (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מלכת שבא‬ ‫קצת פטירת אהרן (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫קצה פטירת משה רבינו (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Exegetical literature‬‬ ‫פירוש עשרת הדברות (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Halakhic/Judicial literature‬‬ ‫נוסח הכתובות והגטין והשטרות‬ ‫‪Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫עיבור השנים (עברית)‬ ‫שער התקופות (עברית) ‪ +‬ביאן לחסאב‬ ‫אלתקופות (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫ספר פתרון חלומות (עברית)‬ ‫‪Hebrew‬‬

‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫מאמרי חז"ל (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' אברהם בן עזרא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה על יואב בן צרויה (עברית)‬ ‫משה רבנו (עברית)‬ ‫‪Bible commentary‬‬ ‫פירוש משחת קודש לשיר השיר לשלמה מולכו‬ ‫(עברית)‬ ‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬ ‫חבור במוסר‪ ,‬מציין את ר' יוסף טאיטצאק‬ ‫(עברית)‬ ‫חיבור קבלי על המצוות (עברית)‬ ‫ליקוטי דרושים ומאמרי חז"ל‪ ,‬בין היתר מספר‬ ‫חרדים (עברית)‬ ‫מאמר במוסר והליכות (עברית)‬ ‫נבואת סאלם אלשבזי על ביאת המשיח‬ ‫(עברית)‬ ‫ליקוטי סודות וכוונות‪ ,‬ביניהם מספר שושן‬ ‫סודות (עברית)‬ ‫‪Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year‬‬ ‫דיני תפילה וכוונות (עברית)‬ ‫כונות ודיני שופר‬ ‫כונות‪ ,‬סודות ומנהגי תפלות (עברית)‬

‫‪Yemen, 19th c.,‬‬ ‫‪264 ff.‬‬

‫‪New York JTS‬‬ ‫‪1739‬‬

‫‪217‬‬

‫‪Appendix 4: The Helene Narrative in Collections‬‬

‫‪Language‬‬ ‫‪of TY in the‬‬ ‫‪collection‬‬

‫‪Literary context and language of com‬‬‫‪Origin (if‬‬ ‫‪known), date,‬‬ ‫‪position‬‬ ‫‪number of folios‬‬

‫‪Shelf mark‬‬

‫‪Halakhic/Judicial literature‬‬ ‫דיני גטין (עברית)‬ ‫הלכות ומנהגים בענינים שבשלחן ערוך ארח‬ ‫חיים (עברית)‬ ‫הלכות קדושין בדרך שאלות ותשובות (עברית)‬ ‫קיצור הלכות אישות שבמשנה תורה (עברית)‬ ‫‪Judeo-Persian‬‬

‫‪Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫גורלות אורים ותומים (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫ספר הרכל (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬

‫‪19th c., 117 ff.‬‬

‫‪St Petersburg In‬‬‫‪stitute of Oriental‬‬ ‫‪Studies A 152‬‬

‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫מעשה אברהם חסידא (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה מר' יהושע בן לוי (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה נורא משלמה המלך (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה נתן דצוציתא (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה נעתק מספר פרקי הכלות‬ ‫(פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה עם רבי אלעזר (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה שאירע בימי הקדמוני (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה ראובן הלבלר (פרסית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫‪Hebrew‬‬

‫‪Midrash, tales, and compilations‬‬ ‫אלפא ביתא דבן סירא (עברית)‬ ‫כתב פרשטי גואן (= ‪( )Prester John‬עברית)‬ ‫מעשה אבא גוליש (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה אלדד הדני (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה דבת ר' עקיבא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה יואב‪[ ‬בן צרויה] (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה נתן דצוציתא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה עוקבא בר אדא (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ר' בוסתנאי (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה ר' סליק (=מעשה רב כהנא) (עברית)‬ ‫מעשה שהיה באצטנבול (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫מעשה תורה (עברית)‬ ‫מעשיות נוספות (עברית‪ ,‬ערבית יהודית)‬ ‫‪Astrology/Astronomy/Magic‬‬ ‫עיבור השנים (עברית)‬ ‫פתרון חלומות (עברית)‬ ‫תנגים (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫̇‬ ‫ספר אורך ימים (עברית)‬

‫‪Theology/Ethics‬‬

‫‪Prayer/Liturgical/Jewish year‬‬ ‫בקשות‪ – ‬תפילות אישיות‪ ,‬פיוטים (עברית)‬ ‫פתיחה לס"ת בשבת (עברית)‬ ‫אלדמה (ערבית‪-‬יהודית)‬ ‫̇‬ ‫כתאב‬

‫‪Other‬‬

‫‪20th c., 210 ff.‬‬

‫‪Tel Aviv Ha-Levi‬‬ ‫‪14‬‬

Appendix 5: Bilʿam and Stealing the Name in LMJAR and the Zohar This section of the narrative in LMJAR is preserved in two manuscripts – most extensively in RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005, f. 7, with a partial parallel in the later manuscript JTS ENA 1726, f. 5. In the Zohar, I quote the text from Parashat Balaq, 3:194b, in the translation of Daniel C. Matt in the Pritzker edition, barring the biblical quotes, for which I use JPS uniformly.1 I discuss this comparison and my conclusions at length in section 3 of chapter 7. Zohar Balaq

LMJAR, English translation of Judeo-Arabic

As soon as he saw Pinḥas, he flew in the air with his two sons, Yannes and Yambres. […] However, that wicked one knew all the sorceries of the world, and he absorbed the sorcery of his sons, who were familiar with it, and with this he flew away.

Then after that, before that cursed one stole the Name that he used, a man from the tribe of Dan had taken it, and his name was Zaliah, because the accursed Bilʿam had fled, he and his two sons, because they were magicians, he and his sons, one of whom was named Anīs and one was Samarīm.

Pinḥas saw that someone was flying in the air, disappearing from sight. He shouted to the soldiers, “Is there anyone who knows how to fly after that wicked one, for it is Bilʿam?” They saw him flying.

When they flew in heaven, the honorable Pinḥas, peace be upon him, became confused.

Zaliah, a member of the tribe of Dan, rose and seized the dominion ruling over sorcery, and flew away.

The one whose name was Zaliah who was from the tribe of Dan took that Name from the Temple and used it and flew after the cursed Bilʿam.

As soon as that wicked one saw him, he changed course in the air and penetrated five layers of the atmosphere, disappearing from sight.

When Bilʿam saw that Zaliah his son (!) had gone out after him to the seventh heaven and had gone down to the fifth heaven,

At that moment, Zaliah was in danger and distress, not knowing what to do.

Pinḥas shouted to Zaliah from underneath and said to him, “Why are you so confused?” Zaliah said to Pinḥas, “I didn’t find him.”

 Matt, Zohar, 9:367–70.

1

Appendix 5: Bilʿam and Stealing the Name in LMJAR and the Zohar

219

Zohar Balaq

LMJAR, English translation of Judeo-Arabic

Pinḥas shouted towards him, “Shadow of dragons crouching over all serpents, curl your hair!” Immediately, he knew and discovered that course and approached him.

Pinḥas said to him, “That one went down from you to the fifth heaven, and lo, I will place for him a magical covering of hair, so that he can hide in it.” Then he [= Pinḥas] crushed his hair,

Immediately, [Bilʿam] appeared, and both of them descended in front of Pinḥas.

and he [= Bilʿam] descended upon it to under the honored Pinḥas, he and his two sons.

