The Bible in Arabic

Sidney H. Griffith

Published by Princeton University Press

Griffith, S. H..
The Bible in Arabic: The Scriptures of the 'People of the Book' in the Language of Islam.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
Project MUSE., https://muse.jhu.edu/.

For additional information about this book

https://muse.jhu.edu/book/36478

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 ❊  Index  ❊
Aaron, 59, 70
Abbasid era, 1, 97, 117–­20, 127–­28
ʿAbd al-­Jabbār al-­Hamdhānī, 197–­98
ʿAbd al-­Malik, 100–­101
Abraham, 61, 66–­67, 71–­73, 183, 189–­97,
210–­14
Abrahamic religions, 213–­14
Abū Bakr, 99–­100
Abū l-­Faraj ʿAbd Allāh, 141–­43
Abū Naṣr ibn al-­Rawḥān al Barrāq, 48
Abū Nuʿaym al-­Ishbahānī, 108
Abū Qurrah, Theodore, 122, 143–­44
Abū r-­Rabīʿ Muḥammad ibn al-­Layth, 106–­7
the Acts of the Apostles, 129, 133–­34,
143n60
Adam, 61, 185–­86
Aḥūdemeh, Mār, 13
al-­Akhfash al-­Awsaṭ, 103
Aʾlām an-­nubuwwah (Ibn Qutaybah), 181
al-­Andalus, 131, 199, 205–­6
the Annunciation, 56
Apocalypse of Abraham, 211
Apocalypse of Baruch, 139–­40
Apocalypse of Peter, 38–­39n91, 140–­41
apologetic and polemical writing. See com-
mentary and debate
Arabic Gospel Harmony, 141–­43
Arabic language, 98, 99; Classical and
Middle forms of, 104–­6, 123, 138, 148;
codification of, 97, 103–­4; Graeco-­Arabic
translation movement in, 1, 97, 117–­20,
127–­28; literature in, 43, 103–­4; Qurʾān as
earliest written book in, 3, 43, 51–­52, 53,
89, 97, 116; script for, 41, 43–­46, 51n128,
109. See also translations of the Bible into
Arabic
Arabization processes, 97, 98, 100–­103, 125,
134, 209–­10
Aramaic/Syriac-­speaking Christians, 18–­23,
98, 127
Aramaic targums, 7, 124, 157–­59, 161
Aristotelian thought, 165, 166
Armenian language, 108
Ashkenazi scholars, 169
ʿĀzar, 189–­91
Baghdad, 155, 156, 160–­69
Banū n-­Naḍīr, 10
Banū Qaynuqāʿ, 10
Banū Qurayẓa, 10
Bar Hebraeus, 150
Barsoum, Ignatius Aphram, 136n29
Baumstark, Anton, 47, 82, 132n17
Beaumont, Mark, 200
Belamy, James A., 83–­84n64
Ben-­Shammai, Haggai, 163
Bergman, Uwe, 100n
Berlin Orient Oct. MS 1108, 132–­33
Bible: roles of prophets in, 62–­64; Ten
Commandments (Decalogue) of, 78–­80.
