Contents

Acknowledgments

Transliteration Tables

Introduction

Overview

Methods and Themes in Saadia’s Exegesis of Esther

1. The Methodological Framework: Balancing Reason and Tradition

2. Interaction with Rabbinic Tradition

3. Polemics

4. Exploring the Exigence of Dissimulation

Publication History

Written Witnesses Employed for the Present Edition

1. Primary Witnesses to Saadia’s Commentary on Esther (Kitāb al-īnās)

2. Secondary Witnesses to Saadia’s Commentary on Esther: Judaeo-Arabic Reworkings, Précis, and Citations by Later Medieval Writers

Editorial Method

1. The Basic Text

2. The Apparatuses

Some Methodological Remarks on the Annotated English Translation

Signs, Sigla, and Abbreviations

Translation

The Title and the Introduction

1. The First Section (al-Qiṣṣat al-ūlā)

1.1. Ad 1:1

1.2. Ad 1:2

1.3. Ad 1:3–4

1.4. Ad 1:5–8

1.5. Ad 1:9–12

1.6. Ad 1:13–22

2. The Second Section (al-Qiṣṣa al-thāniyya)

2.1. Ad 2:1–4

2.2. Ad 2:5–7

2.3. Ad 2:8–11

2.4. Ad 2:12–15

2.5. Ad 2:16–20

2.6. Ad 2:21–23

2.7. Ad 3:1–5

3. The Third Section (al-Qiṣṣa al-thālitha)

Ad 3:6–15

4. The Fourth Section (al-Qiṣṣa al-rābiʿa)

Ad 4:1–4

5. The Fifth Section (al-Qiṣṣa al-khāmisa)

5.1. Ad 4:5–17

5.2. Ad 5:1–14

6. The Sixth Section (al-Qiṣṣa al-sādisa)

6.1. Ad 6:1–12

6.2. Ad 6:13–7:10

6.3. Ad 8:1–14

6.4. Ad 8:15–17

6.5. Ad 9:1–19

7. The Seventh Section (al-Qiṣṣa al-sābiʿa)

7.1. Ad 9:20–28

7.2. Ad 9:29–32

7.3. Ad 10:1–3 (Epilogue)

Appendix, Bibliographical Abbreviations, Indices, and Plates

Appendix. Secondary Judaeo-Arabic Witnesses to Saadia’s Commentary on Esther: Edited Texts of the Reworkings and Précis

1. An Anonymous Condensed Reworking of Kitāb al-īnās (‮أ‬‎)

2. A Condensed Reworking of Kitāb al-īnās, Encompassing the Commentary on 1:1–11 and the Introduction, in the Commentary of Isaac Gaon ben Israel on Pārāshat Tĕrūmā (Exod 25:1–27:19) (‮ب‬‎ )

3. An Anonymous Précis of Saadia’s Comment on Esther 3:1–4 (‮ت‬‎)

4. An Anonymous Abridged Reworking of Saadia’s Comment on Esther 1:1 (‮ث‬‎)

Bibliographical Abbreviations

1. Libraries, Institutes, Organizations, and Manuscript Collections

2. Books, Articles, and Works in Manuscript

Indices

Manuscripts

Scriptural References

1. Hebrew Bible

2. Qurʾān

Rabbinic Literature

Medieval Authors and Works

General Index

Plates

1. MS א (NLR Evr.-Arab. I 3866 [1 א], fol. 2r) )

2. MS ב (CUL T-S Ar.23.44 [1 ב], fol. 3v)

3. MS ג (BLO Heb.d.62 [1 ג], fol. 118r)

4. MS ד (BLO Heb.f.19 [2 ד], fol. 1r))

5. MS ה (CUL T-S Ar.25.91 [2 ה], fol. 2v)

6. MS ו (CUL T-S Ar.25.84 [2 ו], fol. 2r)

7. MS ז (CUL T-S Ar.27.51 [2 ז], fol. 1r)

8. MS ח (CUL T-S Ar.33.31 [2 ח], verso)

9. MS ט (CUL T-S 8Ca1, fol. 3v)

10. MS י (CUL T-S Ar.1b.94, fols. 10v & 15r)

11. MS כ (CUL T-S Ar.27.98, fol. 2v)

12. MS ל (CUL T-S NS 285.30 [1 ל], recto)

13. MS מ (CUL T-S NS 163.3, verso)

14. MS נ (CUL T-S NS 263.107, recto)

15. MS ס (CUL T-S NS 309.52 [1 ס], verso)

16. MS ע (BAIU III.B.75 [1 ע], recto)

17. MS פ (JTSL ENA 3148 [1 פ], fol. 3v + ENA 3371 [2 פ], fol. 11r)

18. MS צ (CUL T-SMisc.6.120, verso)

19. MS ק (CUL T-S AS 159.7, recto)

20. MS ר (JTSL ENA 3488, fol. 11v)

21. MS ש (CUL T-S Ar.21.5, verso)

22. MS ת (BLO/CUL L-G Ar.2.100, recto & verso)

23. MS אא (JTSL ENA 3218, fol. 4r)

24. MS أ (JTSL ENA 2638 [Plate أ 4 ], fol. 22r)

25. MS ب(BLO Hunt. 241, fols. 24v–25r)

26. MS ت(JTSL ENA 3601, fol. 14v)

27. MS ث(CUL T-SMisc.24.158, verso)

The Edited Text

Editorial Introduction (Abridged)

The Judaeo-Arabic Text of Kitāb al-īnās bi-ʾl-jalwa