Come and see: of that wicked one it is written “He went off shefi, smoothly” (Num. 23:3) – this is the highest of his rungs, a male serpent. Zaliah took two – male and female – and thereby overpowered him, since he seized the dominion ruling over them and they were subjugated to him. Here is the prophecy that the honorable Jacob, our forefather, peace be upon him, prophesied in the weekly portion Vayeḥi, saying, This was “a viper (shefifon) by the path” (Gen. 49:17) – on that path taken by the wicked one, as is written: “Dan shall be a serpent by the road” (Gen. 49:17) – Samson.

“Dan shall be a serpent by the road” (Gen. 49:17). That is Samson, who fought the uncircumcised Philistines, thousands along the path, that is, on the earth.

“A viper by the path” – Zaliah.

“A viper by the path.” That is Zaliah, who set out to the heavens and brought (down) the cursed Bilʿam.

“That bites the horse’s heels” – Ira, who was with David and who came from Dan and whose might was attributed to David, as is written: “David hamstrung all the chariot horses” (2 Sam. 8:4).

The one “that bites the horse’s heels” (Gen. 49:17). That is Ira, because he is the one who is from the tribe of Dan, and he would fight on behalf of the ruler. The strong one who was with David was none other than Ira as it is written in the second book of Samuel, “David hamstrung all the chariot horses” (2 Sam. 8:4).

“So that his rider is thrown backward” (Gen. 49:17) – Seraiah, who is destined to come with the Messiah of Ephraim and will be from the tribe of Dan and is destined to wreak vengeance and wage war on the other nations.

“So that his rider is thrown backward” (Gen. 49:17). That is one whose name is ­Seraiah, and he is from the tribe of Dan, who will be accompanied by the Messiah King, of the tribe of Ephraim, and will take vengeance on the nations.

When this one arises, then you may expect the redemption of Israel.

When that one comes, accompanied by the Messiah of the tribe of Ephraim, good will come to Israel. Here is the conclusion: The honorable Jacob, peace be upon him, by the power of prophecy regarding Dan.

220

Appendix 5: Bilʿam and Stealing the Name in LMJAR and the Zohar

Zohar Balaq

LMJAR, English translation of Judeo-Arabic

As is written: “Your deliverance I await, O Lord!” (Gen. 49:18). Even though this verse has been established, the elucidation of the matter is as has been said [here] and been established. Thus the verse comes, demonstrating this.

The honorable Jacob, peace be upon him, also said, “Your deliverance I await, O Lord!” (Gen. 49:18).

When that wicked one landed in front of Pinḥas, he said to him, “Evil one, how many evil convolutions have you inflicted upon the Holy People!” He said to Zaliah, “Come and kill him, but not with the Name, for this one is not worthy of having sublime sanctity mentioned over him – so that his soul, in departing, should not be included in these holy rungs and his utterance be fulfilled: ‘May my soul die the death of the upright’ (Num. 23:10).”

At that moment, Pinḥas said to Zaliah, “You brought him; you kill him. Because I’m a priest, I can’t kill him.”

At that moment he performed several types of execution upon him […] The second one who took that Name was Nebuchadnezzar, when he went up to Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple and took Israel into the Babylonian exile and took the vessels of the Temple and the treasures that were in the Temple, and among them he took that Ineffable Name, and made for himself an idol of gold […]

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Index of Toledot Yeshu manuscripts Amsterdam

Cincinnati

University Library of Amsterdam Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana 414 88n78, 114n37

Hebrew Union College Ms. 2172 214 Ms. 2187 214

Budapest

Jerusalem

Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Kaufmann 299 69, 73n15, 75n29, 79n37, 80n45, 114n37, 162n277, 163n283, n291 Kaufmann A559 113n36, 144n167, 147n192, 149n205, 152n227, 182n1, 183n2, 191, 192–205

Benayahu Collection 25.4

Cambridge (UK) University Library CUL Or. 557

21n8, 80n47, 83n58, 84n61, 86n68, 211 CUL T-S Misc. 35.87 5n11 CUL T-S Misc. 35.88 5n11 CUL T-S Misc. 298.56 5n11 CUL T-S NS 164.26 17, 21, 81, 83–85, 174, 176 CUL T-S NS 298.57 17, 19, 51, 52, 53, 54, 76, 81–82, 83, 174, 176, 178, 180, 182, 184, 186, 188 CUL T-S NS 298.58 17, 72–75, 174, 176 CUL T-S NS 329.820 5n11 Cambridge (US) Harvard Houghton Library Hebrew 101 58n31

114n37, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 212

Feldman Collection 234 216 Hekhal Shelomo Museum 22 210 Krupp Collection 1990 216 National Library of Israel Heb. 4° 15 114n37, 211 Heb. 4° 1331 214 Heb. 4° 472 211 Heb. 8° 357 214 Heb. 8° 472 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189 Heb. 8° 864 71n4, 210 Heb. 8° 949 74n23, 78, 87n77, 114n37, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 208 Heb. 8° 2946 214 Heb. 8° 3397 63n43, 209 Heb. 8° 4124 215 Heb. 8° 5187 212 Heb. 8° 5477 215 Yahuda 154 215 Leipzig Universitätsbibliothek BH 17

71n7–n9, 112n34, 113, 115n40,

232

Index of Toledot Yeshu manuscripts 116n42, 118, 139n126, 140n135, n137, 141n147, 142n148, n151, 144n167, 145n173, n174, n177, 147n192, n194, 148n198, n199, 149n205, 150n217, 151n220, 152n221, n227, 153n238, 157n262, 161n275, 167n321, 178, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 192–205

Letchworth Sassoon Collection 152 207 London British Library Or. 3660 Or. 10435 Or. 10457

154–155n244 18, 64, 95, 121, 169–171, 173, 175, 177, 214 149n205, 152n227

Manchester John Rylands Library B3791 5n11 Nahariya Menahem and Saʿaydah Yaʿacov Collection 195 210 New Haven Yale University, Beinecke Library Heb. 5 69, 144n167, 149n205, 152n227 New York Jewish Theological Seminary JTS 1739 216 JTS 2221 122 JTS 2529.1 5n11 JTS 2529.2 5n11 JTS 4934 208 JTS 4934a 209 JTS 6871 212

JTS 8998 JTS ENA 1726

JTS ENA 3317.21 JTS ENA NS 32.5

5n11 18, 64, 95, 103, 106n23, 121, 126n27, 132n68– n71, 170, 171–172, 173, 175, 177, 218–220 17, 21, 69–71, 83, 174, 176 17, 19, 75–77, 81n50, 174, 176, 178, 180, 182, 184, 186, 188

Paris Bibliothèque Nationale de France Héb. 1384.1 122, 149n205, 152n227 Collection Mosseri 1.81 5n11 Parma Biblioteca Palatina 2083

149n205, 152n227, 183n2

Princeton Firestone Library 20 213 21 212 26 213 Rostock University Library Or. 381

149n205, 152n227

St Petersburg Institute of Oriental Studies A 152 217 Russian National Library RNL Evr. 105.9 5n11 RNL Evr. I:274 5n12, 7n18 RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3005 9, 17, 19, 20, 54n22, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 103, 104, 111, 112n34, 115n39, 117, 121, 123–150, 151, 152n223, n227, 153n228,