See also Hebrew Bible; translations of the
Bible into Arabic
biblical appearances in the Qurʾān, 2, 7, 11,
15–­41, 60–­62, 126; in narratives of biblical
figures, 2–­3, 54–­96; Pauline epistles in, 54;
quotations in, 55–­56, 66, 71, 81–­82, 89, 214;
as scriptural warranty of Islamic prophe-
tology, 23, 26, 54, 58–­60, 64–­71, 126, 176,
210; as subtext of, 26, 30, 56–­58, 95–­96,
121–­22, 126, 208–­9; on the Ten Com­
mandments, 78–­80
al-­Biqāʾī, Abū l-Ḥasan Ibrāīm ibn ʿAmr ibn
Ḥasan, 96n, 202
Bishr ibn as-­Sirrī, 134–­35
Bishr ibn Finḥās ibn Shuʿayb al-­Ḥāsib, 171–­72
Blau, Joshua, 105n25, 116, 123–­24
‘Book of Beliefs and Opinions’ (Saʿadyah),
166, 168
Book of Jubilees, 211
The Book of Theodicy (Goodman), 167
 248  ind e x
Būlus al-­Būshī, 151–­52
Byzantium and the Arabs (Shahid), 47–­49
Cairo Genizah, 123, 159, 168
Catholic Epistles, 129, 133–­34
Cave of Treasures, 93, 184–­86, 190–­91, 196–­97
Cheiko, Louis, 43n102
Christians in the Middle East, 11–­15, 214–­15;
anti-­Jewish polemics of, 170–­74; Arabic
language use by, 92–­93, 102, 104–­6, 111–­
12; Arabic-­speaking groups among, 11–­15,
23–­24, 27, 127; awareness of the Qurʾān
of, 125–­26; biblical scholars among, 142;
Christological controversies of, 32–­33, 35,
36, 87, 135, 140; commentary and apolo-
getic texts of, 143–­46, 149–­52; ecclesiasti-
cal traditions of, 12–­13, 20, 102, 110–­12;
languages used by, 18–­23, 110–­11, 127,
129; as mainstream communities, 2, 9,
27–­28, 36–­39, 87, 92–­93, 208; on Mary as
theotokos, 35; monastic scribes of, 110–­11;
original languages of scriptures of, 90, 98;
Qurʾān’s commentary on, 25–­39; Syriac
mêmrê of, 42, 92–­94; Westernization of,
206–­7. See also People of the Book
Christian translations, 127–­54; annotations
on circumstances of, 132–­36; classical
Arabic in, 131, 148; commentary and
apologetic texts in, 143–­46, 149–­52; in
the Diatessaron, 141–­43; early versions of,
41–­53, 100–­103, 108–­26, 127, 132–­33, 176,
209; of ecclesiastical literature, 127, 128;
of the entire Bible, 129; Graeco-­Arabic
translation movement in, 1, 97, 117–­20,
127–­28; illustrations of texts in, 152–­54;
of individual books and groups of books,
129–­32; Middle Arabic used for, 138, 148;
multilingual versions of, 145f, 146–­49,
153f; Muslim comments on, 136; Muslim
linguistic and literary style in, 136–­37,
140, 209–­10; of the Pentateuch, 129–­32,
135; sources of, 131–­32; as sources of bib-
lical interpretation, 138–­41; by Western
European Christians, 204, 206–­7
Christology debates, 29, 32–­39, 86–­87, 135,
140, 178, 179
Classical Arabic, 103–­4
codexification of Judaism, 155–­56
Codex Sinaiticus Arabicus (CSA), 118–­20
commentary and debate, 3–­4, 11, 155–­56,
161; on abrogation of Mosaic law, 170–­74,
178; by Arabic Christians on the Bible,
149–­52; Christological controversies in,
29, 32–­39, 86–­87, 135, 140, 178, 179;
