A.

Peter Hayman

Sefer Yesira
.
Edition, Translation and Text-Critical Commentary

Mohr Siebeck
 born 1941; s t ~ ~ d i eTheology
A. Pe/w.If~ij~iiitri~, tl at the University ofI>urhatu; 1968 Plill in Oriental
Languages (School of Orieiital Stuclies, University of Durham); Senior Lccr~trerin Hebrew anci
.lewish Studies ai the U~iiversityof Edingburgh.

Preface

T h ~ edit~on
s of tlie text of Sefe~Y e s ~ ~has a been n long t ~ m ec o ~ i i ~ nIgf.i ~ sct o ~ ~ e e ~ v c d
tlie ~ d e aofdo111g~tIn tlie e a ~ l y1980s when I wds ~ e a c t ~the ~ i gtext w ~ t hmy studentr
in a course on Jcw~sliMystlclvn at the U n ~ v e ~ v of t y Cdinb~l~gh The fundamental
lesearch for the book was cartied out In 1985 I n a v ~ s to ~ tthe M~c~ofilrn I n s t ~ t ~of
~te
tlie Jew~shNat~onaland U n ~ v e ~ s L~ tIy ~ yI In ~ IJel ~ ~ s a l e nfunded
i, by a giant from the
Brrt~sliAcademy My ~ n ~ tIntention ~al was to produce an e d ~ t ~ ot~anrlat~on
n, and both
a text-cr~t~cal commentary and a commentary on the content In the event ~ttilrlied
out that t h ~ was s too amb~tiousa p~olectto be accompl~~lied wltli~none book and, In
any case, compctlng p ~ ~ o r ~ t lcspcc~ally es, from the ptcssures of unlverslty admin-
~ s t r a t ~ opn~, e v e n t ~ nllie
g fiom produc~ngniore than a selles of one-off papers and
a ~ t ~ c lon e s S e f e ~Yeyra I now plan a s c ~ ~of c sthree books f i ~ s ttli~s, e d ~ t ~ osecond,
n,
a collected e d ~ t ~ oofn my papels o n S e f e ~Y e s ~ ~and a , tli~rd,a commentary on the
colitelit of'the text. Thls book, theiefo~e,I S conce~nedsolely w ~ t hthe text w ~ t htlie -

manusel ~pts,tlie reccnslons, the ~nd~vidual readings w1th111the paraglaplis Issuer of

lntiodi~ct~on, date, place of orlgln, and what the text lnlght mean, w ~ l lbe ~ererved
Ibr tlie late1 books, though I have already dealt with many ol'these In lily publ~shed
13qers. Of course, no r ~ g ~d ~d v t d ~ n11nc g can be dra\vn between these d ~ f f e ~ e nap- t
ploaclies to a text and, ~nev~tably, I w ~ l stray
l ~ n t od ~ s c u s s ~ofthe
o ~ i content liom time
to tlmc, but I w ~ s hto stress that t h ~ sI S not lily 131Imaiy pu~poseIn t h ~ book s
In 2003 the U I ~ I V C I SofLEd~nburgh ~Y allowed me a coniplete sabbat~calyear w~tli
~ e l l e ffro111all teacli~ngand adniln~strat~ve d u t ~ e s partly f i ~ ~ i d eby
- d a grant from
the Brrt~shArts and f-1~1rnan1t1es Research B o a ~ dT. h ~ gave s me, at last, the freedom
to concentrate on produc~ngthe c d ~ t ~ oofn the text I am \/el y g~atefillto both f o ~
ISBN 1-16-148381-2 glvlng ~ i i ct h ~ sopportun~ty.My thanks ale also due to those M I ~ O , the years,
OVCI
lSSN 0721-8753 (Texts and Stud~es111 Ancient Juda~sm) have kept urglng me to p ~ o d u c ethe book, especially Peter ScliBfei and Joseph
Die Deutsche Bibliothck lists this p~tblicationin tlie Deutsche Natio~ialbibliograp!iie;detailed bib- Dan I am gratefill for the help of Stefan R e ~ and f Plill~pAlexander In obta~nrng
liographic data is available on the Internet at htt~~://tfii/~.c/~~l~.tie. tlie AHRB grant. B L Imy ~ deepest thanks are due to Ithamar Gruenwald of the Uul-
vers~tyof Tel A v ~ vfor tlie many I i o ~ ~we r s liave spent d~scusslngSefer Yes~raIn 111s
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitietl by copy- vrslts to E d ~ ~ ~ b ~and i l g lrnlne
i to Je~usalem I b u ~ l dupon the foundat~onlie l a ~ din
right law) without the publisher's writtcn permission. This applies particularly to rcprotluctions, 111s" P r e l ~ m ~ n a rCyr ~ l ~ c Edit~on
al of S e f e ~Ycz~ra"and his 1973 REJ art~cle,"Some
translations, tnicrofil~usand storage and processing in eicctronic systems. CI ~ t ~ cNotes
al o n tlie F ~ r s Part
t of Scfcr Yez11a "
The book was typeset by Martin Fischer in Tiibingen, printed by Guide-Dr~~ck
in Tiibingen on non- Finally, my thanks are due to tlie varrous I ~ b r a r ~who e s have glvcn nie pernllsslon
aging paper and bou~idby Buchbinderei Spinner in C)tters\veier. to pi~bl~sli the manuscllpts irsed In t h ~ edit~on s and s ~ l p p l ~ emcd with the m~crofilmr
Printed in Germany. and photographs of tlie manuscripts the S y ~ i d ~of c sCarnbr~dgeU n ~ v e r s ~ L t y I ~ y,
I~I
Blbl~othequenat~onalede France. Le~deiiUnivers~tyL~brary.the Bodleian L~brary.
the B r ~ t ~ sL~brary.
h the L ~ b r a r yof the Hebrew U n ~ o nCollege-Jewlsh Inst~tuteof
R e l ~ g ~ o nthe
. Vat~canL~brary.the B~bliothecaPalatma dl Parma. the Bibl~otcca
M c d ~ c e aLauren~lana.and the Microfilm Institute of the Jewlsh Nat~onaland Unl-
verslty L ~ b r a r yin J c r ~ ~ s a l e. Above
m all a111 I grateful to three general~onsoSL~brar-
Inns of New Collegc L ~ b r a r y(Unlvers~tyof Ed~nburgh)- John Howard. Murray Contents
S ~ m p s o nand E ~ l e e nDlcl<son. for the unstlntlng hclp they havc given m e In o b t a ~ n -
Ing the research lnater~alsI needed to complete th15 plOJeCt.
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI
.

The School of Dlvinlty Peter Hayinan Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

New College 1 . The fluid state of the text of Sefer Yesira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
Un~vcrsityof Edinburgh 2 . Why a new edition of Sefer Yesira'? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
December. 2003
3. The "original text" of SY or "the earliest recoverable text"? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4 . Editing Jewish texts from the first millennium C.E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5. The Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.1 The Long Recension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2 TlieSaadyanRecension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.3 The Short Recension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 . The rules of the edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
7. Abbreviations in the t e x t ~ ~apparatus
al . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I6
8 . Notes on the manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
8.1 The Long Recension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8.2 The Saadyan Recension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I8
8.3 The Short Recension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
9. The Chapter and Paragraph Divisions (Appendix 11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
I0 . The Four Pre-Kabbalistic Cornnielltaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
10.1 The Coinmentary of Saadya Gaon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
10.2 The Commentary of Dunash Ibn Tamim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
10.3 The Hakhemoni of Shabbetai Donnolo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
10.4 The Corn~ne~itaryof Rabbi Judah ben Barzillai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
11 . The Earliest Recoverable Text of Sefer Yesira and the Three Recensions . . . . 33
11 .I The Biblical Material in Sefer Yesira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
11.2 The Rabbinic Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
11.3 Creatio cx Nihilo i11Sefer Yesira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
11.4 The Astrological Material in Sefer Yesira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
11.5 The Kahbalistic Readings and Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
11.6 The Commentary Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
12. The Three Recensions and the Development of the SY Text Tradition . . . . . . 39
 ; ~ - attestati011 of the paragraphs in the ~nanuscripts. . . . . . . . . . .
A ~ I / ~ ~ / II:c I 'The 43
11: The order o f t h e paragraphs in thc ~nanuscipts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Al,,i~et~u'is
A,iq)et~d;x-Ill: The earliest recoverable text of Sef'er Yesira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
IF The Long Recension additions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
A/~/,en~I'i.s
Abbreviations

BJRL, Bulletin of'thc John liylands L,ihsary

EJ Encyclopaedia .ludaica
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
. IOS I S ~ M COsic~~lill
~ Stt~iiies
.IA Scwish Art
Index of sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203
. JHP Journal ofthe I-Iistory ofI'hiIosop11y
JNUI, Jewish National ancl liniversity 1,ibral-y
llidcx of modern authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
.
JQR Jewish Quarterly Rcview
JJS Joi~snalof Jewish Studies
.IPSA Jc\vish Publication Society oSA~nesica
JSOl Journal Ibs the Study of'lhc Old 'I'cstamcnt
JSS J o ~ ~ r nof'Semitic
al Stutlies
J7 S Journal of Tllcological Studies
MGWS Monatsschrili flit. Cescl~ichte~ ~ nWisscnschaft
cl des Judentums
REJ Icevue des kt~ldesJuives
RllR Revue d'l-iistoirc des Religions
TSAJ Texte und Studien z u ~ nAntiken Judentum
 introduction

I The fl~tidntute of the text of Sefer Yesirn

Right from the begtnti~ngof the emergence of Sefer Yesisal Into the l ~ g h tof day
111 the early tenth centt~ryit was recogni~ecithat ~ t tcxt s had not been transmrt-
led without errors. Saadya Gaon, the earliest con~mentatorwhose text has been
preserved,' states at the end of 111s int~odtlct~on to S Y "we tli~nk(tt best) to wrtte
down each paragraph from ~t(1 e SY) completely, then we will explatn 11because
11 is not a book w h ~ c h1s widely available and not many people have preserved rt
from suffer~ngchanges or alterat~ons."~ Writ~ngnot mucli later than Saadya in
95516 C.E., Dunash ben Tarn1111says. "nia~snotrs avons deja d ~qu'il t pouvalt y avotr
dans ce l ~ v r edes passages altCrCs clue le patrtarche Abraham [n'a jainals enoncks],
[provenant] dcs cornlnentalres en IiCbleu, auxquels des gens ~gnorantsont ajoutk
postelieurement un autre cornnlentaire et la v e r ~ t ese perda~te~itretemps.'~ The
1iiost comprehensive of the early commentaries, wntten by Judah hen Rar71lla1
frequently quotes different verslons of the text and discttsses vartant read~ngsof
wlilch he was aware. Like Dtlnash he attr~butesthe corruption of the text (almost

II-fenceforth SY.
Written in 031 C.E. Scc bclow for more detailed discussion ofthe early commentaries on SY.
M. Larnbert, C'oirir7loitai1.esirr. le SC!~~IJ~.I.
Yc~.siizroli 1i1,i.etlc la ci.etr/ioii ptri lr G'ao~lStrtrdytr tle
Eryyoiiii~,1801, p. 13, trans. p. 20, J.D. Kafacli, ;i7?Yb1131 W11791Plnn DY P ~ w ?717Y7190
11x1, 1072, p. 34. Lambcrt and Kafilch's translations of Saadya's Arabic differ at this point.
Lalnbert has: "nous croyotls bon tle transcrire chaque paragraphe intCgl.ale~nentet ensuite nous
I'cxpliqucrons, car ce livre n'est pas iln livre rCpandu et en outre graade ~ ~ o i u b de r e gens ne le
compreilnent pas; (nous ferons ainsi) afin qu'il n'y entre pas d'altCration ou tl'erreur ..." Kafacli
translates: ' 1 ~ n ;190
i II~KW ,zIaxinx 12 i n x i ,inin5w3 3253 3353 ilnn ~ 1 3 'nwi ~ 5
l l j n 1 K '13W 13 X?' K ~ w17>Y 11nW P7H 713i2P731 K'/l ,3317. Either way of taking the Ara-
bic ;i751J 7P7 (preserved it1 understood it) implies that the text has not been preserved in a good
state, but in order to make his translation work La~nberthas to supply in brackets "nous ferons
ainsi" to provide an antecedent for thc conjunction ~ 5 (so~ that 5 not), \vhich is clearly intended to
link together thc two cla~isesrather than commence a separate statement. Kafach's translation is,
therefore, preferable. The l\?W Hebrew versions, printed in Haberman, "717Y7190 1i)llj P733X"
Siriai 20 (104617), p. 241, are not a great help at this point.
G. Vajda, Le Coini?iei~laii.c.srir Ic Livi.c rk lir Ci.6iition tlr~L1irr1n.i heir Tii~riitic/e k-~~it.oriori
/'?+.siilc/e): Norivc~//ee!cl'ilion i.cvlic el crri~~r~~etite!e
[lo/.17crri/.?!i Fc.rllon, 2002, p. 129; Hebrew text,
1). 241 and M . Grossberg, S r f h i I'rzii~iilin.sc,r,ihrt/lo //I(,Ptitr'itir,ch Ahr~trl?nmwilh corntr~er~far:l~ 11))
Diiiiosh Beii Tu17iii11,1002, 1). 65. See also the notes to 45 for fi~rtlierdiscussion oS this passage
in Dunash's commentary
Inorass of clear scrlbal errors and orthograph~calv a r ~ a n t sFinally . ~ ~ and ~lievltably,
thcrc are some errors In Gruenwald's collations. It 1s d~fficultto exclude all errors
In collat~onand I would not clalln to have done so myself, but between Gruenwald's
e d ~ t ~ ooSMs
n A, Nehemlah Allony's of the Gcnizah Scroll (Ms C In t h ~ sedition)
and lriy ed~tronof Parma 2784.14 (Ms K) readers should certa~nlyhave ava~lable
sellable edltlons of tlie b a s ~ ctexts for the study of SY. In setting out all three to-
gether 1 hope that niy ed~tlonmakes ~teasler for scholars to work w ~ t hthese b a s ~ c
texts rather than c o n t ~ n u ~ i to i g use the def'ecttve prtnted edlt~ons,as many have
cont~nuedto do even after G r u e n ~ ~ a l dwork ' s was published.'"
Gruen\vald describes h ~ ed~tlon s as "plelrmlnnry." I am not sure that, given the
state of the m a n u s c ~ ~ p tan
s , edlt~onof thts text could be anyth~ngother than "pre-
111nln;iry"The rnanuscl ~ pttr a d ~ t ~ oof'SY n IS too v a r ~ e d
and Inconstant for anythlng
l ~ k ea definltrve e d ~ t ~ otonbe produced. Most manuscr~ptswll~chcontaln SY elthe1
precede 01 follow rt ~ 1 1 tahcornmental-y or commentaries, but others embed the text
w~tlirna conl~nentary.'~ Often 111s hard to discern where the text ends and commen-
tary begrns. For example, the weakly attested QS 62 -63 might be better regarded as
commentary to $ 4 8 than as part of the text. As the notes to the text of $ 63 show
t h ~ s1s \vhere some ~ i ~ a r i ~ ~ s eplace
r ~ p tpart
s of t h ~ sniatertal, while one ~nanuscrlpt
places $ 63:3-4 In the nlargln alongside $ 48. As we shall see one explanatron for
the orlgin of the Long Recens~onIS that tt atose from co~nrnentaryon the Short
Reccnslon. Apart Sroiii the difficulty of fix111g the borderline between text and
commentary, a glance at the Table of the Order of the Paragraphs In Append~xI1
cv~lldemonstrate the freedom some scrlbes felt to re-arrange the text before them
- almost to create a new text.
At about the salnc t ~ l n ethat Grueilwald publlshed h ~ "Prellm~nary s Edtt~on"Is-
rael Wetnstock made a very different attempt to show what an e d ~ t ~ oofnSY might
look 11ke.l~ He presents a sample c d ~ t ~ ol'chapter
o~l 1 (1.e. $4 1-16) u s ~ n gdlffcrent
type-faces to d i s t ~ n g u ~ swhat
h he ident~fiesas the SOLIS layers d ~ s c e r n ~ bnow
l e In the
text. The four layers are:
" Rcatling SY in Gruenwald's cdition with an honours class at tlie U~iiversityof Edinburgh
b~.oughtthis point home forcibly to me.
'"hc latest example of this unfortunate practice is Yehuda Liebes' large-scale study oS SY,
n 7 Y 7 13D >W ;i17Y7;i n l l n (English title: At..; Poeticrr in Scfirr- Yetsiro), 2000. Liebes incorpo-
rates into his hook a photographic reprint of the Mantria edition of the Long Recension oSSY. He
has many valuahlc insights into the interpretation oSSY but he has not, however, made any signifi-
cant contribution to the history of its textual development. He does use Gr~tenwald'sedition from
time to time, noting on occasion the variations between tlie recensions, though only very rarely
~nentioningspecific manuscripts. But inany of his observatiolls are underniined by failure to take
on board the probletus of the tcxtual attestation of the material he is discussing.
'' Britisli Library Or. 6577 (Cat. Margol. 736.5) not included in our apparatus, is a good
-
example of this. Fols. 40a-4313 contain a Short Recension text, then fols. 43b-52a have a second
vcrsio~ibut c~nbeddedwithin a commentat.y.
l 8 Weinstock 1972.
(1) The orlg~naltext w h ~ c h15 short, poet~c,r h y t h ~ n ~ c aandl cryptlc, with a 314
metre We~nstockdates 11to the Tanna~tlcper~od,possibly even towards the end
of the Second Temple
(2) A ser les of clarlficatlons added ~n the talrnudrc per~odto make e x p l ~ c t~ht~ n g s
wli~chtlie o r ~ g ~ nauthor
al had ~ntcndedto keep secret. For example, the creator
of t h ~ slayer added about one hundred I ~ n e sto chapter one In order to clarify
what the s e f i t ~ tare
(3) We~nstock'st h ~ r dlayel IS bas~callythe Long Recension - a systematrc serles of
addlt~onsIn the folm of a commentat y, l a ~ dout l ~ k eRashj's commentar~es.The
style 15 s a d to be s ~ m ~ lto
a rthat of the G a o n ~ cm~drashrm We~nstockdates tlirs
layel to the e~glith01 n ~ n t hc e n t ~les
~l
(4) The findl layer conslsts of a serles oS headlags and appended notes of varlous
dates p~oducednot long b e h e SY cnieiges ~ n t othe Ilght of day In the e a ~ l y
tenth century
We~nstockcons~derswhethet to p ~ o t i ~ i cthree c separate apparatuses for the t l l ~ e e
1ecenslon5 or whether to conlbrne all three Into a s ~ n g l etext and apparatus. In
the end he chose to prov~dca s ~ n g l etext w ~ t ha c~iticalapparatus w h ~ c hd ~ v ~ d e s
the var~antsbetween the three recenslons, though lie grants that a fuller ed~tlon,
servlng a d~ffcrcntpurpose that1 h ~ should s ~ncludethe three versions separately
HIScholce teflects h ~ prlnc~pal
s alm - t o leconsttuct the onglnal text of SY befoie
it separated oc~t~ n t othe different recenslons As I have done, Weinstock ~ntroduces
only a select~onof variants, lcav~ngout erlors and orthograph~calvar~ants.
I find We~nstock'sapparatus diffic~lltto use, much l ~ k eG~uenwald's,but my
rilaln c ~ ~ t ~ c15~d~rected
sln at the c r l t c ~la w h ~ c hhe developed to dlstrnguish the Soul
layers In the text They leave I I I I ~ In the constant d a n g e ~of a ~ g u r n gIn a clrclc the
"souice" layer 1s rhythrn~caland poet~c,so mere dl111 prose must belong to a later
layer The "source" comes from the T a n n a ~ t ~orceven the end of the Second Temple
per~od,so anythlng that reflects the style and l a l i g ~ ~ a gofe o t h e ~perlods must be
relegated to a later pcr~odand cannot belong to the " o r ~ g ~ n atext" l And so on. A
preferable proccduie is to start w ~ t hthe text-clit~calev~dctlcewe have and to prcs-
ent ~tIn as objective a fasli~onas possible. We can then ask what mater~alIS attested
In all three recens~ons,what In two or just one? What appears ~nthe suppletnentary
read~ngsIn a few manuscr~ptsor only a single manuscript'^ If the ~ n a t e r ~ that a l IS
not attested by all lnanusciipts begrns to reveal coinlnon characte~~stlcs oi lan-
guage, can we ldcnt~fy~vhere~tcame froni, on the supposltlon that it was added to
an earlle~core text'? On the othci hand, could \ve expla~nits absence on the sup-
position that ~twas C L I out
~ by later e d ~ t o ~ s l c o p y ~who
s t s objected to the piesence of
potenttally dangelous, s~~bverslvc or obwlete ~deas'?The esscntlal thlng I S to start
w ~ t hobjectwe facts what IS,or 1s not attested In the lnailuscrlpts On this solld
basrs it may then be possrble to make conjcctuies as to how a work Illze SY could
lia\le evolved In tlie tlnie betole wc have a c t ~ ~ ev~denceal of ~ t existence
s (I e. tlie
early tenth century). T h ~ swould ~ ~ l v o l vprojecting
e backwards to before this t111ic would cross-fertil17e. All these features that Belt-As16 ~dent~fies can easlly be yeen
I ~ n e sof development clearly d ~ s c e r n ~ b lIne the transmrsslon of the text after the In the m a n ~ ~ s c r trad~tron
~pt of SY. Bert-Ar~edraws the follow~nglesson for text-
tentli century. If t h ~ sprocedure po~nts,for example, to at1 earher form of the text editors from tlie above obser\/atlons. "many pr~nclplesand pract~cesof classical
w h ~ c hwas "rhytl~m~cal and poetlc", then we are on firmcr (though st111 somewhat text crltlclsm, such as e s t a b l ~ s h ~ nthe g gcnetlc relation5111ps between rnanuscr~pts,
5haky) ground \tihe11we apply such criteria In the absence of text-cr~tlcalevidence. the stcmmatlc class~ficat~on of vcrs1on5 and ~estoringthe or~glnaltext, are not ap-
As we shall see, there ale a strlk111gnumber of cases where proceeding In this man- pl~cableto Hebrcw manuscr~pts". (rhrcl). None of these ~ I I be I attempted in this
iicr does bung us to the sanic concltls~onsas We111stockon the layer~ngo f t h e text e d ~ t ~ oInprefer
. to use the term "earllest recoverable text" rather than the "or~grnal
of SY (though not 011the dat~iigofthe layers).19 text" of Seler Yes~ra.The "earllest recoverable text" IS the one which can be ascer-
ta~nedfrom the niali~lscrlpt~ n l h r ~ n a t ~we o nhave ava~lable,iislng the standard tech-
nlclues of textual crrt~clsni.As 111y notes to the text wrll show this usually arnounts
3. The " o r i g i ~ atext"
l of SY or "111eearlie,sf recove/-able text"? to ~ d e n t l f y ~ nthe
g textual mater~al~111cliall tlie three recellsions have in common
- the louicst common denoni~nator.1 lowever, t h ~ s can only take 11s back to a stage
What, tio\vevcr, we can nevel do 1s to get back to the " o r ~ g ~ n text",
al We~nstock's just b c f o ~ ethe cmcrgcncc of the calllest rnanuscrlpts wc possess - say, the second
"source" (1li)D). The s c ~~b a lp~actlcesof ~iicd~e\jal Jew~shcopy~stsare the ~ n a j o ~ half oftlie n~ntlicentury C.b. Undoubtedly, the processes described by Belt-An6
reason \vhy the search fbr an " o r ~ g ~ n atext"
l IS alniost bound to be frustrated. As tv~llhave been at \vork long belbre t h ~ s maktng , the " o r ~ g ~ n text"
al ~rrecoverable.
Malach~Belt-Ar16 p o ~ n t so ~ l tthe
, lack of centralrsed pol~tlcaland relig~ousI I I S ~ I ~ L I - In my recollstructlon In Appcnd~xThree of the earllest recoverable text of SY I
tlons In nied~evalJewry meant that no coiltrol could be exerc~scdover ~ n d ~ v ~ d u a l have attempted by means of square brackets to ~ d e t i t ~ those f y parts w h ~ c h1 suspect
copying oftexts: were added In tlie plocess of transmlss~o~l but for which there is ltttle or no text-
crrt~calev~denceto back up niy ludgcmcnts. Some of t h ~ bracketed s mater~alcould
"Encouraged by a ~ ~ t h o to
r s correct their worl<s, and amlare of the i~navoidablecorruption
imposed by the unconscious mechanics of copying, copyists in particular did not view
well have ~ t os n g ~ t in i the kind of muddle that Belt-An6 sees arlslng ftom authors'
copying as mechanical reproduction, but instead as a critical editorial operation involving ow11C O I ~ ~ I ~ L L O~Li pI Sd a t ~ nofg t h e ~ rwork. 'the lnalii text ofthe Appendrx o ~ ~ t s r the
de
emendation, diagnostic conjecture, collation of different exemplars and even incorporating brackets I S based on textual ev~dencc.The reasons for the judgements I make are
external, relevant material and the copyist's own opinion. provlded In the commentary.
Conseq~~enlly, many Mebremr manuscripts present texts not only corrupted by the accu- The state 111 w h ~ c hwe find the text of SY 1s not, of course, LlnlqLle for Jewish
mulation of unsuper\~isedinvoluntary copyiilg errors, but also distorted by editorial or even
works from the first millennrum C.E. Take, for cxaniple, the text of P ~ r k eAboth.
~.eclactor.alreconstruction, contamination by different models ant1 versions, and deliberate
integration of pertinent texts."20
What a text-cr~t~cal nlglitmare 1s revealed when we d ~ below g the level of edrt~ons
11kethat of Merfh~d(1962) w h ~ c hseem almost des~gnedto keep thelr readersh~p~ g -
Another factor which Belt-As16 also regards as pote~itiallyfatal for the effort to norant of tlie real sltuat~on.PA l ~ k eSY exlsts In three separate rccenslons 111 wlilch
reconstruct the "or~glnaltext" 1s the way 111 w h ~ c hauthors c o ~ l t ~ n u etod update and both the text and the order of the ~ l i a t e r ~ vanes. al At the level of the ~ n d ~ v ~ d u a l
expand t h e ~ rworks w ~ t hthe result that manuscr~ptscopled at d~fferentstages of manuscripts there 1s even lnorc variat~on.One can make colnnlents on the h~story
the evolut~onof a text would be In c ~ r c u l a t ~ oatn the same t111iea11d iiiev~tablythen and development of tlirs text and the rabbinic values which ~treveals but the search
I " o r ~ g ~ n a PA
I ~the l " IS doo~nedto Ih~lure.There never was one -just an ever-grow-
''I S i d 1973: 518-522 sul?jects Weinstocli's edition to devastating criticism. Most of the points
~ n gcollect~onof rabb~nlcsaylngs attached to the end of the Mishnah In order to
he lualtes are valid hut Weinstock's work is not entirely worthless; some pearls call be rescued
fro111 the rnire. encourage people to study ~ tThe . closest parallel to tlie phenorne~ia\vhtch greet the
Heh1.e w M ~ r ~ ~ ~ i . s t :of~ ~Etr.st
; , ~ ~ t~, sr ~ i I,Vesf:
il ~ t t i ~ e (Loncion,
Tonjir~.tiso C ' o ~ ~ i p o ~ ~C~~licology scholar when st~tdylngtexts l ~ k cPA and SY 1s act~lallythe three Synopt~cGospels,
1993), 11. 83. Beit-Arii. finesses these observations in his paper on "The Palaeographical Identifi- for there we have a large ~iiassof saylngs ~ I i i c hreveal a b c w ~ l d e r ~ nlillxti~re g of
cation ofl-lebrew Manuscripts" (1986187: 14) when he lualies a distinction between the attitude to
both o r d c ~and disorder w h ~ l eyet q~llteclearly h a v ~ n ga corninon oiigin. I am very
the (cxl being copiecl of the professional scribe wol.killg for hire and that of the individual author
copying a text for his own use: "While the cirst scribe [the professional] is more vulnerable to I ~ L I 11icl1ned
C ~ to agree with III~J, sadly now-deceased colleague, John O'Netll that
unconscious nlistakes conctitioned by tlle copied text ant1 the ~uecha~lisrn of copying, the second "Matthew, Mark, and Luke as we have thein are the end product of three l ~ n e sof
one [the individual ownerischolarl may feel free to changc the copied text consciously by amencl- scr~balt r a d ~ t ~ oThey n are not tlie work of three authors who looked across at uni-
ing and editing what might seen1 to him corrupted passages, sentences or \vords, collating other
versions or completing missing or abbreviated parts relying on me111oryand the authority of his fied sources and made hundreds of changes on cach page at t h e ~ rauthor~alw~ll"
scholarship." (O'Nelll 1991. 500). Somewhat closer to hoine, it 1s instruct~veto colnpare the state
of the text of SY w ~ t htliat of the Hekhalot texts slnce ~t IS generally transm~tted
111 exactly the same Hebrew manuscr~pts.Here the most revealrng coniparlson IS
between the medieval European Mekhalot manuscr~ptsand the or~ental,G e n ~ z a h
fragments, as Joseph Dan says: "less than half of the twenty-three Gemzah frag-
ments conform even In part to the Sy17op.se stritcti~re,~' and less than half of these
contaln substant~alfragments of the same s t r u c t i ~ r e . "Klaus ~ ~ Hermann's study of
the famous Hekhalot manuscript, New York 8128, came to the same conclus~ons
as Dan over the freedom rned~evals c r ~ b e sfelt to supplement and even reshape the
tradrt~onsthey were t r a n s r n ~ t t r n gF~nally,
.~~ In t l i ~ attempt
s to set the state ol'the tex-
tila1 t r a d ~ t ~ oofn SY In its w ~ d e co~itext
r of the transmlsslon of Jew~shI~teratureas a
whole, let L I nlentlon
~ the earlrest Hebrew and Arable J e w ~ s hanti-Chr~st~an poleml-
cal texts. Once agaln, we meet the ~ ~ b ~ q u ~ "three t o t t s vers~ons."To c ~ t first
e Danrel
Lasker: "It may be concluded, therefore, that there was a body of anti-Clinst~an
polem~cIn Judaeo-Arab~cthat was comp~ledIn at least three verstons: Schlosberg's
Q I J S ~ ,the" Arable Vorl~rgeof the Nerfov. manuscr~pts,~'and the Genrzah frag-
ments. What the o r ~ g ~ nform a l of that anti-Chr~st~an polem~cwas cannot now be
dctermined."2Vn the same volume Sarah Stroumsa deals wltli the Q15,jnM z ~ ~ d n l n t
~11-Usqufof which the Sefet. Neslov. 1s a Hebrew verslon and comments: "And yet
an attempt to collate the A r a b ~ cfragments w ~ t hSchlosberg's e d ~ t ~ o or n , with each
other, turns out to be a frustrat~ngtask: although they clearly belong to the same
work, they hardly ever correspond kern b e g ~ n n ~ ntog end. Each of the fragmelits
contams more or less the same paragraphs but the vocabulary may vary cons~der-
ably, as may also the order of the pa rag rap ti^."^^ An e d ~ t o rof SY can syrnpath~ze
with Stroumsa's frustrat~on.So the s~tuatronwe observe In the manuscr~ptsof SY
IS by no means ilnlqile and, hence, wc need to cons~dernow how other edrtors of
such texts have dealt w ~ t hthe problerns posed for us by the transmitters of these
trad~tlons.
2' Dan is here referring to Peter Schafer's Synapse zirr Heklltrlot-Literntzr,. (1981); see below.
" "The Ancient Hekhalot Texts in the Middle Ages: Tradition, Source, Inspiration", BJRL
75.3 (1993), 93-94, and 1998: 257.
'3 "Re-written Mystical Texts: the Transmission of the Heikhalot Literature in the Middle
4.Editing JewisI7 texts from the fi~:rt rnillenniz/mC.E.
Given t h ~ ssltuat~onwli~chconfronts scholars work~ngon the lned~evalmaliu-
scrlpts, the quest1011of how to e d ~ Hebrew t texts fr-om Late A n t ~ q u ~and
t y the early
nied~evalp e r ~ o dha5 been wtdcly debated 111 recent years 28 Peter Schafer has more
or less procla~medthe death of the so-called " c r ~ t ~ c aeld ~ t ~ o nbut " has also chal-
lenged the not~onof regard~ngJewrsh texts oS t h ~ sper~odas "texts", 1.e. as works
consc~ouslyshaped by authors w h ~ c hcan be studled by techn~quesapplrcable to
modern l~teraryworks (Schiifer 1C)88).29He has arg~ledthat t h ~ sconcept of the
text Ignores the real~tyof the textual ev~dencewe have -for nearly all Jew~shtexts
from t h ~ perlod.
s Most of them are attested 111 medieval manuscrrpts m a n l y from
Europe and they conta~na b c w ~ l d c r ~ nvarletyg of text types. How can we know that
these texts welt not put ~ n t ot h c ~ rpresent shape by the s c r ~ b e sof these nied~eval
manuscrlpts? mi~clitlie same cli~est~on
- as arlses from Belt-Ark's observat~ons
quoted earher. Schafer's approach to textual c ~ ~ t ~ cwas r s ~enshr~ned
n first rn his
ground-brcak~ngSyt~op\eZLIT H e k l ~ a I ~ ~ t - I ~ ~(1981) t e ~ u and
t c ~ ~now
~ In his Synapse
zctn~T~rlw~ciu'-Yerri,rhc~I~i~~ (1991-). Schafer prov~desno c r ~ t ~ c apparatusal In these
works butjust lays out the text of the most Important rnani~scriptsI n synoptic fonii.
He leaves ~tto scholars ilslng h ~ works s to make what co~nrnentsthey l ~ k eon the
text and, ~f they so w ~ s h to , engage In the f u t ~ l etask of reconstruct~ngan o r ~ g ~ n a l
text w h ~ c hnever ex~sted.The extent of' SchBfcr's sceptlclsm can be gauged from
the ~ntroduct~on to h ~ synops~s
s of the Jerusalenl Talmud where he elalms that the
most that can be ach~eved1s to reconstruct the text as ~tex~stedIn the thrrteenth to
c~ghteenthc e n t u r ~ e s . ~ ~ )
I have a lot of synipatliy for Schafer's posrt~on However, I am not as pesslinlstrc
as he IS over the p o s s ~ b ~ l ~otf~uess~ n gtextual crltlclsm to at least recon$truct carl~er
forms oftexts than arc attested In the rnanuscr~ptswe have. Hence tlie layout of rliy
ed~tronof SY 1s a cotnpromlse between that of Gruenwald and tliat whlch \vould be
suggested 11'1followed Schafer's procedures In h ~ ~s y n o p s e s . 1~present ' the earlrest
manuscrlpts of the three main recensions in synoptlc form w ~ t ha l ~ m ~ t etextual d
apparatus foi each ofthem. Only major varlants affcct~ngthe meanlng oftlie text
are presented 111 the apparatus; errors and orthograph~calvariants are excluded.
The pri~icipalfi~nctronof the apparatus 1s to prov~desupport fbr my observat~ons
In the commentary on the text. Where, In any part~cularparagraph, recording the

Ages", B./KI, 75.3 (1993). 'V have dealt with this issue in some detail with particular reference to SY in Hayman 1995.
2i Leon Schlosberg, Qi_v_voMz~ji?c/~rltrt trl-l/sqz!f (Vienna, 1880). 'l Helzhalof-Stlrdirr? (Tiibingcn, 1988).
25 Abraham Berliner, Sgfi,r Nes!or Hti-tioi~~er. (Altona, 1875). $" Schafer 1991: VII.
' W a n i e l .I. Lasker, "Qis.su Mz!jCdulcrl ul-U,rclz(/'and Nesfor flu-Korner: The earliest Arabic I have takcn to hcart Malachi Reit-Ari6's advice at the end of his 1 9 9 3 ~article (p. 51) where
and Hebrew Jewish anti-Christian polemics", in Genizah r~e.seur~cIi c!fier nhefj, yecrr:~: The c,u.ce ( f he says that we ~ l i ~ lLlse
s t medieval Hebrew manuscripts "with great caution, suspicion and scepti-
Jrrcfc~eo-Arabic,ed. Joshua Rlau and Stefan C. Reif (Cambridge, 1992), 114. cism, and above all refrain from establishing authentic texts, or even critical editions, and rather
Sara Stroumsa, "Qi~.yoM~+?id~ilnt trl-U.si~~!fA case study in polemical literature", in Geriiz~rh resort to the safe synoptic presentation of the transruitted texts, while proposing our critical
ve,search ~fiet.rii~ie!))) ~ L I I . S , 155- 159. analysis and reconstruction in the form of notes.''
leaving some out. I have seen no reason to deviate from Gruenwald's c h o ~ c eofthe
manuscr~ptson which to base an ed~tionof SY. However, I have decided not to 111-
clude collat~onsfrom the first pr~iitededition slnce these are pro\r~dedIn h ~ edit~on
s + Glass 3215 + Glass 121X13.42Or~entalsquare script. Tenth century. Gruen-
(In and n2) and would only further compl~catemy apparatus for no great galn es-
pccrally slnce, as Gruenwald remarks, 'n and Ware hll of m~stakes.I have added
two lnanuscr~ptsto h ~ list
s (Bi and E) for reasons discussed below. Further reasons
fbr rejcct~ngother lnanuscrlpts that might have been ~ncludedare also glven below
in the notes on the manuscr~pts.
5. The Mnnzl,scripts
5.1 The 1,ong Recensiot7'"
A Vat~canLibrary (Cat. ass em an^) 299(8), fols. 66a -71b. Tenth c e n t ~ ~ r ySq~lare
'~.
script s~rnllarto the Geni7ah Scroll (Ms C). Gruenwald's X .
R' Oxford, Bodleian Library Ms. M1ch.9 (Cat. Neubauer 1531), fols. lb-llb. Ash-
kenazi semi-cursive script of the early fourteeilth c e n t ~ ~ r y . ' ~
B2 Oxford, Bodleian L ~ b r a r yMs. M1ch.9 (Cat. Neubaucr 1531), fols. 95a-103b.
A s h k e n a ~c~lrsivc
~ s c r ~ p"c.
t 1300"1Wrue~~\vald's
2.
G British Library, Add.15,299 (Cat. Margoliouth 752113), fols. 79a-Xlb. Ashke-
nazi square script, fourteenth century. Gruenwald's X.
D Florence, Library Mediceo-Laurentsia~la,Pluteo 11 519, Sols. 227a-230a. Italy,
sixteenth c e n t ~ ~ r ycursive
, " ~ script. Gr~lenwald's7 .
H Brit~shLibrary, Add.27,199 (Cat. Margoliouth 737/2), fols. 379b-3X7a. Italian
semi-cursive script. 1515. Gruenwald's 7 .
'' Informat~ouon the ~ c r ~ ppldce t , of or lgln and date of the Mss 1s taken fiom the ~elevant
l ~ b r a r y~dtdlogues01 fioni the Collect~veCdtdlogue of Hebrew M a n u s ~ l ~ pof t s the "Yf~c~ofilm
Iiigt~tuteof the Tew~shNat~onaland Un~versityL ~ b r ya ~in lerusalem The srgla of the Mss are, as
far as possrble, the Engl~shequnvalents of those used by Gruenwald and hence the older 1s that of
the Hebrew '~lphabet
j7 See GI uenwald 1971 135
3"e~t-A~le-May 1094 256 The Supplement to Neubauer's catalogue seems to leverse h ~ s
judgement on the ~ e l a t ~ dv ae t ~ n gof pal ts 1-3 ( f o l ~1-18) and parts 4-13 (fols 19-183) Neubduer
I886 538 ~ t a t e thdt
s numbers I-? ale "older thdn the otheis", the o r d e ~In wh~cli1 L~stthe two parts
of t l i ~ smanuxript l e f l e ~ t sthelr posltlon In the manuscript and not t h e ~ ~r e l a t ~ datlng
ve
'"3ert-Ar~e-Mdy 1994 256 Cee P Scllafer 1981 ~ xx~x-xx , for a full d e s c ~ i p t ~ oofn this Ilianu-
s c ~ ~ See p t 'llso Schafer 1989 vol 111, p VI1, n 4
Though Gtuenwald 1971 136 sdys "w~rttenprobably In Italy In the hfteenth c e n t ~ ~ r y "
5.2 The Slxadynn Recension
C The Gen~zahScroll4', Cambr~dgeUniversity L~brary,Taylor-Schechter K21156
-
wald's n.
Z OxSord, Bodleian Library Pococlte 256 (Cat. Neubauer 1533).4' Orie~italseml-
curs~vescr~pt.Baghdad. 1262. Gruenwald's 5 .
E Br~tishL~brary,Harley 5510 (Cat. Margol~outh75416), Sols. 107a-110a. Itallan
semi-cursive s c r ~ p of
t the fo~~rtcciithfifteenth century.44
-
5.3 The Sl7ort Recension
K Partna 2784.14 (Bibl~othccaPalatina 2784/14), De Rossi 1390, fols. 36b-3%.
Italian serni-cursive script. 1286." Gruenwald's 3.
I, Paris 80215, fols.57b-59b (Cat. Zotenberg, p.135). Itallan semi-cursive scrlpt of
the fourteenth century. Gruenwald's '7.
M Paris 72612, fols. 44b-46b (Cat. Zotenberg, p.118). Seini-cursive Sephardi script
ofthc fifteenth century.4%r~~enwald's73.
N Paris 76411, fbls. la-3a (Cat. Zotcnbcrg, p.124). According to Gruenwald "wr~t-
ten 111 Spaln (or North Africa) between 1365 and 1393".47 Senli-CUSSIV~
Sep-
hardi scr~pt.Gruenwald's I.
" The scroll would have unrolled vertically rather than horizontally like biblical scrolls. For
the significance of this see Schafer 1984: 9, especially n. I, and Colette Sirat, Hehrcw Mcmr~script.~
qf'flre Micldle Age.s (Cambridge, 2002), p. 103, for a photograph of a similarly constructed Geniza
scroll.
4 V ~full r details see the edition of this scroll by Allony 1981. This edition supercedes Haber-
Inan 194617.
" See the editions by Lanibert: 1891 and KaPach 1972: and the Supple~iientto Neubauer (Heit-
AriP-May 1994: 256).
-I4 Part 6 of this Ms also includes on fols. I IOa--11221 a not particularly good Short Recension
text of SY which has sorue unique glosses and expansions. It has not, therefore, been included in
this edition.
4' Richler and Beit-AriC 2001: 314-316.
a The date given is that of the Collective Catalogue of the JNUL Microiilm Institute. How-
ever, Gruenwaltl dates it to tlie f o ~ ~ r t e e n century
th and, indeed, its script is not greatly different
from that of Ms N with which, as we shall see it has very close connections. However, it is perhaps
closer to the examples of fifteenth century Sephardi semi-cursive illustrated in A. Yardeni, Tlic
/3ook qf' frlebre~ciSc.,-il~t:Ni.rfory, J ' t r l a e ( r ~ l i j ,Script Styles, Calligrmplrj~a t ~ dDe.sign (Jerusa-
lem, 1977j, 244-49.
47 Ci~.uenwald1971: 136. According to Lotenberg "Le ms. a Cte exCcutC par 'Amram, fils de
Moi'se, par Joseph, fils de SimCon. 11 fut cCdC par Hayyirn, fils de ce dernier, A Mas'ond, fils de
Sabbatha'i. en 1397."
S Idelden W a ~ n2415, Cod 01 4762, fols.140b-142a (Cat. S t e ~ n s c h n c ~ dpe ~91)
, 6 2 The texts are printed as they appeal I n the manuscr~pts,cxcept that where
Gicek selnl-cu~slvescript " w ~ ~ t t eposs~bly
n In Hebron, Palest~ne,about 1540"4x tlie~eIS phys~caldamage to a manuscript I have atte~iiptedto re5to1e ~ t text. s These
GI ~renwald'sb rest01atlons are placed between sqtiarc bracltcts and are based on the evldence of
the otlier manuscrlpts.
F Br~tishL~braryOr.1263 (Cat. Margoliouth 600.1), fols. 2a-3b accord~ngto -

6 3 Errors In these base manusct ~ p t sare p~~ntedas they stand, except Lbr crrors
Margol~o~itlia Kara~teMs dated 1433 "or peshaps cop~edfrom a Ms of that
wli~chhave been cor~ectedby the 01 ~ g ~ n scr~be. al O~>VIOLIS errors 111 other manu-
date." Semi-curs~ve script. Gruenwald's Y .
scripts are not recorded In the text~ialappn1atuscs ''
P Klau L~blnry( I l c b ~ e wUnlon College-Jew~sliInst~tuteof Relrg~on),C ~ n c ~ n n a t ~ 6 4 Unambrguous abbrcv~at~ons 111 the base manuscrlpts are ~ l s ~ ~ a lbutly, i~ot
52311. Semi-cursive S e p h a ~ ds ~c r ~ p of
t tlie fifteenth century. No pag~natronIn always, Lvrltten out ft1I1y
Ms but tlie tcxt of SY occupies pp. 1- 11. Gr~renwald's9 6 5 1 have not followed Gruenwald's ed~tion111 attempting to punctuate the IHc-
blew nianuscr~pts.I'unctuat~on 1s only plov~dedwlie~cthere 1s a correspo~idlng
1 BI ~ t ~ L~brary,
sh Or.10,324/3 (Cat. Gastcr293), fols. 2% 328. S ~ ~ I - C L ISep-
ISIV~
mark 111 the manuscript '' How I undcrstand tlie sense d r v ~ s ~ o nws~ t l i ~the n para-
1iard1s c r ~ pofthe
t fifteen ccntt~ryj" Cisuenm~ald'sY '(I
g ~ a p h \1s ~ n d ~ c a t cby
d 111y translat~ons
Q Moscow ( L e n ~ nState L ~ b ~ a r yG) .~ n z b ~ i rCollect~o~i
g 133115, fols. 198a- 19%. 6 6 Above the t e x t ~ ~ aappal-atus
l rn each column there appears a l ~ s tof' the
Written In "Germany, end of the fifteenth century or b e g ~ n n ~ nofgtlie s~xtcentli manuscripts available and collated lo1 the relevant paragraph. The number of
century" accord~ngto Gri~enwaldbut from Italy according to tlie Catalogue of mant~scr~l>l< \vIi~chcontali1 the tcxt of a ]xkrtrcirla~-paragraph can also he checked
the JNUL M~crofilmInstitute. Gruenmiald's i). by refcrr~ngto the l;?ble of Attestat~ons rn Appendlx I The place where the
paragraph appears In each manusc~~ p can t be sceli from the Table Irrt~ngthe o r d e ~
R P a r ~ s80912, f'ols. 93a-94a (Cat. Zotenberg, p.137). Italy, about 1500. A fine,
ol'tlie paragraphs In Appcnd~xI 1
del~catc,semi-curs~ve vecl lng to curslvc s c r ~ p t .Gruenwald's
~' 1.
6 7 The crlt~cala p p a ~ a t i ~iss select~\/e.Purely g ~ a m n i a t ~ c and
a l orthograph~cal
var~antsare usually not recorded ne~therare obv~ousscr~balel rors.'j Hence conclu-
slons e cilctif~ocannot be drawn. In general, tlie apparatus aims to record var~ants
6. The r ~ ~ lof'the
e s edition wli~ch~ n d ~ c aat esign~fica~it change rn meanlng, and to present as clearly as poss~ble
the ~ e l a t ~ obetween
n the manuscr~ptsW ~ t l i ~each
n lecetislon tlie choice of the base
6 I The aim of t h ~ sc d ~ t ~ oisn to plesent the ev~dencefor the textual li~storyof manuscr~pt(s)ti)r the collat~onI S based on tliis latter cr~terlonand on tlie need to
S e f c ~Y e ~ l r a111 a9 clear a Pasli~orias poss~ble.Therefore the text of the three maln keep the appalatus as si~iipleas poss~ble
recensrons is p ~ ~ n t eIndparallel colu~iins,each w ~ t h~ t own
s textual apparatus. Ms 6 8 The cop~lla1 1s not collated cxccpt where a change of mcanlng may be im-
K In the Jell hand coluri1n usually serves as the base text for the Short Recens~on, pl~ed.
Ms A In tlic ni~ddlccolumn for tlie long Recens~on,and Ms C In the r ~ g h thand 6 9 A niilnber with ralsed c~rcle,e.g. 1 ', 2", after a word 111 a lelnnla ~ n d ~ c a t thecs
colu11i1iI ~the I Saadyan leccnslon. W h e ~ tliee text of any other nianuscs~ptdlverges f i ~ s tsecond,
, etc., occurrence of that word 111 the paragraph.
too fkr from tlie base manuscr~ptIn ~ t srecension to mal<e collating ~ t svar~ants 6 10 An astcr~sl< alongs~dethe siglum Sol a Ms (e.g. A*) ~ n d ~ c a t the
e s read~ligof
tisefirl, 1 have pr~nted~ t sSLIIItext III the relevant column. Thtis, for example, Ms the or~glnalhand A ralsed c (e.g. AL) 111d1catesthe read~ngof a later corrector 111
D which often hovers between tlie long and the S h o t~Recens~onsIn tts read~ngsI S the text, w h ~ l ea ra~sedmg (e g An's) lnd~catestlie rcad~ngof a late1 c o rector ~ wh~cli
frequently pr~nted111 lirll below the text of Ms A. has been placcd In tlie margln.

" W r u e n w a l d ihitl., Steiuschtleider, p. 88-89. Stei~lschneideris in error on 11. 01 when he says

that the text ol'SY begins o n fol. IhOv.
-"The date is that of the J N U L Collective Catalogue. Gaster dates this Ms to the sixteenth ' W o s t oSthese errors are recorded ill Ciruenwald's edition.
century. " Sometimes the cl~~illity ofthe microiillns and photographs k o m wliicl~I havc workcd makes
"' Note that Gructiwald lists this Ms, in error, as (iastcr415, as does Weinstock 1972: 25. the [~iit~ctuation
dif'ficult to discern.
'I Thc text oSSY comes at the end and ill a diSSel.cnt hand from that ofthe rest of the Ms. '"ll~ese also are ~ l s ~ ~ arecorded
lly it1 Cirueuwalil's etlition.
 Z Abbreviafio~~s
in fhe fexfunl ~ p p a ~ ~ n t w h ~ exemplar
s has attempted to ~mplemcnta numbered paragraph d ~ v ~ s as ~ owell
n as
the standard chapter d ~ v ~ s ~1olowever,
n. this b e g ~ n sto peter out In chapter IV (after
. . . (within a lemma) = all [he words between the words preced~ng and 4 37) and d~sappearscompletely In chapter V (after Q 45). Desp~teb a n g Incorpo-
follow~ngthe dots. rated In thc same manuscript as B' ~tshares no pecul~arread~ngsw ~ t h1t.j6However,
. . (w~thina l ~ s of
t Mss) = all the Mss as arranged In the list of Mss from the there are a s t r ~ k ~ number
ng of pecul~arread~ngsshared w ~ t hMs H, espec~allynu-
manuscrlpt preceding the dots to the one following the merous omlsslons by parableps~s.Note for example t h e ~ rsliared gloss III Q 55 (137
dots. nl57Bz ?171 ?'7n) or t h e ~ rshared text 111 $ 48a w h ~ c hf o ~ c e sme to print the text
Mss = man~~scr~pts of B1 separately and collate to ~t Ms H's two very minor dev~ations.However, one
Ms = manuscript m a n t ~ s c r ~cannot
pt be a copy of the o t h e ~slnce not all tlle~rerrors or omlsslons arc
om = ollllts shaied. In 4 61, for example, B1has a long ornlsslon by homo~oteleuton(13. . .n712)
add = adds w h ~ c hIS not shared with H and H has Q 10, w h ~ c hB1 does not. Nevertheless, the
ho~noio= o r n ~ s s ~ oby
n I~omo~otelet~ton connections betwccn these two 1na11~1scr1l)ts are close enough to suggest that they
homoioarc = o m ~ s s ~ obyn homo~oarcton have a common ancestor The text of the Long Recens~onIn thc first printed editlo11
APP = Apparatus ( M a n t ~ ~1562)
a comes from the same l ~ n eoftranstn~ssionas B' and H There IS an
err = error n g read~ngof these two manuscripts in $ 54.4 wh~clisuggests that
~ n t r ~ g u ~shared
pr = pnor (places before ~ t ) ultimately they depend on a lnanuscr~ptthat has descended from A. See the notes
In (legi neqziit) = cannot be read to t h ~ paragraph.
s
d ~ t=t d~ttography
rd = read B2: MS B2 contains Inany errors and has been extens~velycorrected both by the
transn = transposes the words separated by the back slash or~grnaland a later scribe. The latter rewrltes many words above the line though
n r w ' h ~ n= DTXD p ~ 7n2w r 8125 z ~ n - 2 3 1 3z1i1 m n the orig~iialw r ~ t ~ n1sgmostly perfectly Icg~ble.The s c r ~ b ehas numbered the para-
531n nrw = ~ 1 2 z5~ n - 2 3 1 3~ J I ;inn
I ~77x73p7r 'n2w graphs In chapter I (= 44 1-16) but not thereafter. The paragraph d ~ v ~ s ~ areo n then
s
marked w ~ t ha short back slash and a space. At least three s c r ~ b e sseem to have
been ~nvolvcdIn thc copying of the text of SY w ~ t hchangeovers tak~iigplace In the
8. Nofes O M fhe munuscripfs l e $Q 49 and 57
~ n ~ d dof

8. I The Long Iiece~sion G: T h ~ smanuscrlpt is so badly copled and f ~ ~ofl lerrors that Gruenwald was led
to abandon h ~ usual
s pollcy and not record its "obv~ous~ n ~ s t a k e sin" h ~ apparatus.
s
A: The square script of t h ~ manuscrlpt
s 15 clearly written and e a s ~ l yleglble. There The paragraphs are numbered by letters and the end of the paragrapl-ts rnd~cated
IS no t ~ t l efot- the text. The p~lnctirat~on
between paragraphs IS by a s ~ ~ l l pdot l e plus , the nurnbenng system fizzles out froin Q 52 onwards.
by a double vert~calI ~ n ebut
a space. A few correct~onshave been made by the o r ~ g ~ nscr~be.al See, for example, Agalnst all the other maliuscrlpts w h ~ c hhave a chapter d ~ v ~ s Ms~ oG
n docs not end a
Gruenwald's note 2 to 6 11. A later hand has made marginal correctlons to Q Q 18 chapter with $ 22 but has a f o ~ chaptei
~r d ~ v ~ s ~1o(1-16),
n: 11 (9117-36), 111 (37-44),
and 37.55 I V (45-64).

B1.Thls IS a carelessly written manusci-~pt\v1t11numerous errors, most of them un- D T h ~ sI S a carefully wrrtten manuscript w ~ t hfew errors. As explained above it
corrected, ~ 1 7 1 ~ 1may
1 be why Grucnwald d ~ not d i n c l ~ ~ ttd ein h ~ esd ~ t ~ oHowever,
n. has a d ~ s t ~ n c t text
~ v ew h ~ c hoften falls between the Long and Short Kecenstons so
after Ms A, 11 IS one of o u ~earliest representat~vesof tlie Long Recens~onverslon that rather than attempt to collate its rcad~ngs\ v ~ t h ~the n Long Recens~onappara-
o f t h e text and s h o ~ ~ l therefore,
d, be present In an e d ~ t ~ oofn SY. There are some t ~ ~t~very
s often makes sense to p r ~ n its t full text. Its curslve script makes ~tvery
corrcctlons w i t h ~ nthe text and marg~nalcorrectlons by a later hand. The s c r ~ b eor d~fficultto d ~ s t ~ n g ubetween
~ s l ~ Bet and Kaph. Bet 1s u ~ u a l l ysl~ghtlymore dipped

Gruenwald 1971 prints facsimiles of two pages of this ruanuscript between pp. 138 and i6 I n # 15 it shares the reading 71'2 wit11 13' but the reading 17'2 in Ms 1-i is clearly a transpo-

139. sitional error for 71'2, so tlie exemplar of I I had the same reading as 13' and 13'.
at tlic top than Kapli but not always. Hence tlie~cIS some i~ncertarntyabout read-
Ings l ~ k eXlY13/XlYl2 In $ 8 The manuscrrpt ~iial<csheavy use of abbrcvtat~ons
and the scrrbe was clearly lookrng to I~ghtenh ~ workload.s See tlie comments on
tlie text o f t h ~ m
s a n ~ ~ s c rIn t notes on $$ 41,44, and 54. In contrast to all other
~ pthe
~iianirscr~pts than C Ms D docs not liave any chapter dlvls~ons;paragtapli d~\i~srotis
are ~lid~cated by a s ~ n g l eor do~tbledot.
H: H 1s a large rnanurcrlpt or601 foltos contalnlng tlie w o ~ k sof Eleazar of Worms
and coprcd by b l ~ a sLev~tai'or Cardinal Aegrd~ode V~terbo.It contartis SY plus
Elea~ar's comnietitary. But ltke G rt 1s poor-ly ~ r ~ t tarid
e ~ fir11
i of'mrstakes. We have
l B i . I t has a palagraph nu~ilberingsystem
already noted rts close connection w ~ t l Ms
s1ni11;trto that of Ms B'.
8 2 The S L I ( I L / R
~C~ ICM~ I I \ I O I I
C. The mo5t ~rnportantwltness fbr tlie Saadyan Kecens~on1s the G e n l ~ a hScroll.
T h ~ swas t o ~ nInto three preccs wh~cliwere scattered In drfferent places In the
Carlo Genl~aliand are now In Ca~nbrrdgeUnlverslty L~brary(Taylor--Schecliter
Genrzali Un~t).The central prece (Taylol-Scliechter Glass 3215) c o n t a ~ n ~ nchap-g
ters 2:4 7:1 was cdrted by A.M. tlaberman in 194617.'7 Subsequently, Nelicm~ah
-
Allony ~dcntifiedthe other two pleccs among the Gen~zalifragments In the Cam-
brrdge Unrvcrsrty L~braryand p~oducedan cd~tronof the complete scroll In 1981.'X
Israel Wernstock (tlie edrtor of Temlr~n)was respotis~blefor fill~ngtlie lacunae In
tlie Scroll ( ~ square
n brackets) and also for prov~drnga texti~alapparatus conipar-
rng the Scroll w ~ t hthe text of SY found In Saadya's coinmelitary (Oxford, Hodle-
ran Lrbraty Pococl<e 256 Z In t h ~ sedrtron). In h ~ srntroductron (p.11) Allony
-
llsts srx fragments of Saadya's coriimciitary, one f-rooi tlie Genrzali and the rest In
the Bodlc~anL~brarybut these are not used in the textual apparatus. Tlie Scroll
conta~nsno chapter and paragraph dtvrs~onsand what llttle punctuatron there is
does not cornc~dewith the paragraph dlvls~onsSound rn Saadya's commentary.
Accordrng to Allony, the Scroll was copled In tlie tenth to eleventli centurtes (more
ltkely the earller) In Palest~ne.Tlie rest of the Scroll contalns varlous prjyzttin~all
of Palest~nrariorlgln.
Tlie three f'ragtnerits of tlie Scroll are as l'ollows. T-S K21156 conta~nsone page
of the Scroll (1.1 - 2:6 In Saadya's cliaptcr and paragraph drvrs~on),lrnes 1-55 of
Allony's c d ~ t ~ oTn h. ~ leaf
s IS torn fro111 tlie top left to the bottoin nght and matches
exactly T-S (Glass) 32.5 whrch contarns two pages of the Scroll (2:4 7:2), lrnes
-
46-195 111 Allony. T-S (Glass) 121813 contalns one page of the Scroll (7:3 -the end),
l~rles199-232 In Allony's cd~tron.Except for a few 11nes\vliere T-S (Glass) 32.5
end5 and before T-S (Glass) 121813 bcgrns we now have the whole of thrs scroll
The manuscrtpt 1s wrltten In a 5cl~1a1e orrental s c ~ ~5rrn1lal
pt to that of'M5 A but rt
Iias suffe~edconsrderablc damage ancl 1s often drfficult to read. Tlie p~~nctirat~oti,
In part~cular,1s hard to d~scernand wliete I am uncertain of rt I have left rt out. It I S
a rather carelessly \vr~ttenmanu~crrptw ~ t ha numbel of accrdental omlssrons and
d~ttograph~cs There are sonie sl~glitdlffetences between niy readrngs and those ol
Allony i~sirallyovel tlie v15rbrlltyor otliet wlse of 51nglcletters Allony's collatrons
-
ate rnostly accurdte wrth only the occasronal ellor, e.g. l 7 n 2 1 for pn21 rn 4 17. It
1s a p ~ t ythat Allony occas~onallyconfuses the leader by placlrig rn square b~ackets
read~ngs~riiportedfiom M5 Z for wh~clithere 1s no space I n Ms C For example,
111 j\ 37b lie gives the ~eacirng~ ' 7 n [ l ] ,but t h ~ srs Saadya'5 leading and there I S no
space In Ms C for the Waw. It would have been better to liave placed \itch rcad~ngs
rn ~oitndb~acl<et\or, better stlll, 1e51stcd the teriiptatron to rniprove t l ~ cGenlzah
scroll Stom Saadya's text In my t ~ a n \ c ~ l p t i o na5, 111 Allony's, the restoratrons In
square b~acketsare taken from the text found embedded 111 Saadya's colnrnetitary
on SY (Z 111 niy edrt~on) but only where there 1s a liiatchrng space In C
-
Z. The other prrmary wltncss to tlie text of t h ~ srcccnsrori IS that found In Saadya
Gaon's commentary on SY wrrtten In 931 - hence tlie name grven to the rccen-
sron. Prlor to the cllscovery of the Gcnr7ah Scroll thrs conitiie~itarywas tlie only
ev~dencefor tlie exrstcncc of a thlrd recens~onalongside the Short and Long Re-
censrons. Only one coliiplete nlalii~scr~pt of Saadya's commentary lias survrved:
Oxford, Bodlclan Lrbraly Pococl<c 256 T h ~ s1s avarlable In two c d ~ t ~ o nones , by
Mayer Larilbert In 1891'" (Arablc and Hebrew tcxt with French translatron) and
one by Joseph Kaf'ach in 1972"' (Arable text [ t i Heblew script as 111 the manuscrtpt,
and I-icbrew translation) Kafacli's c d ~ t ~ odoes
n contarn an apparatus recording the
vanants of the other fragmentary manuscripts of Saadya's commentary " Kalhcl~
1s rrghtly cr~tlcalof some aspect5 of' Lambcrt's work and, of the two, botli h ~ s
transcnption of the nianuscrlpt and hls translatron are rnore rcltable. In the Oxford
rnan~rscr~pt the text 1s dlv~dedrnto e ~ g h tchapters, and tlie chapters rnto separate
paragraphs (~713'7;1)."*The manuscript was written iri Baghdad In 1263 accordrng
to the colophon prov~dedby tlie scirbe."' The occas~onalvocal~satronof the text
appears to be rn the hand of the or~glnals c r ~ b e .
E. Along with the prlmary w~tnessesto tlie Saadyan Reccnslon (Mss C arid Z) 1
have rncludcd collat~otisfrom Ms E (Br~ttshLlbrary, Harley 5510), because thts
j" C q r ~ z t ~ ~ t ' n / c r.Y
i iII.I.~ Sc;fi'r. I'exir.~~~ L 1ivi.e
I cle ICI
~,t.ecrlion11trr. le Grron Scrird,i!rr cle FC~'I~~ZIIII
(Paris: Emile Bouillon).
1 1 x 2 ;i97YD 1 1 3 1 W l 1 7 9 1 D l X l n DY D5W;i ;i17Y7 1 9 D (Scrusalcm: Uror).
" See his list oil 17.7 ofhis edition.
"'See below on the chapter divisions in the Mss.
"' See Kafach 1972:6 fbr a transcription of the colophon and infos~liatiorlon the scribe.
 8. A'otc,s o t i ttrc r r ~ ~ r r ~ ~ l . s t ~ ~ . i ~ ~ / , s 23

P a r ~ s763:1, fols. Ib- 3a, 1s a Sc>urteenthcenti~ryItal~arlm a n u s c r ~ p ~t ~1~1 tIh~ n k sto occasions I w ~ l use
l Ms P as 0111: of the base tnant~scr~pts
for the Short Rccens~on:
the k ~ n dof rcad~ngsfound 111 Mss MN but not exclus~vely50. We~nstock(1972: 26) $Q 1, 15, 42, 50 and 63.
used ~tfor h ~ es d ~ t ~ oofn SY chapter I - 111sMs %. It IS a poorly w r ~ t t c n~nanuscnpt There are three add~tionsto the b a s ~ ctext prov~dedby the s c r ~ b eof thts manu-
w ~ t hmany errors and om~ssionsso that somet~mesI wondered \vhether the scribe script and the way they are reco~dedseems to represent h ~ attempt
s to classlfy t h ~ s
rcally understood I Ieb~cw.I have, accord~ngly,decided not to ~ncludeits rcad~ngs extra mater~al.The a d d ~ t ~ oton 4 48b whlch I have pr~ntedas part of 63 I S actu-
In the textual apparatus. However, given ~ t relat~vcly
s early date for a Short Recen- ally ~ncorporatedin the text of the iiianuscrlpt aster 48b but ~ntroducedwlth 'Xbll
slon manurcrlpt 1 liave referled to some of ~ t more s ~ n t e r e s t ~ nread~ngs
g 111 the tex- (= and In another text) and concluded w ~ t h'3Y (= LIPto thts point). I11 the margln
tual notes. It 1s particularly ~nterestlngLbr tlie way in w h ~ c h~tshows ho\v Q Q 62-63 alongside 4 6 we tind the Long Recenslon read~ngcited agaln as 'Xb. Prcsuniably
grew out of the expansron of certarn elements In $ 48b. the fact that ~tis placed In the margin and not In the ~ n a ~text
n like the addrtlon to
4 48b 111dicates~ t slessel status. Finally alongside Qq 33-34 we tind the lnlsslng
S Ms S 1s a standard rep~esentat~ve of'thc Short Recenslon type of text. See above permutations of letters WnX b ~ l t h ~ tlme
s recorcied as "9 (~nterpretat~on).
, f o ~11s 0intss101101' Q 48a It is mostly carefully copled, t l i o ~ ~ gaI11iost
i111 1 h all 01'
$ 12 was omitted by p a ~ a b l e p s ~ sSio~n2Ynl 111 Q 12 to 3Yn1 In 4 13 It dev~ates 1: Ms I has many pecullar ~eadlngs~/111cli
arc mostly errors and have not, therefore,
somctlmes f ~ o mthe standa~dShort Reccns~ontllpe of text t~nclerthe ~nfluenceof been recorded 111 the textual apparatus.
Long Recens~oiiread~ngs70 Ilence ~tseemed best to p r ~ n t~ t text s separately from
K In Q$ 13. 16,17, though In Q 56a ~t seemed the best replesentatlve of the Short Q:" This 1s a carelessly wntten manuscr~ptw ~ t hInany mtstakcs corrected by the
Recension See the notes to these paragraphs. orig~nalsellbe. It does, however, offer oiie of the shortest versloils of the Short
lieccns~on.See, In part~cular,115 form of Q 1. Alone anioiig the Short Kecens~on
P: The s c rbe
~ ofthts manuscript clearly had t r o ~ ~ b(as
l e we do) w ~ t hthe a ~ n b i g r l o ~ ~ s t s01111tsQ 2 w ~ t hall the Long Recension ~nanuscrlptsexcept D. Ac-
m a n u s c ~ ~ p~t
rncanlng of' nll 111 the text and 11s overlap w ~ t hlZIX.Sec the notes to $4 12 and corci~ngto h ~ notes at the end o f $ 64 the s c r ~ b eseems to have thought (erroneously)
25.111 g I6 he 01111ts the word before DVl DZ;15X, hence leavlngj~lstthe nll w h ~ c h that he was copy111gSY 111 the arra~igc~ncnt of Saadya Gaon. Gruenwald's note I to
means "a~r."In $ 14 he subst~tutes m l n for DZnD,111 Q 29 he subst~tutesnll fix $ 9 1s incorrect since Q does have t h ~ paragraph.
s
;i'l17'so reproduclng the read~ng nllD nll from Q 12, w h ~ l ein 8 32 3'11 In the
text 1s over\vr~ttenw ~ t hrill. There are a few other correctlolls In the margin and R: For the textual a f f i n ~ t ~ oe sf Ms R see above on K.For 11s two versions of C; 17
w1th111the text Itself. At the end of Q I F adds 35 '/l3WnX1;11, lhriu~ngan 11icIi1- see the notes to that paragraph. $4 62-63 arc wrltten In the form of an Inverted
slon wtth the abbrevlatlon for th~rty-two(35)w ~ t hwh~cli11starts the paragraph. cone \vli~cIievelit~lallynarrows down to the last word of Q 63 nDX,and then the -