Index of Toledot Yeshu manuscripts n229, n234, n235, n238, 160–161, 164n302, 165n304– n310, 166n312, n314, n317, n318, 168n327, n334, 169n335–n338, 172n353, n355-358, 174, 176, 178, 180, 182, 184, 186, 188, 189n4, n5, 190, 192–205, 218–220 RNL Evr.-Arab. I:3014 18, 50, 79n40, 95, 134n81, 135n88, n89, 160–161, 163–165, 173, 175, 177 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:919 18, 95, 96, 98, 99, 110, 111, 121, 123, 148n195, n199, n202, 149n203– n206, 150–158, 175, 177 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1033 17, 77–80, 174, 176 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1036 18, 20, 95, 112n34, 137n108, n112, n116, n117, 138n119, n122, n124, 139n129, n131, 140n135, n136, n140, 141n141, n144– n147, 144n165, n169–n172, 145n173, 146n178, n181, n186, n187,

233

160–161, 165–168, 168–169, 173, 175, 177, 190, 192–205 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1092 18, 20–21, 85–88, 100, 112, 175, 177, 190, 191, 192–205 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1343 18, 95, 121, 158–160, 175, 177 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1345 17, 95, 101n12, 121, 123–150, 158, 174, 176 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:1993 18, 19, 52, 54, 90–93, 126n27, 172n353, 175, 177, 178, 180, 182, 184, 186, 188 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2035 18, 21–22, 83, 88–90, 175, 177 RNL Evr.-Arab. II:2550 18, 95, 160–163, 173, 175, 177 Strasbourg Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire BNU Héb. 3974 21n8, 72, 73n15, 74n25, n26, 75n29, 78, 80n45, 86n68, 87n77, 100, 117n43, 144n167, 145n174, 164n300, 178, 180, 182, 184, 186, 188 Tel Aviv Ha-Levi Collection 14 217

Subject Index 1001 Nights ​208n4 abbreviated form of Yeshu’s name ​88, 123, 130n57, 151, 161 Abner of Burgos (Alfonso de Valladolid) ​6, 9–10 Abraham and Nimrod ​60 Agobard (bishop of Lyons) ​5–6 Ahuvia, Mika ​13 Alexander, Philip ​13–14 The Alfa Beta of Ben Sira ​60, 61–62, 63 Alfonso de Valladolid see Abner of Burgos “also also” (wa-ayḍan kamān) phrase, use of ​99 Amulo (bishop of Lyons) ​6 Anatoli, Jacob ​40 “and then” (illā wa-) phrase, use of ​98, 125n15, 170n345 Anīs (son of Bilʿam) ​106, 132, 218 anonymous writing tradition in Jewish texts ​ 4n10 al-Anponī/al-Anpolī/al-Anpolū see Paul anti-Christian writings – in Europe ​63 – in Near East/Judeo-Arabic ​8–9, 59 – TY ​1, 59, 101, 112–113 anti-Jewish writings ​6, 10 Arabic culture, influences on Jews of ​ 38 Arabic language – diglossia in ​27–30 – grammar of ​28, 31 – and Islam ​28–29 – phonetic assimilation in ​34 – spread of ​25, 28 – storytelling in ​98 – usage – by Christians ​30n12 – by Jews ​25–26, 29–30, 42–43 – in Near East ​27, 32, 37–38, 41–42, 47 – see also Judeo-Arabic language – see also Classical Arabic

Arabic script, use for Judeo-Arabic texts ​ 31–35 Arabic texts – popular literature ​48 – prefaces in ​101 – reading of vi, 38, 64–65 Arad, Dotan ​37n1, 48n3 Aramaic language, Jewish usage of ​26 Aramaic TY texts ​1, 59 – in Near East ​1 – Pilate narrative ​3, 4, 5 – studies of ​12, 13 Arrest of Yeshu plot element of TY ​72–75, 160, 162, 176–177 Ashkenazi A Hebrew TY ​19, 114n37 – comparisons with other TY texts – on chronology/time ​114n37 – Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​21n8 – early ​69, 72, 74n25, n26, 75n29, 78, 79n37, 80n45, 86 – late ​141n144, 162n277, 163n291 – Late Yemenite A ​72 – on creation of light ​87n77 – plot elements in – Miracles by Eliyahu/Khidr ​21 – Truth Revealed ​178 – transitional elements in ​117 Ashkenazi B Hebrew TY ​178 – comparisons with other TY texts ​114n37 – prefaces in ​100 – on significance of Sundays ​88n78 astrology/astronomy, TY with literature on ​ 208, 210, 211, 212, 215, 216, 217 authorship – conceptions of – Arabic ​27n6 – Jewish ​56 – of Judeo-Arabic texts ​4n10, 56 – of TY ​57 Babylonian Talmud ​50n15 – see also Talmud Badawi, El-Said ​68, 122

236

Subject Index

Bar Ḥiyya, Abraham ​39n6 Barbu, Daniel ​3n7, 13 Bauer, Thomas ​64 Ben Kefa see Shimʿon ben Kefa Ben-Shalom, Ram ​13 Ben-Shammai, Haggai v, 21n9, 25n1, 85n67, 86n69 Benarroch, Jonatan ​104n17, 105, 106n21, 207n2 Betrayal plot element of TY ​72–75 Bible, Hebrew see Torah Bilʿam (Biblical figure) – mid-air battle and execution story of ​ 104–105 – midrashic TY texts on ​105, 132, 133 – comparisons with Zohar ​106–109, 218–220 Birth and Childhood of Yeshu plot element of TY ​115, 127, 171, 172, 174–175 Bischoff, Erich ​12 Blau, Joshua ​30, 31n16, n17, 68, 122 Bohak, Gideon v, 4, 5, 12, 13 Book of Beliefs and Opinions (Saʿadya Gaon) ​38n3, 57 Book of Commandments (Sefer mizvot) (Maimonides) ​21n9, 41, 86n69 The Book of Zerubbabel ​60 Burial plot element ​78–80, 123, 134–136, 160, 163–165, 176–177 Byzantium, TY manuscripts originating in ​7 Cairo Genizah fragments – Arabic script in ​32 – late Judeo-Arabic in ​47–48 – of TY ​1, 4, 5, 9 Cambridge University Library (CUL) ​1, 17 Castilian language, TY in ​6 childhood of Yeshu, TY on ​115, 116 Christian preaching, in Italy ​111 Christian texts – Jewish parodies on ​112 – True Cross legend ​110–111 – on TY ​5–6, 9 Christianity, TY on split with Judaism ​20, 137–142, 144–150, 151–154, 165–168, 169, 192–205 Christians – advice/prohibitions in TY for ​88, 112–113, 140, 141, 143, 166, 167, 198–200 – circumcision ​88, 141, 199 – dietary laws ​97, 147–148, 149, 151n220, 153, 199

