The trilingual Hebrew/Aramaic/Judeo-Greek glossary from MS Vat. ebr. 423

Abstract

This article contains the first edition and commentary of the trilingual Hebrew/Aramaic/Judeo-Greek glossary found in MS Vat. ebr. 423. The glossary is arranged in three columns, in alphabetical order following the Hebrew lemmata. This alphabetical order is unusual. The focus of the glossary is not entirely clear, containing both basic and rare vocabulary, with a marked interest in names and epithets for God and in the Song of Songs. An analysis of the language of the glossary points to an origin in the fifteenth century. The dialectical profile is mixed, and does not allow for a clear identification. The glossary contains many parallels with the LXX and with the translations of Aquila and Symmachus. A number of formal and linguistic characteristics link the glossary to other glossaries in the Biblical Judeo-Greek tradition.