Note also the gloss added at the elid of Q 3. colophon follows wrltten once agalti across the page. Does t h ~ layouts relate to the
dublous status of these two paragraphs 111 the Short R e c e n s ~ o n ' ?See
~ ~ the notes to
P: 'These 1s some doubt about tlie date of t h ~ smanuscr~pt.The date given above these paragraphs.
IS Gr~lenwald'sbut the C a t a l o g ~ ~ol'e the JNUI, Microfilm I ~ i s t ~ t u in~tlally
te had Apart fro111 the few i ~ l d ~ c a t ~ oglven
n s above of 111lks between these Short
~ L I tecnth
I century but now has s~xtecntlicentury. It 1s probably appropr~atethe11 Recens~onmanuscr~ptsI cannot dlscern enough ~nte~--reIat~onsh~ps to enable me to
to refel to Colette Slrat's caut~ouswords oil the problein of dating ~nanuscrtpts construct a manuscrtpt tree, so 1 have refra~nedfrom the attempt. Maybe collat~ng
f i o n ~t h e ~ rscrlpt alone, namely that the marglll of error extends from at least fifiy all the 131 mant~scriptsof SY l~stedIn the Catalogue of the Heblew University
years to two hundred years or even more.72Thls ~ n a n u s c r ~ has p t yome interestllig M~crofilmInst~tutewould make such a chart poss~ble.I am not conv~ncedthat
readings, notably ~ t short s text of $ 1 w h ~ c hI S very close to that of Ms Q. On five the effort would be wortliwh~le,espec~allyin the 11ght of Malachl Reit-Ark's
reservations tnent~oi~ed eal l ~ e ~ .
"" The date given is that of the Collective catalogue of tile Microfilm Institute of JNUI, but
Zotenhcrg 1866: 124 dates it to 1284: "les neurpremiers ouvmges o ~ i Cte t dcrits par Jonathan, fils
d'Abi'6zcr Kohctl, dc Ferrarc. qui a tcrmin6 sa copie le 12 iyyar 5044 (1284 de J.C.)."
"' Note C;r~ien\valti'scomment on this Ms: "one can detect in Ms. b an attempt to reintegrate " This is the sole Ms ofwhich I liave been unable to obtain a ruicrofilm or photograph and am,
some ofthe readings o f t h e long recension into the short one" (1971: 137). therefore, reliant o n a single collation done in the Microfilm Institute of the JNUL in 1985.
Note how the reatling of Mss A R i H in this paragraph identifies ;I'll with Dl?. "T
' he layout of Ms I at its end wo~rldcaution against such a co~ijecturesince it narrows 4 61
-'Hcl)re~'t)h ~ / t l / l l / , ~(?f'//?c Axc,~(Calnbridge, 2002), p. 267.
/ ~ / . ~\/fi~/(//e clown in tllc same \Tiny to a singlc \ ~ o r d .
 9. The Chapter and Paragraph Divisions (Appendix
The order In whlch the contents of SY are arranged 1s a cruclal factor In assiglling
manuscr~ptsto the d~fferentrecenslons and in plott~ngt h e ~ r~nterrelat~onshlps. It
is s~nillarlyan ~nstantaneousclue to the nature of the nlanuscr~ptor manuscrlpts
with which the commentators are work~ng. In add~tion ~t tells us how the
trans~nlttersof the SY tradition had ~inderstoodthc structure of the work or how
they reshaped 11accord~ngto t h e ~ own r pred~lections.Tlie table in Append~xI1 and
the corresponding table of attestlons In Append~xI w ~ l be l fundamental tools for
develop~ngtlie commentary on the text.
All the ~nanurcrlptsexcept C and D divlde up the text into chapters. Some go
f~irtherand attcmpt a n~lmberedparagraph d t v ~ s ~ oasn well. The earllest ~ I V I -
slon seems to be Into four chapters - Mss AB'G. Later comes a d ~ v ~ s ~Into o nfive
chaptels7" Mss B'HKLSR; stdl later we find a six-chapter div~sionas reflected
In the first pr~nteded~tionsof SY Mss MNFPIQ The Saadyan Kecenslon has
- nlcntary. But at least Saadya ilsually tells us when he 1s doing thls. Are other com-
~ t own
s d ~ s t ~ n c t l vdel v ~ s ~ o~nn t oe ~ g h chapters,
t but the Genuah Scroll (C) 17 dl-
v ~ d e dinto neither chapters nor paragraphs, Ms E only Into chapters, whlle it 1s
Ms Z (contaming Saadya's commentary) which has a full division into chapters
and numbered paragraphs - posslbly the work of Saadya h ~ i n s e l fThe . ~ ~ Short and
Long Recension manuscrlpts all bcgln chapter I 1 In the same place- after (i 16. All
except G begln chapter 111 w ~ t hQ 23 and chapter IV with 4 37 Thereafter d ~ v t s ~ o n s
between the ~nanuscrlptsm~iltlply.Mss A and B2 have no fiirther chapter d ~ v l s ~ o n s
w h ~ l ethe lest b e g ~ na new chapter at 8 45 (where G begins its chapter IV). Those
wlth a SIX-chapterd ~ v ~ s i omake n another break at Q 58.
The d~vlslonsmostly reflect a loglcal order~ngofthe material in the text. $5 1-16
deal wit11 the ten s~fif*lrot, $5 17-22 provide a general introduction to the role of the
letters In creat~on;$4 23-36 deal with the "three mothers" (UDX) and Q$ 37-44
w ~ t hthe "seven double letterr" (m93f23).But where does the sectlon deal~ngwlth
the "twelve siinple letters" ( i ) ~ ~ ~ 1 ' 7 ~ ~end? n f lThere
; l ) 1s 110 clear conclusion to
t h ~ sectloll
s and SY talk off into a serles of paragraplls whlch attempt to draw the
work to a conclus~onbut whlch are clutte~edup with varlous later addttions to the
text. The six rnanuscr~ptsw h ~ c hhave the six chapter d ~ v ~ s clearly ~ o n took Q 56a (all
they have of 4 56) as w l n d ~ n gup the prevlous chapter, and 4 58 as beginn~ngthe
next; they do not have Q 57. We will deal with the Saadyan chapter and paragraph
order In conilect~onw ~ t hour d~scussionof the orlgln of the recensions.
" On t h ~ iee s G i ~ ~ e n w a l1971
d 138-39, especrally footnote 24 on p 139
Jud'111 ben Barzllldr informs us that t h ~ swas in 111s day the chnpter d~vlsionfound In nlost
torins of the text (Halberstdin 1885 105) He mentions other veislons whlch mess ~tup (P7XXlYi3
1 i l l R ) p r e s u r n d b l y a coveit reference to the Saadyan Recens~on
77 SO tlaberm'in 194617 242
10. The Four Pre-Kubbalistic Commentaries
Thc problems of using c o m ~ i i e ~ ~ t aas r ~ane sa ~ dto the reconstruct~onand editlon of
the texts on whlcli they are comlnentlng are well known to scholars. There 1s first
of all the necessity ofreconstruct~ngthe text of the coinmentarles themselves, slnce
only rarely are they ava~lablcin i-ellable crit~caledltlons. We then have to h c c thc
posslb~llty,perhaps even the certa~nty,that as scrlbes copy the text of these coni-
mentarles they will update the text b e ~ n gcommented on to that with w h ~ c hthey are
f a ~ n i l ~In
a r thelr own t ~ m e Fortunately,
. t h ~w s ~ l sornetlnies
l produce a d~screpancy
between the text clted in thc leininas and the text wll~chthe commentator IS clearly
a d d r e s s ~ n g We
. ~ ~ w ~ l see
l this to be the case ln at least two Instances in Saadya's
commentary. Then there 1s the poss~b~llty that thc commentator has concluded that
the text he has before 111m IS corrupt and he has amended rt w~thoutany inanuscrlpt
support. Agaln, we will necd to confront this problem 111 relatlon to Saadya'r com-
mentators as honest?
In the l1g11t of'these problems why use the commentaries at all? In the case of SY
the answer must be that the cominentar~esgive 11s a fixed p o ~ n of t reference In the
developn~entof tlie text. So many o f o ~ i manuscrlpts
r have to be dated by s c r ~ pand
t
codrcolog~calc r ~ t e r ~alone a but for our three teiitb century commentar~es(Saadya,
Dunash ben Tani~ln,Shabbetal Donnolo) we have preclse dates of composition.
And each of them attests one ofour three b a s ~ crecenslons. Dunash's comlnentary 1s
part~cularlyvaluable because ~tattests the state of tlie Short Kecenslon In the tenth
century when our earliest manuscr~ptof t h ~ srecension (Ms K) dates to 1286. As
we saw at the beginn~ngof t h ~ s~ntrodttctlonour coiiin~eritatorsare also well aware
of the probleins wlth the tcxt of SY and can throw valuable l ~ g h ton the factors
rcspons~blefor it. Tlie reservations stated above mean that ~twould be ~nadvisable
to do, as Weinstock does, and ~ncorporatethe text of the commentaries into the
apparatus of a c r ~ t ~ cedition.
al But they are invaluable a ~ d sfor reconstruct~ngthe
history of tlie text and hence w ~ l be l extens~velyused In my notes to thc tcxt.
1 have confined my use of commentaries to those which belong to Joseph Dan's
"sccond phase" In the history of SY,7"that is, before SY was taken over by the Kab-
balists in the course of the twelfth and th~rteenthcenturies. Moreover, my concern
111 this e d ~ t ~ 1so nnot \wth the content of the commentaries on SY but only wlth their
7 8 A strrklng exanlple of thrr, 1s the A ~ a b connnentar
~c y on SY edited by Paul Fenton in Mac 'u/
Mo\lie St~rdrerrn ./c'~vrthand I\lc~rnrc Cultzrteprerented to Morl~eGrl. ed E Fle~scheiand M
r n e d m a n (Jerusalem), 164-183 In thr? case the Hcbrew text which precedes the corn~nentaly1s
conlpletely d~fferentlrorn thc onc translated '~ndrnteipreted 111 the coin~nentalyFenton conjec-
tules that ~twas ddded to tlic nianuscrrpt after the work of t ~ a n s l ~ ~ had t ~ obeen
n done fro111'inother
Hebrew text oTSY (rhrd 165)
'' gee h ~ "7s hree phases of the H ~ r t o r yof Sefer Yezrrtr", in hrr /e~ir\/7M j ) ~ t r ~ r ovol
~ r , I (IOOX),
155 187
test~monyto tlie state of ~ t text.
s Froni tulle to tlme t h e ~ vlews
r on tlie meanrng of to be accepting here tliat ~iiater~al was added to tlie prevrously o ~ a l l ytransmrtted
l taken into account but only when they bear on the Issue of the state
the text w ~ l be SY at the tlme that 11 was put Into w r ~ t ~ nb g~ tliat ~ t the order of tlie mater~alwas
and developliient of 11stext henceforth fixed. In the paragraph whlcli follows t h ~ sstatement" Ep~psteln( ~ b ~ d . )
takes thc word nIfnlIn the phrase X7DXDn 7 5 7357 ~ 73>2 7112 il2'nl 7X 7119
to [liean "fix" (the tcxt)." Thrs \vould be rn confl~ctwltli what Saadya has just s a ~ d
about tlie ordcs of tlie words being "fixed" at tlie trnie of the writlng down of the
T h ~ coinmentary,
s wrltten In 931 C.E.,"' has been much studled fi-on1 the p o ~ n oft M~slinali.It scenis to me that Saadya IS refer-rrng here to hts practlce o f w r ~ t ~ out ng
vrew of tts position very near the beg~nnrngof Jewrsh ~lied~eval ph~losophyand as the fill1 Hebrew text of each lem~iiaIn what he regards as tlie correct tcxt before
one of the earllest w r ~ t ~ ~of i gthe
s Gaon." But far less attention has been p a ~ dto comment~ngon rt, and he does thls In vlew of tlie problems created by the long
it as a w~tnessto the tcxt of SY. We have already referred above to tlie e d ~ t ~ o of ns Illstory of'oral transrii~ssion\vhlcli he postulate\ for tlie text of SY. He 1s a d n l ~ t t ~ n g
the A r a b ~ ctext b ~the ~ tfill1 ~ ~ t ~ l ~ softhrs
a t ~ ocommentary
n for text-cr~t~calpurposes to cli(>osrngthe text wli~clilie regards as the best one but not to co~iipos~ng 111sown
would be greatly enhanced ~f we also had ava~lableed~ttonsof Its early Ilebrew verslon. If he felt ablc to do what Epstc~nsuggests lie would not havc adnirtted on
tratislatlons. Malter (1921: 356-57) postulates the existence of at least four Hebrew occasions that the text lie had befote him was wrong. He would have just altered
translations. J ~ ~ d bcii a h B a r ~ ~ l111
l a111s
~ commentary on SY quotes extens~velyfro111 11and kept qulet. Epste~ntakes Saadya's comment on 4 12 (his cli 4:2)" to be ad-
two of them and probably knew of two more. Haberman (194617: 47) p r ~ n t sthe g he was rearranging the text to produce a Inore logrcal order. I would
r n ~ t t ~ nthat
i conitnentary from a Munich manuscr~ptof Moses b. Joseph of
~ ~ i t r o d u c t ~too tthe ~~ndcrstand Saadya at this p o ~ n to
t be ~ ~ 1t rsyt ~ n gto discern tlie logic of the arrange-
Lucerne's translation placed In parallel columns alorigslde the extracts crted by Ju- ment he ~ n h c r ~ t c dw ~ t h$4 9 and 17 follow~ngon from 12. As I hope that I have
-