– use of Arabic by ​30n12 The Chronicles of Moses ​60 chronology of TY ​114 circulation – of TY ​60, 63–64 – see also popularity of TY – of Zohar ​110n29 circumcision – voluntary, TY on ​88, 141, 199 – of Yeshu ​115, 116, 127 Classical Arabic ​30–31, 34, 35 – Judeo-Arabic deviations from ​44, 49–53 – in Judeo-Arabic texts ​35, 51–52, 54 – early TY texts ​69, 72, 77, 81, 85 – late TY texts ​148n200, 152n222 – orthography of ​34, 50–51 – reading of texts, by Jews ​38 classical Judeo-Arabic ​35, 36n33, 38, 49n6, 57 – in TY texts ​51–52, 53–54, 81 clay birds miracle ​88–89 colloquial Arabic/Judeo-Arabic ​51 – in TY texts ​52–53, 96–97 – see also dialectal elements in JudeoArabic TY texts colophons in TY manuscripts ​59–60 compilations of texts – language use in ​61 – TY a part of ​59–61, 63–64, 206–217 conception of Yeshu – narrative ​10, 20, 54 – plot element of TY ​124–125, 158, 159–160, 169–170, 170–171, 174–175 – revealing of see Disclosure plot element; Truth Revealed plot element Constantine (Roman emperor) ​154 Contra Judaeos (Amulo) ​6 conversion to Judaism, TY on ​148, 151, 152 copying of manuscripts ​57, 63–64 corrections, in TY manuscripts ​91, 166n319, 168n324 correspondence – in Hebrew ​44 – in Judeo-Arabic ​44 – of Maimonides ​41–43 corruption in TY manuscripts ​96, 97, 122, 126n27, 138n126, 141n146, 146n181, 150n211, n215–n217, 151, 153n234, n238, 155n247, 161 – see also scribal errors in TY manuscripts creation – of light ​87n77 – of TY ​55, 59

Subject Index crucifixion of Yeshu ​163 – see also Execution plot element of TY Cuffel, Alexandra ​13–14, 111n32 Dahhaoui, Yann ​13 Dan, tribe of ​98, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 132, 133, 219 Daniel (Biblical figure) ​104n17 dating of manuscripts ​17–18, 19 – of Helene narrative ​7n19, 8–9, 15, 17–18, 19 – of Pilate narrative ​3, 4–7 David (Biblical figure, Israelite king) ​ 85n67, 124, 129, 133, 159, 219 David Ha-Nagid (rabbi) ​98n5 De Judaicis superstitionibus (On the Jewish superstitions, Agobard et al) ​5–6 death – of Nestor ​144, 168 – of Yeshu ​134–135, 163–165 The Death of Moses ​60 Deutsch, Yaacov ​3n7, 4, 12 dhimma legal system ​2 Di Gesù, Antonio vi, 111n32, 130n56, 150n217, 153n238, 154n240, 156n259, 157n262 Di Segni, Riccardo ​1n1, 7n19, 55 dialectal elements in Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​ 50–51, 52–53, 55, 58 – early ​88 – late ​96–97, 104, 125n17, n18, 130n51, 143n156, 155n251, 160, 168n329, 170n 346–n348 dictionaries – of Egyptian Arabic ​68 – of Judeo-Arabic ​68 dietary laws, TY on ​97, 147–148, 148n198, 149, 151n220, 153, 167, 199 diglossia in Arabic ​27–29 – and Jewish usage ​29–30, 51–52 Disclosure plot element of TY ​126, 171–172, 174–175 Disputation of the Priest (Polemic of Nestor the Priest/Qiṣṣat Mujādalat al-Usquf) ​64 divorce between Yoḥanan and Miriam ​131 Dominican preaching, in Italy ​111 Drory, Rina ​32n20 early Judeo-Arabic ​33–34, 35 Ebendorfer, Thomas ​10 Egypt, Jewish scholarship in ​39 Egyptian Arabic, in Judeo-Arabic texts ​ 52–53, 97, 125n17, n18, 170n 346–n348

237

Egyptian dictionaries ​68 Eiximenis, Francesc ​10n28 Eliyahu/Eliyah/Khidr (al-Akhdar) (character in TY) ​86–88, 99, 100, 190 – laws proposed by ​112–113 – miracles by ​20–21, 86, 138n126 – trick to rid the Jews of Yeshu-believers by ​ 137–142, 165–168 “enemies of Israel,” Jews indicated as ​50, 79n38, 135 Engel, Edna v, 17n1 entertainment role of TY ​19, 62, 63 Envoys plot element of TY ​21–22, 174–175 – in early Judeo-Arabic texts ​69–71, 85, 88–89 Ephraim, tribe of ​133, 219 Escape plot element of TY ​72–75, 176–177 ethics, TY with literature on ​207, 208, 209, 210, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217 Europe – anti-Christian writings in ​63 – Jews in ​2, 40, 43–44 – TY in ​1, 48, 58, 63 – Helene narrative ​9–10, 15 – Pilate narrative ​5–6 Evans, Craig ​13 Even boḥan (The touchstone, Ibn Shaprut) ​6 Excommunication of Yeshu – his name after ​118–119, 130n57 – plot element of TY ​82, 93–94, 118–119, 130–131, 174–175, 186–187 Execution plot element of TY ​160, 161, 162–163, 176–177 exegesis, TY with literature on ​207, 216 al-Faraj baʿd al-shidda (Nissim ibn Shāhīn) ​ 102 Ferguson, Charles A. ​28n8 Final Separation plot element of TY ​ 176–177 – in late Judeo-Arabic texts ​95–96, 123, 128n38, 144–150, 151–154, 168, 169 Finding Disciples and Miracles plot element of TY ​18, 151, 174–175 Finding of the Holy Cross plot element of TY ​176–177 – in late Judeo-Arabic texts ​95–96, 98, 99, 110–111, 119, 123, 151, 154–158 Firkovich, Abraham ​2 Firkovich collection (Russian National ­Library) ​1–2 – late Genizah texts in ​47 – TY fragments in ​1, 2, 17, 18

238

Subject Index

First Separation plot element of TY ​20–21, 173, 176–177 – in Hebrew texts ​190–205 – in Judeo-Arabic texts ​190 – early ​86–88 – late ​95, 97, 99, 100, 111–113, 136–142, 161, 165–168, 190–205 First Trial plot element of TY ​83–84, 174–175 Flagellation plot element of TY ​176–177 Flying Contest plot element of TY ​176–177 folk narratives – Arabic ​98 – hero-villain transpositions in ​115n41 food see dietary laws formulaic phrases in late Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​97–100, 112, 125n14, 132n67, 170n345 freedom of belief, Classical Arabic phrase for ​148n200, 152n222 Freudenthal, Gad ​39n6, 42n17 Friedberg Judeo-Arabic project ​21n9 Fudeman, Kirsten ​58 Gager, John ​13 gardener figure in TY ​134–136, 161, 163, 164, 165 Garshūnī (Arabic in Syriac letters) ​30n12 Gaster, Moses ​64 German, TY in ​12 Gila, Yitzchack v Ginzberg, Louis ​105 God – Arabic as language of ​29 – name of – in TY ​21, 86, 99 – see also Ineffable Name of God Goitein, Shlomo Dov ​17n2, 47–48n3 grammar – of Arabic language ​28, 31 – see also Classical Arabic Gribetz, Sarit Kattan ​13 Guide to the Duties of the Hearts (Ibn Paquda) ​40 Guide of the Perplexed (Maimonides), translations of ​40, 42 Gzar dina de-Yeshu (The sentencing of Yeshu) ​3 Halakha, TY with literature on ​207, 211, 212, 215, 216, 217 ḥamdala sections (praise sections) ​101 Hary, Benjamin ​48–49