interreligious exchange in, 4, 126, 161–­
62, 167, 170–­74, 206–­15; of the Islamic
Muʿtazila, 165; in Jewish Aramaic tar­
gums, 7, 124, 157–­59, 161; of  Jewish Rab-
banites and Karaites, 156–­57, 159–­62;
in Jewish translations of the Bible, 157–
­62, 169–70; in Muslim responses to
the Bible, 144–­46, 175–­203, 198–­202;
in the Qurʾān, 4, 24–­26, 29–­39, 58–­60,
71, 73, 87, 89, 91–­96, 175–­76, 178; in
Saʿadyah’s translations, 162–­69. See also
intertextuality
Constantine IV, Byzantine emperor, 107
Constitution of Medina, 10
Coptic Christians: Arabic language use by,
111–­12, 146, 147; bilingual texts of, 146–­
49; illustrated texts of, 152–­54; texts of,
92, 104, 127; translations of the Penta-
teuch of, 130–­31
Covenant of ʿUmar, 126
Crone, Patricia, 17–­18, 83n62
Crusades, 159, 169, 206
Cuypers, Michel, 57n
Daniel al-­Qūmisī, 157, 159–­60, 162
Daniel of Ṣalaḥ, 150n88
Daniélou, Jean, 28
David, 59, 70, 80–­83, 108, 171, 183
David ben Abraham al-­Fāsī, 159
David ben Boʿaz, 159
David Kimḥī, 169
the Diatessaron (att. Tatian), 22, 26–­27, 94,
115, 141–­43
Dionysius bar ṣalībī, 150
Di Segni, Leah, 111n47
Docetism, 38–­39
Dominican (of Mosul) translation, 204
Drint, Adriana, 140
 ind e x   249

the Earth, 65–­66 Gibson, Margaret Dunlop, 112

Ebionite Christians, 28, 36
Ecclesiastical History (Eusebius of Caesarea), 212
Egeria, 93n81, 129n3
Ephraem the Syrian, 42n, 93–­94
Epistle of Baruch, 139
Epistles of St. Paul, 54, 120, 129, 133–­34, 212
Esther, 162
Ethiopian Christians, 13, 15, 18–­19
Eusebius of Caesarea, 212
Euthymius, 14
Eutychius of Alexandria, 186n41
Eve, 61
Exodus, 158f
Exodus 20:1, 55
Exodus 32, 77
the Exodus, 59
Ezra, 199
Al-­faṣl f ī l-­milal wa l-­ahwāʾ wa l-­niḥal (Ibn
Ḥazm), 198–­99
Ferré, André, 186n41
Fihrist (Muḥammad ibn an-­Nadīm), 137, 178
Firdaws an-­Naṣrāniyyah (Ibn aṭ-­ṭayyib), 141–­
43, 150–­51
Firestone, Reuben, 195
first Islamic centuries, 97–­108; Arabization/
Islamicization of the region of, 100–­103,
125; Arabophone intellectual culture of,
155–­56; Christian translations of the Bible
in, 108–­27, 132–­33, 179; codification of
Arabic in, 103–­6; collection of the Qurʾān
in, 98–­100, 116, 209–­10; Jewish transla-
tions of the Bible in, 122–­25, 130, 155–­58;
oral tradition in, 98, 100, 109n42, 115,
124; reports of Bible translations in, 106–­8
IV an-­Nisāʾ, 211
IV Ezra, 139, 140–­41
Frank, Richard M., 136–­37
al-­furqān (as term), 77–­78
Goodman, Lenn E., 159n16, 167
Gospel of Barnabas, 143, 202–­3
Gospels, 129, 214; appendices of, 143n60;
commentary on, 151; copyist notes on,
133; Muslim translation and quotation
of, 179–­82; translations from Greek of,
118–­20, 132–­33; translations from Syriac
of, 114–­18
Graeco-­Arabic translation movement, 1, 97,
117–­20, 127–­28
Graf, Georg, 132–­33
Gruendler, Beatrice, 51n128
Günther, Sebastian, 79
ḥafṣ ibn Albar al-­Qūtī, 108, 181
Hagar, 192–­93, 212
ḥanīf (as term), 72