dah (Halberstam 1885: 268-274). There rs a need fbr the k ~ n dof deta~ledattent~on demonstrated 111 the notes to the text of SY, a li~storyof the text w h ~ c hpos~tsfirst
to the textual t r a d ~ t ~ oofn Saadya's work that, as we shall see, Gcorgcs Vajda has the Short Recens~on,then the Long Recension, and then the Saadyan Recens~on
devoted to Dunash ben Tani~m'scommentary. created liom a rearrangement of tlie Long Keccnsion, IS too s ~ m p l eand uncompli-
Apart, then, fsorii the usual problciii of tttrlrs~ngcom~iientar~es for text-cr~trcal cated for tlie confus~ngtextual data we havc. There arc too many ~nstanccswliere
ed~t~o- n sna~iicly,tlie problern of first fixrng their own textual hrstory, another the Saadyan Kecenslon seenis to take us back to a forni of SY wh~clipredates even
niajor proble~iiconfronts us In the case of Saadya's com~iientary.How reliable IS he the Short Kcccns~on.
as a transmitter of tlie text of SY? Thc first scholar to d~sectlyaddress t h ~ question s Israel Weinstock has inade a strong case tliat the Genlzali Scroll of SY (Ms
- A . Epstern, was firmly of the vlew that Saadya created hrs own versron of SY and C) m7as copled from tlie sort of text tliat Saadya had before h11n and not froni 111s
that the hlstory of tlic Saadyan Recens~onstarts w ~ t hhim: "Saadja lag n ~ c h tetwa c o m ~ n e n t a r y He
. ~ calls In evldence first tlie doitblets w h ~ c hare found In the com-
von den bekannten be~denRecens~oncmverscli~edenevor, sondern er r e d ~ g ~ e r t e mentary but not In the Scroll - Q Q 37b and 5Oa. Saadya's coni~nentsshow that these
das Jc71ra-Buch nach seinem G~rtdiinken,und verlreh ~ h meine neue G e ~ t a l t " . ~ ~ were present i n the tcxt before l i ~ mbut tlie Scroll only has these paragraphs wliere
However, Saadya himself says e x p l ~ c ~ t ltliat y the arrangement of the text as lie they are log~callyrequ~red.Ms E agrees w ~ t hthe Scroll. The log~cal~nferenceis
rece~ved~twas put Into w r ~ t l n gat the sanie tllne as tlic M~shnah:7'77 T7bnYi)19 that these doublets were added in after the receiislon was const~.ucted,wrth tlie bet-
~ ~ 5 7D 3 DX'VI~X
5 ~ 7'771 i ) 7 ~ ~ 1 713 3 >'YXYIK>X
~ (there came about at this ter text descend~ngthrough tlie Scroll to Ms E and tlie ~ n f e r ~ text o r comlng before
(tlme) parts of the paragraphs and the arrangement of the words)." Saadya seems Saadya. Then Welnstock crtcs two paragraphs where Saadya proclaims In e n o r
readrngs whrch appear 111 tlie S c ~ o l - l $$ 19 and 54." Ms E agrees w ~ t hthe Scroll
'(I Saadya prov~des11s\v1t11the ptecise date of composrt~on Kafach 1972 86, Lambert 1891 rn 4 19 but rn $ 54.3 has a d~ffcrentread~ngfrom both of them. We lnlght add to
C1
iL. We~nstock'sl ~ s here t thc case of 4 47 where Saadya proclaims ~ncorrectprec~sely
" Scc H. Maltcr, SLI(IL()J~I Gcroll: His crt?cJ M ~ o i . 1(New
~ ~ York, 1921), 177--193, 356-359,
the reading wh~cliappeal-s in the Scroll It seems Ii~ghlyuiiltkely that a scribe copy-
G . Vajda, "Sa'adya colnmentateur du 'Livre de la Creation'," A t i i ~ r i a i i ~tJe c I 'Ecvle P/.crficjric~de.s
k1cr~1tc.sLIIILICJS,,SC;~IIC~.S Rcligierises (Paris), 3-35, 1-Jaggai ben-Sl~a~llmai, "Saadya's Goal in his rng fi-om Saadya's commentary would accept exactly tlie read~tigswhich Saadya
Cornme/ifcrr:)~017 Scifi'l. Yc'zir~~", in A St,vrighf Perfh - S1rrdie.c.in ibleiJievcr1 P l i i l o . s o j > l crild
~~~CII//LI~C:
/i.sscrjn ill Notlor. o j ' A r l l l ~ r l l-/v171irn,
- ed. R. Link-Salinger, 1988, 1-0, and Raphael Jospe, "Early " Kafacli 1972: 34, 1.5, Lambert 18"): 13, 1.5).
Pllilosophical Commentaries on the Scfkr Yezirall: Soulie Comments", RE./ 149, 369-415. " See tlie t~.anslationsof Kafach and 1,ambert cited above in foot~iote2.
" Epstein 1893: 119. Joseph Dan also accepts this view of Saadya's role it1 the creation of the " K a f a c l i 1972: 1 IO,I,ambert 18"): 73).
Saadyan lieceosion (IW8: 184--85). / q a "n~Di1 n w ;ii7r7i b a jw 1 + l a i 7 x ~ 17a1x m;imj,Tcnririr~,11,34-37.
S7 Kafach 1972: 33, 1. 3 from bottom, Lambert IX9i: 13,ll.l-2). " Sce tlic notes to these paragraphs.
has deemed to be ~ncorrect.F~nally,We~nstockpo~ntsout that the Scroll has none
ofthe chapter or paragraph d r v ~ s ~ o thatn s Saadya found (or ~nserted'?)In h ~ text.
s As
we have seen, Ms E has the chapter d ~ v ~ s r o but n s not the paragraphs. It seems clear,
then, that the Scroll, supported by Ms E, shows rather decisively that the Saadyan
Keccns~onwas not the work of Saadya hi~nsclfbut of an ed~tormuch earl~erin the
c h a ~ nof transm~sslon.
But ~fwe accept that Saadya was not actiially the creator of the Recension w h ~ c h
has come to bear 111sname, can we rely on h ~ m to have fa~thfi~llytransnutted the
text he did recelve and, further, how far can we rely on Ms Z to have transmitted ac-
curately thc Hebrew text of SY w h ~ c hSaadya embedded ~n his commentary? Can
we be sure that the text ~ttrarlsmlts has not been "~mproved"in the three huiidred
and t h ~ r t yone years s ~ n c e11left the Gaon's pen'? There are a few occasions where
11seems clea~that Saadya 1s working from a d~fferentHebrew text than the one
contatned In Ms Z See, for example, $ 2 where he comments as though the word
7lD' was present In his text though it IS not In Ms Z or CE for that matter. HIS
-
translatron and comment on $ 12"' seem to presuppose the text foiind In Mss CE
and not that In Ms Z. Nor can Saadya's translation Into Arable of the Hebrew text
on which he is comment~ngbe a secure basis for reconstructing the Hebrew text
he had before h~iilslnce what he offers 1s often the "mean~ng" of the text or just a
paraphrase. See, for example. what he does w ~ t hjS 17 (Kafach 1972: 110, Lambert
1891. 74). Moreover, we do know that Saadya was occasionally unhappy about the
text w h ~ c hhe had and felt the need to correct 11, most notably In 5 19 where he cor-
rected the n~tniberof "gates" from 221 to 231. At least here lie tells us what he has
done. In 4 54.3 lie knows of two varlant readings, one of whlch I S the read~ngof Ms
C that he declares erroneous. Did he alter the reading to nllnn w h ~ c hhe declares
I S the correct oiie?" In the case of 4 47 ~t IS not ~nconce~vable that Saadya foiind
slxtcen "d~agonal lines" 111 hls text as we tilid them In Ms C and corrected them
to twelve. But Ms Z hay eleven! Presu~nablythere were twelve when the text left
Saadya's hands. All In all, these few ~ndlcationsmean that Saadya's conimentary
(and wtth ~tMs Z) have to be treated w ~ t hsollie caut~onas witnesses to the text of
SY." Hence the linportance of Mss C and E as independent witnesses to the text of
the Saadyan Recens~on.It IS probably time to dethrone Ms Z from its role h~therto
as the prllnary wltness to t h ~ recension.
s translations tend to tone down Dunash's criticisms o f Saadya. For the date see his comment on
"' See the notes to tins pnrngrdph
"" K a f a ~ h1972 140, Lambert I891 102-03
~ ~ n l p n j Y n l l l17KW j171 lp>i2> llX17 ni? D7i?ll11K "1 Dti"
Note teal50 what I f a b e r n ~ snys
1-11]>D ? ' I ? Y ~7?;i ?Zn>ilrw:, ii?si?i i n p 7 n I m u 3 xi;lw:, u ~ > (194617
u 242)
'' See Colette Slrat, A Hr\fory o f Jeavrth Phrlo\o/~l?yrrr the Mrddle Age\ (Cambridge 1990),
10.2 The Comn7enttrr.y ojDunu,vh lhn Tnmitn
Dunash Ibn Talii~lnfrom Ka~rouan(c.890 C.E. to after 95516) was a pup11of the
Jew~shneo-Platonic philosophcr, Isaac I ~ r a e l i . 'In ~ 95516 C.E. he wrote a com-
mentary on SY p r ~ l n a r ~ In l y order to counteract what he regarded as the errors In
Saadya's co~nmentary." In a s e r ~ e sof artlcles published In KEJ between 1939 and
1963 Georges Vadja gave extenslve cons~derat~on to t h ~ sconimentary. His work
on tli~stext has now been collected and re-publ~shedw ~ t hextenstve corrections
and a d d ~ t ~ o nbys Paul Fenton (= Vadja-Fcnton 2002). Three-quarters of Dunash's
orig~nalA r a b ~ ctext have been preserved In tlie C a ~ r oGen~zah(In fragments now In
Cambr~dgeand St Petersburg); we are a w a ~ t ~ na gdefinlttve e d ~ t ~ of o nthem by Paul
Fenton. At least five IHebrew translations were made diir~ngthe M~ddleAges. Vadja
has argued that In the course oftransmlssion these have contani~natedeach other In
a way w h ~ c hcan no longer be disentangled 94 Two ofthese translat~onsare avatlable
in cr~ticaled~tions- that of Moses ben Joseph (dating from the second half of the
twelfth ccnt~iry)'~ and that of an anonymous a ~ ~ t h of o r unl<nown date based on an
a b r ~ d g e ~ n emade
~ i t from the o r ~ g ~ nArable
al text possibly of 1092.9h
There IS some c o ~ i f i ~ s ~inothe n manuscripts over the authorsh~pof thls conmen-
tary and, besides Di~nash,11has been attnbiited to h ~ teacher s Isaac 1srael1,to Jacob
ben NISSIIIIof Ka~rouan(d~ed1007), and even to Abraham Ibn Ezra. The St Peters-
b ~ u gfiagment ofthe Arable text attr~butesit to the head of a Palest~n~an academy,
Judah h a - K ~ h e n . "It~I S q u ~ t eposstble that Isaac Israel1 d ~ dwrlte a coinmentary
on SY w h ~ c hIS now lost, parts of w h ~ c hDunash could have ~ncorporatedIn h ~ s
own work At one polnt Dunash quotes a conimcnt of Isaac w h ~ c halso appears 111
Saadya's coriirnentary but attr~butedto an anonymous ~ o u r c e . However "~ tlie coni-
rncntary we have cannot be the work of Isaac since the author refers to him as h ~ s
teacher 111 the preface. Fenton cons~ders~t possible that Jacob ben N I S S I wrote I~~ a
57-68 and A . Altmann and S.M. Stern, Lccicrc Isr.ueli: A Nc~o~~lcrtorric Phi/o.so/7ller o f ' t i ~ eEtrl-1))
Tenth Cerltrrr:i' (Oxford 1958).
" See the preface to his commentary (G. Vadja, G . and P.B. Fenton, Le Conrnzeniuir.e s11r le
Li1v.e de lcr Cr.ti-u/iorl tle UinuS berl TCtnirz de Kuirolrnr? (Xe siPcle): Nozr~)elleti-dition revue et
tr~rgrtienfi~e/~~rr.PouI B. Foriorr (Paris-Louvain, 2002), p. 39, Hebrew text on p. 214. T h e Hebrew
SY 5 7 and Vajda's note on the complex problems o f the textual variants in the Mss for this date
(ihid 58-61).
"4 Jhid. 28-30.
Ihiil. 21 1-248.
"W.Grossberg, S<fi.r Yezircrh ci.scrihrd to the Pcrtrirrich Al~rtrhamii~itlrconrnrenfur:jl 14)D I I -
ntrsli Hen Tunririi (London 1902). Fenton argues that Jehuda b. Rarzillai cites Dunash's commen-
tary from this abbreviated version (Vadja-Fenton 2002: 35,11.108).
" Sce Paul Fenton's introduction to Vajda-Fenton 2002:ll and Fenton 1988: 46-47.
"Wajda-Fenton 2002: 16. T h e text is in Grossberg 1902: 22 and Kafach 1972: 74-5, Lambert
1891 : 42.
'? /hit/. 7,
10.4 T/7e C'oinmenturji of Rabbi Jziduh hen Rurzrllai
Judah ben B a r z ~ l l aof~ Barcelona was actlve In the late eleventh and early twelfth
centuries "I7 HIS masslve and ~mmcnselydeta~ledcolnmelitary was w r ~ t t e nabout
the middle of tlie twelfth century, accord~ngto Joseph Dan.'Ox It I S based, 11ke
Dunash's, on the Short Recension though he knew tlie Long Recension, as Epsteln
was the filst to polnt out."jWsually, lie classifies Long Recens~onreadlngs as
coninientary material whlch he found In some vers~ons.'~(j H I Sprimary source was
Saadya's commentary and secondarily D~lnash'sll'but lie seems to refer to Shab-
beta1 Donnolo's work anony~nously."~ Jildah bullds on the view of tlie orlgins of
SY M ~ ~ I C I II $ presented by Saadya at the c o l ~ c l u s l oof~ the
~ ~ntroduct~on to 111s com-
mentary. Saadya, as we have seen, had posti~latedan oral trad~tlonoftlie laws of
creatlon (71'Y7 A13b77) descending fro111Abraham and only wrtttcn down at the
same time as the Mlshnah. Judah seems to extend t h ~ sper~odof oral transmlsslon
to the tlrnc of the G a o n ~ m at least that 1s how Dan understands his rather vague
- w11l be the lowest common denominator of our ava~labletexts --what they all have
statements 011 t h ~ po~nt."'
s Judah seems to class~fySY with the tallnitdie hnvartot,
Srpl7rr de-heRnv and the Helil?nlot texts. He sees ~tas only one relnnant of a once
larger collcct~onof 7 i ' Y ' A13b77. 'The state of ~ t text s IS not, then, a great surprlse
to him. Judah's reasons for wrlttng such an extenslve commentary on SY (three
hundred and fifty-four pages In Halberstam's ed~tlon)have been carcfillly studled
by Joscph we wlll need to return to these later since, as we shall see, much
the same lnotlvatlon lies beh~ndthe expansion of the text of SY as we go from the
Short to tlie Long Reccns~on.
Unfortunately, only one nianuscr~ptof Judah's commentary has survrved - In
Padua. It was ed~tedby S.J. Halbersta~ilIn 1885."5 However, h ~ work s required a
large serres of corrections wli~chare supplied as an append~xby Davld Kaufmann
but 11 1s still regarded as unrel~able."%gatn, as w ~ t hthe other commentaries we
lo' 1 M Ta-'%ma, E,/, X 341-42
lo' 17n1131131 1131R- 111j~12;i 151~13 13 ;171;11'15 ;1llYl 130 Wl113in Marz111t Stud~c~t
Kahh~~lcrh u11dJe~~r\l7Tliorrghf 111 iWe117o1 ed M Or on and A Gold~elch
J) of E17hra~ln7C;of/l~e/~,
(Jerusalem 1994), p 102
"" 1893 459
"(I See, fos ex'~mple,h ~ colnineats
s cited rn the notes to 4 1
Dan 1994 105 Judali cites Saadya's work ftequcntly throughout h ~ colulncntdry
s and in-
cludes at the end an extensive excerpt from one (no longer extant) Hebrew trdnslatson of ~t (Hal-
bcrstain 1885 268-278)
!I2 SO C p ~ t e i n1893 459, SI 3
See Halberstam 1885 101 and Dan 1994 I15
1994 99-1 19
'Ii Conr~lientarzrrr71 Sepher Jezlt a ~ 0 1 7R ./c,hrlcl~i
h BUIirl~rl(Beilrn)
uqnapmnl nw-tlnn 3 x n ; i i l > x i i, m a 7u wmwa 1 ~ t30pt3;1,~~2i;1
~ 7 ~ ~~11p~ n ini ;nij
(I)dn 1994 99, n 1) T h e ~ e1s a s ~ m i l a rnegat~vejudgement on Halberstam's work by lthdmar
Gruenwald (1973 482) He ieports thdt the manuscrrpt was then In the possession of Professor
Neheinlnh Allony in lerusalem who let hrni examine rt
w ~ l lneed to pay close attention to the text that Judah appears to be comment~ng
on as a check on the text clted In h ~ lemmas.
s Judali's commentary 1s part~cularly
valuable for the wlde range ol'ev~dcncehc b r ~ n g sto h ~ d~scussion
s of the text of SY
and hls apparent awareness of the reasons for the d~ft'erencesbetween the sources
he had.
11. The Earliest Recoverable Text of Seje~?Ye:~ira
and the Three Recen,sions
In Append~x111 1 have summar~sedtlie results o l ' n ~ y~ ~ l v e s t ~ g a t ~ into
o n the
s text of
SY by p r ~ n t ~ nwhatg 1 liave chosen to call the "earllest recoverable text of SY." By
t h ~ sI rnean the text on the b a s ~ sof whlch ~t1s poss~bleto explaln how most of tlie
varlant texts now In the recensions and ri~anuscrtptsarose. Often, but not always, ~t
tn common. It also, almost ~nvar~ably, turns out to be the sl~ortesttext we have.
There are a few occasions where we can guess why a scrlbe mlght want to shorten
the text he had before h1111- for example, Ms K's e l ~ m i n a t ~ ool'the
n permutat~onsof
7 1 7 ' 111 0: 15, but nearly always 111s casler to think of reasons why scribes expanded
the text As we have seen, we certainly have the support of the earllest commen-
tatol-s for assulnlng thrs to be the case for SY. There 1s only one case where I am
~ncllnedto s~ispectthat part oftlic text was cut out for theolog~calreasons $ 60b -
In the Saadyan Rccens~on.Otherwise, scrlbes altered the ldeologlcal orrentatlon of
the text by means of supplelnentatlon and, ~fthat produced internal inconsistenc~es,
11d ~ dnot seem to worry
My "earllest recoverable text" I S not to be taken as synonymous with tlie "ongl-
nal text" of SY. It has been created as a theoretical exerclse In order to try to
penetrate ~ n t othe processes whlch led to the f o r ~ n a t ~ oofn the m u l t ~ t u d ~ n otexts
~rs
of SY wh~clihave come down to us. We l ~ a v eno reason to presume that these
rn processes had not been In operation prlor to the p e r ~ o dto which the rnanuscr~pts
glve us access. Penetrating ~ n t othat perlod does become h~ghlyspeculat~veand
obviously passes over the borderlllie between textual and I~terarylsourcecntlclsn~.
I am tlilnkllig here, for example, of Ithalnar Gruenwald's speculations that $5 1- 16
and $5 17-63 were o r ~ g ~ n a l separate
ly works art~fic~ally bound together by mate-
rial llke the ~ntroductoryij Issues Ille that w ~ l be
l of concern for a subseq~tent
work to thls one.
Appendix IV contams the fill1 text of Ms A w ~ t hthe materlal wli~chI S a d d ~ t ~ o n a l
to n1y "earliest recoverable text" underl~ned.Ms A contalns virtually the whole of
!I7 See the quotation from Emiiianucl Tov c ~ t c din the general note on $$ 39 44
IiK See Gruenwald 1973
the SY tradit~on.By analyslng t h ~ supplementary
s mater~alwe can get a good idea
of how and why the text of SY was subject to such continuous scribal act~vity.Thls
supple~nentaryriiater~alcan be class~fiedunder the Sollowlng heads:
Tlic brbl~calcontent In 0111 "earllest recoverable text" 1s very m ~ n ~ r n aWe l . have
i s the requ~siternt~oductoryfornii~laconly In Q 5 (Ezek 1:14)
cxplic~tc ~ t a t ~ o iw~tli
and Q 14 (Ps 104 4) Part of Qoh 7 14 1s quoted w~tlioutan ~ntroductoryf o ~ ~ u uIn la
Q 60b - but t h ~ s15 absent In the Saadyan R e c e ~ i s ~ o nOtlierw~se,
.'~~' we have only a
tlny handful of allus~ons.Job 26:7 ~n the word ;11;3"12 (bQ 3- lo), Ezek 1.14 agaln
In Q X, one word of Gcn 1 1 and two of Isa 57:20 In Q 13, a fmnt echo of Isa 45:7 111
Q 37b (p~obably~ t s e l at later addrtlon), an allusion to Isa 64:3 in Q 40, and that IS
all. All othei brbl~calreferences are ~ i oattested
t In one or more of our s o ~ i ~ c eThe
s.
added b ~ b l ~ c iiiater~al
al can be found In Q Q 1, 10, 13, 38, 47, 56, and 61.'" It goes
wi~thoutsaylng tliat 5cribes ale more I~l<ely to add blbl~calmaterial than leave tout
However, I do not see that the s c a ~ c ~of
t yb~blrcalmatel ~ a In
l the earllest layer ofthe
SY t r a d ~ t ~ op~ovides
n any gro~rndsIbi the rmposs~blyearly 1111d-fi~stcentury C.E.
date proposed by Yehuda Llebes (2000 229-300)
Apart from the fact tliat ~t IS wr~tteiiin Hebrew, tliat ~t alludes to the Temple In
Q 38, and that ~t refers allus~velyIn the final paragraph (61) to Abraham's strange
cxpcrlence recorded In Genes~s15, there 1s l~ttlcon the surl'ace wll~chIS Jewlsh In
our "earl~estrecoverable text" of SY. As Ithamar Gruenwald has well s a ~ d "the , 11 3 Crcatro ex N ~ h ~ 07l oS e f e ~l'c.>l/zr
book occ~ipicsa ki11d of splr~tualisolat~on,that I S pos~tlvelyunlque In the history
of' tlebre\v literature" (1973: 477). 11 does not 111ent10nMoses or 111s Torah, tlie
Messla11 or I ~ f ealter death, and ~tdoes not claim any pseudony~nousauthor~ty.The
people of Israel are not mentioned; the author's concern I S w ~ t hhuman beings as
st~ch(WDI), men and women, not Jews In particular. For h ~ mthe ~iurnbertwelve
conjures LIP the twelve slgns of the z o d ~ a c ,not tlic twclvc trtbes oS Its
epistemology, as seen in b 61, sldel~nesrevelat~onIn favour of empirical observa-
t ~ o n- presunlably one of the reasons why ~twas such an attractive b a s ~ sfor the11
own speculat~onsofour tenth century c o m ~ i ~ e n t a t o r sPart . ~ ? of tlie Sunctlon of the
Long Recens~ona d d ~ t ~ o n1ssclearly to rnrtlgatc t h ~ sstrangeness of' SY and to pull
~tback from the per~pheryto the centre of tlic ongoing r a b b ~ n ~versron c of Juda~sm.
The addrtlons Inltlate the process, continued In the commentarlcs, of smoothing
over the ev~dentcontrad~ct~on between the worldv~ewof SY and that of Scr~pture
and Talmud, espec~ally\v~thregard to the process of creat~on,but also In regard
to ep~stemology."~ The whole feel ofthc text 1s d~fferentwhen we rnove fi.0111 Ap-
p e n d ~Ill~ to Appcnd~xIV.
Obv~ouslythe add~tronof the b~bllcalmaterial discussed above I S one element
whrch makes the difference. But there are many other addit~oils~ h l c hgive the
text m ~ ~ cmole
l i of'the feel of the rabbin~carid mldrashlc texts. The d~fr'crencecan
be seen ~mrned~ately in the text of' \\ 1 w ~ t hthe 11lsertlo11of the long 11stof divine
niu~iiesand titles. Now the creatol becomes the "God of Israel." We tind tlie same
t names in Q 56 w h ~ c hIS too weakly attested to be a s s ~ g ~ i etod our " e a ~ l ~ e s t
l ~ s of
recoverable text" In QQ 3 and 61 the a d d ~ t ~ o bung n s the covenant ofc~rcumcision
Into the text and stless the connection between God, Abraha~nand h ~ descendants. s
There 1s a clearly d~scernrblelayer of glosses drawn from tal~ii~uclic al b
n ~ a t e r ~ rn
[Icig 12 and 11 Hug 77; see $4 13, 14, 43b, 47 and 56. The l~terarystsuetuse of
$4 32-34,41 and 52 seems des~gnedto call to n i ~ n dthe Samous story In b Men 29b
of Moses ascent to heaven and 111s observat~onof God tylng crowns to the Torah.
Other m ~ d r a s h ~matcr~al
c can be observed In the glosses in Q Q 38 and 56. F~nallyIn
$4 38,47,48, 56 and 57 1 have atteniptcd to show that there "rs a scrles of addit~ons
to the core text of SY w h ~ c hattempt to restr~tct~rre ~ t cosmology
s In l ~ n ew ~ t hthat
presupposed 111 tlie Hcl<halot l~terat~ire and other talinud~c~ n a t e r ~ a l . " ~ ~ ~
The predom~nantImage in SY of God as creator 1s that of the artlst working 011
pre-ex~stentmaterials. T h ~ 15 s clearly presupposed III the constant use of tlie verbs
??I7 and 2YI7 and also 1Y7/1Y. We know that this was a problem for ~ t early s 111-
terpretcrs. It comes, therefore, as no sulprise tliat a layer of glosses can be detected
tliat attempt to correct SY's vlew of tlie creatlve process in the directron of cl-eatlo
c\ t ~ ~ h ~ l o . ' ~rsTcdirectly
Th observable In the text of 5 20 where we will see that
Inany s c r ~ b e shave had a hand rn rewr~tingthe text. Less, overtly ~t can be seen In

"" This material lias been investigated in 11it1ehgreater detail in Ilaymali 1984. I have in\/estigatecl the epistemology of SY in greater detail and in comp;trison with Qohelet
"(I See the notes to 3 60 for the reasons why I think it niay still he part of our "earliest recover- in Haymaa 1991.
able text." ""CSJoseph Dzun, 1~iIlDlDl17!Jlx- 731iY12;iy i y ~ 112 3 ;i?1;i3'li ;nT3190 Wl13!J,p. 119.
"I See the table in I-laynian (il~itl.),p. 179. The weak attestation ot'this material in the SY tradition undermines Yehuda L,iebes's attempt. as
Contrast T t r r ~ l ~ r ~ JVc~v'lii
~ntr 17: "But it [Scripture] arranged the tribes according to the order against Dan, to argue for the thro~~ghgoing Jewish nature oSSY; see Liebes 2000: 225.
13see1-1 ayman 1987, especially pp. 78-80.
of the world. The day lias twelve hours, the night twelve hours, the year twelve months, tlie signs
of the zodiac are twelve. Therefore all the tribes of Israel are twelve" (ed. S. Buber, Vilna 1885, ""ee I-layman I993 "The Doctrine of Creation in Sefer Yesira: Sonic Text-Critical Prob-
vol. I, 1'. 221). lellls."
clar~ficat~olis to whole parag1 aplis 01 large1 complexes of matel lal. They appear I'he same ev~clentpulpose ofspellrng out the ~ ~ i i p l ~ c a t oi ~ othe
n s p~~ n c ~ pcnun-
le
throughout the text but ale concentrated towards its end; tlie bulk of them appear In crated In Q 43c seems to be beli~ndQ 62 wh~cli1s mrsslng 111 all but two of tlic Short
the last t l i ~ e echapters of the Saadyan verslon Some add~tronso f t h ~ type s appear Rece~is~on manuscl~pts,allhough prcicnt 111 the Long atid Saadyan liecens~ons
In one manuscr~ptonly, some In one or Inole of the rccenslons, and some have, I Judah ben U ~ I L I I cxpllc~tly
I~I labels ~t rnte~polated commenta~y mater~al Q 57,
would surmlse, s p ~ e a dt lght across the whole text~laltradrt~on These latter 1 en- also nilsslng In the Sliott Recens~onand s ~ ~ n ~ l alabelled rly comment'lry ~ n a t e ~ ~ a l
close 111 squale brackets 111 Append~x111. by Judali, shows ,inotlie~way o f e x p ~ e i s ~ nt hg ~ s~ n t e g ~ ~ tmotive,
t ~ v c as does Q 58b
An example oi a gloss appearing 111 just one manusct~pt1s the words ;InX2fsW mlsslng In the Short Recenslon, Dunash and Judah
13DD 111 Ms A, Q 5. T h ~ 1s s clearly an attempt to expla~nthe amb~guousword tllj?n> Another type of expansion ~eflccts none of these tdeolog~cal (11 lltelary
whtch precedes them. For a set of's~nglcword glosses compare the text of Q 39 In motlvatlons and seemi to bc tliat most loosely attached to the SY text t r a d ~ t ~ o-nthe
Appctidrces I l l and IV. The words tl>lY2, 7 3 W 2 , and WD12 liave bee11 addcd after numer~calm~clrasli~c mater~alwhrch f i ~ sat p p e a s In Q 4Xb and 1s f ~ ~ ldeveloped
ly 111
t151313, tl'T3'1, and t l ' l Y W 1 to fill thet stress tlie prlnclple latd down 111 Q 43c - "He Q 63 In this case we have suffrc~entmanusctlpt e\lldcnce to be able to demonstrate
s p l ~ tup the w~tncssesand made each one stand by ~ t s c l f -the Ltnlvelsc by ~tsell; ho\v 63 g ~ e wo ~ t of t lint \<la5p~obablya m a ~ g ~ nnote a l to Q 4Xb
the yea1 by ~tselt,miuiktnd by ~ t s e l f "Theie a t l d ~ t ~ o nIns Q Q 5 and 39 ale ~ e l a t ~ v e l y Q Q 27-31 ate lii~isrngI n the Saaclyan Recens~onand I w ~ l glve l leasons In tlie
s ~ m p l eexplanatory glosses w ~ t hlarger expanslotis of the same type appearrrig In notes to Qb 25 and 27 f o ~5111m ~ s ~ nthat g they aloie out ol an attempt by scr ~ b e sto
$4 17b, 37b, the $6 48-49 complex, ctc H~rtoften the a d d ~ t ~ o n ~a ll i a t e ~ reflects ~al d e d w ~ t han ~ n t rial
e ~ cont~adrct~on ~ I i ~ may
c h have been present In the carlrcr text
far mote tntrus~veedltor~almotlvatlons. Pol example, the Short Recens~onvelslon of SY t l e ~~iionrsrnga d d ~ t ~ o alc
n s a coninion type of textual vatlant but lie~e,as so
of Q 12 15 a cotnplete ~ e w r ~of t cthe e a r l ~ cfor111
~ ofthe paraglap11 with the cvrdent often clse\<~licrc, they actually lnake Inattets worse.
~ntentronto Integrate together the two sepalate p a t s of SY Q Q 1-16 dealing wrth
- It 1s c l e a ~then,
, that these actd~tlonswere made to tlie tcxt of SY out of mult~ple
the \c.lfirot, and QQ 17-01 (63) d e a l ~ n gw ~ t hthe twenty-two lette~s,as C;ri~enwald c s . do scc~lito reflect a d ~ i c ~ p l ~ nand
~ i ~ o t ~ \ /Some e d d e t e ~m ~ n c dc d ~ t o ~ l ~ntentlon
al
has already suggested (I973 498). In fact, many oftlie addrt~ons,especially In the (e g. the two complcxcs of QQ 32-34,41,52 and 36,44, and 54), b~rtotlie~sale Inore
Long Recenslon, seem to liave this alm Q Q 2 and 9 seem to liave been cleated for ad hoe and ~ n c ~ d e n t aInev~tably
l. t h ~ means
s that any s ~ ~ i i ptheory
lc of how the text
t h ~ ps ~ l ~ p o sw e ,~ t h o them,
~ ~ t t h c ~ ewould be no tnentlon oftlie twenty-two letters In of SY developed must be ruled out ol'court.
chapter one (QQ 1-16) of SY
T\vo l a ~ g eco~nplexeso f malerlal seem to liave thts ~ntegratlve~notlve
(1) $4 32-24. 41, and 52. constr~rctcd011 a fixed framework,I3' take f ~ ~ r t hthe e~ 12. The Three R ~ C ~ M S ~
al?d
OM theS Deve/opn~er?f
e x p l ~ c a t yo ~and rntcgtat~vepurpose d ~ s c e r n ~ b behrnd le the s ~ n g l ewold a d d ~ t ~ o n s of the SY Tcxf i'k/u'itio/i
to Q 39 and spell out tn d e t a ~ the l e v ~ d e ~ i cfor
e the fi~ndamerltalp r ~ n c ~ pof l e Q 43c
N e ~ t h eQQ~ 41 not 52 appeal In the Shol t Recens~on01 tlic commcntar~esof Dunash We have already ref2rred to Abraham Epste~n's~elattvelysi~iipleexplanat1011of
ancl Judah, and thii c'tsts a shadow ovel the poss~bleptescnce of $4 32-34 In the how tlie reccnsrons of SY arose In 111svlew, at the source stands the Short Recen-
c a r l ~ estages
~ of the SY text t ~ a d ~ t ~We o n .have a l ~ e a d yseen above (In sect~on11 2) slon w h ~ l ethe Long Kecens~onIS s~nlplythe tcxt of SY as extracted out of Sliab-
that the 11tcra1y s t r ~ ~ c t u of r c t h ~ scomplex of mater~alalso selves the purpose of betat Donnolo'i comnienta~y, anci the Saadyan Recens~onthat foutid In Saadya's
b~ndlngSY close1 to the ~ a b b ~ tradrt~on n~c commentary. G I~ ~ e n w aand l d We~nstockseem to agree that the Saadyan Kece~isro~i
(2) Q Q 36, 44 and 54 plec~selypalallel tlie content of 4s 32-34, 41 and 52 but was created out oftlie Long Rcccns~onb ~ l tthey dtffcr as to who d ~ d~t Saadya -

cast tlie~rn i a t e ~ ~~a ln t oa d ~ f f e ~ e Ilte~ary

nt framework Aga~linone of thls tnater~al hlmself accord~ngto GI-uenwald, some eal-her e d ~ t oaccord~ng
~ to We~nstock.'?~
appeals I n the S h o t~ Recensron, D~rnasli01 Judah. 111the Saadyan Recens~on~t ap- We~nstockI S alluost certa~nlycorrect 111 argulng that Saadya d ~ dnot create 111s
peals In n srngle block :it the b c g ~ n n ~ nofg Saadya's chapter e~glitIsrael We~nstock eponymous tecenclon and nor d ~ the d Long Rcccns~oncollie out of Donnolo's com-
algues, posi~blyt ~ghtly,tliat t h ~ was s the or ~ g ~ narrangc~ncnt
al of thls Inatel ral and mentary. But tlie complex sltuat~onwe have to face 111 comment~ngon the varlous
01i1y late1 was ~t split LIP and drstr~buted111 the Long Kecens~onover the chaptets riianuscr~ptsand lecensrons reveals that no s~niplesolul~onIS a d e q ~ ~ ato
t e expla~n
deal~ngwrth the t l i ~ e eseparate groups o f l e t t e ~ s(1981 44) tlic ev~dcnccb e f o ~ cL I ~
The
. Saaclyan Recensron cannot just ha\tc been created out
of the Long Recellston e ~ t h eby~ Sa'tdya or a predecessor The d~fferencesbetmleen

"' Scc the notcs to $3 32-24 "-I C;~~uenwalti1973: 470-77. Wcinstock 1981: 37-38
tlie two are too great both In the extent of the mater~aland the nature o f t h e ~ par-
- r o n $b 41-44 and 48-49 where 1 feel the need to allow for s ~ xstages III the giowth
t~cularread~ngs.However, the overlap 111 t h e ~ shared r materlal 1s so slgn~ficantthat of these complexes But how much tlme do we nccd to allocatc for this') I would
the Saadyan verslon coitld have been constructed out of the Long Recenslon at an guess at least one hundred yeals but, 111 thc absence of any n ~ n t century l~ textual
e a r l ~ estage
~ 111 ~ t development
s than we see In Ms A or Donnolo's co~nmentary."~ w~tnesses,11 I S ~nlposs~ble to be sure. Thc p o s s ~ b ~ l i td~scussed
y above that Isaac
I would certa~nlyconcur w ~ t hall my predecessors that the order of the chapters Israel~(850 - 932'?) wrote a coninientary on SY puts 11s date back to at least the first
and paragraphs in the Saadyan Recens~onIS secondary to that wli~chwe find In half of the ~ i ~ n tcentury,
li poss~blyearl~er~f we have to allow 11tllne to have taken
the Long and the Short Recens~ons My notes to the text w ~ l constantly l attempt on tlie aura of an anc~entenough text to \varrant such attention Howcvel, at t h ~ s
to provlde the ev~dencefor t h ~ sconclus~on.But t h ~ does s not mean that tlie text of polnt we cease to have any concrete evlcicncc of the ex~stenceof SY1'" and start to
the indiv~dualparagraphs 111 the Saadyan Recension 1s ~ n f e n o rto that In the other have to rely on less firm crlterla than li~thcrtoWe pass over fi-0171textual to Irterary
two recensions In fact, I have often been drlven to the conclus~onthat the Saadyan and h ~ ~ t o r l ccrltlclsm
al and the s e a ~ c hfor relevant pa~allelsIn content. That search
Reccns~ontakes us closest to the "earllest recoverable text" of SY. This 1s the case must be left for another book
111 $$ 3, 12, 14, 18, 19, 22, 27-31 (1.e. oniitt~ng tlicni), 39,42143a143b (aga~noln~ttlng
them), and 61. In the case of Q Q 12, 14, 18, 19 and 61 ~tts Ms C (usually followed by E
but not Z) w h ~ c hhas the earllest text T h ~ 1s s not, after all, surprlslng slnce 111s one
of our two earllest n i a n ~ ~ s c r ~ Bitt
p t s .that p ~ l t pald
s to any s~inpleI ~ n eof develop~nent
- Sliol t Rccenslon --t Long Recens~on-+ Saadyan Reccnslon. Ms C ln~tstIn these

paragraphs be t a k ~ n g11sback to tlie t11iie before the recenslons arose.

Nor elsewhere is it the case that I always find the "earllest recoverable text" In the
Short Recens~on.We have already seen that the Sllort Recens~onverslon of $ 12 1s
probably the latest form of the text. In 9 2 I find the earllest form of the text In most
Long Recens~orimanuscripts and one Short Rccens~onmanuscr~pt,1.e. they o n i ~ t
. $ 20 the earllest form IS In Mss AB2 and Donnolo. The Long and Saadyan
~ t In
Recens~onso i n ~ t$ 50, probably correctly, aga~nsttlie two verslons of 11 In the
Short Recens~onmanuscr~pts Colublned w ~ t hthe paragraphs c ~ t e dabove where
the Saaciyan Recens~ontext 1s prel'erable to all others t h ~ s1s suffic~entevidence to
demonstrate that we cannot s ~ m p l yldentlfy the Short Recenslon as the "earliest
recoverable text". This can have been preserved 111 any of our text~lalwitnesses,
though, adm~ttcdly,~t is most often found in tlie Short Recension but, then, very
often supported by Dunash, Judah, and one of the other recenslons.
In a n~inlberof paragraphs the best text 1s preserved in all the recensions and In
these paragraphs we can have the most confidence that we are In touch w ~ t hthe
"earl~estrecoverable text" of SY, namely, $$ 5, 7, 8, 15, 23, 25, 3721, 40, 45, 47, and
59. Everywhere else a judgement has to be made bct\veen the ev~denceof all 011s
ava~lablewltncsses and no "rule of thumb" can be apphed.
What l ~ g h does
t all t h ~ sthrow on the hlstory of SY'? Unfortunately, not a great
deal. S ~ n c ethe text of SY emerges into the hght of day early In the tenth century
In all its co~nplcx~ty we would have to allow sufficsent time for the complex pro-
cesses of development traced In my notes to the text. See, for example, tlie notes

"" Ezra Fleischer, "On the Antiquity of Sefer Yezira: The Qilirian Testimony revisited", Err-
13' An altcrnative way to phrase this would be to say tliat the Saadyan Recension was created biz 71 (2002), 405-432, has removed the alleged sixth c c ~ ~ t u citation ry of SY by Elcazar Kalir
out of a Short Recension text that had already received some of the expansions that woultl later from contention as tlie earliest reference to SY. 1 am g r a t c r ~ ~tol Prokssor SteP'titn Reif for drawing
come to characterize the Long Recension. my attention to this article.
 T h e Attestat~onof thc Paragraphs In thc Manuscr~pts
(x- pal a g aph
~ 1s plesent In the manuscr~pt)

Saadyan Short Recellslon

I<cccnslon
Mss: H C ' Z L K L M N S F P

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X > < X X X X
 Long Recension Saadyan Short Recension Long R e c e n s ~ o n Saaciyan S h o t~Recension
Recension Recens~on
Mss A K' H7 G D TI C Z E K L M N S F P Mss. A B ' B ' G D H C Z E K 1 , M N S F P [ O R
23 x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X 53-43c x x x X X X

24 x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X 54 X X X X X X X X X

25 X X X X X X X X X x X X X X X X 55 x x x x x x X X X

26 x x x x X X X X X X X X X X 56 x x x x x x x x X X X X X X X X ~ X

27 x x x x x X X X X X X 57 X X X X X X X X X

28 x x x x x x x x x x x x 58 x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X X X X

2') r x x X X X X X X x X 59 x x x x x x X X X X X X x X X X X X X

30 X X X X X X X X X X X 6()a x x x x x x x x x

31 X X X X X X X X X X X X X x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X

32 x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X 6I X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

33 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 62 x x x x x x x x x x X

34 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 63 x x x x x x X X x? X

35 X X X X X X X X X 64 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

36 x x x x x x X X X
Note: $ 51 in Grucnwald's reckoning is act~lallythe Short Recension version ofthe first sentelice
37 x x x x x x X X X x x x x x x x X X X of $ 56 (=$ 56a). Sce the notes to that paragraph. Accordingly, 1 have left it out ofthis table and
38 x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X X X X
the table ofthe order of the paragraphs.

39 x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X X X X

40 X X X X X X X X X x x x x x x x X X X

41 x x x x x x X X X

42 x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X

43a x x x x x x x x x x x x X X X

43b x x x x
43c X X X X X X X X X

44 X X X X X X X X X

45 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

46 x x x x x x X X X

47 x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X X X X

4fja x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X X X

481, x x x x X x X X X X X X X X X X X X X

49 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

50 X X X X X X X X X X

52 x x x x x x X X X
 A B ' B ' ( J D I ~ C ' Z C K L M N S F P I Q l i
22 22 111 Ill I l l 20 1 1 1 22 111 21
1 1 1 111 23 23 23 22 21 1 1 1 23 22
Appendix I1
23 23 24 24 24 21 24 23 24 111
24 24 27 27 26 22 28 24 27 23
7'lic Order of thc Paragraphs In the Manuscripts 20 27 28 28 27 111 30 26 28 24
27 28 29 29 28 23 31 27 29 26
(Chapta i l ~ v ~ \ ~ marlteci
on\ In cap~talRoman 11~1111elals) 28 29 31 31 31 24 32 28 30 27
29 30 32 32 29 26 31 29331 28
Smdyan Short Recens~on '30 31 33 13 10 27 34 30 '32 29
Recension 31 32 34 34 32 28 I\{ 31 33 30
C Z E K L M N S F I ' I O I i 32 33 IV I\/ 34 29 37 32 34 31
34 34 37 37 33 30 38 34 I\' 32
33 1V 18 38 I\{ 31 39 33 37 34
IV 37 39 39 37 32 42 IV 38 33
37 38 42 42 38 33 40 37 30 IIV
38 19 40 40 39 34 43'1 38 42 37
39 42 43a 43'1 40 IV 42 39 40 18
40 40 42 42 43'1 37 V 42 43'1 39
43a 43d V I\ 42 18 45 40 42 42
42 42 45 45 I\ 39 47 4% V 40
V V 47 47 45 42 49 42 45 43a
45 45 49 4'1 47 40 48a V 47 42
47 47 48'1 48a 49 43a 50 45 49 V
49 49 50 50 50 42 56 47 48a 45
4 8 ~
50 56 56 56 \I VI 49 50 47
50 56 VI VI 58 45 58 48a 56 49
56 58 58 58 5 9 a 4 7 5% 50 VI 48d
58 59a 59a 5921 25 49 25 56 58 50
59a 25 25 25 59b 48a 26 VI 59a 56
25 59b 26 26 60h 50 59b 58 25 58
59h 6Oh 59b 59h 4Xh 56 h0b 59'1 26 59d
6012 4817 6013 60b 61 VI 4813 25 5% 25
4817 61 4Xh 48h 64 58 (63) 26 60b 59b
 Long 12ccens1on Saadyan Shall Reccns~on
fiecenslon
A B ' B ' G D I I C Z E K L M N S F P I Q R
52 56 54 58 59 58 55 48 53 61 6 4 61 61 59a 61 59b 4 8 b 6Ob
54 57 55 59 60a 59 59b 52 V11 62 64 64 25 6 4 6Ob 61 48b
Appendix I I1
55 58 56 60a 55 6Oa 6Oa 53 62 63
57 59 57 55 6Ob 55 55 VII VIE1 6 4
The Earllest Recoverahlc Tcxt of Scfcr Yeyra

n7i90 W ~ W Xn 1 x 717'
~ ;17ppn 7n3n m x h rna7n] a7nw1ayw5w
.1(1)9oll9D119o2
7'nz n7i2i wnn 7113 wan nlu2rx i w u i 9 o n ;ia752 m i m i w u
,791 71~517 5 7 ~ 2u r a x 2 n1113n
2a3n2 pmiwu nnx x51 i w u ,uwn x5i i w u ;la752 n1i790 i w u
5u i r i 7 2wni 17i25u 127 ~ n u ma m i ~ p n al m 11172 71~22a3n1
.1113?2
12'5 y i ax1 imz5n 1x5 a152 1 x 7 5 1'9 ~ a152 7 ~ 7 5 2n n 7 9 0 i w u
+ n 7 i 2m i 3 1 7s 127 5ui 21wi x ~ riin x ~3w mpn5 21w
'5
n 5 n n nx5w:, 191~21n5'nni ~n5m-mp o y1u1 ;1n7 2 nii790 i w u
.im 7nx 7 a 7nx 91951 ' I ~ W 15 lSxl7nx iri';iw
pmul n7wxi paw ?lo 175 ?7xwi w u 1n-r7a1;rn752 nii790 i w u
p m u ~nisn pnlu nnn pniul a i l p n ~ u i pn1u1 21v pmu n7inx
75132 5wln 1 ~ x 15a 1 5x 7-n7117x1 a n y palm lwr pniu n u n
7Y '7Y tYl lW7p 11YbD
1" 1i27i yp 725 1'x an+:,rn ps27 ;rxia:, ?n79r773752 n l i 7 m i v y
D'lnnWn a 7 1Xb3 '1951 19171' 7Dlb3 l l n ~ ~ ' XW1 7 1 XlY13
~ 7 1 p ; nl i l x7;t 1s a7?na775x nn nnx 7 ~ 7 5 2 nii790 i w u
a773w7n l n n u ~ i 72x 2 r m ppn n l i n nn n7nw
71nu Tppn v7t31w9i 17121 171n ~ 7 l 2r n i ppn min a7nw5w
72'TYi2 TD' 3 133'D ZDln I'D3 ?2'Y2
;IVY 73w a n n x2r 531 71x3 xo3 72 2 r n i Ppn a7nawx u2ix
ninn ~ ~ 3 x 5 ~
innnl 7vn5 719 nnn ann ww ?;i721ann1 75un5 319 a n ann wnn
719 21~19ann nlaw 71;i2 l n n n l ~ 1 9 5719 nisn ann u2w ;n72
ann i w u .;1w il'n'5 319 a117 ann uwn 1 ~ innni 2 vinx5
7712 1nnn115xnw5 719 119r
7vn 75un .WX a7n nli1 a7?na ~ 5 nn x zn752 n1i790 i w u 1'7'~
01171 119Y 2lYn n1TD
, n ~ v ~ziwu w ~n7nwin l 5 m u2w nlnx w5w v o Zn17nix a7nw1a7iwu
wnnx 792 mu12p n112 n n i r n 51p2 mpipn ni7nix a7nwl ~ ~ i w u ]
[yiw DT n15 127 p3 ?a 12 u;l nx mnipa
17x1275 tnzbiinxi a71si a i x isn 5 a i n niunp ni7nixa7nwia7iwu (18) ni5~na72 i r i li3nm75pw p r n 73ir lppn niuiwr, 7iwu a7nwH7(48a)
YXl2 713~57 Y 1 2 DX1 XIlYD 7 5 ~ i r >
721132 a'x'71n1 P'W7nl
7i7ny;11 f i p w pir 72rn lppn ni7nixa7nwia7iwu (19) 775~ aY7n ~ 7 7 ' 7n1x2r
~ r 7 ~ 7 7 ~77 7 2 ni7nix
~ a7nwia7iwu~ 5 7 x 1 (56a)
n72au 1531 153 nu ny275x DY 1531 ,a53 au 75x 7i7n;li 15pw - 1 ~ ~ 3 1 [lDW W17p1 7 Y 73lW xW11 D l ?i?1w7
XYDI a7iuw7nxi aw5w~a~nxn2 ~ ~ 7575n niisin l5ln
m x r ixrn] 7512~~ W a71w1
Y 777nix2ri a 7 w ~73Y 2 W l 1;l~ni-r51ni m2x 7w5w (5Xa)
[7nx aw2 xr17 i127;153i i i r 7 ; 1 5 3 ~ 3 1 Z1IW aiiu a71nx1a77u i x 5 77x11 1 7 ~ 1 5 3 ~
i ~ ~ i71xn
x w 07'7172 a77inu2rnl 1 1 ~ 7 1w x 2 IKWYI wnn 1;1inn i r 7 (20) a5iu2 ,in .xi1 '715x1 75n2 y 7 i p ~iwu a 7 ~ w;lulwi
i ;1w5w niwu pn (59)
.w3n1 7?2Tl5ir27>~3 W312 25 7177D2 7ji22 7 l W 2 5151 lSb3 5~ 1 5 ~ 3
.aV7nl72 ~ 7 1 3 7 3pn 7 1 ~ ;r21n
5 ~ 731 m3s 73 7 - 1 1wax ~ ~ nin7xwi5w (23) 2iun 21131 uin u i u i nnw5 2113 ~ 7 7 ;IW 5P~ 77 nniu5TI ; ysn 53 aa (6ob)
ilnni nium mw2 ainni xiwnl ;rbi>n' n t a wax nmx mi5w (24) 0731135 ;1si1a ;12iu 2113 nx 77n2a u i i u i nx yn2n 2113
. m p l i 1 3 ~ 5ninni
3 n i i i n7nwx 77xri7 ~ 7 7 5 x 7zwuTI ; nnu5 ;lr nx ax ;tanin 77n3 p i u i 727-11377n3 IXWY I3"48a)
.aY7n~2 [u7i>npn] n i i i 713735 a7n7 5 ~ wx ~ 5[niax] (;i)wim (2s) 7nxi zwiw 5u 77p15n zw5w zulw 7alu i t 3 5 7nx 7nx ;twiw (4xb)
.n7n~s ~ 7 1 3 7 9pn n i l q i x npiiw yw nnn1-r an wirx mnx w5w (26) ;1w5vi ~ 7 2 7 ;IW~W
1 ~ ;1nn5m 777niu iwu a71w aY7nn u w n pin
Z I W ~ ;r7iia5iu2 i y i x 12 anni in3 15 i w p i nil2 75x nx 775a;rl (32) 773 75 17j?17X 75131 D7n7i379 7 ~ 5 D77nB
~ 1 7 ~ D7271X
5 ~
.W312 ;t71X1 '7 i"m ;i>a711-r~2 m5ui 2wni ipni qiri i r i 1 1 ~ a2 ~m x 7 7 2 7 ~ 3 (61)
pi7 1 ~ l2i p 1 ~ 5 1 y~i x2 12 anm in:, 15 i w p i DXI an nx: 175n;r (33)
,W 312
ZIW~ aini a5iul a7nw12 anni in:, 15 i w p i wx2 13wnx: l'5n;l (34)
[.WD12 wx11
;1n3ni ai5wi n7?nm1iw5 7nm2 niaxnn m m 7x2 niiim u2w (37a)
n i f n57 5n7x 5n7a 71 '2 m1iw5 7nm2 nia71nni ;riwan uis In iwiui
x p i 1'n i7nw 7 i w 7 i 7 3 7 3 73 73
w5ni i i ~ zwpi
n f ?5123
~ in7172 7 3 ni1iw5 *1w2 niwnnwn r n 3 3 7x2 ni5i~:,Y ~ W I (37b)
niSim w5ni 1121n u n ; r w p ~11i7?175 w7:! w77 7 9 7 5 72 72 nf?:! ..
minn n5ix zn3n minn u i al5w minn nin a77n minn miinn 7;rw
[ni72u ;l5wnn minn i i x In ~ mian ;rnnw uis minn 711u iwiu
xwi] xinil Y Y B K ~p i n w i ~ 52771
p niirp wm rnm 7x2 rnhm u2w (3x1
[a513 nx
a7iuw1a7n7a723i3 1" i r i pir p n lppn n i s 7x2 ~ rn5i93 u2w (39)
u l i x a m 7ww nilix wi5w a3n271w nili2 n712x7nw pir 7~ ; I T ~ K ~ (40)
nil12 ww am2 a7iwuinxn niIi2 wnn avn2~ 2 i xaZiwu i m1i2
7 x ~ an m a7u2ix1~ 7 3 nwnn 5 ~ nil12 u2w a m a7iwulmxn u2w
7513~I T l X 7 778W 7 D l 1275 75337 737 17RW 7D 2lWnl KY 1 5 7 ~ 1
uinwi
W ~ I7725 ;~IW ,1725 a 5 1 1725
~ 7nx 7nx It7au7i~ 7 7 nx ~ 7zr7n] ( 4 3 ~ )
.~ 7 7 2 5
7n7w ;rn7izu7nw77x1 7 7 1 pru~157~nsi;i
~~ n~niw3nimu a5nw (45)
.717w i i m n pinw s x i i 71577 zwun w7nmnm u 5
5i2a n7n1i7n7nitn5121 n71i3rn7msn5121 1ib35x 95i2x iwu a m (47)
n71i3r$121 n7nnnn71i3r5izx n7nnnn7nirn5121 n7niin7nisn
n7nii7n92iun5121 nznnnn72iun5i2a n7n1in71iQr5i2a nmun Long anti Saadyan Rccension form
n7niin7niiti in7nnn ~ n7aii75 i ~ nmii a n72iua5121
'j7

""Sort Recension form.

 Y ~ W n1n7x
I w'7w 7107 n17nlx n7nwl a7iwu1 7 ~ 7 5 n2 n m i w u (9)
.!;1n nnx nn1 r n n m mwu aSnwl n l 5 m
7112~171127xa 1x03 1131 .awn a7;rix mi nnx 7 ~ 7 5 1 r n 1 m lwu (10)
.w71i);l nn xy;l it m 7 7 1 nn1 hi)7u1 ~ 5 1 a~n'71~;1 ~5 7n5w 1nw

w15w w71i);l n n n n l i a3nw aYzna ~ 5 nxl i nnx 7 ~ 7 ' 7 2nnm l w u (1 1)

Appendix 1V .an-nl l 9 r l ~ i u n nisal
l nnn1 at11 a7nn wx u m x n l i n a3a
~ D 2Yi u m n ~ a7nw;1 n n i n n Y ~ 3 2K2 r n l ppn n n n n1-1a'nw (12)
.?an nnx 532 nn1 a n 7 1
The Long Recension Additions ; I X ~ yYn 3 ~ W 0 Y7 ~ w 1 9 i r t a i min 7 2 2rn1 pi)n mln a7n wt5w (13)
1937 7WYl1 ?Yt7?u1 5 ?Y71 ~ 7277Y73I7D3 1337bl 7 B l n T7D3 127Y7
This append~xcontains a n exact copy of Vatican (Cat Assclnan~)299(8), lids 1712 a51u;l nx ??paw ?1i5 li;)77 1;11n y i x 717 1 ~ x 7 1 5 ~ 73
5 -I~XIW
66a-71b, Ms A In 111y edition 1 have iinderllned that mater~alwlilch is not piesent ,j7xrlZa m ?;r9172nln1;rna n ~ u ? ~ w nn; li n 5 w n a m x 1 5 7 x
in my presumed "eall~esticcovcrable text of SY" = Appendix 111 The fiinctio~iof W Y J ? ; ~n17n1a791wl a 9 m x 1 7123 x m 7 2 2 r n i i)pn a'nn wx u 2 - 1 ~(14)
thrs appendlx 1s purely illustlative to enable the leader to get some v ~ s u a lidea of w x 17mwn n l n n ~ 7 3 x nwlu 5 ~ 11~un 7077 jnw'7wn1 mw;l 73x'7n1
the scope and nature of the addit~onsmade to the text of SY In the course of 11s *D715
growth and development A4 the note5 to the text show, it 1s not In fact a simple annl 1~ 77 71' 517x7 l n w 2 7 ~ 2 nm1wD ~ 1 ~ 1 ' 7 ' -1 1~ 1 ~a2n nnn wan (15)
case of a scrles ofadd~tlonsb a n g made to one core tevt Thlngs are far Inore com- z ~ n 5;119~1nnn nnn ww.1772 1nnm ;l5un5;11~1nnrp ww 722
pl~catedthan that Somct~mesthe e n t ~ r etext of a palagraph has been rewritten So ann n v a w . t m l n n 7 n i 17195 ; ~ I P I nlsn ann Y ~ .;tf72 W lnnym
this append~xs l i o ~ ~always
ld be consideied along w ~ t hthese notes. 173377171 11yn"/ ;r1971~ 1 - 1ann 7 n7u7wn l n n v n i m n x 5 71971x u a
P ~ ~ n c t u a t ~isoprovlded
scr~pt
~ 7 7 '5 7 x~1 ~ 7
n only whetc t l i c ~ eis a corresponding mark In the manu-

~ 5 m xx 2 r 7'7 77 ppn 7 a 3 n m x 5 ~nl27nl a71w1 ayw5w (1)

w15w .nnn n n a,nru ,aY5na?;l5x mi
. P ~ - I T7~ 1 2 ~
,,,
.7;112 1)3n7n1i5xnw5 71917 1 3 ~ nnn i w u ,;ryn
:zn752 n 1 - 1 7 9TWY
~ i u n 1m t n nnm 7 5 ~ 7 3a7i1 a m w x uzix . n n ~a7n
~ 1 5 ~(16)

n 7 v o ;1w5w2 ~n'71u nx x m l a w w n i n 7 u 131w xws31 a1 77w 5x awn .nhn

.19b113b119b2 mwu a7nw1n15m u2wl n t n 7 x w15w 7 1 ~ 7n17nlx a7nw1 a w u (17)
,7107 n17mx a5nw1 P ~ T W P I7 n " n nnm l w u (2) nx .nlnlpn 7 w n n 2 7 9 2 n l u n p n t m n n l r n 5 1 ~ 2nlptpn n l w w 9
71nY7n 7 mwnn 7x13 wnn mmrx i w u m a ~ ~ 7 n5i - 2 1 ~ 9i0w u ( 3 ) ;1x n5nxz n275w3 pw57 w x m n n w ? wirm n15w i ) ~ 7 x n n u;i
.17YD7 i757?221791 n 5 7 ~ YYDX2
2 Il1113D a7n9w 172 nwnnwn 7 ~ 1 17~7'727n 7 3 x 1 1 w i ; l ? 1 ~ 2 nwnnwn un
;rn>n~7727 mwu nnx x51 ~ w uwn u x ;1n752 nnm ~ w u(4) pw5;i w x m n15a7 . n l m x j1wi;i w75w $4' p a .pwi;r W X ~
.jW7 ?lty531 P7717W ?'2 WlYbT .5li)7 DY nlW73nWir
a7iuw 7nx1 a 7 ~ w u a7nxna1 ia5a2 n l u n i ) n ~ ~ r n7nwl
n x a71wu (1x1
;tu+ ax1 uxln ~ 1 5 ~ 773 x5 1 ~ ax 5 1275 7n7b ?TI Tinxi a m '715x7 l s l n
[An's XIYD ' X I ] YXID 7~73'7
~ 7 1 prn lppn nt7nlx n7nw1 n7iwu (19)
53 W Q I ?72 lltl 7 9 1 ~ 1 1 1 ~ 75pw
75121 7513 nu 75x 17n;7175pw T Y 7x3 1 1 ~ 5f2nu;l 53 W ~ I ~ T I Y ~ ; ~
5
75131 57371 au !5131 j T:, au 5n7a n y 2 au 1 ' / ~ 751:,1 au n v 2 7)x nu
51) X Y B I a v u w 7 n x D~ ~ ~ W aY7In x n 2 n1xrf7I X Y ~ ;r575n
I nntm
.7nx aw2 x r i 3 l 1 2 7 m 531 l i r v
pn1u i l u n pn1~1n l t n i)nw nnn i)mul a n pnlu u i pmul ma pnlu 1 1 7 151xn
~ ~ 2 r n l 1 1 w 1~ ~ x I2X W Y ~wan 1nnn ir7 (20)
a 7 5 n a a7~11;3u
7 u ~~w 7 p11unn 15132 5 w ~ n n 77n7 117x1 at17 pmu~p r
7nx1 ~ ' 7 5x :773'b 77 W9n1
.7Y '7Y a3 7 , DV un 7.r yl i);ll-i wx n 2 5x (21)
a2 ?5 a:, Y' ?D yn ?s 11 w;i m ax 05 I:,a? un yn yt 7117 w7 nx 2 s
]a ba u5 73 y7 i ) l ~n ws n1-n ; I K ?n ~5 u3 7 7 y~ ?n -IT w1 n 7 a2 7 x
 n i i a n ,I ~ n l g ; 1 a n 5 a iu i ai5w mian ,n1ia a77n n i l a n : n m a n j;ri (37b)
,iiu73 In mian ,;ranw u i t niian ,zliy i w i u n i i a n , n 5 i ~na3n
.nl72Y ~ ~ W 37111331
D D
n i u i r ww 1 i i ;11iaw ~ x5i Y ~ ww W ~ 5 1 n i~m 2712~n i 5 l m uaw (3x1
iai3a xi? i m p a n 3'7 7123 -pi2 u r a x 2 p i a wi7p 537;ri a7i70 ;1ww5
4513 nx x w i ~xi71 iai3a 1aiiu 1 7 x 1 ia5iu 5w
a m 1 3 773 i r i 1i7a;ii 1 5 3 pir ~ p r n i fpph n i s 3 1.72 n i i i m u2w (39)
:;1b2w nuzw w912 a7iuwi a7a7ia5iul
, 5 x t 3 on Y T 71 y;1 37 11 w2 nx n 3 5; at. p ot ui ?;r y7 ax 12 w x , a m zww n1112 wi5w a7n2 ' I W n i ~ Dn ' I ~ X 7nw pir 7 r ;ITW (40)
1275 1 1 3 7 ~ 1i n x i w i i ~ 53
7 nxiiir7;r 53 nx ;iwiu'i7T)7m ;IUY
vw n7n2 a7iwu1 axa nllia wan , a m u n x i aziwu n11i2 m i x
.nion.tnx ?lax a w n a7nw1 a77wu . a m a7u2ix1 a795x nwan nil12 Y ~ ,a7n2 V a7iwui n i x n uzw m l i l
u7i3a pn 7 1 ~ 5 sin
1 731 rnx 7 3 17i07 wax nia7x w i i w 751Y I7Y7 17XW ;la1 1275 ~ 5 1 739~3 17XW 7D Z W n l RY f 5 7 ~ ]K37b 7
i l a a i niu2t3 ww2 ainnl x5siai ;roi>a 5i-rx t i o wax ma3xwi5w .uinw5 35737 7six;r 17xw ;Im nix15
.am xwil v x 7 v i i r i 2wni u7 ; i ~ p l1i x 15 n i n m n i i i a7a wx 77xui3 nslwla5iu2 7 n x w 12 7 r i zt au 2s 79iri i n 3 15 iwi)l n72 nx 1 7 5 ~ ~
i(41)
y i x nl75in nn i 7 i x ni75in wx a~aw;1n i - 1 5 1wax ~ n1aw wi5w .w912 791 71w2
.D~Y-IIu ~ ~7 i m pn n i i i 7 u n 5 a7a 3 ' 7 ~ w~ x5 t n x i a5iuz 12 i T a ;IT p 7 r l i n 3 15 i w p 1 5 a 7 a nx 1 7 5 2~ ~
.a73n~72 u7i~a i)n 75x ,ni)ilw 77w , n a a i i aa wax ma9xwi5w .w912 f7aztSul 7 1 ~ n2w2 2
,537 ixi31'a;1aw m 2 x 7 ~ 1 ' 17511 7 ~ ?;rnl wax niaw wiyw 7 ~ 7 w~i 5 1 a~ ~2 x 12 a x i ; i ~PY Z T j ~ i r i n 3 1'5 i w p i 57 nx 175a;i 3
y i x i ,wxa ;i57nn i x i 2 1 a7aw w x i a9nl nil a5iu2 wax mn7x wi5w . W Q I ~5lxaw ?7u1 ;l1w2 n2w2
. a 7 ~ n ~ uvi3a
72 n i i a x i 2 1 i'ixi , a m n x i x ~ 7 5 wa5iu2i ;inn 12 i r i 2s au ;rt pin i n 3 15 i w p i 7 3 nx 175n;r 4
,a7aa x i 2 1 113 ,wxa x i 2 1 a i n n i i i a7a w x ;i1w2 w a n~i w x wi5w .w912 17n77x1 Z I W n~ l w 2
. P T I I ~ ~u7i3a mi ;r7iii 7~7211a?iu=! ;la11 12 i r i Z T DY ;IT jmri 7n3 15 imp1 7 9 nx 7 7 5 ~ 75
~ 7 1 n3i l ~;r7i7xi , a m 1t.21 ,wxa xi21 w x i ~ 9 1 wax 2 niaw w15w .WDIX i i x n w 7x1 71wx nzwx
. a"nl'2 ~ 5 1 772n~ 2 2313 12 1Yl 77 7351 77 j91Yl i n 3 15 lW?1 W71nX ! 7 5 ~ 76
~ 5 1 ma7x
~ 2 wi5w 172 a n n l ~ ~prn i r 133n wax n l n w wi5w (31) .w912 7 7 a 7 7iix1;11w2 n2w2 w 7 n n i
,;l2i)1ii3t w~12'nia7Kwi5wi 71wx nia3x wl5wi ~ w a5iu2 1 712'7 12 i r i ;(T au ;IT p i r l l h 3 15 i w ? ~i7nnx 7 3 5 7~ ~
' .w912 5xaw ?sixi 7 1 ~ n2 lw2
.avxi m p l i w a x 2 137 IT 137 W Q I 79i7xi ~ 71w2 > y y i i i i 7 3 ~ 1 5am7 ;luzwi muw u2wi n l r i x ~ 2 w asu7?i i nu2w i?i)n~ j;1m (42)
1131 a5iu2 y i x 12 in 772 77 I s i r l i n 3 15 iwi)i a7a2 an nx 175a;r (33) .a7aw;l nnn y9n 53'7 7 ~ 7 2 xw ~ n
7 2 ,7127 1 ,311 7 1 1 3 23 1 (43)
~ 7 3 'nw 7 ~ W D I a7iuw
~ ;tu2wi ,n7wxi2 'a7 nu2w a'a' ; I Y ~ W.a77xir ~
,5127 ,07anw , u 7 ~,11571 i :a7u7pi; I Y ~ W .I z ~ aWiZn1 i s n w ~D'ITX 7nwi
y i x mi i'ix w x o7aw oxw xnw x w i wxn awx wax joir ~r 7 ~ 7 x 3 (3s) ,+n , 5 7 7 ~,;l7;w1 ,52n ,;i?ii 7 a 7 x : m n x u2w1 .mliu ,jim ,?iua
.nil 125 a7a l1t32 w x ~ 7 x i w 5 x ~i a7a ,7725 71W ,1725 ~ 5 ,1725 1 ~7nX 7nX 'j77DY71D77Y7 nX 7Y7n]J"lJ
i u i .liw5i
~ pin1 n717ai ;iviii iyix mi 75x au 7rl1 wax maw wl>w (36) [.7725 W93
T 1t32ili7 y i x an DY
m i n 731 w x i 1 ainl a7nw 17w DY i r i ~. ~ D 731 ir11 .niim a77n1 m i n2w 7n2w n72 au i r i 1 n i s 3 722 n l ' n m Y ~ W(44)
.nion .wax 3s 7 ~ 7 wa77xn
i 57 au i r i l .uii a i i w i 17a7j7u1 n2w2 -inxi i77r 5a~aDY
;l5waai 1rn u i t -1wiu1 a i i w i a7.n rnco 712 n l i i a , yaw (37a) 7x1 n2w2 ~ 5 ;innw 7 3 au ~ i r i .~n i i w i z m n i 5xaw ??uin2w2
57 5a'a 5wa n72 n72 n n i a n 5 w ni5i93 a7w ni11w5 7nw2 nlazlnni .;1aawi u i ~ hl ~ a w 7x1 nxw2 7u92ii711139 au i r i l .711ui -1w1uij7a7
w5n 7 ~ 111273
3 n712n zwpi 7 1 7313 1)n i z n w v i w 7 i 7 3 29 7 3 7 3 5-1 19nau i r i l . i i x 7 x 7 n 1 1 7 a 7 I n x i n2w2 wsani ;lan 2313 w'i DY ir11
.ms>i x 2 ht n i r x ; i 5 w a a i 5xnw l ~ i x n2w i n u 1 7125
 nl7Wl ;ln71?i7Y7DW ;(75Xl 171D7j72f~b~i~13nTf;l IllDlW3 T l W Y D7nW (45) 1 a w 1 1 1T a 7 1 n : , 1 1a n a 9
,717w1 ~i;n~;l pinwi s x n ;IWYB w7nwni;1t37~'71 .W312 I'D7 7'1 7lW2
.;(ivy nnx x i 1 mwu a7nw ;l1w2 n m aLfiu2 "72 12 1x1 IT^ TI; j31ri ln:, iiw ?j7~
u nx ?7ia;1 10
n n i n n 172 !?pimlnDVD ;iwwi .W912 ~ D 771 W
'7123, i-nnn n7n-nn5121 n7an 132~1 127i r 1 IT^ TI;
~51~275 !DVI 15 l w p i 77r nx 17'7797 I 1
ln:,
n72iua 5122 n7nn n v s r '772~n721unn7113r'7132 nSnnnn71igr .w312 17737 5211 71w2
n7nnnnzmun5 n a nvmin7muni i 2 x n7ann z 2 w a'7121 nznnn 1i l u 2 a727 12 -iri772 TI; jr,lri in:, 15 i w ? i ' ? i p nx 17'7737 12
~ 7 xa
171 7u 77u 7u !73i1;111727ma1 n7nnn 7 n n 7i n 2 n7nnnn7rn17'7122 .ID312 ~ X U W 5211 71W2
. a 5 niu1lT
~ ?7 ?ru~?iwnsl;r n i m w 9 ;I-IWY a5nw (54)
i r t p7nm lip 72rn 7 3 1 Ippn ~ ~ r u ~ ? 5 7 t 3 n tniniwr,
i;t mwu a7nw (4th)
71wi 1 7 ~ ~ 1 1 7 1 7
~~1~ 1
715
w1 17t7iu 71w 17~771731 a7w7n1m i t n '122
la:, I:,+Z ~ ~ p Y Di lxwu n 7 i h 7nwl a777 7nw1 ? m ? l i a 1;n ? ~ ~ i u
77 naw5 ZT m n i n
pin 7nx1 7 w i w i u y p ~ i n ;rwiw ;ru>w 7niu 1x157nx 7nx 7 w i w (48b)
a72;(1x ;1w5wi 07271~;(w'/w 773nin2 197n1u-IVY az1w a77n13u9-i:,lj
722 i u tnx !ii:,a '/win 1 ~ x 1 1'713 5x1 a7n7na; r w i w i a w n ;rwiw
;rt 77p1tx l'/l:,i lwu a71w 721, i u ;1uzwi 7u2w 722 i y nw5w1 z w i w
.7nX 7122 D7Y3nP71W1071WY127) jDzOl 7T2
i3nm!i?w 7 3 - 1?xrni ~ !??n pruo!iwnsi;l niutwb 71wu aynw (49)
.2i7 5113711 117177177a7'721 132w 7'77 77r au 1YlJ 11
,;i7ix ,pit,,a7aixn, ~ ,7513 w misn -IVY a71w 17 ~I~XT,WDI~ D~X~;~ID .nlYln ;1Z7W715x13~i211 17X D727?l? DY l Y l 1 12
~ asw7n iwu a71w1.a727 ,"77,77a ,nw? ,mpu ,a71sxn ,;r'/in2
, 7 2 7,1b21 . 2 5 ~51ial ) i n 2 ?7i;)nx!i~:,i
? Y Y D ? ~ ~ D ~ 77
T ~ ; ((55)
,n~w,nm ,i7'703 , j i l w n ~ a? l w n ,h5x ,2x ,nan ,?l7o
;('1'77x . i ~ x ;ru2w 721 i u ; ~ w i w i!7722 i u ;(Iua5 7 ~ 2 71~31313 -IVY a71w (57)
,&a1 ,723 ,m+:, 7nw , o ? h i7nw ,a777 7nw : w o n 1717;ilniwu a71w 1'772 71w 15 17x1 ,?nxi ?a70 7nx2 yviin ji~:,l l1iua 7077 ?nw?wa~
.727p1,?2?1? ,Dbb;t ,'71n13 .7nx taw1 7nx xmw i a i i u 2 77n7
71~2 10711 tlilux 7513 12 iri ;(T OY 3s ?D-IY~ln:, 15 iwp7 77 ?"7n;1 1(52) 7'7122 lwu a71w1l ; ( 7 n i x 2 ~a7w2:,
~ ;IYXV~ t;r7m~i~ni n i x ; ~ w i w (5x1
.V312 7231 7lWY2 111173b' C I ~ Y W311 71W D71BX1D77Y1275 7 7 K l l1 7 b l h ~
17Z ~ i l i l y 12 i r i 77 DYTI;
1151~2 ~ 115 l w p i i7i
1 3 ~~n:, nx 2 522 w7 a 7 r m D'IWI tl7~wu7 ;liwu2 ; l r n 7 3 ~WQI m w u 2 ;im730 71w
,W313 D
1
?
l 71W2 ,nii~n -IVY a71w1aZ2:,i:, zu2wl a7a1 n n wx ;rwiw aiiu2.7nx
11701 ~ 5 1 a7n1xn ~ 2 12 1 ~ 2s 1 BY 71 !nri in:, 15 l w p l 1775 nx 17in;r 3 a7w7n -IVY tlV1w~ n7wxm7737 nuxw ;r7i1~1 ainl l i p ; ~ w i w71w2
.ws12 '71n131 z1w2 ,?7X77171 1 W Y D73W1D71YW 7U2W 7717X111321 V X l 7 ~ ' W312 7 ~
~ 12 ~ r l 7s pir7 ~ n 135 ~ w ?n7n
nani a i i u 11310 i nx ?75n;r 4 n i l u 2 ?in.>ii i x i a ?~ i n 2 7 7 i p lwu a71wi ;lu2wl ;rwiw mwu pn

711~22x1 a i w 2 ;(VX 12 i r i
.W312 007371 71W2
77 ?E)YYI i n 3 15 - i w p nw nx 17in;l 5
.;lania2
I
.I
5
'7793 w ~ 1 2
~
2 ,;11~a2]'/a:, n1w2 1252 ,~xD:, i u ~ia:,
nli1irn 1 5 7 ~ 'X PY 1 5 ~ 1 i i 7 xau ? 7 3 i ~l i 7r x~n r p 127 5w i55:,
(59)

(60)
+I7D7>W 775131 1 5 7 ~j7x ax1 . l iXI:, ~1?7xi,157x XI:, l i 7 x .1iw nmnn ~ i 7 xi il 7 x
i i i x aiiu2;157n2
~ 12 i r 1TI; DY ZT ~ D ~ Y I 15 l w ? i 717 nx 17in;r 6
~n:, m a u i u i nniui 3113 a7;lix x mTI ; nmui 7s ysn i: aa,.liw t9x
.w312 5xawiw 777 ' 1:,1 71w2 ,a72iui ;lt11a ;12iu 2113 nx 17n2aYT u l nx 17n2a2113 nun x u 1
q i w n i a h u 2 a v x n 12 iri 8s auTI ; lmrl in:, 15 1w?17n> nx 1 7 5 ~ 77 y l r i g3n1 1'271 131717x71 1372771 1172~a;1-12~ x2w 71721 (61)
.W312 123731 71W2
a i i u 2 mi)u 12 ~ TIr ; iDYTI; 1 3 1 ~ in:,
1 15 iw?1'?1'1i x 1 7 i m 8
.V312 ;iYi)l 71W2 ~llWnl131
 -pn2 n 7 ~ 15 2 n m n57a l w 2 x1nl v 5 s l n 1 n r x YWY 11nz1n712 15
wl??ni 1 1 1 ~ 5 n17nlx
2 a7nw1 a v w u lw;, pw5 K I ; ~l7-r7n i u z r x T W Y
PSn7I ZY2W3 ?1Y72Ill13 ?WY71WX3 !?57 P7)3313W73 710 15
,nlitn lwu ~ 7 1 1 ~ 2
.wax nt wx-11a m n5aw ,71321 v i ) Y Y X , ; 1 ~ i ' ~n7v71 1 lZ1x I (62)
7 ~ n2w2
1 717w a77Kn ,17n91 7 ~ n2w2 1 7 n x a7r ,nm n2w 7nxw 2 Edition and Con~mentary
23i3',5xnw 7x1 n2w2 7u72i nni .i7a7 ? K T n 2 w i 7w3w nan .$xaw
712 71 . ~ X B W? t l ~n2w2 i 7w7w3125 ,?,a7 ! T I X In2w2 ?w7;rnnan
.m33
; ~ T X, D D D ;t1an
~ ? D ~ ,?mi3
D ?17bj9alKn ,7773 1 7 5 l~i w ,723 !D?I 7513 3
,!2?-1?71wn a71txir ,n+xaw n+73 5 1 5 ~n h n 2 ,n71a7 n+13 > X
naw 757 ,5xaw 77 13219 77s ,?)a777 17503 nw? ,nx7;, ? n w n ~~a- I ? Y
, ? ~ ~ 0 ~ ; I~ ~ 1 3511~ 17
T ,?XBW ~ ,7?D7521
~K 1P7X?
.Ti1731 7231 7 1 ~ 5 17 l h ? ~ ~ 27 ~ ~l l(63) i 5 ~
.2$1 6 7 1 ~ ~ 1 ~ P7271X
1 7ZW ~ ~ W2
,5xaw 5w 7 x 7 j773131n 7 ~ t177n13w nw5w 3
,;lb;ll P5I1nnn;l P72?1 ?1W P7n5D13Z W ~ W 4
1 1 17 1 1 1W w 5 By lnealis ot th~rty-twowon- Vah, the 1,ord of hosts, the By means ol tli~rty-twowon-
x 1 m t w m ? s ~ nw5w
,tsan7ni 1 ~ 1 ~ 1f717y w 6 dlous patlis of W I ~ ~ O I Ynh, II God of Isr'lel, the L ~ v i n g dl0~1Spdths of W I S ~ O I I I Yah,
.nu1 ; i u ~ n w t n i i ? m y 1 ?;n? T I K ~m y y a w nw5w 7 the L o ~ dof hosts, tlie God of Cod, God A l m ~ g h t y ,l71gli the I m d of hosts, the God of
.;la119 n ~ l a w 1D I ' ~ ~n?3I i x n12m ?TIX? m y 7 a w nw5w 8 I s ~ a e l ,tlic L ~ v i n gGod, God LI/?(/~ \ ~ l l f ~dl4li'lll/7g
t/, /0/ Islael, the L ~ v i n gGod, God
X D nu1 1 7 ~ 1
, ~ ~ I j93tt n3x1 j7y n1y-1 nw5w 9 Almighty, 11rgI1 irr~tle~trltctl, c ~ c r . nnd
, 11olj) 15 1715 17atlre Alln~glity,holy and tell lble 1s
hl/ellrng f i r cli~cr:nnd I7oly 1, (I5a 57 IT), ~ ' I Ivcd out 111s name, dwell~ngfor evel,
. ~ I D K I ?791;12713y y l n w n n l 2 w nl77xl nw5w lo hrc nntne (Isa 57 15), carved t h i ~ty-two \\ro~id~ ous paths carved out Ile cleated hls
232 7 n x m-ran~ yw5an1 Y-I l u 7 17132 m77n pw55 nw5w 11 out He ciedted 111.; universe of \\~lsdom He cleated 111s unlverse \vlth thrce types 01'
7nxl w ~ t ht h e e groups of Iettcts unlvcrsc w ~ t hI111 ee g ~ o u p s things (whose names derive
.nax m r n pw5 mznwl np7nw n l m jiw55 w15w 12 (ce/)cr1 1/11) w ~ t h tepei d ~ i d of l e t t e ~ s (cep.l,nriti7) w11h fro111 the same root l c t t e ~ s
\ c p r "nd 5cj7e1,~ ccJpei and cepe/ and \ e , ~ ~ c i , - s-p-r): with writing (.scy7ei-)
and n u ~ u b e r s (s'/?iri.) 2uid

I I have transliterated the Hebrew letter /'?here consistcntly with p in order to show as clearly
as possiblc the play on words going on in tlie 1-lebrcw Lcxt. Elsewl1el.e I will use "f" to reflect the
variant pronunciation of this letter when it is preceded by a vowel, e.g. in sg/ir,o/.
 (th~rty-onewords) and even provldes the required object (1ihlY nX) after pan
(Caste111 1880: 34). Otherw~seh ~ text s agrees f a ~ r l yclosely w ~ t hthat of Ms K,
except for r e a d ~ n g11301 as the last word.' Judah ben Barzilla~c ~ t e as text whlch IS
generally closest to that of Ms D, except for r e a d ~ n gP7W?W at the b c g ~ n n ~ nand g
113'01 1961 1 3 6 2 at tlie end (Halberstam 1885: 105, 138). He IS aware of the read-
LMNSFIR collated to K B'B2GH collated to A b collated to % lngs P7W5W2 and 1 ~ 5 nX 1 ~Xl2 but ~ n s ~ iont s the correctness of h ~ read~ng.
s He
n 7 w 5 w ~ ]o w i w I n ~ x i s ] P ~ I W a~7]n w 1 B'BT~H n1x5s1n ~ x 7 F5 ~ says that the longer read~ngscould be regarded as ~nterpretat~ve glosses ( 1 ~ 1 5W71
n l x 7 5 ~M N F I R ~ 7 5 ~ n l x ? ~ ]n l x 7 h G 1 9 ~ lo]
1 13n31 p " 7 3 l a 3 nlnD117 l X W 3 nts0117 nl2,n;l 1 5 ~ ~He) recognlses . (p. 116)
? ~ l W 7 1om L,MN P 7 ; 1 5 ~ 1DD B2 1 3 0 1 2"] llD7Dl tliat the 1ii11iiberof divlne names c ~ t e dIn 4 1 varles In the Mss - "there are verslons
wl-tpl , . . a 7 ~ ]0111 L a77n] B'B~GH here wli~chmention fewer of these names and there are verslons wh~cliniention
add ~ 5 7 51 ~ M 1~ N ?7W ?X
more of them" (Halberstam 1885: 116). He says that the most accurate versloil has
113W ,..I om M N 1901 2"]
11D7D1I,S,113Dl M N F l R ten names parallel to the ten niu'~xniar.ot111 Genes~s1 and the ten ~ e f i r o t .Saadya
says tliat these ten names tefer to tlie ten A r ~ s t o t e l ~ acategories
n and these $11turn
correlate w ~ t hthe Ten Cornniandments.Vresu~ilably,this gives us a clue as to why
Note,, O M t/ie tevt o f $ / these nalnes were drawn Into the text of SY from b~bllcaltexts lrke Isa 26:4, 57:16
and from b H L I ~12b, 13a.5
The textual chaos of the manuscript t r a d ~ t ~ oofn SY IS i~llmedlatelyapparent 111 $ I If we look first at the problem of the number o f d ~ v ~ namesnc In the paragraph, we
Ms Q has th~rteenwords f o ~t h ~ sparagraph, P fifteen, L e~gliteen,D twenty-SIX, see that Judah 1s q u ~ t er~ght.T l i e ~ number
r does vary In the Mss, from one In LPQ
w h ~ l etlie rest have twenty-e~gllt01-twenty-n~newords. That the text has suffered and Dunash, four In Mss MN, up to nine or ten In most Mss. None of the shorter
considerable d ~ s r u p t ~ o1snalso clear from its syntact~calprobleins In niost forrns of fornis can be explaned as scrrbal errors unless we presuppose that a manuscript
tlie text the verb i)i)n 1s left wlthout an object. Has the longer text evolved out of the ancestral to LPQ and Dunash had 1BW n l K 3 Y 717' followed by the l ~ s of t dlv~ne
shortel, or has the shorter text arlsell froin an attempt to resolve the syntact~calprob- names conclud~ngw ~ t h1BW W17i)l and that a subsequent copy~stdropped the 11st
lenls oftlie longer form of the text? If ~twas the latter, then the attempt was not very by lio~noioteleuton.However, none of the extant Mss has such a readlng, so scrlbal
successfir1 Even In the short form of tlie text (as In Mss P and Q) p i ? h s left witliout error as an explanat~onSor t h ~ svar~antrenialns posslble but purely hypothetical.
an object In Sact, tlie longest form of thc text ( ~ nMss AB1B2GI-I)IS the eas~cstto It could not explain the name l ~ s In t Mss MN. It I S more convlliclng to see thelr
const~Lie; see illy translat~onabove. If we cornpare the d~fferentforms ofthe text we reading as ev~denceof the 11st creeplng up In s u e fro111one name on ~ t way s to the
see that there ale two lnaln d~fferenccsbetween the long and tlie short forms: the 11st full ten requ~redby the k ~ n dof exeges~swe find in Saadya and Judah ben B a r z ~ l l a ~ .
of d i v ~ n enames can vary 111 length fi-om two up to fifteen words, and In Mss DPQ Take, for cxample the naliie 5Xlt2,"' 7 5 ~ slgn~ficantly
, omitted by Mss MN as well
the pli~ase1 ~ 5 nX 1 X~ l 3 is omitted There are a few other lillnor var~ants. as LPQ and Dunash. The name L/X1wtlsoccurs in SY only here and In 9 56a as part
The ev~dencefrom tlie early co~n~ncntators generally supports the shorter forms of this d ~ v ~ name
ne But, at least on the surface," SY shows 110 Interest at all in the
of the text. Dunash ben Tainln, In the Oxford Bodlelan Ms 2250 e d ~ t e dby Gross- people of Israel or the polit~cald ~ m e n s ~ oofn Judaism. T h ~ ls ~ s oft names recurs In
berg (1902: 18) has the exact s a n e text as Ms P, but the Hebrew translat~onof his t; 56a but, as we shall see, t h e ~ eare serlous text-cnt~calproblenis w ~ t hthat para-
comincntary by Moses ben Joseph of Lucerne (Vajda-Fenton 2002: 215) has '131 graph - the bulk of 111s mlsslng In the Short Recension and our ealltest rnanuscr~pt
instead of 1BW, ~ n d ~ c a t i nthat
g the 11st of d r v ~ n enames should be ~nserted.How- (A) does not have tt at all. I am ~nclrned,therefore, to agree w ~ t hWe~nstock(1972:
ever, Georges Vajda's cr~tlcalrcconstruct~onof Dunash's text (2002: 41) places
all these extra names In square brackets wli~leDunasli's paraphrase of the text In One of the Ms? of the IIcrkhet~iotilclted by C'~stelllIn his footnote 8 to this page ~liowshow
h ~ colnmcntary
s presupposes the presence of only one name. And only t h ~ natne s sci~balersol? c o ~ ~ shorten
ld t divine names the T~lriiiMS O I U I ~ S5i-3 D V 7 n b9;i5i? by ho-
the l ~ s of
mo~otele~~ton
(nlX3Y 717') is cxpla~ned n11n137 5 3 7 1 5 ~Neither
- . Hebrew verslon of 111scom-
V ~ d f n c h1972 4h- 48, Larnbe~t 1891 20-22
mentary has 1 ~ 5 n1X ~X 1 3 and Dunash feels obl~gedto expla~nwhy the author Fol the impo~tationof blbl~caland r a b b ~ n ~niater~al
c 111tothe text of SY see Haynian 1984
has not used the verb Xl2.' Shabbeta~Donnolo has a very long form of the text nnd 1987
"ee Mdyman 1986 for an attempt to show that the problem of the cxlle was actu~~lly centidl
Vajda-Fenton 2002: text p. 217, trans. p. 50, Grossberg 1902: 23. to the concerns of the duthor of SY
ers, seven doubles and twelve s ~ ~ n pletters
le ($2 etc.), or tlie three spheres of God's LMNSFPIR collated to K 4 2 rn the Long liccenalon L collatcd to %
cteatlv~ty- the ilnrverse (PilY), trnie ( I x ~ x )and , humanrty (V31)? Any of these occurs only ln Mss A and
co~lldbe supported by the subscc~uenttext of the work. Textual c r ~ t ~ c ~here s m shades D
off 111tocommentary It IS, however, easler to explain how 113(')01 13D(1) 1 3 0 3 nii7ao] niz7n1I 7i03] 0111 ni7nix..iwul om F*, D ~ ~ W Y
M N F I n i i i s ~niiia3
] u>wi 7107 ni7nix~ ~ n~ w~ i ' ~ b
arose as an ~nterpretat~oii
o i l 9 0 1 1 3 0 1 1 3 0 3 than the other way round. Rut may t h ~ s
L R rnniws] add ? i t 1 7 I
not be a correct ~nterpretatlonof the or~guialauthor's ~ntent~on?
111conclus~on,the earllest recovelable form of SY $ I would seem to be:

Thls paragraph 1s not securely anchored In the textual tradltlon of SY. It 1s 1111s~-
"Yah, the 1,ord ofhosts, carved out thirty-two wondrous paths o f w i s d o ~ lby
i means oStliree Ing In most Mss of the Long Rccc~islonand Ms Q III the Short (which as we have
typcs ofthings: by writing, by numbers and by speech."
just seen come5 closest to prescrvlng the earllest recoverable state of Q 1).IF The
This 1s vely close to what Welnstock (1972 58) restores as the " o ~ ~ g ~ n text
a l " of contents of $ 2 are basreally repeated In $ 9 where, agalli, the mater~alseems to
SY. Itliamal Grucnwald's argument that SY $ I I S "a late, and artrfic~aladdltlon to be o ~ i tof place, all the Mss of the Short Rcccris~o~i h a v ~ n gthat paragraph 111 11s
tlie book" (1973 480) desrg~ledto weld together the two d~sparateparts of SY, 1.e. log~calplace after $ 16, ~ n t r o d u c ~ nthe g second part of the book which deals w ~ t h
b$ 1-16 and $4 17-64, can be left a s ~ d efor tlie mornent. All the textual witnesses the twenty-two letters. Gluenwald (1973.484) and We~nstock(1972: 35) ~ e g a ~5 2d
we have attest one or other for111 of this paragraph; we have no evidence that SY as a gloss on the words n137n1 ~ ~ P7iu5w
1 of~ the1first paragraph. Saadya treats
ever ex~stedw ~ t h o ~~ t~. t $4 1--2 as a s ~ n g l eL I I I I ~111 IS conilnentary and In Ms C there IS 110 space between
$4 1 and 2 Dunash treats $4 1-3 as a stngle u n ~ but t Judah Ben Bar71lla1keeps 1
separate fro~ii$9 2-3. Sliabbetai L>onnolo paraphrases rather than quotes exactly
but h ~ paraphrase
s shows how $ 2 could e a s ~ l yhave arlsen as a gloss. After 1 9 0 3
113'01 1901 he continues:

07iwui ;1nh niiyao iwu a7iwui;in753 nii7aoiwu a7nwi[07]iwunii3soiwu

w5w 1 1 ~ ni7nix
7 a5nwi .7i07 n17nixn7nmi yzw ninlx w i w ni7nix
