The Transmission of the Judaeo-Arabic Pentateuch Translation of ...

Those who do not translate, saying: ‘we do not have to recite the translation of
the rabbis, we should rather translate in our language, the one used in the public’,
those people do not fulfill their obligation. 16
This means that quite early the Babylonian institutions sought to apply the severest
sanctions available in order to maintain the status of the Aramaic translation. The Gaon
concludes:
If in some place the public wants [the Hebrew Scripture] to be interpreted to
them, a person other than the one who recites the Aramaic translation may stand
up and interpret for them in their language. 17
It is likely that Geonic uneasiness strongly discouraged the writing down of these
oral traditions. In a wider sense this statement reflects the essential adherence to the
model of oral transmission in strong disavowal of any textuality. Similarly it was expressed
also by the Gaon Aaron Sarjado in regard to orality of Geonic instruction: “…and it is
known that their recitation (gursa) is from the mouths of the masters, and most them [i.e.
the pupils] do not know what a book is.” 18 Saadiah was the first major figure to have
broken with this trend by authorizing his Arabic versions of the Pentateuch and other
Books central to religious practice in writing. 19 This may explain his presentation of the
tafsīr to answer the request of some people, implying that it may have been meant to serve
a growing public need for a proper written version of the Pentateuch in Arabic. An
additional witness for that need is found in the Risālah of Yehuda ibn Quraish, giving
account on the abundance of the Targum. 20 In his words it resonates that the Aramaic
translation lost any meaning for many of them. However, it appears that Saadiah in
fulfilling such public desire, was to some extent prompted to model his rendition on the
16 Teshuvot Rav Natronai bar Hilai Gaon, ed. R. Brody. (Jerusalem, 1994), [Hebrew], Vol. 1, pp. 152-54.
Quotations from H. Ben-Shammai’s: The Tension between Literal Interpretation and Exegetical Freedom: Comparative
Observations on Saadia’s Method in ed. J.D. McAuliffe et. at.: With Refrenece for the Word (1993b), pp. 33-50
17 Ad locum
18 Quotation from R. Brody: The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture (New Haven,
1998), p. 157
19 As proposed by H. Ben-Shammai (1993b), esp. 33-36
20 Ed. by D. Becker (Tel Aviv, 1984)
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