Glossary of Difficult Biblical Words

Introduction (selections)

After 1037

About This Entry

This Judeo-Arabic glossary of the Hebrew Bible is arranged in the order of the biblical books. Not only was Abū ’l-Faraj Hārūn the sole Karaite to write a glossary in the eleventh century, but he was also the only Karaite between the tenth and eleventh centuries, during the height of Karaite literary composition, to write a glossary of the complete Bible rather than on single texts or books. As Hārūn tells us in his conclusion, excerpted here, the impetus for his project was a request by Abū ’l-Ṭayyib Samuel ibn Manṣūr, whose identity remains unclear, for the purpose of educating his sons. In the grammar itself, we see Hārūn’s reliance on Arab grammarians.

We have completed [the work] requested by the eminent elder Abū l-Ṭayyib Samuel b. Manṣūr, may God preserve him, for his two sons, may God give them life, that is, the explanation [tafsīr] of difficult words in the Bible, in addition to words with some [lesser] degree of difficulty, in that their meanings are less commonly used and known than others, which are surely known, at least for the most part, by those who read the Bible [even] without a translation, such as “heaven and earth,” “ate and drank,” and others. This, in addition to the repetition of certain explanations following their [initial, original] explanation, which he, may God preserve him, requested regarding both types of words in many of the places in which they are mentioned. [ . . . ]

And even though this was the extent that he requested of me, I have included in its spaces and interstices something different: a variety of issues relevant to exegesis and to grammar, which I decided to include because they were completely unknown to me on first appraisal, and because I deemed that they had not been included in any of the books of the earlier composers of exegetical or grammatical works. I therefore considered it appropriate to hasten and to explain them in this composition, rather than delaying them till later, despite my [original] intention of including them in some other work more suitable to them, due to my fear of being interrupted from this intent and others due to death or one of the other interruptions of fate. [ . . . ]

And in addition I have included in it a variety of issues unrelated to the explanation of difficult words, as follows:

Among them, that at times two different words with identical meaning appear in the same location, such as: See, his reward [sekharo] is with him, his recompense [ufe‘ulato] before him (Isaiah 40:10), which I have translated “See, his wage [kirā’uhu] is with him and his hire [ujratuhu] is before him,” [which is] better than translating it with one word, whether “wages” or “hire.” This would be a repetition which should be avoided in translation, while [still] conveying its meaning.

Among them, an issue that is often deemed part of that [earlier] one, but is actually different, such as May the Lord reward your deeds [yeshallem po‘lekh]. May you have a full recompense [maskurtekh] (Ruth 2:12). One lacking insight into translation might account these two [words] to be of the same meaning, “hire,” like the first example, but it is not like this. For this reason, it should be translated “may God provide full reward for your action,” for it is from [the word] “action” in Hebrew [po‘al], not from “hire,” which is pe‘ula.

And another issue that is often deemed part of that [earlier] one, but is actually different, such as For there is a reward [sakhar] for your labor [li-fe‘ulatekh] (Jeremiah 31:16), since it does not say li-fo‘lekh, in which case it would have been like the previous example. But rather, it says li-fe‘ulatekh which means “hire” [ujra]. For this reason it must be translated, “Lo, there is wage [kirā’] along with your hire,” which means wages in this world and the next. [ . . . ]

And among them, various instances in which words can be derived from two different roots [lughatayn], but where it is more suitable to direct the meaning to one [derivation] rather than the other, due to specific considerations, according to what has preceded [in the explanation of Psalms 36:3, earlier in the postface]. [ . . . ]

And among them, adjusting the word so that it suits the meaning, by adding a letter or a word, or removing a letter or a word, or changing the order of words or letters, thus achieving the proper translation and the clarification of the meaning, and other such things except for those I deemed superfluous. And I have not dealt with every instance that requires this type of treatment in the Bible, but rather only some of them, due to my hesitation to unduly lengthen or expand the book, and thus to neglect the purpose that he, God protect him, requested, and because this issue is easily grasped by one who carefully examines the places where this phenomenon occurs. If God, may he be exalted, extends the duration of my life, and lightens the many burdens and increasing difficulties that I am suffering more now than at any other time, perhaps I will do this.

Translated by Miriam Goldstein.

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Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation.

Credits

Abū l-Faraj Hārūn, Glossary of Difficult Biblical Words, trans. Miriam Goldstein, in Miriam Goldstein, “Arabic Book Culture in the Work of a Jerusalem Karaite: Abū l-Faraj Hārūn and his Glossary of Difficult Biblical Words,” Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vol. 164, no. 2 (2014): 345–73 (367–71). Used with permission of Dr. Miriam Goldstein, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.