;I~WY ~ ' n wn i i i ~ ninx
a~ [;n]wu [ ~ ~ n w
n15ia~
il
.niniwa niniwf3 In the Mss w111ch have rt the paragraph 1s attested In two forms - a short Sorm, and a
The ten cefi~liotnre the basis The ten ,efif,ot a l e the bas15 Ten cc.fir-ot, twenty-two let- longer one In w h ~ c htlic twenty-two letters are split up ~ n t othree groups. Tlie sliort
, ~ n d the twenty-two l e t t e ~ s and the twenty-two letters tels, three p r ~ n l a l y1etters,l4 form IS found In Ms A and also In Paris 763 (a Ms wli~cliIS not used in the e d ~ t ~ o n
are thc Soundatron three pi I- are the foundation seven double (letters), and but whose ev~dellceI wrll use from trme to t ~ r n e ) .Ji~dah
'~ ben B a r ~ ~ l(Halberstam
la~
mary lette~s,[seven] double twelve slniple (letters) 1885. 105, 140) has the short fi)r~iiwhich IS presupposed also by Donnolo. Tlie
(letters), nnd twclve s ~ m p l e o r ~ g ~ nreading
al of Ms E has a shol-t form of the text but tlirs IS the addrt~ollfound
(letters)
elsewhere 111 tlie longer form (n1131WD 7lVY P7nw1 n1?133 Y3V n1DX 1 ~ 5 ~the );
D Z corrcctlon in tlie margin of E towards the ~ i s ~ llonger
al forrii of this paragraph is by
D ~ ~ W ;inY7 5 3 nii3soiwu o7iwu;in+z1 nii7aoiwu a later hand. If $ 2 arose as a gloss on Q 1 then we could detect a process of expan-
w i i w 7107ni7nixDvnwi ninx w5w ni3nix07nwi sron from this short form to the longer form w h ~ c happears In ~iiostof the Mss.
D3nwln i i i ~ 3 Y ~ ninx
W mwu ~ ~ nnl51a3
w i uz1w
.nlblWiY 7 1 W Y .311blW9 " This o~iiissio~l could be by homoioarcto~ibut see below on the next paragraph and the para-
graph order oS B'B2H. At least for these three Mss the absence of $ 2 produces a better overall
'-' I translate "11rimary letters" rather than the literal "mothers" in accordance with the un- s t r ~ ~ c t r which
~ r e their archetype wo~lldhave found Inore difficult to achieve had $ 2 lain before
derstanding of this word in the early commentators. Saadya, as we shall see, equates it with the its scribe.
Arabic 'll~i? (= nl?lb7), and so Dunash (Vajda-Fenton, text p. 234, trans. IOl), while Judah ben ' T a s t e l l i 1880:34-35.
Barzillai explairls it as tlie equivalent of D 7 W l W . l7 See the Introduction $ 8.3.
7D752 Some Mss follow Ms D 111 sepdratrng this out Into 11scomponent pasts '52
7D Msi LRB2D do thrs f a ~ ~ cons~stetitly
ly wherever ~t appeals In the text, t h ~ ~ s K A C
malcrng the allu\~onto Job 26 7 t~ansparent Tlie allusron 15, In any case, appar-
ent S r o ~ the
i ~ lael< of \yntactlcal conncctlon between n11736 1WY and 773752. It I S
isom ;in+2 nii7soY V Y 1 s t ~719'~12 nii7soi v y ;in7i[2 nii9so]iwu
1213 wnn nluxrx i v u -1113 vnn niu2rx i v u van ~ n i u ~iwu r x ison12
rmposslblc to be sure what the ollg~nalauthor wrote slnce he clearly rntrod~lces nlinn 17n7n7i2ivnn nlii3n 7in77n7-121van nIi3n y5n7n7mivan] -I213
a play on the root ~ 5 In2 Q 5 M~IIICII woirld f a ~ i o ~tlier ~~ e a d l n g3D7j2 h e ~ cSudali ni7n2i ~ i v !n7i22
i urnti2 ;is1 l i v i n i w urnti2 ;i9[i l i w i i ;ii]yn:, urnx[2
ben B a r ~ r l l aknows
~ of both read~ngsand, though (followrng Saadya) he favours .?ur;i .17un;ini7n2i
713752 w ~ t hrti contlectron to ~ 1 5 2 In Q 5 he tells us tliat others separate tlie words
The ten cef~ifrlofale the ba- The ten \c$t o f ~ l r ethc bd- The ten tcfil-of arc the bas15
and ~rndetstandthe meanrng to be ~ 1 5 3~ ' 1 2 .Dunash 1~ lnsrsts, In explrclt corif11ct 51s l ~ k ethe number ol the 51s the number of the ten
- In the number ol the ten
w ~ t hSaadya, that the cx],tesiron IS two wolds, not one (Vajda-Fenton 2002 53) ten fillget s, hve o p p o s ~ t c finge~s,five o p p o s ~ t efive, f i n g e ~ s , five oppo.;ite fivc,
My t ~ a n s l ~ ~ presupposes
t~on thal the allusion to Job 1s the plslnary leason why the five, 'lnd the covenant of the 'lnd tlie ~ o \ / e n ~ t noft ~ l n ~ t yalitl the crc,~t~on" of the
author qual~fiesn1173D1WY ~ v ~ tthrs l i word. I le 1s askrng the questron. what I S the l J n ~ q u eOne is exactly in the 1s e\nctly In the ~nltltllcby Unlilue One is exactly In the
fo~rndat~onlbas~s on whrcli God has constt irctcd the unrvcr\e? To which Sob 26 7 ril~ddleIn the covenant ol the the worti ol the tongue 'lntl ~ i i ~ d d l eIn, wold ant1 tongue
Langue and tlic clrcumelslon ~noutlidnci the crlcumcislon '111ci m o ~ ~ t l i
gives tlie answel 3D '52 5~ Y l K 75n (he has suy2encied the world on he11 I I ~
ol tlic flesh ol the flesh
- nothrng). Hence I take SY 4 2 as two parallel nornrnal clairses with 7D ~ 5 and 2
7lb7 h a v ~ n gapp~oxtrnnlelythe same meanlng I"
716' 1'111s has an irnccrtaln gosltron 111 the textual ttadlt~onof SY. The Saadyali
Iiccensron LindMss MNFI"' III the Short Recensrorl omrt rt here (as they do 111 3 9). LMNSFI'IQII colldled to K IS'B7C;kI collated to A Z F collated to C
B L I111
~ 111scommentas y Saadya assumes that the \+lord 1s present although he con- lwul YWY -tio3 I ison)] ison1 -19on)B'GII, -1213 ;ii7n~];ria2 Z, I!, E
nects 11 w ~ t hnlDK W k D and not n17nlK P7nWl P71WY2 1 H O W C V ~111I ,QQ 17 anci >son LMNSPQ -t3n71 -1n7 B' n i m 1 om B' B? mi] 291 ;is21 E
19, w h e ~ emost oitlie Short Rccensron Mss omtt 7lD7,M N h I add rt! Tlie Saadyan ~,-tin3
I nw21 nin2 K"%L ;is21 G -~un;i]iiun;i
K 1 1 ~ ?1] 1 ~ LNF-
h B'E32CiIl
Rccensroli has the word In $ 17 hut not 4 18. Saadya omlts ~tIn $ 19. lf'lld' belongs
P l Q I i lYS;i] 11YD;i Kn"L
a l of $ 2 11 15 parallel In meanlng to 7 ~ 7 5 2~f
to the o r ~ g ~ ntbrm , ~tbelongs to a later IR, i1UV;i C), dcld X7;iV
stage In the evolutron of the text then rt 1s an attempt to Inteipret tts meanrng. The i 7 i x i niu2rx iwu 1 7 2 F

fbrm I71P7 I S lilorc securely rooted In the SY trad~tronIn 4823, 37 and 45.
n1D7X/n1DK/l11)31K See also 44 9, 17, 23-31 Ms A consrstently spells t h ~ wold s
nlD7K.The Saadyan Recension (apart fiorii $ 2 - but rn 111s commentary on tliss N o f r ~0 1 7 the tcxf of $ 3
paragraph Saadya spells rt nlDlK) f a ~ t l ycons~stentlyspell? it nlD1X. In 4 17 Ms
Z vocallses 11 n1D1X. Most other Mss spell tt n1DX Schole~nconnects ~t to the T h ~ paragraph
s 1s nit\slng 111 Ms I), plesuliiably t h ~ o ~ t gliomo~oa~
li cton - the scr rbe's
mlshna~cwold ;1?1X meanlng "Soundat~on" 2 2 Saadya glosses nlnlx wrth tlie Ara- eye sl~ppedto the b e g ~ n n ~ nofg$ 4 Note ~ t posrt~on
s In Mss R1B2H- aftel Q 9 wh~ch,
b ~ ~c P (01
X lgln, root, pt lnclple) and, although he accepts tliat ~t means "mothers", of coirlse, I S almost rdentlcal wlth, In their case, the 111rss111g$ 2 Hence In these
says that 1s used metaphorreally, to wlilch the clue rs the prefixrng of 71d7to W 5 W tlitee Mssh Q I 1s ~rnrned~i~tely followed by $ 4 Thls produces a st~ucturepaiallel
nlDlK A preferable explanat10111s that P1K IS jirst a dlalect~calvar~antof PK 111 to QQ37 38 and 4Q45 46 whclc, ~mmedlatelyafter the ~nttoductronof the jeven
Rabblnrc tlebren parallel to PlW for PW (I993 183) 23 double letters and the twelve irniple letters therr "seven-ness" and t h e ~ r"twel\le-
ness" IS lieavrly emphws~zedby the fbllowrng par agr;lph, as In Q 4 the "ten-ncss" of
'"I-lalberstam 1885: 140.
I" Schole~n'stranslation "closed" (1987: 28) Sollo\ving Sakldya, \\/auld require the text to read tlie \c.fil-ot 1s stmrlarly uncicrllncd Poss~blywe see here at worlc the ecl~tor~al flats
nlnl'73.Joseph Dan (1993: 22,11.29) has almost reached the same conclusion as 1 have. of some sellbe LIP the transmlssron 111ieSro~iiBIR2M, 01, glvcn the fixed connection
'" In Ms I 710' is SOLIII~
at tile end of the paragraph. It loolts as though it was not in the scribe's of Q Q 37 -38 111 the Short alld Long Rccen~ronsand $445-46 In the Long Rccens~on
exemplar hut lie Iincw ol'lhe reading or liad another. Ms which had it, and so attempted to put it in
but in the wrong place!
" Kalhch 1972: 50, Lalnhcrt 1891: 24.
" lo02: 25, n . 45, 1087: 30, n . 49. ofn713lhere.
1 aln following Saadya's ~~ndcrstaliding
" A. Saenz-Badillos, A l-Ii.c/oi:)~ of'flre Ilc~/~i.clc~ (Cambridge IC)93),11. 183.
Ltrii~~riigc~ '' See the i~rtrotli~ction
5 8.1 for tlie con~iectionbetween flicse three Mss
68 I<t/r/ror7crnd CI~IIIIIIL'IIILII.~

(the S l i o ~does
t not have b46) are these Mss putt~ngus In touch w ~ t hthe orrg~nal ~ n t e n t ~ oofn the author. But then subseq~~cntly ~7'13was ~rnderstoodIn tlie I~ghtor
order of'tliese paragraphs? In tlic Saadyan Rccens~onQ 3 IS followed by 4 7 and 1s Q 61 wh~cli,as nle shall see, has itself ~indelgonesitbstant~alexpansion In the course
cornbrncd by Saadya rnto h ~ halrrlthcrl7 s 1.2. Accotd~rigto the I-febrew translations o f t ~ m eThe gloss 111 Ms F (175almY3YR 1 W Y 1.3 R77W),whlch Donnolo also Ins,
of Dunash's commentary the text he was work~tigon was close to that of the Short shows t h ~ process
s at \vorl<.Then 7145737 n577331was added (as In Ma A) to make
K e c e n s ~ o n . ~ H o i v c vVajda's
e~, reconstruction ofl)unash's text presupposes for the the reference to the Abrahaln~ccovenant qulte clear. Then ni7733was ~ntrod~lced
second half of the paragraph a form~rlatronsomeivhere between that of Ms A and before ]1W?; rt 1s ~ i i ~ s s ~IIInMSS g BIBZII.T h ~ p~oduces
s tlie nrce play on n~ords.FI-
tllc Saadyan Kecensron "l'all~ance de 1'Unlq~lccst fixkc ail 11111reu,par la parole, nally, 731 way re~novcdIn the Short Kecens~onto produce the even better balance
la langue et I'all~aticedc la chats" (Vajda-Fenton 2002: 56). Donnolo paraphrases of 1145737 n5773311 1 ~ n'/7733 5
- so Gruen\vald (1073 488) The change from 7m7
agaln, rathe~than q~rotesexactly, and there are considerable vanatrons 111 the Mss to 71ns fits In with t h ~ ssli~ftIn the or~entatlonof 3. If some such process as thts
cltcd by Castclli (1880 35). B~rt~tlooks l ~ k he e had before h ~ m a text s ~ m ~ ltoa rthat took place then ~tparallels other changes to the text of'SY \\~hlchhad tlie effect of
of Ms A but with 1145737 lather than 1745737 ~ i h ~ cheh helprully glosses as Kl7W
- makrng ~ta more rcllg~oustext 2"
711457, rcf'cr~~ n us g to Hab 2: 15 17Yi37 Thrs must be an error In Ms A though ive also find rt rn Jiidah bcn Barz~l-
Our w~tncssesb,lsrcally agree on tlic text oftlus palagraph as fa1 as n7131;therc- la1 (aecord~iigto Halbcr,tam 1885: 105, 140). However, .Judah's subsequent com-
after t h ~ n g sbecome q i ~ ~complex te and ~t1s d ~ f ' f i e ~to~ lproduce
t a tldy explanation ments assume that he 1s e x p o i ~ n d ~ nag~ e a d l n g7'45737 ( t e s t ~ f i e ~ ) Another
.?~) error
of ho\v all the vastant ~ e a d ~ n arose. gs I S lYY7 In Ms K , corrected In the malgln to 11Y)r;l 'There are srgns In the Ms of'
71n7'. Apart f i o ~ nMs I t h ~ s1s confined to the Long Recensron. It IS easy to see an attenipt to w r ~ t eover the Y LVhcther n71X 111 K 15 also an error 1s dtffict~ltto
how ~tc o ~ ~ have l d arlsen froin ?Ti7,but the reverse IS also possible. say since ~tmakes good sense. The corrector of the Ms obv~o~rsly thought ~twas a
n57733 Most Mss, especially rn the Long Rccens~on,have n'7733, and we can see m~stal<c
the same drvergencc of spellrng between the Gen~zaliScroll (Ms C) and Saadya. Welnstock (1972:36- 37) regards most of the second half of thrs paragraph as a
T h ~ bs e a ~ ons the issue of whet he^ we have h c ~ 7>773 e ( c ~ r c u m c ~ s ~or
o n7>73
) (word). series of addlt~onsto the o r ~ g ~ ntcxt a l and YY73X2 n311213 ?Inv n7131he emends to
Unfb~tunately,both words could be spelt elthcr way Followed by ]iW> ~t would YY73K3 Y7n7]I2731 (and the divcll~ng-placeof'thc Un~queOnc I n the centre). The
naturally be taken as "word", followed by 7145737 as "c~rc~uucrs~on." That would s~lggest~on 1s ~ n t e r e s t ~ nbut
g has no support rn the extant Mss, tliough Ile c o ~ ~have
ld
glve us a nlce play on words But would t h ~ play s take 11sback to the earllest fortu c ~ t e dParls 763 to support 111srelcgat~onof llYi37 n57733i 7 7 ~ n57133 5 to secondary
of the text" Not ~f n e Sollo~vcdthe Saadyan verslon \vIi~cl~ does not have ~t at all. stat~rsH I 1econ5truct1on
~ of SY Q 3 IS siibjected to devastat~ngcrlticrsrn by Nrcolas
Saadya also has a rad~callydifferent u n d e ~ s t a n d ~ nofg 1111sparagraph from all the Sdd In hrs review of Gruenwald and We~nstock'sed~tlons7 i
other ~ n t e r p l c t e ~s ~s n c ehe reads n7131as nl131 (=nK713l)and translates "and one
body I S placed exactly In the rn~ddle."He i~nderstandsthls to be a reference to hu-
man be~ngsas the creatron of God placed 112 the lnlddlc ofthe Lrnlverse s~lrrounded
by the ten ,cjirot, r.e. the d ~ m e n s ~ o nofs space and the b a s ~ celc~ncntsas expla~ncd
late1 In the text tle d e n ~ e sthe vlcw that the lefercnce IS here to the "covenant 7'" K A
This way o f t a k ~ n gthe tcxt ivould be fully congruent w ~ t hthe basrc assunipt~onsof xL/l i v y ;in753 nn7sDl v u i v y 7 ~ 7 5 2m i m i w u
SY about human~ty'splace w l t h ~ nthe urnverse. There IS no other sec~lrereference .;iiwu nnx x i 1 iwu , y v n nnx x i 1 i v y y v n xL/i
.;11~22a m 1 ,;in3n2 p;1 a i m 1 ;in>nx p ; r ;rimy
O ~SY
to " C I ~ C I L I ~ ~ C I S I111 " slnce the ~ n c n t ~ oofn ~tIn 9 61 1s mlssrng In Ms C. 7nu;ii a;ia iipni ]in3 ilpnl a82 pi73 ~ 1 ' 2 2
Onc possrble explanat~onof how these d ~ v e r g e ~texts i t arose ivould be to assume L/Y i ? r . i 7 m;ii i712i u 127 7n~;ii 11x1 2 i v n i Y-I172
that the Saadyan verslon 1s the earllestZSand that Saadya correctly itnderstood the .1113D lY173V31 1'112 L/Y 137
1 7 ~i vv y 1n-1~n11113n iu
.71D 125
It is intcresting to note thaf Moses be11Joseph's translation has the same error ('!) of 1lYW;i
'(I

fbr 11YD;i as Ms Q but 1)unash's coulmentary assumes that he was expounding 1lYD;i nL/V231.
lL/'73 p i x D.51 7 ; i ~ hi 7 3 0 77n7 n7131L/~p~l;iI;iH;i InY?7p -";und solneti~nesthey
inalte a ~nistakehere anti say that n'121 means "covenant", but this is incorrect" (Kafacli ''ISee Hayman 1984, 1987, 1993.
1072: 52, Laulihcrt 1891: 26). Hen-Shammai (1988: 6) suggests that Saadya may have drawn his "' D. Kaufi~lann,in liis notes and corrections to Halberstam's edition (p. 31 I) says that on p.40
linderstailtiing of n'l2 from an earlier commentary on SY. the Ms rcads 11Yn;i.
'8 The shortest text is a c t ~ ~ a l in
l y Paris 763 which otiiits everything after YYDX3. 'I SCd 1073: 519-522.
72 Edition crnd C'oirtti~enltii.~~

rates the two saylngs, introduc~ngeach of them with Klhi) 71Yt31(and the meaning
of our sayrng).'Vn thc Short Recens~on4 5 comes after $ 6 and before $10.
K A C
There are a number of relatrvely minor d~fferericesbetween the Mss b ~ ionly t one
1'9 ~ 1 5 ;la752
2 r n i 7 ~ibw u a152 ;in752 m i 7 s b i w u 1l52 7 ~ 7 5 n1i79b
2 l w ~
1 7 D Ill52 1 7 1 7 5 ~7Zl95 1 ; n ; i h 1l52 1 2 7 ' 7 ~1'9
major one. Thls I S the a d d ~ t ~ oofn 11251 117313 7nKY7W after ~ 1 i ) nInj Ms A . T h ~ s
1 7 1 7 5 ~72'7 Ill52 1 2 7 5 ~
73w nip135 21w 7x5 y i D X I 2iw 7275 y i 1lx1 1 2 7 5 ~ 1lipn5 2iw 7275 y i y i 1lx1 reflects one of the two ways In wli~chthe a~nbiguousword Dl713 was ~lnderstood
127 i u i 12iwi x i n 3 l a x 1 i i 3 n i l n n ;tnxrvw aipn5 12-1i u i 2iwi K i n innwa:, by tlie early commentators. Is ~t a divine name the Place or O m n ~ p r c s c n or
- t ~~ ~ 1 s t
, n 7 i 2n i x 77 x i ~ ni'nzi
i 1 ~ x 72w
1 n712 n-~ix 77 the ord~narynoun "place"') In 461 Mss KLSFK and Judah ben Bar7illa1 clearly
n 7 i 2 n i x 7 1 127 5 u i 2 i w i use Dli)73;1 as a d ~ v l n ename where the Long Rccens~onMss have (2"3) W1777
The ten ,sgfi'ro/ are tlie basis: The ten sgfirot are tlie ba- The ten cefifof 'ire the bas17 Shabbeta~Donnolo even reads D775K5here (Caste111 1880: 38) which leaves no am-
restrain your mouth from sis: restrain your heart from restran yo~11 mouth f roll1 b~guityabo~lthow ~tshould be understood. Ms A clearly reflects tlie understanding
speaking, rcstrain your heart thinking; restrain your spe'lklng, i e s t r a ~ nyour henrt of the text wli~cliwe find In Saaciya's ttanslat~on:"ten closcd nunibcrs. close you1
from thinking. And if your mouth from speaking. And froin thrnklng And ~f you1 mouth Srorii speaking too much about them and close your heart from thlnkrng
heart races return to the if your heart races return to healt laccy return (11) to ( ~ t s ) about them, and ~fY O L I th~nklng
~ gets o ~ of~ hand
t (111.runs) return 11to ~ t place,
s as
I'lace, for tlil~sit is writtcn: the place where Y ~ L started,
I place, for thus 11 1s wrlttcn
rt 1s s a ~ dabout tlie angels. hrrngpre,\ent at~drctclrntng."When Judah ben Bar71llar
(like) rrinriing ~ r n dr.efrrrtliiig and rcincmber that thus it rzinnrlig and retzrr tiing (Erek
(Ezek 1:14). And concerning is written: A i i d the livirlji 1 14) And concerning t h ~ s first c ~ t c s$ 5 lie reads l13li)?h l;1177n2 (Halberstam 1885: 31) which looks l ~ k ea
this matter the covenant was cr*rcrfur.e.s 1.m fo n/ic/ ,fko nlatter the covcnant was it~alglittranslat~onback ~ n t oHebrew of Saadya's translat~on.When lie quote? the
made. (Ezek.l:14). And concern- nlade 35 paragraph again lie reads 1131i)1313lW(rbrd 105, 165) There can be l~ttledo~rbtthat
ing this matter a covenant t h ~ s~solatedread~ngIn Ms A 1s an ~nterpretatlvegloss. The add~tionof D73 In Ms
' 21W1 HlYl K"'" was made. I after 17l7573 reflects the saiile need that Saadya obv~ouslyfelt to spell out what it
I S that must not be thought about.
The ordcr of the phrases 1717113 735 131'73 /137113 7'3 Dl53 1s rcversed In the
zn752 n i i 7 s o i w u ~1152713 752 n i i 7 b o i v y 7 7~~ ~ ;in7525 2 n i i m iwu
Long Recension, and most Mss of tlie Short Recension do not repeat 13153. Note
D I l l 7 2 17 5 1 7 1 7 5 ~7 2 5 1 1 2 7 5 ~ 7 ~ D 1 7 1 7 ' 7 ~725 Ill52 127%
w 2 5i 1 7 mpni 3iw 725 Ijiiv m i mpa5 2iw 7275 y i m i also the read~ngsof Mss R and G. We~nstock(1072: 43, n.3) deduces from this that
1 ~ i p n 5 i u i 2 i w ~x i s 1 725 i a x w
2iwi X T Y 1~ ~ x 72w 5ui 2iwi x i r i i n x l 73w 1717513 135 Dl53 was originally a marginal gloss to 135 In the next clause, and
.n3i2 n i x Z T 127 5ui . n v m n 77 1x7 n712 > n i x 127 was ~nsertedin d~fferentplaces in the early Mss. T h ~ 1s s possrble but i~nprovablein
' Yll' D"'" tlie absence of any Ms wli~chhas only one of these clauses.
Ms D and all the Shoi-t and Saadyan Recension Mss do not have n17n;n. As
LMNSFPQR collated to K B'B2GH collated to A E collated to 7 G r ~ ~ e n w a lremarks
d (1973 490), t h ~ sadd~tlonlnlsses the polnt of the allusion to
i 2 7 5 n ] i z i z i n R a152 72'51 7'9 G 1 1 ~ 1 37 n m 7 w n i 2 127bn] orn E* E7ek 1:14 w h ~ c his s ~ n ~ p to l y "gorng backwards and forwards" Such read~ngs,
72'71 7251 L R 21W ] 11371] o m BiB2GH 1251 7251 F* 119~11 om E where Inore or less of a b~bllcalquotation is included 111 the text, are among the
21W7 MN XlY13 1 X 1 Y l
Kn'L R
commonest variants In ~ n e d ~ e v Hebrewal Mss but the add~tionof n17n71here may
1271 0111M*N be of real slgn~ficanceslncc Gruenwald t h ~ n k sthat it l a ~ dtlie text w ~ d eopen to
I<abballst~cInterpretation.
The generally poor state of the tcxt of SY in tlie Gen~zahScroll can be clearly
Notes 011 the text of $ 5 seen In thls paragraph. Welnstock ( ~ Allony n 1981a. 19) IS almost certainly correct
In seeing 173nW132 as an error for YirKIttr '732, In contrast to L~ebes(2000: 35, n.2)
In the Saadyan Recens~on$ 5 beglns chapter 3 where it is comb~ned( w i t h o ~ ~a t who does not refer to Wernstock's oplnron Liebes' further attempt (p 54) to see a
break) wrth 9 6 , as it 1s in Ms A . However, in 111s translat~onSaadya clearly sepa- conncctlon between SY $ 5 and Deut 4:15 I S built on a shaky textual foundatron.

" Ms C in this paragraph is too corrupt lo serve as a basis for the translation of the Saadyan
Recension. I have, therefore, translated the tcxt of Ms Z here, according to the understanding of it 36 Kalach 1972 90, La~nbert1891 55
conveyed by Saadya's Arabic translation. " See Malmorstciri 1927 92-93, U ~ b ~ 1979
~ c h 1, 66-69
 On the reading 117779 in B'GH see the notes to $4. The reading lIl5T172 1310 LN R collatcd to K N o stg- B'BLDGH collated to A E = C exactly
13103 1Il'7~nIllmay reflect the same fendenz, if it is not a straight error WUIVfor -
n~ficanlvar~ants 3 1B' 1n7'ml om
7 ~ ~ 5 om
B I ,in7n c; a n ] ;iiun
N1117.
G nnn] ;itm G t u i ] om
BIG

K A C Notcs on the text of $7

1n-m ;in753 n n 5 ~iav y
pniu .qia a 7 5 1'xv i v y
pniu ,n71nx pniui n7vm
, o i l pniu ,Y?pniui >it9
pniu ,mTn pniu ,nnn pniu
pmui 1 i ~ pmu
r ,>xm
l i n i x 777' 117x1 . a i i ?
p n n 15133 i v i n
7Y '7Y 7YllV7i)
The ten s ~ f i r o tare the basis;
thcir mcasiu-e is ten for they
have no limit: di~ncnsionof
beginning and dimension of
end, dinlension of good and
dimension of evil, dimen-
sion of above and dimen-
sion of below, dimension of
east and dimension of west,
dimension of north and di-
mcnsion or south. And the
unique Lord, a trustworlhy
di\/ine king, rules over them
all from his holy abode for
ever and ever.
l m 7 n i ;in753 n n 7 m ?mu
paiu ~ i l;iio 7wv i v y
pniu n'inx pniui n7wx1
a11 pmu u i p n i ~ zit3 i
mTn paiu nnn p n i ~ i
1lDY i)iYlY 3 l Y D pDlY1
7'n7 l i 7 x i a ~ i 7pmui
l i i i ~v i n lax] Tin i x
79 '7P 7Y11W7i) llYB19
The ten s ~ f i r ~ oarc
f the ba-
sis and their tileasure is ten
for they have no limit: di-
~nensionof beginning and
dirncnsion of end, dimen-
sion of good and di~nerlsioii
of evil, ciimension of above
and dimension of below,
dimension of east and di-
mension of west, dimensiori
of north and dimension of
south. And the unique I.,ord,
a trustworthy divine king,
rilles over them all from
his holy abode for ever and
cver.
qia [1;ii 17xv~ v 'jn77ni]u
n'-~nx] pmYi n'vxl paiu
pmY [nnn pniui a11 pniu
n ~ pniu n YIT pniui zit9
[ l i s r pniu 3 i y n pniyi
i x 7'n3 li7xi a i l 7 pmui
[1ii33 >win [lax1 l i l n
[ ~ Y' I7 7~ ~ i v 7 p 1iYpn
And the~rluedsure is ten for
they have no 11in1t dlnien-
i ~ o nof b e g ~ n n ~ and
n g dlmen-
s ~ o n of end, d ~ ~ n e n s ~ofo n
above arid dnnens~ouof be-
low, d ~ ~ n e n s i oof
n good and
d ~ r n e n s ~ o of
n evll, dlmen-
91on of east and d ~ m e n ~ ~of o n
west, dimeiisloa of north and
dl~nensloliof south And the
Llnlqile Lord, a trustworthy
d ~ v l n ek ~ n g rules
, over them
all fiorn 111s holy abode for
ever and ever
As Gtuenwald notes (1973 495f), the descrlpt~onof the refirof p~escntedIn t h ~ s
p a ~ a g ~ a p15h not easy to harmon~sew ~ t hthe one w h ~ c hfollows In QQ 10-16. How-
ever, Wcinstock's resolut~onof the problem (1972 38,59) by relegating the whole
of QQ 10-16 to 111s first layer of a d d l t ~ o nto~ the o n g ~ n a lSY is not based on any
t e x t - c ~ ~ t ~ecva~l d e n c e . T
~ ~h 'e ~ e1s ~erna~lcable
u n a n ~ l l l ~ tamong
y the Mss ovel the
text o f 4 7 T h e ~ e1s only one mlnor varrant worthy of note Ms Z follows the o r d e ~
of the d~~ncnslorls a? In the Long and Short Kecens~ons,w h e ~ e a sthe Short Recen-
sloil Ms M follows the oldel o f C E . T h ~ probably s ~eflectsan c a ~ l ytlanspos~t~onal
errol which spread Into the ~nanuscrlpttradrt~onof CE It I S clearly more logical
for the dllnenslons of space to be kept togethe1 as In QQ 15 and 16. The subst~tu-
t ~ o nof 75~79f o ~D l 1 and 7U79 for 17n17 In G also appears III 4 16 scattered around
the iecenslons, and probably ~eflectscontarri111atlo1~ from 4 15 For 117779 In G see
above on 354 and 6 The olnlsslon of?Yl In K"'s and G (and also In Donnolo and
Dunash) ~eflectsthe influence of Isa 26:4. The omlsslon of 779'52 n11730 1 W Y In
the Saadyan Recens~onIS due to the fact that it c o ~ u b ~ n 4Q e s 3 and 7 ~ n t oone state-
ment (Saadya's chapter 1 2) The paragtaph 1s c ~ t e dIn the M~drashLehnch Tob
( H L I ~1884:~ I 2) where it subct~tutesT W n p?3lYlllR p791Yl Sol Y l p79lYl2lD pmY.
Iloweve~,none of our Mss attests this leading and the autho~of Lekcrcl7 Toh, Toblas
bcn El~ezer,IS not noted for acculate c ~ t a t ~ oofn 111s sou~ces.The way he I uns parts
of SY 458, 7 and 5 together at t h ~ sp o ~ n tsuggests that he 1s quoting erroneously
from il~emory

7n7n ;in+l ni19sa i v y 7 i q ; i i 1'xw i v y 1n77ni

pniu .qia m i 17xvivu n'inx p n i ~ n7wxl
i pniu
pniu n7inx pniui n'vxl pniY .ui pniui pniu
>ID p n i ~ nnn pniu ,a11 mTn pniy nnn pniui a i l
pniu , m s n pniu u i pniui 11" p n i ~31un pniui
Dl17 j7DlYl llD3 pnlY 3lYD 7.177 li-txi a m pmui
lnxl ]in i x 7.n' li7xi 1 i i x i v i a 12x1 Tin i x
i u i i v 7 p 1iYnn 75133 i v i n ,7u '7u 7 ~ i iv ~ pp n n
7u '7Y
io On t h ~ sprohle~nsee Dan 1993. 2 3 , a . 30
The ten .sc$r.of are tlie basis. T l ~ c/ell .sc;firot trrc the ~ L I - A~ltllheir measure is ten fbr
Their appearance is like t l ~ e sis. Their appearance is like they havc 110 limit. Their
sight of lightning, and their the sight of lightning, a ~ i d appetarance is like the sight K A C
end'! they have no li~liit.
- - their end'! - they have 110 of' ligl~tning,and their end'! 71~3n i m x a7nwi a7iwy a 7 i w y i ;in752 m i m i w u -ria7m7mx a7nw1 [ a 7 i l w y
And liis word is in them (7,s limit. Ilis word is in them (1s - they hove n o limit. Ar~cihis n i i i m y2w mnx w i w w i w 7 1 ni3nix~ ~ 03nwi niiia3 Y ~ n Wi m x w i i w
tlrou,y/~rrr11ni11grltld I ' ~ / ~ I I . / I - rl~o~rgh ~~~rn/? (Ezek.1:
itlg 14), word is in them ir,s l l ~ o ~ l g l ? .niaiw~ a5nwi a7nwi n i i i a 3 u2wi mn3x n i a i ;~i i~~ n7nw1
y
ing (Exek. l :l4), and they ant1 they I ~ L I S S L Iliis ~ eorli- 11//1/1/1 ~llld r~/l/l~/7;~lg nnx n i i i n i a i w a z i w u
pursue his command like the mand like the storm wind, (Ezck. 1 :14); nncl they p~.~r.suc .l?D
storm wind, ancl before his ancl before his tllrone they his colnmantl like the stovrll
throne they bow dowri. how do\vn. \vinct, and be1i)r.c his throne I'llc twenty-two letters are The ten .c.</ir.o/are tlie basis l'he twenty-two letters are
they bow down. the fi)undation: three primary and the t\venty-two letters the Soundation: three primary
letless, seven do~ible(letters), are the So~rrldatiori: three letters, seven tlouble (letters),
and t\velve simple (letters). mothers, seven double (let- iund twelve simple (letters).
LMNSf;l'lQR coll'~tcdto K H'H'DGI I collated to A LF collated to C t e ~ s ) , dnd twelve 51mple
an353nil n753ni M N ypl ;ink11 om 13'13?H l n S 7 a ~ ] 1n779~1 l ; i ? az
~ (lettcrs) And the Sp111t I \
q i K ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ M qN P ~i 1, y p
i xQ i n 7 7 ~HI~ ln?i,nil in7i3m onc oSthc~n.
I i i a x a i i ] iiaxn i u i MN B' 17x1 17x 7~ R I D ' I ~
l;i210]mi wn7c;rr, ;li D
XlY13] add lllW G, KlS12
2ltV1 BZL)H (In B1)

Note.\ 017 flie f e r f o f $(I'

LMNSFPIQII collated to K BIHJGIicoll,ltecl to A ZF ~ o l l ~ ~to
t eCd
L~ltetlie preced~ngp a ~ a g ~ a p ltliei , text of $ 8 1s leasonably stable. In the Saadyan ~ 1MI-IQ
7 1 ~ om - 1 1 ~ ~orn
1 HI nnx] 532 mmx] n i n x c
Recension ~t 1s comb~nedw ~ t h$ 4 foirn~ngSaadya's cliapte~2:1, and t h ~ sexplains nnx B ~ B ' G I I
tlie o ~ u ~ s s ~ofothe
n usual introductory p h a s e 7D752n1173D1 W Y and the subst~tu-
tlon of 11D 175 7)XW 1 W Y 1n7V21 See the tlotes to 446 and 7 Rather than uslng
Saadya's ralc li)r111 1!173Y I have restoted the text of Ms C a c c o ~ d ~ ntogMr E w111cli
agtees w ~ t hall the other wltncsscs In lcadlng '/ilm3Y710 ihr Yi/ 111 K8"gMNPQIS
an obv~ousc o i ~ e c t ~ otonthe 716 175 I 7 X W 1 W Y In7'731 liom the plevrous palaglap11 49, as we have alicady wen, molc or less ~ c p e a t s4 2 In the Short Rcccnslon ~t
but may also be an attempt to get 111 a ieference to 110 I7X;see We~nstock1972 39, comci after Q 16 at the beg~nti~iig of the second part of the book wh~clideals wlth
n 4. Tlie teaci~ngof Ms I rs Intelestlng w ~ t h11stns~stencethat Yi, 1s the cotrcct read- the tv\enty-two Icttetc. In this pos~ti(>rithe 1111tlalphrase found at the beginning of
Ing Tlie welght of ev~dencesupports Ms 1's s c r ~ b eheie Doiinolo (Castellr I980 the Long Recens~on(719'52 iI1l73D1WY) would be c l ~ l ~out t e of place Aftel $ 16
37) comb~nesboth ~ e a d ~ n gYi/l s YlD 173 I7X Tlie singula~suffix on liI7'3Y and and b e f o ~ cQ 17 does, however, \eem tlie more logleal place Sol thrs parag~aphdnd,
1,n9'l3nlIn R' p~esumahly~eflcctsthe sarne attclnpt to turn thcsc parag~aphs~ n t o ~rideed,~t 1s ~epeatedthcie In the Long liecenslon 773'52 n11730 lWY, tlieii, is
a descript~onof God (with the stJfrrof as his attl~butes)as we find In its text of QQ 6 most likely an addlt~onw h ~ c hfits Q 9 In the Long Reeens~onInto the overall pattern
and 7 if ~tI S n o t j ~ ~an
- s t error of $42-5, 7- 8, 10 wlitcli all beg111witli this pli~ase It may be sign~ficantthat Ms
Instead of 19171' We~nstocl< (1972. 40) reads 13117' on the basls of the Hebrew D aglees wrth the other recensions In omtttrng the p h ~ a s eBut note the p o s ~ t ~ oofn
text c ~ t e dIn the G e n ~ ~ aMs
l i of tlie Arable text of Dunasli's coni~nentary('Taylol- $ 9 111 Ms D -between Q Q 12 and 13, whlch may be elated to tlie Short Recens~on's
Scliechtc~3075, 11ne 3, Valda 1963. 152) Vajda t ~ a n s c r ~ b et hs ~ sas 13171' but the Incorpotatron of Q 9 witli~ii4 12 In RIR'I-1 4 9 1s placed between 44 8 and 3 ~ / h l l e
photoglaph (ibru' 154) s l i o ~ i \tliat We~nstockIs collect He crtcs Nalii~m1 3 In Ms G tollom!s the order of Ms A , though 11does not have Q 10. The f l u c t i ~ a t ~ posr-
~ig
support - 1317 1lYW2l 131D3, Howevel, Dilnasli's co~nrnenta~ y on ~ t own
s 1s insuf- tlon o f Q9 w ~ t h l nthe Long Receiis~on~tsclf~ c ~ n f o r c the
c s concl~~sron tliat ~t I S out
fic~entsuppoit to outwe~ghthe unrted test~monyof all OLII other Mss In favour of of place i n Q$ 1-10 and o~lglnallybelonged elsewlie~eOf the three conl~nentatots
191717 The b ~ b l ~ cpassage,
al on tlie contra y, limy show how the v a l ~ a n alose.
t who generally follo~vthe oldel of the Short Keceni~on,J ~ ~ d ahen h B a r n l l a ~places
$ 9 after Q 15 and before 6 19a, Donnolo places ~t after $ I6 and before Q 17, w h ~ l e
D~lnashdoes not seem to have had it at all or, at least, chose to ignole it in h ~ com- s nnx ;in 752 nn7saiwu
mentary (see Vdjda-Fenton 2002: 83, 11.1). 1131 a9?na?;I'/x m i x7;r
In the Saadyan Receiis~onQ 9 performs tlie same funct~onas it does In the o t h e ~ law 7112n11112 Txa 1x03
Icccnslons It ~ntroducesLIS to the treatnlent of thc twenty-two letters w h ~ c h ,In aiiu5 77an a7a51u;i ?n5x
TI; imi nnn n i i i 5ip 7 ~ 1
t l i ~ sRecension, tales us immediately to the t h ~ c e~ n o t l l e ~(6s23), the seven doubles
,WYi?;i n11 x7;i
($ 37a), and the twelve s ~ m p l el e t t c ~ s(445) But 11I S then ~ e u s e dat the s t a ~ of
t the
second I un th10~1g11 the letters (ch 2:2) Q Q 24a, 38, 46- 47, 18, 58b And s ~ m ~ l a ~ l y
- LMNSFPIQR collated to K B2H collatccl to A LE collated to C
for the t h ~ r dand fourth runs (chapels 3 2 and 4.3) It 1s s~gn~ficant that In the fourth im'731;in751 L R inw] sxa 1x02 11311 017 7?an]om E 7 ~ ?-('I
1 om LE
iun through Q 9 ~ m m e d ~ a t e precedes
ly $17 a5 In Mss SPR in the Short Recension add tlil~j I 12111 11271 F 11 11121911 om 1-1 ~?195l~;i]
and all the Long Rccenslon Mss. Thus the use of Q 9 In the Saadyan Recens~onre- x1;1 ;IT11 X7;I 111 LSPI X l ? ] add ?'an R21f
o m MNQ
lnlblccs the conclus~onthat ~thas ~ t plopel s place and it~nctionas we find ~tIn the
Slio~t Rccens~on
71D7 On the uncertain place o f t l i ~ swold in the SY text t ~ a d i t i o ~see i the notes
on $ 2 .
Notes OM the test of 3I 0
1773 nnx (532) R111 (Long Recension) T h ~ sphrase properly belong5 to $ 1 2
In tlie Saadyan Recension Q 10, lollowed ~ m m e d ~ a t e lby y Q 12, begins the 1 0 ~ 1 t h
where ~t 1s attested In all three recenslons Gr~leriwald(1973 497) says that these
run thiough the ~ ~ f ~ tand * o tthe twenty-two letters (= Saadya's ch 4 1) In the other
words "are added herc 111 order to bridge between tli~sparagraph and the next one
recenslons ~t~ntioducesa rclat~velystable section w ~ t hregard at least to the order
\vIi~chd~sc~lsbcs the filst ,cfrt,cr, "the Splrit ofGod"" So Wcrnstock 1972: 48, n.1.
of the paraglaphs (44 10-16) Mss B 1and G o ~ nthis ~ t palagraph entl~cly,most prob-
ably because tlie scribe's eye sl~ppedf ~ o mthc ~ntroductoryp h ~ a s eof Q 3 to that of
Sefer Yesirn $10
4 11 In the case of B' and froin 9 to 11 In the case ofC;
We could suggest four stages In the g ~ o w t ho f t l i ~ sparaglaph
(1) A s~nlplestatement ~dentlfylngthe first 5efirlrtrh a5 the S p ~ r i tof the Llv~ng
m i nnx in153 nii7saiwu nnx ;in+> rni9saiwu n n nnx ;ra?52rni7soiwu God, identified In t ~ l r nw ~ t hthe Holy S p i i ~ t 07;15x n11 nnx ; I n 7 h nl179D Ymu
7112191 1111 awna?;rjx i x a 3 1131 .nvn a?;rixn n 1131 o?n5iu;I ?na7?n
nvix V71j7;l n l l X7;I 1T P'T. T h ~ 1epre5ents
s basically all the ~ i i a t e r ~~a lv h ~ ethe
h reccn-
5ip .n?ajiu;i7n5w ~ n w 1112. [fbl. 66b] sxa ~ D W
11121917112 5" 1 ~ ~ 3 slons have In co1ntnon Gruen~vald(1972: 497-98) ~naltcsa convlnclng case hele
n i l x i ? 251 .ixin i i i n?niiu;I~n5wlaw lii2ni x?;~1s -tui 7ui aiiuj ~ ~ n n that "pa~agraplis 10, 12, 13 and 14 d ~ dnot or~ginallycontarn anytli~ngbut the
w i i ~ n m~ 5ipi7ui a5iu5 .w?ip;i m i names of the ~ e f i r o t "He is rather too modest In stating that "there is no textual evi-
W71p;I rill R';I 1T
dence f o ~~t",s ~ n c e~tseems at least for Q 10 that 1solat111gwhat the recenslons have
Ten .s<fifirot,that is to say:jl The ten s~firr'rofare the ba- The ten tefzrof are tlie basis In common produces precisely S L I ~ I Ia ~ e l a t ~ v e uiiado~ned
ly statenient Weinstock
one thc Spirit of the Liv-
- sis: one the Spirit of the one the C ~ I~tI of the Llvlng
-
(1972.44, 11 1) relegates the whole of $$ 10-16 to h ~ second s and later layers of tlic
ing God. Twice blessed is Living God. I-lis fl?rone God, the Life of the Worlds
SY tradltlon, because the ~ d e n t ~ f i c a t ~ofo nthe \r~fit.ot111 $4 10-14 does not square
the name of the Life of the is e.stahli.shed ,fi.onl of' old Hlr thr-one t s ecfubl~thed
Worlds. Voice, and air (rziclh) (Ps 93:2). Twice blessed f , 0111 of old (Ps 93 2 ) T w c e with that offered In 4 7. However, ~ ~ s ~nternal ~ n g sclilcons~stencyas a text-crit~cal
and word this is the I-loly
- is the name of' tlle Life of' blessed I S h ~ snaiilc always c! Iter~onin SY (or any other ancient Jewlsli text) has to be done with the greatest of
Spirit (rz~111). the Worlds. Voice, and air for ever and eve1 T h ~ sI S the caution. Our author was not necessarily a log~cal01 consistent tl~~nl<erl
(rlitzl?) ancl speech this is Holy Sp11~t
-- (2) The a d d ~ t ~ oofn the phrase 111771Rlll 5lj7 - not p ~ e s e n In t the Saadyan Ke-
the I-loly Spirit (r~liah). cension. We~nstock(zbrd 45, n 8) I ightly calls t l ~ i sa "consp~cuouse n r g ~ n a t ~addl- c
t1on " Thc pL1rpose it selves 1s not cleal. Giuenwald (rbrd 500) comincnts that "the
t h ~ e ewords may well point to poss~bleLogos-spcculat~onswh~clilie at tlie bottom
i' All other Short Rcccnsion Mss and all the Mss of the other recensions read ;119'51 here. Ms of this section of tlie bool<" nn In t h ~ sphrase presumably rep~esentswhat 1'1X
K's lm53 is clearly an idiosyncratic reading, and so the translation oftlie Short Recension should does later in the book ~ ~ 1o ~s dt~ n n"all" r y over a g a ~ n stliet S p ~ rof ~ tGod. The two
be "'The Len scfir.ot are the basis."
k ~ n d sof Dl1 ale clistingu~shedIn 6 12 (111real~tythe next paraglap11 In the book)
Rut malc~ngt h ~ as d d ~ t ~ oatnth15p o ~ n t and, apparently ~dentrf'y~ng the two k~lids01'
mi, only comporrnds the allib~gl~lty rather than clar~f'y~ng ~t ' f h ~ sparagraph 1s nilsslng In all the Short Recens~onMss, 111 the Saadyan Recen-
(3) The a d d ~ t ~ oofn the cluotat~onfiom Ps 93.2 oiily In the Long Reccns~onand s ~ o n and
, In Ms D ~n the Long Recens~on It lecurs In all w~tncssesat tj 16 wli~ch
then not 111 M\ 1-1 Ne~tlierDunash, Donnolo, no1 Judali bcn Bai71lla1have it in their seems a tar more logleal place for such a summary rather than wedged between
texts oft1115palaglap11 It 15 clea~lysecondary, see Ilaynlan 1984 171 Gruenwald paragraph5 s p c c ~ f y ~ nthe
g first and second ~efir-ot.
points o r ~ tIi'~t
t w ~ t ht h ~ sadd~tlont h c ~ cale ten words fioln 1131 to 7Yl whlcli l a d
the text open to kabbal15t1cIntel p ~ e t a t ~ o ~ n ,d e n t ~ f y ~the
n gnames w ~ t hthe sefit*(i,.ot.
Welnstock too sees t h ~ sas one of the motlves Sol the growth of this paragraph
(1972 45, n 3) K A (1
(4) An add~tlonIn all lecenslons of the I~turglcale x p ~ e s s ~ o1nW n 1113131 1113,
3rnippn nnn nil a3nw 2rni ppn n i i a mi 03nw 2rni ppn min mi a7nw
n/li~ch1s completed In diffe~entway\ In the tecenslons, w h ~ l eMs 11 (suppo~tedby m7mxa3nwi a7iwu '72 a7nw;in ~ um
a7nw;l ninii u n x 7 2 m ~ n l i x~72
L)~lna5Ii)o m ~ t sl l l 3 n l Note the o t h e ~slgns of the g~owtliof t h ~ sadd~tlon111 Ms 1 u2wi ninx w5w ~ 1 ~ 7 a1171 lisr 2 ~ u n m
i ln 522 niii aii-ti lisr 2iuni
In the Short and B2H 111 the Long Reccns~on Donnolo does not have t h ~ spartleu- 7iwu a7nwl ,nliis2 .];in nnx '722 n i i i lm nnx
lai addltlon at all, though he does srrbst~tuteD ' ) ~ ? I Y z 7 n ? Sol ~ aY7nearl~crIn the 17n nnx niii .niuiws L= ch. 4.21
paragraph T l i ~ sleads We~nstocl<to ielegate Dmn to the status of a glo\s I>onnolo 2rm lppn min nil n7nw
on h ~ owns I S ~ n s r ~ f f i c ~evldence
ent to sr~ppoltSLICII a COIICIUSIOI~ but h ~ quotat~on
s ;I m i x a2
. ' D ~ ~ W ninii

docs ~llustratethe f l u ~ dnature o f t l i ~ palaglap11

s Two - air Srom Spirit: he 'Il~vo air i'rom Spirit: he
- Two - air from Spirit: he
Overall, the a d d ~ t ~ o ntos Q 10 w ~ t hthe11 ~eferencesto the B~ble,to ~ a b b ~ n ti- rc carved anci hewcd in it the carved and hewed in it the carved and hewecl in it the
tles for God and f'amll~arl ~ t ~ l ~ g lexpresstons
cal have the effect of toiilng down the twenty-two basic letters ~~ Sour winds of heaven - cast Sour winds of hcavcn cast-

5tIilngenes\ ol SY anci malc~ngit look niote at home in the i a b b ~ n ~ tradlt~o~l

c ofJuda- three primary letters, ancl ancl west, north and south. anci west, ~iorthand so~itli.
seven doubles, anti twelve And the air is in each one A11d the air is in each one of
Ism, see Hayman 1987 83 We will see fal- more of tlils type of secondary matel lal silnple (letters). And the oStliem. t h e ~ n[=
. ch. 4:2]
as we plogless tli~oughthe wotk E~nally,1 am not pe~suadcdby Shlomo Plnes' Spirit is one of them. Two - air from Spirit: he
algument (1989 88) that the Saadyan vclslon of QS 10 and 12 shows slgns of an eal- carved then1 and hewed
I ~ e stage
i of the SY t ~ a d ~ t i owhich
n only ~ e f e l ~ to
e dSIX,not ten sefrrof. The pa~allels in them the four winds of
between SY and the Clementme 1 lomtltes arc ~ncleedfhsc~nating,as was noted long heaven.
I S* omits from 72 to 2YRl I D7DW7... 2"D7nW is placed
ago by G ~ a t z(1846 102-1321, but although ~nfluencess t r n ~ l ato~ those whlcli were
at woik in these Jewish-Cli~lst~an texts nlay ultl~uatelybe beli~ndthe ollgln of SY, in $ 13 hy liomoio. It is partly after $20 and before 5 13 in
restored in the margin. CB. It is absent in Z.
the text as we have ~t rn all the Mss clearly has ten rc$r-of and only ten
LMN(S)FPlQli colldted to K B'B'GDH collated to A 7 E collc~leclto C (ch 4 2)
LP
11~7]0111 nnx] -tnx $25 n i i n ] add w7p7 H 721 lppnl ppn L a21 72 E
L, Ynx FP, nnx 535 R, 522 0111 B~ 5 x 1 52 au B'B~F-I
nnx SW
u ~ i nx n n a7n wiiw w ~ i p 7n i i n nil a7nw a77n a7;iix nil nnx 7n712 n i m D iwu
an71 lisri 2iuni msai nnni o m a7nnw x Notes to the f e r f of j 12
The ten sctirot are the basis: one the Spirit of the Living God; two - air from the Holy
-

Spirit; thrce water iiom air; Soiir fire from water; and above and below, cast a~itlwest,
- -
The Long and the Short Kecenslons go thelr separate ways tn this paragraph
north and s o ~ ~ t h . w h ~ l eMss C and E have two diffe~entvelslons of ~t 'I'he~rfirst velsion appears
as Saadya's chapter 4:2 between QQ 10 and 17. But they then have a second verslon
BlBlG1-r collated to A, placed between $620 and 13, 1.e. bct\veen Saadya's chapter 4:4 and 4:5. 111 t h ~ lat-s
W11p71 orn G ter p o s ~ t ~ othe
n paragraph 15 In ~ t loglcal
s place, as reflected In the Long and Short
Reccns~ons before QQ 13-16. These two Mss seem, therefore, to have preset ved an Short Recension verslorl of Q 12 IS clear f i o ~ nthe last t h ~ e ewords '/7n nlll.
earl~crstage In the format~onof tlie Saadyan Recens~onbefhre Q 12 was wrenched and the S p ~ l i 1st one ofthe111 One of what" - the twenty-two letters! The vanant
out of I ~ orlg~nal
S context and placed before 3 17 - fhr reasons w h ~ c has , we w ~ l see,l ~ e a d ~ n reflect
gs tlie p ~ ~ z ~ l e m ewe
r i shale
t w ~ t htlie scr ~ b e sThe
. phrase maker sense
probably generated the Short Rccens~onverslon. The verston w h ~ c hSaadyan had In the context of the Long Recens~on the alr, created from the S p ~ r 1s
- ~ tIn all the
before him had slmply elr~ri~nated what would now have appeared as an unneces- f o ~ wi~lds
~r of heaven; ~tdoes not make sense h e ~ e111 thls reshaped verslon of tlie
sary doublet. Ms B2 also has two velsrons of Q 12 but placed s ~ d by e srde; first co~lies S h o ~ Keccns~on
t It was probably the pli~asen l l 2 nl2lYn (hewn out in the alr)
tlie Long Recens~olifor111 (collated above), and then part of the Short Recens~on horn 4 17 tcfcrr~ngthere to the twenty-two letters, ~ilirchgave Ilse to t h ~ sSlio~t
-

f o i ~ n . -Hesldes
'~ preserving slgns o f t h e orig~nallocat~onof 4 12 Mss C and E liave Rccciis~onverston of Q 12 Saadya I n h ~ commcntaiy s on the passage connects ~t
probably also preselved the earllest recoverable form of the paragraph, prov~dlng t ~ pw ~ t hQ 17 and, as ivc have seen, In his vers~onand the first velslon In Mss CE,
more textual ev~dencefor GI-uenwald's view of the 01~ g ~ ntext a l of Q$ 10-14.43 It 1s Q 12 I S ~ ~ u n i e d ~ a t followed
cly by Q 17 P~obnbly,we can see h e ~ eat work one oftlie
~ n t e r e s t ~ ntog observe that ~n 111stralislat~onof tlils paragraph (more a paraphrase p r ~ n c ~ p l which
cs helped to reshape the Long Into the Saadyan Recens~on
actually), and In h ~ comment s on ~ tSaadya
, appears to be address~ngh ~ m s e lto f th~s
shorter CE f o ~ r satlie1 i~ than the one c ~ t c dIn the Icmrna In Ms Z. t41s translat~oii
goes. "for In tlie second stage (we liave) the v ~ s ~ b air l e from which blow the four
W I I I ~ S ' ' (Kafach 1972. 110, Lambert 1891: 73). It rs poss~blethat the Hebrew text of
SY c ~ t e din Ms Z has been updated 111 the two hundred and t h ~ r t yyears slnce the K A C
commentary left Saadya's pen. The Ms E text with the slngular forms 77" and 72 3 r m ppi1~1ina5n w i w 3 r m ppmmin am w i i v x r n i lppn n n n a7n w~iv
makes better sense than the plurals of C and agrees w ~ t hall the other wrtnesses and .u7uiv ~i;ii3i i i7in u7ui w ~ 1731 i inin 73 U'Dl VPl 17131 171n 73
pn3 1 3 5 r n " a i u lppn 1 3 ' n~1 i u l'a, ~xvu 133m ~ 11~ In:, ~xvv
IS,therefore, the nearest we can get to tlie o r ~ g ~ nfablr ~ nof 3 12.
,735~un15n3 1335~;imn 15133 133'~i7nin yn3 nnin 1133 prn 735sun
l'lie next stage In the evolut~onof $ 12 1s reflected in tlie Long Recens~onw h ~ c h l;l+Y 15w pr71735TY19 19Y 7WYIl 1755~ asn pr71
was also tlic basis Sol the first cttat~onof tlie paragraph 111 the Saadyan verslon. ~ i w 52i i n x w ~ P ;YI W Y I ~ p5i7 lip 77 inx3 a i w i 53
T h ~ spells
s out the four winds of heaven, e m p h a s ~ z ~ nthat
g the alr or the S p l r ~ t the
- ip ; i lain
~ y i x '17 i n x 5 1513 a i i u z $3 nx q7pnv
amb~guityI S ~rtesolvable,is present tlirougliout them. But note the uncerta~ntyof a i i u z nx l-pav pi15 n i n i i m ~ ~ i i x1mix2 ~
tlie s c ~~b e sabout the lneanlng ol'the last four words 7;rn nnx 532 n l l l , both In the n i n i i ~ nD ~ I ~1'75~
X i;in D'12Dl D17ll3 iI1Yi)lVD;l
~7'152)31 DlXl3 illYplWD7 D'n i x r 3
Long and the Short Reccns~oiis.Another varlant occurs at t h ~ sp o ~ n ttn Dunash's
.1'KY15 D5D7
co~nmentary D;1'I52 nnx n l l l (Vajda 1954: 41, Vajda-Fcnton 2002: 224).-'4
Tlic Short Recens~onrepresents a coinplete rewr~teof the paragraph. It looks as Three water from air lie
- Three water fiom air lie
- Tliiee water from alr he
-

though the Long Recension form of 9 9 has been grafted onto the o r ~ g ~ nversron al carved and hewed in i t folzrl cdrved arid hewed rn 11 tol7u calved and hcwcd 111 ~t tohzl
'ind hohrc, mud and mire ' ~ n d holrrl, muct and lnrre and hoh~r, mud and 1ilile
of Q I2 replac~ligthe phrase D5)3V7 n l n l l Y2lX. This ~eflectsthe salne ed~torlal
He carved thern l ~ k ea sort He made them l~kea sott He lnade them l~kea soit of
urge wli~chwe can see In the creat~ono f $ 2 , the position o f 4 9 In tlie Long Recen- ol garden-bed Ile elected of garden-bed FIe elected g'i~den-bed I Ie wove them
sioi-rs, and tlic masterplan for the structure of tlie Saadyan Rccens~on,namely, to them like sort of wall, niid them like a sort of w'xll, dnd l ~ k ea sort of ccrl~ng He
~ ~ i t e g i atogether
te the two separate parts of SY Q Q 1-16 deallng with tlie 5efirot,
- he wove them like a sort of lie wove them l~kea sort hewed thcrii l~kea sort of
and $$ 17-61 (63) deal~ngwlth the twenty-two letters." The a r t ~ f i c ~nature al of the ce~l~ng of cc~l~iig Arid lie pouretl
wall, and he poured out wa-
out snow over them anti 11 t e ~over thein and it became
became dust, for i t I S said dust, For to the sr7o1.v17e T L I ~ \ ,
For to thc \r7oto lze caj,5, ["Becorrle ear fl7" (Job 37 6 )
nnx 5x1m i l rnuiws 7iwu wnmi mils3 u ~ w mn7x
i w i w 11~5m7mx a3nwi a7iwu "Bcco~nec~tr~th'' (Job 37 6) Tol7rrI 14 a green lrne wll~ch
Inn Tohu I \ 'i green line which st11rounds the world Bohu is
1' See also Wernstock's note to t h ~ paragraph
s 111 Allony 1981a 2 3 , l 118 sui rounds the wor Id Boh~l the sllruy stone? sunk 111 the
'I llowever, Oxford 2250 hac the Short Kecensron reatling D;1B nni? nlll (Giossbe~g1902 I S the sliiny stones sunk 111 abyss between whrcli the wa-
40) See L ~ e b e s2000 280 f o ~an 'ittempt to make yeiise of the varlant ~ead~ngs
at this po111t Flow- the abys between which ter coines out ( h Hag 12a
eve1 h15 attem[~ton 17 168 to Llye the Shoit Receilr~onversion of \ 12 to throw light on $20 doe5 the wdter coines out (b Hog 77c)
riot take rnto account the vcrsron.: of \ I2 lound In the othet recenslonc Hug 12a, 11 Ilclg 77c)
" I' (iruenwald 1971 408

2 r r n ppn n i m w n w i w
U'Ul V a l l;l131 ialn a22
p3r;lz a n y ]'a3 li)i/n
i ) ~;' i ~ ~ y17n3n 13301 ;imn
Yn37 1i)Y ;lWYll l;17>yD713 13Y 7WY11 17'17~D7)3i/Y71 '3 inmw i a u ;lwu~il;l?>y
i;ln y i x x1;i l a x 715wi '3
a i i ~ nx
z y3i)nwi/11' ii/ ;i~ 132 i ) ~ iii/
n i n i 1 m a712x i i w 122 153
a;l9nnl ai;rnz niui/iwa;i
.PSXY1' D7n;l
2 r m pi/n min a m w i w 2 r m ppn mia all2 w i w
li?WY U'U1 W ~ l l l ; i 2 1 ~ ; l 3 ~ X W YU'PI wi)i imi izn 32
17133 p'~;i .;71iiy 17n3 ;inm 15a3l 2 r n m i y ]'a3
m v y n l'n3 p o .amn Pi3 PYl Z2'TYD 1'193 I??'?
71;l inx9a i w i '3 17n37 ;i~i;in y i x x i 2 inx7a i w i
' ;is i;ln . y i x aiiu;i 53 nx y7pnw i/iT3 1i)
niniiaa a m x i i x D'12R 1'7x 37.2 1513
ai;rnx niilpiwn;i al;in> nwipwF;1 nia')mp;i
,19x~i7
a7 a m a;i7172rn y q i 7 a;131'2nw
li) 77iu i l U l 1 l n x l w a5a
,37'2 '13xi i;in
II collated to C:
w"/w/ W ~ WE. li)i/n] Pi)"
E. l33D] 1170 E. '31 pr 7D3
1ax1w E.
two component$ ofclay wh~cli1s mentioned at the bcglnnlng of 0111 paragraph." In
add~tlon,as 1 have a r g ~ ~ c(1984 d 172-184), ~tlooks as t h o ~ ~ gtheh scribes 1-111stook
thls paragraph as rcfcrrlng to the crcatlon of the earth-" wbe~eas,In fact, 11deals
only w ~ t hthe creation of the boundarres of space and the heavens - on the analogy
the author 15 work~ngw t h , the walls and the cell~ng,but not the floor
D 7 3 / 7 3 It looks as though the Short Iiecctiilon ~~nderstandlng IS that f o h ~atid
i
hohrt wcle carved and hewn o t ~ofthe t watcri, while the Long and Saadyan Recen-
$lor15 (less Ms D) have thelii crcatecl out of the alr. See the same variant between
Mss C and E In Q 12. Posslbly the readlng 7 2 1s the ~ e s u l oS t contarn~natlonfrom
$4 12 and 14.
IKWY (Long and Saadyan Rcccns~ons)versus lppn (Short Rcccnilon except fbr
Mi5 LP). Wc~nstock(1972 49, 11.6)argues for the p r ~ o r ~ of t y IRWY, but I am unable
to see any seculc crltel Ion Sol dccldrng between these two V ~ lants. I It 1s the same
~ 1 1 tthe
h var rants ]Z7Y7 veI\us ]3Yn
P ~ D / A ' / wi)Y71. P7D 15 a n adaptatloll to the theme of 4 13 (so Grucn\vald 1973
507) but Inay alio bc an acco~iimoclat~on to $28. A ~ wfits the b ~ b l ~ ctext
a l better. See
Gruenwald (111rrl.)for ~ . a b b ~ nrnaterlal
~c ~iiaklngs~mllaruse ()[.lob 37.6.

Q 13 ~llustratesclearly the tendency of SY to grow by the accumulat~onof b~blrcal 2 r n i lppn o'aa wx ~ a i x XYnl li/i/n a'na wx u 2 i x ~ r ppn n nna wx y 2 i x
P7Ii)lXl 11237 RD3 73 D'391Xl 71333 Xb3 72 P l l D N2Y 531 1133 XD3 72
and rabbln~cmaterial 46 The quotatlolls from Job 37:6 and froln 11 ijr~rg12a,j> I;krg
73xinl w7lp;i m7nia 3 a i w i w7ii);i m7nia 7 a i w i ?73xin ZWIY 21n3 p w
77c are attested only In the Long and Saadyarl Recensions and Ms S i n tlie Short n ? ~nwiwni
i ~ i y -ID' niwa ~nwiwnlm w 7 ' 3 x i n i .'a1 nlnn
Recension, \vhlle Saadya adds a cl~~otatlon from Isa 34:ll M~IIICIIIS the source of nlnn i y ~ x i ;lww
n i a x ~ w ;lwiy 7nx1w i 1 i ~ i 370''
the hara~ta111 the two Talmuds. The lmpl~catlonof Gruenwald's argunient (1973: wx i9mwa wx i9mwnmnii i ' 3 x i n
.~;iii
498) IS that evcrythrng after n l l D D7)3 W ~ W1s an addlt~onto the or~glnaltext of .U;ll'?
tlic palagraph. He may well be rlght but we have no support~ngtextual evidence F O L I ~ fire fi.01~1water: he Four fire from water: he Four fire from air [rd. wa-
- -

Ibr such a short text. Dunash and Judah hen Barzllla~leflect the Short Recens~on
form oi'this paragraph whlle Donnolo's paraphrase seeliis to be based on a text
cloic to that of Saadya. In the Short Recelis~olifor111 of the paragraph the b~bllcal
allus~onslie scarcely dctectablc III the background: 171311;lln (Gcn 1:2), U7D1W31
(Isa 57:20), ?Al>Y (S of S 6:2). (jruenwald (1973. 505) suggests that the motlvatlon
for the expansloll of t h ~ sparagraph was probably " c d ~ t o r ~ aharmon17at1on
l of the
thtee-element theory of SY wlth the common four-element theory" and "thls edito-
r ~ a ha1
l mon17at1onwas ~ntroducedat this stage just because \vater and earth are the
,fire (Ps.104:4).
carvetl them alltl hcwetl in it carved them anti he\vcd in it ter]: he carved and hewed in
tlie throne o r glory, ancl the the throne of glory, and tlic it tlie throne of glory, and all
(?/;~rii/i~ and (?/irninl and the Sc.r.i!firv,and tlie lieavcnly hosl, for t l i ~ ~it s
and the -Ser.t~/iril,
the holy living creatures; the holy living creatiu-es, is written: he ti~olies11i.s at?-
and the ministering angels. ant1 the ministering angels. gels P I > ~ctc. ~ C (Ps.104:4).
~Y,
And li-om tlie three ol' them And Sroni the three of them
he fountled Iiis abode, as it he Sounded his abode, as it
is said: hc, irinkc~s11;s trrrgel,~ is said: Irc, I I ~ C I l/ix ~ ~ L SI I I ~ O / , F
I ~~irids,
his .sc~r~v~rirt.s
~l,/kiil~iiigl l ~ f / l C / . Y , / I ~ . S ~ S ~ ~ l " l ~~~/ l, l~l C~ l. /~ / l -
irig,fir.e(Ps. l04:4),

'" See Havliia~i1984 183 and 1987 83, and for mole detatled t~eatliicntof \ 13 I984 172-74, '"Anct thus conforming to tlic Hillclitc view tli;~tearth \hias crcated lirst whereas $28 explicitly
reflects the Siiarn~naitcposition; see tlic I'amous debate in,~<Ilcrg, 777-cl, h.IItrg. 12a, Ro.. R. ]:IS.

LMNSbI'IQR coll'~tedto K
a7na]nnn F li;,pn] ppn
L R
721 772 MQ D791Wl] oln 1
lnXlw] oln b, 'n37 S
i3'R7Gf-1 collated to A
2rml o m B2 1aKIwl 'n31
D u;lli wx i3mwn]0111b
z +
~ r ni;,ii;,n a'an wx
Y ~
01119 X 2 Y 331 1123 X03 ;I2
i7xzin ; i w y lin, 1 ~ w
13715 wx i7niwBnimi
E colldted to Z
a9nn]om F X 2 r l 'x2r c
texts of 14 nor the whole text of Q 57 belong to the earliest layer of mater~alin the
X book, then the ~ n c o n g r u ~ was
t y cr-eated at one of the later edltor~alstages, poss~hly
by d~ffcrented~tors.It probably did not exlst In the earlier form of the text.
It is poss~bleto speculate that even the Saadyan for111 ofthe text of 3 14 represents
an expansion of the original. We have seen that Gr~icnwaldth~rlksthat only the
names of the ,efii.o/ were ti the orig~naltext I have prev~ouslydlawn attention to
the f'act that hardly any of the b~bllcalcrtat~onsnow found in the varlous texts oS
SY arc attested In all the wrtnesses (Hayman 1984). In fact, only Ezek 1:14 and Ps
104:4 appear in all our Mss. T h ~ sn~ght
s pred~spose11sto t h ~ n kthat even these two
qiiotat~onsshould be regarded as secondary H o ~ ~ e v cInr ,the l~glltof the absence of
lextt~alsuppot-t To1 t h ~ sI arn ~eluctantto leap to such a conclusion, espec~allysince
the cl~iotationf'rom Ps I04 IS paltlcularly apposite to tlie point b e ~ n gmade In Q 14.

The tcxt~lalsituat~onhere is s l n ~ ~ l ator that In +$ 12 and 13: one recension has a

short form of the paragraph w h ~ c h1s cons~dcrablyexpanded in the other rccen-
sions As w ~ t h$ 12, and In contrast to Q 13,1t 1s the Saadyan Recenslon (and spec~fi- A C
cally Mss CE) wh~clioffers the shortest text. nlln 111 C 1s clearly an error; see the w i w i m a11 ann wnn w i i w ii3 a n>ann wnn niaiws w i w 112 [wlnn
same error In MYF.4XThe cl~fl'erencebetween CE and Z on the length of the b~blical ii7l;i inwa l n p i nlt3iws ii7a;i inw2 l u ~ i ;niuiw3
,~ -17 51717 inwa1~[a]i;,i
q~~otatlon IS only apparent, as w ~ t hso Illany biblical cluotat~onsIn rabbin~ctcxts the 7131 niirp ww a m anni ww 172 anni i3i 7;i 713 ann niiri;, ww 172 anni
part~alc~tatronwas lneant to call LIPthc whole of tlie text ~nthe n i ~ n dof the reader ann ww innni ;iiuai ianm ; i i ~ n;11s1 i niirp .i;i72 innni ;iiuni;i~s a i l
- hence the '21 In C. ianni ;iani ;rlsi nnn ;11s'1nnn ann ww.i;i92 131si313 mTn ann u2w
111 the Short and Long Rcccns~onsPlln X2P 537 IS replaced by a fuller descrip-
n0ni n13i mTn ann u2w Y ~ ,3172 W inn7ni;iilni ann ~ I D W innnl
3iun ann zlnw innni i 7 1 3 i ;lls73rnln ann innni i3lnxi 715 aiun
tion of what t h ~ term
s refers to. T h ~ spec~ficatron
s of the four classes of angels IS uwn innnl i7inxi 71si nvnw .i7;ia ianvni ?ID an7 ann uwn ,1772
taken from b /lag 12b; see Hayrnan 1987.74-75. It 1s of a piece wlth the baralta 1nnnl i17n7in s i ai-17 ann i'inxi 31s312iun ann ann iwu .71;i2 mnni i17n7i
from the same soilrce by wli~ch 13 was expanded [ t i the Long and Saadyan Reccn- iixnwi ;imi lisr ann iwu ann n7u7wn:i;i2 innym ianni ~ i x n w21s
i [lliss
slolls. innnl inn7ni117n7i;~ID~I a m .;1l72
L. .R. Clearly the Short Recens~onreadmg 1s i;Lj?nIn I ~ n ew ~ t hthe ZI~I 1isr ann iwu .;i7ia
IPpn]
Saadyan Recens~on.C1.. the apparatus to the Saadyan Recenslon in $3 12 and 13 ?;il inn3ni
l ~ixnwi
and the note on P;I2/72 In $ 13. Five -- he sealed above. lle Five he waled .~bovc He
- P ~ v e- I-Ie chose t h e e s ~ i n p l e
111YD 7D7?lll~j~)31 From the three of what? - presumably the alr, water, and chose thrce siluple letters and chow t h e e skmple letteis iettcr5 ant1 fixed tliern in hrs
fire of $Q 12-14.4" As Gruenwald 1973: 499 p o ~ n t sout, the phrase recurs In $57 fixed tlie~nin his grcat name. dnd fixed them In his great gieat name HWY And he
-

(wh~ch1s not attested In the Short Recenslon) but there it refers to the three groups Alid he sealed with them the
six edges (of tile universe),
of the letters of the alphabet. Gruenwald sees here yet another slgn of the "textual
and he turned upwards and
~ncotlgrultybetween the two parts of the boolc," reflect~ngh ~ vtew s that ~~ltllliately sealed it. Six he scalctl he-
- t~p\vd~d',
they go back to d~fferentauthors However, ~fnerther the Short and Long Recension Low, and he turned downu/ards
and sealed it. Seven - he
sealed the cast, and he turned
" V e e the notes on Ms I; in the Introduction jj 8.3. 1,iebes (2000: 26, 11.17)is inclined to see
downwards [rtl. in Sront] anti
this as a deliberate attempt to harruonize with the Aristotelian ordering of the eiemc~its.Hut that
scheiiie would really require a reading WXn mi. I t is si~nplerto see the reading mlD W X as pro- scaled it. Eight he sealed the
--
n a m e Y H W Arid he scalcd sealed w ~ t hthem the six edg-
\\ ~ t hthem the sly edges (ol c.; (of the u n ~ v e ~ s eI-Ie
) sealed
above He turned u p w a ~ d s
the universe), dnd tul ned
and sealed it wrth anct ~ e ~ ~ l11
ewc i~ t hYHW [SIX
Y H W S I X he sealed be-
- - he sealed below He tu~ried
1 0 ~ 1 Fle turned downw:uds downwards 'lnd sealed it wrth
and sealecl ~t w1t11 Y W l l Y W HI Seven - he sealed the
Scvcn he scaled the east
- edst He t~1111cd 111 flont and
He ti11ned In llont and scaled sealed it w ~ t hI I W Y E ~ g h t -

tlucetl by erroneous comparison with the beginning of the two previous paragraphs -- mln TI1 west, and he turned behind it with HYW Eight - he he scalcd the west I Ie t u ~ n e d
and nlln a%. and sealed it. Nine - he sealed seCileclthe west Ile turned- behrnd and scaled it M ~ t h
4v Donnolo (Castelli 40) adds W X D l D3nmnlln after 11lYn. the south. and I1e turned to behind dnd sealed ~t \vrth l l Y W Nune he sealed the
-
111s r ~ g h tand sealed 11 Ten N WY Nuie lie scaled the
- south I le turned to his I 1ght tlic book 11101e strongly In the fbtm of the expansion 111 tiiost Short Recension
-

he scaled the north, and he
turned to h ~ left s and sealed
lt
P sim~larlysees text~tald~sttlrbanccIn the begrnn~ngoS this palagraph but 111s les-
v i v i i 7 2a11 ann van
luli,i niviws;i la nismx
122 DnRl 1 7 51717 lBV2
;iiuni 21si niiri, vw
nnn ann wv .i;i32 innm
u2v .;iiv2 innnl ;iuni n s i
innni i91si 3151 niln ann
DI 2iun ann 31av .7i;r2
uvn ,1733 innm i7inxi ZI
innni i17n71;11~i aii7 ann
;ilsi ~ D nnn Y iwu ,3712
,?;ii2 innni iixnwi
LMNSFIQR collated to 1'.
n i ~ i v...
svnn] vnn
nii1ivs;i In nlvmxw i w
W ~ 7Y3 V Dl12 Dnn MN.
i i 2 1 7173 SIQ. ni7nix
niuiwa;i In1ninx sy
I71131V9;i] nl13lVD 2" FI
iouth 1le tnrncd to his light '1i1d scaled it wltli HWY 'Icri Mss, the var~antsnlnx ( S o ) atid n1131V9 2" take us fiirtlier along thls trajector y
and sealed 11 with WY H - IIC sealed the north He
(cf QQ24, 45) Apart from t h ~ sInseftion In Q 15 thctc 1s no seculely attested ref'er-
Ten - he sealed the north turned to Ins left and sealed 11
Hc t ~ u n e dto 111s left and wllh Y WH ence rn the f i ~ s part
t of the book (QQ I 16) to tlic threefold dlvrsron of the lettc~sof
5ealed 11w ~ t hWIIY tlie alphabet. nllYi, tUV comes in irom the tcxt~t~tl tradrttoii of'Q38, 111 the fitst part
of the book the d~mensronsofspace ale denoted by tlie term p731Y (5 7). Ciluenwald
v i v 7173 a i l ann wnn lu~i,imaivs v i v 112 toratron slmply rearranges the ex~stliigmaterral 172 Dnnl ,., nlblV3 W ~ ? V1172
ii7m inw, 7uli,i ninx v v 732 anni ii7a;i inv2 7'7~1357191 ~ i ~ i n --n .rnirp wm (1973.510)
.nii5ti, vw a;i2 anni i;i3 ;iiuai 31s a11 ann mirp Another vatrant ofthrs rnsertlon can be scen rn Mss B1B2(11)In tlie Long Recen-
.i;i73 anm ziuni 31s nnn ann vw i;1'2 innnl
;iuni x s i nnn ann v v Y 2 W .;1l32innni 313191 31s sron and SIQ 111 the Short - 71'2 ~nsteadof 1172.T h ~ ~s e a c t ~ nalso g occurs In Parrs
Y ~ W ni72xi1 1773 innnl innni 171si 21s msa ann 761 and D~iiiasliacco~drngto Vajda-Eenton 2002: 80. B1's ~ e a d ~ n would gs result 111
i71si DI; ~ m ~ ann a 2iun ann ;IBV .'1;12 the follow~ngttanslatton "Frve he sealed above wrtli Yod- three s ~ ~ i i pletter\, le
ann ;imw .?iminnm ann uvn i7;i2 innni i71si and fixed rt rn 111sname YI 1W"
innni i7inxi 171ai2iua .;i7i2 innni i17a+ 31s a i l 7 There rs an extensive ornlssron by palablepsrs rn MS C (713795 719 nnn Dnn VV
;11sian7 onn uvn .i7;i2 i1xnvi 31s lisr ann i v y 7172173nll1) while % tepeatq 1713?,lhe correct ~ e a d ~ i71nx? ng I S In C and E
1 W Y .;i713 1annll'~a~i .7;ii3 innni
71E)73In Ms A Most Long Reccnslon manuscll13ts keep to 713 In lrnc w ~ t hthe
zlsi jS01.227bl liar onn
.;i7i2 ianni i i x n v i otlie~recensions
17'2 etc The older ofthe combrnatrons of thc letters ofthe divrne name varles In
B1B2GNcollated to A E collated to Z: the manuscr ~ p t sand thelc arc natu~allyer rots and dupl~catlonswlirch ale not \vorth
Dl?] om B' 11'21 71'2 ?lfl;i] add '17 E. l733?) tecold~ng Ms K alonc takes out these pe~mutatronsof the d i v ~ n cname \vhtcIi IS
R'BL,17'2 H lnV3 l Y 3 i ) l 171nxi E. why, on this occasron, rt cannot serve as the base manuscr~ptfor tlie Short Recen-
ii7x;i] law2 luxpi B'
srori Presumably its ict tbe felt that this was esoter~crnatertal best coticealed from
the masses On the othet hand, IS rt conce~vablcthat they were added rn an ancestor
of all tlie othei Mss at tlie saliie trriie as tlic long rlise~tron before or after Dl1 Dnn?

K A C
Although tlie three recenslotis wrtness to approxitilately tlie same text of thrs para-
313713 nii7soi v y 1 h :;in752 nii7soi v u i i v x nnx ;i[a1753 nii7aoi v u
graph there IS soriie distitr-bance at the bcgrnnlng whrch suggests that an earller a7nn i i i ,ay7na v i x n i l .aV7na v i x n i l nnx m i a9nwa77n n7;iix n i l
form has ~lndergoneexpansron. I s~tspectthat the earlier form of the text had V13n ,>iun m ~ ,3n1319 ;liun .WX am v i i v .min n i l a7nv ~ 2 i niia
x a7aw+v niia
... 7?~13?713 Dl1 Dnn oti the pattern of the rest of the paragraph atid that 11'2 . a i i 7 i lisr o m awn vx u2ix .mia nnni own a i l a7nnvx
n w p mm 122 Dnni 171 77 717$1'717 IDW> p ~ p n1131W3 l VI?V IS a later Inser- ziuni msn nnni ;iiun mi7i lisr 3iuni min
tlon. In the Long and Short Recensions tt has separated Dl1 Dnn from 7'7~13'7713. .nion.aii7i ~ Y D Y
In the Saadyan Kecensron rt was inserted between Van aiid Dl1 Pnn. The text of These ten .~cf;;r.orare the basis: These ten .st.fii.ot are the ba- These ten s<fifir.ot are the basis:
t h ~ rnsertlon
s IS not stable ilnllke the rest of the paragraph: all Short Recension Mss the Spirit of the Living God; sis: one the Spirit of thc
- one - the Spirit of the Liv-
except K read llke Ms P ll1131V37 113 n17nlxW?V tnstcad of sr~iiplyn1131V3 v ~ ? w , and air, water, fire; above, Living God; two - a i r from ing God; two air from the
-

~vlirleMss MN bcgrn tlie paragraph: 7Y2 Dl12 Dnn n1alws;r 713 n17nlxW?V V13n below. east, west, north and tlie Spirit; three - water Spirit; three- water from air;
south. from air; Sour fire horn FOLI~ -- fire from water; above
17??1717 113W2 lY2pl v ? v . The ~ ~ expaaston burlds In Ittilis to tlie second part of -

water; and the height above fro111 water and below, east
Ilonnolo (C:astclli 42) begins tlie paragraph with an even longer insertion before resuming and below, cast and west, and west, north and south.
a11 ann. north and south.
 (17a) The twenty-two letters. (17a) rile twenty-two letters (17a) The twenty-two letters
they ale hewn out In the alr, ale the lound,ltion t h e e ale the foundation three prl-
;in"?> nii3aD iwu ii7x ~ i i x nnx ;in752 n i i m iwu i i x
.;in 752 n i i 7 a iwu calved out by the volce, fixcd p~llndry Iette~s,seven dou- i u a y~ letters, seven double
a3nw a7v-i a7;rix m i nnx .a7?na v i x nil nnx nil a3nw a77n o7;iix nil rn the mouth In hve pus!- ble (lettets), and twelve sltn- (letters), and twelve srmple
m i n a3n wiw n i i a m i w15w ,nil5 niin a7nw u3ix niin wx w5w niin t ~ o n s Aleph, l-iet. He, Ayin, ple (letters) They ,ile carved (lettels) They ‘lie hewn out
;iim aiii a m wx u ~ i x aSnn wx u2ix . n n n a m m ~ nnni
n a n a m wx Bet, Waw, Mem, Pe, Ci~mel, out by the vorce, hewn out In rn the alr, carved out by the
liar 21~19~ T .;i~i31
D m s n ;rani 7% niii .aii-~iliar x u n i Layln, K q h , Qof, Dalet, Tet, the arr, fixed In the ~uouthIn volce, fixed In the mouth 111
.Dl17 .Dl171 1lbY X Y D 1
La~ncd, Nun, T'Iw, Zdy~n. five posrtions Aleph, I let, five posttrons Aleph, He, He.
Sa~nek,Shrn, Resh, Sade Ile, Ayrn, Bet, W'IW, Mem, Ayln, Bet, Waw, Mcm, Pe,
LMNFPIQR collated to K BiB2GHcollated to A F collated to Z I'e, G~mcl,Yod, Kaph, QoS, Gtmel, Yod, Kaph, Tet, Dalet,
m i ] om F D7'n] om LP 1WY]omBi ; i j ~ ~ ] o n ~ WK1°]P7?2E
G Dalct, Tet, Lamed, Nun, Tet, Larned, NLIII, Taw,
; i i ~ bD] l 1 LMNP, pr D l 1 1 T'IMI, L'tyin, Samek, Sade, Lamed, Nun, Taw (l7b) lo
Q an] nnn LMNFPQ R e h , Shrn (17b) They ate thc t ~ pof the tongue as the
bounct to the trp of the tongue flame to the burnlng coal
as the flame to the busn~ng Aleph, He, He, Ayln ale pio-
Notcs 011 the test of 3 I6 coal Aleph, lie, Het, Ayin nounced at the back of the
'lre pronounced dt the back tongue and In the thiodt Bet,
On the general pos~tionof this paragraph 111 the text of SY see the notes on 9 11. of the tonglie and 111 the Waw, Mem, Pe ale pro-
Agaln ~t seems that a shorter text preserved In the Short Recension (apart from thront Bet, W,iw, Mcm. PC nounccd bctwcen the teeth
Ms S) has been expanded 111 the other Recens~ons.The expansions were s~rnple nle psonounceci between the ancl by the t ~ pof the tongue
- ~nsert~n g tlutncrals and the phrases TI1113 and D7DD fro111 4\ 12-14. ;it)Y73for
the teeth and by the t ~ pof the Glmel, Yod, Kaph, Tet arc
tongue Gllnel, Yod, Kaph, cut off a thiid of the way LIP
Dl1 In some Mss departs frorn the term h~thertoused for this sefirah In 6s 7 and 15.
Qol 'Ire cut oSSa t h ~ ofthe
~d the tongue Dalet, Sarnek,
Tlils produces the c o a ~ p o s ~read~ng
te 75~73Dl7 In the Long Recension (apart fiom w,~y up the tongire Dalet, Lamed, Nun, Taw by the tip
G but note G's reading In $7) and Mss SQ. nlln W X In Ms Z certa~nlylooks an
-
Tet, L'~rned, Nun, Taw ale of the tongue and wtth the
error though ~tis what C (but not Z!) has 111 4 14. D7nn 2O 111 C IS clearly a dupllca- plono~tncedby the t ~ of p the palate, and they are pro-
tion From the prevlous phrase Dzn13 W K . tongue with the vo~cc.Zay- nounced wlth the volce Zayrn,
In, Samech, Sade, Resh, Samech, Taw, Resh, Shm ('re
Shin (are pronounced) be- pronounced) between the
tween the teeth w ~ t h the teeth wlth the tongue re-
tongue relaxed laxed

ni7nix a7nwi a ' w u (17a)
, n n 2 n i m n , i i p nipipn
.ninipn wan2 292 niui2p
n15 a7 p2 13 qn 12 u;i nx
yiw DT
ni1nix 07nwi a7iwu (17a) ni7nix a3nwi a3iwu (17a)
u2wi niwx wi5w 7 1 ~ 7 u2w ninix wi5w ?ID? ni7nix n7nwi aviwu 7107 ni'nix a7nwi a9iwu
