The Arabic Versions of the Gospels : The Manuscripts and Their Families

This book is concerned with the Arabic versions of the Gospels. It is an attempt to examine a substantial number of Arabic manuscripts which contain the continuous text of the canonical Gospels copied between the eighth and the nineteenth centuries and found in twenty-one different library collections in Europe and the Orient. Following the introduction, Chapter Two presents the state of research from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present time. Chapter Three introduces and reflects on the two hundred plus manuscripts examined in this work. Chapters Four to Eight concentrate on grouping these manuscripts into twenty-four families and examining their Vorlagen (Greek, Syriac, Coptic and Latin). In order to examine the relationship between the families, phylogenetic software is used. Consequently, the manuscripts are grouped into seven different mega clusters or tribes. Finally the date of the first translation of the Gospels into Arabic is addressed and (a) provisional date(s) suggested based on the textual and linguistic analyses of the manuscripts. The conclusion in Chapter Ten gives the overall contribution made by this thesis and also future avenues for the study of the Arabic versions of the Gospels. 1. Introduction 15 1.1. Introduction 15 1.2. The Scope of this Book 15 1.3. The Limitations of this Book 16 1.3.1. The Limitations in Grouping the Manuscripts 17 1.3.2. Textual Limitations 18 1.3.3. Linguistic Limitations 20 1.3.4. Other Limitations 22 2. The Continuous Text of the Arabic Gospel Manuscripts: The State of Research (1849–2004) 23 2.1. Introduction 23 2.2. From Tischendorf to Lagarde: (1849–1865) 24 2.3. Ignazio Guidi (1888) 26 2.4. A Series of Articles on the AGM (1893–1925) 28 2.5. A Critical Assessment of Anton Baumstark’s Contributions (1931–1935) 31 2.5.1. Introduction 31 2.5.2. The Rubrications of the AGM 32 2.5.3. The Missionary Work in Arabia 33 2.5.4. Biblical Citations In Islamic Writings 34 2.6. Bernhard Levin and C. E. Padwick (1938–1939) 35 2.7. The Contribution of Georg Graf (1944) 36 2.7.1. Introduction 36 2.7.2. The Layout of Graf’s Work 37 2.7.3. The Limitation of Graf’s Research 38 2.8. Vööbus, Blau, and ’Atiya (1954–1967) 39 2.8.1. Arthur Vööbus (1954) 39 2.8.2. Joshua Blau (1962–1973) 40 2.8.3. Aziz S. ’Atiya (1967) 41 2.9. The Modern Period (1977–2004) 42 2.9.1. B.M. Metzger (1977) 42 2.9.2. A.G. Garland (1978) 43 2.9.3. Sidney H. Griffith (1983) 44 2.9.4. Samir K. Samir (1992) 45 2.9.5. Samir Arbache (1994) 46 2.9.6. Jean Valentin (2003) 47 2.10. General Conclusions 47 2.10.1. The Vorlagen of the Manuscripts 47 2.10.2. The Dating of the First Translations of the Gospels 48 2.10.3. Classification of the Manuscripts 49 2.10.4. Steps Towards the Study of the AGM 50 3. An Abridged List of the Arabic Gospel Manuscripts 52 3.1. The Problem of Finding and Cataloguing Arabic Christian Literature 52 3.2. The Make Up of ALAGM and its Limitations 53 3.3. The Location of the Manuscripts 54 3.4. The Contents of the Manuscripts 55 3.5. The Dating of the Manuscripts 55 3.6. The Material of the Manuscripts 56 3.7. The Lines per Page 56 3.8. The Number of Folios 56 3.9. The Size of Folio 57 3.10. The Size of the Written Surface 57 3.11. The Bibliographical Reference 57 3.12. The Manuscripts in Italy, France, Lebanon and Mount Sinai 58 3.12.1. The Manuscripts in Italy 58 3.12.2. The Manuscripts in France 58 3.12.3. The Manuscripts in Lebanon 58 3.12.4. The Manuscripts in Sinai and Jerusalem 59 3.13. The ALAGM 59 3.13.1. The