Haran (son of  Terah), 192
al-­Ḥarith ibn Sinān ibn Sinbāṭ, 106, 107
Harūn ar-­Rashīd, 106, 107, 178
Ḥasan al-­Baṣrī, 108
Ḥawāshī (Ibn al-­Maḥrūmah), 173–­74
Hebrew Bible, 3, 7, 26, 54, 98, 124; commen-
tary and debate on, 157–­62; Ibn Ḥazm’s
response to, 198–­99; recollections in the
New Testament of, 214; Saʿadyah’s transla-
tion of, 122, 162, 164, 165, 166, 168–­69,
181, 210. See also Torah/Pentateuch
hermaneutical context, 23–­24
al-­ḥikmah, 108
Ḥilyat al-­awliyaʾ wa-­ṭabaqāt al-­aṣfiyāʾ (Abū
Nuʿaym al-­Ishbahānī), 108
Hishām al-­Kalbī, 48
Hoyland, Robert, 109
Hūd, 67, 70, 188
Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq, 106, 130, 131, 142,
166, 181
Hunt, Lucy-­Anne, 154
Hyde, Thomas, 212n19

Galatians 3:1–­5:12, 212 Iblīs, 61

the Garden, 61 Ibn al-­Maḥrūmah, Ḥasan, 173–­74
Geʾez-­speaking Christians, 13, 15, 18–­19 Ibn ʿAsākir, 201–­2
al-­Ghazzālī, Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad, Ibn Ezra, Abraham, 168–­69
199–­200 Ibn Ḥazm, ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad, 168, 198–­99
 250  ind e x
Ibn Hishām, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-­Malik,
179, 180
Ibn Isḥaq, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad,
179, 180
Ibn Kammūnah, ʿIzz ad-­Dawlahh Saʿd ibn
Manṣūr, 172
Ibn Kātib Qayṣar, 151–­52
Ibn Qutaybah, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh,
107, 166, 181
Ibn Salām, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, 106–­7, 178
Ibn Taymiyyah, Taqī ad-­Dīn Aḥmad, 200–­201
Ibn Zurʿah, Abū ʿAlī ʿīsā, 171–­72
Ifḥām al-­yahūd (Samawʿal ibn Yaḥyā al-­
Maghribī), 172
illustration, 152–­54
interpreted Bible, 92n78, 95–­96, 98
interreligious exchange, 4, 126, 174, 206–­15;
Abraham as icon of, 210–­14; controversies
in, 161–­62, 167, 170–­74
intertextuality, 56–­57, 89–­96; biblical subtext
of the Qurʾān as, 26, 30, 56–­58, 95–­96,
121–­22, 126, 208–­9; oral sources in, 89–­
91, 98, 100; in polemical discussions of
biblical narratives, 89, 91–­96, 98; pre-
sumption of scriptural recall in, 57–­62, 71,
90–­91; in Qurʾānic patterns of prophetic
recall, 64–­89, 95–­96; on roles of prophets,
62–­64
intertwined history of scriptures, 4, 211–­15
Isaac, 70, 183, 194–­96
Isaiah, 162
Isaiah 21:6–­7, 176, 210
Isaiah 41:8, 211
ʿĪsā ibn ʿAlī, 142
Ishmael, 70, 192–­93, 194–­95, 196–­97
Ishôʿdad of Merv, 150–­51
Islam. See Muslim responses to the Arabic
Bible; prophetology of Islam; Qurʾān
Islamic calendar, 134
Islamicization, 98, 100–­103, 125, 209–­10; of
biblical narratives, 176–­82; Islamic calen-
dar in, 134; of Persians, 97
Isrāʾīliyyāt, 177, 210
Jacob, 183
Jacobite Christians, 2, 9–­11, 12n15, 20, 23–­
24, 70; Arabic language use by, 27, 111;
Arabic milieu of, 36–­37; Arabic transla-
tions by, 127, 130–­31, 136; Christologi-
cal controversies of, 32–­33, 36, 87, 135;
commentary of, 150; on docetism, 38–­39;
Ghassanid community of, 14; as main-