mwu a7nwi niiia3 ;iiwu n7nwi ni5ia3 ni2irn 5ipa nipipn -ria3 niiia2 u2wi ninx wiiw
iip2 nipipnniaiwa niairn ni7n1x niaiws ;iwnn2 ;la2 niui2p nil2 .niaiwa mwu a7nwi
;ia> niuilp n n 2 n i m n niui2p iip2 nipipn n i i [ ~ ] p2 sa qn 12 u;i nx ninipn ni2irn iip2 nipipn 'rip2 nipipn nil2 nixirn
( ~ - i ~ ~ ) . n i n i p m w n n ~a x ninipn ;iwnn2 za2 niiiwp .yiw DT n15 a 7 ;iwnnI ;la2 niuixp nil2 ninipn ;iwnn2 ;is2 niui2p
n15a-i p ~ qni2 a Y Z nx n ~ a7i ~ t ) ~ x 12 u;i .ninx2 n 2 ; i i w ~1 1 ~ 5 2 p37a an 12 u;i nx ninipn n1ia7 p ~ qai2
a unnx
W X l 2 nlllWj? W l Y D T n2;iiw3 ~ i w i w " n~ ~2 i q i ~ niwnnwn
2 mnx niiiwp yiw DT n ~ a i7 niwnnwn unzx . W ~ Y D T
ninx2 n2;riw, 1iwi;i u;i ;ix (17b) n i n n qni2 .;ru7ix;i n7221liw5;i .n'/nx> nxtirn3 1iwi2 .;iu~i2;inv2i 1iw5;i q i ~ 2
7 1 ~ 2niwnnwn un ;ix n32i 1iwi;i q i ~ niwnnwn 2 t)'naw;i 1'2 niwnnwn q i ~ niwnnwn
2 un ;ix wxi2i a7naw 1'2 qni2
In12 7 ~ 7 3 n7221 2 ~ 11wi;i niwnnwn qn 12 ~u752;r p37x .11w5;i wx121 12 .;r~+2;i1712211iw5;i 1iwi;li w>w i u 7372 1iwi;i
172 niwnnwn jfo1.67aI 7 2 1iwi;i wxim a7naw 12 .liwi;i w7iw2 niwnnwn a7naw;i 172 niwnnwn qn j i w i v m i u nlia7 kinmi
p a .liwi;iwxi2i a7naw n n i x 1iw5;i w"7w i u 133 wxi2 niwnnwn n15m p37x .11w5;1 wx121 W ~ Y D T.5ip;i PY niwnnwn
. n i n i x 1iwi;i w7iw i u 13n2i ~ i w i w " n~ ~2 a i7 1'2 niwnnwn y i w a ~.liwi;i .1iwi;i w75w~1niwnnwa ,1v; 11~521a73w172
ywin wxi2 n15u-i win DT iip;i au niwnnwai .1w31iwi2i a7naw;i wxi2 niwnnwn n1'7 137
W ~ Y P T ip;i
. nu niwnnwn .1W711~L/21D73W 12 niwnnwn w i r DT .liw5~1
.lW711~521a771'w 712 .1w7liw52i a31w;i 1'2
 thdn tlie Shor t IZeccn51on The explanatron ol'wlicle In tlic mouth the five drfferent
g ~ o u p sof lcttcts ale p~onouncedis complctcly absent 111 the Shot t Kecens~onMse
~ 1 n i~m x7 avnwi a 7 ~ w u except fol M5 S wli~ch,'1s we have a l ~ e a d yseen, 1s characte~rseciby attempts to
niii~:,u2w ninx wiw ~nteglateLong Recens~on~natcrlal~ n t othe Ski011Kecens~on Por the sheer text~lal
ni7nix nluiwD mwu a7nwi chaos at thrs pornt In L)t~nash's cornmental y see Vajd'~-Fcnton 2002 84-89, How-
n n 2 ni2irn iip2 nipipn evel, the 1 i e b ~ c wtext p~c\upposedby his conimenta~ysccliis to be that ofthe Short
;1WDn2 ;ID2 nlYl2i)
p m yn 12 u;i nx :nimpn Rcccnslon .ludali bcn B a ~ / ~ l l aalso r ha5 the Sliolt Recens~on(Halberst;im 1885
ni-~iwpyiwos n ~ u7i 208) but Sollowed by a n Inter pletatron ol the five gro~lpsof letters wlitch bear5 l~ttle
n2;riw:, liw'7;1 wx-12 lelatron to that Ibund In the Long and Saadyan Kecerislons Donnolo (Ca5tcll1 1880
niwnnwn u;i nx .nina2 43) niole 01 l o s follows the Long Recens~onbut \vrtli some ~ntcrcstlngor-rllss~ons
niwanwn qni2.liwi;7 ylo2 Solv~ngtlic ploblem of the text of SY Q 17 15 cl i ~ c ~Sol a l deallng w~tlithe issue ol
.liwi;l wxmi a7nsw 172 the date oftlie \4/o1k The closest pa~:lllclto tlie t h e o ~y ol'plionettcs exp~ccredh c ~ c111
. m m x limin wiw i u p371
in21 11wi;1wx-12n ~ u7i ~ s c A/-A))IMproduced by the Musllnl
'1g1,1ph 17b 15 fo~lriclIn 'in At able t ~ e ~ l t Ktti111
y ~ w07 .iip;l au rnwnnwni sclentlst and Irngur5t AI-Hal11(c 7 10 - 775191) 1 le too organ~scsthe letters by the
.IW7 llwi21 D'IW 172 place of a1 t~culatlonrn the mo~rt11arid lie also I\no\vs of the pelmutatton ol' lettels
LMNFPIC)IZ7 collated to K B'H'Gll collatcd to A up to a live-lette~wold (cl SY $40) AI-Halrl's book was known and used by mcdl-
( M s R lepe~~ls
$ 17 aftel $ 1% eval .leu/~sIiI I I I ~ L I thoi~gli
I S ~ ~ , Saadya docs not seem to have known rt The pa~allels
- I??) between SY and AI-I lal~l'sbook ale dlscu~scdby Allony (1972.88-91). He algues
ni7nix1 adtl 7 1 ~ M
' NFI n i 2 i ~ niip2 nipipn] ~ i i > that, tliougli they both d ~ a wrndcpcndently irpoll ill1 Ilidra~il l n g ~ ~ ~tladrtloti,
s t ~ c SY
nipipn G avnDw1721 ~ glven a late date on the b a s ~ sof 11strngursttc knou ledge whrch he says only
I U L I ~be
a7nDw2 B' nin-~>~..iu] bccamc ava~lableto Jew~shscholars a f l c ~the Musllm concluest In a later paper
iw liwi i u ; i ~ ~ w i~u i w
nn 121 c; lw3] ;12i>w (I9Xlb) Allony revises th15ji~dgcmcntand now sees the soi~rcco r SY's Irngu~stlc
;rmuwi] B ~ GII Itrio\vlcdgc dcfinltcly comlng Stom A ~ a bs o ~ l ~ c cso s , SY must postdate the Islam~c
cnl~ghtenment He dates 11 \oriiewhe~cIn tlic second half of tlie erghtli c e l l t ~ l ~Ay
s ~ m r l aargument
~ 1s p~esentcdby Steven W a s s e ~ ~ t ~(1903 o m 14) One co~lldqurbblc
wrth the cictalls of Allony's nlgu~iientl i e ~ e- Sol example, AI-I-lal~ldrvrdcs the con-
sonants ~ n t o8 g ~ o u p s not
, 5 as 111 SY, and Ile has ,I ~ n o l eloglcal o~derlngof them
For tlie plac~ngof Q 9 before thrs In the Short Recensron see the notes to Q 9. The lnl- Iio~lltlie t h ~ o a to
t the I~ps.I-to~ievei,tllc ovetall argclment does seem clllrte convlnc-
t ~ a sentence
l of 4 17 In tlie Long and Saadyali Recensrons 1s slmllarly ~ ~ 1a sverslon
t Ing. Unt~lthat IS,we look at the text cr rtlcal evrdencc lo1 SY Q 17 " Docs the detalled
of 9, now placed rn ~ t loglcal
s poslt~on.As we have seen ~t1s basreally a head~ng Irngurst~c1nI111niatronbelong to tlie eatllcst iecoverable stage of the text 01 has rt
dcsrgned to lntroduce the second part of the book. In the Saadyan Recens~on5 17 been added later rn the post-Islamrc pel lot1 as a lixm of explanatory commetitary'~
comes befbre the bloclc of ri~atcr~al \vIi~chwe have just been consrderltig ($4 1 2 16) The ~ s s u becomes:
e has the Sliol t Keceris~onp~csctvedthe e a r l ~ cform ~ of SY 01
and 1s then followed by h b 19 and 20. The paragraph older In the Short Recensron. the LongiSaadynn Kecens~on'~ It may help to o ~ ~ e n t aou~celver,
te to an answel to
Iiavrng been stable slnce $ 10 IS now considerably d~sturbed.After 4 16 the order rn t h ~ squestron 11 \ve loolt at one B ~ l t ~ sLht b ~ a ~Ms y (01 6577, Cat Margol 736 5)
Mss K and K IS 9, I9a, 17, 111 Ms L 9,26, 17, 111 Mss MNIQ 0,23, 17, In Mss SP 9, 17, whlcli, f o ~reasons explarned above," I dccldcd not to rnclude In the apparatus.
18, In Ms F 9,23,26, 19a, 17 Ms R has t u ~ oversrons o f b 17, one after Q 9 and before
4 1% (- K'), and one alter rt (= IiZ).Apart from Ms R, $18 Iollo\vs In all the Mss. In " In his rcuie\v of Alloriy's 1972 article Nicolas SCd (1973: 522- 528) priiits a French transla-
MNFlQ 423 1s then repeated In ~ t logrcal
s p o s ~ t ~ oafter
n 422. 4$23 and 26 seem to tion of tlie tlirec recensions of $ 17 in parallel columns hilt utifortunately draws iio text-critical
have been attracted to this context because of the mentron of the "tlirce mothers" In conclusioris from the dif'ereiices between them. Likewise lipstein, in his discussion of the pho-
$ 9 but there may be mole to the d ~ s l o c a t ~ oofn the paragraph order at thrs p a n t . netics of SY could have Ilelped liis case for preserving a n early date f'or SY ifhc had paid attention
to the tcxt-critical situation instcacl of basing his tliscussion on tlie L,ong liecension a l o n e "Re-
T h ~ sparagraph presents one of the tiio~criotable places 1x1the texti~alt~adltlon cl~ercliessur le Shfer Ye~ira",I Z I ~ ~ J 2 (1894).
X 07-103.
of SY whete tlic Long arid Saadyan Recensrotis oflcr a riiucli 171101e extended text '' See [lie iritrotluctiori $ 8.3.
However, rt o f f e ~ as n rntcrest~ngsldel~gliton hob^ SY Q 17 could have grown Folios 7~7'737
n7331tiw5;r 7102 niwnnwn yn zx MS k,BL 01 6577, Palls 763 o1111t
40a-43b oftlirs inanuscrlpt contarn the Short Rcccnslon text of SY and tlie text the last p h a s e 7y7?3;ln7331
of Q 17 on fol. 41a agrees wrth that of Ms K except that ~to m ~ t s733. Irnmed~ately 11~57WK121 P7n3W 7'3 n l W B n W B 77313 Donnolo omlts fl~'77WXl31
after the end oS $ 6 4 there follows on fols. 43b-52a a s h o ~ conzmentary
t on SY. On nln133 7 1 W h w7>W 537 j?37J nln131 ~imrssing In Mss DS, BL Or 6577, and
fol. 44b 4 17 1s agaln quoted, t h ~ tlme
s followrng exactly the text of Ms K, then we Pal rs 763 leads nll3 111 t h ~ place
i Note the itrangc rcadrng here rn Ms G
have Q IS, followed by: '7177 PY nlWnnWtl t l ~ ' 7 7WXl3 nlji37 '7177 tlY 1s orn~ttcdby Donnolo and
Msc DS Mss CE sup],le~nentw ~ t l i77n31, whtle Saadya has 7 1 W h ' Y n 5~ f o ~
p ~ .]iwi;l
x y i a l rnwanwn un ;ix :I" ni1nix a9nwi a7iwu niui>i);i 23 i w n i m p n i5x 7 1 ~ 5 7WX13
w x i a i 07nsw 1.3 niwnnwn yrn3 ,liwi;i w x i rnwanwa
~ n15a-i .liwi;i w . 5 ~ 3niwnnwn
".(?) ;i3i>w 1 1 ~ 5 3 07717w;i
1 173 niwnnwn w i r u .liwi;l 7W7 11~'731 P773W'('3WlYDT 7W7 1s orii~ttcdIn Par15 763 B'GH replace ~twrth
1 1 R L Or 6577 may have 7313W TI115 read~ngcould be reflect~ng
-

Wh'xt 15 1ntere5ttngabout t h ~ M s i 1s the way rn whrch Q 17b IS separated from Q 17a
and then clea~lylabelled as commentary Then the commentary ttself 1s generally
shor tei and Ieii precrse tlinli tliat \vli~clidppeals 111 out Long and Saadynn Recen-
slon Mss. It lacki the p h ~ a s cn h x 3 n 3 7 ' 7 ~ 2llw'77 WRl2 nnlwj? wh~cliIn these
Kecens~onsconnects together Q 17a and Q 17b But note that Ms Z also lacks this
phrase And tills IS wlicic [lie text of Ms Ribeconies ~ n t c ~ c s l l nbec'iuse
g 11lias [lie
text of Ms K atid all tlie o t h c ~S h o t~ Recensron Mss but plus thrs phrase It looks
like we have heie the f i ~ sstage
t In the giowtli of Q 17b The phrase has been taken
koin Q 6 The next stage \vo~lldbe that represented by M i S wlilcli incor poratei ~ n t o
Q 17 a lot, but not all, of the ~ i i a t e r ~wli~ch
al appears 111 the Long Rccensron M i Par15
763 also seems to go back to t h ~ sfils[ stage of expanslon p~lor to S It IS a Short
Recensron Ms but h e ~ aftere Q 17a rt has a form of 17b.
the expan5rnn dnd explanairon offe~edIn Saadya's commenta~y
F ~ o mthrs text~ralcvldcnce ~tmight be poss~bleto reconst1 ~ l c tan earllei shoiter
f o ~ mof Q 17b wh~clitakei 11s on a smooth trajectory trorn Q 17a to tlie more detarled
explanations of the Long and Saadydn Recensions and then on to tlic comrnentar-
res. However, the Au~dityof t h ~ spart of Q 17 would p~obablymakc tlie ~ e s u l too t
co~ijectural
There would. then, seeln to be a strong case for rega~drngQ 17b as a suppleinent
to $ 17a \v~tliboth scr~besand c o ~ i i ~ i i e n t a t ofeeling
~s some fteedom to update or
lewlite the 111;1tcrlalaccorci~ngt h c ~owl1 ~ Ilngu~stlckllowledge and ~lnde~standtng
But tlie question rs now w o ~ t hrarsing as to \vhethcr even Q 17a belongs to the earll-
est ~ e c o v e ~ a bstage
l e ol the text of SY The slgrls of textiral drstilt bance here ale the
follow~ng thc attempt to coriib~~ie the beg~niilngol the palagraph wrtli a shorter
or longer vetslon of $9, the rcveisal of the phrases m l 3 nl3lYn /jlj?3rnj?lj?nin
the Saadyan Recension, and the slgns of text~lald ~ s t i ~ r b a n in c ethe palaglap11 order
of most S h o ~ Receniron
t Msi possibly as Q 17 was ~ n s e ~ t eInd d~fferentplaces.
-

Agaln we have an expanslon ol' Q 17 whrcli seems to draw on, b ~ 1s~ not t ~denttcal
\vitli, the f~rllerversion seen In the Long Kecenslon. ludah ben Bar~rllal'sexpansloll
of Q 17a In his commentary seems to reflect the same degree of scrrbal rndepcndeace
though to a greater extent than Ms S, BL Or. 6577 oi Paris 753. Saadya's translation
into Arable of the Heblew text on ~1111ch lie IS commenting seems to reveal the same
deglee of I~cense,for he does not offel a strarglit literal translation but what looks
ltke an "~mproved"verslon Aiid then he feels the need to just~fyh ~ tra~lslat~on
s of
'(W7llW'131as "wrtli the tongue qurescent" and to add a "specral supplement" about
nlc/i31- "they have a dlstrnguishlng feature w h ~ c hIS tliat they touch tlie teeth from
tlicrr Inside to therr upper p a ~ t "(Lamberi 74, Kafach 110). If we now look In Inore
detail at the rndrv~dualclauses of Q 17b we can see more ofthls f l ~ l i d ~In
t y ~ t text.
s book, and it has no bearing on its doctrines" (1973: 476, n. 2).
" This last word is difficult to read.
Frnally, we could add that the content of Q 17 is at varrancc both w ~ t hrtself and tlie
~ c iot'thc
t book For what part does a fivefold drvislon of the letters of the alphabet
play in the I est of SY') n o n e \vhatsoevc~!In filct, the openlng part of the palaglap11
(111 rts Long Kecensro~if o ~ m ~) 1 1 t~h t thrcd'old
s drvrslon oftlie t h ~ e emothers, seven
doubles a ~ i dtwelve s ~ ~ n pletters le (rnteg~alto the structure of SY) confl~cts~vrtli
the fivefold dlvrsron which follows. T h ~ threefold s d r v ~ s l o IS
~ ichosen 011 tlie b a s ~ sof
far mole s ~ m p l ~ s tlr~c n g i ~ ~ stheones
tic than that found In the longel vess~ono f + 17
The th~ecfolddrvrsron certa~lilyl ~ e at s the base oftlie SY t r a d ~ t ~ oandn goveins the
s t r u c t u ~ eof the w o ~ l <Part~cularlySol thrs latter leason G I ~ ~ e r ~ w aScho1ern5'
ld,~~
and Wc~nstock~" d as a late1 acc~etronto the book I coticlude that Q 17a
all ~ e g a ~$ 17
belongs to tlie same pollit In the expanslon of tlie book as stage three of Q 12 Both
"Paragraph 17 seems to be an indepelident unit: it discusses the fivefold division of the
twenty-two letters of the alphahct in pllo~leticterms. This division is nowhere repeated in the
" "This is the first instance in which this division appears in the history of I-lebrew Linguistics
and it may not Ii~lvebeell included in the first version ofthe book" (1977: 784).
'"ec tlic editor's note which he places at the end of Allony IOISlb: 50.
ol'these fill the gap In tlie eal-l~erfor111oftlie work wh~clioniitted to spcc~fyexactly iinxi a m 5x51 isin iinxi
how the twenty-two lettc~swere c~catcd.Q 17 1s a fi~rtherdevelopment of Q 1% to ;riuni ;12itn yx i x 5 Inw
wh~cli,as we have seeti, ~t 1s closely relatcd In many Mss. IS we take t h ~ svlew of ziun5 ;rui2 77x1 apg
the relat~velylate date of $ 17 111 the developiiient of the SY t r a d ~ t ~ othen
n , there IS . ~ 3 p
no need to ~nvokeearly Indran/Sa~iskr~t Influence (as does Llebes 2000: 236-37) In
ordel to counteract a post-lslatii~cd a t ~ n gof SY.
The text of tlie G e n ~ ~ aScloll
li (Ms C) 15 III a poor state 111 t l i ~ sparagraph. In nimx aynwia7iwu ni7nixa7nwia7iwu
part~ci~las the s c r ~ b edropped the phrase nlllWj? Y l W D T by parablep~s- his eye
a7nxm5x512 niui2p 5 x 5 ~i ~ 5nx 5 ~niui2p
1
i ~ i a3iuw
n tnxi a3iwui px 1 x 5 p~i iinx5 a m
leapt from tlie Taw at the end o f n 1 5 lo tlie one at thc end of nlllwj?. There are 1n3a; r ~iinxi
i a m 5aia;r 77x1 x~iun75uni ;r2iux
other dupl~cat~on, and errols a s there are also In sonie otlier Mss, 5crtbes Soi~nd ~ 5 ax 1275
7 5 ~ a2iu .ux~na5un5 nu12
t h ~ sparagraph d~fficultto copy. The Saadyan Rccens~onIS n i ~ ~ cbetter li presetved ;run5 7uii axi ,aliun
In Mss Z and E. .ua~n
LMNSPIQR collated to F, tI
71D7] om I,l t l D 7 MR,
il171D7NQ mYllp] add
ti^' rn7nixa3nwia7iwu
R law i;i~il 0111
a7nxa2515x2 niui2p
L. 12?5] om L R Y l l B ...I
7x1
i'iin a w w 7nxi aviwui
aliun z5un5 zxiu2 ox lnSD;i~i iinxi D'ID 1x517
~ 1 7 1 m7mx
~7 a7nwia3iwu 7ia7 ni7nixa7nwia7iwu ni7nixa3nwia'iwu YJln 7~1357 Y l 2 DX1 L,PX ;r5ua5 13x;r>iul ax i 2 7 5
a5nxn25 ~ 5 x 2,?in2ui2p a m 5x51 i ~ 5x522
a7nxa2525x2 niui2i) n niuilp ;run5 yx 7ui5 ax1 awn
a x i xliun ziun5 17x ~ 2 1 ~ 5 .....A
irn .a7iwutnxi 03iwui i n n a7iuwtnxi a3iwui ~ 2 1 1~ ~ 21275 InvDiinxi
7n7~TI;> .iinxi a51a5x51 law ;rsi iinxi a m 515x7 m i 2 ax1 a~iun ;r5un5
a x i a~unn5un5 zaiu5 ax 7 5 ~ ~~ 25 1 ~ 51x75 uaiu2 ;run?
.ua~nzuni nu15 ;run5 7uii ax1 'yxln
ux1n
The twenty-two lcttcrs are The twenty-two letters are The twenty-two letters. They
their foundation, It is fixed tlie fo~~ndation. They are are fixed on a wheel. Tlie
on the Hook, on a \vlieel with fixed on a .\yhecl with two wheel rotates backwards and The posst~onof Q I8 IS firnily fixed 111 the Long Rcccnrron between C;$ 17 and 19
two 11~11idrcdi111d t~venty- hundred and t~vcnty-one forwards. A sign for the mat- - except that ~t 1s slilsslng 111 Mss BIG. S~iiceall three paragraphs b e g ~ nw ~ t hthe
one gates. The \vlieel rotates gates. Tlie wheel rolales ter: if in good, above plea- sanie phrase, parableps~s1s 111ost probably tlie reason for tli~soriilssion. The para-
backwartls and fbrwards. baclcwards and forwards. sure, and if in evil, below graph has the sanle pos~tlonIn the Short Recens~onexcept, as we shall see later,
And this is the sign: if for And this is the sign of the pain.s8
some Mss s p l ~ $19t ~ n t otwo parts, one of wlilch precedes C;$ 17 and 18 and one of
good, above l lea sure, and if matter: if for good," above
for evil, below pain. pleasure, ancl iffor evil, be- ~ v h ~ cfollows
h thell. 111the Saadyan Recension $ 19 follows on after $ 17 (Saadya's
low~pain. cli. 4:3-4) wli~le$ 18 1s placed ~n an ent~relyd~ffercntsettrng wedged bet\veen
-

I XI1113 ' X I Ai''g. 4$47 and 58b (Saadya's cli. 2:5 -6). Tlic manuscr~ptof Saadya's commentary (Z)
spl~tsup 4 56 Into two parts atid Inserts $56a here beSorc 4 18 and again before $58.
e as Mss C and E sho\v.
It 1s clearly ~ n t r u r ~ vhere
7 1 ~ 7m5nixaynwia7iwu ?ID' ni7nixa7nwia7iwu nix3~ 7 1 7 77 ppn 1721~
Tlic shortest text of t h ~ sparagraph 1s 111 Mss C and E. However, once we have
a7nxn25 x 5 ~ 2niui2p avnxn25x511 niuizi) 5x a7?n0 7 7 5 ~5 x i w 7 7 3 5 ~ str~ppedout from Z the Intrus~ve956a and the doublet llnX1 P719 ? X ~ X 1Tln it
i n n ,a7iuw7 ~ x n7wiwi
1 iTn ayiuwtnxi aw5wi w i ~ g-IYi p i w xwli a i 7 t w
~nw i;rn iinxi a m 5xix;r ;12iu2 ax iinxi a71a 5x51 (=56a) inw can be seen to be attest~ngthe same text fi)~m. The other ~ e c e n s ~ o seem n s to have
2 5 ~ 2~2 51 ~ 2j7x1275 zvi2 ax1 x~un;r5un5 m'mx a7nwia'iwu ~nlportedtlie 2211231 gates from Q 19 tlio~~gli, as we shall see, there 1s some doubt
ux1a ;run5 ;rum yxi alun 1275 lava12s vain ;run5 a71a5a5x i.rn 515x2 rnuiai) even tliere over t h e ~ rplace In the earllest recovcrablc text of SY. Tlic scr~besseem
- -
'' l~oilow~ug
tlie 11la1glnCllc o I~eLtlor1 to have had real d~fficultyIn under\tand~ngthe second half of Q 18 and v~rtually
'Voollect~onto P l I D w~tliMss / and F every s c r ~ b ehas attempted to clasrfy the text wrth the result - liiorc confi~sron!
 f1b7. See on 4 2 for t h ~ Ls I ~ I C I L I I ~ O varrant.
US
b ~ n e dthem and f o ~ ~ n ewllh
d h ~ n c dthem dnd forlucd \vrth them, he we~ghedthem, and
them the IlSe of 1' 11 c r c ~ ~ i ~ othem
n the l ~ l eof all clcatlon he exchanged the111 llow dld
+n3 In Mss K and K 17 ~mportedf'rom C(Q 55159 and 1s out of place here.
and the Ilk of all that woulcl and the 11leof all that ~ l o u l d he combrne them'? Aleph
D~w?wl D7nX793. In 9 19 Saadya Sound D7nX792
-

7nX1 D71WYl D'~X7931fn~l
fnRl D7iWYl 111 the Hebrew text before h ~ mbut corrected tt to P ' W ~ W D7nX793 ~
f n ~ as
l an obvlo~lserr~r.~%Ilony'ssolut~onto t h ~ probleru s (1972: 81) has much to
commend ~ t In: an early Ms the uppel stroke of'the abbrevlat~on~ ' 5 was 7 Pant and
a scrtbe m~sread~tas 8'37 and the error was then passed down the l ~ n e ma~tlly111 -
the Long and Saadyan Recens~onMss The same error occurs In the Mss of Q 19. The
correct formula for the permutat~ons1s n(n-I) t 2 whlch w ~ t h11-22 glves 231.h0
It IS vel y drf'ficult to work out what has caused the textual confi~s~oii at the end of
this palagraph except for scr~balattempts to rect~fyor Improve the text. Most of
the read~ngs~iialtcsome k ~ n dof selisc The repeated YX3 In Ms A 15 clearly an eirol,
as the lnarglnal corlcctor sa\v S11111larlyYXlY3 In C I S an error typ~calof thls poorly
wr~ttetiMs. 0111 two earllest Mss (A and C') already e x l i ~ btlie
~ t major varlants ( I 7 X
or D X and 75~7352"versus ; I P D ~ ) Ms . H and MNQS show s c r ~ b e st r y ~ n gto solve
tlic problem by putttng In all tlie var ants they know of What the author o r ~ g ~ n a l l y
wrote has d~sappearedfrom s ~ g h thought the general polnt he w ~ s h e dto make 1s
not d~fficultto dlscern
be for med be ibimed f l o ~ dlcl he with them all, and them all
(I9b) How did he wergh 'rnd Jvelgh and exchange them') w ~ t hAleph, Bet wlth them
evchange them'? -Aleph wlth Aleph w ~ t hthem '111, and all, and them all wrth Bet
them all, and them all w ~ t h them ,111 with Aleph, Bct And thcy all rotate ~n turn
Aleph, Bet \ v ~ t hthem all, ancl wrth the111 nll, 'ind thein '111 The result 1s that they go out
them all w ~ t hBet And thcy w ~ t hBet, G ~ n l e lw ~ t l lthcm by two huntlred and twenty-
dl1 rotate ~n turn The result 1111,and them '111 w ~ t hG l ~ n e l one gates l h e rcsult 1s that
1s that [they go out]" by two And they irll lotate In t u n~ all c r e a t ~ o nand a11 speech go
hundred ancl twenty-one The result 1s that they go out by one name
[gates]" 'I11e rcs~rlt15 that all out by t\vo 11~1nd1cd' ~ n d
cleatton and all speech go o ~ l t twenty-one g ~ i t e The ~ ~ e -
by one n u n e sult 1 5 th'lt '111 cie'itlon dnd
dl1 speech go o ~ by ~ tone
Ililllli'

DY 7 ' 7 ~1DlY 7YT7X31.liY>

(1%) Twenty-two letters he
calved them out, he hewed
them, he w e ~ g h c dthem, he
exchanged them, lie com-
Sefer Y q i r n $19 au n 7 2 q5x au 1'7i3i 153
au 5n.x n 7 2DY 15131 1513
1'/131 573'1 DY 15131 1513
lppn ni7nixtrvnwi a'iwu 7107 rn7nixa3nwi a2iwu nixYi9~ K Y D I7575n nnrin
piri 1i7n;n15pw 12xn p s n lppn mnix wi5w y n x i a 7 w i w i a7nxn2
11Y77 53 Wi)l 173 lY1 7Y 7T7X3117D771 1 5 p 19lY
~ 531 11277 53 EtY1311 P71YW
7x3 1 1 ~ 77nu7
5 53 W9ll PY ~51311513au 75x 1i)lY .7nx ow3 x ~ 1 7i i ~ v
au q5x Il3i2;Il 15pw 7Y
au n.2 q5x ou 15131 1513
5n)x n92 au 15i3i 1'713 .?57'7n nnnn l i i 3 i '/a71
5a.x DY 15131 1513 au a3nxn2n i x ~ iI 'X Y ~ I LMNSPIQR collated to K B'R'GII collated to A 7107 niynixn7nwia7iwu
i x r n 1 ;i'775n nnrin l i i 3 i X Y ~ Ia71uwy n x i 0 7 ~ w u i m7nixladtl MNIQR n i 3 n i x ]add YID~ B'B7CN n i i i ~ 3Y ~ ninix
W wi5w
a7iwuiasnxn3 n i x ~ i ~ 8Y17112777'731 l l Y 7 7$3 1 Y l l lY71M N Q 53 WDIl] 113)3711" & 2(l] 177)3Y71G 1ppn niviwr, mwu n7nw
53 KYDI a7iuw y n x i . ~ n aw3x 531 MNPQfi PYl] DY L 1 i ) l Y l I I b l Y 1'713 DY 7 5 ~ 717~77115pw pi^ p ~ n
KY17111777531 l l Y 7 7 K 7575n n i i ~ i n i0]111I, B'H 1x1 I 1 ~B'' 1731 DY 7 5 7i)lY
~ 7Y 7T7R3
.7nK OW2 7575n nnnn 1513i 7 xrn] a m G 53 WPI~] 531 B' au n.2 75x DY 15131 1513
n32]mxn7ixra] LP, X Y ~ I aViwuij a7wiwi E~!G 15131 n73 DY 15131 7513
TWenty-two letters he Twenty-two letters are the S, nRYn3 MNQ, 1XY791 I nix~17 I X Y ~ I z575n nnrin
calved them out, he hewed Ibundat~on t h e e prlmary 7 n x i a7iwui n7nxnsl] y n x i a7iwui03nxn3
them, he werghed them and letters . He carved them out, '2Dn2 I D71WYlltr7~5tU1 531 11Y7;I 53 RYDI P71YW
exchangect tliern, lie corn- he hewed them, lle conlbined LMNSP D71WY2"] . ~ n q5x
x D W ~~ ~ i i1~ r7; 1

'" Scc La~nhert1801: 80, Kafach 1972: 117 and Weinstock 1981: 36.
'lo Scc Cpstein 1894: 97 for the even witlcr figures for the number of gates that we get when we "' Pollowing the rest of the M s s . n73in Vls K does not make scnse.
atici in the readings of the medieval commentaries 011 SY. "' Again with the rest of Ihc Mss. P71WYin K is nn obvious transpositional error for D71YW
 11Y1 yet agaln. In $4 32-34 most Short Kecensron Mss lead Pnnl Instead of l Y 1 ;
only In Q 39 1s 1Y attested in all Mss; Q Q 41 and 52 wlicre rt occurs ale not present In
the S h o ~Rceens~on,
t In 648 it 1s only f o ~ t ~ 111
i dthe Long Recens~onw h ~ l e949 1s not
present In the Saadyan Kecenslon, In $61 ~tI S not attested In all the Mss. My con-
cluslon 1s that the \vord 1Y as an alte~nat~veto l Y 9 probably belongs to a secondary
layer ofadd~t~otic In the textual L~adrtronofSY, from where ~tmay occasronally (as
In Q 39) have c ~ e p~t n t oall the Mss. It probably reflects the ~nfluenceof tlie lntclprc-
tatloll of Isa 26.4 found 111 y I l ~ i g77c fI9)951Y;111Y 717' 7 3 '3 read as "for by
-

(tlie letters) YlidA He the Lord cleated tlie worlds"

Aga~n,as In Q 18, Mss C and E offer the shortest text of t h ~ sparagraph, once we 1l9D;111ij?~ 7Y 'K3. The Saadyarl Recens~onhas the sl~glitlyshorter 7Y 7f7X3
dlscount the ctanclard extcnsron of the pli~ase71D9 n19nlX P9nWl P91VY, 1.e. Vl'lw 131Y
nlU1V3 77WY P7nV n15133 YIV n1DlX missing In Z and the otlier Kecens~ons, ?D72 PY 15131 1513 BY 5D91 Tlie extcnsron to C111lcl15 fot~ndonly In Mss ACZ
and only partly there III C Cructally, C and E do not lia\/e tlie clai~screferr~ngto L>onnolo(Castcll~1880 43) exlends ~tto Dalet Thls urould be an obvrous addlt~on
thc tlce ofthe letters In creatron - 1 1 ~ 5Y9nY;15 3 V331 11Y9;15 3 V31 122 l Y 1 . Tlie lor a s c r ~ b eto make but, on tlie othel hand, A and C ale 0111 oldest Mss of SY, so
Lise of tlie word V93 here to mean "l~fe"IS unlque III SY Everywhere else 111 tlie the o ~ i ~ ~ s of
s ~tlie
o n phrase by palablepsls IS a possrble explanat~onf o ~rts absence
bool< ($6 30-34, 39, 41, 52, 58-0) 11 means "human berng " Ms % too o m ~ t s~tIn 11s rn the majorlty of Msi
vcrslo~iof this clause - 7 1 ~ 57'nY;I 531 llY7;i 5 3 '(?Il Y 9 1 . Note also tlie absence Fol tlie val laut P 7 1 V ~ 1 ~ P 7 see
V ~notes
~ 1 011Q 18 The variant 'IDn3 (Ms 1) IS
of the second occurrence of this word In Mss MNPQR In tlie Sliort Kecension and fi)i~ndalso rn Judali bell Bar71lla1ln both QQ 18 and 19 (Halbe~stam208). Judali
B2 111 the Long Recetis~on.It looks, tlierelhre, as though \ve can ~ e c o n s t ~from ~~ct acknowlcdgcs the exlslence ofthe ~ e a d ~ i221 l g but says 462 1s tlie collect ~eadlng,
the Saadyan Rece~is~on an carl~erf o r ~ nof the text of'g 19a which read o11ly: P97WY ~t 1s aclire\/ed by co~intlngin the levelse coinbinat~onsoftwo lctlers, e.g. X2 as well
~17D7;111~i)V 191Y ]IYn Ii)j?n m9nlX D9i7V1.The absence of the word V31 111 t h ~ s as 3 8 to give 231 x 2 cornb~t~atlons, I c "Aleph \v~tlithem all, and them all wrth

eatl~crIbrm of SY would be d e c ~ s ~ for v e settl~ngthe d~sputebetween Peter Schiifer Aleph." See also below 011 Ll~~nasli's col-tiiiientary on Q21
anti Moshe ldel o w the presence or :tbsetlcc of the rdea of the go/e171 1x1SY 6' The ie\/e~salof 71Yz;1531 11177;153 In Mss S and I leflects tlie Long Kecens~on
1Yl p7Y1 1lV)3;11 1?j?V 13Yn ]i)pn. Wlienevc~tlus charu of verbs occi~isin SY 01 d e ~ .

inev~tablythe order of the words 1v11l vary 111 tlie Mss, ~ i o tonly across but also
wlthl~ithe recensions.
lYl] lY'1 Z, MNQ, B'. T h ~ varlants appears many tlmes In the Mss of SIT.Saa-
dya, In commcnt~ngon $41 (Lambert 1891: 94, Kafheli 1972: 132) says that 12 l Y 1
IS slmply a varlant form for 13 7Y91 and lie quotes a serles of s~rlirlarabhrevrated
forms i n tlie BIble, the r a b b ~ n ~souices
c and espccrally the/?c~ytcln//n.
Allony argues
that the play between tlie two forms reflects the two-root letter I l n g u ~ s t ~theory
c 20 to insett the v e ~ bX l I Into the text of SY
wh~chlie attr~butesto the author of SY (1972: 81). Ho\vever, what Allony does not
do, either here ol ~n the rest ofhrs art~cle(as We~nstockpo~ntsout 111 his e d ~ t o r ~ a l
note at the elid of Allony 1981b: 50), 1s to pay attent~onto the attestat~onof tliese
ter~ns111the textual tradit~onof SY. If tlie Saadya~ivetslon has preserved the earlier
Ioriii o f $ 19 tlien the word 1 Y was not present In ~ tTlie . ev~dencefrom the rest of
SY IS as follows: the phrase rn wh~cli~t occurs rn 964 and 6, r.e. llY1 IlWnl Y7,
docs not, as we llave seen, belong to the earllest layer of the text; rn 20 only one
Ms leads l Y 1 against all the lest, In $24 the Sliort Keceiision Mss oiii~tI l V n l Y7
"' Scc ScllLiScr 1005:255--56.
Tlie text of Ms K 17 very faulty In thls paragraph. n91 KYDI does not make any
sense but the val I ~ L Iattempts
S to c o r ~ect the errol in the Short Rece~isronMss sug-
gest that thc ~iirstakeoccurred well back In the transnil\s~on111ieof the Reccnsron
P91VY foi P91YV 1s clearly a t ~ a n s p o s ~ t ~ oet n ato1
l 537 K l I l P3DV 1s an ~ d ~ o s y n -
crat~cread~ngfound only 111 Mss K and R." It appears at the elid of $ 2 4 ~ In 1 the
Saadynn Rccenslon and reflects tlie attempt, dlsc~lssedIn connection w ~ t h$6 1 and
We come filially to the maln ploblern of the text of Q 19. Mss KFK, D~unash
(Vajda-Fenton 2002. 83 and 91), and Judah ben B a r ~ l l l a(Halbe~sta~n
~ 207 aiid 208)
s p l ~~t
t LIPInto two halves and distt~butethem elthe1 stde of$$ 17 and 18." The lea-
"' Fol the connectton between K dnd f< see the ~ n t r o d u ~ t l o$n8 ? and the notes to $\\ 62-61
"5 Although Mas H ' H In the Long Kecetls~onkeep the pnr ts ot $ 19 togethe1 tlie~r11lte1n~11 par,l-
g ~ a p h~ I V I S I ~(I~I n d ~ ~ ~ by
t t etIic11 ....
c t n ~ ~ m b e ~ tSl~l gS ~ C IsIpIl)~ t sit Into thrce p a ~ t s(I) 1 1 ~ 5 P S l W Y ,
...
(2) P y l Y W...? 11'3, (3) 1XYP1. The dtvts~onat 11x5 I S exdctly the divrd~ngpolnt of the pn~dgtaph
In the S h o ~t Recens~onMs5
 f IS what ~t1s) 1s not obv~ousslnce Q 19b clearly p ~ c k s
son for thls re-order~ng( ~ that add ~ 5 5~1 l i j~n 3 L. nli171 G. W D ~ acid
I ] 371
up and develops the two verbs ]'/j?V and ]17D;1(131Y In the case of the Saadyan a'~n'oi] nisnix;i 7a'o z t i 3tm a7iuw;l p w n la7o
t y Q 19b arose ar a later
Recens~on)froin Q 19a. But that then ralses the p o s s l b ~ l ~that I,FI'I. Wl?j7,..P'lM'Dl] 7Tl G.
explanation of 19a. In whlch case, ~ f t h Saadyan
e fotm of Q 18 is earlier than that of' ID'D IQR.
the other rcccns~ons,the origtnal form of SY had no reference to the 231 gates or
the per~nutat~on of the letters of the alphabet. And, as we shall see, Q 21 w ~ t hthese
l ~ s t sof comb~nat~ons
IS absent 111 Inany Mss Thls is, of course, h ~ g h l yco~ljectural
slncc Q 19b does appear 111 all our Mss. However, the gates are tnlsslng in the Saa-
dyan version of Q 18 and some explanat~on1s requ~redfor the d~stribut~on of the text Many scrlbcs seem to have cxcrclsed tlie~rcreative talents In t h e ~ attemptsr to LIP-
In Mss KFR, D~lnashand Judah. date and correct what thrs palagraph says about God's creatlve work."Thc major-
~ t yof the Mss more or less follow the form of the text as found In Mss S B' and Z.
This h r m orthe paragraph scelns clca~and st~a~ghtlorwald. At least, one can pro-
~ L ~ a C translat~on
C w h ~ c hseenlr to make sense: "He Formed si~bstaticefrom chaos.
and ~naclethe non-existent e x ~ s tand , hewed out gleat c o l ~ ~ n i from
n s ~ntangiblcalr".
But there is clearly a t e n s ~ o In
~ i say~ng,"he made the noti-ex~stentcxist" alongs~de
"he fbrmed substance From chaos". And a5 we have already seen 111 oils cons~der-
atlon of Q 1 ~t 1s terms llke 3Yn and ppn which are the character~st~c vocabulary of
our author when we w~shesto descrlbe God's creatlve actlvlty Thcy fit a view of
creat~oni l l w h ~ c hGod works with pre-exlst~nglnaterlal rather than the creatlo ex
He f o lncd
~ substance from He forrncd substance fiom And ~ u b s t ~ ~ went
n c c out from MI/II/(I w h ~ c hseelns to Ile bel~lnd"he made the non-ex~stentex~st."
chaos, '~tldhe made them st5 ch'ios, and 11c ~nadert wrth chaos and he lnnde ~t( 7 ) and Mss A and B2, supported by the text pres~~pposed In Donnolo's commentary of-
exrstence, and he hewed out fire and st ex~sts,and he ~t exrsts, and he hewed out fer a very d~fferentvers~ono f $ 20. Donnolo, as so often, parapl~rasesthe text of SY
great columns from ~ntangl- hewed out g~eatcolumns great ~olurnnsfrom ~ntan-
he has beforc hit11 but it IS not too difficult to work out what that was: 1;llnn l Y 7
blc alr T h ~ s1s the srgn lrom rlltang~bleall T h ~ srs g~blealr
the slgn ~77113~ i 77 15 1nx711-r7nu;n vx3 ixvui ~ ' / i u'/v ii5n xi7 wal-,
~ n 11~71
VDn3 1I7XV171KDP7'/l72.P r e s ~ l ~ n ~ n g>V711s an error for llV7,Donnolo's text
that
1s ~ d c n t ~ cwith
a l that of Mss A and B'. T h ~ fornl
s of the text, though not as even as
that In the major~tyof manuscripts, rnakes good sense, both In the I~ghtof parallels
elsewhere In SY and espec~allyin the l ~ g hof t the coninients on Gcnesls chapter one
found In Beresh~tRabba. The first clause (V1313 1;nnn lY7)presupposes exactly the
vlew of creatlon attr~butedto R.Huna 111 the name of Bar Qappara 111 Ge11.R. 1:5,
wliile the fire of the second clat~se(WH3 1KWY) w ~ l come l froni the well-known
m ~ d r a s h ~explanat~on
c of the word P7DV(= P7nlVX) crted 111 h 11% 12a and Gen
nx w u i wan i m n n 1r7 nx 7wui wnn i z n n ir' 11'xn ixwui wnn i z n s r 7 i
P5'7113Y3YRl 11W' 1I'R D7?li2Y 3YRl 15 W' . 1 5 ~ ~'5171D'11DU 2YRl .l1W7 R. 4.7. T h ~ m~drash
s 1s also belilnd the statement in SY $Q 14 and 28 that the heaven
. W E ) ~ 11~xw
I i7ixn a7ii-r~ wnn1i17xw 1 5 1 ~Pn " ~ X osn111'xw i'ixn was created froin fire. T h ~ sversion of Q20 fits, then, qulte comfortably Into the
. w i ~ iwi7i)
) w17p aln7Di . w i ~ iw
, 1 - 1w17i)
~ t11n'~i 1111l1euof the r a b b ~ n ~period.
c

N collated to M
8WY1 I"] 0111N ZTl] add
In'o N
LFPIQR collated to S
i r 7 ] add i v n wnxn
LR lIW] 11WW FIR WE)nl]
-
B2 A except that lD"J 71
1s ~n the luargln
It 1s much easrel to expla~nthe revlslon of the text foiliid 111 Mss A, B2, and Don-
11010,~ n t othe text form fo'ound 111 the majority of Mss than the otlier way round. Lt fits
i attempt w h ~ c hwe ~solatedIn our d ~ s c u s s ~ oofn $ 1 to ~ n s e rthe
In w ~ t lthe t verb K l >
Into the text of SY. We know that Saadya was unhappy w ~ t hthe view of crcatlon
GH collated to B1
1 ~G' 1 1 ~ 111 ' ~Y W R
1 ~ 11
H ~'5171ti'?ll9Y] D'l2X " Ihllave dealt In some d e t a ~ lwrth the text and rntcrprctatlon of t h ~ sparagraph In H'lyman
1993 See that pdper tor a tulle^ attempt to j u s t ~ f ythe vlew of SY \20w h ~ c Il ~take hcle
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
S - - E + D >a-oats-crar;
n r n n n o
";";J-=;E = _ ~ L ' f ~ g g ~ j l _2
gp2
6 E r - r z 2
E3
3 a 'c- ?
F5 2 $ s s z g ~ ~ z ~ ~ 2w

5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 2
r r5-kta D as- n
5

-.

nS- n
i?k~r
ns- Q D
i) a r , ~

2s:
=3$
-52 2*5L
4

2z
6 0,
E CC
m .f
2G-E E
&$
-
.G E f
G a)
+a2 >

2.5 x
O E F j
5 0
C & G
5
223
2 E "
z z l5
E Q 9
2-.aCG
0 a) E
2 b2
$ 2
S c,.
. ">Tj rj

2~ ?$
N -
-
+.-$$Q
m N a)
sir;-
..
m s g g
r Z"-;f.
23 5 2 s

-5 z.z
~ .~ 2 2
+
m

a)
$ .. 2"
, ,4
.c .c
W N -
- 0
r,
C m
- CC
4
 ordei to ~llustratethe phrase "Aleph wltli them all, and them all w ~ t hAleph.""'Th~s
produces the 462 cosnb~natlonsattested In Ms 1's text o f $ 19. Judah ben Barzilla~
does not clte $ 21 btrt he doc5 d~scussthe d~fferentposs~blcways of c o m b ~ n ~ nthe
g
letters In apparent dependence LIPOII Dunash (Ilalbcrstam 1885: 216). There seems
to be a clear tendency both In the con~mentatorsand the ~nanilscr~pts to transm~t
less carefi~llythose parts of the SY trad~tlonthat could be cliaraclerised as com-
mentary on or expansions of an earl~ercore text.

K A
'73nxi i i r 7 ; i '73 nx ;iwiy i7n7n1 ; 1 3 - 1 ~'73 nxi i i ~ ; '73
i nx ;iwiu i 3 n 3 n i 7 s i ~
a w s n a7iwu 127'7 l n 3 ~.7nx
i aw iis177;i w n w i a7iwu 127'7 nwi 7 n x aw i i 2 ~
$21 IS mlss~ng111 sevcn out of our n~neleenMss (GCZEMNQ) spread across all
nx q i x . 5
,n on .-rnx l i a s l a9rsn
three recensions, and ent~relynllssrng In the Saadyan Reccns~on.However, ~ t s I-le looks ancl exchanges; he makes all cre- I-le looks and exchanges; he makes all cre-
~IIIISSIOII In M5 G may just be an error slnce t h ~ sMs oln~ts$21-22 and resumes ation and all speech one name. And a sign ation and all speech one name. And a sign
part way through $23 at 7 1 1 ~ Hence . ~ t forin
s of $23 does not make sense on fbr tlie matter: twenty-two objects and one for thc matter: twenty-two objects in one cat-
body. egory (or body).
its own (~77173~71313PR 71~51;(llR) and something Inus1 have preceded ~t In
the scrrbe's exemplar. How much, of course, we cannot know. Grucnwald 1971:
LMNSI+PIQR collated to K BIB' DIt collated to A
21 p r ~ n t sonly the text of Ms A w ~ t hno apparatus, stating that nearly all the Mss
a ' i w u ~a7nwi a3iwuI, I R l l x i ] lixsl 7 n x via>] 0111 R' qia21 qiai R'D
contaln errors but that A s e e ~ n sto be the least co~rupted.Nevertheless, he detects MNIQ nx] ~ n Lx R
two eirols 111 ~t (1 detect one) and ~t has eleven dupl~cationsIn 242 combinations
~nsteadoS the requlrcd 231. The text of Ms K 1s very s ~ n ~ ~tol athat r of Ms A and
would have been v~rtually~ d e n t ~ cifa lits s c r ~ b chad not o ~ n ~ t t ethe .
d llne 71 , , 1 X Notes 011 the text of322
by homo~otelcuton(71 ...7 1). I have included the text of Ms D because ~tarranges
the comb~natlons111 a cl~ffeientorder from that of A and K - basically in reverse The absence of t h ~ spalagraph in the Saadyan Recension (and 1t1 Ms G) places a
ordel (atbcrsh).Tlle meaning o f ~ t header s line is unclear to me. I have fbllowed tlie cl~1e5tlonmark over 11s presence In the early stages of the developiiient of SY. Its
layout of the paragraph exactly as ~tappears In the manuscripts. language suggests a connection wlth the later layers oSQ$ 18- 21 whlch we have al-
The relat~velyweak attestatloll of $21 s~rggeststhat it belongs to that later layer of ready discussed The second sentence - 7RX 71X1 P7Y3RP7AVlP71VY1375 1D7Dl
material which we have already Identified emcrglng 111 the Long and Short Recens~on also occur5 In Q 48b but 15 slgn~ticantlyabsent 111 the Short Recens~onand Ms D
texts of Q 18 fro111the shorter Saadyan verslon and whlch added Q I9b as an Intcrpre- Thc only slgnlficant Ms var~antI S 7121 (seven Mss) versus 7'113 (SIXMss) but
tatlon of 19a. As ~tstands now 111 the majorlty oSMss 4 21 appeals to be an interpreta- absent In R1,and w ~ t hF (as we sllall see) having both read~ngsHow slgnlficant t h ~ s
t ~ o nof the phiase ~ 7 5 1 7~77113~
~ 3Ynl 111 $20. But or~glnallytli~swould have been IS depends 011 how the paragraph 1s itndcrstood. There ale no text-c~lticalgrounds
slmply a reference to the b ~ b l ~ cp~llars
al of heaven (Prov 9 1, Job 9:6,26:11, ctc.). for p~efei I 111g one 1-eadlng over anothe~.
As for tlie early cornmentators, Donnolo organlses the paragraph In a completely Ms K has lwo clear erlors (omlss~onof P7AVl and RK) as the rest of the Short
d~fferentway Sron~our manuscr~ptsresulting In 495 comb~natlons,but Caste111 Recens~onMss make c l e a ~ Ms F has two d~fferentverslons of $ 22 elthe1 s ~ d eof
(1880 45, n. 3) notes that there are slgn~ficant\laslants In the nlan~rscr~pts he used 421 Before 11we find 7RX PW 71277 53 AX1 11Y77 53 AX ;IVY1 1l7i27l 131Y
for 111s e d ~ t ~ o D~lnash
n. ~ e p o r t sthat the maiiuscr~ptt ~ a d ~ t i oofn $21 had reached 7nx 71x3 n7r3n 1x3 1375 113701; after ~ t 53 . AX) 11Y7753 AX ;IVIY 1~131 731Y
hlin In a poor c o n d ~ t ~ ofull
n of errors and m ~ s a r ~ a n g e ~ n e nHe t s tells us that he la-
boured hard to put ~tback Into ~ t correct s order, but the result 1s yet one Inore possl-
ble arlangenlent. He offers a second table with the reverse order of c o m b ~ n a t ~ o In ns

K A
73 l ~ i ovnx
? ninx viv
pn liwii ,;lxn 733 rnx
.nwn32 ~ ~ 1 3 7 2
'I'hree primary letters: Alef;
Mem, Shin. Their basis is tlie
scale of accluittal and the
scale of guilt, and tlie Ian-
guage of law holds the bnl-
C hitlden and ineffable, and
73 l-iio3vnx ninw v ~ i w t p l - 1 1vnx
~ ~ nlmx v i i v
pn liwii 7ainq3i m3.i p ~ ~a21n v 721
i ~ rnx
. D ~ ~~ ~~ I1 ~x 1
I . o 7 ~ ny7i3n
~2
Three primary letters: Ales, Three primary letters: Alef;
Mcm, Shin. Their basis is Mem, Shin. Their basis is the
tlie scale of acquittal and scale of' acquittal and the
the scale 01' g ~ ~ i land
t , the scale of guilt, atid tlie lan-
latigi~agcof law holds the guage of law holds the bal-
'I'hree primary letters: AleC
Mem, Shin - a great secret,
sealed with six seals. Ancl
from it goes out fire, and wa-
ter and air, and it is divided
into male and female.
Three pri~naryletters: Alel;
Meni. Shin n great secret,
- are the fi)irndation: three pri-
liiddcn and incffltblc, ant1
sealed with six seals. And
fro111 it goes out fire, watcr
and air, arid it is wrapped
LIII in male and fitmale.
Know aricl ponder and form
(a mental image) that fire
cvaporalcs water.
(24a) The twenty-two letters
mary letters, seven do~ihle
(letters), and twel\x simple
(letters). Three primary let-
ters: Alef, Mern, Shin - a
great secret, hitlden and in-
eSfiil?Ie and glorious fi.om
wliich go out fire and air anit
water, from which everything
was created.
(24b) Alef, Mern, Shin --

ance between them. balance bciween them. ance between them. sealed with a seal wrapped
~ t pi l l niale ant1 Scmale. Know
BIB'C;I)II collated to A ZF C' arid ponder and form (a men-
LMNSFI'IQR collateci to K =
la1 image) that fire evaporalcs
VDX]add nv i n 7x P n i x ] l?loSlo m 11
water.
nnK M"
Ci 0111ils from WX7V to 24 a = chapter 2:2 in Z; 24b
5 25 ( WX lo) horuoio. = chal7ter 3:2.
Notes 011 e of $23
t / ~ text
LMNSI3PIQK collc~tedto K B'B2GLIH collatetl to A ZE ~ o l l ~ i t etod C
x i s i m zo3ml x i s i a x i s i n i z o i m ] xism n~11n2 amnl w v ainn
~
$23 IS attested 111 all our Mss \v~than almost ~1111Sorm text. It clearly belongs to the ;lonai M N F P I Q 11nnll ;1013~1D I I ~ 7 0111 1 HI n 1 ~ a nZF
earllest lecoverable stage of SY. In Mss A and K ~tb e g ~ n tsh e ~trh ~ r dchapter devoted a;lDlI,MNPQ
to the three mothers For the p o s ~ t ~ oofn this paragraph In the varrous recensions see
the notes to QC; 9 and 17. 111Mss MNFIQ thrr paragraph appears 111 two places -here
and aftel C; 9. Its placrng after 4 9 may reflect the ~nflt~ence of the Saadyan Rece~is~on Notes OM the text o f 24
slnce the order 9,23 reflects the l o g ~ cof the paragraph order In that recens~on.111 the
apparatus M2 = the version of b 23 w h ~ c happears 011the second occaclon after $ 22. b 24 has a fixed posltlon aster QQ 20-23 In the Long and S h o t~Kecens~onsbut 15 s p l ~ t
Fol the defect~vefonn of the paraglap11 In Ms G see the notcs to 4 21. ~ n t ot\vo 111tlie Saadyan Recensron and tlie p a t s ate assrgned to Saadya's chapters
2 2 and 3 2 For tlie insel t ~ o nof Q 9 ~ n t oQ 24a rn the Saadyan Recens~onsee the riotes
to Q 9. P~obablythe s p l ~ t t ~ nLIP
g of Q 24 ~ n t otwo patts also lesultc fiotii the c d ~ t o r ~ a l
~ e s h a p ~ nofgthe text of SY which produced t h ~ leeension
s The plocess of g ~ o w t hof
K
the palagtaph seenis to have been ftom the Short Kecens~onto tlie Long Recenr~on
and finally the Saadyan Recencion. The sentence P'D XW11 W X 7 W 1 1 P l 2 W n l Y'l
a wnx nlnx v5v
i i ~ ?lo ?IDVDK nm7x v3iv m7nlK D5nVl D71WY (24a)
111 the Long arid Saadyan Rccens~ons1s not attested In the Sllolt Recencton and we
W W a~l n m L x i ~ mzm3n i a i n m xis~a3; l o m 5n1 yaw [nlimx v i i v 7107
WK a w ~nin n~i rnmn 1 7 x ~ni Sn n i m ~ 2 wwa
a n ~ n i v Zs ~ W Ya S n v in l i l s 3 liave a l ~ e a d yseen that wheneve1 the phrase 11Y1 2 W n l Y'T o c c u ~ sin SY ~t1s never
137 l ~ p i n n n 1n i i i D7ni 1 x 2 i m n n i n i i i 09a wx -110wax [nilmx v i i v attccted 111 all three reccnslons; cee the notes to QQ4, 6, and 19. P713 X W l 1 W X 7 W 1s
z2p11 WX7V 1lYl 2Wnl Y? 72i)Il i x i s n l x i ~ ~ xnoi m 51-11 found rn the next palagraph though only rn tlie Short liecens~on Ln the Saadyan
I rhe s c r ~ b e
ot ryrnally wrote .07nxv31 mi3 vx [i~nlnv So~mof Q24a lX1313 adds one mote num~nousadjcct~veto XL/31131 XD1213 w h ~ l efor
~ 5 1 9 1and then '~dded n ,537 x121 a;lnv D7nl 5 3 7 X 1 2 1 P713W see Q 19b (Mss K and R) Mr Par re 770 may take LIS back a stage In
nbove ~ t ledv~ng
, it u n c c ~tall1 nu2n2 amn wax (2413)
the process whe~ebythe Saadyan vet sron of this palaglap11 eliiel gcd Srom the Short
as to I&he the^ to lend xibin1 2 v n i ~7 ;l2p1~ 1x1ininn1
01 xilsnl .D% RVl1 VK7W 11Y1 Kecens~onslnce ~ c ~ u n a nofthet s Shott Recens~onalymu 111 11stext of tlirc paragraph
- f o ~lX13131 ~t has lXlD131 P l n n l , and the last clause of 424a (aftel 0'131) reads
'137 x l 2 1 D 7 i w 72p1113T ] ' p h n n l . On tlie other hand, the text of this Ms niay be tilficant that, only for the second t1111eso Sar (the other 15 Q 191, Gruenwald's attempt
a del~ber-atcand later attempt to reintegrate the text of these two recenslons. to present a unrtary text of SY 1s abandoned and lie 1s fbrced to pr~rltthe text of the
ypinnnlhnlnm i n l n n 1s a very rare word- the Pual of i n n occurs only once Short and Long Recens~onsIn parallel colunins (1971. 152).
111 the B ~ b l ern Ezek 16:4. It 1s probable that the obscur~tyof the word occasioned Perhapi the best way to tackle the p~oblemsof this paragraph 1s to b e g ~ nby iso-
the change to the much more recogn~sable]7p>nnn In the Shol-t Rccens~on. lat~ngthe common mater~alwh~chappears rn all three recenslons:
The reversal of the order of ~591?217013n In Mss MNFPIQDH probably re-
flects tlie language of'bcclus 3:21a as cluoted In 11 Hcrg 13a - V l t n i x TDiY ~ > 9 ? 2 2
~ p n ni x i n n ; r m n n . T l i ~ s1s a s h o ~ t ,s~rnplestatement wli~chcxpl~cateswell the ~~nderlyrng prlnc~ple
The order of the words n l l l D7alVX 1s unstable In the Mss. Contrast the order of the Iicadc~statement $ 2 3 It rs then s~mllarto tlie s t ~ u c t u r cof $ 2 6 and, to a
111 the Saadyan Kecensron wh~cliagrees w ~ t hthat In Q 35 which, however, rt does
sl~ghtlyless extent, $429-30 Perhaps the p h a s e ~ 7 1 3 npn attested In all Mss
not attest. In 41) 11-14 and 28 the order I S VX D7D rill w h ~ l e111 Q1)25,29, 30 we find except KLSR70 and by Dunash (Vajda-Fenton 2002. 135) should be seen as part of
tlie same order as that of Q 24. tli~score b e c ' ~ ~ ~osfe~ t presence
s In $ 23 Possrbly also wc should reta~nn1DX after
nlY2t3 VVll Dlnn 111 Mss Lb seems preferable to nY2132 Dnln 111 Ms C 111 the V l i V w ~ t htlie Long and S h o ~Recens~ons
t O U Icote then becomes
I~ghtof the o t h e ~Mss and the probable reference to the S I X permutat~onsof the let-
ters vnx
Can \ye develop a plaus~blea ~ g u m e n tfor how our leccnslons cotlld have arlsen
from t h ~ spossrble co~e'lTo b e g ~ n\v~th,the ~ n t r u s ~ vnature
e of tlic spec~ficat~on
of mihat VnK rep~esents,namely D7D1 n l l 1 VK IS clear Sroni ~ t pos~tlons 111 Ms E
and 11s absence 111 our two oldest Mss (A and C') Ms Z d~ffcrsS ~ o mC only In the
K A C a d d ~ t ~ oofn these words The second malor a d d ~ t ~ o-nIn the Long and Saadyan Ke-
W K n i i i . a m wx .;lwiw ni-iiin wnx n i n v wiiw n i - i i ~ n,wax : n m x w i i w censlons, 17 tlie words D7n y l x m?hn nn 171x n l 7 i l n wx ~ ~ n nwl - 7r i l n This
m i l ;iaai a7n .;iiun5 i3ix ni?L/in wx D3nw;i n i l i51x n i ~ i i nwx D3nw restates the substance oS$Q28 and 35 111 d ~ f f e ~ elanguage.
nt There I S one s~gnificant
1375 1n70;in .a77n12 wx n7n y i x ni-ihn nn ;riuai wx .a7n y i x n i ~ i i n
change of wording In thrs addrt~onwhen we compare 11and $28 w ~ t hQ 12
. a m nx ;1xw11 WX;IW i)n m i l 7 a n i a3n ;riun> u3mn inn n i l ;rani a m
.P ~ ~ ~u I7 i- m2 .aV7n12 $ 12 Rlln ill1 P7nW l\?lo -- air fro111Spirit
Three - fire, water and air; Three primary letters: Alef, Three primary letters: Alef, $ 25 R l l 171Rnl7iln tlie ot'l'spring of air is thc Spirit
fise abo\ie, water below, and Mem, Shin. Tlieoffs1springof Mem, Shin. The off'spring of $28 R11B X121 131X1 ant! air was created from tlie Spirit
air is between them. And this heaven is fire; tlie offspring Iieaven is fire; the offspring
is a sign for the mattcr that of air is thc Spirit; the off' 01' air is the Spirit; the off' I11 $4 25 and 28 the w o ~ d171X 1s ~ ~ l t l o d u c eInd order to ~e$ol\lethe a r n b r g ~ ~of
~ tthe
y
fire evaporates water. spring of earth is water; fire spring of earth is water; fire two senses 111 mih~chrill 1s used 111 Q 12 " But the a ~ t ~ f i c ~ aofthc l ~ t y ~ n s e r t ~ oInn $ 25
above, water below, and air above, water below, air is the become5 clear when I n the final phrase D"n1'2 Y 7 1 3 i j pn n n 1 (\vli~cIibelongs to
is the balancing item. balancing item.
0111 PI c s ~ ~ n i e d n l l dgaln has the meanlng "all ". R L Ithere
core) ~ IS another mole serl-
ous c o n t ~a d ~ c t ~ o~ntroduccd
n by t h ~ sp ~ e s u ~ i i esecond
d expansion of our pa~agr'lph
LMNSFPIQR collated to K U1R'GDIl collated to A ZE collated to C
- tlie use of the W O I ~n l 7 i l i I 1) 12 presupposes that the all 1s the "offsp~~tig" of
n l l l 2O] add Y713i2 i7n pn] 0111 H wnx] add a'nl nil1 W x %
MNFIQ D ~ nl-i?in]
~ W wi-i n1-iili-1
the S p i ~~tand not vrce versa, Q 13 that earth comes f r o n ~water and not water fioni
D-nw ~ 7 n 1n i l E earth, and 1) 14 that the heavens ale cleated out of file. $ 2 8 states I h ~ sexpllcdly

"" Vajda-Fenton 2002: 231-32.

Nolea OM the tev/ of $25 "' Judah bell Bar~illai'stext is identical with that of Ms K (I-lalbcrsta~n1885: 257).
" It is, of course, possible that the use of both ill1 and 1 7 1 K in SY rcprcsents an attempt to

translate into Hebrew tlie Greek distinction between c~iflrjpand $40; see Guthrie, A I f i . ~ t o t . jof~
In tlie Sliort Reccns~onthrs palagraph appears 111 the nl~ddleof 1) 59. We w ~ l deal
l Cii,c~r/c P h i l o . s o ~ ~11, ~ , For the possible background to this paragraph in classical and rabbinic
/ i ~145.
with thrs Issue 111 the notes on $ 2 6 and $59 Here we w ~ l concentrate
l on the prob- thought see Elspstein 18'94: 29, 66-68, 1,iebes (2000: 29) sees no ambiguity in $ 12 since for hirn
lem of the w~dclyd~vergenttext of t h ~ paragraph
s In the three recenslons. It I S s ~ g - P ~ ; I > XR l l i n SY = God, and tlie n i l which comes from him = 171X.
and 1s In clear contl-ad~ct~on \vltli the Long and Saadyan verslons of $25. The ~vord LMNSI'PIR collntetl to K Th~sp a ~ ~ ~ g 14
~ ani1\\111g
ph 7 F coll'~tedto (
older of $ 35 (D'D Y l K nn 171K W K D'BW) supports the addltlon In Q 25 but Q 35 1s wnx nlnx w i w l 0111M N I in BI ~ 1 1 dH nnnnl naan 71-
not attested 111 tlic S h o ~Reccnsron
t The d~screpancycan be resolved by assurulng nnmil nnnn L M N F PI B'(; =A

that P7)9 y l X nl751n nn l v l x m751n wK D7nw;l nl751n and the whole of $ 35 gnl pn n i l LSI, Tn n i l P
(:lnd, as ivc shall see, $27) are a later layer of materral. Tlic problem then, becomes
one ofwliy should a s c t ~ h eol s c r ~ b e shave ~ i a n t e dto 1nt1-oducea d~screpancyInto
Notes 017 the tc>.\ t of $26
the text of SY. Of co~rrse,t h ~ w s o ~ ~ not
l d be the f i ~ s tllue
t tliat a s c ~be, t r y ~ n gto be
Iielpfi~l,actually ~ n a d e~nattclsworse (!) but, perhaps, we sho~~lcl see here no 1110s~
In the Long Rccens~ont h ~ spa~:lg~aplihas a fixed p o s ~ t ~ owrth~n n cliaptcl t l i ~ e e
than tlie o v e l - r ~ d ~ n~nflnence
g of (;en 2.4a (D7DW;I nl751n) \vh~chthen drives the
($4 23-36) wli~chdeals w~tlithe "thlec niothe~s"Acco~drngly,~t b e g ~ n s~ l ~ tlie th
parallel construct~onof'the next two cla~rses.~'
1~1br1c WDK nlD7K ~ 1 whrch
5 ~ntroduces
~ most of these pa~agraphs L ~ k e425 11
F~nallywe come to the sentence P7)9;1 nX 7XWlI WK?W 1 3 7 5 ]?YO 371 In the
p ~ o v ~ d ea sf ~ 1 tlier
1 ~ oP It I~I I C I ~ I Ca n n o ~ ~ n e eInd $ 23. Tlic Saadyan
e ~ p l ~ ~ ~ i01a tthe
Shalt Recension, the last part ofm li~chwe have already seen 111 Q 24- but not In tlie Rcccns~onp~cscrvestlie scclucnce $925-26 w ~ t l i ~~nt cliapte~ s 3 2 In that context
S h o t~ Rccens~on Its absence h e ~ cIn the Long and Saadyan Kecens~ons(uiclud~ng
I I slnce $4 25, 26, and 24b arc ~ r ~ t eated
tlie I L I ~I CI 1s not I C ~ L I ed g r ~ ~ n the d e gene1
~ al
~ L I two
I earllest Mss) must count aga~nstits belong~ngto tlie earllest recoverable
I u b ~c
~ \vli~ch1s Q 9 'The S h o t~Rcccnvon d ~ s~butlon t~ of t h ~ >und
s the plevlotls pal a-
stage of SY It looks vel y Illce tlie sort of' brief cxplanato~y comment that cliar-
graph 15 h~glilyeccent~~ cAll . the S h o t~ Rccens~onMss rnse~t $ 25 between the two
acterl<ea, for example, tlie sort of paraplirast~creliderlng of SY whlch we find in
h'~lvcsof459, wli~lcMNFPIQ 111se1tboth $425 and 26 111 t h ~ posrt~on s The rrisel-
Donnolo's Hcrltl7n10171 It is a commonplace observat~olirecorded as far back as
tlon of $ 26 rn t h ~ spos1t1011and ~ t me1 s glng w ~ t h$ 2 5 cxpla~nsthe omlssron of the
Anax~mandcranci Heracl~tus.~'
~ntrotiuctoryI u b r ~ cIn Mss MNI, 1115 no lolige~needed
I suggest, tlicn, that ~t1s poss~bleto argue illat tlie exlstlng lecenslons have arlsen
Inserted wrth~n$59, $4 25-26 \vould seen1 to be out of place They clearly belong
f'rom an car1re1-,sliorte~verslon, the substance of'\vh~clican st111be seen in all three
w ~ t hall tlie otlie~paragraphs (23-36) whlcli deal wtth the " t h ~ e emothelr" 4459
ofthem.
and 26 have tlic \vo~dPn In common ant1 the a~rangernctitlimy have arlsen from
sollie s c rbe ~ who felt tlint Q 20 t l i i c ~ I~ght
i on Q 59 Note, f o ~example, how In Ms F
$ 2 6 1s reta~nedrn rts o ~ ~ g ~ ~nOaS lI ~ I O \I vI ~ t hthe other 'three mothers" paragraphs
but IS then repeated befo~cQ59b. In Ms O $ 2 6 f i ~ s appeals t In the sequence 9, 23,
K A C 26, 17-22, and then appears again w ~ t h$25 b e f o ~ e$ 50b. It 1s also out of sequence
nnmi an wnx ninx w i w an wnx nin7xw i i w q i x ngiiw yw nnnn an In Ms L ( b e ~ n gplaced aftel $ 9 and before Q 17) Clearly $26 has a lathel Luncet-
y 7 i m gn qixi ngiiw ~ W I q i x ,ngiiw 19w ,nnnn . ~ ~ ~yn71i x2gn t a n p o s ~ t ~ oInn tlic S h o ~ RCCCIISIOI~
t and t h ~ srnay be due to the attempt to a l ~ g n~t
.t]?n12 . ~ ~ ~~n 1~~gn21 2 ~ ~ ~ t$59 l l Subsequently In some Short Recens~onmanuscripts $25 may have got
dragged 111 along with Q26 to ~ t present s pos~tlon111 the m ~ d d l eof $59. Or, ~f the
Thrce primary Ictters: Alef; Three primary letters: Alcf; Mem is silent, Shin hisses,
Mern, Shin. Mem lifts L I ~ ,Mcm, Shin. Mcnl lifts up, A l e i i s the balancing item. ivo~dsY'lPD an are part of the e a r l ~ etext ~ of $25 ~tcould have been dcl~berately
and Shin hisses, and Alcf is Shin hisses, A l e f i s the hal- extracted along wrth Q 26 In oldel to thlow I~gliton $ 5% We conclude, then, that
the balancing iteni. ancing item. the r ~ t b r ~WBX c n l n 7 x ~ 1 p~obably 5 ~ belonged to the earl~ertext of SY on the as-
sumptlon tliat the orlg~nallocus of Q 26 was wltliln $423-36 (chapter 3)
Q D Apart fiom the p~obleniof tlie I L I ~IC, I t h e ~ eale t l i ~ e eother text~lalproblems to
q i x .ngiiw 1~ nnnn an n n n i ~
an wnx ninx w i w be con51dered The absence of the whole parag~aphw ~ t l i ~Mss n B1and H is easrly
,a7n~zy7i2npn n i l pnnn q i x .npiiw yw cxpla~riedby homoioa~ctonas the scrlbes' eye5 (01 15 ~ttlie s c ~be's 1~11iipcd
.t]?n12y3i>n
fiom the I u b I~C at tlie beglnn~ngof $ 26 to that at the b e g ~ n n ~ nofg 8 27 OLISsecond
11iqo1poblem 15 the variant n)9D11/ ll131317. It 1s easy to see how t h ~ sarose, srtice
72 See L,iebes 2000: 21-34 fix a discussion ofthe internal contradictions in SY between these
d ~ s t ~ n g u i s l i ~between
ng Ddlet and Resh 111 niedlcval Heblew Mss IS often ext~enlely
paragraphs and all attempt to resolve them without, however, taking full account of the text-criti- d ~ l ' f c ~ ~I generally
lt. agree w ~ t hGl~tenwaldIn the readings of the Msy at thls pollit,
cal data. --
7 3 See tiuthsie (ihid), I: 81, 11: 434 74 See the ~ n t r o d u ~ t l o$n8 1
Nofe.5 on f l ~ etest of ,$2X

The text~ldltlad1t101101 t h ~ sparaglap11 is i i n r f o ~ and

~ i ~ presents no ploblelils. The
only lssilc 15, as we h'ivc drscu55ed above, ~ t absence s 111 the S a a d y a ~ iRecensron
and rts co~np~itrb~lity w ~ t hthe Loiig ancl Saadyan Kecenslons o f 4 2 5 and wrth Q 58
The paraglaph is again mrss~ngIII Ms H b ~not t t l ~ n eIn B' 1 1 X In Ms K 15 111o1e
~ th15
llkely to be 'In crrol than \ c t A r ~ ~defc~c
tro ~ I I J U
K A
,wxn x i 2 1 wxi .w912 wax ninx w i w ,wxn x i 2 1 w x i w912 wnx nin7xw i i w
a9nnu 9 i mniin ;r71n, a m la21 .aS7n173 u3i3iln i l ;i7i7xi , a m 11331
Three 1" 11nary letters Alef, Mem, S l i ~ n -In 'Th~cepi ~ t i i ya ~letters Alef, M e ~ nShin
, - In
manl<~nd The he'xd JYCIS cle'iteci JIOIII flre, mankinci The head WCI\ c~e'lted t1o111f i e, ~
the belly i ~ o mw a t c ~d, ~ l dthe chest7\ froill CIII the belly ftom welter, and the chest is tlie all
holdtng the b i l l L ~ nbetween
~e them holcl~ngtlle b'ildnce between them

LSI I'IQR ~ o l l a t e dlo K BIB'CiF-I ~ollatecito A

K A W9121 om Q, dclcl ;i7131 11331 TUX1 I,FPI W9121 , ~ d d;ISIX1 11331 W X l D,D7Dl WH
ain .mil a m wx z1w2 wax mnx w i w n i i i a7nwx ;11w2 wnx maw w i i w niin 1 0111Q n7
n i i i ; r ~ i ~ p21]
i x i 3 1 71321 D mi]
niin ;i'iii,wnn x i 3 1 i i p i ,wxn xi21 n i l ; 1 7 i i i , a m x i 2 1 l i p ,wxn xi31 ain niin rj7
,a7n~2 uyim .n77n~7z
ywn
'Three primary letters- Alcf; M e ~ n Shill
, i n Three primary letters- Alef, Mcm, Sl~iii in -

tllc ye:u.: fire, and water alitl air. I-leat was
created fi-om fire, and cold was created from
water, and li~~mitlity froti1 air holding !he bal-
arice between tliem.
LMNSFlQlZ collatccl to K
;i1w3] on1 Q nil1 a7nlwx] ;i'iiii l m Din
L M N I Q mini min n x i x I
tlie ycar: fire, watcr and air, f-Ieat was created Notc~,c/O fhc fevt of $30
from tire, cold was created fro111 watcr, ~ L I -
miclity is the air holding the balance b e t ~ ~ c c l i For the varrant n l l D \ n l l and the add~tionof;171A1 I D 3 1 W X 1 1 r i M5s LFPI anci D see
(IICIII. the notes to Q 29 Probably the scrrbe of Ms B2 intended to make thrs same additron
h of $ 29. Apart from these there arc 110s~gnificantvanants
but confused ~t1 ~ 1 tpart
in the textual tradrtlon of thrs paragraph. For rts absence in the Saadyarl Kecens~on
Din ,;i7.iipi
iii ain .;11w2 wnx ninx w j w
ii x i 3 1 i i p i .wxn xi21
min ;i9i.a7nn see the notes to Q 27
.a7nnu v n Mss M and N omit the paragraph almost certarnly througli homoroarcton. For
t h e ~ shared
r readings see the Introduct~onQ 8.3.
L3'B'lI collnted to A
nil1 niln xi21 B'

K A
132 in , p r ,p~n,?ppn .wnx ninx w i w
w i w i ;II~Y~ ninx w i w i , a i i ~ 2
ninx w i w
FOI the general questloll of the place of thrs palagraph 111 the SY textual tradrtron .;i=~i)~i135 w313 ninx
see the notes on g27. The ieplacement o f n l l l D7Dl WX by ;17111l l n l D l n i n Mss Thrcc primary letters: Alcf, Meln, Shin. 1-le
LMNIQ and D 1s parallel to the addition of ;l'lAl I D 2 1 W X l In $30 by Mss LFPI and carved tlieri~,hecved them, co~~ibiiicd them
D. What I S cleated by "the mothers" 1s felt to be mole approprrate here. In 9 28 only and Sc)rmcd with t1icr11 the tliree primary let-
"the mothers" are specrficd. The absence in most Mss of Q 30 of any specificat~on ters in the uni\~ersc,and the three primary
after W 3 1 2 raises the possrblllty that at a n carlrer stage no speclficatlon at all was letters in the year, and the tlircc primary let-
pescnt after ~ 5 1 In ~ 9228 or after 2 1 W 3 111 h29. ters in iiiaakirlcl, male and feniale.
Mss A B I H read n i l agalrist nlla in all the other Mss n l l D fits better the pattern LMhSI'PIQR coll,~tedto K
of the rest of the paragraph and the f'orrnulatlon in 4 28 - Y71>D n l l 1 3 X l 2 1 1 7 1 X l PI lipw MN,Dnnl FI, l P SQ
lYl]
DwA172. We find the salne set ofvarrants In tlie next paragraph.
X l 2 1 in B2 and A X 1 2 1 III Ms I rctlect the influence of the prevlous paragraph. 7 ~ ~ ~ o o wDiO n~ I IgO I O ' S gloss: P W Z ~u7i2n;i nil? nnw1 xl;i n i l ~ xn;i
Mss G and P omit the paragraph by honio~oarcton. (C'astelli 1880: 47). See also $35 - ill1125.
onm pir p r n lppn wax rnwx w i i w
;11w2nin7xw i i w i ~ 5 1 ninSx
~ 2 w i i w 1711
.;12p1i-137 ~ 9 1 nin7x
3 wiiwi
Three primary lellcrs: Ald; Mc~ii,Shin. I-le
carved tliern, lieweci tliem, colubi~iedthem
and sealed ~ v i t hthe111 the thrce primary Ict-
ters in tlie universe, and the three pri~iiary
letters in the ycar, and tlic three priruary let-
ters i r i ~nrunkinci,male and f'cmalc.
13'R7GDII collL~teclto A
191Yl atlcl llSnillD
i i pi
~ ;Iwn Irn
Notes on the test of $31 Tlie content of our paragraph IS,however, proble~natlc.As the translat~onabove
shows 11does not make sense: God etther forriis the "three mothe~s"by n ~ e a n sof
1YlIPnnl. In the notes to $ 19 we saw that the b ~ l ~ t e r form al 1 Y (as aga~nstthe the "three n~others"(Short Recens~on)or seals them w ~ t hthemselves (Long Re-
t r ~ l ~ t e r lY7)
a l probably belonged to a later stage In the evolut~onof tlie text of SY. cens~on).On the b a a s of the parallels w ~ t h44 39 and 48 - 4 9 the object of the verbs
But we also saw that tlie earllest recoverable text of that paragraph contamed 110 lY/Pnn In 4 31 should have been W X l ,71W3 7 1 1 117 P l n , P b 1 ~ 3P7DW Y l X 171X
reference to the use of the letters of the alphabet In creat~on.The Long Recens~on 1 3l p r e c ~ ~ ewhat l y 15presupposed by $4 32-34. We are faced then w ~ t h
form here of $31 (supported by Mss FI from the Short Recens~on),read~ligP n n l two sets of alternatives: (1) c~tliertlie muddle goes back to thc orlglnal author or
Instead of 1x1, 1s In l ~ n ewrth that early fbrm of $ 19.7Vrcc~sely the salue var~ant ~twas created by an early s c r ~ b ewho saw that Q 39 and 48-49 requ~reda parallel
recurs throughout $3 32-34, but there rt 1s the Short Recens~oriw h ~ c hreads P n n l statement fix tlie "three mothers" to the one made for the "seven doubles" and tlie
w h ~ l etlie Long and Saadyan Recens~onshave lY1 Ms B2 throughout tliese three llt\velve s~mplcs;"(2) e ~ t h c tlie
r person respotis~blefor the Sandyan Recension d ~ d
paragraphs has the doi~blereadrng lY1 P n n l . T h ~ textual s var~antrmplnges d~rectly not have $31 In the text beforc l i ~ mor he left ~to i ~ because
t ~td ~ dnot niake sense.
on our ilnderstand~ngof how the creatlve process was envrsaged by the author of We do not possess the relevant data to make a chorce between thcse altcrnat~ves
SY. Are thc letters agents 111 the process of creatlon (as they ccrtal~llyale accord- powble. W ~ t hsome h e s ~ t a t ~ oI nconclude that $31 should not be ~ncludedin ruy
ing to 44 39 and 48-49) or J L I Sas ~ , In 15 and by ~ r n p l ~ c a t In
~ o$24,
~ i ilsed to seal attelnpt to reconstruct the earllest reco\lelablc text of SY.
the varlous parts of the created un~verse'?We w ~ l lhave to r e v ~ s t~ht ~ sISSLIC when
we come to cons~der$Q 32-34 and especially $4 41 and 52. It 1s not easy to obtalri a
cons~stentplctirre of Iiow the earllest recoverable form of SY envisaged the role of
the letters 111 the creative process.
The a d d ~ t ~ o nofs l b j ? In
~ Mss M N and l17DX In D are typ~calof vanants which
occur In tile Mss \helever t h ~ clialn s of verbs appears 111 SY; see, for example, Q 19.
We have sccn that the ornlsslon of4527-31 111 the Saadyan Recenslon lnev~tably
ralses a qirest~onabout t h e ~ presence
r In the earllest recoverable stage of the text of
SY. In the case of $3 27-30 there were additional problems over their vocabulary
and the ~nternalcons~stencyof t h e ~ rcontent. No such problems occur ovcr the vo-
cabulary of $ 3 1. The words P n n l l 9 l Y l3Yn lj?j?n belong to the core vocabulary o r
He illadc Alef rille over all He rn'lde Alef' rule ovel ail Hc mLtdc Alcf rule ovel all
SY; see Q$ 1, 12 -14, 15, 17a, 19a, 39, 48-49. $ 39, wh~cliIS construcled 011 the same (il~all), ant1 bound to rt 1' (rush), and bo~lnci to ~t d (I*~IN/I),and bound to 11 a
pattern as $ 31 (and, ~nc~dentally has all MSS read~nglY1) I S atterted In all three clown, 'ind conib~ncdthem crown, dnd c o ~ n b ~ n etlle~ll
d clown. and conib~ned them
recensions. S ~ m ~ l a r l In y , the h ~ g h l ycolnplex jtunble of $448- 49 all Mss attest a w ~ t heach other, dnd se'~led with cacli o t h c ~and
, Formed w ~ t heach other, and foi tiled
structi~leparallel to $9 31 and 39. So, on the b a s ~ of s its structure a good case could wrth them all (aw11.) 111 the w ~ t hthem alr (LIII'II,)111 the with rt all (nivrr) 112 the ~ 1 1 1 -
be made out for the presence of $31 111 an earller form of tlie text of SY. We would Linlverse, hunitdrty rn the Linlvelse, and huinld~ty111 verse, and hum~dlty in the
year, ' ~ n d the chest In man- the year, and the chest rn year, and the chest In man-
then have to assume Itr acc~dentalolnrsslon fro111 the manuscr~ptout of wh~clithe
k r n c l male with Alel, Mem, mankrnd, male and female k ~ n dmale
, and female -male
Saadyan Recens~onwas constructed. S h ~ n and
, ieru'11e wrth Alef, - male with Alef, Mem, w ~ t hAlcC Mem, S h ~ n ,and
Shin, Mem S h ~ nand
, female w ~ t hAlef, felliale w ~ t h Alef, S l i ~ n ,
Of our thlee early commentato~s,Donnolo (Castelli I880 47) arid Judah ben Haizllldl (Hal- S h ~ nM, c~n Mein
bc~starn1885 224) suppoll the reading P n n l Dunash, accoiding to Vajda-Fenton 2002 106 ha?
"scellCV (= Dnn) but tile Hebrew text cited in the Geniza fragment of Dunash's commentary has LMNSFPIQR collated to K B'B'GDI-I collated lo A ZE collated to C
l Y 1 (Vajda 1954: 50). Epstcin 1894: 73, n. 5, argues that the correct reading is Dnnl: "pour les a n n i l i r i MNF, i ~ ' iQ i ~ i PIl anni B? n1v3l n i i ' i ~ ]~ ' 1 1 1ZE
lettres W'DK, presques tolls lcs texts ont, lion pas iY1, rnais Pnnl, parce quc les trois substances
WI)I>] add Z3j711 135 LM- om BIG
fondamcntales avaient de.ja line existence ideale ... Pol~rles ohjets crCCs avec les sept a~itres
doubles (ch. IV) et et les douzc lettres simples (ch. V), on emploie le inot 1Yl parce qu'il s'agit la N PQ
de creations vCritables, Saadia a le rnot i Y nisme pour les lettres W'Di? (V, I), parce clu'il a rCuni
arbitrairemcnt toutes les trois classes cles lettres daus un tnCme paragraplie ct qu'il s'est servi
invariablemcnt du mCme ternie 1 Y pour to~itesles lettres, m&mepour W'DX." Epstcin correctly
observes that the variant Dnnl does not appear i n $330 and 48-49.

ivpi a7n>an nx l7in;i
a i i u 2 YTX 13. anni i n 3 ii 12 ~ s;si:, i ;n l m ~ i 1 n 3 ii
W912 It92 '?Dl 7lW2 l l p l 112217 1 ~ 3i.l p 1 ~ 5 1 ~ 7y 2 i
. v x n 2 m p ~x iv n 2 i 3 ~ 7 2 p l l 137 [Sol. 68a] WD13.
These palagraphs are best taken togethet srnce they ale constructed on the same
pattern and e x h ~ bthe
~ t same sulte of t e x t ~ ~vanants.
al It 1s poss~bleto sola ate a cole
i i p i ~ 5 1 ~y3i x. 12 TYI in3
structure attested In all three tecenslons and some floatlng elements whtch appeal
~ ,wa12 p 2 1 z1w2
at randonl In the varlous Mss. The core structitlc is

tle nlade Men? rule over wa-
ter, and bound to tt a crown,
zund sealed w ~ l l 11
i earth I n the
nntvcrse, cold ui the yea],
anci the frurt of the belly In
mank~nd, male wtth Mem,
Sh~n,Alel~li,and Scmale w ~ t h
Mem, Aleph, Sh~n
tle 111'1cieMcnl rule over \va-
ter, 'lnd b o ~ n dto ~t a crown,
dnd comb~ned thcm wltli
each other, and fbl tncd w~th