ALAGM 60 3.13.2. General Observations about the Manuscripts and their Description in ALAGM 92 3.14. Conclusion 95 4. The Grouping of Arabic Gospel Manuscripts of Greek Vorlagen 96 4.1. Preliminary Remarks on the Grouping and Vorlagen of the AGM 96 4.2. Methodology of Grouping the Manuscripts 98 4.3. Family A: Translated from Greek Showing Little or No Syriac Influence 100 4.3.1. A Table of the Manuscripts of Family A 100 4.3.2. A Description of the Representative Manuscript 101 4.3.3. A Critical Apparatus of the Eight Test Passages 103 4.3.4. The Collation of Leipzig, University Library, Cod. Tischend. XXXI (Or. 1059a) and Sinai, Harris 9 103 4.3.5. General Remarks about the Various Witnesses of Family A 107 4.3.6. The Vorlage of Family A 108 4.3.7. Conclusion 110 4.4. Family B: Translated from Greek Showing Occasional Syriac Influence Especially in the Gospel of Matthew 110 4.4.1. General Introduction 110 4.4.2. Table of Manuscripts of Family B 111 4.4.3. A Description of Sinai, Ar. N.F. Parch 8 and 28 111 4.4.4. The Eight Test Passages of Family B 114 4.4.5. The Vorlage of the Gospel of Luke in Sinai, Ar. N.F. Parch. 8 and 28 115 4.4.6. A Textual Study in the Gospel of Luke 120 4.4.7. An Assessment of the Critical Apparatus 121 4.4.8. The Text-Type of the Vorlage of the Gospel of Luke in CSA 125 4.4.9. Conclusion 125 4.5. Family C: Translated from Greek Showing Occasional Syriac Influence 126 4.5.1. Introduction to Family C 126 4.5.2. Table of Manuscripts of Family C 128 4.5.3. A Description of Codex C1 129 4.5.4. A Critical Apparatus of the Eight Test Passages 129 4.5.5. The Vorlage of Family C 130 4.5.6. General Conclusion with Respect to Family C 135 5. The Grouping of Arabic Gospel Manuscripts of Syriac Vorlagen 137 5.1. AGM of Syriac Vorlagen Showing No Greek Influence 137 5.1.1. Family D of Peshitta Origin 137 5.1.2. Family E of Peshitta Origin 139 5.1.3. Family F of Peshitta Origin 142 5.1.4. Family G of Peshitta Origin 144 5.1.5. Family H of Peshitta Origin 156 5.1.6. Family I of Harklean Origin 185 5.2. AGM of Syriac Vorlagen Showing Greek Influence: Family J 187 5.2.1. Subgroup Ja 187 5.2.2. Subgroup Jb 199 5.2.3. Subgroup Jc 209 5.2.4. The Relationship between the Three Subgroups: Ja, Jb and Jc 214 5.2.5. The Vorlage of Family J 217 5.2.6. Conclusion 218 6. The Grouping of the Alexandrian Vulgate Manuscripts (Family K): The Arabic Vulgate 219 6.1. Introduction to the “Alexandrian Vulgate”: A Historical Survey 219 6.2. The Witnesses of Family K 221 6.3. Table with the Manuscripts under Investigation 222 6.4. The Collation of Family K and the Relationship between the Witnesses 228 6.4.1. Introduction 228 6.4.2. The Relationship between the Witnesses of Family K 228 6.4.3. Definition of the Valuable Variants 229 6.4.4. The Tables with the Variants 231 6.4.5. General Conclusion 238 6.4.6. Unit-Variations Versus Greek, Syriac, Coptic and Latin Vorlagen 251 6.4.7. The Unit-Variations Versus other Arabic Translations of the Gospels 263 6.5. Additional Lists of Manuscripts of Family K 264 6.5.1. Manuscripts from the Coptic Museum in Cairo 264 6.5.2. Manuscripts from the Coptic Patriarchate in Cairo 265 6.5.3. Miscellaneous Manuscripts 266 6.6. The Vorlage(n) of Family K 267 6.6.1. Introduction 267 6.6.2. An Assessment of the Textual Variants of Sinai, Ar. 101 269 6.7. Conclusion 271 7. The Grouping Of Arabic Gospel Manuscripts of Coptic, Latin and Mixture Vorlagen, and Manuscripts edited from Arabic Lectionaries 272 7.1. Family L: Otherwise Known as Al-As’ ad Ibn Al-’Assāl’s Version 272 7.1.1. Introduction to the Witnesses of