Several Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon's Translation of the Pentateuch Copied by Yedutun ben Levi

Abstract

Abstract This article presents several Genizah fragments containing passages of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch in the handwriting of a copyist identified as Yedutun Ha-Levi ben Levi He-Ḥaver, who was active in the first half of the thirteenth century. These passages are transcribed in full in the article, together with a critical apparatus which compares them with early important manuscripts of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch and the popular critical Derenbourg edition. The textual and grammatical analysis following these passages shows that their language should be regarded as post-Classical, and that both text and language broadly correspond with the early version of this translation, represented in MS St. Petersburg, RNL, MS Yevr. II C 1—the earliest inclusive manuscript of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch copied by Samuel ben Jacob at the beginning of the eleventh century.