~tearth In the Lnilverse, cold
111 the year, and the belly In
inank~nd,male and female
f le tnacle Mein I ule over wa-
t e ~and
, bound to tt a clown,
and f o ~ ~ n ew~tli
d 11 carth in
the un~ver\e,cold In the yem,
ntld the belly In mankind
The floating elements are:

LMNSFPlQfi collated to K BIBZC;DHcollated to A ZE collated to C

i n 3 1 add 77 DY ;IT 1DlYl
LPIQ (372 77) 121 DZ3. PI
It92 7191] lt93.1 1, W91 ' l b l
It9221 F W9121 om PQ ,..13T
WKi32] ;i3.p1113T LMNS-
b PIQ
15 i w p i W X y~w nx l"7n;i
13. anni 7s au i~ l a i nin3
,;i1v2 ainl ,o51u2 a7nw
z2p11 x n w l i ) ~wa12 w x i 1
.axw2
He made Shln lule ovel file,
and bound to 11 a clown, and
comb~ned tlieni w~th each
other, and sealed w~th ~t
heaven tn the Lmlvelse, heat
In the year, and the head In
~uanklnd, male \I ltli Shin,
Mein, Aleph, and female
with Shtn, Aleph, Mein
LMNSFPIQR collated to K
13.1 172 LMNPIQ .. 37.l
axw3.j n 2 p n i 3 r L Q
i ~ ipr] Dnnl B2 13.1 172 in>] adcl ;iT BY 27 p l Y 1 'Ihe floating element 77 PY 77 131Y1 can al\o be obselvcd 111 the parallel $41 but
GD L1: espec~ally111 \\ 52 wlielc ~t1s not prcscnt in Mss CE and I). 73i)ll 137 comes fro111
\\ 24 but, of coutse, ~llt~lnately fiom Gen 1: 27 It 1s present 111 $31 b t ~ we t have seen
that there I S a questlon lualk ovet tlie status of t h ~ sparagraph 111 the SY t ~ a d l t ~ o n
Goldschm~dtmay be collect when hc say\ "Dtc WOIte 73i)ll13T, wle oft sre 111 Lln-
sere111 Buche vorltommen, fehleii 111 d e ~etnen ode!- andelen Recens~on,~ r n dschon
d ~ e sbewelst, dass sie eist spitter e~ngeschobenwurdcn" (1894: 86). The spelling
otrt of the pel mutat~onsol'W73X and the11 assignment to Inale and female 1s very
S ~ f e rYcjira $34
patchlly attested 111 the Mss and ceita~nlylooks Illze scr~balexpansion. Ms P adds
A C the111 111 the matgln to $433-34 but cl'~ssifieda\ " ~ n t c ~ p ~ c t a t ~('73)
o n "- III contlast
i w p i 1 ~ x17w
2 nx l7in;i iii w p i v x 2
17w nx 175n;i to 11smaig~nalread~ngIn \\ 6 wh~cli1s class~fiedas a leal vanant ('Xb) $35, fiot11
ln 7s au ZT l a i ~i ni 3 ii aini ~ ' 7 a9nv
~ 3 13. i ~i n 3l
w h ~ c htlie permutatiot~sinay be drawn, is not present In the Short Kecenslon. The
;11w2 mini a5iu2 a5nw 13 .;l2p11 137 wa13 vxii ;~Iw>
~ e a d r n g1133 '131 In the Short Recens~onof $33 1s clearly out ofllarmony wlth the
.;ixp~i 137 ws12 w x i i
context and has no support In the o t h c ~tccenslons It has presunlably altsen out of
the f~eclucncyof t l i ~ sexpiesslon in the Heblew B~ble.
I-le made Shtn I ule over fire, He made Shtn rule ovc~file, We come now to the problem of tlie s t a t ~ ~ ofs \\\\ 32-34 as a whole In the earliet
and bound to 11'1 crown, and and bound to tt a crown, and
stages of the SY trad~tron.The problelu 15 that tlie pa~dllelconstruct~onsIn $441
comblned them w~thedch for~nedw ~ t l i11 heaven 111 the
other, and formed w~th~t untvclse, heat In the year, and 52 arc not plcscnt In the S h o t~ Recens~onand Dunash regards 32-34 as inter-
heaven In the uinvetse, heat and the head I n mankind, polated conl~nelltaly mates ~al.")Is1 the Saadyan Rccens~on$\\ 32-35 arc assigned
111 the year, and the head 111 male and female in a block to its chapter 5:l-3. Chapters 5-8 In t h ~ srecension ale not organ~sed
mank~nd,indlc and female on the same prlnclple as the first foul chapters but c o i ~ s ~ m s t a ~ n l yof ~ n a t e r ~ a l
l ~ f t e d111 conlplete blocks fiom the Long Reccns~on;see Wc~nstoclz1981 33-34
Saadya \ecms to have l c g a ~ d e dthts as supplementa~ynlatetral since he ptovides
no translation of ~t and only a clusory commentary, s~gnlficantparts receive no
BIB'GDll collated to A ZE 'ollated to C
r 1 B 127 2 i n 3 1 add 77 a37 77 191Yl
B'G I> ZF "'Vajda-Fenton 2002 110, H e b ~ e wtext 218, Aidblc text tn Vajda 1954 52
commentary at all." We ~ n ~ g also h t note some ~ i i ~ ~d~st~trbance
ior In the paragraph Note,\ on the te.vt of $35
order at t h ~ sp o ~ n tIn the Short Kecens~on:32, 34, 33 In Mss KSIR (and P a r ~ s763,
2a). It is, perhaps, s~gnlficantthat Dan struggles to reconc~lethe concept of creat~on T111s paragrap11 1s not present In the Short Recens~oii- though Mss K and R have
In these paragraphs w ~ t hthat w h ~ c helsewhere he descr~besas SY's "systctnat~c, most of ~ t smatcr~ald ~ s t r ~ b u t eover
d $432 34 w h ~ l e~liostShort Recens~onMss
s c ~ e n t ~ fapproach"
ic (1993: 26-27). There 1s less of a clash w ~ t hQ$ 1-16 and 20 11' have part of ~t In Q 32. As we have seen, In the Saadyan Recension ~t IS ass~gned,
we assume, fi~stly,that tlic a c t ~ v erole of the letters Aleph, Mctn, S h ~ nIn creatlon along w ~ t hQQ32-34, to the supplcmcntary mater~alw h ~ c hb e g ~ n sSaadya's chapter
belongs to a latcr stage of the textual trad~t~orl - as we have argucct In the notes to five. It 1s coni~nentedon by 1)unash though not expressly c ~ t e d(Vajda-Fenton 2002:
Q 19, and secondly, that In Q Q 32-34 (and 8 31) Pilnl 1s tlie o r ~ g ~ nraela d ~ n gand not 110) S ~ m ~ l a r lDonnolo
y, and Judah ben H a i z ~ l l ado
~ not expressly clte 11 but t h c ~ r
lY1.F~nally,we m ~ g h tnote that 5528-30, though possibly not part of the carl~er commcntar~csattempt the same task as 9 35, namely, to systeiilatlze and sum up the
text, do not attr~butea d ~ r e c role t in crcat~onto the actual letters but refer orily to preced~ngparagrapl~s.~"WIien a text 1s not expressly c ~ t e dby the commentators ~t
what they symbol~se WK1 P7731 nll/lylK.
- We w ~ l need
l to return to t h ~ problem
s 1s often difficult to discel-n what they had bcfoie them. I ~vouldjudge that Dunash
when we come to cons~dei$541 and 52. Meanwh~lc,+ Q 32-34 must be ass~gnedto I<nc\v Q 35 more or less as we have ~tb ~ that ~ t Donnolo and Judah d ~ dtlot. It seems,
the earllest recoverable stage of the SY text (albert w ~ t hthe ~ e a d ~ nDilnl) g because then, that t h ~ spalaglap11 cannot have been present In the calllest rccovcrable Corm
they arc attested In all three recensions. l-lowever, In deference to Dunasli and the of SY.\' It I S an attempt to coniplctc the expansion of the text wli~clican be sccn
~ m p l ~ c a t ~ofo nt h e ~ rp o s ~ t ~ oInn the Saadyan Kecensroii I enclose them In square b c g ~ n n ~ nIng some Short Iiecension Mss, especially K and R. The s u b s t ~ t ~ l t ~ofo n
blacketq in Append~x111 to ~ndrcate\ome doubt as to t h e ~ rpresence In the carl~er s of $4 30 and 32 1s anotlier slgn of the later
125 f o ~the rarer and a ~ n b ~ g u o u;1711,
fo111iofthe text.Y2 date of Q 35.
The only var~antread~iigof ~ntcrcst1s Ms C's W3K for the D7K of all our other
witnesses. Was it chosen because of ~ t s i i ~ i ~ l a r to~ t ythe word VX alongside ~t or
have all the other texts cor~ectedto tlie proper Hebrew wo~d'!Wc cannot know.
Mss Hi G and H have tlie pcrmutatlons of the letters WDK In a d~ffcrentorder
from that In the other Mss. If we take the order of the c o ~ n b ~ n a t ~ oInn Ms s A as
xnw xwn wxn awx wnx p i r 7 r Z T ~ X ~ .DXW xnw wxn P W X W D X p ~ i 7r r ~7x3 123456, then B 1 t l have then1 In the order 123645, G In the order 12465. The we~ght
i w x i 0713 y i x n i l 171x wx a9nw axw W I X ~ Wi w x i .avn y i x rnq i 7 i x wx a7nw of evldence suggests that tlie correct order of words at the end of the paragraph IS
. m i 135 a7ai1a1 wx 0 7 x 5 ~ .am i1a1 n i l 115 wx
P77313U2 nil 125.Ms C obv~ouslyom~ttedthe comb~iiat~on XV73 111 error.
How did lie ~ o i i ~ b i i thein')
ic - AMS, ASM, Now dld hc coinbiiie them') AM$, ASM,
-

MAS, MSA, SMA, SAM heaveillfile, alrl MAS, S M A , SAM hea~/en/fiie,aiilspitit,

- -

s p ~ r i t ,earlhlwrrter Man's head IS fire, h ~ s eaithlwater Man's head is fire, his heart
belly wdter, h ~ hs e a t spii rt (oi all) Y3 s p i r ~(or
t arr), Ills belly water
A C
BlB2GDI-I collated to A ZE collated lo C i S i x m i l h DY i r i wax ~ ninw w i i w ;i7i2i ;i7ii Y ~ mYi 157x1
~ q5x nu i r i ~
n i l 119 07ni1a11a m 11131 n i l 115 ~ W X add
I xwn Z E w ~ x i w ~l 7 x Z5E ~ .]lW51 pin1 71711 77111 .llW> [pin1
B'R'DH . n i x 121 l u l l i i p y i x an OY i ~ 1 1 [q3i 1a3i i ~ ypi x a7n] i i w an nu ir71
77 ; l ~ 131n w x i i mni a7nw yw au i r i ~ .nix
. n i m .wnx 721 w x i i a i l n a7nw w x i i x yw au 1x11
[;lain
8' Ben-Shaminai 1988: 7 observes that Saadya and Dunash make similar comments on the
secondary nature of this tilaterial at the same points in their commentaries since Saadya's remarks T h e e pitin'~ty letter5 Alel, M c ~ n ,Shrn There was formed wtth Alel thcsc spirit, air,
about his procedure in dealing with the second half oSSY precisely precedes his chapter five. Theie was foiii~edwith Alef spirit, dlr, ~ L I -liuiiirdity, the chest, and the law of language
" It liiay be significant, as Liebes points out (2000: 18-19), that only in the case ol' WBX does mid~ty,thc chcst, law, arid the tongue (or Ian- There wds foimed wlth Meiii these watei,
SY see an integral relationship between the phonetic character of the letters and tlie realities they gudge) Tliele n a y foliiied w ~ t hR4em earth, enrth, cold, the belly, and tlie scale of acquit-
represent. No such connection is made for the other two groups of letters. Hence $541 and 52
could have been created by analogy frotn $5 12--34.
" For tlie problerns created by the (later?) attelnpt to resolve the ambiguity of R l l in SY by " iastelli 1880: 48-50, Halhersta~n1885: 226-228.
introducing the word 171X see the notes to $25. " So also Goldschinidt 1894: 87 and Allony 1972: 84.
cold, the belly, and the scale o l acquittal. tal. There was Sortnet1 with Shin these: fire, The ~ r i t ~ o d ~y~f cot ~o ~ nVDX ~ ~ ln1D9X
a VlhV In tlie Long Recensron 1s due to the
There was fbr~nled\?/it11 Shin: heaven, heat, heaven, heat, the head, and the scale of placlng o f t l i ~ sp a ~ ~ ~ g ~Ina pchapter
li t l i ~ c cof that recension whlch, 11' We~nstockIS
the hcad, and tlie scale of guilt. This is Ales> guilt.
M c ~ n Shin,
, Tlrc end.
c o ~ l e c tw
, ~ l be
l s~lbsecluentto the c~eatronof the Saadyan Recensron. See the paral-
I C44S 44 and 54.
lel I L ~ ~ ~ 111
Ms B' has 11Y1 (the Nlplial perfect ofthe loot 11Y)wlille the other Mss have lY11
yix an au 1x11 wnx ninx wiw pin1 ;r7iai~ ' ii yi i x nil i i w 7 i x ou 1x11
1'321 l i p
(Srom the loot 1P7).In $ 4 4 Hi goes wrtli tlic otlicr Mss and lias lY11 but deviates
. n n ~731 .liwi agaln In 4 54
.1iwi2 pni ;r7iii3ix nil 7 i x 1x11 731 1'321 l i p yix aln i ' 7 ~a9n ou 1x11 llV'71 plnl In Ms A seems a clcal clror but l l ~ ipin1 111 B' and the Saadyan text
Z T m i n 731 wxii aini a9nw yw au in] ~21n does not seem 11 1uuc11better attempt to quarry 23. Ms D's 7 l V h i)nl Iool<s I~l<e
.WDR .ill37 731 Din D'BW WX 15'~1.W DY 1 Y l l an attempt to liiake mole sense out of the o ~ l g l ~ iel a llor. Perhaps an ancestol of all
tlicsc Mss leveised these two words 111 etlol when copylng S ~ o m423
WZ3X 77 In tlie Long Rcccnslon lounds offthe chaptel. It 1s Si~rtlie~ lelnSolccd by
A's n k n wIi1c111s not In the othet m a n u s c ~ ~ p tThese s solis of a d d ~ t ~ o obvrously
ns
belong to the edit01 la1 wol I< w h ~ c hpl ocl~lcedo~rrp~csentrccensrons

Thrs palagraph, along 1~1thtlie slm~lailyconstructed Q 4 4 and 54, 1s not present

K A C
rn the Short R e c e n s ~ o n . ~ "tlie
~ ~ Saadyan Reccns~ontliese t h ~ e eparagraphs arc
In a block togetlie1 at the bcglnning of Saadya's chaptc~c ~ g h where t there are no
m s 3 712 niiis3 u2w ni93 712 m i l s 3 u2w 722 niiis, u ~ (37a)
w
, n i ~ i w 'nm2
i niaxnni n m n i aiiwi a5'n 1 7 1 ~ ~ 17io' .rn[s>]-112, m m
paragraph d r v ~ s ~ o and
n s the text runs snii)othly throi~gliall twenty-two letters, us- 7n3n aiiui a7?n,17i07 ;iiwnni In1 u-17iwiui In iwiui n m n i ~ 1 ' 7 a71n ~ 1
~ n gtlils frame\vork Wclnstock argues that t h ~ swas tlie orlg~nalarrangement of ;rimam Irn u i ~iwiui i n i ~ i w 7nw2
i niazlnni . n i ~ ~[;iiwnni
ui uli~
t h ~ stiiatel lal and o111y later was ~t s p l ~ up
t and d~strrb~rtcd 111 tlie Long Kecens~on .rn~iwi'nw2 nia;r~nni niiianiw niiis:, azw niD2 7x2 niiisr, Y ~ (37h) W
over the cliapte~sdcallng wlth tlie three sepalate groups of letters. Its place at, or 73 '77 57 in-a in33 n.2 n.3 57 $7 in71 in71 n92n72 n i ~ i w 'nw2
i niwnnwn
near, the encf of these chapte~s.w~tnessesSor hrm to ~ t ssupplementary character wm in in w i w i ' 9 19 73 wll w71;rs7 9 73 73 s s 33 7-i aa 22 niiis:, l;iw
112'1 n332n ;rwp1 p i '911 ~ w p 11i 7113 i7n i7n 112'1 n m n 11 7113:nn ii
(19XI. 44)." 7 36 as ~t stands adds noth~ngnew to tlie content of SY. It s ~ ~ n pfits ly
,miinn D Z W r n i i s ~ ,wim
i 121 w i n ?a13 i i ~ nam n m i a n ,nilinn 1;n w i n
$$28-35 Into a new Li a ~ i ~ e ~ v oand r l <then f i ~ s c the
s end of $23 i~itothem. 1lowever, niian ,nin as7nm i n n ,min a3'n m i n n :miinn u i aiiw m i n n niin a7?n
the ptocess has leached dlll'elent levels of achlevcment 111 the varlous Mss and none ;rnm m i n n ,ui aiiw m i n n ,'yi m i w m i n n m i n n niix 7n3n m i n n
manages a harmontous balance. In Ms A srx Items arc created by the letter Alepli ,'IIY i w i m ~ i n n ,niix iwiu niinn ,nii'x ;ram annw u i m~ i n n '11u iwiu
but only Sour by the otliei letters. Ms C appears to have five Items created by each In m i n n ,;rnnw Y ~ mTi n n ,;rnnw uis m i n n ? ~ i u m i n n 11x3 In m i n n
Icttcr, wlllle Z has five created with Aleph and Me111 but only four w~tliSli111.MS .rn72u niwnn m i n n ,iiu73 m i n n ,iiu33 In m i n n ni-rlu Ziwnn
D manages a consrstent four items cteated with each letter but ~ t ssentences are n i n u ;riwnn
I ;innin ( R l Aillg,
I n a dlffcicnt order f'rom tlie other Mss Thls textual fluld~tyIS another reason Ibr
concluding with Weinstock that t h ~ s1s not core SY material. Moreover, we have Seven douhle letters: Bet, Seven double letters: Bet, (37a) Seven double letters:
already seer1 that tlie not~onthat the letters Aleph, Mem, Shin had an actlve role In Gimel, Dalet; Kaph, Pe, Giniel, Dalct; Kaph, I'e, Bet, Gimel, Dalet; Kapll, Pe,
cleat~on1s only loosely embedded In the text o f t h ~ part s of SY Resh, Taw. They are pro- Resh, Taw. 'l'heir basis is Resh, Taw; Bet, Gimel, Dalet:
n o ~ ~ n c e\vitli
d the tongue in liik and peace, \visdom, Kaph, Pe, Resh, Taw. 'I'lleir
two different positions. 'fhcir wealth, prosperity, beauty basis is life and peace, \</is-
hasis is lilb and peace, \?!is- and iuastery. They are pro- dom, ~ / c a l t h ,beauty, pros-
""Donnolo (Castelli IXXO: 50) has 21 very expantled forin of this paragraph, \vhile Dunash and dom, \vcalth, prosperity, noltncecl vlitll the iongnc in perity, mastery and sla\/ery.
Jltdai~hen Rarzillai do not seein to have had it before tlletn. beauty and mastery. 'They are two tlil'lkre~~t positions, for (37b) Seven double letters:
" Golclschmidt 1x94: 87 also regards this paragraph, like the prececiing one, as Ijaving come l ~ r o i x x ~ n w\\lith
d ihe tongue they represent t\vo catego- Bet, Ciimcl, Dale(; Kaph, Pe,
into the text oSSY l'l.0111 a commentary. in two clil'lercnt positions: ries of opposites: LSetIVei, Resh, l'aw. They are pro-
BctiVet, (;i~~iel/Gliiniel,
Daletl Dhalet, I<apIi/Khaph,
PeiFe, KeshiRhesli, Taw/
Thaw - Dagliesh and Raplie,
soft and h:~rd, a paradigm of'
strong and weak. Tllcy are
double letters because they
are opposites. The oppositc
01' life is death; tlie opposite
of peacc is evil; tlie opposite
of'wisdom is folly; the oppo-
site of wealth is poverty; the
opposite of prosperity i s des-
olation; the opposite of beau-
ty is ugliness; and thc oppo-
site oS ~iiasteryis sla\/ery.
LMNSFPIQlZ collated to K
~ n~i i~ ~ln
i LMNPQ
i ]~ i
ni~iv'/7 ~nlx;i~n~i
~ 3
2"] om LP ' D l 1 V17] om
LMNFPIQ p i ] 11L R
niiinn a;iw rniis3i~171
miinn SPIQR ~ ;innin
i]
SFIR zn3n niinn]
mian SI
y i 21~1
Gimcl/<jhimel, Daleti Dha- nounced \v~ththe t o n g ~ ~Ine
let, Kaph/Khaph, Pc/Fe, two d ~ f i c ~ c npos~tlons,
t for
IZcsliiIZhesli, Ta\v/Thaw, they ale do~ible(lette~s)Bet/
corresponding to soft and Vet, G ~ ~ n c l / G h ~ m cDaleti
l,
4 37 1s attested In all our recensions and manuscr~ptsIn the Short and Long Recen-
hard, a paradigm of strong Dhi1let, Kaph/Kliaph, Pe/Fc, slons 11lntroct~~ces the chapter wh~clideals w ~ t hthe seven double letter4 I-lowever,
and weak. They are oppo- ReshIRhesli, xtw/Thctw/, col- In the Saadyan Kecens~on11 rs s p l ~ Into t two parts (wh~chI have labelled 37a and
sites. Tlie opposite of life is i gsolt [and hald],
l e s p o n d ~ ~to 37b) and d ~ s t t ~ b u t casd follo\vs. 37a occ~rrsIn all three manuscripts In the first 5e-
death; the opposite of peace 'I pa~adlgmof strung [and] cluentlal run of'thc ten \ejir>o/,t l i ~ e emothel-5, seven do~lblesand twelve s ~ ~ n p l e s - c h
is evil; the opposite ofwis- weak. Tlicy are opposites. 1:3 a c c o ~ d ~ ntog Saadya's number~ng.Then 37b occurs In Ms Z alone In Saadya's
dom is folly; tlic opposite of The opposite of life is death; ch 2 2 - after $24a and before Q 38. It 1s stlperfluous in th14 posltton since 4 38 fills
~ w a l t l is
i 13overty; the oppo- the opposite of peace is evil;
site of prosperity is desola- the opposite of wisdo~n is
the slot leqirired Ibl a paragraph on the 4evcn doubles. Finally, In all thrce Mss
tion; the opposite of beauty folly, the oppovte of wealth $3711 appeals as Saactya's cli 3.3 after b25, 26, 24b taken as one u n ~ deal~ng t w~th
is ugliness; and the opposite 1s poverty, tlie oppos~teof' tlie three m o t h e ~ sa n d befhre QQ48a and 40, agaln taken a s one L I ~ lilllng I ~ , the
o f ~ n a s t e r yis slavery. prosperity is desolation; tlie twelve s~mplesslot. Welnstock (1981 35) argties, co~rcctlyI think, that althot~gli
opposituol' beauty is ~igli- tlie doublet of Q 37b stood 111 the text Saadya had b c f o ~ ehrm, ~t15 out of place 111 ch
ness; and the opposite of 2.2 and its correct place, as In Mss C and E, 1s In ch 3 3 Wel~istockalso uses t h ~ s
mastery is slavery.
example to demonstrate that tlie G e n i ~ a hScroll is rndcpendent of and much earlier
D z than the Sorm of'the Saadyan Recens~onon which Saadya based hrs commentary.
ms3 713 niiia3 Y ~ V 1110~mi33 113 n15193 Y ~ V Was $37 s p l ~ Into t two for the purposes of the re-ar1angement wlilch charac-
2n3n alivi a3'n1-110~ Y ~ i Tv i ~7n3n
i alivi w7n terlses the Saadyan Kecens~onor d ~ d11s e d ~ t o ralready find rt as two separate
;iivnm Im y i ~i iv i ~ i [Chapter l:3].;i?~~nl In paragraphs', There arc slgns oftextt~ald~sturbanccIn the cla~rse(VW3 nlA7fn731
nilivi 'nv3 nlazlnni ms3 7x3 niiis3 Y ~ V nllltD5) ~ h r c l i11111<5thc two halves and tlie phrase occurs twlcc In the Short Re-
.nmnn i v nliia3 ~;iv 1? n l ~ w'IV~ i nivnnvn censlon, once In each half of the paragraph. The deletlon of 11s second occllrrelice
7333 ,nn.il.S9.33.77.31.33 12 n)a n)? 592 513'3 '2 In Mss L and P 1s obv~ouslyan attenipt to remove the dupl~cat~on. Tlie longer Soriii
win1 i i l a nmn ;iwpi 11 ' V ' l V'? ' 9 ' 2 1)
:1'? 15
a7'nniiinn .miinn 13 win1 11x3 n7nn;ivi/i 11 of t h ~ rs u b r ~ cas we 5ce ~tIII the Long Rccens~onMss and Mss C and E (as agalnst
?I~Y i v i minn
~ ,ma minn nmnn l;iv niiis3 Z) n n l n n 5 w ~1'7193azw nl~lw', 7nw3nlxnlnnl, IS s p l ~ Into
- t two in the Short
minn ,niix ;lam minn y i ~f7v niinn n1n o7?n Kecens~o~l arid In Ms Z and the phrase n l l l n n P7W ni'/i531 d~rectlyprecedes the
Y ~ minn
T ,;innin oiiv niinn n i i ;in37
~ mmn l ~ sof
t tlic oppos~tcs.Mss SPIQR, D, C have a shorter form of tlirs second rubric In
,ii~'3In minn ,;inav nnnv Y ~ minn
T 'ITY iviy the same p o s ~ t ~ o namely,
n, n l l l n n l71. It I S alniost imposs~bleto reconstruct from
.ni73~;iivnn minn niinn i i x ' ~In minn these varlants an earlrer Sorm oSSY from wli~chthey could all have descended. The
[Chapter 2:2, nl73Y ;i?Vnlj
3:3]
varlants c o ~ ~ c~tlicr
ld be tlic result of an attempt to blend together two orrg~r~ally
separate paragraphs 01 reflect the nipa act of the separat~onInto two pa~agraphsas
R'B'GII collated to A E collated to Z In the Saadyan Recens~on
l - t i ~1~7j i ~RI
i 1113 n i ~ i v i'~dd
l niiis3 7;iv The ev~denccof Dunash ben Tarn~m',commentary may be dccts~vcIn lielprng
win] win1 B I B ~ G H niiinniv E zvpi li] '3 us to judge between these two alternatives. Both In the Gen~zalifiagment (Vajda
I;nJ I;iV ~11>1931 B7 Y l ] ;IWp 111133 I; 11K73J1113 1954: 53) and In tlie I-lebrew translat~onof Moses bcn .losepli (Vajda-Penton 2002.
31 ;1)3n%2 B' C 239), a sliol-t form of 4 37 (~iiorcor less ccluivalent to Q 37a) 1s cited as tile lemma:
aiwnn Y ~ In
T iviui ;in>ni a i i w i aV7n
m ~ i v7nvzl
i nian1na nia3 113 niiis) Y ~ V
~11i7n
8"vini i izvpi ~i7nv71w y i 's 's 13 13 ni7 n h 5n.x in31'3 '3 n i ~ i v'nv3
i
" 3 37 is missing in the truncated version of Dunash's commentary edited by Grossbcrg 1902:
61.
 Then the content of b 37b follo\vs but clearly labelled as commentary (l'DDn, niirp a7nv,nnx oi;lnZ V11p 53'2l D717D 7 ~ ~ V17p
5 ?3771D717D 7 ~ 1 ~ 5
Wll'D). This suggests that Q 37b may have arisen as commentary to Q 37a and that ,nun n i i q v i v , A n "'11113 1112 YYnx2 l31D '" 71113 1112 YYnX2 1113D
vnn ,Rim niirp ~ l i x 5v inipn x i 7 inipnn i n 5 i ~ i inipn
v x i z i .inpnn
the variants we have been eons~dcringarose as the coinlnentary was Integrated Into niirp v v ,xvn niirp inipn iniiv 77x1 iniiu .inpnx5v iniu 1x1
the base text. If so, the d ~ v ~ s l oInto
n two halves In the Saadyan Reccnslon does take 7~ 77u niirp u2v ,lisr .lii>nx xv11xi71
us back to an earl~erstage ofthe text than the Short and Long Recens~ons.Q 37 w ~ l l usnx~7ii3nw7ip"37;ri
then have leached its present fi)r~nby a s ~ r n ~ lprocess
ar to 4 17. It may be s~gnificant . a i l 3 nx xv11xi71
that Judati hen Ba171lla1c ~ t e s4 37 as far as Yl tll~Wnl113n and then cont~nues Seven double letters Bet, Seven double lcttel5 Bet, Seven double letter5 Bet,
(tlalberstam 228-229) nl113n ,'Ill7 lW1Y n1173n , n h !7133I-lnllnn 'Dl17 nyXl Grmel, Dalet, Kaph, Pe, GIIIICI, Dalct, Kaph, Pe, Glmel, Dalet, Kaph, Pe,
nl711Y 75~1313m113n ,11Y73In mlnn ,713aW Ylr.Thls would take us back to a licsh, T'lw Seven edges Kcsli, ~ E I W Scvcn and not Kesh, Taw, Bet, Glmel,
stage not long before tlie emergence of tlie final form of the Short and Long Recen- a pl,\ce ot edge5 dnd a holy six, \even ' ~ n dno1 erght - six Ddlet, Kapli, Pe, Resh, Taw
slons. I conclude, then, that the text ol'SY C; 37 as cited In the G e l u ~ a hfragmcnt oS place, a place set wrtliln a directions corresponding Seven and not S I X , seven ancl
Dunash's colnlnentary lnight represent the earllest lecoverable stage o f t l l ~ part s of place one, two - the up- to the six sicks (of a cube), not eight srx clrrect~onsSol
-

pet edgc, three the lower and the Holy Tcriiple set in
- the s ~ sx ~ d e (of
\ a c~ibc),and
the SY tradition. S ~ n c eho\veve~,
, $37b I S present In all our Mss I include 11w~tlirn
cdge, fbur the eastern edge, tlic middle. Blc.s.sec1 11c the
- the Holy relnplc set In the
square brackets In my attempted restorat~onof the core text oSSY five the western edgc, srx glol:), o f t h e Lorzl,/i.or~t11i.s
- iillddle Ulec led bc tllc glorj~
Ms C has the usual clop of errors, there 1s a doublet ofT1337111 at the b e g ~ n - - the northern cdge, scvcn, placr (Ezek 3:12), t-le is the of the Lor tl fr om 1715 plat c
nlng, though t h ~ sm ~ g h be
t ~ L I I ~del~berafe
C - representlng the "doubl~ngof these the etcrrial cdgc, and the holy place of his world, b~ithis (F/ek '3 12) IIe is the place
letters", slncc the sanle doublet recurs at the begrnnlng ol' the next paragraph; temple set In the ~iiictdleand world is not his place. And of 111sworld, but h ~ world
s 1s
nl?2Y 1s added after 75~1313111 37a through tlie Influence of 37b, and 7WPl has rt s ~ ~ p p o rthem
t s all he s~ipportsthem all not hrs pl'~ce
been o~nlttedafter 11.The form of 9 37b sn chapter 3:3 of Ms % is almost ident~cal
F[ collated to K I) L
to that in ch 2:2 cxcept that there 1s less vocalisat~onand Taw 1s spelt ln.
niri, nipnl niirp vw a;ia v v x i i uzw niiim Y ~ V Y ~ ms:,
V 7x2 nl5193 u ~ v
We call now observe In the textual t r a d ~ t ~ oof l i 4 37 tlie same process of updat- F aipnll iaipn2 P I aii31 nirp wv ;11inv x5i Y ~ Vv v 711nv x i 1 Y2V WW x i 1
Ing and ~mprovernentwh~chwe saw In 4 17b. Note, fbr exa~liple,how In Mss KSR ~ 71. ~ 5 1 313
~ 5 1 513 ~ 2 V7p7 13771 ,P7317 W V ~ '73771 1 1 7 1 7 ~ ;lvv5 m ~ i r
7Wpl 11 1s glossed by 'Dl1 Wl?.The replacement of nl171ni3 by nlW13nWir 111 the 7123 71111 urnx2 1113n '" 3112 Yrnx11 1113n v17p
Saadyan Recens~onniay be part of t h ~ process; s nlWDnW13 occurs elsewhere In SY i v inim xi? inipnn 9 7 ~ 5 1 inipn
~ 5 xini
~ inipnn
only In $ 17b \vli~cliwe 1i;tve Sound good reason to assign to a very late stage In the nipn iniiv 17x1 i i v ~ i i u .inani n i i 17x1
~
emergence of the SY t r a d ~ t ~ oMs n . ~A's ~nsertionof 7133 between 7111'1 and ~ 5 I - l 7x13 ms, 7x11 r n i i ~ 3
Y ~ V
.a53 nx x w i xi71
~
over agalnst all the other Mss strengthens the sense of contrast. Ms A's marginal mirp v v aipn .niirp Y ~ W
var~ant773ll513 for 31 I S another 11-r7provcment."Evll" does not seem a i i a t ~ ~ r op- al 11" 2iun mTn ;iani ;rim
poslte to "pc;icc" - Isa 45:7 1s probably b e h ~ n dthe orig~nalclio~ceof words. But 1113D V7p7 5 3 T l a117
a i l 3 nx x v i ~
xim urnm
note the text of IQlsaci! 7'111s marg~nalvar~antand 11s ~ilcorporatlonInto Ms Bi as
a gloss IS an object lesson In how textual var~antsarise It ends up In Mss DSFIR MNPQ collated to I, B'B2G collated to A: L: collated to %:
completely leplac~ngYl. alpnl ?;in MNQ. 11131-1 1513 nx xvi~
ximl 0117 B'. 7VVil 7 V V l E. 71121 add
YYDX2] YYDX2V Q. X1711 71113 E.
om Q.
S R
K A C 7113 .ms3 7x2 niiim Y ~ V .ms>7x2 n i i i s ~y2v
v ~ p zaipai ~ i p mrp n vv aiini niirp v v 7x13
7x12 m93 7x2 niii93 Y ~ V rn~lr712 n i i ~ ~Y: , ~ V 7x2 ms, 7x2 niii93 Y ~ V
mrp nnx .yrnxl Iii3n .nnx inipn2 731n w i t p i
nirp aipn niirp Y ~ W x i 1 u2v v v x i 1 u2v Y ~ vVv x i 1 u2v m93
,;IUDnirp a7nv,;rim v i v ,;iiun niirp a7nw
pin aipn v i ~ p
aipm nivir wv ~ i i > m ~ i n v nivir vw ;r~iavx i 1 nirp y l i x , n i ~ nirp
n viv nnrp ~ 2 i ,7x1213niirp
V V ,I193 i l l Y i ) VDR ,2lYn ,2iyn misp vnn ,msn
""onnolo combines botli readings and then adds nllDR11for good tneastire (Castelli 1880:
51). 'Y'XW;I ;1rp;1i .a117 nirp Y2V ,1195 nllYp VW
132 Cdrtlon a n d Cot~ttnoltirt11

or M\ B1 In the Long Reccns~onand that naturally places a qucst~onmark over ~ t s

place In the earl~erform of the text If we s t r ~ pout these ev~ctcntexpansions we ar-
rive at an even shorter text than In Mss LMNQ, Duna\h and Judah:

T h ~ could
s have been slmply expanded by spell~ngout what the S I X d ~ ~ e c t ~ owelelis
follow~ngQ Q 7, 15 or 47, glvlng us the Short Rccens~ontext. However, what the pre-
Q 38 IS present 111 all three recenilons; ~t1s oiiiltted (along w ~ t hQ 39) In Ms H, pre- c15e word~ngof such a core text nl~ghthave been 1s ~ m p o s s ~ bto l e reconstruct. Was
sumably by p a r a b l e p ~ ~Howcvei,
s. the Long and Saadyan Reccns~onsoffer a very ~tD717b 7 ~ nlY5Y
~ WW 5 or sllnply nllYa Yaw?nllYp W W I S present In all leeen-
d~ffcrcnttext Sro~iithe Short Receni~onMs$ and these, In turn, are $o d ~ \ ~ e r g ethat nt slons 111 $ 15 a5 a descriptlo~~ of the dlrect~onsof'5pacc whereas D717D 7WW In $47
s e t t ~ n gup a s ~ n g l etextual apparatus Sol the111 1s rlnposs~ble Donnolo c ~ t e sa text IS confined, as here, to the Long ancl Sartdyan Recens~ons.Could D917b have been

w h ~ c h1s a11110it ~itcnt~cal w ~ t hthat of Ms A (and hence of most Long Recension
Mss) except that he reads tl777Y Sor t1917D a heIpSi~Iclar~ficat~oll (Caste111 1880:
52) Dunash has a ~ e l a t ~ v e s1111ple
ly text very close to that of Mss MNQ (I,):
o m 1 lisr 2 i y a i nlsn ; i ' / ~ n;lun nnrp ww a;in n i i r p Y ~ -1113
W n m 712 n i i i s 3 Y ~ W
"l.lii3 nx x w i ~xim y r n x 2 p i n w 7 p 7 53777
broi~ghtIn to prov~dca subtle allus~onto the s ~ x$eci('irl-lniof'the M~shnah'?nlY5Y
occurs In SY only liere In the Long and Saadyan Reccns~ons.Tentat~velyI recon-
strilct a poss~bleeat liest l'o~mor \\ 38 as fbllom/s: nllYp W W Ill93 722 n l i l 9 3 Yaw
YYDX2 l31n Wl7p 53'71 (seven double letters, Bet, G ~ m e lDalet,, I<aph, Pe, liesh,
Taw the S I X edge5 (of the un~\lerse)and the Holy Temple set 111 the m~ddle).The
-

clause ~ 5 1 3nX XW11 XI71 1s very congruent w ~ t hthe overall teaching of'SY and IS
Judah hen B a r ~ l l l afirst
~ c ~ t e th15
s paraglap11 In a text ldent~cal~ w t htliat of Dunash certa~nlyp~esent111 the m q o r ~ t yof w~tnesses.But 1 cannot accoulit f o ~~ t absence
s
except thr the reversal of 7D13 and 7 5 (Halberstani~ ~ 1885: 120) but then, later on, In the Saadyan Reccn\~on01 Ms B'. I have added 11In brackets to my hypothet~cal
lie cltes ~tIn a text close to that of Mss S and R, w h ~ l eoffer~ngthe Long Recens~on ~econstruct~on of the earllest lecovcrable text of SY. Goldschm~dt(1 894: 60) 111akes
versloli as an alternative read~ng(l111cJ 231). a s~mllatattempt to reconstruct the orrg~nalfor111of t h ~ paragraph;
s h ~ rcconstruc-
s
Beli~ndthe var~ousShort Kecens~onread~ngs~t is poss~bleto dlscern a shorter t1011 1s close to the tcxt found In Mss (L)MNQ.
tcxt (more or less equ~valentto the for111 In Mss MNQ and c ~ t e dby Dunash and X ~ WIn Ms C IS an ailial error for 1 5 ~ .
Judah) w h ~ c hhas then been expanded In Mss KFlSR Ms Q has the shortest text of
all for it srmplifics the end of the paragraph ~ n a k ~ nclear
g that 111s the Temple which
supports them all 1513 nb! XWll YYaX2W W7p7 537;11.If we assume tliat Plan 111
-

Ms L 1s an error for P719 then ~ttoo supports t h ~ short s version of the text.
The Long Recens~onform of the paragraph is modelled on $9 4 and 46, the latter
of whlch is not present 111 the Short Recens~on S ~ n c ethere IS no parallel form for
the "three rnotliers" chapter, 1.e. " t h ~ e eand not four, three and not two" ~t1s possl- l i p w lsir l 2 r m p p n
ble that the Long Recens~ontext both here and In $46 \?/as b u ~ l tup fro111the model 1 3 lri j17n21
~ ~ 2 3 122
~ ~ i u ;ilwx
w i ~ ~ ~ 5~ 1 7~ 21
of $ 4 'The b ~ b l ~ c reference,
al as so often In SY IS clearly Intrusive and brought In 7Y2W 7Y2W ws12
by the refe~enceto the Temple, wli~lethe r a b b ~ n ~sayingc (I7X11 ~ 5 ?W 1 ~lnlpn Xl7
1131p13 17351~)"rmay have been added, as S. P ~ n e ssuggests "because ~tcontradicts Seven double lettels Bet, Seven double l e t t e ~ s Bet, Seven double letteii Bet,
Glmel, Dalet, Kaph, I'e, IZesh, Gimel, Dalet, Kaph, PC, Glmel, Dalet, Kaph, PC,
the assert~onIn the prcced~llgpassage that God is local~sedIn one partlcula~place"
T'rw He calved and hewed Kesh, Taw He calved ancl Resh, TClw f le carved them,
(1989. 86, ~ 1 8 3 ) ~" '~7 1 3nX XW13 8171 1s not present I n the Saadyan Recens~on them, 11c comh~necithem, dnd hewed them, he c o m b ~ n e d hewed them, c o m b ~ n e dtlieru,
formecf w ~ t hthem the planets thcm, we~ghed them and w e ~ g h e dthem and excliaiiged
In the unlvelse, the cldys 111 exclxingcd them, dntl he thcm, and he f o llled~ wlth
"" For an exposition of this paragraph and its importance in the overall scheme ol'SY see Hay- the y e a , and the a p c l t u ~ e sin f o med
~ ~ 1 1 t theill
h the plan- them the planets, the days,
rnan 1986.
maak~nci,by 5cvcns et\ In the unlveise, the tl,~ys '~nclthe ape1 tules
Va.ida 1954: 53.
"'See Urbach 1979: 68. In the ye&, anti the dpel lure\
" See also Liehcs 2000: 104-95 wlio trics to ~naintainthe originality of the Long Recension In ~~i'inkrnd, by sevens
version ofihis paragraph hut withoi~ttaking i11toaccount the full range of textual evicteuce.
LMNSFPiQR collated to K L3'B2C; collated to A ZE = C
~51~~ 2 15 1 ;~I Y
2~W li3n;iilipw p i r ~ lipw
~ 7 ~ 1 7 F' 7;1u2w Z Y X W ] om p ~ r lppn
i D i r i ...I? pn] l low d ~ dhe c o m b ~ n ethem') H o w (lid lie combine them'! i low did lie combine theln?
LMNFPIQ 1 7 ~ n ~lpi/n
; i l 12'" lip^ - tnro stones hulld two llous- - two stones builtl two two stones build two ~ O L I S C S ;
1Yl G p l Y ] 0111f3' cs, three butld S I X , I ~ L I Ib u ~ l d Iiouses; three build six tliree build six houses; Sour
twenty-four, fivc bulld one houses; Sol~rbuild twenty- b ~ ~ i l dtwenty-four liouses;
hundicd and twenty, s ~ bu~ltl u f b i ~ rhouses; file build one five 1xliL~Ione hundretl ant1
Notes OM tile /c.x/ of $39 ~ v e nI~undrccl ancl twenty, h~~nclred and twenty houses; twenty houses; six build scv-
seven build five thousand and six build seven ll~~tv.lretland ell hundred ancl twenty hous-
$39 In all recens~ons~ ~ n e q ~ ~ ~ v ostates
c a l l ythat the seven double letters had a role forty F ~ o mhere on go out twenty houses; seven build es; seven build five tlio~~sand
and pondel what the mouth five thousanti :und firrty and Sorty houses. From here
In the pioce\s of creation. For the tcxt~lal~~ncertalnty In the earher part of SY on
cannot \peak, '~nd what the houses. From here on go out on go o ~ ~and t ' ponder
~ what
the ole of tlic letters see the notes to $$ 19 and 31. Compared to $38 the t e x t ~ ~ a l anti po~iclerwlnat thc mouth Itlie mouth] cannot speak,
cai cnnnot heal
problems of Q 39 are relatively s~mple.A shorter text In the Saadyan verslon seem\ cannot speak, and \'hat (lie anci \vhat the eye IcannoCJ
to have bcen expalidcd by the add~tiono l ' ~ h Y 2 71W2, , and V912 in all other Mss. eye cannot see, iuid what see; and what the car [can-
Then the Long Kecens~onand three Mss ofthe Short Recensrori have added 7Y2V the ear can~iothear. not] hear.
ZY2W at the end. Finally, ~tlooks as though the l ~ s of t verbs d e p ~ c t ~ nGod's
g crea-
t ~ v cactlvlty has bcen augmented in the course of tlme. the Short Recension has
four verbs (1Y 131Y l3Yn ' ( p n ) , over against six 111 the Long ant1 Saadyan Recen- I I ~ I ~ 'nw
X 7 a 1 73-3
~ m1i2 a m x 7nw lair 7573
sions (1Y '(17i27 1 5 19lY ~ l2Yn
~ fpj7n) while Dunash 11as just three verbs ('(i)i;ln w i i w , a m ~ I Wm l i 2 nww m1ia w i l y a m 'IW
u 2 i x , a m nww n i 1 n a 7 1 w ~ni1i2 ~ 2 i a'n2
x
1 Y 12Yn)9'1 Judah be11 B a r ~ i l l ahas
~ the four verbs of the Short Recens~on(Hal- ,a7n2 u m x i a9iwu ni1i2 zxn n i n l wnn a m ~ 2 1 x 1
berstain 1885: 239) and Donnolo has the s ~ verbs x ofthe Long Recension (Caste111 D ~ Y W Yzxn ~ m l i 2 wnn Y ~ nil12
W vw a m a7iwui
1880: 52). There are co~nparablevarlatlons in the iiun~berof these verbs In $49. n i x n Y ~ ni1i2W ww a7n2 Y ~ ovn2
W a'iwui n i x n
If these inlnor a d d ~ t ~ o nwere
s present In the text before the reviser who produced ni1i2 Y ~ Wa7n2 a 3 i w u i ~ ~ ~ a 72~ ) ~ i nwnn
x x 1nil12
the Saatlyall Iiecens~onI can t h ~ n kof n o reason why he sho~lld01111t theln. Add- a 5 ~ 2 i x 1 a 7 9 inwnn
x 21wn1 xr l i w i lx3n . a m
Ing them re~nforcesthe role of'the letters In the t h e e d~mcnslonsof reality whlch zn 2iwni K Y 1x319 . a m 1275 75137 7a7 17HW 7 n
17x1 ixi i ~ yxw
i 737 n l ~ l L7/ h 717Y717xW 7 n l
structure thls part of SY. . Y ~ D W >~ 5 1 17x7
3~ .uinwi ; i i i ~lsix 17xw 7 m

LMNSFPiQR collatcd to K B'B'GII collated to A % coll'~tedto F

D712X '3W ,191Y 7Y 77 'i?3
w i w ,07n2 ' I W m l i 2
u z i x , a m ;iww ni1i2
,ax12 ~ 2 1 x 1 a7iwv m1i2
a 7 i w y i ;lxn nil12 wnn
n i x n Y ~ ni1i2 W ww , a m
nil12 u2w ,a7n2 a'iwui
p 7 n . D ~ Y ~ YD X~ E~ ) ' nwnn
~x
~ X m W awn1 xr 157x1
I7RW 7n11275 $137 797
, Y l i 3 ~ 7>137
$ lTlR7
1T)lY,.'i?31 om LM N I'Q 7>13717Y7l7RW 7Dl n l ~ l 7$137
i 17Y717RW 77211
D512X]n17nlx MN n l x i ? ~om B' om L
a7Y21X11 add am2 L R
a712x 7nw lair 7 r Z T ' X ~ ~ 7 1 'nw2 ~ p i r 7 r 757x3
w i i w a m 71w ni1ix nil12 w l i w a7n2 71w nil12
u 2 i x , a m ;iww n1112 n i n a u l i x a m ;lww
,a'n> ~ > i xa7iwu i ni112 wnn asn2 ~ 2 1 x 1D ~ ~ W Y Notes OM tile / e ~o/j 3 40
D ' Y W Y ~ 7 x n nil12 wnn ww a m a v i w u i 2 x n ni1i2
n i x n yaw n1112 ww a m a 7 i w ~ni i x n Y ~ ni1i2
W T h ~ paragraph,
s l ~ k ethe preccd~ngone, 1s p~eselit111 all our recensions and Mss Its
ni112 u2w ,a7n2 a7iwui nwnn nil12 Y ~ .Wa m rather ~ e p e t ~ t i v\vord~ng
e has glven rise to many errors by parableps~sIn the Mss.
a 7 ~ 2 i x~i a i nwnn
x p 7 n a7n2 avu2ixi ~ 7 9 ' 7 ~ They arc ~ecordedIn Grucnwald's apparatus. S ~ n c both e Mss C and L suffer 111t h ~ s
XY l i 7 x i l x m .a7n2 5137 yxwn 2 w m 7 i r 1571
way I have punted the text of E w111ch has preserved the Saadyan \/crslon Intact.
797 168b1 l'xw ;ln 2iwni nix15 ; l i i ~ yuwm i 2 7 i
17Y;l17XW 7131 1275 7'7137 u i n w i nil33 lnwwai
There are very few real varlaiits. Ms Q adds D713X aftel the numerals 3-7 w h ~ l e

"'I Vcjda 1954: 54, Vajtla-Fento112002: 230. However, the beginning of g40 presupposes the
presence of the verb ID15 in 4 30. "' 715 must he an error Sor X5.
Ms G olnrts rnost occurrences of both P'n3 and n1313. The only substantlal varlant (1) He lnatle Bet rulc, and b o ~ ~ ntod ~t a ( I ) He made Bet rule, and bound to 11 a
comes at the end of the paragraph. All texts attest 1375 5137 737 I7KW ;173 and 773 crown, and conlb~nedone with another, crown, and comblncd one w ~ t hanother,
and lo~mcclw ~ t h~t Satuln 111 the L I ~ I - and f o ~ m e d\vlth ~t S a t u ~ nin the L L ~ I -
Ylaw', 751Y ITlK7 TSXW but nix15 75lY ISY7]'KW 773 appears only In A B I G H C
verse, the sabbath ~n the ycar, and thc verse, the sabbath ~n the y e a , and the
and E. So ~t1s absent In Mss from all three Recens~onsand not In the Short Recen- luouth in ~ n a n k ~ n d mouth 111 m a n k ~ n d
sion at all. It could, of'course, have been omitted by parablepsls but it IS more l~kely (2) He m,lde G m e l rule, d ~ i dboi111d to it a (2) IIe made G ~ m e lrule, and bountl to 11 a
to have come In under the ~nfluenceof Isa 64:3. The saylng is oftcn citcd In Sew~sh clown, nnd c o m b ~ n e done w ~ t ha n o t h e ~ , clown, and combrned one wlth another,
texts, most often In the "mouth" and "ear" versloll as in most Mss here.90.A version ancl folmed with ~t Jupltel In the u n - and f o ~ m e dw ~ t h~t Jupite~ In the unl-
w ~ t h"eye" and " m o ~ ~ t hoccurs
" In 111 Elloch $39 and ~nthe Vis~onsof E ~ e k ~ e1 l51
, ver5c, the f i ~ s tday of the week ~n the versc, the f i ~ s tday of the week [in the
year, and the rlght eye 111 ni'lnk~nd year], 'ind the I ~ g h eye
t ~n m a n k ~ n d
(Gruenwald 1972 l2J)."' (3) He made Dalet ILIIC,and bound to it a (3) He made Dalet lulc, and b o ~ ~ ntod 11 a
Mss M and N rather crassly substrtute the literal nlSnlx for the metaphorical crown, ;und c o m b ~ n e dw ~ l ha n o t h c ~ and
, crown, and f o ~ ~ n ewd~ t h11 Mars ~n the
PS33K.There are the usual crop of'scr~balerrors 111 the text of Ms C. formeci w ~ t h~t Mars in the unlvelse, the unlve~se,the second day ol the week ~n
second day of the week 111 the year, 'ind the year, and the left eye In manklnd
the left eye In mauklnd
(4) Me 111'1dc Kaf lulc, and b o ~ m dto it ,I (4) lie mCtdc KaS rule, and bound to ~t a
clown, '~ndcombined one w ~ t ha n o t h e ~ , cro\lrn. 'ind So~niedw ~ t hit the Sun In the
A L
and formed w ~ t h~t the SLIII111 the L I ~ I - universe, the t h ~ day
d of thc week 111 the
\rerye, the thrrd day of the week In the year, and the right n o \ t l ~ lIn lnank~ntl
a T i i n 15 p i n n i n I 19-151i n 3 i i i w p i n.2 nx l 7 i n ; r I
DY ; 1 ~ year, and the 11ght nostrll in manklnd
231 7 1 ~ n32 w 1 a i i u 2 7n2w 12 i r i ; i s ;i2i ;i1w2 n 2 w i 0 i u 2 ?nzw 12 i r i ; 1 ~ (5) He made Pe rule, dnd bo~111dto ~t a (5) He made PCrulc, and bound to it a clown,
.WD12 WDl2 crown, and c o m b ~ n e done with a n o t h e ~ , and lo1 med w ~ t h~tV e n ~ In ~ sthe unlverse,
p i r i i n 3 15 i w p i in71 nx 1 h ; i 2
;ir ; I T11)iriin:, i i i w p i in72 nx 17in;i 2 and formed w ~ t h~tVenus In the unlverse, the fourth clay ol' the week In the year,
n2w2 7 n x i o i l y 2 p ~ 12 r i r i ; I TPY 17~1 n2w2 7 n x i n i u p7r ~ 12 i r i 2s nu the fourth day of the week In the year, and the left n o s t r ~ lIn m a n k ~ n d
,WDI~ 1.n' l l u i n w 2 *WD12 17n7 and the left n o s t r ~ 111
l manklnd
nu; I Tpin i n 2 i i i w p i 57 nx l7in;i 3 a w n 12 i r i i n 3 i i i w p i 57 nx 17in;i 3 (6) He made Resh rule, 'ind bound to 11 a (6) He niade the head [Rcshj rule, and bound
n2w2 717~1a'71u2 n77xn 12 i r i 71 W D I ~i x n w y u i 7 1 ~ naw2
2 7 1 ~ n5u2
1 clown, and combined one w ~ t hanothel, to tt a crown, and So~niedw ~ t h11 Mer-
. W D I i~i x n w 17ui 7 1 1 ~ 2 and formed wlth it M e ~ c u r y111 the unr- CLII y rn the Lunlverse, the fifth day o f t h e

au lmri i n 3 i i i w p i 73 nx 17in;i 4 versc, the fifth day of the week In the week 111 the year, and the rrght ear 111
;inn 12 i r i i n 3 15 i w p i 73 nx 77'7n7 4 year, and the 11ght ear ~n m a n k ~ n d mank~nd
nzwx 7w7iwi n i i u 2 ;inn 12 i r i ; i ~ W D I ~7 7 ~ 7x1
7 Z I W ~n2w2 7 w i w i a i u 2
(7) He made Taw rule, and bound to ~t a
(7) Ile made Taw rule, and bound to 11 a
.ws12 7x1 Z I W ~
CIOWII, ' ~ n deonibllled one w ~ t hanothel, crown, and formed \ v ~ t h11the Moon in
DY 77 1DlYl i n 3 15 1Wpl 7D nX 7 ' 5 ~ 7 5 1 1i i i n1 p i D n 7 5 and forrned with ~t the Moon 111 the urn- e , s ~ x t hday of the week ~n
the ~ ~ n l v e r sthe
71W2 n2W2 'Y7211 ~ $ 1 7213 ~ 2 1 2 l Y l ;iT ixnw 7x1 7 1 ~ n2w2
2 7u7ziiia i u 2 verse, the c;~xthday oS the week In the the year, and the left ear ~n rnanklnd
.ws12 i i x n w 7x1 WDl2 yea[, and the lest ear 111 l u a n k ~ n d
l s i r i i n 3 i i i w p i w q nx l"/n;i 6
; i ~ 22131211 1 3 11 1 8 7 6
7W7i2fll~ j 1 ~ 2 2313 12 lY1 77 DY lvn71~1x17
1 ~ n2w2
2 ?wan1 a i u 2 ;lan
. W D I ~yn7 1~1x1Z I W ~n 2 w 2 WD12 DY ; I Tp i r i i n 3 15 i w p i n72 nx 1"m;i 1 au ;i~1 ~ i ri ni 3 i i i w p 1 "72 nx 17in;i I
ou 77 1 ~ i ri ni 3 15 i w p i i7nnx l ? i n ; r 7 7 11 i p i i nn 7
i n1 7 7 ~ 2 71 1 ~ n2~ l w i a i i u 3m w 12 i r i 7s m i n1w2 n 2 w i a i u 2 7n2w 12 i r i 77
7 1 ~ n2w2
2 ?wwi n i i u 2 7125 12 i r i 77 ixnw n1w2 nxwx 7ww1 n i u 2
1~1x1 .WD12 .W912
. W D I i~x n w 1~1x1 WD12 in3 i i i r i i n 3 i i i w p i 11nx l"7n;i 2 77 p i r i i n 3 l i i w p i in12 nx 1 ~ i n ; i 2
77n1 y u i 7 1 ~ n2w22 ~ n x .aiiu>
i naw2 7 n x i n i u 2 p-tr 12 i r 1 77 nu
'" See C h r ~ Qoma
~r \ 949 and for the parallels here and elyewhere between SY and SQ Cohen ,W312 .WD12 I'D7 I7Yl 71W2
1981 180-181 and 208,li 15, S ~ f r Numbers e \ 102 (Horovit7 1966 100). h S//uh 20b, h RH 27a
Cohcn (rhrd 181) makci: a scrlous methodologrcal el rol when lie seeks to draw d parallel between n77xn 12 i r i i n 3 i i i w p i 17 nx l " / n ; l 3 77 i i n 5 p i 57 n i n 3
SY $ 4 dnd SQ The reacl~ngw l l ~ ~lnterestb h h ~ m710 175 17xW 1WY lnY7?X IS found only in the ixnw yui n2w2 ?mia i i u 2 n l w a 3 ~ 7 wa i u 2 a77xn 12 i r i 77 au
pr~ntededlt1on5 of SY (Long Recens~on)and In Mss 13'B' It IS not piereut In any other of our .WD32 .WDl2 $HDWI7Y1ZlW2
t c ~ t u ~witnesses
ll I t 1s a tentlent~ouskabbal~strcalterat~on,see the notes to $ 4 ? a n 12 i r i i n 3 i i i w p i 13 nx 1 " m 4 au ; I Tp i r i i n 3 i i i w p i 12 nx 775737 4
"'Hnlperln 1988 275t ~egardsthe piesence of the "eye" claure as an i a d ~ c a t ~ oofn the ldte date q7n3? s x i ; l ~ w n2w2
2 7w7iwi t l i i u 2 71w2 n2w2 w i w i a i m 7 n n 12 i r i
of the V I ~ I O IofI SEzekrel .W912 .WD12 I1D77x1
 to ~ e c o n c ~thr5
l c sequence of SY materlal w ~ t h11sconccpt clscwhcre of the crcatlve
plocec\ What Dan dcp~cts'1s SY's <ccond way of d e s c ~ ~ b ~the n gIcttc~sancl t h e ~ r
~ e l a t ~ oton tlie c ~ e a t o r ' ~ "one \vh~ch1s morc open to late1 my5t1cal/kabbal1st1c
cxplo~tat~on, may, In h c t , be the VICM! of the e d ~ t o~~e s p o n s ~ b to1 l e the a d d ~ t ~ o n c
of tlie Long Recenuon Could the "b~nclrngofthe clowns" be on the came level as
otlie~,often weakly atte5ied allus~onsto b~bllcaland ~ a b b ~ tn~~a cd ~ t ~- osupcrficlal n
Irnk5 to contempor~~ry Jewrsh c i ~ l t ~dcslgnccl
~rc to make SY appeal less strange 01
hete~odoxthan 11actually IS'? Such allusions, when niore fi~rnlylooted In the tex-
tual t ~ a d ~ t r oconst~tute
n, n a t u ~ a "g~owth
l po~ntc"Sol any late1 attempts to b ~ n dSY
E collated to Z. Inol e f i lnly
~ Into Iiialnstleam Jewlsh t~adlt~onWhat IS morc d~lficr~lt to d e c ~ d e(and
;IT PY 77 19lY12-71 oln E
p~obably~mposslbleto determine \ v ~ t h o i ~new t Inanusclipt evrdcncc) 15 wlicther
01 not these tantal171ngI~iiksto niolc n o ~ m a t ~ vt ~ e a d ~ t r oanl ~ e a d yplesent ( I ~ k e
$ 1 2 4 4 ) In the Short Rccenslon do go back to the 01~glnalauthor 01 belong ent~rely
to the [xocess oftextildl tlansm15slon If $ 32-14 belonged to the earllest text of SY,
then ~ v h ynot b$41 ancl 4452'7 But 11that was tlic case, ~vtnyare the lattc~mlsslng
We have al~cadynoted In connect~onw ~ t hthe s ~ n i ~ l a rstructured
ly $$32-34 that $41
In the S h o ~ Rcccn\~on,
t ~ l i ' ~the parallel sequence of 16 + 44
Dunash and S i ~ d ~ 1,lke
1s not p~esentIII the S h o 1~Rcccns~on N e ~ t l i c1s~ Q 52 whlcl~agaun lias the same st1 UL-
i 54, no mechnn~calexplanailon IS ava~lableSol t h c ~ rabcence nor 1s 11easy to see
t i ~ r cAt t h ~ ps o ~ ntoo
t the paragraph oldel In the Mss d ~ v e ~ g eMost s Mss ofthe Long
wlny they rn~ghthave been object~onableto s c ~ b e swho left \\$32-34 111 the text 0 1 1
Recens~onfollow the order 39,40, 41,42, 43, though B2 has 39, 43a, 40, 41, 42. The
balance, it 1s caslcl to see all t h ~ mater~al s as part of tlie process of expalis~onwhich
S h o t~Recens~onMss attest two separate ccqucnces. (I) KS have 39,40,43a, 42;""2)
led to the emergence of the Long Recens~on
the other Short Kecenc~onMss have 39, 42, 40, 43a, 42 The rest of the chapter (I e
Tlic only texti~alp~ohlcmof any consecluencc w l t h ~ n$41 concclns the length of
$$43b, 43c, ancl44) IS then mlsslng In the Short Recens~on.The Saadyan Kecens~o~i
lias 39 followed by 41 I n ~ t cliaptet
s 5, w h ~ l c440 15 placed In ~ t chapter
s 3:4 It does
tlie f ~ a ~ i i e w of~ol~<m u l a 12 l Y 1 77 PY 77 131Y1 l l 7 3 13 l W p 1
- ... nX ~~$133 Mss
A and % cons15tently attest the full fo~mulabut Mss C and D do so only In 441 1
not have 42,43a, 01 43b. D~masliben Tam~rndoes not clte $41 and neithe~does Judah
Note tlie omls\lons oS 37 PY 77 131Y1 In Ms E Arc C and D abbrev~atlng01 A and
ben Barzllla~.Donnolo lias a considerably expanded and paraphased form of this
Z expanci~ng.The prc~cnccof tlic full formula In $41 1 In all Mss suggests that the
paragraph (Caste111 1880. 56-57) We have, then, a lnalor ri~ptureIn the textual tradl-
f o ~ m ea l~t e ~nat~veI S the most p~obableClea~lysome s c ~ b e shaving , once presented
t101n of SY at tli~sp011itand t h ~ scannot bc ilnrelated to problems ovel the content of
the SLIII So~mula,felt n o need to estate 11cvery tlme and a b b ~ e v ~ a t ethe d lest - some-
the mater~al,as we will see when we revlew the whole of 39-44. 4s tlmcs d~astlcallya\ 111D 41 5-7 Ms D has a s ~ r n ~ l aabbrev~atcd ~ly text In $ 52
The problem of $41 needs to be d~scusscdIn rclatlon to tlic parallel problem of
Ms C's ellols t h ~ st ~ l n eare. ( I ) the omlsslon of 731212 111 41.2 and (2) W X l In-
$4 36, 44, and 54, all o f w h ~ c hare mlsslng In tlie Short Recens~onand all of which
stead of W 7 1 In 41.6. The variants In the o t h c ~Long Recens~onMcs recorded 111
are preserved 111 a s ~ n g l eblock In the Saadyan Recens~on(chapter e~ght).'" None
GI ~~enwald's appalatu5 ale e ~ t l i emlnol ~ ones of sylitax (e.g 772 37 f o ~77 PY 77)
of these orulsslons can be expla~nedby parableps~s Both the sequences 32-34 +
01 c l e a ~elloss
41 + 52 and 36 + 44 + 54 take niaterlal wh~clihas already been d~scussedand re-
cast ~t ~ n t oa rigid l~teraryframework 1~1thsolne cl~glitexpalislons of the content.
They enhance the shythru~c,p o e t ~ cfeel of SY and they also b ~ n d~tcloser- ~ n t otlie
vvo~ldofrabb~nlcJuda~smw h ~ l ea d d ~ n g~ i o t l i ~to ~ i~g t ovel-all
s teaching. The phrase
"bblnd~nga crown" constructs a Ilnk w ~ t hthe famous story 111 h Men 29b of R a b b ~
Ak~ba'cascent to heaven. We have already seen the struggle that Sosepl-r Dan has ,ninx Y ~ V I pi ~;YWI . i p p n ~1x11 n i n x ~ 2 wPi ' Y ~ ~;~YI)W
T i p p n ~1 ~ 2 1
22.n l ~ aavnua
i ; i ~ 2 w i,niw ~ 2 v i ?y72w~n 1 3 ~ 1 DW 5 ; I Y ~ W ~niyw ~ 2 w i
" W u n a s h follows this sequencc though he only seems lo know 39, 42, 40, because he then . ~ ~ n nvn7n 7 ~ ~ 2 ~ .n7nw;i nnn yan 535
moves on to 545 (Vajda 1954: 54-55, Vajda-Fenton 2002: 124-126). Judah bell Raszillai follows
the order of Mss KS and he; too, does not seem to know 544.
"" See also the notes on 5 36.
And wltll them \yere carved out seven hr md- And w ~ t hthem wele calved out seven firma-
m e n t ~ seven
, eai ths, seven hours nnd scvcn m e n t ~ seven
, earths, seven hours nrid seven
tlmes 1 herefore he loved the seventh ~ ~ n d c rdays Theletole he loved the se\/entli nbove
liec~ven e\lcryth~ngunder heaven

LMNSI- I'IQR collated to K B'B7GDII collated to A

niYwl n i n w LPQ, o'n7 F a7nus Y ~ W ~ I nivwl n n y w D And the seven firmaments: Wilon, Raqia, Shehailim, Zebu], Ma'on, Malton, Arabot. And the
om LMNQ D ' D Y ~ ]nii27n F, nin3w R seven earths: 'adama, 'arqa, tebel, neshiyya, siyya, I~eled,'eretz.
' Y r m ] add y9n '73'7 MNSFPQ
B'GH collated to A.
Mso LMNFPIQR have anothe~ d~stlnctlvc yix ? i n ; I ~ ' Y ]7w2' 7'7n y i x BI yix,..;in7x] x3x y i x '72n zY7rZ ~ ~ '72n
W I 7pix G
for111 of t h ~ sp,tragrclph at the end of $39
This folm ol'the text is collatecl below to the
text of Ms P
$43~
Sefer Ye,~ira
P
~ 2 n i~n x 1u l w i a'Y7pi zvxw ppn l;rni
nnn y9n 535 y ~ ' 2 w2 x 113'9'7 n i n w
.D'nw7
I-Ie split LIPthe witnesses and made each one He split LIP the witnesses and made each one
n i r i x ] nin7x MN. nin2wl ;iu2wi a'n' stand by itself - the univcrsc by itself', the stand by itself - the universe by itself', the
n1127n F. yDn '73'710111 MNFIQ. P7nW7] year by itsell; mankind by itself: year by itself., mankind by itscll:
pr '73 MN IQ.
B'B2GDI-I = A. In Mss B2UD this sentence is ZE collated to C. The sentence is repeated
repeated after $52 (= (i53). afier (i 52 in all three Mss (= 5 53).
7 n x 301 0111 ZE.

Sefer I'k;ira $44

These 'Ire the seven planets ~n the Lunlverse
S L I ~Venus,
, Melcui y, Moon, Saturn, Jup~tcr,
Mars And the days In the yea1 the seven
dnys of creat~onAnd the seven apertures rn
~nnnk~ncitwo eyes, two eals, two nostr~ls,
dnd the mouth
The\e are the seven planets In the unlverse
Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter,
Mars And the seven days the seven days of
c ~ e d l ~ o And
n the scvcn apertures In man-
k ~ n dtwo eyes, lwo eals, two n o s t ~ ~ l and
s,
the mouth

LMNSFI'IQR collated to K B'B2GH collated to A

~ ' 7 1 ~012111 F a7i'nI;iil 7x7 ' i 7 n l 3 ~ wLP,
i j 1-1 D"l'nl] D79K B', P - D U I ~B~
t l i i ~ 2 om
P79X '1W SFI, 7x7 '2171 'lW1 MNQ
Seven double letters: Bet, (;i~nel, Dalet; There was forlnecl with Bet these: Saturn, of 11 /lug 12b w h ~ l ethe lrst of the scvcli lands 1s closest to the Palestlnlan t t a d i t ~ o n
Kal; l'e, Resh, 'law. 'l'hcrc was fi>rmcdwith the sabbath, the mouth, lile and death. Thcre In texts Ilke ARNfi 37 See the c o m p a ~ a t l v ctable ~n S6d 1981 275."" $ 4 4 coriibrncs
13ct: Saturn, tlie sabbath, the mo~~tli, life was fcormed \vit,li Gi~melthese: Jupiter, the Q43a \vrtIi the seven o p p o s ~ t e shorn 437 all 111 the l r t e ~ a r yst1 ucture wli~clif i ~ s ap- t
and death. There was Ibrmcd with (iimel: first day of' the week, the right eye, peace
peals In $ 3 6 and leappears rn $ 5 4 It rgnoles $442 and 43b. S o one I ~ n egoci out
Jupiter, the first day of the week, the right anti evil. There was for~nedwith Dalet these:
eye, peace and evil. There \&/asformcd with Mars, the second day of the week, tlie left ho111 4 39 to $ 4 4 2 and 43b. and a n o t h e ~to $Q41,43a, 43c, and 44.
Dalet: Mars, thc sccontl day ofthc week, tlie eye, wisdom and li~lly.There was fosmccl None of t h ~ ~iiatet s ral In 4441-44 i i attcilctl In ,111 t l i ~ e elecensions 111tlic notes
left eye, wisdom ant1 k)lly. There wrts Sormeci with Kaftliese: the Sun, the third day of the to 441 we havc alreatly seen th'tt both ~tand $ 4 4 a t e ~ ~ l i l l k eto l y have been p ~ e s e n t
with Kaf tlie Sun, tlie thircl day ofthe week, week, tile right nostril, wealth and poverty. In the e a ~ l ~ e~s et c o v c ~ a b text
l e of S Y 4442 and 43 a l e not plesent In the Saadyan
the riglit nostril, wealfh and poverty. There There was Ibr~nedwith Pe: Venus, the fburtli Recens~onwhile 443b 15 weakly attested as we have a l ~ c a d yseen Ms D does
was li)rmcd \vith Pe: Vcn~ts,the fi)~lrthclay day of the week, the Left nostril, prosperity not havc $43d or 43b 4 4 4 3 ~cllid 4 4 ale not plcsent In the Short Rccensroli ~ v l i ~ l c
of the week, the left nostril, prosl?crity anti and desolation. There was formed with licsli
clesolation. rfliere was formed with Resh: these: Mercury, thc lift11 day of the week, Dun'~sh seems to k n o ~ v4 4 2 only 111 the fo1111\vh~cIi15 c o m p a t ~ b l e\vrtli 439 and
Mercury, tlic lift11 day of the ~vcek,tlie right tlic right ear, beauty and ugliness. There iho\vs no srgn of $441, 43 and 4 4 "'? How d o \ve accourit f o ~all tli~s')We need to
car, hca~ltyand ~~gliness. 'l'liere was Ihrmed was Ibrmed wit11 [Taw these]: the Moon, the look 111o1cclosely , ~ tthe content of thcic p a l a g ~ a p h s
\vith Taw: tlie Moon, the preparation ol' the preparation of the sahhatli, the left ear, mas- I > e s p ~ t e t l ~fact n g a d c f e c t ~ v epr inted tcxt oSSY (Watsa\v
c tliat lie w,ls w o ~ l < ~\+~tIi
sabbath, tlie left ear, mastery and slavery. tery and slavery. ect 18X4), Solomon Cianz has colrectly obsei ved that the authol of SY In Qb41 and
'l'his is Bet, Gimel, Dalct; Kaf, Pe, Resh, 4 4 lids "connected the seven planets In the natulal order [ o f - t l i e ~st~pposed ~ drstance
Taw.
from tlie e a ~ t l i ] j f 2 1 n D1?2Wi0'\vltIi tlie fjrst seven days tis stead of the fitst Iiouis
ol cieat~oli" Consequently, $442 '11id 4321 w ~ t ht h c r ~~ c f e i e n c eto the "scvcn Iiou~s"
and the oidci D'YW '7'31n")-' r n ~ i i be t "the gloss of an e c l ~ t owho ~ w~sliedto 1econ-
crle tlie theor y of the Book of Cleation ~ ! i t l itlie accepted tlieor y of the planeta1 y
\vcekn "I? So the late1 cdltot "ment~onsthe seven I i o u ~ sand ch,unges the sequence
h l n D f Y w Into tlie seq~renceD'YW j f 3 1 n to coirespond 1~1ththe f i ~ s seven
t Iio~us
of tlie f i ~ s day
t of the \veekn (ihrrl) It 1s ~ n t e ~ e s t l nthat
g Sliabbcta~Donnolo was
acutely consclou\ of t h ~ dr5clepancy
s aiid expressed tlie n e c o s l t y o f c o ~ e c t r n gthe
It 1s nccessaly at thrs polnt to look at the overall structutc and t c x t ~ ~ srtuat~onal of abci iant contents of SY at thrs po~nt.")TTheabsence o f 4 4 4 2 and 43 111 tlie Saadyan
these p a ~ a g i a p h sb e f o ~ cconsidering rn more detall the tcxt of $442-44. $$41-44 Iiecens~on~ r o u l da p p ~ a rto glve stlong support to t h ~ sc o r i c l ~ ~ s ~ Buto n . tlie Short
develop 4 39 w ~ t htwo Incorisrrtcnt streams of material. $ 3 9 has the threefold strue- Rcccli\ion, as we have seen, docs not have 4\41 and 4 4 \vIiich 11st tlie (appalently
t ~ ~ \vhieIi
tc clia~acterlsesSY elsewhele ($448-49, 58-59), namely, that tliele I S a a b e r ~ a n t collocat~on
) of tlie pI,lnets and tlic clay\ of tlie week, and the a1 iaiiger of
harmony between the three spheres of l e a l ~ t y- tlie universe. time, and m a n k ~ n d , the Sa'ldyali R e c c n i ~ o nc o ~ t l dhave left out $ 4 4 2 and 43 because he sensed this
c o ~ ~ e s p o n d r ntog tlie three glouplngs of tlie twenty-two letteis of tlie alphabet d ~ i l i a ~ m o nwith
y $441 and 4 4
Indeed, at least Sol tlie scven do~rbleand the twelve srmple Ictter5, the lettels have T h e f i ~ sp~t ~litede d r t ~ o nof SY (Mantua 1 5 C ~ 2 )~epieselits
~~)~ what may be another
a ole 111 the c ~ e a t r o nof tliei~co~responciinglevels of reality 443c explicitly spells cd~torlalsolutron to the ciisliar mony between these palagraphs In Q43a 11lists the
out thrs uncterly~ngprlnclple 443a 1s based on thrs t h ~ c c f b l dstructure and sr~iiply
spells out the D72313, D'P, and Dy7YW of 4 39. Note, for example, the paragraph oi- "" See also I-lalperin 1988: 270, n. 28.
der In M s B2 wrth 44321 followrng on d ~ r e c t l yf r o ~ i Qi 39 and no punctuation oi space "" Kijcla 1954: 54 and Vajtla-I:enton 2002: 124. Juciah hen Rarzillai Ins 39, 40, 43a, 42 in that
to 111u-ka bl-eal<between tlie two $441 and 4 4 s~lnrlatlybuild on t h ~ pattern s LISIII~ order. l le has tlie Ms K form of $42 (llalhcrstam 1885: 237. 245).
3 ;inn m x n p1x 9nw.
l o ' 1.e. 7121 ; r n n - ~ ixi]
the l ~ t e i a r yf i a m e w o ~ k swe have seen 111 $$ 32-34 and 36 However, the Long Ke- li14 1.e. DTXB p 1 7nxw ~ 7135 ;inr1-23i>m11;ran.
censlon form of \\ 42 and tlic d ~ ~ p l r c a formt e c ~ t e d111the S h o t~Recension aftel 4 43a "Ii "The Origin oftlie J'l;~nctaryWeek or The l'larletary Week in Hebrew I,iterature", l'roceed-
lgnoic t h ~ s t l ~ ~ c t u entirely
le and take LI\ off In a completely separate d ~ r e c t ~ o n . ir~g,sof'fllc. /l/r~c~r.ictr~i 18 (1948/40),p. 238. So also Epstcili 1894: 08,
Actrci(,~nyc!j'Je\i~i.shRr.~cir~,c~h,
n . 6 - SY $42 "paraissent avoir Ctd interpold plus tard."
Tlie source of rts ~nspllatronbecomes clear when w e look at ~ t expansron s in Q43b
lo" Sec (:astclli 1880: 50-61, lnglish tra~islationin (;an;: 19481'): 239-240, ant1 also Sharf
TIIIS part of 4 4 3 15 p ~ e s e n tonly In the Long Kecenslon and then not 111 Mss 9' 01 1076: 27- 28.
D Tlie l ~ s of t tlie seven heavens 1s drawn dllcctly Gom and follo\vs exactly the text "I' b iin Gruenwaltl's al,paratus.
planets 111 the order 5'31n D'YW, 1.e. exactly as $Q41 and 44. The ed~torlalchange IS
simple: just swap ~ o u n dD'YV and 5'3ln. It IS ~ n t e r e s t ~that
~ i g when J~rdahHa-Lev1
c ~ t e sSY $ 43a lie glvei the planets In the order 5 ' 3 1 ~P'YW even though he alters
the correspond~ngdays to fit In w ~ t htlie i~sualastrolog~calpattern.IoxCould P'YW
5l31n be tlie o n g ~ n a read~ng
l of 543ai7
A poss~blesuggest~ono f t h e way 111 whlch tlie textual t r a d ~ t ~ oofn SY $$41-44
developed 1s as follows:
s Saadyan recension fi)rm of $ 39.
(I) At their base l ~ e the
(2) Two parallel expansions of $39 then emerged: firstly, the form of $42 attested
In most Short Rcccns~onMss after $ 39 and In Dunash, and secondly, 4 43a w~tlithe
planets In the order 'l'33n P'YW.
(3) A later e d ~ t oexpanded
~ the or~ginal$43a and piit together tlic planets, the
speclfic days of tlie week, and the seven hurnan apertures all connected to the
-
seven double letters. T h ~ produced
s $41, later expanded In 444 (wh~cli,as we have
seen, s~niplyputs 441 and $ 37 together).
(4) A st111later s c r ~ b esa\v, 11keSliabbeta~Donnolo, that SY's arrangement of the
planets and the days of the week d ~ not d conforni to the coirect astrolog~calorder-
ing of the planetary hours. Hence he reshaped $42 Into the fi~rmseen In the Long
Recension and the dupl~cateSliort Recens~onverslon (tlie Ms K for111placed after
$43a w ~ t h11s reference to the planetary hours), and lie reversed the order of P'YW
'7'31n In b43a so that rt corresponded w ~ t hthe order oftlie planetary hours count-
Ing fro111 tlie mornlng of the first day (Sunday), 1.e. P'YW 5'31n. He thus created a
fi~ndamcntald15harmony In the text of SY.")')
(5) The arranger of the Saadyan Rccenslon left o ~ t t$Q42 and 43a-b e ~ t h e rbe-
cause they were not In the text \v~tliwhich he was worklng or because he perceived
t h e ~ Inconslstcncy
r w ~ t h$541 and 44
(6) $43b was added at a very late stage as ~ t weak s attestat~onIn only some Mss
of tlic Long Recens~onshows.
It looks, then, as though we can allocate only $ 39 to the earllest recoverable text
of SY - to the stage well before later ed~torsattempted to nialce SY conform to
t h c ~ conte~nporary
r astrolog~callore. However, although Q43c is not present in the
Sliort Recension ~t contalns noth~ngw h ~ c hIS ~ncons~stent wlth liiaterlal we have
~solatedas belonging to the earliest stage of tlie SY t r a d ~ t ~ onor n , does tt contaln
'Ow'In the year: Sabbath, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Monday" (Kzczari
4:25) Cassel 1869: 345.
-
anytlirng whlcli IS cliaracter~st~cof thc Long Rcccns~onaddit~ons.In fact, ~tstates
rather clearly one of the fundamental structuring prlnc~plcsof SY. Nevertheless,
~ t absence
s tn the Sliort Kecens~onprevents us asslgnlng ~tw ~ t hany confidence to
stage (1) above. 1 place ~tIn square brackets In my reconstructed SY text to ~ n d ~ c a t e
both my feel~ngthat ~tmay be c l ~ t ~early
t e but also ~ t weaker
s textual attestat~on.
note.^ on the text of $42
Tlie carl~ertform of Q42 wdl, then, be the Sot111 as c ~ t e d111 MSS L...R after $39.
Tlie dupl~cateform c ~ t c dafter Q43a In 1110stSliort Recension Mss and tlie sole form
ctted In the Long Receni~on~eflectsthe ~ m p a c ton the text of SY of the e d ~ t o r ~ a l
changes d~scussedabove. In t l i ~ sform the o r ~ g ~ nnalln 2 w Y2W has been altered to
nlYW Y2W except In Mss L,PQ. Ms D's n1lYV for nlYw 1s probably an error wli~le
Ms R's nln2W for P'DYD IS p~obablya r e l ~ cof tlie e a l l ~ e~~c a d ~ nThe
g a d d ~ t ~ oofn
P7DYD 7Y2W In most Short Rccenslon Mss (but not LMNQ) and P'D' 111 the Long
Rccetislon ]nay have been 111tencIcdto ~ c ~ n f o the~ c cast~olog~cal conncct~onof tlic
hours and tlic days of the week The s c r ~ b eof Ms F has clearly dec~dedto try and
harrnon~zeh ~ twos verslons of' $42. The phrase yDn 535 seems necessary to tlie
sense of the last sentence of the paragraph hut 11IS not well attested In tlie Short Re-
censlon Mss and Iiiay have been a st~engtlien~ng addrt~onhltc the 5 3 before P7DV
III MFSMNIQ. Ne~therIS present 111 Dunash's c~tationof the paragraph.
Notes 017 the text of $430
The only textual d~sturbancehere is over tlie precise specificat~onof the two nos-
t r ~ l sThe
. var~antsare hal-mon171ngw ~ t h$41.5, 44, and 62. PVln as In Ms B2 ap-
pears In $63 in some Mss.
Notes 017 the tel-t of $430
The var~antsconcern only the list of tlie seven names for the earth and ~nvolve
1na111lychanges of word order. W ~ t hthe list In Ms G compare PRK, Rosh Ha-Slia-
nali 10 (Mandelbaum 1987: 343-344).

"'"0 have ironed out tlie discrepancies would Iiave involved a major reconstruction of these
Note5 on the text of $43~
paragraphs. Compare what Eliililaliuel Tov says about tlie biblical text: "As a rule, differences in
major details have not been changed. After all, there are too many ~iiajordifferences between tlie The third ? n X in Ms C is clearly a duplication.
laws and stories in the Pentateuch, so that any attempt to harmonize between them would result
in a major rewriting of tlie Bible". A ~ i df ~ ~ r t l i on:
e r "in biblical Mss harmonizing additiolis are
ruore frequent than harmonistic changes. This situation is easily understandable, as tlie degree of
intel-vention in tlie text is more limited for additions than for changes" (1985: 9, 1 I).
Ai,te.s oil t l ~ ctest of $44 Notes on the text of %+45

n133 '113 n l j l 9 3 Y3W (Long Kecens~on).See the note on the ~nttodi~ctory

li)rriii~Ia $45 has a fixed pos~tlon111 the Long and Short Kecens~ons- at [he beglnn~ngof
W n X nlBW wl'lw 111 $36. Thc ~ritroductorySol milla here In $ 44 1s lntroduccd for chapter five a c c o ~ d ~ ntogmost Mss. In the Saadyan Rcccns~on~tI S foi~ndIn the first
p ~ e c ~ s ethe
l y salne reason. It 1s not rcqu~led111 the Saadyan vcrston where $4 36.44, run throi~glithe 10, 3, 7 and 12 ~nchapter 1 3 . Clearly tlie arrange1 ofthe Saadyan
and 54 ale all 111 one cont~nuousblocl< of tiiatcr~al- p~obablytlie orrg~nalarrange- Kecenslon Soi~ndrt at the beg~nntngoi'chaptcl five rn 111sbase text and naturally se-
ment 'Ilie conclusion n193 '112 ;IT rs l~l<e'vrsenot present ln the Saadyari velslon lected ~tas h ~ first
s example of a paragraph on the "twelve {lrnplc letters", ~ ~ 1ass t111
fbr tlie same reason, s ~ n c c~tgoes on ~mmedratelyto apply the set structure to the the same paragraph he has selected Q 23 S~ornthe beg~nnrngof chapter 3 and $ 37a
twelve srmple lette~s.It is mlsslng In Ms D but added In Ms E. Fol the varlant spcll- from the beginnlng of chapter fbur. The rnlnor Val latlons In the textilal tradttlon of
trig 01'1lY~3see the text and apparatus of $ 37. 1j7X 117 was obvrously oru~tted111 thls paraglap11 are mostly e a s ~ l ydetected erlors SOITIC sl~glitvar~antsrn the o r d e ~
clror by the s c [be ~ o f M 5 C' We noted rn $41 the tendency of M\ L) to s h o ~ t e ntlie ofthc bod~lyf i ~ n c t ~ o nhaves not been thought worth ~ecorcl~ng In the apparatus.
text It clocs so agaln 111 $44, onllttlng 1Y13 aster 11s first t\vo occurrences. 1 1 A I The test~monyof most other Mss suggests that tlie He at
the b e g ~ n n ~ nofg t h ~ sword 1s a tl~ttog~aphyof tlic one at the end oS ;IYS73W,slnce
otliel wlse the wo~cl7n71;I 1s unknow~i"() A wold 1s known 1i.om Rash~on-
wa~tis.The error milst be an early otie In the Long Kecensron since ~thas spread to
BICH. Could ;In713 In Ms E be a n attempt to correct th15 error?
K A C n1;lWl In Ms A must be an erior. All ollicr Mss read 7n7W (conversat~on).
n i u i v ~;liwu
) a5nw niuiw9 ;~iwua3nw niuiw9 mwu aznw On the omlsslon ol'711P7111 MYQ see the notes to Q 2. B"s read~ng7'110 1s found
,;i7X1 :171b7 p~~b1?~13nll;l
;iS7K1 171b7pY~b1'/'t3nfl;l 171b7[ ~ Y ] Y[DI?~u~T~;~]
In B' in Q 37 (171D1 for ]71P7).
,;ia7~5,;rn7w,;in7i ,;iu7nw ni;iwl ;rn3i;r;lu7nw ;~n-i;ru7nwn7xia77n
,115'7 ,;IWYI.),w7awn[31(a] nwua w7awni7u7uil ~ a i [ ii i i 7 ; l i ;lw]un ;I[P~]Y~ Ms C has the i~sualselcct~onof errors P w n and 11X3 come 111 from $37, and
.;11~w ,ii;n;l ,pnw ,ran i p ia 5 .;117w3 iix:, 11m77pinw w773wn a n d ;1n7W ale omltted ;If7W71s an er1o1 f b ~;1I7W1. Mss Z a n d E do not
.;l~~wi contan these crrors of C and stlck closer to the common text foi~ndin the other
recensroris.
'T\velvc siniple letters: Ile, T\vel\/e simple letters: He, Twelve s i ~ i i l ~ l eletters: I Ie,
Dunash hen T a m ~ nhas an rnteresting comrnent at this polnl. Ilc IS not happy
Waw, Zayiu, [let, 'T'et, Yod, Wa\v, Zayin; f;Iet, Tet, Yod, Waw, Zayi~i,1.1~1,Tet, Yod,