Family L 272 7.1.2. A Table of the Witnesses of Family L 274 7.1.3. A Description of the Translation Technique in Ibn Al-’Assāl’s Version, with a Focus on Codex BL, Or. 3382 275 7.1.4. The Eight Test Passages and the Relationship between the Witnesses 277 7.1.5. The Arabic Versions used by Ibn Al-’Assāl in the Preparation of his Recension 279 7.1.6. General Conclusion 287 7.2. Family M: A Latin Origin 289 7.2.1. A List with the Witnesses of Family M 289 7.2.2. The Test Passages of Codex BL, Add. 9061 289 7.2.3. Conclusion 290 7.3. Family N: A Mixture of Vorlagen (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Do. 162) 290 7.3.1. Introduction 290 7.3.2. Description of the Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Do. 162 291 7.3.3. The Test Passages of Family N 292 7.3.4. The Vorlage of Family N 292 7.4. Family O: An Edition of a Lectionary (BNF, Ar. 58 and Beirut, B.O., Or. 432) 294 7.4.1. Introduction 294 7.4.2. Description of Beirut, B.O., Or. 432 295 7.4.3. The Test Passages 297 7.4.4. The Riddle 298 8. Manuscripts of Mixed Arabic Versions and Fragmentary Manuscripts 302 8.1. Manuscripts of Mixed Arabic Versions 302 8.1.1. Family P(J): Sinai, Ar. N.F. Parch 6, 5, 63 302 8.1.2. Family Q: Sinai, Ar. N.F. Parch 36 305 8.1.3. Family R: Leipzig, University Library, Cod. Tischend. XII & Bl, Add. 14467 306 8.1.4. Family S 312 8.1.5. Family T: Sinai, Ar. 102 312 8.2. Independent Fragments 313 8.2.1. Family U : BL, Or. 1242(4) 313 8.2.2. Family V (Cambridge, University Library, Add. 1905) 314 8.2.3. Family W (Cambridge, University Library, Add. 1045) 315 8.2.4. Family X: BL, Add. 17224 316 9. The Organic Linguistic Relation Between the Families 318 9.1. Introduction and Preliminary Remarks 318 9.2. Translators are Intrinsically Inquisitive 319 9.3. The Difficulty in Establishing Relationships between Families of Translated Documents 319 9.4. Phylogenetic Analysis and the Arabic Versions 320 9.5. The Limitation of PAUP in Relation to the Arabic Versions 321 9.6. The Outcome of the Analysis 323 9.7. Tribes: Relationship between Families 328 9.7.1. Tribe One (Families J and N) 328 9.7.2. Tribe Two (Families H and G) 328 9.7.3. Tribe Three (Families E and I) 329 9.7.4. Tribe Four (Mainly Family A) 329 9.7.5. Tribe Five (Family L) 329 9.7.6. Tribe Six (Families K and O) 330 9.7.7. Tribe Seven (Mainly Families C and R) 330 9.7.8. Conclusion 330 9.8. The Date(s) of the Archetype(s) 332 10. Conclusion 340 10.1. The Contribution of this Study 340 10.1.1. Family A 341 10.1.2. Family B 341 10.1.3. Family C 342 10.1.4. Families D, E, and F 342 10.1.5. Families G and H 342 10.1.6. Family I 343 10.1.7. Family J 343 10.1.8. Family K 343 10.1.9. Family L 344 10.1.10. Families N and O 344 10.1.11. Families Q, R, S and T 344 10.1.12. Families U, V, W and X 344 10.2. Future Avenues 345 11. Bibliography 347 11.1. Books and Articles 347 11.2. Catalogues 355 11.3. Catalogue of Manuscripts by Families 358 12. Appendix One: Test Passages and Variants 366 12.1. Family A 366 12.2. Family B 372 12.2.1. The Eight Test Passages 372 12.2.2. Additional Texts 375 12.2.3. The Collation of Two Passages in Matthew from Mss B1 B2 and D1 377 12.3. Family C 379 12.3.1. The Eight Test Passages 379 12.3.2. The Collation of Luke 23:12–23 from Mss C1 (Collated Base), C2 and C4 385 12.4. Family D 387 12.5. Family E 389 12.6. Family F 392 12.7. Family G: Codex Beirut, B.O., Or. 430 395 12.7.1. The Test Passages 395 12.7.2. The Pericope of the Women Caught in Adultry (John 7:53–8:11) 397 12.8. Family H: Vatican, Ar. 13 398 12.9. Family I 399 12.10. Family J 401 