stream community, 27–­28, 39, 208; on
Mary as theotokos, 35; Qurʾān’s terminology
for, 32; Syriac mêmrê of, 42, 93–­95
Jacob of Serūg, 42n, 93–­94
al-­Jāḥiẓ, Abū ʿUthmān, 30–­31, 136,
165–­66, 210
James 2:23, 211
Al-­jawāb aṣ-­ṣaḥīḥ li man baddala dīn al-­masīḥ
(Ibn Taymiyyah), 200–­201
Jeffrey, Arthur, 20
Jeremiah, 137
Jesuit (of Beirut) translation, 204
Jesus, 65, 70, 83–­89, 210–­11; biographies
of, 201–­2; Christology debates on, 29,
32–­39, 86–­87, 135, 140, 178, 179; on the
crucifixion of, 38–­39, 88–­89, 189; in the
Gospel of Barnabas, 202–­3; as Messiah, 84;
al-­Yaʿqūbī’s account of, 184, 186
Jewish Christian groups, 13, 28–­29, 36–­37,
39. See also Torah/Pentateuch
Jewish translations, 52–­53, 100–­101, 155–­74;
by al-­Qirisānī, 160–­62; Baghdad and Pales-
tine as centers of, 155, 156, 159, 160–­63;
as biblical codices, 155–­56; commentary
function of, 157–­62, 169–­70; early, 122–­
25, 130, 155–­58, 209; impact of biblical
scholarship in, 169; Jerusalem school of,
159–­60, 169; Judaeo-­Arabic of, 104–­5,
123–­24, 156–­57, 161, 163, 168–­70; of
Karaite translators, 159–­62; on Mosaic law,
170–­74; response to interreligious contro-
versies in, 161–­62, 167, 170–­74; Saʿadyah’s
mastery of, 162–­69
Jews in the Middle East, 9–­11; Arabic lan­
guage use by, 9–­11, 14, 15–­16, 52–­53, 102–­5,
122; Aramaic targums of, 7, 124, 157–­59,
161; awareness of the Qurʾān of, 125–­26;
Baghdad as cultural center of, 155, 156,
160–­63; biblical scholarship of, 205–­6; exe­
getical tradition of, 11; Hebrew Bible of,
3, 7, 26, 54, 124, 157–­62; languages used
by, 90, 98, 122; mention in the Qurʾān of,
 ind e x   251

15–­16; non-­biblical texts of, 211–­12; Rab- Lot, 68, 192–­94

banite and Karaite controversies among, Luke, 133, 152
156–­57; reading and writing practices
(codexification) of, 124–­25. See also People Magian communities, 40–­41
of the Book Maimonides, Moses, 169
Jirjis ibn Yuḥanna ibn Sahl, 135 Mālik ibn Dīnār, 108, 177
Job, 70, 137, 159n16, 162, 167 Malter, Henry, 166
John, 133, 145f, 146–­49 Mamlūk era, 152–­54, 202, 206
John 15:23–­16:1, 179 Manassā ibn ṣāliḥ, 170–­71
John Chrysostom, 119 Manichaeans, 40–­41, 209
John of Ephesus, 22n51 Mar Chariton monastery, 110–­11
John the Baptist, 85 Mark, 133
Jonah, 70 Mar Saba monastery, 110–­11, 115–­18
Jonah ibn Janaḥ, 169 Mary in the Qurʾān, 27, 35, 83–­89
Joseph, 55–­56, 70, 74–­76 Massignon, Louis, 7n, 213
Josephus, Flavius, 211–­12 al-­Masʿūdī, Abū l-­Ḥasan ʿAli, 106, 130, 168
Judaeo-­Arabic, 104–­5, 123–­24, 156–­57, 161, Matthew, 133
163, 168–­70 Matthew 6:34, 132–­33
Julian of Halicarnassus, 38–­39 Matthew 19:24, 55
Meccan sūrahs, 25–­29
Kaʿbah, 195 Medinian sūrahs, 29–­39
Kachouh, Hikmat, 49–­51, 114–­19, 122 Melkite Christians, 2, 9–­11, 12n15, 20, 23–­
Karaite Jews, 156–­57, 159–­62, 169 24, 154; Arabic language use by, 27, 111;