Lamed, Nun, Samek, Ayin, Lamed, Nun, Samek, Ayin, Lamed, N u n , Samck, Ayin, ~ 1 1 t hthe text of $45 as he rece~vedit becailse ~t mentlons only three of the five
Sade, Qof: Their basis is Sade, Qol: Their basis is Sade, Qol: Their basis is lire, senses He proceeds to tell us ~vliat~t sho~lldhave s a ~ dbut theti follows with a
sight, hearing, smelling, sight, hearing, smelling, sight, hearing, smelling, talk- h~ghlys~gn~ficant general comment on the state of the text of SY:
talking, eating, sexual inter- time; eating, s c x ~ ~ ainter-
l ing, eating, action, walking, "Ma13 nous avons dkja cl~tqu'll pouva~ty avo11 clans ce Ilvre des passages altdrCs
course, action, walking, an- course, action, \valltiug, anger, laughter, ~lglinessand clue le patrrarche Abraham [n'a j a m a ~ sCnonces], [provenant] des conimeritai~es
ger, laugllter, thought, sleep. anger, I;~ughter,thought and sleep.
en lii.breu, auxcluels des gens rgno~antsont a j o ~ ~postitr~curernent
te tun autre com-
sleep.
1nentarrc et la vCr~tCse perdalt entretemps. Nous avons 1'1ntent1on de corrlgcr cc
chapltre et de le rcconst~tue~ selon nos forces" (Vajda-Fenton 2002 129)."'
171~7niuiw9 mwu aSnw n i u i w ~mwu a7nw The Ilebrew text of SY $45 c ~ t e dwlthin the Arabrc text of the Genrzah Srag-
7n7w ;In71 7u7nw;r7?xi 77x1 1 - 1 1p~~~~ ~ 1 5 7 u n n z ment (Vajda 1954. 55) seems to have bee11 eiiiended to conform to at least part
y5;l ZWYD w7nwn;lu'ui ; l u ~ 5;ln7w ;In71 ;lu9nw
.;11~wii i 3 m pinw ~ s x i rxii li57;n 7wun wSnwn
. 7 I 7 W l 11717 plRW "" Alternatively, a scribe could have been iiifluencetl by the beginning oflsa 11:3. Sce Kimlii's
commentary trtl loc.
' I ' The Arabic text ofthis passage seems to have suffcred sollie damage; hence tlie restorations
1,MNSFPIQR collateci lo K R'B2GI-1collated to A E collated to 7
in Vajda's translation. Moses ben Joseph's careful translation is as follows:
a'nwl p~~ m MnN F I Q 17ib B?
1710~1 ;in7171 ;rn'i] zn'i3 E 73;ivy i l 7 3 x a;ii>x mnx r 5 w 713 a7951na a9im1993 ;in ni7;15 pn3'3 uinx i ~ i xv
I-I~D~JUS~ QI ;in7i] n v iQ zn7iB' ni;iwi] 7n7w .nsn~tlnnxz i7uni inx wn79;1 i w i 9 7 i ~ 7 5 7 P~WIX
1 ~ 13 inx 1x31 ?i>ullw5> 1 9 ~ ; i v119
w7nwnj;iun;i w7nwnF I ~
R'B~C . n 792
~ l;i97'/1 p i 9 7TI; lpni 7xi1i
71'W] 'ldd 11 mF The looser translation in M s Oxford 2250 (Grosberg 65) reflects esselitially the same Arabic text.
of Dunash's colnrnent on th15 paragraph: ; 1 ~ ' ~has 5 been replaced by 7 B 3 n - a lesser extcnt from oiiilsslons by parablepsls. The omlsslons 111 Mss Z and E lmay be
change reflected tn the Oxli>rd 2250 translat~on.Moses bcn Joseph's translation has remnants of an earller shorter text closet to that of D. Dunash does not clte $ 4 6 but
retatned the common text attested i n nearly all our Mss (Vajda-Fenton 2002: 241). passes d~rectlyfrom $45 to $ 47. Judah ben Barzilla~cltes it 111 a form which reflects
It ts certa~nlythe case, as we shall see, that tills final chapter of SY In most Mss has the problems in the Long Recension M\s (Halberstam 1885: 253). Ooniiolo has a
suffered more ~nsertionsof later matertal than the preced~ng chapter^."^ text of this palagraph tde~ittcalwith the Saadyan verston (Caytell1 1880: 72-73)
In tlie Saadyan Recens~on$ 4 6 1s cornbtned wtth $47 to make chapter 2:4. To-
gether they prov~dethe "twelve s ~ m p l eletters" ~ n a t e r ~for
a l thts second run t h r o ~ ~ g h
the 10, 3 , 7 and 12. T h ~ coiifjr~i~s
s our paragraph's ortg~nalposltlon after $45 In the
text befot e the Saadyan r e v ~ s e r . " ~
A C
a7nw i)ru~li7un~i;t
niuiws ziwu a7nw ' u ns i;r niniws niuiwr, mwu a7nw
. ~ W Ynnx xi1 mwu , ; I ~ W7 Yn wxi1
~ mwu a7nw p ~ u ~ . l 5
.mwu wiiw xi1 7iwu a3nw
Twelve vmple letters He, Wac\/, Layrn, FIet, Twelve srmplc letters He, Waw, Layrn, Ilel,
R t , Yod, Lamed, Nun, Sarnek, Ayrn, Sade, Tet, Yoct, L'lmed, N u n , Samek, Ayln, Sade, 7 ~ 2 75i 1~2 2 1 W U D71W
Qol Twelve and not eleven Qof Twelve and not eleven, twelve ancl not P i 7 0 ;~ww> 17?~lb)9
thrrteen .nil5 nil 12 17posin
,n3aii7 n7mra 5121
D 5 i ~ a,nslir,rn7msn 5121
mwu a7nw 7iwy nnx xi1 ;1iwu n3nw n9m7n512a ,n3aiin7msn
71WY W ~ W~51 ,n72iu n m r a 5121 ,nynnn
i i 2 a ,n71isr n m u n 5ixa
iiaa ,nsaii7 n32iyn
B1B7GlI collLiteclto A Z b collated to C n x w n '712~,n7aiin32iyn
a3nw 101 pr ln7n B' nnx] om C; 7 1 W Y 301 niuiws 101 om ZE ~ Y . Y P 7u
. ~ n~
I i;1]om 7 ~ i s 5121
r ,nsnnn
add ? l W Y W ~ W~ 5 BiG
1 n7[T-S 3215 begins]
,n7nn n m r 512~,n72iuir
5121 ,nvnnnn711sr5121
Notes on //7e text of $46 i i ,n72iun
~ n7nii7
51x1 ,n7niTnn72i~19
n v m p ] 5121 ,n7niin7ait
We have already had occaston to colnment on the textual status of $ 4 6 in connec- .n7nnn
tion with $38. There we saw that the part of the Long and Saadya~iRecensions
whtclz reads ;13173W ~ 5 Y12 W WW ~ 5 Y12 W 1s ~inllkelyto belong to the earltcst 1her1 measule 1s twelve (11- Twelve dragonal lines, lddr- Twelve d~agonalllnes, ladl-
agonal 11nes the no1111 edst- '1t1ng out to the s ~ xfaces (of atrng out to the six fnces (of d
~ecoverablelext of SY. It IS not present 111 the Short Rccenston llke the whole of
ern Irnc, the south-edste~u a cube), sepnlat~ngIn each cube), s c p a ~ a t ~ nrng each dl-
646 here. There IS no co~nparablesaying for the "three mothers" whtch leaves only I ~ n c ,the ~ ~ p p eeastern
i I~nc, cirrectron - the soulh-east- rectron - the south-eastcln
$ 4 attest~ngthis constructlon In all three recensions. We can o111yassume that $ 4 6 the lowet eastern l ~ n c ,the ern h e , the uppel enstcrn Irne, thc north enstcrn Ilne,
was b u ~ l up t on the model o f $ 4 , just ltke $ 38 In the Long and Saadyan Recenslolis. lower northern I~ne, the Irnc, the lower eastern I~ne, the upper e ~ ~ s t c lI~ne,n the
Ms D appends it dl~ectlyto $45 without the ~ntroductoryrubr~c,perhaps reflecttng north-wcstei n I ~ n ethe, upper the lowel no~theln line, the lower eastel11 Irne, the east
~ that paragraph The colnparison with $ 5 4 and 38
~ t os r g i n as an expanston O L L of northern I~ne,the lower west- north-westel n l ~ n e ,the up- westel n l ~ n e the
, north-wcst-
el n I~ne,the south wester n pel no1 the1 n Irne, the lower ern I~ne,the south western
\vould suggest that only Ms D has preserved intact the origlnal text of the Long Re-
I ~ n e the
, upper wcsteln line, westel n line, the u p p c ~\vest- l ~ n e the
, ~lppclw~esle~n lrne.
censlon 111 thts palagraph. All the Long Reccnsto~lMss have suffered to a greater or the l o w c ~southern Irne, the ern line, the upper western the north weste~n Irne, the

I" Weinstock 1972: 1 I takcs this passage froru Il~inashas his starting point for unravelling the "' Natul.aIly, they are preceded by #24a and 37b138, material placed in cornparable second
history of tlie text of SY. positions in chapters three and four ofthe earlier text.
upper 5oirthcrn Irne And
they exp'uid contrnually lor
cvcr dnd eve1 ,lnd /hev L I I C
flle L I I I ~ Iof~ the rinii)e~tc ( ~ f
Deut 33 27)
Irne, the lower we\teln Irnc, tlppel noithcrn Ilnc, tlic low- spell~ngof 1 1 ~ 3 "55 ~Scr~balconi'us~onover the spcll~ngof Greek loan words 111
the lower southern lrnc, the el northern line, the south
Hebrew IS nortnal.
11p11el ~ o ~ r t h e r 11ne
n Arld rester n line, the west edstei 11
they expand ~ o e t r n u , ~ l llor
y Irne the upper ~ ~ p [so~lth-
p c ~ n71311In Ms C 15 an error, the Resh h a v ~ n gbeen om~tted Mss Z and E have the
eves and ever '~ndthcy trtr eln] Ilnc, the lowel soutlie~n correct n713117. It 1s not a case, as Allony's t~anscrlption(1981: 19) would suggest
flic iritiit o f fhc iii7ii~r1
t~ (L( lrne (n71311[1]) of the ~nrtlalletter oftlic word b e ~ n gobsc~tre
Deut 33 27)

LMNSPI'IQK collated to l1'11 t B'B'Ci1-I collL~tcdto pdr t ol LE ~ollntcdto pdi t of C, I c

of ~11sK, r e ~ i ~ ~ L / i ? , . . l n ? nMs A, I e nn5.,,t1'1w 'lrrcl n i i i...a'lw
, ~ n dKhlY...172'i71191 ~jlY...l'2'nl~l
v i l 2 I l a ' i l 2 l MN D'Iw]~,~ lmn u7 'ii2x] ]wixl l i o 3 i x F
5 I D L I a7ii~a B'GI-I l~~iix1~ ' L / Y ~ Q D Jl + ~ 3 7nF
llb35~2 M, t3'11~3h?2N, 5 ~ 1 7 D 3 hH',
1 1 ~ 3 L3', l'pDQln] l'j?DQD L
llD31iX C) ~ ~ 3 1 Gl), ~ 3 l'D531~
5 ~ 13
;iww5] ;iu2wi 13 n i u i i s ]
nlY21 13'11
niaiwa ~ W ~'nw Y
l9lY ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ) Y Y D ~ ? ' D R T ~ ; ~
172 1x1 ll'i271 l i p w l2YR
lSx7;i1ni a7w7nin i i ~ n
Aiotes OM f / w fexf of 9'47 1~1~1'7 71~1 1'5'5~ W
I'
171 l ' Y " 7 ~ '1W1 l'TY11 'IW1
All the copy~stsunderstandably had t r o ~ ~ b lw~tli c t h ~ sl ~ s tof boundar~esll~nes. 7nwia'-r3 'nwi l'12piip
Clearly the context requires that tl~creshould be twelve of these. Copyrsts larely 17B3l 3 l Y l ;i2'lD 1XWY In>1XWY [Sol. 70al ~'511
;is n a y 5 ;is nx ax ;innin 7s ;innin l a 3 m7in
achlcved thls; c.g., Ms C has slxteen, Ms Z eleven, Ms E nlne. Ms A manages to
.a97ix7 ~ W Y 7s nniuj
get twelve but only by d u p l ~ c a t ~ nn71311
g W2lYl-1 5121. S ~ n c ethe order and num-
be1 of the bo~~ridar~es/Ir~ies d~ffersIn all the Mss I have left these varlatlons out of ?wclvc siriiplc letters He, Twelve s~niplc lctte~s Mc,
tlic critlcal apparatus They are llsted In Gruenwald's c d ~ t ~ o(13.n 163f). If we take W'rw, Z a y ~ n ,tlet. Tet, Yod, W'tw, L'~yin, Het, 'kt, Yod,
Lamed, Nun, Samek. Ayln, Lanieci, N L ~ Sar~leh, , Ayrn,
as our base text what the t h ~ e erccenslons have 111 common, then two expansions
Sade, Qof He carved them, Sade, Qof ISe c'~rved them,
beco~nev ~ s ~ b l e : lie coniblnetl them, lie hewed he hewctl them, he wc~glied
(1) n l l j Ill1 17pD1)lDP711D ; I W W ' ~ 175~3113In the Long and Saadyan Recen- them, he welglieci tl~eriiand them, clrid exchanged thein, he
srons It 15 not present In the Short Rccens~on.T h ~ expanslon
s harmon~zesQ 47 w ~ t h exchangeci theru, and fornied conlb~nedthem, and formed
$38 In its Long and Saadyan Recens~onform. In the Saadyan Recension, as we wrtli them the constcllat~ons, w ~ t hthem the constellations,
11avc seen, \\ 38 directly precedes $$46/47. Judah ben Rar7illa1 offers a number of tlic mouths, and the prrn- the months, dnd tlie p1111cipal
cipal (bodily) organs: two (bociily) olgans t\vo exultant
var~antrcad~ngsfor thls expansion, only some of w h ~ c happear In our manuscripts
exulttunt ones, two babbling ones, t\\/o h'lbbl~ng ones, two
(I lalbe~stam 1885: 253). ones, two deliberating ones t i e l r b e ~ ~ ~ ones
t ~ n gdnd two Ie-
(2) ~ 5 nlY115 1 ~17 771 7Y '1Y 7Y 173'71?11727mDI rn the Short and Long Recen- anti two rejoicing ones. They jolclng ones They ale the In-
~1011s. It IS not piescnt 111 the Saadyan Recension. Tlils provrdes a l ~ n k1 ~ 1 tthe
h b~bli- are tlie internal organs and ter11'1l otgan5, the two liantls
cal text ( D C L33:27)
I~ and w ~ t hmany othcr Jew~shcosrnolog~cals p e c ~ ~ l a t ~of
o nthe
s I-le made the111 a sort of law- the two hands and feet. He dnci feet He rn'lde then1 d 501 t
first ~ n ~ l l e n n ~C.E."J
u m The two v e ~ b Ins t h ~ expanslon
s we1 e probably drawn from suit, lie arranged tllerii in made them a sort of lawsuit, of lawsuit, lie 1' 1 I mged them
battle array, oi7c o p ~ ~ o s ithe
fc lie arranged them in battle In battle arrdy, one oppotrte
Kesh Laq~sh'swolds In O I - I L I ~12a (151;11 =17m13;17;1P7;1); cf L~ebes2000:173.
other. God m~ltletketv (Qoli array, oiic o,t~,t~ositc
the 0tl7(v. flit othei (Qoh 7 14) "(I
Apart fro111 these two expanslolls of the earl~ertext, the d~fferencesbetween 7:14). (Qoh 7:14).
the Mss boll down to proble~lisover the syntax of the phrase 1 1 ~ 3 ' 7"/12I ~ and the
"' Ms F introduces a variant spelling imruediately after
l'~l'?>l~.
"' See Hayman I086 i~nd1087 (e5peclally, pp 78-80) "(I Translation of the second (ch. 6:I) version onl)~,
 i u 7nx liix~
i v i n lax1 7nx liix i v i n lnxl Tin 1n70372 77 17pi7x l i i 3 i
lppn nioivr, 2ivu a'nv nn;i nioivs mvu a7nv 731 L/Y ;ivivi ;iviv 5 i v vx u aVivu
a7rr,na 7 ~ v i 1x5
l l 9 D 7 1ljpv l 3 Y R 191Y l D l Y l2Wl lpj7il .pYYD lj'o P'IV '21 i u ;iu2vi ;iu3v i u ;iu>wi zuxv 731 (6.2).7nX 7112
a ' v ~ nni i i ~ nami ~ i (3.4) ll7D;i1 1'7pv .772 ;iT I7pl7i?lj131 1VY 7T l'p17X 1j131 1VY D71V
71vi, ~ ~ T I'V+ ~Y ~ ~ ~ ; 1 1 n i nioivs ;iivu a7nv D71VY 1275 173'01 772
'1V1 .07TYl1 'IVl . D ' T Y ~ ~ p r n lppn pruali~on~i;i .?TIN 7113 D'YDR D'IVl
'IV1 .a'sllo 'lW1 . P ~ Y " ~ Y in li7n7;iilipv lmr Three each one st'tnds by ~ t - T l i ~ e e edcli one stands by
- T l i ~ e e each one stands by ~ t -
7331 7 l D D31 .D77"Y 1711;11n1a'v-~nn i i ~ n 173 self, SCVCII alc dt loggelheady ~tself,sever1 three are dt self, seven ale dt loggerheads
n y i i 3 ni'ix iinoi D D D ; ~ ~ l D'~'Y'/
t ) 7 ~' I 'V~ ~ 'IV - t h e e agdinst three, and loggerhe,lds w ~ t ht h ~ e e and
, - tlilee agdlnst thiee, and
p p i p i x n w n'ii3i yn7 771 a ~ r ' i u' ~ w CI~TYII
i 'IV one 17 the law whrch holds one I S the lami w111cIi holds one 1s the law which holds
.aviai I'V a57' W I' x ~ ~ p i 'nwi a777 'nvi 7'12pip the b'ilance between them the balance between thcm the baldnce bet\veen thetn
p i u ;12'in 15n3lxvu m V i nIn3 p v u . t l ? i ~ i Twelve stand 111 bdttle ai- Twelve stand in battle al- T\velve stand 111 battle arrdy
;ir nnui 37 mnin 17n3 nniui ;is1 ;ranin In3 p i u i rdy three lovc but thtee h'lte, lay three ‘lie host~lebut t h ~ e eale host~le but three
(6.1) .D';~'/x;I l X V Y 77 threc glve l ~ f ebut three ktll thtee love, tlircc glve life love, thrcc k ~ l but
l three g ~ v c
And the dlvrne, t l ~ ~ s t w o i t h ybut three ktll Ant1 the dl- Ilfc Ancl they '111 a d h c ~ cto
MNFPLQIicollatect to K G collated to A E collated to L k ~ n grules ovel thcm all o n e vlnc, trustwoi thy king rules edch olhet The stgn lo1 the
p l y 1 1 lxvu Q 1sirj om C; a3v-rmniiin] ~ 7 ~ '1v1
7 5 D~ ~ TD~
' TY
~ ~~Y ] on top of three, and thtee on ovci them dl1 one on top Kliittel 1s t\vCllty-two O ~ J ~ C ~ S
ivy ~ 1 l v~u a31v
~nliln 1 II'TY~'/ 71vlh 1513plp]add top of scven, and \even on of three, 'tnd t h ec ~ on lop of In one body
G 11931 0111G
P~X';~ID ni+3 7nviE top of twelve And they all seven, '111d seven on top of
adliere to each other twelve And they 1' 11 adhere
B'
to each otliel And the slgn
173 1x1 li7n;ilip p r q p p n pru D I ~'on
a9v7nin i i ~ n 517 nioivr, ;I~WY aSnv for the rndtter is twenty-
171'yY '1Vl 1?311U 51Vl P ~ Y 'IVl
~ ~ 177Y11
Y ~ ? [till. 8aJ P ' T ~ ~'IV
71V D ~ T Y 'IV Y t171';llBl two objects rn one body
a'r+u I'V ni7i3;r 'nv a7r3n1 'JV 723;ri ;iinn a ~ r u iI'Vi i i n o i Dan? a7r'iu I'V
'nvi a7777nviy13piip am a 3 i ~'nv i a7i'3r 71w a37' 'nv l'aiio '1w p p i p v 73pz
7s nniuiTI ; znnin In3 p i u ;islyin 1733 ~ X W Ya7511
7nxi 7nx 531 ,a;i ;~viw ;IY~V 1725 7nx 7nx ; ~ v i v
H collated to B1 1731 12 11. ~~111piip]
~'12pllp71 P'7Y 7 V j V 2 7DlY 1735 z w i w '21 i u ;rviw l'piin
~'j?lki;iY2V. D7119K1 1 ~ 3 pin y n x i
. ~ ~ n u'mn
B2 pin 7 n x i ;iviv z w i v 177nlY1VY D71V1VY D71W
-IVYavlv172 i r i pn;n lipvi pir lppn p r YD li'un 717 nioivr, ~ W a3nv Y .D3n33Y713n Lfol. 22Val a 7 2 ~ i;x~ v i v;innin3
a71v1 a717757 -73 nwp 2ipu a717xn;iiinx ;i9ix l o i o a5nixni i v 2113 tliiu2 n i i ~ n ;innin2 n m i u i v u a71v ;iv'lv a7371x ;iviwi
.17TY13 71V1~ ' ) Y ~ ?'1YV ,l'?~lj
7lV1 l ' T 7 ? ' ~ 'IV :171';11)91VY D y l V l ;iIV2 P7V7n1VY 7 w i w .D'2'1N 7 v i w 11131 a v n ;iviwi a7nynn
iino mn 7113 .ni+~3'nwi ayiai7nvi a~ 7nv , ~ 7 i x 'nvi l a37' 'nvi ,17~3piip 181 .avnnn;iviv .a7271x 137'7 lD'D1 ;IT DY ;IT l'p17X
,;17nniuiTI; .;innin ovn7ap i u z2'1n ~ X V Y. l 2 p i p i m7p, ~ i ~ n i Tin 5x1 ,a7>na ;iviv 7111 a w n avnwi a3ivu
i u 7nx . l i 3 i u i v i n Inx] (6.2).7RX
'21 i u 7wiv1 .7viv '21
D'IV '21 i u ; i u ~ w i.7u2v
Sejer Yesira $480 ,;i~a7s l9pi7x 1 i 3 i ivu

LMNSI-PlQR collated to K' B'B2GH collated to A E collated to C

7nX 7nKl7nR MNFP L/Y 7nx 7nxl-rnx 7nx 7nx -rnx 3O1 om E ~'2'1x1
7niu i x ~ i 7nx nwiv -rniu 1725 7nx 7nx ;iviw
7nx 1735 7nx 7nx -rnx ; ~ v i v lo] ?la MNPlQ 7nRl] pnl B? 1'piin z v i v ] l'piin a3xliw E
'/Y zviv 17piin 7u2w i u ypiin ;iviv 7u2v ;ivivi ypiin ? Y ~ 7uxv V MN a7n7nn] add ;iviv VhV B' D'371X/P~3~1X]
,a7n]2u v n 7nxi ;iviw u v n pin 7nxi ;iwiv y7ian pin 7nxi 2viv i u ;ir,;ii II~ITR;~~ 357 a727ix tr any, B'G /P7Vi3;iV?V
;innin3 19-rni~i w u a71v lY-rniui v u a7>vn77n12 i w u aylvi v y D'IV .ay7n12 ;iio;n m3;1a3xuv z w i w awnn ;ivivi] 11dllsp
;~wivil92;nx ;iviw ~ ~ ;iw'Iv
2 ;rnnim
~ 1 ~ n w i w ;rnn'/n~17-rniu 11~>71 MNPPlQ 5 ~ 1 '1' BiH lnxlj om G 71131
aY7nn;rviv . a 3 x ~ i v ;iviv P~~;IIX ; ~ v i v i a32;iix ~ v i vi i~ 2 ~ i x i x s in] om Q 151x11 ~111 G
Tin i x .a7n3nn
7wivi '7x1 a7n7nn ;ivivi a73nn lS7nn 7vivi 07nnn;ivivi i w ~ liuaa
p L, 537 4u N

aSa i r i li7n7115pw , p r n i ,ppn . p
n9w7ni w u n71w ,a5iu3 n i i m i w u a71w
. W D I ~a71,771ni w u n71w ,rr1w3
~ 3 i v y D ~ I W17 157x1 (49b)
:~ 5 1 ni5sn
,zjin3771x pi^ ,a7nixn ,iiw 25u
77 157x1.a71,7757 ,771 nwp zipu ,a71sxa
Tinn 113~i 9 ? x p 7 1 n 7 w m i w u n31w
n ~ wn l u ,175~3l i w m n ' i w n , 5 1 5 ~3x
7' :WD13 f71771n1 W Y D71W f 7 1 ' 7 7 ~ .17X 1
7nw1 ,5xnw 511 ,17n7511 ,5xnw 7 ) yn3
,737p ,DDD7 , j l T t ~, 7 l n l ,733 ,n1753
.f3plp
(49'1) Iwelve s~iiipleletters Hc, Waw, Zayin,
I-let, let, Yod, Lamed, Nun, Samek, Ayin,
Sade, Qof' He carved them ;~ndhcwed tlicin
O L Ihe~ , we~gheclthem ancl euchaiiged them,
and for~iiedwlth them the twelve constel-
lat~ons111 the iinlverse, the twelve months
In the year, tlie twelve princlpal oigans i n
lnanklnd
(49b) These are tlie twelve constellattons in
the universe: Aries, Taurns, Gciiiini, Cancer,
Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittari~is,Cap-
ricorn, Aq~~asius, Pisces. And these are tlie
twelve months N~san,l y , ~ S~vau,
, Tamliiuz,
Av, Elul, Tlshr~,Marheslivan, K~slev,Tevet,
Shevat, Aclal And these are the twelve prln-
c~palorgans 111 maiik~iidtlie rlght hand, the
left hand, the r~ghtfoot, the left foot, two
kidiicys, the lrver. tlie gall, the spleen, the
gullet, the stoniach, the intestines
LMNSFPIQR collatcd to K.
n l T ~ l Rnlt31WD
] LMNFPIQR f>Ynl] 1 9 l Y
p r n LI, M N , 0111 F li3a;i1 l i p w l
oil1 MNPQ l Y l ] l Y 1 I D l Y SQ, 7WYl f D l Y ]
P ~ 5 1 ~~ V 3 ~1 WTY DD91W 2"1 om MNFP
~ 5 1 201 ~ 3oin Q ;15ul pr 1 ~ M N 3 ; ~I I W ~
2O1 om LSPlQ
~ "1 i ~ l i 3i n ; n 15pw p~ni1ppn
n7w7n i w u a31wi n5iuz ni5rn i w u n31w
(4%) Twelve simple letters He, Wdw, Zny~n,
Ilet, Tet, Yod, Lamed, Nun, Samek, Aytn,
Sade, Qof He c'~rvcdthcm and hcwccl them
out, lie co~ilb~ned them, welglicd them dnd
exchanged them, and foimed w ~ t htlie~iithe
twelve constellations In the universe, tlie
twelve months 111 the ycai, and the twelve
princlpal o~gdnsIn ~~iank~iict
(49b) These are the twelve constellatrons In
the unlverse Ar~es,Taulus, Gemln~,Gin-
cer, Leo, Vl~go,L~bra,Scorplo, Sag~tta~lus,
Cap1ICOI n, aqua^ us, Pisces And tlie twelve
months ale N~san,I y a ~ ,Slvnn, Tnrn~iiilr,
Av, Elul, T ~ s h rMailieshvan,
~, Kislev, Tevet,
Shevat. Ada1 These are the twelve pr~ncipal
olgans In lnank~ndtwo hands, two feet, two
k~dneys,tlie Ilve~,the gall, the spleen, the
gullet, tlie ~ntestlne.;and the stomach
BiB2GDHcollated to A.
13Ynl] I D l Y B', om 1 1 f D l Y ] 13Yn B'
misn 201 add 0515133 B' 73i/1,..1;115x1 I " ]
om B'D D3W7n1 W Y P71W1]om B' 'nW
P377]~ X D WY 7 7' B'H n7'/I17 n W ] 511
5xnw 511 yn9BIII ni953 ?nw]15n7n.53
' ~ X B Wn3531 H , om (homolo')) B'
Genet-01 Note 017 the t w t of $\$4:)-49
4448-49 a l e an overlapping complex 01- material distributed In d ~ f f e ~ e nways t
acloss the recens~onsand nianusclipts. T h e paragiaph n u m b e r ~ n gfollows Grucn-
wald's e d ~ t ~ ownl i ~ c hprlnts the text of Ms A as its base and then records the v a n -
a t ~ o n sof all Mss fro111 t h ~ base
s If w e loolc first at tlie text of M s A it 1s clear that
these two pa~agraplisd u p l ~ c a t ecach othei. Q49a s l ~ n p l yexpands Q48a by a d d ~ n g
the repeated nuineral 7 W Y P71W and thc c l u a l ~ f y ~ nphi-ases g ~ 5 1 ~ ;2l l W, 2 , and
W 9 1 2 This is very s ~ ~ n ~tol thea r way 111 w h ~ c ha short e a r l ~ e text
r of Q 39 preserved
In the Saadyan R e c e n s ~ o nhas been expanded In the S h o t~ and Long Kecenslons.
Q49b is then structured exactly I~l<eQ43a whlch, as w e have seen, probably rep-
resents the first stage oS cxpan\loii from Q 39 b43a is not present in tlie Saadyan
Recens~onancl nettlie1 is Q 49b
It IS not too difficult to see that at the core of $448-49 Iles a s ~ n l p l esentence,
s l m ~ l a rIn construction to the earllet Sorm of $39:
a7w7n1n i 5 ~ na73 1x1 117~71l5pw
tl7xV;i~ni p Y n p i r lppn rnuiwi, mwu a3nw
This sentence appeal s 111 Q48a in Mss ADGB1and chapter 6 1 tn the Saadyan Recen-
slon (Mss CZE) T h e ~ e a p a r t ~ a lpalallel to ~talso in $31 but we have seen that the
content of that palagraph 1s p~obleniatic This simple sentence 1s expanded in Q49a
~n the Long and Short Recensions and In Ms B"s vetsion of $ 4 8 a Q49b then fills
out the content of t h ~ nows expanded short sentence - Icpresenting the second stage
in ~ t expansron
s It 1s piobably srgii~ficantthat while the Saadyan Recensron does
not have 44912 (or Q 4921) sollie of the m a t e r ~ a lIn it appears 111 Saadya's commentary
on $48. Morcovel, Mss DB'B2H Incol porate t h ~ commentary s inatel la1 d ~ r e c t l yInto
the11 veislon of $ 4 8 , agaln givlng us a clue a s to liow the text ni~glithave evolved
Mss B2 and U onilt the whole of Q 49b. R1 and H tepeat the duplicated ~ n a t e r ~ a l
While ~t IS relatively cleat liow SY $ 4 9 evolved, the situat~onIn $ 4 8 IS ~ u u c h
~ i i o i ccomplicated. Lct is c o n s ~ d e if i ~ s tlie
t order 111 wlilcli t h ~ s~ n a t e r ~ appealsal
in tlie recensions In tlie Saadyan R e c e n s ~ o nthe slniple sentence whtcli we have
~solateda \ the c o ~ eof QQ48-49 appears on ~ t own s 111 chapter 3.4, a f e r 37b and
b e f o ~ cQ40."7 Then at tlie beginning of chapter 6 w e find what 1s essentially the
Long Recension vcislon of$4X, a l b e ~w t ~ t ha shorter velslon o f $ 4 8 b . C l i a p t e ~ 5-8 s
oftlie Saadyan R e c e n s ~ o nare not o~gaiiisedon tlie firm p ~ ~ n c i p l of e s the first four
chapters and the11 statirs 111 Saadya's commentary does, as w e have already seen,
create a plesumption that the m a t e r ~ a lthey coiita~nis less l ~ k e l yto belong to the
c o e~text of SY.
T h e pos~tioningo f 4 4 8 In tlie S l i o ~ R t e c e n s ~ o nI S h ~ g h l yvgnificant T h e s ~ n g l e
sentence it has of Q 48a 15 placed after- 449, and not before it as In the Long Recen-
'" 'I'lie artificial placing oS$4Xa befbse $40 in ch 3:4 ofthe Saadyan lleceiisioil is revealect by
the fBct that $40 concerns the permutations of'the mimbes seven, not twelve.
 .,. ...
~nsertlonof 1" ~ 7 5 1 1 77311U 21W1 the statement 2" ~"711 ]732i-)llj? P 7 beco~nes
rcciundant, b ~ t ~t
t is left behlnd as a remnant of the earllcr for111 ofthe text. K P
The Long Reccns~ono t ~ i ~the t s words ~ 7 7 5 ~7 W7Y of the q ~ ~ o t a t ~from
o n Qoh
? i w a7nwi
~ ,rnhs> ~ 2 , m~n x w
1i w w x x r 3 'jxnw nizlx ;iwiw l;iw n l n x w i w
7:14, but thls may reflect nothtng more than the scribal pract~ceof only cltlng part
niuiws n3ntt.ri ,nlils:, yzlwl , n m x w i w a 7 n nn
of a b ~ b l ~ cquotation
al expect~tigthe reader to ~~nderstand the rest. ,niuiws ;iiwu
Three primary letters, and seven double Ict- l'hree which are three fathers
ters, and twelve simple letters. from which came forth fire, air, water three
-

primary letters, and seven double letters, and

Ifwe take as 011score mater~alwhat all the Ms5 have 111 common the11two a d d ~ t ~ o n s t\vel\/e simple letters.
to t h ~ pi~ragraph
s can be ~solated:
LSlQli collated lo K M N I * collated lo P
( I ) ; ~ Y ~ WZYXV
I 721 5~ ; 1 ~ 5 w ;1w5w
l 7x1 5~ tnx 7 5 ~ x 15 w m p x 1 75n 5x1
1 W Y p71w '21 51) Thrs 15 not p~esent111 the Saadyan for111ofthe text and some o f ~ t
n l n x ] add w n x
S XY7] XY17 MN
appeals as a sepalate palag1 aph 111 D~lnash'scornmental y."O It part~allyduplrcates
9 57. Note., OM tlie f e l t of $50
(2) t n X 7112 D 7 Y 9 n P71W1 t171WY 1275 ]n7Dl. Thls 1s llot p~esentIn the Sliort
liccens~on01 Ms D but ~t doe, appeal tn Dunash's commentary ~n the paragraph
In Ms K the punctuatton ~ndlcatesthat t h ~ sIS not an ~ndcpendcntparagraph b ~ ~ t
~ ~ 1mentroned
st although the niater~al1s arranged ~n a d~fferentorder. It comes 111
funct~onsas an ~ntroductronto $ 56. That seems to be Its funct~onIn all the Short
liom $22. See the notes to that paragraph.
Recensron Mss, for they pass d~rectlyfro111 4 5 0 to $ 56 and do not attest $$ (51) -55.
7 he expanslon In M\s MNFPIQ reflects tlie sort of m n t e ~ ~that a l w ~ l grow
l 111to
The paragraph 1s not present In the Long and Saadyan leeenslolls and Grue~lwald
$63, a pal-aglaph ~ I i ~ cISl iattested ln the Short Recens~ononly In Mss K and R
s from the prunted ed~tlonsof SY. The longer versloti of $ 5 0 found In
takes ~ t text
and, In the Saadyan Recens~otionly In Ms E. Ms P has an alternative longer form
Mss MNFP 1s related to $27 bill ~nstcadof the "fathers" cotntng 1-rom the "moth-
o f t h ~ expansLon
s (Inserted between 75132 and t n X ) wlirch w ~ l be
l cited rn connec-
e~s",liere they arc idcnt~fiedw ~ t hthem. See the notes o n Q 27. At this polnt Dunash
tlon w ~ t h4 63.
has the first sentence of Ms P ( D 7 n n l l WX R Y 7 7 7 n W nl2x 7 ~ 77W5 n l B~X W ~ W )
and then ~iioveson to Q 58, attcstllig noth~ngIn between - l ~ k emost S h o t~Kecen-
Note.\ oti il7e text of 4\49 slon Mss (Vajda 1954: 57). Judah, who has the Ms K version of t h ~ paragraph,
s does
tlie same (Halberstam 1885. 257).
The overwhellu~ngwe~ghtof the ev~dencef'avo~lrsthe readlng 371VlW3 at the be-
glnnlng o f t h ~ paragraph
s rather than Ms K's n 1 7 n l R as does the standard openlng
of most paragraphs 111 t h ~ fifth s chapte~of the work. Ms G abbrev~atesthe text of Scfer Ycsira 51 <+

t h ~ parag~apli;
s e.g., W D l 2 , . , ~ 9 l Y becomes '111. Hav~ngrncorporated 1110st of $49b
1 scrlbe of Ms B' agrees w ~ t hD 111 dropptng t h ~ spart of $49. Most o r
~ n t o$ 4 8 ~the In GI-uenwald's ed~tronQ 51, llke $ 50, I \ talcen f1.0111 the prlnted cd~tlonsand not
the varlarlts 111 the other Mss are e ~ t h e errorsr or expansrolls (Itke BiH's spell~ngout fro111 MS A. 111 real~ty1t I S a velslon of the first sentence of $56. S ~ n c e~t has no
of the palls of organs). The scribe of B1probably bad berore h ~ l nthe same cxpan- ~ndependentexrstence In the Mss I have e l ~ m ~ n a t e11dfrom my e d ~ t ~ o However,
n.
slon of 171753 'nw as we find 111 H, but 111seye sllpped fro111 ?KDW 511 to n95>1 I have retamed Gruenwald's number~ngof'the paragraphs In order to avold confil-
' I K ~ v . The shared oliilsslon of ~ 5 1 ITI~T?J ~ 2 1 W Y D71W (2O) In MNFP 1s worthy of ston Ibr readers uslng both our e d l t ~ o ~ l s .
note s ~ n c ethey share the expanslon III $48b related to $63 and the tlilnol shared
var~ant7 n X also 111 that paragraph.

'""wiw 721 i u Tnx m n x w i w i w i ~ w; i u ~ w la7x3;i1a i w u D ~ I W7nx 77x2 o w n P ~ I W ~

372 ;il TVi71?X P j 3 1 i W Y P73W '225~ ;iY2Wl ;iY2W .2x ' ; l ~; i W i ~ (Vqda-Fcnlon
l 2002 247, a n d "' The co~itexthere recjuircs that tlic mctapllor "mothers" he retaincd at this point rather tlla~i
Fcnton I988 51, Lines 4 -6) its meaning bcing "cashetl O L I ~ "i n the [ranslation.
 Sejer Yesirn $52 2 He made Waw rule, and bound to it a 2 I le made Waw rule, and bound to it a
crown, and combined one with another, crown, anci formed with it T ~ L I TinU Sthe
A C and formed with it Taurus in tlle universe, universe, lyyar in the ycar, and the gall in
,pr Y O 15 ?a ns 17 ;ii ?sir3 - i 77x3 lyyar In the year, and the gall In niank~nd mankind.
T a T i i n5 p i7 5 I ~
3 Ile made Z a y ~ nrule, and boi111d to 11 a 3 tle made Zayin rule, and bound to it a
m:,l a1w2 10~11 ~ 5 1 ;i5a
~ 2 12 i r i 71a 12 i r i i n 3 15 iwpi '7 nx 17in;i I
.w912 722 ~ 1 p711 ~ a i2u 2 clown, and cornhrned one M J I ~ I I anotlic~, crown, and formed with it Gemini in the
.WDI~
and formed w ~ t hrt G e l n ~ nIn~ the unl- universe, Sivan in the year, and the spleen
p i r i i n 3 15 i v p i i7i nx 7'in;i 2
au ; i ~ iiw 12 i r i in:, 15 iwpi ii nx 1+)9;1 2 v a s e , S ~ v a n111 the y e a , and the spleen In in mankind.
?in1 21W2 ly9Kl~ 5 1 1~ 1W212 1Yl 7T ,~922 3 1 ~ 12 1 ~ i27 w i ~ 5 ~ 2 rnankrnd
,W912 4 Ile made Het lule, and bound to 11 a 4 Me ~ u a d eNet rule, and hound to ~t a
77 19iri in:, i i iwpi nx lyin7 3 12 in i n 3 15 iwpi 1~ nx 17in;i 3 clown, and comb~nedone w ~ t hanothcr, clown, and formed w ~ t hrt Cancer In tlie
7 1 ~ 12 1 ~a~i i1u 2 a7nixn 12 i r i 77 au .w912 i i n a i ;11m2 7i5b1a5u2 a7nixn and f o ~ m e dw ~ t h~t Cancel In tlic ilnl- unlvcrse, Tamm~rr111 the yeal, and the
.wa12 i i n a i v c ~ s cT, ~ I I I I ~ In
L Itlie
Z year, and the gullet gullet In rnank~nd
;it p i r i in:, 15 iwpi n7n nx 1'5n;i 4 l a i b 12 i r i in:, 15 iwpi n3n nx l"/n;l 4 In 111dnk11ld
Ibl.] ~ 1 iinni ~ aiiu2
2 laia 12 in 272 . W Q I ~bbnl z1w2 ~ 1 a5u2
~ n 5 lle made Tet rule, and bound to 11 a 5 tlc made I'et ~ u l e .and bound to ~t a
.WDl2 bbD7l [70b c ~ o w n ,and comhrned one w ~ t hanotlic~, clown, '~nd cornb~nedonc \v~tIianothe~,
and folmed wtth rt Leo rn the unlvelse, and f o ~ m e dw ~ t h11 Leo 111 the ruilvelse,
pi" in:, 15 iwpi n7a nx 7'in;i 5 ;i7ix 12 i r i i n 3 i i iwpi nla nx 1~5n;i 5
71W2 2x1 ~ 5 1 TPlN ~ 2 12 1Yl ZT2 TIT .W912 IvD9 79?13121W2 2i? a5u2
Av In the ycar, and the 11ght k ~ d n e y Av In the y e a , and thc 11ght krdney In
.]?D' i w ;i+l:,l
mank~nd
6 He nlade Yod rule, and bound to 11 a 6 He made Yod rule, and bound to ~t a
1mri in:,
au ; i ~ 15 iwpi 71' nx 1+n;i 6 ;iiinx 12 i r l i n 3 15 iwpi 7i5 nx t+n;i
6 c ~ o w n ,and c o ~ n b ~ n eone
d w~tlianothe~, crown, and Ior~ncdwit11 ~t V ~ r g oIn the
31w2 515x1 ~ 5 1 ??in2
~ 2 12 i r i 27 .ws12 5xnw ;i3i31 ;i1w2 i i i x aLjiu2 anci for~nedw ~ t h~tV ~ r g oIn the unlverse, unlverse, Elul In the ycar, and the left k ~ d -
.ws12 5xnw5w ;i~5i)i Elul 111 the year, and the left kldney 111 ney In manklnd
T s i ri n5 p i7 n 5 7 12 i r i i n 2 15 iwpi -tn5 nx 7 7 5 ~ 77 man k ~ n d
7 1 ~ ?iwm
2 a5iul a31rxn12 i r i 7s au . w ~ pn p i p i ; I I W'iwn
~ 05~D 2~ I T N ~ 7 Hc made La~ned~ u l c and , bound to ~t a 7 Ile made Latiled ~ u l e and , bound to ~t a
.w912 l2plpl crown, and conlb~nedone w ~ t hanothe~, crown, and f o ~ ~ i i ew1t11
d 11 Lrbra rn the
nu ; i ~1mri i n 3 15 iwpi 111 nx 7 " m 8 2ipu 12 i r i i n 3 15 iwpi 111 nx 775n;i 8 and fo~llied~ 1 1 t h11L l b ~ aIn the Linivcrse, unlvelse, T l ~ h Ir III the y e a , and the ~ntes-
Z I W liiwmni
~ niiu2 2ipu 12 i r i ; i ~ .wn12 ; i ~ p;i1w2
i ~ i w m na i u 2 Trslir~In the yea[, and the ~ n t e s t ~ nIne ~ trnes In mank~nd
.wsn 727p1 ~nank~nd
8 fIe made Nun rule, and bound to ~t a 8 Me made Nun rule, and bound to 11 a
au ; i ~ 1 m i i n 3 15 iwpi ~ D nx D 175n;1 9 nwp 12 i r i i n 3 15 iwpi I n 0 nx 7+a;i 9
clown, and cornh~nedone w ~ t hanothc~, clown, and for~ncdw ~ t h~tScorp~o111 tlie
i+~:,i t l i i v ~nwp 12 i r i ;IT
7'1 ; i ~ w 3 .w912 1 7 ~ 7~i5 31w2~ i 7 5 ~a5ux3
and f o ~ m e dwrth ~t Scorplo 111 the unl- un~verse,Ma1 heshvan 11%the year, and the
, W D I ~17n7
v c ~ s e ,Marlieshvan In the year, and the stomach In mankrnct
2 T i i n 15 p i u n 5 10 ?7a ix i r i in:, i i [iwpli l9u nx l+n;i lo stoluacli In mankrnd
5xnw 7'1 ;11v2 naai a5iu2 'ta 12 i r i . W D I ~iinw 7? 7 1 ~ n2a
2 aiu2 9 He made Saniek ~ u l e dncl , bound lo ~t a 9 He made S a ~ u e krule, and bound to ~t d
.W912 clown, and comb~rledone w ~ t hanother, crown, and th~rnedwrtli 11 S a g ~ t t a r ~ uIns
;is2 ; I TIsin i n 3 15 iwpi ?7r nx 77in;i 1 I "77 12 i r i i n 3 15 iwpi ?7r nx 175n;l 11 and formed w ~ t h~tSag~ttarlusIn the unl- the unlvelse. Krsle\/ In the y e a , and the
17n7im ~ 1 a ~~ w niiu2 2
i 757 12 i r i ,w912 ~ V 531 I ~ ;11w2 t32w a5u2 verse, K~slev111 the year, and the r ~ g h t 11ght hand In m a u k ~ n d
.WD12 hand 111 m a n k ~ n d
;i~ 1mri i n 3 i i iwpi qip nx 775737 12 a 7 n12 i r i i n 3 15 iwpi l i p nx 7 3 5 1 9 ~12 10 He made A y ~ nrule, and bomid to ~t a 10 Ile ~ n a d eA y ~ n~ u l e ,and bound to 11 '1
5111 ; i 1 ~ 17x1
2 ~ $ 1 a317~ 2 12 i r i ;1~2 .wsn 5xnw 5[1i] ~ 1 i7x~ a5u2 2 crown, and c o ~ l l b ~ n eone d w ~ t hanother, clown, and formed wrtli ~t Capr~cornIn
.wsn 5wnw and formed w ~ t hrt Cap1 tcorn 111 the unl- tlie Lrnlverye, l'evet 111 the year, and tlie
vcryc, Tevet In the year, and the left hand left hdnd In mank~nd
1 He made He rule, and bound to ~t a I Ile made I-ie rule, and bountl to 11a crown, In ~ n a n k ~ n d
crown, and comh~nedone wrth anothe~, and forrncd w ~ t h11A l ~ e sIn the unlverse, I L I-le nlade Sade rule, and hound to 11 a 11 He made Sadc ~ u l e ,and bound to ~t a
and f o ~ m e dw ~ t h~tA ~ l e sIn the unlvclse, Nrsan 111 the y e a , and the 11ve1 111 man- C I O M ~ I I , and comb~nedone w ~ t hanothe~, clown, and f o med~ 1 ~ 1 t ~t
h Aqua1 ILIS111 the
N ~ s a uIn the ycar, and the l ~ v eIn~ mnn- k~nd dnd Ibl ~ n e d~ 1 1 t h11 Aquarrus 111 the irnr- unrvelse, Shevat 111 the ycar, and the rrght
krnd verse, Slievat 111 the year, and the r ~ g h t foot 111 m a n k ~ n d
foot In m a n k ~ n d
12 He niade Qof ~ u l e ,and bound to ~t a 12 Ile made Qof lulc, and bound to 11 a
clown, and comb~nectonc w ~ t hanothe~, clown, and for~nedwltli ~t P I S C ~111S thc
and follnecl with ~t1'1sces I n the unlvclse, Llnivel\e, Ad'lr 111 the y e a , and the left
Addl 111tile ye.11, dnd the left foot in 1iid11- foot in mankind
k~nd

L3'13'CiDI I colldled to A ZL collated to C I-le split LIPthe witnesses ;111(t made each one He split up the witnesses and macte each one
2 12 712/7T 77 191Y11 om D 37Y 7SX31 7YT7X3%, In F 711 0111LE stand by itself the ~lniverseby itsell; tlie
-- st;~ndby itself' the ~lnivel-scby itsell; the
--

3 121211 ~ 2 ~ ; pr...i;ll pr DY YD '71 l i u7 7u rn nr ;ii year by itsell'and mankind by itself. year by itself and manltind by itself..
4 0 0 ~ 7 1 1~ ~ b B"n l IT L
5 l'n'l add Wbl2 BIB2 GDH 1-12 in31 add 71 77 191?11% BYi = 0 : 7 F collated to C
7nX 2"] add 7nX B2 ]7~n1)71]7V3u71 k 7735 w31/725 ZIWl
t~dnsl?E

note^ O M the text ofJ53

In the notes on 6032-34 and 41 we have already dealt w ~ t hthe posltlon of t h ~ s
paragrapli In the development of tlie text of SY, arid seen that, along wrth tliem and T h ~ srepetrtlotl of 4 43c 1s fo~tnd111 the Long Kecenslon o ~ i l yrn Mss R2GD and In
$9 36, 44 and 54, 11IS to be assrgned to tlie mqor cxpanslon of SY w h ~ c hproduced tlie Saadyan Kecens~on.It 1s not present 111 the Sliort Rcccnslon. See the general
the Long Recens~oii.111the Saadyan Kecenslon b 52 IS preceded by $Q 48a-b and note to $5 39-44.
followed by $53. Srnce 111 tlic Long Recension the cornb~ned$948-49 1s immc-
drately followed by $ 52 t h ~ s~ i i d ~ c a t that
e s the arranger of the Saadyan Recens~on
srmply l~ftedb948-53 In a blocl< Ssorn h ~ Long s Rccens~onbase text In order to Sejer Yesirrr $54
create his chapter 6. The ~ n ~ t r rubrlc
al In the Saadyan vcrslon of this paragrapli
(j?YYD 15 'U nT 17 77 I9lY 37Y 77x3) has been const1 ucted on the model of $$19b, A C
35 and 40 It may predate the lnsert~onof the phrasc 77 PY 77 '(31Y1In most Mss n 7 1 7 mWY
i 7 ~ ~ ~ 1 > ~ t 9n1131W9 a7nW
of the Long Recensron but not D. The absence of the phrase In Mss C and E but .m713D1?77Xll1231 10'1 3113 '7 DY lY11 1 7'81 [7231 fD731 7 5 l ~ i 7 x '2 Dy 1x13 1
,nl'nDl
~ t Insel
s tlon 111 Z ni~ghtlndlcate that rt d ~ notd bclong In the earher verslon of the
; l y ~ n w ;l n n i i77x i i w 1.1 au ir71 2 ;luiawl mn i 7 7 x i i w 157s 11 au irv 2
paragraph. On the other hand, ~t mrglit have been talcen out once the ~ntrod~ictory
,niwini ,niwinl
r u b r ~ cwas ~ncludedand felt to cover the whole paragraph. Donnolo has a for111 of
t h ~ s~ntroductoryr u b r ~ c ]lz737 791Y fY'3 (Castellr 1880 74), but followed by a z n 7 i i i ~ n u 117~
i a m x n lWiDY ir11 3 ; ~ n ?i ii n u ]TD a7nixn i i x 01) 1x11 3
.nlnioi ,niinnl
m ~ ~ cexpanded
li and paraphrased $ 52.
.DD~~ ~ au ir71 4
Z 1~ n ln u i n'n ;inyooon n n n pi^ i i x nn au is11 4
Apart from tlie minor vartant 77 PY 71/77> 77 (not recorded 111 the apparatus), ,ninix~
the other varlants In the Mss are riia~nlys ~ m p l escrrbal errors. Except for tlie ornls- 17n3i w n 7 i 1 ~ 2x n3ix n w au iy71 5 yn+w 77513 2x ;i7ix ~ i nVu x au in] 5
sron of V9111 In sentence 5 Ms A has preserved tlie paragrapli Intact. The scribal .n11n2ui~w u i . l n 2 u i ~;lu7u'/
coircct~onof OD7371 to D'D731 in B2 IS 111 line \v~tlithe read~ngof t h ~ sMs In 5 54.4. i w ;17>i3ii i > x ; l i i n ~717 au i r i l r, ixnw 77513 i i i x Z i ~ n 27v9 au irn 6
The read~ng37Y 75x3 111 C 1s p u z ~ l l n gespec~allyw ~ t ha ~nedialKaph at tlie end .r1in7~ainwuni i x n w , m n ~ azwunl
of'a word. T h ~ ssuggests that the s c r ~ b ebegan to repeat 77x3, real~sedh ~ error,
s p i ) i p l 7 i w n a71rxn 7 n i au iru 7 w7nwn p p i i , 7 i w n o7nxn 7 n i au i s l ~7
s t o p p d and then carrred on \v~tlioutdelet~ngthe redundant Kaph. In sentence 10 . n ~ iw7nwn
~ i .D~~DI
Allony transcr~besC as ?XBW 311 where I lead 5 x 7 3 ~7'. 5 x 1 9 ~511 would be an l y i 7 ; n 727pi l l i w m n 2ipu 111 au TYTI 8 1117 ;1x5p~ i w n i n2ii)u 111 DY ir11 8
crrol since ix19V '721 IS cleated by Qoph (se~itence12). The Ms 1s very d~fficultto .nna7ni ,nnarn
lead at thrs p o ~ n terther
; seadrng could be coi rcct. -17 i 71a1 nwi, in^ au ir11 9
1 7 5 ~ 3[IOI ran lSn777 1 . 5 ~ 3nwp l a b au in]
1 1 I'D7
.723 h ~ ~ ?Jill 3 2 3 ?1u7l
pinwi ixnw 771 n2u 771 1 7 au ~ i n 1 10 p ~ n wi x n w
. i i n u i1u711
 11;n7;n yn7 i a i u2w 757 ' 7 ~ au 1x11 I I 11;ii;i 1'n7 511 u2w 757 ' 7 ~[ay] 1x11 1 I w 1 n 1 11 1 w l 1 a 1 2
.25? '71u711 .[11]l'X1 253 '71b71 .niwini
i x n w '/ail i7x o m l i p au i n 1 12 ;i~'w?i x n w i a i i7x n7a7 l i p au in] 12 i i n u i li7a a7mxn 157x l-r au in] 3
.nlunl m7w71 .15 1 i z i niin .niinm ;in7i
mnix 7n.w baa7 nnn luia In au 4 ;inyo 07am nnn luia i i ~ nn x au i n 1 4
Twelve simple letlels He, Wdw, Zayln, Het, .nin5xi
Tet, Yod, Larned, Nun, Sarnek, A y ~ n ,Sade,
5 1 3 11 1 nua 1 5
Qo f *~n2Yll;iu'u5lsn'5w
1 There was formed w ~ t hHe A r ~ e sN
, ~san, 1 There was forlned w ~ t hHe these Arles, x+i3i 5iix ;i5in2 i 5 x -ti7DY 1 ~ 1 16
the Irver, srght and blindness Nlsan, the I~ver,s ~ g hand
t bllnctness .aii3aiw3nwn 5xnwiw
p p i p l 'iwn awxn 1 5 mi ~ au irv 7
2 T h e ~ ewas formed w ~ t hWaw Taur~ls, 2 There was for~nedwith Waw these: .nln7'11 ;iWYD
Iyyar, the gall, 11e~lr1ngand dcafness rus, lyyar, the gall, hearing and deaf- 1 1wn1n21p1 11a 1 x
ness. ,nna3ni 1157
3 There was formed with Zayin: Cieniini, 3 There was fornled with Zayin these: 17n77'1 1503 nwp i5.x l n o au iru 9
Sivan, the spleen, slnelling and anos~nia Gemini, Sivan, the spleen, snielling and ,723 ?1t?'11 Tall
(?). anosmia (?). i x n w 7'1 n3u '71 1 5 l'u~ au 1 ~ 1 110
4 'There was I'ormed with I;iet: Cancer, 4 There was formed with Ijet these: Can- ,5in~ 5 m s 1 pinw
Tamnnuz and the gullet. cer, Ta~nmuz, the gullet, talking and
durubness.
l'n7 i1ii u2w '57 iL/w '7 Y DY 1 ~ 1 1I I
.lIl'xl 257 5lu'l 1171;i
5 There was lo1 rned w ~ t hTct Leo, Av, the 5 There was fornled with Tet these: Leo,
rlght kldney, ent~ngand hunger Av, the right kidney, eating and hunger. 5xnw i x i7x ~ a7171 5 l i~p au 1 ~ 1 12 1
6 T h e ~ wds
e lolrncd with Yod V l ~ g o Elul,
, There was formed with Yod: Virgo, Elul, .ii l i m nn ; i ~ w
6
the left kldney, actlo11 and paralys~s the left kidney, action and paralysis.
B'B2CiH collated to A E collated to %
7 T h e ~ ewas formed w ~ t hLamed L ~ b r a , 7 'There was formed with Lamed: Libra,
Tlshll, the ~ntestlnes,sexual ~ntelco~lrse 1-12 1~111 1 1 ~ B'
1 I n i ~ a a inimsn7oi
] E
Tishri, the intestines, sexual intercourse
and impotence and itnpotence. z ;in'ii] In911 I I nimoi] n n n m ~ ' ( i t l , 3 ;in311 ;irniii E n n n n i ] n n o n ~ p )
8 There Mia5 fornled wlth Nun Scorp~o, 8 ?'here was formed with N u ~ i :Scorpio, nllinni B'
Marlieshvan, the stomach, walking dnd Marheslnvan, the stomach, walking and 4 a a ~ ; l l ]a7ai31B', adtl ~ I ~ T ' T T;i";l~
J 6 aii'ai] n n o ni1i7n E
la~neness lameness ('?). B'I I, add n i n i w i ;in7w u'c
9 There W ~ Slormed w ~ t hSamek Sagrt- 9 There was formed with Samek: Sagit- 5 nl1n2uill ln2uii BIG, l i 2 ~ i i n7, i I I 111wlj 0111 E
tarlus, Klslev, the right hand, angel and tarius, Kislev, the right hand, anger and 112Y11 H
cqualnm~ty equanimity. 7 ni'iai] nia7iai B'GII 12 15 7i;ii nn] pr ua l i 'u nrlz i;ir nin
10 There was fol med ~ 1 1 tAyln
h Caprlco~n, 10 There was Sor~nedwith Ayin: Capricorn, l2
Tevet, the left hand, laughter and satl- Tevet, the left hand, laughter and sad- 9 723 ?'1~'11] 7231 ilt3'21 G. 723 5 1 ~ ~ 2 1
11eSS ness. B
1 1 There wds formed w ~ t hSade Aquas- I I There was Sormed with Sade: hcluar- 12 ;ix'w'i] ;11'wi B'H, pinwi B* niuni]
us, Shevat, the r ~ g h tleg, thought and ius, Shevat, the right leg, thought and i i u 7 n B I Hniiuni
, B~
thoughtlessness thougl~tlessness.
12 T h e ~ ewas forrned wlth Qoi Plsces, 12 There was formed with Qof Pisces,
A d a , thc Icft leg, s~ttlnganci lnsornnl~l Adar, the left leg, sleep and insomnia (?)
('9
Llke the slmtlarly constructed QQ 36 and 44, Q 54 1s only found i n the Long and Saa-
dyan Kecens~ons,w h ~ l cof our four carly coml~~el~tators only Saadya and Donnolo
secm to 1<11owof ~ tFor . genetal comments 011thls block of SY inater~alsce the notes
to \\Q 36,41 a ~ l d39-44. Q 54 repeats the ~nfhrmat~on
found In $52 w ~ t hthe a d d ~ t ~ o n
of the opposites of the bod~lyfirnct~onsl~stedIn $45 generated on the pattern of
Q37b T h ~ sset of oppos~tcs(n17130, n l w l n , e t c ) 1s not Irsted rn tlie summarlsing
paragraphs 62 and 63 The vocabulary ~ ~ s shows c d that t h ~ s~naterralbelongs to the
latest stratum of the SY t~ad~tron.
The introductory rubrrc In the Long Recens~onis redundant 111 the Saadyan Ke-
censlon wh~cli,CIS we have \een, places QQ 36,44 and 54 altogether as a single block
of mater~alin its cliapte~c~ght.But ~ f t l i eSaadyan verslon plesetves the o r ~ g ~ nal- al
rangeiiient then the r ~ l icb ~W I I I have been insetted when t l i ~ ~ s l i a t e r ~was
a l sepaiated
out and ass~gnedto drlferent chapters 111 the Long Recens~on See the notes to QQ 36
and 44 for the s~mrlari ~ t b r ~ tchse ~ eThc. sLii1irnarlslng statement at the end of t h ~ s
palagraph in Ms E (i)Y YD 1') 'U nt17 171) may be ielated to the b c g ~ n n ~ nofg $55
111 the Long Rcceni~on.Ui11il<c Mss C and % Ms b Inserts b63 between $9 54 and
55, and tlie sci ibc rcspons~blef b ~t h ~ may s liave felt the neeti Sol soliie s u m n ~ ~a ~s ~ n g
statement at t h ~ po~ilt
s B L Inote ~ that Dotinolo has a s~tnrlarstate~ueritat t h ~ point s and nlInlY1.
wli~chclearly relates to the emergence of tlie s ~ xchapter d t v ~ s ~ oofn SY. 1 3 0 71
i)Y Y0 7'7 't9 n t 17 n17nlK lff7 '7w ~w7'/w(Castellr 1880 76)
As I n 4 52 Ms D cuts out the structuring S o r ~ n ~ PY ~ l al Y l 3 al'ter tlie first sen-
tence
The vocabulary of SY Q 54, espcc~allyIn the lrst of opposites, ~ntroduccssome
laie wolds, some OI'WIIICIIappear h e ~ eibr the first tinic In the Ilebiew language.
They clea~lycaused problems for some of the s c i ~ b e sand the restilt IS a c e l t a ~ n
amount of textual chaos Our girld~ngprrnciple 111 the search f o ~the o r ~ g ~ nrcad- al
ing has to be that the structure demands that the final two ~ t e m sof each lrst should
be words with oppos~temeanlngs
Our problems bcgrn with sentence three Ms A's n l m 0 , ~~nattested elsewlicre,
seems to be der~vedfiom the root m b iiieanlng "smell badly, st~nk",possibly a
by-Sonu of 7lrnP (bad smell). T h ~ 1s r tlie opposlte ofwhat is requ~redat t h ~ point. s Soniethlng has gone badly wrong at the cnd of sentence twelve. Clearly Ms A's
The ~ c a d ~ n lgl n n (rivalry) in Mss CRiGII 1s no better Saadya knows ofthrs read-
lug and dcclarcs ~tto be an er ror along with n1'10 (ga~bage,stench) w h ~ c hhe c ~ t e s
as a vc~riantat this pornt, though tt IS a c t ~ ~ a l pl y~ c s c ~rnl t Ms A's sentence seven as
the opposlte of W'DWn. Accordrtig to Saadya the coiiect ~ c a c i ~ nISgnllnn which,
on the basis of the occuirence of the wold n'llnn rn h B B 146a lie says means
"anosm~a"I2' T h ~ s15 Do111i01o'sr e a d ~ n g(Caste111 1880 76). The denvation froin
n711nn 1s reinforced by the reading nlllnn of Ms B2 clearly another abstract
- 1880: 76).12' But co~tldtlie o r ~ g ~ nreadingal
noun fo~niatronIloln the adject~ve] i n n . It is not d~f'fic~rlt to see how nllnn could
have arrsen by ellot fro111nllnn There 1s no i e a d ~ n gat t h ~ spoint In Ms D Drd
the scr I L leave
~ ~tout In dc\patll? Ms E's i e a d ~ n g1s haid to make out - Ill3037 (')),
and it may be den tical with Saadya's mlnn There 1s a gloss In the lnargrn "'3
llrn'o ( t h ~ smeans "bad sn~ell")but rt appeals to be explain~ngE's pecirlrat read-
Ing ( n l l b n1317Xl) In sentence 6 rather than anytli~ngin sentence 3. It is, however,
'" K~nlhch1972 140, Ldmbelt 1891 102 101 See also We~nitock1981 36
close to the read~ngof Ms A ( n l m 0 ) . W h c ~ cthrs reading In Ms A came from IS a
niiystery.
The end of sentence 4 ( n l ~ 5 7n9W) ~ ~ 1 1s rnisslng In Ms A though there is a
blank space where these words shoirld be. This ralses the intr~guingpossib~l~ty that
tlie r e a d ~ n grn Mss B'H ( m t ' l t l 7 V W ) may have arlsen froni the work oSa s c r ~ b e
who was copylng a Ms w h ~ c hwas ~rlt~mately dependent on A (or even A itself).
He filled the lacuna w ~ t hhis own p a r of oppos~tes(delay and quickness). The rest
of the Ms tradit~on1s Lrnanlmous on leading nl13'7W1 7n7W/7n70. For the read~ng
00137 (Long Recens~onMss except for B2)versus 0(')013 (Saadyan Mss) compare
$52.4.
In sentence 5 Ms A's abstract noun n l I n l Y 1 or D's nl1lYl seems preferable to
the a ~ e c t i v e] n l Y l but tlidlatter has the support of the Saadyan Receiis~onMss
and BIG. Some Mss prefer the b ~ b l ~ cword a l ]I291 (B2H). Donnolo cites both 112'91
In sentences six and seven Mss Z and E (agarnst all the other Mss) reverse the
bodily f t ~ n c t ~ o nIns I ~ n ew ~ t hthe order in $45 but Ms C shows that t h ~ smay have
been a dellberate correct~on,poss~blyby Saadya h~mself.
In sentence seven Ms A's n171b cannot be correct as the opposrte of W713Wn.
Dll(7)D (castratton) or the abstract nlb'lb posstbly a new cotnage, 1s clearly cor-
-
rect.
In sente~lceetght Ms C's nllXnl tnstead o f n l l X m wtll be the result of the same
error w h ~ c hproduced nllnnl out o f n l l n n l rn sentence three only thc other way
round.
The strange additron in Mss C and Z of llI'K1 after 11'77 '7lt373 1s not found in
any other Ms. When Saadya expla~ns2 5 7 'nu71 in h ~ commentary s he lgliores this
addition.
;127W'l 1s an error foi 7I7W'l but t h ~ sitself could be an error for 71'Wl as In Mss
DB'H and ZE. Coinpare 445 where Ms C has 7l'W' where A has 7I7W. What the
oppos~teof "sleep" was In the orig~ilaltext IS almost i~npossibleto tell froin the be-
wlldcrrng set of varlant rcad~ngsin the Mss. Ms D's 7Y7i) obv~ouslymakes excel-
lent sense but rt would not explain how the variants arose so looks like an obvro~ts
correctron, as does Donnolo's 77'i)W which he glosses w ~ t h n1l7Y K17 (Caste111
have been a new coltiage from the root
1 l Y with a piefixed Men1 - n1111713 perhaps, which then got corrupted to nlY13 In
Ms A, nllYnl B2, Ill113 (Ms C), nl13 (E), and n73 (E)? B'H clearly recognise the
need for a word based on tl11s root. Saadya struggles to make sense of the read~ng
he has before him.
i l l l ' Y is also the reading of Ms Paris 763 ~ ' h i c h although
, it does not have $54, inserts this
set of opposites at the end of $ 37.
 i i v n i x 2 r 2 xi3 n i x
7192X i 3 1 W i # 1 V 7 7 35~
;IV .a77n Io73ix
Vi x
yu nS7na3n:a77ni x i i ) ~
:77v .numi,i x : i x . a m
Xl3V 011 ."7 7x3 7YV
T h ~ sIS He, Waw, Z a y ~ n ,Het, Tet, Yod, And they all adhere to the Hook, the Celes-
Lamed, Nun, Sarilek, A ~ I I ISade,
, Qof And tral Sphere, and the heart
they all adhere to the Hook, the Celest~al
Sphere, and the heart

BIBLGDHcollated to A ZE=C
2511 add ni51n;i '7172 ,in i;ir B I , ,in izr
ni51n;i i u i i t a I I

Notes on the text of $55

This paragraph IS not present rn the Short Recens~on.It looks l ~ k ea dupl~cateof These arc the twenty-two let-
5 59a. In all the Mss of the Long Kecension except for Ms A ~t appears agaln in- ters [on whrch] Yah, Yahweh,
sertcd between the two halves of $60. It 1s also duplicated In that position In the God, the L o ~ dof Hosts, the
Llvlng God, the God of Is-
Saadyan Recens~onat the end of $ 60a; 60b does not appear in this recenslon, The
lael, God AInl~gI~ty, high ~rrid
paragraph order of chapter e ~ g hInt the Saadyan Reccns~on1s as follows: 36,44,54, /o/iy, d ~ l e / / r n foi
g eve-, anti
55, 59b, 60a, 55, 61. It seems clear that the Saadyan Recens~onhas sirnply repro- Iioly 7 5 hr 5 riarrre (Is 57 15),
duced the dupllcate of $55 In the Long Recens~on.It was lrfted out of that recenslon [founded] (the universe)
T h ~ e ep r ~ n c ~ pletters,
al
en double Icttc~s,and twelvc
srlnple ones these are the
twenty-two letters on whlcli
Yah, Yahweh, God, the L o ~ d
of Hosts, the L ~ v ~ nGod,
the God of I ~ a e l God ,
1111gllty, 17rgli ~117d loft)),
sev- By them Yah Weh, the God
of Isrdel, tlie Living God,
God Almighty, high and
lofty, h v e l l i r i g , f i , ~ei~cr,~ri7d
holy i.s his nairle (ls.57:15),
g carved out (the universe).
Al- Two names "Yah-Well"; four
names: "hosts" it is a sign
-

w ~ t hits assoc~atcdblock of inaterlal ($4 59-61) and placed In chapter e ~ g hw~lhout

t di.cic~llirig,fi,r.clver, arid ho!)) in his host; "God of Israel" -

the arranger of the recenslon bother~ngto e l ~ m ~ n athe

t e duplrcate. Altertiatrvely, he is his I ~ L I I ? I C (ls.57: 15), he is a prince before God;
founded (the u~iiverse).Two "Living Gocl" - three are
luay have regarded the second $55 as a replacement for 8 59a whlch he had trans-
names: "Yah, Yah"; I h ~ l r called living: the Living God,
ferred to hrs cl~apter1:4. names: "hosts" -- it is a sign running water, the tree ol'
The gloss shared by B' and H 1s s~gn~ficant for their related ancestry124. in his host; "God of Israel" I ~ f e , "God A l a ~ ~ g h t y " a-

h e is n prince bel'ore God; strong God who has been

"Living God" - three are suffic~entso Sal " l i ~ g h for -

called living: running wa- he d\vells In the he~ghtol the

ter, the tree of life; "God" - unlvelse, hlghel th'ln tlie
K B2 a strong God; "Almighty" - hlghest, and "lofty" - for he
niSnixa v n v i a 7 w uii7x niiim u 3 v n i n w v i m 73ix 31 27 j?pn 132v so f i r sufficient; and "high" llfts and supports both above
,n3?na7;iix ,nix>r ;ii;13 1 3 7 iiyx .niaiva ;i-twu a3nw 'tv i x a7?nP~;I~K 5 x 1 ~ 7 - for he dvvells in the height and below, f o ~all who ltft are
piv , x v ~,a1
i , i x ~ v 7 7 5 ~ l;i>v ni7nix a 7 n v ia 7 i v u Vltj71 7 Y l>lW NW711D l ol'the unlvclsc, h ~ g h c rthan below and what they l ~ f t1s
;IY~TX 31 ;I' ninv 71w inv the hrgliest, and "lof'ty" above, but he 1s above and
.1nw V17i)l ,7u 711t* a73ix -ID7 -

7;iix av7no7;lix n i x x nixxY2 n i x n i x x ninv for he l ~ f t sand supports what he I ~ l t sIS below, and he
131V i?VS11D l L / x ~ v ~ '393 1 W 5x11~7 735x 1iv both above and below. Nor- l ~ f t sdnd S L I ~ ~ O all
I ~ hls
S unl-

ninv I'V .inv vi7i)i 737 i x - ~ i ;iviv

) ~ a7?na v i x i x nially ~ 1 1 t hhuman be~ngs verse, "dwelhng f o ~ever" -

n i x x ninv u 3 l x .';1' '3' yy n7?na7na7;lix a7.n they are below what they for h ~ sk~ngdom 1s eternal
Ilft, but the Holy One, and has n o end, "holy 1s h ~ s
Blessed be Ile. 1s above name" and 111s servants are
'24 See the Introduction Q 8 1

nimx 0 7 n v i n 7 ~ w iu 1
n 1 7 D v
~ 7 i x ~ v'nix
. r a7?na9;lix
, i n v vnpi YY 13iw xw11
LMNFPIQIZ collated to S
'" 7'1 ~ ' 7 11'7jX
5 ~ '7 L,
717' 7' ' 7 2 7 M N , 7'
~ ' 7 F,1 '~7 5 ~I" Q ~ ' 7 1 ~
DYl] om 1, 1x1V9]add j X
'7V P 7Y] add D l l n PQ
inwl add lnv v i 7 p i ~ n n 5x1 ~ 3 7 'ID5 ~Bi ~ 7 7 5 ~ add nlK2Y 1'7 E
MN
and w h d he l ~ l t s1s below, holy, and evcry day they say
and he 1111s and support5 to h ~ n ~holv, , holy, holy
all his unlverw "Dwelling (Is 6 3) It IS s~gn~ficant that this paragraph IS m14s1ngnot only rn the Short Recens~on(ex-
fol ever" for hrs k~ngdom
-
1s etelnal and has no end, cept for one sentence = Gruenwald's Q 51) but also In the oldest inanuscript of the
"holy ts hrs name" for he Long Rece~ls~on (A). I n the context In SY ~ t second
s half (Q 56b) looks ~ntruslve;
1s holy, and his servants ale ~thas none of SY's ~ ~ s uconccrns
al or lang~ragcbut 1s composed of tradltlonal In1-
holy, and eve] y clay thcy drash~cmater~alwell attested elsewhe~e111 r a b b ~ n ~I~teratu~e.
c It al~nostcertainly
say to hrm, holy, 1101)<17oly belongs to that layer of'expansronary ~ n a t e r ~which
al characterizes the Long Recen-
(Is 6 3 ) slon. The sl~ghtlyshorter Saadyan Rccens~on(97 as opposed to 115 words) takes
us a l~ttleway back In the process of the expansron of the tcxt. Dunash does not
have any part of 5 56. Judah bcn B a r r ~ l l ahas
~ the slngle sentence ($%a) 111 tlie forin
~ nl'/im Y ~ ninx V viv '15 7' i,i,R i 7 2 V (56a) Sound 111 Ms S as prlntcd above (Halbcrstam 1885: 256). Funct~onally,tlie or~gulal
i i x .nla1vg ~ V D7nv Y 07;11x i x ~ ~u ~i n ixx x (?) slligle sentence Q 56a, serves to rntroduce the conclus~onof SY, a po111tmade
n i m x a 7 n v l a3ivu17 131W XV'll D l '7W ?X D"R -
n 1 x x 717' 7' YD' 1mv .)nu v ~ ~YpY i by J~ldahIn 111scomment on thrs paragraph. He 1s then spot on when he c ~ t e sthe
D l '7V ?X ? x ~ v' '7 1 ~ 7; ;I; ninv 'IV a' (5611) Long Recens~onversion of this paragraph as comlng fro111 an early verslon whrch
.inw w n i , l 7 ~piv X W ' I ~ nlx n l x x n l n v ; i u 2 ~ x lncorpo~atesin 11s text "a Irttle commentary" (IhlrJ 257) 1 am inclined to think that
1'VYlV 717' lllDV 'IW 171 j ~ l l y '' 7 5 ~1I/V X2Y2 X17 Q 56a should bc allocated to our earliest recoverable text of' SY but ~ t absence
s In Ms
.m 71 '7 2' .nmv m r i x a7?n~ 7 7 '/x5 '1sn ~ xi? 1v A and Dunash f o ~ c e sme to i n c l ~ ~ d11eonly In square brackets.
.11v X ~ Y Xx i 2 nix n i x ~ D77?i? DY5R1Xli)I 7VI/V
In the Saadyan Rccens~onQ 56 const~tuteschapter 3:5, where 11 1s followed by
1 8 1 ~x' i 7 1v ' 7 x 1 ~ '- 7 i x i x o3?nyu aV7nam o7'n
.DW D ' Z ~ X i x 7132 12 7YW '7W ZVi, L/K ?7W Q 57, but In Saadya's own commenta~-y(MS Z) the first sentence (= $56a) IS used
0 ' 7 5 ~DS7Rlxli,l ZW'/V la112 2Vl' K17V D l 'X7 twlce elsewhere - 111 ch 1:4, where ~t 1s fhllowed by Q58a, and In c112: 5, whcre it
.57v .;itup is i x .yu n3n 09nm53 i u a l l D~IYIV 1s followed by 558b. T h ~ reinforces
s the corlclus~onwhrch we could draw from the
2Vl' K17V D l 3 7 1x3 7 YV 5 2 1 ~ KV11
1 X17W XV11 fact that only $56a is found In the Short Recension, namely, that this is the core
i Y Dl1 DilY i v 113112 ~ ' X v l 1 " ~ v 7PD1 7 i u n of thc paragraph froti1 wh~clithe rest has developed. The arranger of the Saadyan
1 2 1 ~ XVllV
1 NV11 D s D l a i ; r ' / ~ n i~xivn? mni 13 Recens~onclearly found $56 next to $$57 and $ 58 In 111s Long Recension source
D ~ X V ~1 3I w ; ~;rani z i y n 7 a n i ixlvni ; I ' / Y ~ xlzi
L/
; r i u n i axivnl a;i ; r a n i ~ 5 1 5~3 nx 7 1 2 i o i XVIII
and has malnta~nedthese connections in 211s rearrangements.
;liuni !n7xl;i i 2 x .DZD TY i n i 3 i n v 7~ p i w 153 There IS considerable variat~onbetween the Mss In t h ~ sparagraph not unl~ke
RW11 Xl7 .;lan1 l X l v n l i n v vi-ri,i i , ~ m z? ;lilxi 7~ those In the very 5imrlar 5 I and mostly due to the i~sualcopy~ngerrors. NO d o ~ ~ b t
piv . D ~ ~ Y ;1I 3 nx i x ~ l i9v7i, i ' m v n l vnp xi;iv scr~beswere also led astray by t h e ~ rfamil~antywrth the sources of the lnaterlal
1'xq ?Y -79 1 n l 3 i n v . 7 ~ W17p Dl' $32 D'lnli? 131 III the paragraph. The most s~grl~ficant variation 1s the use of the word ppn In the
x i m law v n p 1 .i,ao;l;ii .V17i, V17p Saadyan recension where the Long and Short Recensioi~shave 7D7. Elsewhere 111
. ~ ~ v i - iii7, m v n 1 wnp
the work there IS a clear preference for ppn as the pnmary word for God's creat~ve
.vnp v i 7 p vni, i i m x i
actlv~ty;see especially $ I. ?b7 1s found in $ 14 but 111 the phrase 7D7? ]AW?WDl
B'GI-I collated to B2 E collated to Z 111YD w h ~ c his not present in the Saadyan Recension. The phrase recurs in $ 57 but
'117X tl9;l'/~]om B' 71 7'1 717' 7' E ' I m ] '13'7 t h ~ paragraph
s is not present In the Short Recens~on.The verb 70' may have come
1i?1V'...D77~~]' 7 5 ~ ..
E. 13 37V ii?] 7YV '7V 5~ Into the nla~i~rscr~pts of SY under the Influence of Prov 3.19 or Ps 1045.
D7'R ~ ' 7 L5/ X~~ W ' B'GH
12 1 Y l "IW 7Vi, 'li? "7 1x3
Two s ~ ~ n ~errors
l a r can be detected III Mss D and C. In $56a D leaves out the
'7v3 - 7 v i x BIGH '7n E 5 2 1 ~ 1XVII] 5 x 0 E
nlK2Y2J K2Y2 B'M '332 17V7pl D'Vl7i) E Wl?? 3"] d~vlnename P Y 7 nP7;l?X but contains tlie comment on ~t tn $ 56b, so ~tmust have
been In its exemplar. Similarly C contalns the ~ll~drashrc explanat~onof the name
D"R 2O] om B' D'n] pr AlX3Y 713' but oin~tsthe natnc 111 56a. D w n P7;l?X has clearly fallen out of Ms B2
P7'R ~ ' 7 B'G3 ~ K17VI before P v n P'D. What Dl stands for In Ms Z IS unclear; Kafjch does not rnclude
2W1' X17V B' ~t In his text. The scribe probably began to write 1XlWD1, then realrsed his error,
stopped and marked ~t for dclet~on.C's P7K1W1 I S an error for P 7 X W l l as ZE show earlier and later parts of SY wh~cliseerus to be one of the funct~onsof thls final
and ~ ~ 7 IS1 an1 error f o ~1X1WDl chapter of the work hold~ngtogether its disparate threads. See tlie notes to $ 12
-

Tlie a d d ~ t ~ o nats the end of the paragraph In the short recension Mss PQMN for other examples of this ed~torlalurge. The rest of the ~naterialin the paragraph
come from Isa 57:15. In Mss BiGH the explanatton oftlie epithet XW711 has become comes mainly from 448b. ' j w l h (Instead of 15j?11X which we find In 448b) may be
garbled by scr~balerrors; these readlngs have, therefore, been excluded Srorn the a play on the word ?") III $4 55 and 59.i25The w e ~ g h of
t the ev~denceis agalnst the
s reading in Ms E ?'I13 1 2 1YX " l W 7 W j ? bX )?'I
a p p a r a t ~ ~The 1 x 3 ' I Y W " I W j X 1s readlng 7 j Y 1 3 j in Mss ABiH as IS tlie parallel sentence in 48b. Ms C has o ~ n ~ t t e d
partly occas~onedby an error 111tts exemplar (cf. CZ) w h ~ c hmust have placed " I W 1 W Y aster P'IW through error.
after j X l o when ~tshould have read stlnply 7 W i ) > X j X as 111 the MSS of the Long
Kecenslon The phrase 7'ID 13. 1YX comes In from h Ifog 1221. Tlie explanat~onof
XW'l1 got garbled In E as ~tdoes In BIGI-I. E does, howcve~,preserve tlie correct
r e a d ~ n gD'Wl'Ii) where Z has the error I'Wl'Ij?
l z ' n n i l n l n n x ;rw5w 177n17'71n1n n x ;rwiw
1 ~ ~ x ~2 ~ 1~ ; 2 I Y1 ~ 3W ~
l;r'nlmr1 D~WX~ V X W ~
l1a3ix ~ i i 2 ai w u a71wl l'a153x 75131 i w u D ~ I W ~
:n51nx10 ' 7 ~1x75 ;r9xv P ~ I D X t177u
I 1375 ;r9xi1
.W91l ,?lW , 0 5 1 ~ Wbll ;illy D ~ Y
mwu3 1ni3sa n i 1 ~
W91 mWY2 ;in17Db ;IlW
P91WYl mWY3 3nl'sQ
.7nx 533 w7 a7rsnD-IWI
nn wx ;rwiw ~ 5 1 ~ 3
0'1W1 0'3313 ZY3W1 0'nl
Iwelve bclow and seven above on top of A proof for the inatter - trustworthy wrt-
thcm, 'ind three on top of \even And frotli nesses the unlvelre, the year nnd mank~nd
;iwiw ; I I W. ~n l i ~ nYWY
'13' nu2w ;rV11i~ nln1 i~i/
the three of thcm he founded 1115 dbode And Twelve bclow and scvcn on top of them, and
a7w7n ~ w a'lw1 u n7wxi3
they all depend on one d slgn for the One tlircc on top of seven And fro111 the three
ID31 W X l ;IV>VWb12
who 11'1s none second to h ~ m a, K ~ n gilrililLle of them he founded 111s abotlc And they all
0'1W1 P'lYW 7Y3W Z'l'X1
In his Lrnlverse, f o ~he I S one dnd hrs name depend on one - a srgn for the One who has
.l'a7;rln 1 W Y
one none second to htm, a K ~ t i gLuiique In Ins
unlvcrse, fo~he I S one and hls name onc

B'B2GDH collated to A ZL collated to C Threc fathers and t h e ~ roff- Three fathers and their off- (58a) Three fathers and thcir
;riuni] om B2GI) yvin1 add 177nlulB113 1375 ;i7Rl]om E 091w]l w u n71w ZE sprlng, and seven dotnlnant sprlng, and seven dom~nant offspr~ng, seven dornrnant
ones and t h e ~ rhosts, and the ones and t h e ~ hosts,
r and the ones and t h e ~ rhosts, nnd the
twelve diagonal llncs Antl a twelve d~agotialI ~ n c s And twelve dragonal l ~ n e sAnd a
Notes 017 flip text of $57 p~oof for the niatter t ~ u s t -
- a proof for the riiatter - proof for the matter trust-
worthy wttnesses the ~111- tlustworthy wrtnesses the worthy w~tnesses thc ~rur-
T h ~ paragraph
s does not appear In the Short Recension or Dunash's commentary. verse, the year and snank~nd uiirverse, the year and man- verse, thc ycar and mankrnd
k ~ n d The unlverse rts (5%) A proof for the matter
Judah asslglls ~t to the same expanslonary version w h ~ c hcontams 5 56b and does
-

count~ng1s by ten, tlie yedr - trustworthy w~tnesses the

not coin~netiton it (Halbel-stam 1885: 257). Donnolo has an expanded, paraphrased ~ t scountrng 1s by ten, unlverse, the year and man-
verslon (Caste111 1880: 83-84). Tlic Saadyan Reccns~onprefaces the paragraph mdnkind - its couritlng I S k ~ n d 'The untvcrse - ~ts
h the other recensions appears I n 0: 58. $57 offers an alterna-
with a sentence ~ 1 h 1 cin by ten And there arc twen- count~ng1s by ten three -
tlvc understandlng of the phrase 131Y13 ' I D w 1 ~ ~ j ~ fro111 1 found in 0: 14 wlicre
1 3 that ty-two o17jects In each one. fire, alr and water; seven
tlie "thiee of them" seems to refer to "a~r,water, fire". In the context of 4 57 ~t~iiust 12' Cf Eleazal Kocleah's comment on t h ~ spart of SY llW'/3 R1i)I;r l'ln $in x1;r n.13 Wnl
refer to the three groups of letters of tlie alphabet. The effect is to b ~ n dtogether the ~ n 12 ~ v ' l n w335 'in w m n (c~tcdIn Harkavy
n ~ 1 11"' 1887 34)
 I n the Llnrvelse tliele are
three fire, '11s ' ~ n d w a t c ~ ,
nnd seven planets and
twelve con5tellat1ons In the
year there a e t h e e cold,
heat and the tempelate state.
the seven days ot creation,
'uid the twelve months In
n l a n k ~ n d there ,ue three
the head, the belly dnd the
chest, and the seven exrts,
' ~ n dthe twclve pr~nclpal01-
gens
and the seven planets, and LMNSFPIQR collated to K GI1 collatetl to A E collc~tedto C
twelve the twelve constel- D'W3131 D7W113 LSI- 1Q'"k D S W 2 3 ] DV2313 G, D7W23 ;IlWYX 101 add Z W ~ W
l'itrons The year ~ t count-
- s D.333 Q* jlb3h!] f ' l l ~ 3 i ' ~ D'2313 11 ;IY2W1 E
ing IS by tcn t111ee cold, L M N F P R , ~ I I D I,
~ ~ X
heat ant1 the temperate state, l'd3lji-4 Q
seven - the seven days of
c~eatlon, and twelve - the
twelve months Manklnd
- ~ t cso u n t ~ n g15 by ten three Nofe.5 017 fhe text of $58
- the he'ld, the chest, and the
belly, seven t h e seven e x ~ t s , In the Saadyan recension the material In t h ~ sparagraph 1s found In two d~fferent
and twelve the twelve prln-
- places: In Saadya's chapter 1.4 (after $45) - Q58a and In chapter 2:6 (after $ 18)
clpcll O l gdns = Q 58b. Saadya, however, as we saw In coiinectlon w ~ t h$56 repeats $ 56a at the

B' b e g ~ n n ~ nofg $58a. M\s C' and E do not have t h ~ sa d d ~ t ~ othough

n, tt IS present In
~ ~ 2 3 T1I 3~ ' n n i i nni i x x B r ~ t ~ sLibrary
h Or. 1263 In the Saadyan vcrslon wli~chappears In fols 3b-6aI2'.
t
l i ~ 3 i x ilx 17i l ; 1 7 n i x x
D71DK1 D77Y 1375 ;I"N11
It must be slgnrficant that the Saadyan vcrslon spl~tsthe material at precisely the
p a n t where the Short Rccc~~slon of the paragraph comes to an end. T h ~ ssuggests
w 3 3 ;IIW D i l Y thal 58b 1s an cxpallslon of 58a cl~awnlioni nlatc~ialIn $429, 30, 43, and 4819.
D'nl W R ;IW?V 1 n l 7 D b D i l Y However, the resun~ptiverepetition of the clause D ~ D71irKl Y D77Y 7375 7'81
n i i ~ a2' ~ ~ ~ 113niii 1 3
WD11 73W at tlie b e g ~ n n ~ l of
i g 58b shows that the ananger of the Saadyan Recen-
iii) x I I ~ ~ W ; r nYi 3 s~D ;IIW
2' n7wxi1 'a' T T ;1'iii aini slon initst have had the Long Recens~onversion of Q 58 In front of hlln and felt
3 ' 3 7 n l ' D D WDI D'W7R 2' the need to pick LIP and repeat the last sentence of 4 58a becore ~ n t r o d u c ~ n$g58b.
D ~ - I Y W'7.1 z7ixi p 2 1 w x i Nonetheless, the absence of $58b In the Short Kecens~onand In the colnmentarles
. 1 7 x ~ 1 a'3'1 of Dunasli and Judah ben Barzillai ~ n d ~ c a t ethat
s ~t IS l~kelyto belong to the Long
Recens~onexpansion ofthe text of SY.I2' The "count~ngby ten" only appears In SY
$ 58b. It has the effcct of blndlng together four of the five chapters of SY (chapter
l;i'nniini n i x ;lwiw n i x awiw (58a = ch. 1.4) -
one 10, chapter three = 3, chapter four = 7, cliapte~five = 12). As we have seen,
that seems to be one of the b a s ~ cl~teraryfunct~onsoS this si~pplementaryLong
,D;I7nlK3S1 D'W33 2 Y 3 W ~ ~ w;IYW
i x ,l;l'ni7L/ini
. l 7 b 1 j 3 1 ~' ? 1 2 ~1WY D71Wl ~ W DY ' I W ~ ,D;l'nixsIyi Recens~ontnatcrial.
~ ~ 1 D ~? ~xiY317 i ; ~ ' ~ x i i 1375 7 x 1 1 ~ 3 v5j 1~3 2 The phrase t77~l??1nlnl3x ~ W ? W at the b e g ~ n n ~ nofg $5Xa must be related
.w31i ;IIW D ~ Y WDl1 ;IlW 0 ' 7 1 ~D7113Xl D77Y both to 427 and to the form of $50 w h ~ c happears In Mss MNFP. Unl~kc$827
zwiw ; I ~ W Y >i n i m o i l y 127'/ 7 ' X l (58b = ch. 2:6) and 50, $ 58a appears In all our texts, whlch creates a presiunption that ~t belongs
Z Y ~ Wniii ova w x ;iwiw .V3ll ZIW ~ ' 7 D'IDXI 1 ~ D37Y
to oirr earllest recoverable text. In w h ~ c hcase these other paragraphs look like an
i v y D'IW ~ ' 1 3 1 3; I Y I I W ; I W ~ Wm w y 2 i n i ' 3 ~D ~ I Y
;IIW niim i v y D'IW ;iY2W Z Y 3 W D'B1 R i l l w x
attempt to brlng Q 58 into har~nony1 ~ 1 twliate\/er
h parts of $327-36 lay before the
l l i ) ;Iwrlw m W Y 2 ;In17DD 1WY D'IW 1WY D'IW 0 ' 3 3 1 3 e d ~ t o of
r the Long Recens~on.Saadya h c e s the salne problem In h ~ translat~on
s and
n n w ;IY>W ;1~1111nini mwv3 ; I n i 7 m ;IIW niisa cornmentary on $ 58 and has a neat SOIU~IOII wli~chsolves the problem at the drop of
D'IW i v y D'IW n7wxi2 'n' ;IY3W ;I'll1 DlRl l l i ) 7 w i w a hat: although the I-iebrew text before h1ni says 7;l7n775lAlnl3K 7 ~ he trans-
5 ~
;iniYaow a 1 a3w7n iwu D'IW n3wxi3 'n5n ~ x v lates it "three mothers and what orlglnates from them" (751n7 Kirl n87irx 'n?!n