12.10.1. Subgroup Ja 401 12.10.2. Subgroup Jb 412 12.10.3. Subgroup Jc 422 12.11. Family K: The Eight Test Passages 430 12.12. Family L 459 12.12.1. The Eight Test Passages 459 12.12.2. Two Additional Passages from John 20:19–23 and 21:14–19a 463 12.13. Family M 465 12.14. Family N 466 12.15. Family O 468 12.16. Manuscripts of Mixture Arabic Versions 470 12.16.1. Family P(J) 470 12.16.2. Family Q: Sinai, Ar. N.F. Parch 36 471 12.16.3. Family R: Leipzig 1075 473 12.16.4. Family S 473 12.16.5. Family T 476 13. Appendix Two: Textual Evidence (1) 479 13.1. Family A 479 13.1.1. Family A Compared with Unit-Variations as Found in Luke’s Text und Textwert 479 13.1.2. Family A: Peshitta (or Pre-Peshitta) Influence on the Gospel of Matthew? 485 13.2. Family B: Sinai, Ar. N.F. Parch 8 and 28: Its Contribution to Textual Criticism of the Gospel of Luke 486 13.2.1. A Selection of Textual Variants in the Gospel of Luke 486 13.2.2. A Syriac Influence on the Gospel of Matthew in Family B 510 13.3. Family C 514 13.3.1. Variants Extracted from the Gospel of John 514 13.3.2. Variants Extracted from the Gospel of Mark 517 13.3.3. Mark Chapter One: A Collation of C1 And C2 against the Byzantine Text and the Peshitta 521 13.4. Family D: The Variants in Luke Chapters 10–19 522 13.5. Family E: Variants from Matthew 1–15 524 13.6. Family G 526 13.6.1. Sixty-Nine Readings in John which Follow the Peshitta against the Greek Majority Text 526 13.6.2. Eleven Readings in John’s Gospel which Follow neither the Peshitta nor the Greek Majority Text 531 13.6.3. The Vorlage of the Story of the Woman Caught in Adultery in G5 533 13.7. Family H (Vatican, Ar. 13) 534 13.7.1. Three Chapters from Matthew 1, Mark 5 and Luke 3, and their Syriac Peshitta Parallel 534 13.7.2. Pre-Peshitta Readings 545 13.8. Family I: A Comparative Study of the Ten Chapters of Mark: the Arabic Text and its Syriac Parallel 548 13.9. Family J 550 13.9.1. A Comparative Study of Matthew 9:9:17 550 13.10. Family K 556 13.11. Family P(J) 556 13.11.1. John Chapter One 556 13.11.2. John Chapter 19:10–33 557 14. Appendix Three: Textual Evidence(2): Family K 559 14.1. A Selection of Textual Variants from the Four Gospels of Sinai, Ar. 101 559 14.2. Textual Analysis of Selected Variants in the Eight Test Passages in Sinai, Ar. 101 and in other Representative Manuscripts 576 15. Appendix Four: The Stemmas 708 16. General Index 773 This book pertains to the early Arabic translations of the canonical Gospels, and is based on extensive research in over two hundred manuscripts, copied between the eighth and the nineteenth centuries. The manuscripts were collated from twenty-one different library collections in Europe and the Orient. Each individual manuscript was examined and subsequently grouped into twenty-four families. The Arabic manuscripts were originally translated from Greek, Syriac, Coptic, or Latin.This foundational work is an invaluable resource for those seeking to learn more about the Arab Christian heritage, t. This book pertains to the early Arabic translations of the canonical Gospels, and is based on extensive research in over two hundred manuscripts, copied between the eighth and the nineteenth centuries. The manuscripts were collated from twenty-one different library collections in Europe and the Orient. Each individual manuscript was examined and subsequently grouped into twenty-four families. The Arabic manuscripts were originally translated from Greek, Syriac, Coptic, or Latin. This foundational work is an invaluable resource for those seeking to learn more about the Arab Christian heritage, t