Khalīl ibn Aḥmad, 103 Arabic translations by, 127, 130; Chris-
al-­Khaṭīb al-­Baghdādī, 45 tological controversies of, 32–­33, 36, 87,
Khoury, R. G., 108, 177 135; as mainstream community, 27–­28,
Kitāb al-­adīn wa dawlah (al-­Tabarī), 180 39, 208
Kitāb al-­amanāt wa-­l-­itiqādāt (Saʿadyah), 168 Middle Arabic, 104–­6, 123, 138, 148
Kitāb al-­anwār wa-­l-­marāqib (al-­Qirisānī), millah (as term), 73n33
160–­62 Mingana, Alphonse, 19–­20, 140–­41
Kitāb al-­buldān (al-­Yaʿqūbī), 187 Monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai,
Kitab al-­Fihrist (Abū l-­Faraj Muḥammad ibn 113–­14
Isḥāq an-­Nadīm), 106 Monferrer-­Sala, Juan Pedro, 131
Kitāb ar-­radd ʿalā n-­naṣārā (al-­Qāsim ibn Mosaic law, 170–­74, 178
Ibrāhīm a-­Rassī), 180–­81 Moses, 55, 58, 59, 61, 66, 77–­80, 183
Kitāb ar-­riyāḍ wa-­l-­hadāʾiqʾiq (al-­Qirqisānī), Moses ibn Ezra, 169
160–­62 Moses Maimonides, 169
Kugel, James L., 92n78 Mourad, Suleiman, 27
Mt. Sinai monastery, 110–­14
Lamentations, 162 Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-­Allāh, 7–­15, 54;
Latin Vulgate translations, 181 comparison of  Joseph to, 76; Constitution
Lazarus-­Yafeh, Hava, 199–­200, 201 of Medina of, 10; early biographies of,
Leemhuis, Fred, 139–­40 175, 179; God’s words on prophets to, 64–­
liturgical languages, 2 71; historiographical questions on, 17–­18;
Lives of the Eastern Saints ( John of Ephesus), Jewish and Christian informants of, 21–­22,
22n51 45–­46, 59, 82; knowledge of Syriac of,
Livne-­Kafri, Ofer, 147–­48 20–­23; scriptural knowledge of, 22–­23,
 252  ind e x
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-­Allāh (cont.)
25–­26, 27; scriptural proof of authentic-
ity of, 176–­82, 210; al-­Yaʿqūbī’s account of,
182
Muslim responses to the Arabic Bible, 144–­
46, 175–­203, 210; availability of the Arabic
Bible in, 178, 181, 199–­200; comments
on corruption of, 175–­76, 178, 200; com-
ments on language in, 136, 210; Islamic­
ization of biblical narratives and, 176–­82;
quotations of Bible passages in, 179–­82;
scholarly deconstruction in, 182–­202; by
al-­Yaʿqūbī’s, 182–­98
Muʿtazila, 160–­62, 165, 170–­71
al-­Nābigha al Dhubyājāī, 48–­49
an-­Nadīm, Abū l-­Faraj Muḥammad ibn
Isḥāq, 106–­7, 137, 178
Narsai (Nestorian), 42, 93–­94
an-­naṣārā (as term), 30–­32
Nazarene Christians, 28, 36–­37
an-­Naẓẓām, 170–­71
Nebuchadnezzar, 184
Nestorian Christians, 2, 9–­11, 12n15, 20,
23–­24, 156; Arabic language use by, 27,
111; Arabic milieu of, 36–­37; Arabic
translations by, 127, 130–­31; Christologi-
cal controversies of, 32–­33, 36, 87, 135;
commentary of, 149–­51; Lakhmid com-
munity of, 14; as mainstream community,
27–­28, 39, 208; on Mary as theotokos, 35;
Qurʾān’s terminology for, 32; Syriac mêmrê
of, 42, 93–­95
Neuwirth, Angelika, 57n, 75, 80, 82–­83
Nimrod, 189–­92
Noah, 59, 67, 183, 188–­89, 190
Old Church Slavonic, 108
‘On Abraham and his Types’ ( Jacob of
Serug), 94n83