Haskell, Ellen ​104n18, 105 Hasson-Kenat, Rachel ​48–49, 60n33 Hebrew language – as lingua franca between Jewish communities ​43 – Medieval ​40 – translations from Judeo-Arabic into ​40 – usage ​39–44 Hebrew script, use of, for Judeo-Arabic texts ​ 31, 32–33 Hebrew texts – anti-Christian writings ​8–9 – Arabic script used for ​32, 34 – nonscholarly works ​44 – scholarly works ​39–44 – TY ​1, 10, 10–11, 22, 59, 96 – comparisons with Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​3, 19–22, 78, 145n173-4, n177, 146n182, n187, 147n191, n192, n194, 148n199, 149n204–n207, 150n211, n215-217, 153n234 – early ​67, 69, 70n4, 71n5, n7, n9, 72, 74n22, n25, n26, 83n58, 84n61, 86 – late ​96, 111, 112n34, 113–120, 122, 141n144, n147, 142n148, 143n162, 144n167, 152n226, 157n262, 158n269, 161, 162n277, 163n283, n291, n293, 167n322 – in Europe ​1, 10, 58 – linguistic registers in ​58 – in literary compilations ​214, 215, 215–217 – in Near East ​1, 11 – Pilate narrative ​4–5, 7 – plot elements in ​19, 178–179 – prefaces in ​100 – studies of ​12, 14 Helene (queen of Judea) ​1, 8, 50, 78–79, 82, 84–85, 89, 93, 114, 134–135, 136, 164–165 Heresies of Yeshu plot element of TY ​ 174–175 – in Hebrew texts ​114, 116 – in Judeo-Arabic texts – early ​75–77, 91 – late ​99–100, 114, 116, 127–129 hero-villain transpositions, in folktale traditions ​115n41 Herod (Roman king of Judea) ​114, 124 Hinds, Martin ​68, 122 Hirschler, Konrad ​64–65 Ḥizzuq emunah (Isaac of Troki) ​63 Hodgson, Marshall ​27

Subject Index holy language conceptions ​29 Horbury, William ​4, 12 Iberia – Jewish scholarship in ​39–40 – Jews in, expulsion of ​43 Ibn Ezra, Abraham ​39n6 Ibn Jābir, Yosef ​41–42 Ibn Paquda, Baḥya ​40 Ibn Shāhīn, Nissim ben Jacob ​102 Ibn Shaprut, Shem Tov ​6 Ibn Sulaymān al-Muqaddasī, ʿAli ​32 Ibn Tibbon, Judah ​40, 43 Ibn Tibbon, Moses ​40 Ibn Tibbon, Samuel ​40, 43 Ibn Tibbon family ​40 idols, worship of ​104n17, 124n9, 128n38, 159 Ineffable Name of God, illicit use/stealing of ​104 – by Bilʿam ​105, 107, 218–219 – by Eliyahu/Khidr ​138 – by Nebuchadnezzar ​104, 109, 134, 220 – by Pinḥas ​107n27 – by Yeshu ​97–98, 103, 106, 131–132, 162n277, 188–189 – by Zaliah ​107, 132, 218 – see also Stealing the Name plot element of TY Inquisition documents, references to TY in ​10 Interrogation of Miriam by the Sages plot element of TY ​19–20 introductions see prefaces Ira (Biblical figure) ​133, 219 Isaac of Troki ​63 Islam, role of Arabic language in ​28–29 Islamicate ​27 al-ism al-aʿẓam (God’s Greatest Name) ​ 86n69 Israel, Land of, in TY ​82 Italian A Hebrew TY texts ​19, 178 – comparisons with Judeo-Arabic TY texts – early ​69, 70n4, 71n5, n7, n9, 76 – late ​96, 111, 112n34, 113–120, 122, 139n126, 141n144, 142n153, 143n162, 147n191, n192, n194, 149n204–n207, 150n211, 152n226, 153n2234, 154–155n244, 157n262, 158n269 – plot elements in ​20, 119–120, 191–205 – transitional paragraphs in ​115–117, 118–119

239

Italian B Hebrew TY texts ​179 – transitional sentences in ​114n38 Italy, True Cross legend in ​111 Jacob (Biblical figure) ​131, 133, 219–220 Jesus see Yeshu Jethro (Biblical figure, priest) ​91, 128–129 Jewish texts – anonymous writing tradition ​4n10 – Arabic cultural influences on ​38 – in Arabic script ​32, 35 – in Judeo-Arabic ​57 Jewish Theological Seminary Library (JTS), TY fragments collection in ​17 Jewish year literature, TY in compilations with ​207, 210, 211, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217 Jews – advice/laws in TY for Christians regarding ​ 112–113, 140–141, 147–148, 151n220, 153, 166, 167, 198–200 – “enemies of Israel” used for ​79n38 – in Europe ​2, 40, 43–44 – in Near East ​2 – Arab cultural influences on ​38 – Arabic usage by ​25, 29–30, 32 – Iberian Jews ​37 – language use by – Arabic ​25, 29–30, 32 – Hebrew ​39–40 – Persian ​26n2 – rejection of Yeshu by ​112 Jonathan ha-Kohen (Rabbi) ​42 Joshua ben Levi (Rabbi) ​61 Judah the gardener (character in TY) ​ 134–136, 161, 163, 164, 165 Judah Iskaryūmā/Iscariot ​89–90, 103 Judaism – TY on conversion to ​151, 152 – TY on split with Christianity ​20, 137–142, 144–150, 151–154, 165–168, 169, 192–205 Judeo-Arabic language ​25, 30 – classical ​35, 36n33, 38, 49n6, 57 – early ​33–34, 35 – late ​22–23, 35–36, 37–38, 38–39, 44 – linguistics of ​48–50, 68, 96–100 – in Mamluk period ​47–48 – orthography of ​33–37, 47, 49 – in early TY texts ​69, 72, 75, 77, 81, 83, 85, 88, 90 – in late TY texts ​96, 123, 150–151, 158, 160, 170, 171

240

Subject Index

– studies of ​27n7 – usage ​39–44, 47 Judeo-Arabic texts ​23, 26–27, 30–31 – anti-Christian ​9 – authorship in ​4n10 – literature ​2, 44, 45 – reading of vi, 30, 38 – scholarly works ​39–44 – script used in – Arabic ​31–35 – Hebrew ​31, 32–33 – Torah ​26 – transcriptions of ​68–69 – translations into Hebrew ​40 Judeo-Arabic TY versions ​1, 2, 3, 7, 8–9, 15–16, 17–22, 31, 59, 65–66 – Arabic in ​21 – comparisons with Hebrew TY texts ​3, 19–22, 145n173-4, n177, 146n182, n187, 147n191, n192, n194, 148n199, 149n204–n207, 150n211, n215-217, 153n234 – early Judeo Arabic texts ​67, 69, 70n4, 71n5, n7, n9, 72, 74n22, n25, n26, 83n58, 84n61, 86 – late Judeo-Arabic texts ​96, 111, 112n34, 113–120, 122, 141n144, n147, 142n148, 143n162, 144n167, 152n226, 157n262, 158n269, 161, 162n277, 163n283, n291, n293, 167n322 – dating of ​17–18, 19 – early ​35, 67, 69–93 – linguistic characteristics of ​51–52, 53–54 – late ​22–23, 36, 38–39, 44–45, 48, 50–55, 214 – dialectical elements in ​50–51, 52–53, 58, 96–97, 104 – linguistic characteristics of ​96–100 – writing styles in ​52, 54–55 – see also LMJAR – linguistic registers used in ​51–55, 57, 68 – early texts ​68, 77, 81, 83, 85, 88, 90 – late texts ​96–97, 160 – in literary compilations ​22–23, 64, 206–217 – Pilate narrative ​5, 7 – plot elements in ​18–22, 69–71 – studies of ​3, 12, 15–16 Judeo-Persian TY versions ​11, 22, 214, 217 Judeo-Spanish – TY in ​22 – see also Ladino

