A Nestorian Arabic Pentateuch Used In Western Islamic Lands

Abstract

Techniques of translation and exegesis may help to set into a definite context many aspects that relate to the cultural formation of some strands of the Arabized Christian population, specify the Islamic influences in particular instances, and identify examples that originated in the Eastern Christian communities. A model example is the version of the Book of Psalms made by Ḥafṣ b. Albar al-Qūṭī. We know that the author of the Leiden Glossary encountered some Old Testament books in their Arabic translation, as well as a Pentateuch in the same language, which is believed to derive from a translation made in Syria. The Andalusian Muslim Ibn Barrajan quoted Old Testament passages, from the Pentateuch in particular, in Arabic. Thus, we have fragmentary information about translations into Arabic from the Old Testament made in al-Andalus, and in some remarkable cases we can see that the source used by Jewish writers was Christian.Keywords: al-Andalus; Arabized Christian population; Book of Psalms; Islamic influences; Jewish writers; Leiden Glossary; Old Testament book; Pentateuch; Syria