;I'll1 W K l 7 ~ ? l W5Y 3 ~ W 3 1 D'R15 1 W Y D71W 1 W Y
X7lD - Kaljch 1972: 59, Lasnbcrt 1891. 31). Then In 111s commentary he just~fies
D'lYW ?Y3W ;IY2W It3111 W X l ;IW?V ?lWYll ;Inl'Db
D'IW 1WY D'IW (?)D'lYW ; I Y ~ W7 ~ 3 w pli ;i7iai
l'x';I]a i w u 1WY D'IW 1 W Y D'IW D71YV j2" See the Introduction $ 8.2. It is striking that in our restoratioil of the carliest recoverable text
1'x;Iln of SY we in fact replicate cxactly what Saaclya has in his chapter 1:4, i.c. $$56a, 58a, 5%.
Donnolo has an expanded and paraphrasetl version of the Long Recension text of $58
(Castelli 1880: 84).
h15 tran5lat1on as follows "I have translated nl2X mother^" In accordance w ~ t h the year is like a king in :I year is like a king in a prov- the year is like a king in a
province; the heart in man- incc; the heart in mankind province; the heart in man-
what I have s a ~ dbefore that our words "fathers" and "mothers," "prrnciples," "prl-
kind is like a king at \var. is like a king at war. kind is like a king at war.
[nary mattel," "elements," and "baslc sitbstance" all these have the same mean-
-

11ig." T1115 IS the same solution as the Mss MNFP text of $ 5 0 and may ~ n d ~ c ato te LMNSFPIQK collatcd to K B'B'GDH collnted to A ZE = C
its how that text arose IS, a5 seems l~kely,$ 58a does go back to the original author an] PI ~ 7 7 nx ~ 77r7nL p" 171 B I I I
of SY then the problem of ~ t scompat~bll~ty w ~ t hthe "three mothers" of chapter 1Wu l ~ ~ l w i ] nlhn L
add
tl.~rcc($4 23-36) ex~stedfrom the begrnn~ngPerhaps Saadya's solutlo~lacci~rately D77'j?D1]D77li)D1 MNIQR
reflects the author's thlnk~ng 35] 351 L R WDn] 11X2
The r c p e t ~ t ~ o unature
s oS the language of b 58b created many opportilnlties for I, R
I l5n2 l i n 2 ] 1 5 a ~
;innin3
l i n > ] ? l a 1 tin2
scr~balerrors, but In general the var~at~otis between the Mss wli~clibelong to tlie 5 ~F 3
7 ~ ~ 1~153
Long liecension and between the Long and Saadyan Recenslolls reflect deliber-
ately d~fferentarrangements oS the satne b a s ~ cmaterial. However, only Ms A has
the pli~nse'InX 532 W7 P7Y3n P71W1 P'lWY1 probably drawn froin $22. Thls
-

phrase seems to prov~dcthe b a s ~ sfor the unlclue asrangenlent of the mater~alfound
In Ms D which, glven ~ t late s date, may well represent an attempt to tldy up and
provtde a more logleal str~tcturefor the more verbose form of the text found In the
earl~erMss. Mss B' and B2 contaln lnlnor errors'2xbut both are closer to the form of
the text Sound In the Saadyan Recens~onthan they arc to that of Ms A. H's rcad~ng
D72313 P7W23 shows LIS how the reading P72313 In Mss Q* I>B'and G, arose- as
a gloss on P7W23. No other ~ e a d ~ n of g sG and H are worth c ~ t ~ In
n gthe apparatus.
Bas~cally,they arrange tlie rnaterral l ~ k eMss B' and IY.
Notes 011 t/w text of $59
A g a ~ nwe find that tlie Saadyan Recens~onspllts up the rnaterlal of thls paragraph
Into two parts: 59a is placed after 58 at the end of Saadya's chapter 1:4 w h ~ l e59b
appears In chapter 8:4 placed log~callyalter 4 55. A g a ~ n~tmust be s~gn~ficant that
tlie Short Recens~onalso splrts up $59 at the same polnt ~nsertlng~ n t o~te~ther$25
(Mss KLSR and Judall ben Barz~llar)or $$25-26 (Mss MNFPIQ and I>unasli);
see the notes to $26. T h ~ sr a m s the poss~bllityillat $ 59b may have arlscn as an
explanatory gloss 011 $ 59a. O n the other hand, all our w~tnessesattest both halves
of $ 59, so tlie siti~atronIS not cotnparable to that which we found 111 the ~nanuscrlpt
evldence for $4 56 and 5%.But ~f $ 59 In ~ t Integrity,
s as ~t stands rn the Long Re-
censlon, belongs to the earllest leeoverable text ~tremalns dlficult to explain why
all the Sllort Recens~onMss ~nscrted$$25 or 25-26 here. 111 tlie notes to b26 we
cons~deredthe p o s s ~ b ~ lthat
~ t y the word ?In m ~ g hbe
t the I ~ n kbut
, those Mss w h ~ c h
insert only $ 2 5 herc are prec~selythe ones wli~chdo not have thls word In that para-
graph. The Insert1011 of b 25 looks as though ~tm ~ g h be t start~ngan explanailon of
the three, the seven, and the twelve, but ~fso, why do we not find anyth~ng~llustrat-
lng the seven and tlic twelve'? There 1s no obvious solut~onto t l i ~ sproblem.
Tliere IS only one s~gn~ficant varlallt between the Mss 111 thrs paragraph -

j777j?31\'(7?lj?t)\P;I'71i,731. '('11j?3 makes the best sense \vltIl~nthe overall thought

structure of S Y and has tlie most n~anuscriptsuppout - the n ~ ~ n i b ethree,rs seven,
(5921) There I S a law of ten, There 1s a law ol' ten, three, There 1s a law of ten, three,
t h e e , seven and twelve They seven and twelve. They are seven and twelve They have and twelve are "counted ~n/prcscnt~ n "~5)n= &1Y, 5)15)~ = 71W, and 25) = W31. It

arc offic~alsovel thc Hook, present In the tlook, the ce- command of the Hook, the IS easy to see how '('7'j?31 could liave arlsen from j771?9, less easy to account for

the celestial s p h e ~ c [and]

, the lest~alsphere, and the heart celestial sphere, and thc P;1771j?731- though if ~twere wrlttcn wrthout the Yudh vowel letter, there wo~ildbe
heal t (5%) The [look In the The Hook In the Llnlverse 1s heart The Hook In the LIIII- only one letter's d~fferencelioln j777?3, assurnlng an o r ~ g ~ n pluralal term~nat~on
LInlvelse 1s l ~ k ea k ~ n gon h ~ s lrke a k ~ n gon b ~ st h ~ o n e , verse IS l ~ k ea k ~ n g011 h ~ s 111 P'
~ h r o n c thc
; celestial sphere in the celestial sphere in the throne; the celestial sphere in The t e a d ~ n g7112 In CZE (wh~chappears In Ms I and In a garbled form 111 Ms F)
--
" V n Ms B' thcre is an illegible word after P71YW which may be a dittography though it is not
replaces W31 w h ~ c las ~ ,we have seen, 1s used In an u~~itsual sense In SY - rna~ik~iid.
markecl as an error. It may liave arlsen as an explanatory gloss.
182
When Abrdhdm our f'tthe~
ob\ervcd, and looked, 'ind
saw, 'lncl ~nvestsgdted, and
~~ncierstood, and carved, and
liewed, 'ind coinb~ned, sunci
formed, drld succeedect, the
Lold of all w ~ levenled
s to
h ~ n iAnd he made him irt In
h ~ Idp,
s antl k15sed him upon
h ~ hedd
s He ~ ~ ~ l hsnll c d 111s
irrenci dlid i ~ ~ t m he d~ m
h ~ son,
s h1n1 111s Illend and nan~etl
and made a coven,lnt with
h ~ malil 111s iced for ever
A1111 he t~~r\tedI M /he Lord
trnd he trtcorriited rt lo hrilr
foi^ I 1g/itei)zrs17e\ (Gen I5 6)
He made w ~ l hh ~ r n LOV-
enclnt betbeen the ten toes of
111sleet - ~tI S the co\/cn,lnt ol
clrcumclslon Jle lndde w ~ t h
hun 'i covenant between the
ten fingers uf his hands - it 1s
the coveu't~-rtof Idngnage He
bound twenty[-two]"' lettes5
Into 111s I,lngunge, and the
Omn~presentrevealed to h ~ i n
III? secret He ci~ewthem o ~ l t
into water. lie b u ~ n e dthem
Into tile, he shook them into
the '111, he b~andedthem unto
the seven, he led them rilto
the twelve cos~stellat~ons
M D
11'2~a m 2 xzsrw 11'31
x n i ppni 7x11 t3'2;1i
1 i - t ~175~;15~1i7'>;in5~i
n 3 i 2r n 3 i i ~ i x ixp i 537
9792
1 7 n ~ 31 i~ 1 ~15
51
The reading of all the other Short liecension Mss shows that P'nW1 was omitted here in
error.
"? I follow here in tny translation the majority reading of the Mss --- P'D2, etc.
Cditron anrl C'oiti~nerlttrrv
Whcn Abraham our father When Abrahain our father
L'imc, and looked, and sdw, ~~ncierstood, (and) foi~nedand
and invcsl~gated, and un- combsned, and lnvestlgated,
de~stood,'~nd carved, and and pondcicd, and succeed-
comb~ned,'1nd hewed, alld cd, the Lord was revcaled to
pondel ed, and succeeded, h ~ r nHe invoked over hrm this
the Lord of all wns revealed scripture Beforc~ I forined
to him And he rnade I11111 yori rti t/ie ~ i o m hI, knew jiolr,
s ~Int h ~ lq>,
s and k~ssedh ~ n i e/c (Jel 1 5 ) [ T ~ a n sof C]
~lpon 111s head He called
h~m h ~ son,
s 'lnd ~ n d d 1c' ~ o v -
cnant w ~ t hhsrn and 111sseed
for cvei A/rtl he /r.rrr/ed 111
c ~ d, t r r ~ c /he L I C L ~ I I I I I ~ ~
t / ~ Lor
rt to hr171for r r g / ~ t e o ~ r \ / ~ ~ s s
(Gen 15 6 ) And he Invoked
~iponh111l the g l o ~ yof the LSFR collatccl to K BiB'GI I collated to A
L o ~ das, 11IS wr~ttenBefijr e ;inrwl 7 x 1 I, ~ 1l72X]add ~ w n i p~ ] ~ r BIB?C;H
'i
I for /ned yorr 07 the lc)ornh, I ai5w;i i . 5 ~LS ~ ' 2 ; 1 i ] ;i5x1] ;l5a1i B' 537 117x1
i v ctc (Icr 1 5 ) He
k ~ ~ eyozr, on1 F 1Y71]lY1 SR 75Jl] Xi7 1112 Wl7p7 B1ll
made w ~ t hh ~ r nil covenant 7521 i x 1, 112 inwil inwi 12;llXI '217X B1,'271X I1
between thc tell toes of h ~ s lnW3 L nlYllYK] 1 W Y 112 119W11'121 B'H l V 2
leet 1115 L11cLlnicIsfon lie
-
nlY2YX LSt Ii O ' l W Y 1 ;ii.n] 75.a n712G l i w i l
made \wth 1l11iia covenant a'nwi a'iwy LSPK W X ~ 1iw5 n.12 n', 11w5 n 7 i 2
between the ten finger? oi DVD3]0'192 LSFR n1'/113] W7p7 G Wl7j77l] Dli)1371
h ~ hand5
r - it IS lang~rdge
om Lli B'G pwnl ~ x ' x ? B,
He bound twenty-two let- NPlQli ~ o l l a t e dto M P7D3]D7D2B'B2(;H WX3]
tels ~ n t oh ~ Iaoguagc,
s and 1I72X]'ldd ~ 1 5 1~' 5 7 ~NQ WX2 B'Gl I (B' eri WXl2)
the Iloly One reve,lled to 2 r n i ppni] 1'271 ipni n l l 3 l TI12 IR'B7G, WX2
h ~ ~theu secret Ile d ~ e w ir7i?inzrni ppni P I R m i x G ;IYXW>] 7 ~ 3 ~ 2
them out ~nto"' water, he 127X l X l p l ] 0111 l l Y l ~ L / l ] BiB'll. D'2313 7Y2W2 G
burned them ~ n t ofile, hc acict i7inxP 757n;i] n.12
shook them into the rill, 7 5 ' ~PJQR 11~?71 n'12
he biandcd then1 Into the liw5;i PIQR ;157a1]aipnm
seven, lie led thcin ~ n t othe 75.2 PlQR 7Y2W21 'ldd
twelve constellntsons a7mi>P 1>n1] llnl N, la71
PlQR
E
11'2~D ; ~ T ~ XX ~ W 11'31 i~ 11'2~a;iim p ; i w > i
172aiipni mii m 7 i i ~ 2n5yi~ 22wni ?i7si
Notes OM the text of J 61
7 n j ~1i ~ q ~l ~ 1i 2 ~ n l ~ l p7 3 i5 7123 i7>y7511
5 7i 5 I i i i r x mu2 x i p m 175~ In all the Mss of the Short Recension (except for K and R), and 111 the Saadyan
i w i i n w i n IWY 1 5 1 3 1 . ~ ~ i l ~11322 n~7~
Keceiis~on,b 61 forms the coliclus~onto SY. As we shall see, bb62-63 are clearly
later add~trons.The textual ev~dencefor t h ~ paragraph
s v~vidly~ l l ~ ~ s t r aour
t e sprob-
lem w ~ t hcomprehend~ngthe textual hlstol y of SY Of'our two oldest Mss, one has
t ~ e n t y - o n ewords (Ms C), the other e~ghty-nlnewolds (Ms A). Theie are two ver-
 slons of the Short Recensson, one represented by Ms K (plus LSFR) w ~ t hseventy- Mss and the Long Recens~on B'H have an e~ght-wordvcrslon w ~ t h7121 ~nsteadof
e ~ g hwords
t and another attested in Mss MN1j4and to some extent In Ms5 PlQR135 112 l n v l
T h ~ shas s ~ x t ywords. Even within the Saadyan Recensso~ithere 1s no agreement (6) 'IY 7 ~ ?'IY 5 1 15 m 3 1 T h ~ ssentence I S Sound In all Mss except
l 1~ ~ 1 ~ n712
among our three w~tnessesslnce Ms Z has th~rty-SIX words and E t h ~ ~ t y - t h r e e C so nii~stbelong to a vely early stage In the gsowth of the text. Even the short text
words W h ~ c h1s earl~er the longer or the shorter vers~on?Argiunents call be of Ms C 1mpllc5tlie context of(~etles1515, so tl-us r i a 11att11altheme fbr any Jew~sli
supphed to support both posltlons but, on the whole, ~t IS casler to account for tlie s c r ~ b eto add 111 at t h ~ pi o ~ n tIiiev~t~tbly,
then, tien 15.6 gcts d ~ a w nInto tilost Mss
longer verslon as the I esult of successwe additions to a corc text than to see one of but not Ck.
our two earllest Mss as the result of a d r a s t ~ csliorten~ngof an earller much longel (7) A ~efereiiceto Jer 1 5 appeal5 In tlie Long Kecenslon and fiom tlie~ewas
text probably tlanstn~ttciito the Saadyan Recensron I t 1s not present In the Short Rc-
Let us work through the paragraph phrase by phrase and try and isolate the core censron 01 J ~ ~ d bcn a h B a ~ / ~ l l a rc~tatsons
's t y the context of
oS$61 For 11s s u ~ t a b l l ~ 111
of tlie t r a d ~ t ~ oand
n the source of the expanslons. Q 61 see L~ebes2000. 209, 118
(I) The three teeenstons are iinmed~atelyd ~ s t ~ n g i ~ ~ by s h ethe
d verb chosen to (8) The refe~enceto "covenant" (6) Icads to a consrderable expansion wh~cli
b e g ~ nthe palaglap11 i79Y In the Short Receni~on,X2 In the Long Recens~onand d ~ a w so n SY $ 3 :15 m 3 7 5 ' ~l w 2 Xl?l 17'711n 1 ~ l 2 w ~l l~n~2 n712 15 m 3 1
1722 In the Saadyan Recension."' There IS no way of dec~duigwh~clirepresents ' ( 1 ~ X1;11
5 1777nlY2YX 1WY l l n 2 n712 'rhrs I \ not plcscnt In any ol'tlic Saadyan
what tlie orlg~nalauthor wrote Recens~onMss
(2) Next we have a charn of verbs, c o i i s t ~ t ~ l t ~part n g of the protasis before the (9) Tlie phraie llV5 (n712) at the end of'th~sexpansron I S then ~tselfexpanded
s ~ n g l everb of the apodos~s- "was revealed." The number of the verbs In t h ~ slrst by the clause 7 3 1 ~ 5 2n17nlK D7nV1 D71VY 1Vi) A g a ~ nth15 1s not fhund In the
varles from t h e e ~n Ms E (2Vnl 117Yl 1Y) to e ~ g h In t the Long Recens~onand Saadyan Recens~on Sliabbeta~Donnolo's cltatlon of b 61 stops at this pollit (Cas-
some Short Reccns~onMss Note PIK's a d d ~ t ~ oofn four extra verbs (77271 l p n l tell1 1880. 85) as does Judah bcn B a ~ r ~ l l a if 'ii~ sc~tatron
t of the paragraph (Halber-
l Y 7 1 ylY1) to the four verbs In MNR (2Ynl i)i)n1 7Xl1 D7271).Some scrlbes have stall1 1885 100)
clearly declded to throw 111 all the key verbs from tlie earllc~pat ts of'SY. But even (10) 71D'3Y 15 7 j 7 1follows rn tlie S h o t~and Long Rcccni~onsbut, as 111 (4) above,
the shortest I ~ s t do s not provide us w ~ t ha s ~ n g l everb w h ~ c hss attested In all Mss. So sotnc scr1be5 Felt the need to p ~ o v ~ dane expllc~t~llbjectt h ~the verb Dlj?n;l 01 -

agaln, we cannot reconstruct an carl~eragreed l ~ s of t these verbs. My reconitruc- Vl7i);l 01 X12 1172 Wl?j?;i
t ~ o ns1111plytakes the tcxt of C but thls expresses no confidence that 11s four verbs (I I) Tlie final expansron descr~bestlie 1nS11srngof tlie Ictte~sInto the d ~ f f c ~ ccl- nt
represent the or~ginalclioice of the author. 1Y and i)i)n play a cruc~alrole elsewhere enients of c ~ e a t ~ o(n15513
n . .. l3VB) T h ~ ISs another way of statrng the pornt 11-rade
in SY but CZ do not have j?pn and MNQ do not have l Y 7 \ l Y . by the two stlearns of Long Recenslon a d d ~ t ~ o n s'11 12 1 7 5 ~ 7(QQ32-34, 41, 52)
(3) The phrase 1'1727 n 5 ~ 1s 1 attested In all Mss At least here we have testimony and '111 11 lYlI(QQ 36,44, 54). Funct~onally,t h ~ as d d ~ t ~ oforms n a fitt~ngconclu51on
to a iun~f'ormearlic~text to the tcxt, b ~ n d ~ l 11 i gall togctlie~.S ~ n c the
c Saadyan e d ~ t o ~ncluded
r both these eal-
(4) A g a ~ n;11;17175Y $ 7 ~ is~ 1ti all texts. Three expanslons 53;1 717X In the - Ire1 sets of a d d ~ t ~ o itn s1s d~fficilltto understand why he would want to leave these
Short Recenslon and ADB2G, Xl;t 1 l l 2 V17j?;1 111 BIHZ and '2 7123 (DE) test~fy final statements out of the conclus~onto the book It IS caslel to comprehend them
to a s ~ ~ n pcole
l e read~ngexpanded ~ndifferent ways by e n t e r p r ~ s ~ nscribes. g as a d d ~ t ~ o nIts .rs probably s~gnlficantthat they are mssslng In Donnolo's eltation of
(5) The sentence 112 1DV1 l27lX 1 X l P 1VXl ' 7 lj?Vll ~ lj?Ta 127V1;11 1s not Q 61 In 111s commentary (Cnstell~1880: 85) while Judah describes t h ~ seleinent as
present In Mss CI. We can detect 11s growth from a two-word a d d ~ t ~ o n 1XVY - a "\/aslant reading" ('Dl17 n7Xl) It limy a150 be s ~ g n ~ f i c athat n t a P ~ e lLbrm ofthc
127X (ZE) or 12;IX 1 X l i ) (MNPQR), to the SIX wold lVXl2 1i)Vll l j ? 7 n127~171 ~ v e ~ bWY7 appeals Sol the first t ~ i n ehele In the Hebrew language, othcrw~seit is
127lX 1 X l i ) In Ms D, to the n~ne-wordverslon found In the other Short Recension attested only in rned~evalHeblew
"" I1'1ve plovlded the text of M In the Appa~atus,not only because of ~ t dlst~nctlve
bec'iuse the text of Ms K 1s contaminated 1 ~ 1 tseveral h erlolr
s form, but
s a correct account of'how SY Q 61 developed then the core text cons~sted
lf t h ~ IS
Inore or less of that found in Ms C niinus the blblrcal cluotatron from Jcrem~ali
' ' The11 text 1s ~ ~ l t e i m e t l ~between
ate that of K and M
OIIII\SI~II\by parablcps~swould not dccount for all the d~lferences Mss S and B1 show the ""iebes 2000: 73 (and 200, 11.14) accepts the reading 1110' here from the first printed edition
...
type of text that lesults flom tills type of omlsslon S orilits l o 7ln2 lYli>l and B1 1" n'l2 ... against the evidence of all the manuscripts. Si~~iilarly, on the hasis of what are almost certainly
15 n i x a couple of errors in M s C) (li)>? for ji)>7 and llY3 for llY2) he corrects the suffixes of all the
I Judall ben B ~ I Z I I I 'hds
I I X2 rn 1115 first c ~ t a l ~ oofn t h ~ par'~gr'iph
s (Ilalherstam 1885 99) but verbs i l l thc c l i n i ~]l;i71
~ ...y>VD Srom plul.al lo singular, again against the evidence of all the other
7DY 111 his two othcl subsequent c ~ t a t ~ o (pp n s 261, 266) manuscripts.
 T h e r e a d ~ n g;?'Ill ?X In M s L r e ~ n f o r c e st h e s y n t a x 11np11edIn e v e r y o t h e r m a n u - ,17n37' 175~3nwp IF^ ,7z7p l i i w n i n 2 i p IT-s (Glass) 121813
script except C a n d B2 - tliat 1173..,~1~31 I S t h e p r o t a s ~ s(when h e camelsawlunder- '$7 ,'/XBW7) nab '71 ,~VY 7' i 7 h 3 n ~ p l l W m B 21li)Y beg~ns]
s t o o d ...) a n d ;i'Ill t h e apodosls (then w a s revealed ...).I1" T h c a d d ~ t ~ oo nf t h e W a w x 17n7in azw
i ~ a717 757 ,ixnw -I'n m '71 lSnS 7'1 i i u 3 nwi) 72'i)
In B7 (;l'I131) creates o n e long protasls w ~ t hno a p o d o s ~ s In . M s C a W a w n i ~ l s ht a v e
ns i z x i z 7s ,ixnw 5x1 a m ,17a55x1 a2w 7'77 i x n w ] 7. n2a [?-ix
.?Y YD 15 '19 7s .ixnw i a i i ~ x [ i y x a717 )'a7 5111 a2w
b e e n o m ~ t t e dbeforc 1Y; otlierwlsc t h e s e n t e n c e c a n n o t b e properly c o n s t r u e d . T h c . p r u u l 5 ~ a n ~ i z 15 'a ns i z i;1s]. I x n w '711
s y n t a x o f th15 l n ~ t l a lsentence IS, o f course, crucial f o r o u r understandlilg o f t h e .lpY YD
w h o l e r e l ~ g ~ o oiu sl e n t a t ~ o no f SY r''O
(1) Air, and tenlperate state (I) Air, te~npcratestate and (I) Air, and temperate state
In m a n y M s s 11 is drl'ficult t o d e c ~ d ew h e t h e r t h e r e a d ~ n g1s /I7113/WK3/P'D3
and chest, earth, cold and the chest; earth, cold and the and chest, e a ~ t h ,colcl and
? Y 3 W 3 o r ;iY3W3/17113/WX3/P7D3 T h c manuscript t r a d ~ t ~ oclearly n became belly, heaven, and heat and belly; heaven, heat and the the belly, heaven, heat anci
c o n f u s e d about thls a t an early stage. 7lYlZ i n M s K h a s solne sllght s u p p o r t In M s the lie'ld 7111s1s Alcf; Mcni, head. This is Ale6 Mem, the liec~dT h ~ s1s Alel, Mem,
S a n d probably R1"' but t h ~ IS s probably a n e r r o r ( W a w f o r Y ~ ~ d l lA11
) . tlie o t h e r M s s Shrn Shin. S11I n
have e ~ t h e l11Y73 o r f l y > . T h e r e a d ~ n g13nI In M s M 1s d ~ f f i c u l t o c o n s t r u e since (2) S'~turn, sahh'dh and the (2) Saturn, sabbath and the (2) T'ltu~n, sabbath and the
t h e verb In1(to b e poured out) 1s always lntransttlve In t h e Q a l a n d Nlphal a n d 1s moulli, Jup~tel,the fils1 day ~nouth;Jupiter, tlie first day mouth, Jiqxte~,the f ~ r s tday
of the week and the 1 ~ g h eye,
t of the week and the right of the ~ ~ e dcn kd thc right eye,
not attested In t h e Plel. N's reading ]In1 ( h e placed them) m a k e s better sense. It IS
Mars, the second day ol tlic eye; Mars, the second day Mars, the second dciy of the
not d ~ f f i c u l t o s e e h o w t h e o n e r c a d ~ n gm a y have arlsen f r o m t h e other. week ancl the lclt eye, the o i t h e week and the Icll eye; weelc and the left eye, the
Tun, the tlir~dddy of the week the Sun, the third day of the Sun. the tli~rclcldy oftlie week
'ind the I ~ g h tnost111, Venus, week and tlie right nostril; and the 11g11tnostr~l,V c n ~ ~ s ,
tlie fourth day of the week Venirs, the fburth day ofthe the l o ~ tli
u day of the week
and the lclt n o s t ~ ~Merculy,
l, week and the left nostril; and the IcSt nostr~l,Melcury.
A C the fiSth day o f t h e week dnd Mercury, the fifth day ofthe the fi fth ciay of the week and
y i x ,;17i7ai7 ' i i i i 7 i x 1 y1.V z'1111 z ' l l l l 1'1R 1 the ~ l g h tear, the Moon, tlie m8eck and the right ear; the tlie r ~ g h tear, the Moon, the
Pin a5nw ,la21 iii) a i n a3nw la21 iii) s ~ x t bday ot the week and tlie Moon, the sixth day of the sixth day of the m~eekand the
.wnx 7s W R l l .wnx 7s . W N l l left cal T h ~ s1s Bet, G ~ ~ i i e l ,week and tlie left ear. 'rhis left ear. This is Bet, Gimel,
i ) 7 ~,291 n2w 'n2w 2 7nx p7!: 791 n2w 'nxw 2 Dalet, Kaf; Pe, Resh, Taw is Bet, Ciniel, Llalct; Kal; Dalet; Kaf', Pe, Resh, Taw.
,l'a9 l'vi n3w3 7nx a ~ x 17n7 n l'yi n>w2 Pe, Resli, Taw.
(3) A r m , N ~ r a n , the liver, (3) Aries, Nisau, tlie liver; (3) A ~ l e s ,N ~ s a n ,the 11ve1,
17yin2w2 315wa37xn i x n w y ~n2w3 i W I'
'w+w z a n ,ixnw Taulus, Iyy'i~,the gall, Gem- Taurus, Iyyar, tlic gall; T a u ~ u s ,l y y a ~ and the gall,
[?xi n 2 w p ~ w ~ zi nwn
1111,S ~ v a nthe
, spleen, Cdncer, Ge~nini,Sivan, the spleen; Geni~nr, S~v'in, and the
mi1 ,yn97x1 n2w2 n3w2 'y72i xi] l'n'
Tamliiu7, the gullet, Leo, Av, Cancer, Tamrnt~z,the gul- spleen, Cnnce~,Tammu7 and
,ixnw 7x1 nzw2 ' ~ ~ 3 1 ;inn 2313 i x n w 7x1
the I ight k ~ d n e y Vllgo,
, Llul, let; Leo, Av, the right kid- the gilllet, 1x0, Av and the
n2w2 sw7nnz n n 2313 15n7lsixi n2w2 'w3nn
the left kldney, L~brd,T ~ s h r ~ ,ney; Virgo; EILII, the left 11g1itkldney, Vlrgo, Elul and
7wyw7125 ,17n7lsixi l n x i nzwx [3ww] 2125
the intestines; Scorpio, Mar- kidney; Libra, l'ishri, tlie the lell ludney, Llb~n,Trs1111
z~ .5xnw l n x i nxw2 .nis:, 712 ;I[T] [.ixnw
heshvan; the sto~iiacli;Sagit- intestines; Scorpio, Mar- and the rntestlnes, Sco~pio,
.mm 713 [End of T-S 32.51
tarius, Kislev, the right liand; heslivan, the stomach; Sag- Marheshva~i, the stomach,
1 1 ,723 D l a 3 3 1"X 11W 723 ID'] 7 5 ~ 13
Capricorn, Tevet. tlie left ittarius, Kislev, the right S a g ~ t t a r ~ u sKislev
, and the
, i i n a l i 7 u13nixn,mn i i n a i l i 7 u13nixnmni hand, Aqua~lus,Shevat, the liand: Capricorn, Tevet, the 11ght hand, Capr~corn, Te-
2~ ' i x wiwn Tinn l a i ~ ;l9ix ~ ' u n s1nn i linu r~glitfoot, I'~sccs, Ada], the left hand; Aquarius, Shevat, vet, tlie left hand, A~luCirrus,
i i i x z i i n z 17n7z'ii3 ;Iiin2 l ~ n + wz'ii3i 2x left foot Thrs IS He, Waw, the right Soot; Pisces, Adar, Shev'lt and tlie r ~ g h tfoot, 1'1-
' i w n a711xni x n w z'ii:, i x a w ~"71315 1 5 ~ L a y ~ n Het,
, Tet, Yod, Lnmecl, the left foot. This is Hc, see?, A d a ~the , left foot T h ~ s
~ i w m 3ni p u ,pi)ii) [ p p i p i ' i w n a71.rxa Nun, Samek, A y ~ n , Sade, Waw, Zayin, Hct, Tet, Yocl, I S He, Waw, Z a y ~ n ,Het, Tet,
Qof Lamed, Nun, Samek, Ayin, Yod, Lamed, Nun, Samek,
I"' l'he Leningrad fragment of the Arabic text of Llunasli's commentary has 7 i ~ 71 Y (Fenton Sade, Qof: Ayin. S'lde, Qof
Lc)88:52),but this disrupts the syntax. 7Y is ~nissingin the transcription of Dunash's text found in
Moses ben Joseph's translation ofthis commentary (Vajda-Fenton 2002: 248).
""' See Hayruan 1980: 234, and 1991: 99.
R reads l l l Y 3 probably an error ibr l l Y l 2 ,
-
 secondary layer of material wh~cliwe first ~dent~fied rn the Long Recens~onfotm of
Q 25 and whlcli Illen appears In QQ 27, 35 and 50 (Mss MNFP)
The close relat~onbetnrecn Mss K and R can be seen L101ii the text of thc colophon
In eacll (Q 64) fHowe\/e~,R would not seem to be a copy o f K A p a ~t fiom thc three
vallant5 ~ e c o ~ d cInd tlie apparatus to 462, there ale d~fierencesIn orthography.
Foi example, 111 scct~on3 o f t h ~ paragraph
s K's 7?D7~~511, I S spelt n7l3D7~'7513111
K,and 5KDW ;i'h:, becomes n75XDw 7~~513. Iloweve~,tlie orthography o f ~ l o r d s
~ I i ~ cthey
l i liave In common 1 1 l e 7'11'1 and 7'11'3 suggests that t h ~ pa~agiapli
s was
In the Short Kecenslon QQ62 -63 ale found only In Mss K and R,Ii7 though Mss a later a d d ~ t ~ oati i some pornt to tlie manusc~rpt t ~ a d ~ t l ofrotn
n wli~clithey both de-
MVPlQ have a \mall pal t of Q 63 In t l i c ~fbrm ~ of Q 48b A Short Recenr~onMs scend In $29, 30 and 12 these wolds ale spelt 7'11 and 7'11 S u s p ~ c ~ o ualso s In K
not ~ncludedIn t h ~ se d ~ t ~ o( H n ~ l t ~ sLh~ b ~ a Add
l y 27, 180, Cat M a ~ g733.1) also 1s tlie spellrng of'lX and W l W D I n $49 they ale 7'1X and DUD7
conta~nsthc4e p a i a g ~ ~ ~ pwlth l i s a text allmost ldent~cal\wth that of I<R Ms Palls T l i e ~ e;lie many val lalit5 In the M4s but they can all be rh~llyeas~lyclassified
763 Incot pot ates a l'o~111of $ 62 2 d f i e ~$ 4321, 62 1 and 62 3 after $ 48a, then a for111 c ~ t h eas~ el I 01s ot mlnol cirlfe~er~ccsIn 01 tliog~apliy
of 463 '1ftc1 75132 In 44% The two palag~aphsale p~esentIn all tlie M4s of the
Long Rccen41on but Q 63 occuts only In Ms E In the Saadyan Kecens~on Wc have
seen that the anangernent of the Saadyan and iicarly all Mss of tlie Short Recen-
slon shows that Q 61 was the 01lglnal concluston 01 SY. b 60 llkewrse (127 ?W 1%)
~ndrcatesthat we ale neal to the coneluston of the text. Dunash ben T~IIIIIU does
not liave Q Q 62-63 and Sliabbeta~Donnolo only has Q 63 The absence of Q 62 In
Donnolo's com~iie~itary 1s s~gnlficantslncc he ~ ~ s u a l Sollows ly tlie Long Recension
velslon of SY Judali beti Bat/~llaistates that $462-63 coli1e from a velslon whrch
~ncoipolatescommentary rnater~alInto the text, slrnlla~to the addit~onsto $ 56.14'
Tlie content5 of Q 62 const~tutea re-at~aligenle~lt of lnaterlal found In $Q 29, 30,
41,49, and 52 We~nstock(1981 34) p~cfkrsto put rt In t e ~ n i sof the Long Reccns~on
I l a v ~ ~preserved
ig intact h e ~ cci block of supplementary ~llatellalof the type wh~cli
elscwhe~eit spieads thiouglio~rtchaptels 3-5 (4423-64) He thl~iksthat chapte~
seven in tlie Saadyan Reccns~on(= Q 62) shows that chapters five to elght of that
Recensron pleserve tlie o r ~ g ~ narrangement
al of the supplementary rnatenal fo~rlid
In the Long Recension. Tlie Saadyan Recensron follows Q 62 1 ~ 1 t hQ h 36,44 and 54 5~ lnlW12 1'XW ?W?W6
1737~'nw 12 i i x ~ 7 x
(= the first pakt of rts cliaptcr e~ght)Tlits 1s q u ~ t ca logrcal allangemelit slnee these
.i5nn1n1i ' ~ s x i
pat,~g~apIis all Iia\lc the same I l t e ~ ya ~S ~ I L I C ~ L(,.,PY
I I ~ lY12) and they spell out wli~ch
1 ~ x rnu7nw
5 ;iwiw 7 1 ~ x niulnw
5 aw?w 7
letters c~eatetlthe ~ ~ i d ~ v irtelns d ~ ~ aofl Q 62 In Welnstock's view $Q36, 44, and 54 7 i ~ ' x i+ii/ n w i 121 ;iulnwi sizi niiip niui
would be a siln~larblock of material to Q 62 ~ h ~ has, c h lrke ~ t been
, s p l ~ 1113
t and .ZY? ;iYlDWl .7Yl
s p ~ e a daccloss the second half of SY by an edltor of the Long Recens~onsubsecluent ~ n xniu7nw
i ;iw?w x ni2iu niuinw ;iwiw 8
to the one w7ho f j ~ s t~ ~ ~ c o i p o r a tthrs
e d commentary riiater~al111 the text See the Dli7i)l7312 m31u miu a ~ ~ n 2312
w i 1~1x5
notes to Q 36. ,;i21U ;iYlBWl . D l ~ ~ l
T h e ~ e1s a drsha~mony between Q 62.1 and tlie ~ d e n t ~ f i c a t ~ofo WDX n earllel 111the niui ni7?xi;iwiw 9 yu nlui n i w i 7 m i w 9
text In the Shot t Kecens~onlo1 m of Q 25 they ale WX, P'D and rill, fitt~tigthe rden- 1'Yl ;iYl 1'Yl 79x1 1'Y . n ~ ~ I'xY n ;iui 1 ' ~zsx3
t ~ t y01-,~f11ot 2-4 In chapter one ($9 12 14) What $62 1 lists as WDK are a c t ~ ~ a l l y ,nmn
the "latlie~5" 01 tlie "oftsp~ing" ofthc "motliet s". In o t h e ~wolds, Q 62 relates to that niliu ni77xi;iwiw l o
I'Yl z21u 1'Yl 7w12
"' Sce thc 11otc\ to M5 R 111 t h Inttoclu~tlon
~ b 8 3 fot of b\\ 62 6'3
~ t \I I C L L I I ~ ~ Ilayout .n~nx~
I! "9 71wi nYi/ 7 2 W S W D711WK17 nDll2 2inx (Halbelit,tm 18x5 261)

1 Tliree are hostlle and
these ale they the tongue,
the l ~ v c ancl
r the gall
2 TI11ee love the Iie'l~t, the
ems and tlie eyes
3 Three givc lice: the two
nostrils and the liver of
the left side.
4 Three kill: the t ~ v olower
orifices and the mouth.
5 There are three which are
in man's control: the fect,
the hands and the mouth.
6 There are three which are
not in man's control: liis
two eyes, his ears and his
nostrils.
7 Three evil things are
heard by the car: cursing,
blasphemy anci an evil re-
port.
8 'I'hrcc good things are
heard by the ear: bless-
ing, a good report and
praise.
9 Three sights are bad for
the eye: adultery, an evil
eye and a deceptive look.
10 T h ~ e es~ghtsa1 e good f o ~ 10 There ale t h e e good 10
the eye modesty, a good
eye, and a trustwortl~y
look
I I Three thrngs are bad lo1 11 Three thlngs ale bad lor I 1
tllc tongue He who
speaks In the presence of
the slancterer, he who
speaks one t h ~ n gw ~ t hthe
I Three are host~leThese
are they the tongue, the
llver and the gall
2 Three love the eyes, the
ears and the heart
3 T h ~ e eg ~ v c11lc the two
nostrrls and the 11ve1of
the lelt slde
4 Three klll the two lower
o ~ r f i c eand
~ the mouth
5 Thele are three which
ale In man's cont~olthe
hands, the feet, and the
lnouth
6 There ale three which
are not in man's control:
111s eyes, 111s cars and
his nostrils
7 Three thlngs are heard 7 Three things are heard by
by the car and they are
e v ~ l curslng, blasphc-
luy and an evrl ~ e p o ~ t
8 Three good thrngs are 8 Three good things are
heard by the ear: bless-
Ing, p r a m and a good
report.
9 There are three evil 9 'There are three evil
sights: an adultcro~rs
leer, an evil eye and a
deceptlve look
srghts modesty, a good
eye, and a tlustwol thy
look
the tongue He who
speaks evrl 111 the pres-
ence of 111s tellow, he
who slanders, and he
I Three ale hostile These
are they the tongue, the
llve~and the gdll
2 I'hree love T h e ~ e are
thcy the eyes, the eals
dnd the heal t
3 Three glve l ~ f eThese are
thcy
5 tlie hands, the fect, and
the 1111s.
6 There are three which
are not in man's control.
These are they: his two
eyes, his ears and his
nostrils.
the ear and they arc evil:
cursing, shaming and an
evil report.
heard by the car: bless-
ing, a good report and
praise.
sights: an adulterous leer,
an evil eye and a decep-
tive look.
There arc three good
sights: modesty, a good
eye, and a trustworthy
look.
Three things are bad for
the ear: fie who speaks
evil in the presence of his
fellow, he who slanders,
and he who speaks one
mouth but another w ~ t h
the h c a ~ t , c~ncihe who
speaks too much
12 Thlee t h ~ n g sare good for 12 TI11ee t h ~ n g sa1 e good
tlie tongue silence, letl-
cence, and s p e a k ~ n gthe
truth
R collated to K:
1 P'2'1XI P'X11W R . 4 ;iD;il]
7x71 R.
who spcaks one thrng tl11ng w ~ t hthe tongue but
w ~ t hthe mouth hut an- another w ~ t hthe heart
other wlth t l ~ che311
12 Three thlngs a1 e good for
for the tong~re sllence. the tongue sllencc, rctl-
~ e t ~ c e n cand
e , speaking cence, and spcak~ngthe
the t~uth truth
15nuin'IW a7'nn 3
.iinui
'3p1 '1w a7n7nn7w5w 4
.79l ;iDn
o7x 5w 1n1w12 7 w i w 5
, a ' n ~ w ia h ~ ' 7 '
i n i w m l17x nwiw 6
, a 7 i n ] i a71Tx a v y
n i z i u niYinw ;iw>w 8
;iuinwi n2w n312l7xj
.721u
1 7 ~ n 5 i n n w i ; I W ~ W 9
.ZYll ;i3'11 YlR'I
1 3 ~ n 5 i l i u n i w i nw5w l o
.;i2lUl 711DR ?Wl2
7x5 n i u i n i n 7 i ; I W ~ W
.nin;i a ~ zwp i wx31
7x5 n i l i u n i n 3 i ;iwiw
.nin;i am 7'im l i r n
11~55 n i Y i ;iwiw I I
ni17w5ni ni5'>i
[?]WYll
liw55 n i x u wi5w 12
1271 ; i i y n w i ;ip5nw
,nnx
BIB'Gf I collated to A
3 ~ I D W' 7 72>1]
~ om G,
iinui n1 niy7nw]niyinw
B ' B ~ H8 niY'nw1 niYinw
B'B'GH 9 n2lanl n i x x l n n
B', nixa a , n x n n f-r 10
ni2iul nis' B ' I I ;iwi>] 1 ' ~
7Wl2 B2 11 1 ' ~ L / n ; l l2'11
]
yw5n;i BI ; i ~ 2 ] 1 i w 5 2 B'
I 2 nnx] 1inx B'I I
Notes on the text of $63

Q 63 1s not present In Mss C and Z and, lrke $62, only appears In KR 111 the Short
Reccns~on.Ms P has part o f t h ~ paragraph s ~lisertedw ~ t l i ~Q n48b and this develops
tlie acidltronal mater~alIn Mss MNFPIQ c ~ t e dabove 111 the apparatus to 48b. Brlt~sh This 1s the book of the letters ot Abiahain our lather whrch 1s cdlled "the Ldws 01 Cle-
Llbrary Add. 27180 has Q 63:3-4 I n the lnargln alongs~de$48, further r e ~ n f o r c ~ n g ation " Therc 1s no 111111tto the w ~ s d o mof c \ / c yone
~ wlio looks Into rt
the connection betweell these two paragraphs, see the notes to b48b. Dunash has
a vcry s ~ r n ~ lverslon
ar of Q 63 to Ms P, also ~nscrtedwlth~n48b but 11 I S ~ntroduced
This is the bool< of the letters of Abraham our tat he^. which is calletl "the Rook of Cre-
n . ~ ~s c~r ~ b eof MS P ~ndlcatesthat he 1s c l t ~ n ga sample from a
as ~ n t c r p r e t a t ~ oThe
ation."
more extens~veset of'mater~alby prefacrng h ~ extract s from C; 6 3 : 1 4 ~ 1 1 tK'DX
h (=
1nK 13b2l)and e n d ~ n grt w ~ t h'3Y (= 1x3 7Y).The connections between QQ63 and 7 2 W-I53. m 7 r 7ni3i;i 7ipn3n?11'2~a r n 2 x ~m7mx i s o 177;i.;ii7r7
i s o nian B?
48b In these short recensron Mss probably glve us the clue to the o r ~ g ~ lof i sthls ma- .;iynn3n5 x i i ~ ~ny5w
ter~al:11cleveloped out of 4%. L ~ k the e ptcv~ousparagraph tt rs clearly out ofplacc The elid of the Book of' Creation. This is the hook of the Icttcrs of Abraham our father
here In SY betwccn the or~ginalconclus~onofthe text 111 $ 61 and the colophons In which is called "the Laws of Ckeation." There is IIO limit to thc \visdom of everyone who
$64. It falls ~ n t othe well-known type of the nunier~calm~drashattested as far back looks into it.
as Prov 30 18--31; see Aboth cli.5 and AKN ch.41. It I S not too difficult to draw a xiiy3w n75 ' 9 ~ 7531. ;ii3r7i s o 7ii?nn71 1 ~ a;ii>x7
3 ~ niSnix ;n9r7i a a lv7;in5an G
l ~ n eof expansion liom the MNFPIQ add~tlonafter P7n7DD111 $48b, to the longer .;i~nnm5
add~tronIn Ms P and Dunash, stlll connected to 48b, to the fill1 form of Q 63 as an The end This 1s the Book of Cieat~on- of the lettc~sof Abraham our father which 1s
~ndcpendentparagraph 111 the Long Rece~isron- but located 111 a ~ O S I ~ I O which II called "the Book of Crcat~on"T h c ~ c1s no l ~ ~ ntol t tlie w r ~ d o mol everyone who looks
(Itke the marg~nalnote to Ms P) st111clearly ~ n d ~ c a t e11s s nature as supplementary, [ ~ n t o111
ni~drash~c-type material.
The vartants 111 the Mss of the Long Recens~onare ruostly errors, so the ap-
patatus IS h~glilyselect~ve.Ine-vltably ~nechan~cal errors abound: E o n i ~ t spart of The Book of thc Lctters of Alxaham our lathel (peace be upon hlml), which 1s called
I ~ n e3 t l i r o ~ ~ gtoh line 5; B' omlts 11ne 5; G reverses l ~ n e s1 I and 12. Where the "the Laws of Creat~on,"is coriipleted There I S no 111uitto the wisdom of evelyone who
other Mss have 3k1...12779;11Ms D has a s ~ n g l eword whlch is only partly leg- looks Into rt
~ble.But Ms D has a strange tcxt - partly abbrev~atedl ~ k e11s verslon of $352 and
54, partly expanded l ~ k e11s unlque develop~nentof sentence 10. Overall, ~t g ~ v c s
the lmpresslon that ~ t s c ~ i h cwas aware of the n a t ~ ~ of r e t h ~ smaterial and drd not T h ~ Book
s of the Letters of Abiahd~noui fnlher, which 1s called "the Book of Creation,"
15 coillpleted
feel as constra~ncdto copy ~t accurately as other parts of SY. He obv~ouslytrled
to alilalgarnate sentences 1-3 and then gave up at sentence 4. In sentence 3 D has
i l n ~In agreement w ~ t hMs P over agalnst KK and the Long Recens~onw h ~ c hhave
the rather stlange read~ng' 7 ~ 1 9723 ~ 5 s~t r a n g e because we have already had the
"l~ver"In sentence 1 Arc these n i a n ~ ~ s c r ~ppot s ~ t ~ ntwo g livers'?
In sentence 11 Mss K and R have an alternat~veverslon probably occas~onedby
the omlsslon of Yl lYSlafter '132 In an earller Ms. A subsequent s c r ~ b ehas then
notlced that t h ~ sleft only two things "bad fol- the tongue" so has added the rather
Whoc\/er understands thrs book and keeps tt has the assurance that he 1s a ~nemberof the
lame "he who speaks too oiuch" 111 order to make up the reqirrslte number. world to come.
This is the book of Abraham o ~ father
~ r (peace be upon him!), which is called "the Book
of Creation."
There 1s no 11ru1lto the wldorn ofevci yorle who looks ~ n t ort Anti the seciets ofthe upper
and lowel wotld will be levenled to everyone \vlio occupres hlmself w~tli11and stud~es~t
 Bibliography

Bihllogr~1pI7yOf Books And ArticleL\ 017 c~tecJ7n tllc' text

Sejer Yc>sit*~r

Alloi7y, N
- (1972) ;n'~' ~DDX n7ilu;l nln5vm i v n7aniaxlx;i ;iv7v;l,T C ~ it7 I I I We~nstock
I ~I~, cd
( . l e ~ ~ ~ \ ' t l eMossad
~n FIaiav Kook), 63-09
- (197415) "A7 lnliinl 'at1 holalta", Sii7(ri 75, 24 34
- (1081a) i9;li/ ~ T ' I ~ D 7i3an nina arfoi no11 ;l13Y7 YDD, Ten211l i i IT,c) 29
(1981b) "Lcman h~bburoshe1 Sefer Yes~la",Teinrrrr7 11, 41 50
Ben-Slrcrininar, H
- (1988) "S'~adya's Goal 111 his Comnret7far)i on Sejer Yeziia", in A Stwight Ptrtl7 Stn~lrer -

rt7 ibleu'reval Pl~rloropl~ji cin~lC~ilfriieE,,tr)~,117 I3onoi o f Artl7zo f<jin7~rn,ed R L~nk-Sa-

Ilnger (Wash~ngtonD C Cathol~cUniversity of Amel lcn P~ess),1-9
Ccictelli, D
- (1880) 11 coin~7entod S L ~ ~ ~ Dot7nolo C I ~ L I 5 I/ 1 1 lihro dellti ci enzione (Fil e n ~ c )
Uai7, J
- (1993a) " m~ E~) 5v D~ nsn7;l nwava;iW,~n5 ~ i vnlwnax ' a ~ i v n?ipna, ' ed J Dan,
13, 7-29
- (1994) i7ninani~ m -x3 1 l i n s l ; i 3 i 3 n l p m;l7 fi;iiyr3
i i s o vii-3 111M ~ I , I IS~I LI ~I ~ .
ter 117 Kcrbbaluh and Jeu~rthThoz~gl~t I M A4ernoi~~) I , J ~ I I IedI M O ~ o nand
O ~ C I ~ I I ~ LGottlreh,
A Goldreich (Jerusalem The Blal~kInat~tute),99-1 19
- (1998) "Three phases of the Nlstor y of Sefe~fel- Yeziitr", In 111sJewrsh M~irtrcrtn~, vol 1 Late
Ai7frilr1tfy(Northvale, NJ Jdsoli A I O I ~ S O Inc),
I ~ 155-187
Elcazni- h J~idcrJ~ Oj Wo1,177\
b KU/OI?I)IIIIIJ
- (1883) Per-~irh'ti/ refei Yesir~r(Pr~emysl)
El~rtern,A
- (1893) "Pseudo-Saadja's und Elasar Rokeach's Conlmentale zum Jezlrn-Buchc Dle Re-
censlon Sdadja's", A4G%J, 37, 75-78, 117-120
- (1893) "Studlen zum J e ~ ~ t a - B u c hund e 3elnelil El klaren". MGWJ 37,266-269,458-462
- (1894) "Rcchcrches s u ~ le S e f e ~Yeql~n",REJ 28, 94-108, 29, (21-78
I.entoi7. P
(1988) ;l17Y' 1 3 ~ 5 D'Dn 13 V117 ~ 1 1 ' 3 5' l l Y 2 11i719;iD D3V7il D3YDj7, Aler Sefer- 15,
45-55.
- (1998) 7 1 y Y 7 l b b i n'71;17-n311Yl Dl?? V l l ~ 3 in A4trskrt Mosl~e:St~~dic~.v in ./e~vi.shtlrlu'
1.slainic Czi1tr1r.epresented to Mo.she Gil, ecl. E . Fleisclier and M. Friedman (Jerusalem),
164-183.
Flei.sc~l7e1*, E.
(2002) "On the Alltiq~~ity of Serer Yezira: The Qilirian 'l'estimony revisited", Tcii.hiz 71,
405-432.
 GoIc/~cll111idt, I>.
(1894) Das Bric,11tiel Sc./rij/?fir/~g (Frankfurt). - (1989) "Points of'Similarity between the Exposition ofthe Doctrinc of'the Sefirot in Sefer
G~~o,s.shci;q, Ad. Yezira ant1 a lkxt of the I'scudo-C:lemcntinc l-iomilies", Pl~oceccliiigsof'tl7e I.sr.crcl ifcerti-
- (1 902) Sgfiii, 1'c~zirc111 cixc.rih~(lto the J'tr/l.irrr-c,hAh1~irlrtri71 with ~o171111e17fcrl;)' 13)D I ~ I IBe17
~IS~ e111)) of'Scie17c.c.scind/fli111(1~ifiex, VOI.V11.3, 6 3 1 4 2 .
Eil?tit?7(Lo~idon:R.W. Rabhinowicz). S(,l?oIe~lr, .;(
Gt.1I ~ ~ I ~ YI.I ~ ~ I / ( / , -- (1990) Or(Sii7.s ( ? f ' f l Kiihhiil~tk,
i~ Trans. A. Arkusll (I'rinceton: JPSA iuid Princeton Uni-
- (1071) "A Preli~ninaryCritical Edition of Serer Yezira", Ixtzreli Oi.ic~)~fal Sfric1ie.s 1, 132~- \jersity I'rcss), 24-35. Trans, of Ur:s/1r.ril7,y1ii1d/Ji?f?f17g~ (Berlin 1962).
(lei.K~rl~l~cilcr
177. - (1971) "Yczirah, Serer", EJ XVI, 782-788.
- (1973) "So~ncCritical Notes o n the First Part of S e k r Yezir;tn, REJ 132, 475-~512. S6d N.
If(rher-i~~to~t~, A.AL - (1966) "LC Me~ilarsalnaritain, Ic Sefer Yesira ct les trente-tle~~x sentiers dc la sagesse",
- (194617) "71sY7 l b b l p n i DslX", Si17cii20, 241L265. RllK 170, 159-84.
Ilcilh~~~:sttrirr, S.%.l.C/: - (1973) "LC Sefer YesirZ: l'6dition criticl~~e, le textc primitif; la grammaire et Iri mCtaphy-
- (1885) C'o~tiincn/crr- zrrilr Sc/)llrr ,Jezii.cr 11ot7 R. Jelrli~lri11. Uai:silcri (Berlin: Meliize Nird21- siclue'" IRE,/ 132, 513-528.
111i m) . S(,/t?r fi>,sii.tr
l ~ t i t ~ / <I)V,
c l ,4,1:. (1562) ( M a n t ~ ~ aThe) . first printcd edition.
- (1887) x7in.Y - s i n , Uc~r-Arrrt,ri, AprilIMay, cd. Y.L,. Kantor (St I'ctersbcrg), 27-35. vcijc/cl, (,;
1le/g~111tr11, A,/? - (1954) "Nou\/eaux li-agmenls arnhes du commcntaire de Dunash b. l'amim sur le Livrc clc
- (1984) "Some Observations on Sefer Yesira : (I) Its Use of Scriptltre", JJS' XXXV.1, la C'rCation", IiEJ 113, 37-61.
I 17. (1959-60) "Sa'adya comn~etltaleurti11 'Livi.e de la Cs6ation'," /Ilrirrtait.e eke I'Ecole I-'r.~r-
-- (1986) "Some Observations oil Sefcr Ycsira : (2) The Temple at the Ccntrc of the Uni- ficlrrc cles H~irite.sklricle,~,Sc.icr7c.e~Kcligicri,se.~(Paris), 3--35.
verse", ./.IS XXXV11.2, 176-182. - (1963) "Deux nouvcaux li-agti~cntsarabes du commentnirc tle Dunash b.13amim sur le
- (1987) "Sefer Yesirah and the Hekhalot Literat~~re", Proi.ece/irrg.s of'tllr ITi~af(;er~.sliom Sefer Yesira", RE./ 122, 149-162.
Si.ho1et111~1/et~1iii/io17crl Cot1/2rerrc.e otz Je~.vixI~ M Y S / ~ C ~ . Y/ I~III ., I I s L,S/r~i/ic.s
~ ~ ~ I ~inI Jcvilish I/trc,'jtr,C;. c111d /+17/ot7, 1'. R.
Tllorrght; VI, 1--2 (Jerrtsale~u:Hebrew University of Jerusalem), pp.71 8 5 . - (2002) 1,e Co~~l~?ir?iztitit.e .slit. le Livi.c3ili~Icr CYt.c;ntiondo 1Dii11cr.il~eirTat11i17 ci'c~ Kt1il.olioi7 (.P
- (1989) "Was God a Magician'? Sefer Yesira and Jewish Magic", JI/S XL1.2, 225-237. siScle): Aforii~cllrkclitio17i.evrie c/ trrtgtrie17lkel1crt.Pcxlrl B. Fcritor7 (Paris-Lotivain: Peters)
--- (1991) "Qohelet and the Book of Creation", ./SOTSO, 93-1 11. Ifirsscncs/t.olrr, S. M.
- (1993) "The Doctrine of Creation in Seltr Yesira: Some Text-Critical Problems", RASH1 (1993:) "Scfcr Ycsira and Early Islam: A 12ea11praisal", ./c~vi~i.sll 3;
Tl~origlrfe i l l t / I'l?i/o,~o~~l~g)
1040-1990 I-IOMMAGE /j EPJfRAIM E. URRclCH: C O N G R ~ SE U R O P ~ E NDES 1-30.
~ T U L ~ E S . J U Icd. I ~ Gabrielle
I~S, Scd-Rajna (Paris: Les editions du Cerf), 219-227. Il/c.llltfocli, I
- (1095) "The 'Original Text': A Scholarly Illusion'?", in I.C'oin!s Re1ne1~7/~et~ecl, Te,xt.s Re- (1972) ; i l s Y s 1Db 3~ nb117 11135, T~'17111117I, cd 1 Wettisto~k( J ~~It i a l e ~ lMoss'id l 1-131'1~
tie~i)ecl'.. E~~scrg)s ill Honoriiof'Johrr F.A. Sa~tyer;ed. J Davies, G Harvey & W E G Watson Kook), 9-71
(Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press), 434-449. (1981) 'albi n ~ i 1 ~ 2; vi i i ~ s 0 i v i 7 i i a i ) n i 3 s i x m ; i m i , T e l n ~ ~ 11,
~ n'3-3'),
- - (2004) "The Dragon, thc A.ris kI1117di,a~irlS~f&:ft:r. Ye.yircr $59" (fhrtheoming) (Miinstcr:
LJgarit-Verlag).
Jospe, R.
- (1990) "Early Philosophical Commentaries on the S~fi.1'Yezirc111:S(>t~ie Co~nments",RE,/
149,369-415.
Kt1firi.11,.I D. Ahl.nrn.s, D.
- (1972) 11x2 ; i V 7 y1121 ~ V1ls31 a i a i n ou a 5 v 7 717r7 lso (Jerusalem: Dror). (1994) Tlic Book Rnl7i1,: AII Editiot7 1~cr.seiion / / t i . I!cii~lic.stA4crnrt.sc~1~i1~/.v
(Los Angeles:
Lcrmhci.t, M Cherub Press).
- (1891) C ( I I ) ~ I I ~ CSI I I~Ile L. ~Stfki.
~ ~ . CYesiixi
> (111 1ivi.c cle Itr ci.cafio17,t?ar le Gtron Strrrc/ytr dc~ Alhec,k, C.
F'cgyorrt17 (Paris: kmile Bouillon; reprinted 1986 Alenqon: Editions Bihliophane French --
(1 949) Adio',zrS Bo.c.Cif Ra/~Bittie.\- l i h l ~li.~ k1o.si.v H~IL~'L/LII:~(III
(Ser~1saIe111:
Mckize Nirda-
trans. only). ~ n111).
i
l,crligc'1~117c117.Y 7: 1 4 1 t i ~ ~ cA,,
/ ~ ~ci11d
~ z ,S/1~i,t7,S. Ad.
- - (1907) "A New lidition ofSc;/kr )'c..sil~ir?",Ktrhhcilcrll 2. 49-64. - (1958) I.scitrc. I.s~.ereli;A iVco~~la/o~lic.PI~iloso/~lrci~ (/'/he Grvly Tentlr C C ~ I / (Ox
I I Ilbrd:
~ Ox-
Lieht~.~, Y ford Uni\lersity Press).
- (2000) ; i l s Y 7 1 9 0 i V ;i17Ys;i m l n (English title: At:s Pcotica it7 S~fi.rJ'c.tsil.cr)(Tel-Aviv, Ilt/t~toll,T
Schocken). - (1994) Ai~c*ierlt A x t r o ~ o ~(London
~~)' 2unci New York: Routledge).
Rc~i/-/Jt'ic~, h1
- (1986187) "Pnlaeograph~cal ldcnt~f~cat~on of Hebre~v Manuscripts Methodology and Lutiier, D J
I'ract~ce", ./A 12-13, 15-44 Iicpr~ntcd\v~thaddlt~onsand co~rect~ons In Belt-Ark l993b, - (1 992) "Qr, ctr Mz~~tidtzlnt ul-Utq~rfalidNeetor Hcr-Kor?ier The earllest Arable and Hebrew
1 1-40 Jewish anti-Chr~st~an polemics", In Gerrrzn/z r eretrr t h ~rfter ~ r ~ e yrtrr t j , r The ctrre of
- (1993n) Hebr-e~)M u n z ~ e ( r ~ poft ~Entt and West Towardt a Conij?ar*crtri~e Codzcologj Jucfir~>o-Arcrbrc, cd loshua Bldu and Stefan C R c ~ (Canbr~dge l Cambrrdge lin~vers~ty
(London The Bi lt~shLibra1y) PIess), 1 12-1 18
- (1993b) The Mcrkrngc of tlie Medrevill tlel~r-e+v Book (lerusalem The Magnes P ~ c s s The , Mtrltcr , H
Hebrew Un~vers~ty) - (1921) Saa~(yuGcron His Lrfc ar~dWor-kc (Pli~ladelpli~a JPSA of Amer~cd)
- (1993~)"Transm~ss~ori o l Texts by Scl rbes and Copy~sts Unconscrous and Crrt~calInter- M~rriu'clbnzrr7r,B
ferences", Bzrlletrn ofthe Johrl I<ylondt Lrhrory 75 3, 33 51 - (1987) Prrke de R~avKcrharrir (New York The Jewrsh Theolog~c'llSenl~naty of America)
- (1994) C~rtulogzr~~ of /lie Hehi ew rntr~i~iecrr~?tt rn the Bodercrn Lthrary crnd rn tlre College Mtrr mol*ttern,A
Lrhrarree ofOxford iupplement ol addenda and c o ~ r ~ g e n dtoa vol 1 (A Neubauer's cata- - (1927) 7he OMRcrhhrnrc L)ocf~r/re o f God (London)
logue), conlp~ledunder the d~iectlonof Malach~Belt-Ar~e,cdrted by R A May (Oxfold Mtrrgol~orrtli,G
Cl'lrcndon PIess) - (1 899-1 915) Ccrtalogr~i.of tlre He111civ nr~dSum(~r~rftrrr n//urrue~rr/7frin /Ire Brrtrth Mu-
Bzlhel; S eeu171,4 vols (London)
- (1884) Lekrr~ii701, (I'ettkto Srrtoi tu), ern ugtrd~\tl?erCorn1?7~wttrrzr1111 ereten zrridz~~erten Nrrrhr~uer,A
Ucrclie Moses von R Tol>rrr11en Elrc>~er (W111ia) - (1886) Ccrtalogrre o f t l ~ Ilehrew
e M n ~ z r c eI ~~I / I I I the RodIe~c~n Lrb~,tr~!I (Oxford Clarendon
- (1885) Mrd-trch Tcrtrhzinru (Wllna) Ptess)
Cbs\el, D O 'Nerll, J C
- (1869) Di~sULICII K I I ~ L1 des
I I ./e/i~~c~ci
IIU-Lev/riacl~d e r ~I?ehr~rr~c/7er1 E ~ fc/e\
e Jehudir //)ti- - (1991) "The Lost W ~ ~ t t eRecordsn of Jesus' Wotds dnd Deeds Beli~ndout R e ~ o ~ d sJTS ",
Trh0o11(Leipz~g) 42,483-504
Col~err,M S Rrc hie,; B And Bert-nrre, A4
- (1983) Tiye Shr 'ur Qoni~rh Lrtzrrgj) nrid Tlrezirgy rrr Pre-Knbbn/rttrc Jen.vr,h M y ~ t r c r ~ m - (2001) llel~veio Mcrnzrc.crrptr rn the Brhlroleca Pnltrfo~nrn I'crr~mn (Jerusalem JNUL)
(Lanham. New Yot k, Idondon Un~versltyPi ess of A ~ n eled) l Si~eriz-Bcru'rlloc,A
Dan, J - (1 993) A H ~ ~ tyo of
r the Hp1~r-erv Ltrirgrrtrge (Camh~~ d g eC a m b ~rdge Un~versityP~ess)
- (1993h) "The Anc~ent Hckhalot Texts 111 the M~ddleAges Trad~t~on, Source, Inspiration", Sll"(rt, C
B.JRL 75 3, 83-96, ~ e p r ~ n l eInd Dan 1998 243-260 (1990) A I-lrstorv of./e~vrshPhrloc.ol)iry rn tlre Mzd~/IeAge\ (Cambr~dgeCamb~idgcU n -
Gnnz, S ver s ~ t yPleis)
- (1948149) "The Orrg~ilof tlie Planeta1 y Week or Tlie Planetdl y Week In Hebrew L~tcra- Schirfer, P
ture", Proceedrrigt ofthe Amei /can Acaden~yof./e~lrthRe~enrch18, 213-254 - (1981) Svr~op\ezzrr Helihcrlot-Lrternt~ir~, TSAJ 2 (Tub~ngenJ C B M o h ~ )
Gmtz, H - (1984) Genrzo fiugrnerrte zro-Igekhalot-Lrterirf~~r, TSAJ 6 (Tublngen J C B Mohr)
- (1846 (1971) Gnoctrcrrmzre ~rndJ~identztnr(Krotoscli~n B L Monasch und Soha, repr - (1988) Neklinlot-Studrerr, TSAJ 19 (Tub~ngenJ C B Mohr)
Farnborough U K Gregg International Publlshels) - (1989) Uhertehzrrig &r Hekhalot Lrtemtz~re,vol 111, TSAJ 22 (Tub~ngenJ C B Mohr)
Gr~uen>vald, I - (1991) Sj!nol~eeZ L I I I I Tnlmrrd Yer~~rhnlr?ir, Band 111-2, TSAJ 31 (Tublngen J C B Mohr)
(1972) "W117D1n711g73;ill?;in ,n'/xp7n7 n171K11'In Temrrtn I, ed I Wernstock (Jerusa- - (1995) "The M a g ~ c of'thc Goleni Tlie Early Developnlent of the Gole~nLegend", .lJS 46,
lem Mossad llardv Kook), 101-139 249-261
Gltthi re, W K C Sed N
- (1962-1980) A Ilrrtory of Greek Plrtlotopli~),6 vols (Cambl~dgeCatnbrldge Unive~s~ty - (1981) L n 11ij)sflq~re r e ~ z r iJ Ui I~VeC S, XVI ( P a r ~ sEdit~onsde l'kcole des
~ ~ ~ r ~ ~ o l o g r q ~ Ltltdet
Press) Hautes CtudesIMouton)
r m p rrll, D J Scholern, G
- (1988) The F n c o of the C/?cr?lot E U Y I.~J ~ ~ . I JRICJ J/ II J O N Jto~ Ezekrel'r
J Vr~lon,TSAJ 16 - (1962) Ursprrrng ~nrdAliftrlige (/er Knhhrrln (Belltn Walter de Gruyter &r Co) Engl~sh
(Tublngen J C B M o h ~ ) translation by A Arkusll, Orrgr~tof the Krxl~hnlnh(PI ~nceton Pr~ncetonUnlvers~tyPress
Herfor d; R T and the Jewlsh Publication Soc~etyof A~neirca),198711990 (= Scholenl 1987)
- (1962) Tlrc E t h 5~ of tire 72rlnirrd So~)rngeof [he F(rther:t (New York Schocken) Schlrtter; 1L./
Her-marin, K - (1982) 'Dertrqon" orrtJ Gotzenu'lclr~t Stzrdren zrrr cr~frken jzrdr t clren Relrgrori rgetchrchfe,
- (1993) "Re-wr~ttcn Myst~calTexts tlie T~ansnil.;slonof the Hclkhalot L~terature111 the rrucgel7end von rrlren7 grrechrcehen Lehn~vor-frn 177 AZ 111 3 (Judentum ~rndUmwelt, 4,
M~ddleAges", BJRL 75 3, 97-1 16 Frankfurt Petel Lang)
Hor ovitz, H S Shnif; A
- (1 966) Srlrhre D Bc. Rtrh (Jei ~ ~ s n l e Wahi
m ~ n a n nBooks) - (1976) Tire Unrverce ofSlicrhhcttrr Dorlnoio (Wa~mrnsterA r ~ & s I'h~llrps)
L(lii.~~t,
C.
- (1990) A Ilistoi:~)o j ' . / e ~ ~ ~I'l?ilo.soj~l~j~
is/l ill 1l7e Mitltllc Ages (Cambridge: Ctltllbridge Urli-
versitp Press).
- (2002) I-Iehrcbtv A4~r/luso.i/1fsof' /lie Micltile Agge.s (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press).
Stet., 11.M .
(1904) The Test o f ' f l ~ clir/;yrtt/rof'.loh: iln lnfi.odric~tioi7triid G.ific.rr1 Edifion, Arbeiten zur Index of Sourccs
XX (Leicien: E.J.Bril1).
Cieschicllte dcs antil<cn Judentums und des lirchristcnt~~tns,
St/.orlin.c.tr,S.
- (1992) "Qisjtr A4r/jfi~/~rlat ~rI-U.sqr/fjA CitSC st~idyin polemical literatul-en, in Gerliztrh re- 1. Hebrew Bible
x~~i11.c.17
~ f i ~i~itlc~tjtj)rt~/..\.:
t . ed. Josh~laUlau and Stefan C. ReiS
Tile case i?f'./~icltrro-Aizrbic,
(CIamhridge: Cambriclge Uliiversity Press), 155-~159.
I.A4.
Tzi-S/7111cr,
- (197 1) "Judah hen 13arzillain, RI X , 341--2.
E.
7i)1~,
- (1985) "'l'he Nature and Background of' Harmo~lizationsin Biblical Manuscripts", ./SOT
31, 3-29.
Urhtrch, E. E.
(1 979) The Suges: Tlieir Concej?rstiirdUcliqfi (.lcrusalcm: The Magncs Press, the 1 Icbrew
linivcrsity).
A.
Ytii.c/c~r~i,
- (I 977) The Book of'J-(cl~r.e~~ Sci,i/?/:/-listor?< I ' r r / r e o j i t ~ ~ r / ?So.i/,t
/ ~ j ~ , Sfjile.~,O r l l i g r ^ ~ r j ~and
l~v
Design (Jerusalem: C:arta).
Zotc.11 ho:q, H.
- (1 866) Ctrtcrlogrres ck.s rntrr7rr.scr.if.sIldl~i~errs
ef Srr/ncrr.itcri/?s,For~d~c. HcJbr-ezr (I'aris).
 Index of Modern Authors

Abi ams, D 10
35, 85, 86, 103 Ber. R. Albeck, C 30
1,s 105 Allony,N 3,4, 13, 18, 19, 32, 71, 73, 75, 84, Hnber~nan,A M 1-3, 13, 1 8 , 2 4 2 6 , 2 8
1,15 87 95,97, 100, 102, 125, 151, 162 Ilnlberst'~m, S Z W 21,24, 25,32, 61, 63,
35, 61, 85, 86, 105, 143, 150, 172 437 105 Altmann. A 29 65, 66, 69, 71, 73, 75, 95, 103, 106, 109,
113, 116, 117, 120, 125, 130, 132, 134,
Bdi ton, T 128 143, 149, 150, 157, 159, 171, 172, 180,
Belt-Ail&,M 6, 7, 9, 12, 13,21, 23 184, 185, 188
Ben-Shammai, M 26, 68, 124 I lalperin, D J 136, 143
Lelrach Tub (ed B ~ ~ h e t ; ) Rerluner, A 8 Narkavy, A F '36, 173
11. 2 77 Blau, J 8 Hayman, A P 9, 34-36,61,62,69,71,82,
Buber, S 34 86, 89, 105, 106, 172, 150, 186
Herlbrd, l i T 7
h. Men
Cassel, D 144 Iier mann, K 8
29b 35, 138 Caslell~,D 31, 61, 65, 68, 73, 78, 88, 90, I Iorovlt7, 11 S 136
95, 103, 108, 116, 117, 119, 120, 125, 126,
130, 132, 134, 138, 143, 157, 162, 166, Jospc, R. 26
172, 175, 185
3. Helchalof and related texts Cohen, M S 136 Kafach, J D 1, 13, 19,26, 61, 63, 66, 68, 73,
84, 96, 100, 102, 106, 116, 166, 171, 175
Dan, J 8,25, 32, 35, 37, 66, 77, 124, 138. Kantor, Y L 76
139, 180 Kaui'mann, D 32

Epsteln, A 2, 26, 30-32, 37, 39, 95, 100, Lambelt, M 1, 13, 19,26, 61, 6'3, 66,68, 73,
113, 120, 143 84, 96, 100, 102, 106, 116, 166, 171, 175
Langerman, Y T 20
Fenton, P I, 25, 29, 60, 63, 64, 66, 68, 71, [<askel,D 8
80, 84, 91, 95, 103, 113, 120, 123, 134, Licbes, Y 4, 35, 62, 71, 73, 84, 88, 98, 113,
138, 143, 147, 156, 158, 186, 192 114, 124, 132, 150, 185
Fr~edinan,M 25 L~lnk-Sal~ngcr,K 26

Ganz, S 36, 143 Malter, 11 26

G o l d ~ e ~ cAh , 32 Mandelbauiu, B 145
Goldschm~dt,L 3, 37, 117, 123, 125, 126, Ma~goliouth,G 12-14
133 Ma1 nor ste~n,A 73
G~ossbelg,M 29, 60, 63, 71, 84, 129
Glueawald, 7 3-5, 9, 11-17,21, 22, 24, 33, Neubauer, A 12
34,37-39,62 -65,69-71,73,77, 80, 81,
84, 86-88, 91, 97, 108, 11'3, 115, 135, 139, O'Ne~ll,J C 7
143, 150, 155, 159, 171, 181 Oion, M 32

Saenz-Haciillos, A. 66
Schiifer, P. 9, 12, 13, 102
Schlosberg, 1,.8
Scholcin, C;. 3, 66, 97
Schliiler, M. 36
SCd,N. 3, 36, 69, 95, 143
Sharf, A. 31, 36
Sirat, C:. 13, 22,28
Stec, L). I I
Stern, S.M. 29
Str-oumsa, S. 8
Ta-Shma, I.M. 32 'Texts and Studies ill Ancient Judaism
Tov, E. 33, 144 Alpllabetical Index
Urbach, E.E. 73, I32
Alhoili, All., .J. I;j.~:i! A. L ~ i ~(F,tl.): ~ g ~St~idics
, ill tllc Hook o('S~thilccs.1997. I.i)/~oiic,65.
Airrcliiig, ~l/Nlioi~: Inscript~oncsludaicac Orietitis. Vol. 2: Kleinasicti. 2004. I'ol!iiire 99.
~veiirtrric~, Frirc/ric/r: '1.01.3 L I I I ~Lehen. 1090. 14)lrorre55.
Rcc.kei;11. /I., A. Y. Rcccl (Ed.): The \V:iys that NCVCI. Piirtcd. 2003. I.~I/II~~Ic 95.
Bec~/tc,i:Ikors-.Jiii:yc~n:Ilic grorjcn mbbinischcn Sammelwcrkc I'a1iistin;is. 1900. K)Irriric 70.
- see ,S(~liii/i.i:Peic~i.
Wasscr 5tro111, S 95 Hlo~~cllrorri, Il'cii~.sivitl/:sec il'o!? llicvicl
Weinstock, 1 2, 4-6, 14, 18, 20. 22, 25, 27, ('ciristlnlc, 1,oiitr: Qumrlui anci thc Ilssencs. IC)97.141lioirc 60.
38,39,61-65,50-71,73,75,78,80-82,84. (%~~.sicr: AII(/I.~,II.:Di\~i~le i ~ i iLlivitie Titles it, the I'ctilatcuclial 7at.gumim. 1086. IOlrriirc 14.
I ~ c ~ c l a t ant1
87, 97, 100, 102, 126, 129, 148, 166, 188 ('olrc~ii,~\/hr.tirrS'iiririic~l:The Slii 1%(Jorni~lr:'l'cxls nntl 12cccnsions. IOS5. IhIiiiiic~9.
( ~ I U \ I J I I ,Aluir I>.: Sa~~la~-itaii Scribes a~itlMan~~scripts. 200 I . I4)liiii1c,80.
lloc,rii~g,'ritz: Scl~:~hhii~, 1000. 141/1iiiic,78.
/<go, Rciiic,: Targ~lrnScheni zu Ester. IOOh. l/oliii?rc~ 54.
l<i~gc~l, Ai!jcr: see S(,lrii/i.i; IJcicv.
I.i.i.1~~ ,/.:see z41hc~i1i, A4.
Friclc, l-'cter: Divine Providence in I'liilo of'Alcxaiitlrin. 1000. l,ijlriir~c77.
Gih.toi1, E. Lci,y/i: The .lcwisli Ma~iiin~ission Inscript ions oftlie l3osporus Kingtlotii. 190% I4111i11rc~ 75.
C;I(flriier: (hl~c.: 1:inleitung in (lie Tatgume zum Pentatclicli. 1'105. l/r~l!iiiic~ 48.
~ ~ i ~ . , Mystik und Thcologic ilcs ixbbinisclien Sudentuins. C;esammeltc Stndien I. Ed, by
C ~ o l c l l ~Ari~old:
hl. ,Y(~/il~iier ~111clP ,Scliii/t,i: 1097. f4)/1iiii(< 61.
-
Kahhinisclie'Tcxtc als Gcgcnstand tler Auslcgung. C;esammcltc Studic~i11. Ed. by
AL Scl~liita.and I? S~~lri!/i,r:1900. 14)111iiie73.
i;ooclhlo/i, 1)cn)iil: The Monarcliic I'riticiplc. 1994. Ihlriirrc, 38.
G.iizii/,qr,i; Kni.1: Musik und (;esar]g in der-Thcologic der fi.iilie~~jiidiscIic~i Literal~rt:19x2. l/ijliii~t~>3.
C;i.rtc~ni~~olcl, I., Sir. Slrukcdiind (;.C;. Sii.orii~i.vri(17,tl.): Messiah and Chrislos. I'resc~itcdto D;ivid E'lusscr.
1002. K)/rirll<,32.
/lcrl/~erir!,Drrvir/./.: Tlic Faces o f tlic C'lii~riot.IOXS. Ihlrorre 16.
N ~ ~ I I I Lil. I I1)c~tei.:
I, Scfcr Ycsim. 2004. 1~4)liriirc104.
Hr~i.nirnr2i1, Kltriis (Ed.): M:~sscklietI-leklii~lot.1094. I4~liiii1e 3'1.
scc Sclii+v; fJ~,tri.
fl'clic,i; ./oii.v: Die P;iralipomena Jcrc~lliac.1904. I/i,lrir?ic4.1.
II(~z.vcr:C'iiih~riiic,:for ti^, F~inctio~l, aild Historical Sigtiificance oftlie Kahbinic Story in Ycrushalmi
Neaiqiii. 1993. I/i~Iriiirc,37.
- see ,ScIrii/2.i; I'eic~i.
- 'l'lie Social Strltcti1l.c ofthc IZahbinic Movc~liciitin Rom;in Palestine. 1907. I/i)lio~rc~ 66.
tlez.so; Cbih~>i.iiit> (Ed.): Rabbinic Law in its Roman and Near l7,astcln C:ontcxi. 2003. I.i,lriiiic, 97.
ll'ii:sc~l!/i~lcIe,;Uirikr: see ,S'(,liiif>i:I'rio.
I/or~Oiri:j! If!: scc K~.rt~i.s.v, Str~rrricl
I-loi~iiiiciii, ,411~c~i~cIii1cr:Misli~i;~l~ LII~CIToscfk~.1096. 14)liiiii(~ -59.
floii, 7211: .lewisli Women in Grcco-Roman f'alcstii~e. 1095. I4)Irri~re44.
-
Integratir~g.lewisliWoliinn into Scconti Tcmple Ilislory. 1900. 1/01111i1(, 76,
-
Lexicon oSScwish Names in I,atc Antiquity. 2002. Voltriric, '11.
Irrstoiic Bi.c,il,ri;Dnl'i(1: Tccliniques ant1 Assutiiptions in Je\\~ish1:xegesis hcforc 70 CE. 1992. 1.ijlro11c30.
ll~iii,K~i..stii~: see ,Sclii+r; fJctr,r
./rrcoh.s, iL.liii.iiil: Die Illslitution des jiidischcn P;~tri;lr-clic~i. 1995. 14)lrorro52.
Krisho: A/:Iw/I:The Sews in I lellcnistic and Romiiti Egypt. 1085. I+jl~riiic~ 7.
- Sews, ldumaeans, anci h~icicntA ~ t h s 1088. . 1hl~ii)rc18.
- Jews ant1 tlclletiistic C'itics in E.rctz-ls~.acl,1900. Ih/iiiirc/.
Kiritic,l, 7'11oiirii.v:1I)as gricchischc .L,che~iAciams L I I I ~Evas'. 2002. 14~lriiirc~ 88.
fi~rrir.\.s,Snii!ric,l: Tllc .Icwisli-C'111.istiiitiC'ot~trovcrsyfi.om the earliest litllcs to 1789.
Vo1.l. Ed, by W I/oi~O~ri:~? 10')6. Ik)lrr~rrc56.
 Krrhii, Pc,/c~t.:Offc~ibari~~igssti~iiti~c~i ill1 A ~ i t i k e.IU~CII~LII~I.
~i 1980. I ~ ) l ~ r i i20.
re Sc,lrii/i~i;Petri; aild Slrolrl S%ciltcc/(Ed.): M;~gisclicSextc ails der Koil-oer Geniza. Band 1 : IC)94.
Krg~t,A11irr1ic.s:The ,DescentLto the Clial-iot. 1995. 14jl1ii~it~ 41. K)luir~c~ 42
Lirirgi'c,A , : see Alhiiiri, M . Band 2: 1997. I'ol~oiic,64.
Lirnge, Nic,holirs tic,: Greek Jewish Texts f r o ~ nthe Cairo (ienizah. 1906. 1411irrirc 51. --
Band 3: 1999. li~lrrirre72.
I,c~/7i~cii~clt. Arit1i~eir.c:Qaddish. 2002. 14jIrrii7c 87. .S'chiii;.i; Peter (Etl.): The Talmucl Ycri~shalrniand (iraeco-Romaii Ci11ti1re1. 1908. lhlra~~c, 71.
L<~oiiherr?lt, .lirtto: Sewisli Worship in Philo of Alcxantlria. 200 1 . Volr~iire84. .S'cliii/?,~;Pcte, and /Ic,z.sc~r:Cbtlio.iire (Ed.): The Tilltiii~dYerushnlmi and G ~ ~ e c o - R o m a(:nlture n 11.
Lolri7rtriii1, U/CI:see Sclriifei; Peter. 2000. l+)lrii7ie 79.
Loopilc. M vcrir (Transl. a. comm.): l'hc Ways ofthe Sages and tlie Way of the Worltl. I09 1. 14)11oire26. Sc,liii/i~t;f'rter (Ed.): The 'Talmud Yerusl~almiantl Gracco-Roman (:ulture 111. 2003. I4)lrirrrc~93.
l,r~tiiklri~izc~t7, (;n~trr~elI?: The Rcvclntiotl of Elchasai. 1085. 141lrrnre 8. ~ c / l / i i l c ~h/li~?~yili.c't(':
r; SCC G O / ~ / / J ~ ,~!l'irolc/
,IX.
Mcrc.11,~ M i c l ~ cE~~~i tl w : i c k l ~ ~ ~ i g s sdes
t i ~jiidischen
d i e ~ ~ I,ngelglaubcns in vorrabbi~iisclierZeit. 1992. - see S";cI~ii/i,r:P(,tor,
K)l~inrr34. .Ycliii~itlt,1 ~ i ~ ~ i i ~Le c ~'kstament
i.s: Grcc d'Abnlliam. 1980. Ihlrrrr~c~ 11.
A/lc.rrtlc~l.s, i)oi'oii: The Land of Israel as a I'olitical Concept in I lasil~oncanLiterature. 1087. fi)lur7re 15. Sclri~ijclc~r; Bcr.iccl: Die ,viiterlichen Gesctze'. 1006. 141lroiic~ 53.
~Ck).ccoviiz, 1,eih: Taliiii~dicReasoning. 2002. C/olrrirre0'9. .E.li~vcri.tz,llciiiic~lR.: Agrippa I. Ic)90. K)lriiiic~23.
Mrrtiu.~,( ; e o i ~voi7: see ,J'c/rii/c,i; Prtei. Scli~<,c,irrcr; Ariiiir A/loi.iir: Stitdicn zit tlcn kiil?jiitlisclien I'rophctcnlegcntlcn. Vit;~cI'roplietarum Band I:
Ncc,kci; Co.01~1:see Sc/rii/&i: Pctw 1095, r4j~lrille, 49,
No.)! I ) r r v i ~ l / P a i r i i v o t ( ~Ail~t ~, ~ ~ i ~ r i c l c ~ i ~ / H l oIlir~r~s~ortl/:
e c / I ~ o ~ ~ iInscriptioncs
, Judaicae Orientis. Volume I: -
B;ind 11 (mit Bcihcli: Synopsc ~ L tic11 I Vitae I'ropl~ctarum): 1090. l/i)Irrnrc 50.
Eastern T:ill.ope. 2004. 14jliiiric' 101. cClr~rlriri; Ervcil: Soseplicts C;eog~.aphiciis.2004. I41lrriirc OK.
A/OJJ,l l c ~ v i i l / R l o c ~ i N ~ olloiir11'111j.'
/~ii, Inscriptio~~cs S~rdaicaeOrientis. Volume 3: Syria and Cyprus. Slliilcc,ii, Sliillil: scc G ~ ~ i i c ~ i r , l I.
~i~ltl,
2004. 14~loirre102. - scc .Sclrii/i,i; IJcier.
Ol)'crir, Sort1 h.1: A l'housantl 'l'hoi~s:~ndsServed Hini. 1993. V0/~ri?r(, 36. i ~ l ~ ~ ~1.sriic~l: f ~ ~Tlic i ~ Arniies
i ~ i ~of'tlie
, Has~iionaeans;~ntlHeroti. I00 I. I4~loriic~ 25.
O t t c ~ r ~ h aRiirtr: ~ ~ l r , see Sc11iiJi.i;Pt~ter- ,Sif,Oei:s, S'ic,j2rir: see ,I'c/riifi.i; Pctc~r
Pcriicg~oio~: Alc.roi~tlc'r:see A'o)! Dcrviil Sil-ci.isci: /lli,,\-c,i: Private Iloiiscliolrls end l'i~blic Politics in 3"' 5"' C:cntiiry Sewisli I'alestinc. 2002.
Prifii~tlt,Piei.r.c: Lc Judais~licct I'imagc. 1990. l+~iritire24. Voloilrc 90.
Piic.ci Heir %eel! A4iikiii7: Scwish liigllts in the Roman Worltl. 1998. hlrrrire 74. S/)il,shrri:1:Pair/: The Image of the Jew in Flavi~rsSosephi~s'Pnrapli~.ascofthe Uihlc. 1008. fi)lrrnre 69.
I J i r i i r i r t n ; X'iirlrorcl: L:arly Christian Authors on Samaritans and Samaritanism. 2002. h l ~ o r i e 92. ,Strorri71,sci,C;..;( : see ~ ~ i ~ r i e i ~I~. ~ ~ c ~ l c l ,
/(re(/,A. Y: see H e ~ l i ~/I.~Hi ;. Str~c~koil~r~iclc, Lorerr %: The Book of Ciiilnts ti.0111Qum~.an.1097. 1t)Iitnic~63.
Reyy, Goit/i.ic.t/ (Ed.): Die Geschichte von clen Zehn Miirtyre~.n.198.5. l+jllri,rc 10. Sli~itr.tz,A/lic~hcrc,lD.:Mysticiil I'rayer in Anciciit Jutlais~ii.1902. I/olrciil~~ 28.
see .S'c~lzii/ei:1'c'ic.t. ,\'i~.sliir~q, HLII.I:IJ:i'ehiyyat Fla-Mcti~n.1996. Ihluirrr 57.
Reiino: Lrrcic: see Sc~lriifL;~: Pctci. l/rho?i, Mtri.tir~ii:see Sclrii/i~i;Pctc~i.
licic~lrii~un. Xoiieii: Sil'ra ~lntlMishna. 1998. K)lrciire 68. 141tr.i, C'iri.seppc,: Eine ?'or;l L'iir (ten Kiinig Talmai. 1994. 14jlrorrc~41.
Xohrhnc1iei.-Stickel; Clrrrrclia: see Sc,hiifi.i; Petc~r. -
Magic und Halakh;~.1007. 10li~iire62.
Sirl~~c,.sc~ir. A. (Ed.): Origen's Ilcxapla and 17ragments.1998. K)/~rrirc, 58. I/isotz/q< H ~ i i ~ / oL.: i i Golden Bells ;uid Ponicgl-anatcs. 2000. l i ) l r ~ i i ~94.
c
aSirir~c,!,!/llc~scririlri~: The Interpretation oESpcech in tlie I'entateuch 7;1rg~1nis.1992. l.i,lslnic, 27. The Ways that Never Pal-tcd. 2003. I+~Ir~irrr 96.
S c l r i ~ / i ~fJctPt,:
i; Ilcr Bar-Kokltba-Aufst~~~itl. 198 I. I/olrriire I . I.I+iriili.c~j~ h.iiitr: ,,Das ISuch des Gcwandes" und ,,D;I~Ruch clcs Aufrcchteii". 2004. I4olrrrirc~96.
- Heklialot-St~rtlieri. 1988. l/oIiiirie 19. 1.1/(.)1(~; Guiilo: see ,Glrii/c,r: Pc~to.
Sc.lri@i; lJc,tei. (Ed.): Geiii~a-17ragmcnte zur Hcklialot-Literati~r.1984. I,i~lrrrrre6. lWc.~l,r,a,Gc.i.11 i f . : Problcme tler Davot-TI-aktate. 1084. IOlriiire 5.
- 'i'tie Bar Kolthba War Keconsidercd. 2003. I ~ ~ l ~ 100. ~irrr M/ildi~ii,sec~, G w i : scc ,Sc.hiifiv; Petei.
- scc tio/i//~c,rg, ~i.?ro/d I~l~i/.soir, M+ilto. 7 : : 'l'lie Mysteries oSRigtheousncss. 1994. 14)lroirr 40.
ill coopcratio~iwith Kltrrrs /r'e~~rrirrrriii, Xiircr Ottc~rhciclr,Gottfi.ic.ci Rceg, C'lri~riiiaRolrrhur1iei~-
,Ctic~ki~i; C~rirtoIP',JJ<>I.: Ko~ikordalizzur 1Ieklialot-Literatus, Band I : 1986. Itolri~71e12.
- Hand 2: 1988. I/i)lrriire 13.
Sc~liii/&r:Peter: h.la,:qorc/c Sc~hliitc~i: f-1iiii.s G e o q vori Mrrtirr.~(Ed.): Synopse zur Hekhalot-Litcratur.
108 I. K)/rrir~e2.
J'c,hii/i~r;I'cto. (Ed.) in cooperalion with I/ir17.s-Jiir~mrBrckcr; Klcrrr.cHc'i.r.r1itriii7,Uli~ike//i,:cc/;/cliI~i;
C;c~i.oltlNt~c.ltei;I,ircie Reirirei: C'lurrtlicr 1iohrhac~Iio~-Slickc,~: Stc;/L~irSiebrr:~:~ b e r s e t z u n gder
Hekhalot-Literatur. Band 1: $$ 1--80. I')C). li;,lrrrite 46.
H;~nd2: $5 81 3 3 4 . 1087. I.i,lrrnre 17.
- Danci 3: $$ 335-597. 1989. l+)lilirzc, 22.
- Uancl 4: $$ 598-985. I99 I. I41loirrc~29.
cTc~l~iiji~i; Peter; and 1fcrir.s-./iiigeii Heckt~r(Ed.) in coopelation n~itliAiijii Eiigel, Ker.sti17 lpttr, Geroltl
A/cdiri; Utcr Lohiiitriiir, 1\4tri.tirrrr lii~htr,~, (;car/ l.l'ilclrir,sc~e:Synopsc zuru Taln~udYeruslialmi. 13and
Ill 2: 190 I. I~i~Iiiiric~ 31.
-
Band 113-5: 1992. Ihl~rrrre33.
-
B:~iicI 116-1 1 : I 902, 14)lrrii7c>3.T.
-
Bancl Ill: 19%. 14)lrtiire67.
-
B>IIICI l\f: 1905. l4)lrii11c'47,

1 Three are liost~lc 'lnd
these are they the tongue,
the l ~ v and
c ~ the gall
2 Three love tlie h e a ~ t tlie
, 2 Three love: thc eyes, the
ecll5 'tnd the eyes
3 'T'llrcc give IiSc: the tw~o
nostrils ancl the liver of
the lcll siclc.
4 Tliree kill: tlie t\vo lower
orifices and the niouth.
5 ?'here are three w~llicliare
in man's control: tlie feet,
the hands and the moi~th.
6 There arc three which are
not in man's control: his
two eyes, his ears and his
nostrils.
7 Three evil things are
heard by the ear: cursing,
blasphemy and an evil re-
port.
8 Tliree good things are
heard by the ear: blcss-
ing, a good report and
praise.
9 Three sights are bad for
the eye: adultery, an evil
eye and a deceptive look.
10 T l i ~ e esights 'ne good f o ~ 10
the eye modesty, a good
eye, and a t~ustwortliy
look
I I Three things ale bad for 1 1
the tongue He wrho
sl-xxkr, In the presence of
the sldnderer, lie who
speaks one t111ng wrth the
my1 l i w i i 7 w i w I I
Y T i ~7192 ~ v ni ; i
T n x m 7 a m 1lwia;n
[tbl. 71b] 252 7 n x l 792
n n i u 1 i w i i w i i w 12
~ i w ni7nwi
i ;iplnw
.nDX 127)91
I Three are hostile. These
arc they: the tongue, the
liver and the gall.
ears and the heart.
3 Tliree give life: the two
nostrils and the liver of'
the left side.
4 'Three kill: the two lower
orifices and tlie n~outli.
5 There are three which
are in Inan's control: the
hands, the feet, and the
mouth.
6 There are three wlhich
are not in man's control:
his eyes, his ears and
his nostrils.
7 Three thrngs are heard
hy the ear and they are
evil: cursing, blasplie-
lily and an evil report.
8 'Three good things are
heard bv the ear: bless-
ing, praise and a gooci
report.
9 Tliere are tliree evil
s~ghts: an adulterous
leer, an evil eye and a
deceptive looli
There dre tlilee good 10 There are three good
ughts modesty, a good
eye, and a trustwlortliy
look
T h ~ e tll~ngs
e ale bad f o ~ 1 1 Three things are bad for
the tongue He who
speaks e v ~ lIn the ples-
ence of 111s fellow, he
who slanders, nnd he
moutli but 'inothcr ~ ~ t hwho spmks one thing tlirng w ~ t hthe tongue but
the h c ' ~ ~ tmcl
, he who w ~ t hthe mouth but '~n- notli lie^ w ~ t hthe 1ie‘11t
speak? too much other w ~ t hthe h e a t
12 T h ~ e t11111gs
c are good lor 12 TI11ee tIilng\ a1 e good 12 Three t111ng~a1 e good for
the tongue s~lence,retl- f o ~the tongue s~lence, tlic tongue SI~CIICC, rctl-
cencc, and spedk~ngthe retrcence, and \peaking cence, and spcak~ngthe
tl~~tli the t~11th trutll
1 Three are hostile. These
are they: the tongue, the
liver and the gall.
2 Three love. These are
they: the eyes, the ears
and the heart.
3 'Tliree give life. 7'hcse are
they:
5 tlie hands, the Seet, and
the lips
6 There arc three ~vhich
are not in man's control.
These are they: his two
eyes, his ears and his
nostrils.
7 Three things are Iieard by
the ear and they arc evil:
cursing, sharning ancl a n
evil report.
8 Three good things are
heard by the ear: bless-
ing, a good report and
praise.
9 There are three cvil
sights: an adulterous leer,
an evil eye and a decel3-
tive look. R collated to K:
1 D72'lR] D7K31W R. 4 ;iD7l]
sights: modesty, a good
7x;i1 R
eye, and a trustwortliy
look.
tlie ear: He who speaks
evil in the presence of his
Sellow, he who slanders,
and he who speaks one