Judicial literature, TY in compilations with ​ 207, 211, 212, 215, 216, 217 al-Kaldī/Illi Kaldī/al-Kaloyero (character in  TY) ​149, 152 Karaite writings – anti-Christian ​63 – in Judeo-Arabic ​31–33, 57n27 Karras, Ruth Mazo ​13 Khan, Geoffrey ​48–49 Khidr see Eliyahu/Khidr Kitāb al-ḍarāʾa (The book of urging on to attack, al-Muqammaṣ) ​9n25 Krauss, Samuel ​12, 119n46 Ladino – TY texts ​214 – see also Judeo-Spanish language use – in Ottoman text compilations ​61 – shift from Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew ​ 39–44 late Judeo-Arabic ​22–23, 35–36, 37–38, 44 – linguistics of ​48–50, 68, 96–100 – in Mamluk period ​47–48 – TY texts in ​50–55, 90–91 – dialectical elements in ​50–51, 52–53, 58, 96–97, 104 – writing styles of ​52, 54–55 Late Oriental Hebrew TY texts ​19 – chronological phrases in ​114n37 – comparisons with Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​ 70–71n4 – in literary compilations ​210, 212 – plot elements in ​179 Late Yemenite A Hebrew TY texts ​19 – chronological phrases in ​114n37 – comparisons with Ashkenazi A ​72 – comparisons with Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​ 21–22 – early ​72, 74n22, n26, 75n29, 76, 78, 79n37, 80n45, n47, 83n58, 84n61, 86 – on creation of light ​87n77 – in literary compilations ​208–209, 210–211, 212 – plot elements in ​21, 179 – prefaces in ​100 Late Yemenite B Hebrew TY ​19 – chronological phrases in ​114n37 – in literary compilations ​207, 211, 212–213 – plot elements in, Truth Revealed ​179 Latin, TY in ​9, 10

Subject Index laws in TY for Christians ​112–113, 140–141, 147–148, 151n220, 153, 166, 166–167, 167, 198–200 Das Leben Jesu (Krauss) ​12 Legenda aurea (de Voragine) ​111 legends – Christian ​110–111 – see also True Cross legend in TY The Letter of Eldad the Danite ​60 light, creation of ​87n77 linguistics, of late Judeo-Arabic ​48–50, 68, 96–100 literary camouflage, of midrash in TY ​ 103–104 literary compilations – language use in ​61 – TY as part of ​22–23, 59–61, 64, 206–217 literary development of TY texts ​55 literature – Arabic ​48 – Judeo-Arabic ​2, 44, 45 – in Near East ​60, 62, 64–65, 102 – popular ​45, 48, 60, 62n40, 64–65, 215 – TY as ​59 – in Yemen ​61 liturgical literature, TY in compilations with ​ 207, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217 LMJAR (late Mediterranean Judeo-Arabic recension of TY) ​2, 18, 65, 95, 121–122 – comparisons with early Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​86 – comparisons with Hebrew texts ​20, 21, 96, 111, 112n34, 113–120, 122, 141n144, n147, 142n148, 143n162, 144n167, 145n173-4, n177, 146n182–n187, 147n191, n192, n194, 148n199, 149n204– n207, 150n211, n215–n217, 152n226, 153n234, 157n262, 158n269, 161, 162n277, 163n283, n291, n293, 167n322 – comparisons with Zohar ​104–110, 218–220 – development of ​111–113 – dialectical elements in ​58, 96–97, 104 – formulaic phrases in ​97–100, 112, 125n14, 132n67, 170n345 – late Judeo-Arabic used in ​50–55 – linguistic characteristics of ​48–50, 96–100 – midrash compilations in ​97–98, 103–110, 123, 132–134, 171 – oral transmission of ​58 – orthography of ​123, 150–151, 158, 160, 170, 171

241

– plot elements in ​50, 95–96, 103, 121, 151, 160–161, 169–170, 171 – prefaces in ​100–103, 123–124, 158, 159, 169, 170, 174–175 – transitional paragraphs in ​114–119, 129 magic, TY with literature on ​208, 210, 211, 212, 215, 216, 217 magician, Yeshu as ​89 Maimonides, Moses ​21n9, 40, 86n69 – letters by ​41–43 – translations of works of ​41–42 Mamluk period – Judeo-Arabic usage in ​47–48 – TY in ​45 marriage of Christians with Jewish women, prohibition in TY on ​112–113, 140, 166, 167, 198 Martí, Ramon (Raymond Martini) ​9 Matt, Daniel C. ​106n22, 218 medieval literature, in Judeo-Arabic ​2 Mediterranean – Hebrew translations of Judeo-Arabic texts in ​40 – Jews in, Hebrew use by ​39–40 Meerson, Michael ​4, 7, 11n32, 14, 55, 122 Messiah – prophecies of coming of ​133, 219 – Yeshu claiming to be ​73–75, 84, 85 Michels, Evi ​14, 58n31 Middle Arabic ​30 Midrash ʿaseret ha-dibberot ​62 Midrash ha-gadol, TY in ​61, 206–207, 211 Midrash on Stealing the Name ​97–98, 103, 106–110, 123, 132–134, 171, 172, 173, 174–175 midrashic literature – in Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​96–98, 103–110, 123, 132–134, 171, 172 – of Ottoman period ​60, 61–62 – TY in compilations of ​206, 208, 209, 210–212, 214, 215, 216, 217 migrations of Jews, from Europe ​43–44 miracles – by Eliyahu/Khidr ​86–87, 138n126 – through use of divine Name ​142n153 – by Yeshu ​70–71, 84, 88–89 Miracles by Eliyahu/Khidr plot element of TY ​20–21 Miriam (mother of Yeshu) ​19–20, 51, 54, 76–77, 81–82, 92–93, 115–116, 118, 124, 125–127, 129, 130, 160 Mishnah ​163n285

