CHAPTER TWO

THE MANUSCRIPTS

2.1 General Observations

The 21 manuscripts examined in this study come from a variety of sources, some from Sperber’s apparatus,1 others from various libraries. Since each source has its own identifying code system which is usually lengthy, I have simplified their designations to one letter. The MT is compared to Mordekhai Brawer’s edition (1989) that is based on mostly Keter Aram Tzova (Codex Aleppo) and Yemenite mss. These manuscripts belong to five major traditions: Palestinian, Babylonian, Yemenite, Ashkenazi and Sepharadi. Ms F (Reuchlin 3) is considered Palestinian.2 The Babylonian texts, considered to be the earliest, carry pre-Tiberian massorot of vowel and accents systems.3 The two texts used here, Eb 80 and Eb 88, have no date. They are fragmentary and quite damaged. Yeivin examined them in 19644 and Josef Florit Ribera examined and published only their text to Zephaniah.5 Yemenite mss are often called Babylonian-Yemenite.6 Five are exam- ined here. As noted above, Yemenite mss show the gradual Hebrew’s move from purely Babylonian system to fully Tiberian, while retaining the old vowel system for the Targum. The best Yemenite mss were

1 Alexander Sperber, The in Aramaic. 3rd impression. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2004. 2 Shlomo Morag identifies Ms F as having the Fuller Palestinian system of vocal- ization (The Vocalization Systems of Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic [The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1961], 38 note 78). 3 The earliest surviving ms, apart from the Ben Asher Codex, contains some frag- ments from the book of Nehemiah found in the Cairo Geniza, written in Da Gunbadan, Iran, in 903/4. Beit-Arié, The Makings of the Medieval Hebrew Book ( : Magnes Press, 1993), 55 note 17. 4 Israel Yeivin, “ ,” Qiriat Sefer 39 (1964): 563–72. 5 Josep Florit Ribera, “La versión aramaica del profeta sofonías,” EB 40 (1982): 127–58. 6 E.g., Alejandro Díez Macho, “Nuevos manuscritos bíblicos babilónicos,” EB 16 (1957): 235–77. 36 chapter two written by professional scribes commissioned by wealthy7 Jews from the capital San{a. Of the five Yemenite mss (HVZJE), two are used by Sperber, one as the basic text (Ms V), the other is Ms Z. They range from the 14th to the 17th century. However, while Columbia University RBML (The Rare Book and Manuscript Library) dates Ms H (X 893 B 47) to the 14th century with a question mark, JNUL ( Jewish National and Uni- versity Library) dates it to the 16th–17th century. I, however, would date it to the 11th–12th century (see commentary below). The seven Ashkenazi mss (TMAYURP), provenance unknown, range from the late 13th to the 14th century. The six Sepharadi mss (XSCWNQ ) range from the 13th to the early 16th century, one from Italy. Except for the mss Sperber examined, four are printed editions: The First Rabbinic Bible, Bomberg, Venice 1515/17 (FRB); The Second Rabbinic (= The First Massoretic) Bible, Bomberg, Venice 1524/25 (SRB102). Both editions are considered Ashkenazi. They are denoted as ms B and ms G respectively.8 Miqraot Gedolot, which is based on ms G, will be designated as MG.9 The third printed edition is The Antwerp Polyglot Bible, 1569/73, and is considered Sepharadi. It is denoted ms O.10 The fourth, Ms F, is the Karlsruhe 3 (see below). Other Testimonia used by Sperber are: Aruk of R. Nathan (according to Kohut’s edition);11 Rashi and Kimhi (here referred to as Radaq) according to MG.12 The 21 mss are here classified according to their origin and dating. Photocopies and most of the descriptive information were obtained from the Jewish National and University Library ( JNUL), Institute

7 The word “wealthy” is very relative where are concerned. 8 Since they are not manuscripts per se, they are denoted here as ‘ms’ distinct from ‘Ms.’ 9 There are two publications that do not always agree. The first was published in Jerusalem by Jacob Buch in 1964 (). Apart from the usual commentators, it includes Malbim. The second was published in New York by Abraham Isaac Fried- man in (1966). 10 The eight-volume Antwerp Polyglot Bible, like its predecessor the Complutensian Polyglot Bible (see below under Ms W), was a monumental opus, sponsored by King Philip II of Spain. It was carried out by several Spanish scholars and supervised by Benedictus Arias Montanus. It was printed in Antwerp by the well-known French printer, Christophe Plantin. Based largely on the Complutensian, it added the Syriac New Testament, Targum of Esther, Job, and Psalms, and the Salomonic writings. The last two volumes provide an apparatus criticus, lexicons, and grammatical notes. 11 He is relevant to Zephaniah only in one case. 12 Sperber uses Rashi according to ms G which seems to have numerous mistakes.