Description:
This new translation into English seeks to introduce the reader to the character of the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, while emphasising the fundamental differences between it and the Masoretic version.
The translation is based on a grammatical analysis of each and every word in the text according to its oral pronunciation, informed by examination of the Samaritan translations into Aramaic and Arabic as well as other Samaritan and non-Samaritan sources.
One of the most ancient and important Samaritan manuscripts of the Pentateuch, MS Nablus 6, copied in 1204 CE, serves to represent the Samaritan version.
The English translation is placed in the left-hand column of each page, while the Samaritan original is displayed in the right-hand column. For the reader's convenience, differences between the Samaritan and Masoretic versions are marked in red.
In addition to translating the Hebrew text and highlighting the differences between it and the Masoretic text, each difference is explained in a brief note in an apparatus at the bottom of the page. Where expansion is appropriate, the reader is referred to extended notes at the end of the edition.
Brief description: Aaron D. Hornkohl (PhD, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2012) is University Associate Professor in Hebrew, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge. His research focuses on ancient Hebrew philology and linguistics, especially historical linguistics and ancient Hebrew periodisation; the components of the standard Tiberian Masoretic biblical tradition; and that tradition's profile in the context of other biblical traditions and extrabiblical sources. This is his third single-author monograph after The Historical Depth of the Tiberian Reading Tradition of Biblical Hebrew (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2023) and Ancient Hebrew Periodization and the Book of Jeremiah (Leiden: Brill 2014). He has also co-edited several volumes and written numerous articles.
Review Quotes:
These volumes represent the highest level of scholarship on what is arguably the most important tradition of Biblical Hebrew. Written by the leading scholar of the Tiberian Masoretic tradition, they offer a wealth of new data and revised analysis, and constitute a considerable advance on existing published scholarship. It should stand alongside Israel Yeivin's 'The Tiberian Masorah' as an essential handbook for scholars of Biblical Hebrew, and will remain an indispensable reference work for decades to come.
--Dr. Benjamin Outhwaite, Director of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University Library