242

Subject Index

Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), translations of ​41–42 Moreh ṣedeq/Mostrador de justicia (Teacher of righteousness, Abner of Burgos) ​6, 10 Moses (Biblical figure, prophet) ​91, 128–129 al-Muqammaṣ, Dāwūd ibn Marwān ​9n25 Muslim world, dhimma legal system in ​2 Name of God, in TY versions ​21, 86, 99 names in TY – variations in ​100, 158, 159n272, 168n325 – of Yeshu ​158, 159n272 – after excommunication/as abbreviation ​ 88, 118–119, 123, 130n57, 151, 161 naming of Yeshu ​77, 81, 115 narratorial interjections in TY ​99–100 Naṭronai Gaon ​26 Near East – Jews in ​2 – and Arabic culture ​38 – Iberian ​37 – language use by – Arabic ​27, 32, 37–38, 41–42, 47 – Hebrew ​39–40 – Persian ​26n2 – migrations from Europe to ​43–44 – literature in ​60, 62 – anti-Christian ​8–9, 59 – compilations of texts ​61 – popular ​60, 64–65 – multireligious environment in ​2 – TY in ​1–2, 3, 8–9, 11, 17 – circulation/popularity of ​22, 60, 63–64 – Ottoman period ​59–66 – Pilate narrative ​3–5, 7 – reading of ​62, 64 – role of ​45, 59, 62–63 – studies of ​15–16, 48, 62n40 Nebuchadnezzar (Biblical figure, Babylonian king) ​104, 109, 134, 220 Neishtadt, Mila ​149n206 Nestor (character in TY) ​143–144, 168 Nestorians plot element of TY ​176–177 – in late Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​96, 143–144, 161, 168 New Testament – on ministry of Jesus, start of ​114 – parodies in TY on ​141 Newman, Hillel ​13 Niṣṣahon yashan ​63

non-Jewish literature, TY in compilations of ​212 notariqon form of Yeshu’s name ​130n57 oral transmission, of TY ​55, 58 orthography – of Classical Arabic ​34, 50–51 – of Judeo-Arabic ​33–37, 47, 49 – early TY texts ​69, 72, 75, 77, 81, 83, 85, 88, 90 – late TY texts ​96, 123, 150–151, 158, 160, 170, 171 Ottoman period – midrashic literature in ​60, 61–62 – TY in compilations of ​206, 208, 209, 210–212, 214, 215, 216, 217 – TY in ​22–23, 45, 59–66 Paul (al-Anponī, al-Anpolī, and al-Anpolū) (character in TY) ​100, 142n154, 143, 146 – teachings of ​147–148, 168 Persian language, Jewish usage of ​26n2 Pharaoh, as idolator, Qurʾan on ​124n9 phonetic assimilation, in Arabic language ​34 phonetic Judeo-Arabic script ​33–34, 35 Pietersma, Albert ​106n24, 132n68 Pilate narrative (shorter TY version) ​1, 3–7, 55 – in Aramaic ​3, 4, 5 – dating of ​3, 4–7 – demise of ​7 – in Europe ​5–6 – in Hebrew ​4–5, 7 – and Helene narrative ​7 – in Judeo-Arabic ​5, 7 – in Near East ​3–5, 7 – studies of ​4 Pinḥas (Biblical figure) ​104, 105, 106, 107–108, 132–133, 134, 218–219, 220 Piovanelli, Pierluigi ​13 plot elements of TY ​18–22, 50, 173 – Arrest of Yeshu ​72–75, 160, 162, 176–177 – Betrayal ​72–75 – Birth and Childhood of Yeshu ​115, 127, 171, 172, 174–175 – Burial ​78–80, 123, 134–136, 160, 163–165, 176–177 – Conception of Yeshu ​124–125, 158, 159–160, 169–170, 170–171 – Disclosure ​126, 171–172, 174–175 – Envoys ​21–22, 69–71, 85, 88–89, 174–175

Subject Index – Escape ​72–75, 176–177 – Excommunication of Yeshu ​82, 93–94, 118–119, 130–131, 174–175, 186–187 – Execution ​160, 161, 162–163, 176–177 – Final Separation ​95–96, 123, 128n38, 144–150, 151–154, 168, 169, 176–177 – Finding Disciples and Miracles ​18, 151, 174–175 – Finding of the Holy Cross ​95–96, 98, 99, 110–111, 119, 123, 151, 154–158, 176–177 – First Separation ​20–21, 173, 176–177 – in Hebrew texts ​190–205 – in Judeo-Arabic texts ​190 – early texts ​86–88 – late texts ​95, 97, 99, 100, 111–113, 136–142, 161, 165–168, 190–205 – First Trial ​83–84, 174–175 – Flagellation ​176–177 – Flying Contest, Flagellation ​176–177 – Heresies of Yeshu ​75–77, 91, 99–100, 114, 116, 127–129, 174–175 – Interrogation of Miriam by the Sages ​ 19–20 – Nestorians ​96, 143–144, 161, 168, 176–177 – Request ​69–71, 84–85, 174–175 – Return to Jerusalem ​72–75, 176–177 – Second Trial ​90, 176–177 – Stealing the Name ​82, 97–98, 103, 106–110, 131–132, 171, 172, 174–175, 188–189 – Midrash on ​97–98, 103, 106–110, 123, 132–134, 171, 172, 173, 174–175 – Transition-Recapitulation ​173, 174–175 – Truth Revealed ​173, 174–175, 180–189 – in Hebrew texts ​178–179 – in Judeo-Arabic texts ​19, 178 – early texts ​51–52, 53–54, 75–77, 81–82, 91, 92–93 – late texts ​52–53, 54–55, 116, 117, 129–130 – Yehudah Learning the Name ​71n10, 89, 176–177 poetry, religious/liturgical ​149n206 polemical writings – TY in compilations of ​63 – see also anti-Christian writings; anti-Jewish writings polygamy, prohibition in TY on ​143 pope, in Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​146, 149, 152

243

popular literature – Arabic ​48 – in Near East ​60, 64–65 – TY as ​45, 62n40 – TY in compilations with ​215 popularity of TY – in Europe ​1 – in Near East ​22, 60, 63 – see also circulation of TY prayerbooks, TY in ​61, 207, 210, 211, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217 preaching, Christian, in Italy ​111 prefaces – in Arabic texts ​101 – in TY texts ​58, 100–103, 123–124, 158, 159, 169, 170, 174–175 print – literary compilations in ​61 – Zohar versions in ​105 prohibitions, for Christians, in TY ​112–113, 140, 166, 167, 198 property of Jews, prohibition in TY on harming of ​166 prophecies – of coming of Messiah ​133, 219 – by Jacob ​219 prophets, TY on ​85, 91, 128–129 Provence/Midi, Jewish scholarship in ​ 39–40, 42 Pugio fidei (Dagger of faith, Martí) ​9 Putten, Marijn van ​13 al-Qirqisānī, Yaʿqub ​32 Qiṣṣat Mujādalat al-Usquf see Disputation of the Priest Qorodos (vizier) ​159 al-Qudsī, Moshe ha-Levī ​57n27 questions, rhetorical, use in TY of ​99–100, 141n141 Qulṣit see Constantine (Roman emperor) Qurʾan – Pharaoh as arch-idolator in ​124n9 – and theological importance of Arabic ​ 28–29 Rabbanite scholarship, influence of ​32n20 rabbinic literary motifs, in TY prefaces ​ 101–102 al-Radd ʿalā al-naṣārā min ṭarīq al-qiyās (The logical refutation of Christianity, al-Muqammaṣ) ​9n25 reading – of Arabic texts vi, 64–65

