Hebrew Manuscripts : Hebrew translation of the New Testament

Hebrew Manuscripts

Hebrew translation of the New Testament, produced for polemical purposes, in Kochi (formerly Cochin), Kerala, India. It is written on watermarked European paper. The manuscript was acquired by the Revd Claudius Buchanan from 'one of the Synagogues of the Black Jews of Cochin in India' in 1806, and presented to Cambridge in 1809. The manuscript was cursorily discussed by Schechter in his overview of Buchanan's acquistions, 'Notes on Hebrew MSS. in the University Library at Cambridge', Jewish Quarterly Review 6 (1893), 144-145. Solomon Schiller-Szinessy wrote a lengthy description of Oo.1.32 in his unpublished manuscript catalogue (vol. 3, Or.1118, ff. 28-41). See also Reif (1997: no. 916). Frank Delitzsch deals with it in his 'Paulus des Apostels Brief an die Römer: aus den griechischen Urtext auf Grund des Sinai-Codex in das Hebräische übersetzt und aus Talmud und Midrasch erläutert' (1870), 103-109. Schechter described the manuscript as being in a 'late Spanish cursive hand' and was unimpressed, 'we can only say that the translator performed his task very badly'. Schiller-Szinessy also pointed to the deficiencies in language and translation, e.g., Luke 24:53, 'Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy' is rendered as הם זה השתחוו לו ונהפך לירושלים בשמחה גדול (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(98);return false;'>48v</a>) However, his analysis is detailed without being dismissive, and is illuminating on the different scripts and hands in the manuscript ('two, perhaps of three') and the thought behind its translation. Most recently Myron M. Weinstein, 'A Hebrew Qur'ān Manuscript', Studies in Bibliography and Booklore 10 (1971/2), 19-52, has identified the scribe of ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(265);return false;'>132r-160v</a> (excluding some of the headings and all the marginal glosses there) as David Cohen (aka Jan Fredrik Scheffer, David b. Isaac), originally of Berlin, who died c. 1770s. This fits with Schiller-Szinessy's suspicion that 'the writer, or copyist, was originally a German Jew, and one of the South of Germany too, a bavarian etc, perhaps, who had emigrated to India & there adopted the style of writing current among the portuguese, for the insecurity in the drawing of certain characters betrays itself often' (Or.1118 f. 36v). A note at the end of the Gospel of John (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(142);return false;'>70v</a>) reads וסהדי במרומים שלא העתקתי זה ח׳׳ו להאמין אילה להבין ולידע מה להשיב לאפיקורוסים ימחו מין העולם אכי׳׳ר ויבא משיח צדקינו האמיתי אמן ('And my witness is on high that I did not copy this, God forbid [חס ושלום], except [reading אלא for אילה] to understand and know what to reply to the heretics - may they be wiped out from the world, amen, may it be so [אמן כן יהי רצון], and may the true Messiah of our Righteousness come, amen'). Schiller-Szinessy questions whether העתקתי refers to the act of copying alone, or to the translation itself: the verb can mean both.Although the character of the translation is not uniform (Schiller-Szinessy, Delitzsch), its originally polemical intent is evident in the epithets given to Jesus (הטמא, 'the Unclean One'), and other figures, e.g., the superscription at the beginning of Acts reads זה כתב אחר מאנגיליון שבדא מדעתו הרעה והקלושה ורעועה הארור הטמא ומחורם לוקוס יש׳ ושם ישו עימו מן העולם ('This is another book of the gospel that was devised from his evil, thin and impaired mind by the accursed, unclean and excommunicated Luke - may his name be blotted out [ימח שמו], and the name of Jesus with him, from the world', f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(143);return false;'>71r</a>). The frequent short marginal glosses serve a polemical purpose too. Style and orthography are not consistent across the manuscript, e.g., John is both יוחנן and יואן (Sefardi influence, 'Juan'), and Schiller-Szinessy and Delitzsch see a clear change in attitude towards Christianity (a lack of overtly polemical language) from f. 131 onwards, when the hand of David Cohen takes over. The translation includes all the books of the New Testament, apart from the book of Revelation: Matthew (מאטיאוס ,ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(3);return false;'>1r-21v</a>), Mark (מרקוס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(45);return false;'>22r-33v</a>), Luke (לוקס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(69);return false;'>34r-48v</a>), John (יוחנן and יואן, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(99);return false;'>49r-70v</a>), Acts (אפוסטלוס and אפוסטלרוס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(143);return false;'>71r-94v</a>), Romans (רומנוס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(191);return false;'>95r-105r</a>), 1 Corinthians (קורנטיאוס א, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(212);return false;'>105v-116r</a>), 2 Corinthians (קורנטיאוס ב, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(234);return false;'>116v-123r</a>), Galatians (גלאטי, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(248);return false;'>123v-127r</a>), Ephesians (אפיזיי, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(256);return false;'>127v-131r</a>), Philippians (פיליפיסים, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(264);return false;'>131v-134r</a>), Colossians (קולוסים and קוסולים, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(270);return false;'>134v-136r</a>), 1 Thessalonians (תיסלוניקא א and טיסלוניקא, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(275);return false;'>137r-138v</a>), 2 Thessalonians (תיסיליניקא ב , ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(279);return false;'>139r-140r</a>), 1 Timothy (טימאניאוס א, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(281);return false;'>140r-142v</a>), 2 Timothy (טימאניאוס ב, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(286);return false;'>142v-144r</a>), Titus (טיטוס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(290);return false;'>144v-145v</a>), Philemon (פילמאן, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(292);return false;'>145v-146r</a>), 1 Peter (פעטרוס א, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(293);return false;'>146r-148v</a>), 2 Peter (פעטרוס ב, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(298);return false;'>148v-150r</a>), 1 John (יחנניס א and יאחנניס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(301);return false;'>150r-152v</a>), 2 John (יאחנניס ב, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(306);return false;'>152v-153r</a>), 3 John (יאחנניס ג, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(307);return false;'>153r-153v</a>), Hebrews (העבריים, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(308);return false;'>153v-158r</a>), James (יעקב and יאקבוס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(317);return false;'>158r-160r</a>), Jude (יודס, ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(321);return false;'>160r-160v</a>). There are headings and catchwords, often in a different hand to the main text, and there is original foliation in Hebrew numerals. Quires are mostly 4-bifolia quarternions. Another New Testament translation acquired by Buchanan, Oo.1.16.1-2, is related to this one, and was also copied by David Cohen (Weinstein).