244

Subject Index

– by Jews ​38 – of Judeo-Arabic texts vi, 30, 38 – of TY ​62, 64 registers (linguistic) – of Arabic ​27–28 – and Jewish usage ​29–30 – of Hebrew, in TY texts ​58 – of Judeo-Arabic – in TY texts ​51–55, 57 – early ​68, 77, 81, 83, 85, 88, 90 – late ​96–97, 160 Request plot element of TY ​174–175 – in early Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​69–71, 84–85 resurrection, of Yeshu ​87 Return to Jerusalem plot element of TY ​ 72–75, 176–177 rhetorical questions, use in TY of ​99–100, 141n141 Saʿadya Gaon (Saʿadya b. Yosef alFayyūmī) ​26, 35, 38, 57, 83, 85n67, 100n9 sages in TY ​51, 76, 89, 90, 91, 93, 117, 118, 128, 129, 155–157, 162, 163, 164, 165 sajʿ style (rhyming prose) ​101 Samarīs/Samarīm (son of Bilʿam) ​106, 132, 218 Samson (Biblical figure) ​133, 219 Schäfer, Peter ​4, 7, 11n32, 12–13, 14, 55, 122 Schoeler, Gregor ​27n6 scholarship – Jewish – Arab influences on ​38 – Hebrew usage in ​39–44 – Karaite ​31–33 – in Provence/Midi ​39–40, 42 – Rabbanite ​32n20 – on TY ​2, 11–16, 48, 62n40 Scholem, Gershom ​105 scribal errors in TY manuscripts ​20, 68, 161, 163n284, 164n301, n302 – see also corruption scripts used for Judeo-Arabic texts – Arabic ​31–35 – Hebrew ​31, 32–33 Second Trial plot element of TY ​90, 176–177 secret agent character in TY ​99, 190 – miracles by ​86 – see also Eliyahu/Eliyah/Khidr

Sefer milḥamot Adonai (Book of the wars of the Lord, Abner of Burgos) ​6 sentencing of Yeshu ​82, 93 Sephardic TY texts ​213 Septimus, Bernard v, 104n18 Seraiah (Biblical figure) ​133, 219 Sheilat, Yitzhak ​41n15 Shimʿon (ben) Kefa (rabbi/sage) ​98, 144–150, 153–154, 169 Shimʿon ben Shataḥ (rabbi/sage) ​51, 52, 53, 76–77, 82, 90, 92, 124, 126, 127–128, 160 Shir ha-shirim rabbah (midrash) ​104n17 Smelik, Willem ​4, 13 Sokoloff, Michael ​4, 13 standard Judeo-Arabic script ​34–35 Stanislawski, Michael ​14 Stealing the Name plot element of TY ​82, 97–98, 103, 131–132, 171, 172, 174–175, 188–189 – midrash on ​97–98, 103, 106–110, 123, 132–134, 171, 172, 173, 174–175 – see also Ineffable Name of God, illicit use/stealing of storytelling, Arabic ​98 Sunday – as day of rest ​87n76, 139, 166 – resurrection of Yeshu on ​87n78 – significance of ​88n78 Szpiech, Ryan ​10n28, 13 Tafsir (Saʿadya Gaon) ​57n27, 83, 100n9 Talmud – allusions to, in TY prefaces ​102 – Babylonian ​50n15 – on Jesus ​3–4 Tanḥuma, Rabbi ​80, 134, 164 Tanḥuma Yelammedenu ​104n18, 107n27 Targum Onqelos ​26, 145n176 Targum Yerushalmi ​104n18 Tartakoff, Paola v, 13 Temple, Yeshu’s flight from ​103 Temple Mount ​131n58 “then after that” (thumma baʿda dhālika) phrase, use of ​97–98 theology – Arabic, influence on Jewish texts of ​38 – TY with literature on ​207, 208, 209, 210, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217 “they rejoiced with great joy” phrase, use of ​98 Tiberias (place), Yeshu’s flight to ​82, 118–119, 128, 131, 142

Subject Index Tiberius (Roman emperor) ​114, 124, 159 Tiklāl (Yemenite prayerbook) ​11, 61 Toorawa, Shawkat ​27n6 Torah – Bilʿam story in ​108 – commentaries, TY in compilations with ​ 216 – Judeo-Arabic translations of ​26, 35 – transcriptions in Arabic script of ​32 transcriptions – of Hebrew, into Arabic script ​32, 34 – of Judeo-Arabic ​68–69 transformations of TY ​55–56 – resulting from transmission of TY ​57, 58, 111–113 Transition-Recapitulation plot element of TY ​ 173, 174–175 transitional sentences/paragraphs, use in TY of ​114–119, 129 translations – of Judeo-Arabic texts, into Hebrew ​40 – of Torah, into Judeo-Arabic ​26, 35 transmission of TY – changes resulting from ​57, 58, 111–113 – oral ​55, 58 True Cross legend in TY ​95–96, 98, 99, 110 – LMJAR ​110–111, 119, 151 Truth Revealed plot element of TY ​173, 174–175, 180–189 – in Hebrew texts ​178–179 – in Judeo-Arabic texts ​19, 178 – early texts ​51–52, 53–54, 75–77, 81–82, 91, 92–93 – late texts ​52–53, 54–55, 116, 117, 129–130 “turning the other cheek,” TY on ​112, 141, 167, 200 “value and honor” phrase, use of ​98 Vardi, Jonathan ​149n206 vernacular languages, TY in ​58 Voragine, Jacob de ​111 vowels – in classical Arabic ​50–51 – in Judeo-Arabic, early TY texts ​69, 72 Wagenseil version of TY ​63n43 Wagner, Esther-Miriam ​48–49 water, Yeshu walking on ​71n4 Witakowski, Witold ​119n46 writing styles, in late Judeo-Arabic TY texts ​ 52, 54–55

245

Yambres/Yumbres/Yumbrus (Egyptian sorcerer) ​106, 132n68, 218 Yannes (Egyptian sorcerer) ​106, 132n68, 218 Yassif, Eli ​13–14, 61n35 Yehoshuʿa ben Peraḥya (Jewish sage) ​4 Yehudah the Elder (rabbi) ​158 Yehudah Learning the Name plot element of TY ​71n10, 89, 176–177 Yemenite TY texts ​7, 61 – see also Late Yemenite A Hebrew TY; Late Yemenite B Hebrew TY Yeshu ​1 – birth and childhood of ​115, 116, 127, 172, 174–175 – burial of ​163–165 – circumcision of ​115, 116, 127 – claiming to be Messiah ​73–75, 84, 85 – conception narrative of ​10n28, 20, 54, 81–82, 92, 115–116, 124–126, 159–160, 170–171 – revealing of see Disclosure plot element of TY; Truth Revealed plot element of TY – death and burial of ​134–136 – excommunication of ​118, 186–187 – execution of ​162–163 – flights by – from the Temple ​103 – to Tiberias ​82, 118–119, 128, 131, 142 – heresies of ​128–129 – Jewish rejection of ​112 – miracles by ​70–71, 84, 88–89 – names of – after excommunication/as abbreviation ​88, 118–119, 123, 130n57, 151, 161 – variations in ​158, 159n272, 161 – naming of ​77, 81, 115 – resurrection of ​87 – sentencing of ​82, 93 – stealing/using Ineffable Name of God ​ 97–98, 103, 106, 131–132, 162n277, 188–189 – Talmud on ​3–4 – teachings of ​147n191 – trials of ​83–84, 90 Yeshuʿah b./ben Yehudah ​33 Yiddish, TY in ​15, 58 Yoḥanan (father of Yeshu) ​20, 53–55, 76, 81, 92, 115, 116, 117, 118, 124, 125, 126, 129–130, 131, 159

246

Subject Index

Yosef (ben) Pandera (TY character) ​51, 52, 53, 77, 82, 92, 93, 100, 115, 116, 117, 118, 124–126, 127, 130, 160 Zaliah (Biblical figure) ​104, 105, 106, 107–108, 132, 133, 134, 218

Zohar, Bilʿam midrash in ​104–105 – comparisons with LMJAR ​104–110, 218–220