Onkelos (Targum of ), 161, 163
‘On the Abrogation of the Sharīʿah of the
Jews from the Torah and the Prophets,’
172
‘On the Authority of Mosaic Law and the
Gospel, and on Orthodox Faith’ (Abū
Qurrah), 143–­44
‘On the Triune Nature of God,’ 112, 121–­22,
125–­26
oral circulation of the Bible, 89–­92; in the
first Islamic centuries, 98, 100, 109n42,
115, 124; in the pre-­Islamic era, 2, 43, 46,
51–­53, 90
Origen’s Hexapla, 136
Paris MS Copt. 1, 147–­48
Paris Polyglot of 1645, 204, 205f
Pauline epistles. See Epistles of St. Paul
Paul of Antioch, 172
Paul of Tella, 136
Pentateuch. See Torah/Pentateuch
People of Moses, 16
People of the Book, 3, 7–­15; original lan-
guages of scriptures of, 90; Qurʾān’s dis-
cussion of, 15–­41; terminology used for,
29–­33. See also Christians in the Middle
East; Jews in the Middle East
Pethion ibn Ayyūb as-­Sahhār, 137
Philo Judaeus, 211
phonetic spelling, 123–­24
pilgrimage, 195
polemical writing. See commentary and
debate
Polliack, Meira, 157, 160
polyglot Bibles, 204, 205f
pre-­Islamic era, 2, 7–­53; Arab familiarity
with scriptures in, 7–­8, 15–­39; Arabic
translations of the Bible in, 41–­53, 90, 98,
132n17; centers of Christian life in, 8–­9;
centers of Jewish life in, 8; Judeo-­Christian
presence in, 7–­15; language use in, 18–­24;
literature of, 43; oral tradition in, 2, 43,
46, 51–­53, 90, 116; scriptural literacy in,
7, 11, 16–­17, 24–­26, 42–­43, 90–­91. See also
first Islamic centuries
Prémare, A.-­L. de, 75–­76
printing era, 4–­5
the prophet. See Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-­Allāh
prophetology of Islam, 3, 208–­9; Abraham
in, 61, 66–­67, 71–­73, 189–­98, 210–­14;
Bible as scriptural warranty of, 23, 26, 54,
58–­60, 64–­71, 126, 175–­82, 210; David
and the Psalms in, 59, 70, 80–­83; Jesus
and Mary in, 83–­89; Joseph in, 55–­56, 70,
 ind e x   253
74–­76; Moses in, 55, 58, 59, 61, 66, 77–­80;
polemical aspect of, 71, 73, 87, 89, 91–­96;
popular tales of, 177; recurrent patterns
of recall in, 64–­89, 95–­96; role of, 62–­64.
See also Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-­Allāh
Protoevangelium of James, 27
Proverbs, 123–­24, 162
Psalms, 59, 80–­83, 108, 120, 214; bilingual
versions of, 146; commentary on, 151;
Saʿadyah’s translation of, 162; Sicilian
trilingual version of, 149; translations into
Arabic of, 129, 131
Psalm 37:29, 55, 81
Psalm 78, 112–­13
Psalm 104:5ff., 83
Psalm 136, 82, 83
al-­Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm al-­Ḥasanī, Abū
Muḥammad, 107
al-­Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm ar-­Rassī, 180–­81
Qirqisānī, Yaʿqūb, 3–­4, 171
al-­Qirqisānī, Abū Yūsuf  Yaʿqūb, 160–­62
Qurʾān: on Abraham, 212–­13; Bible as sub-
text of, 26, 30, 56–­58, 95–­96, 121–­22, 126,
208–­9; biblical lore in, 2, 7, 11, 15–­41,
60–­62, 126, 214; on Christ and the Trinity,
29, 32–­39; collection and assembly of, 98–­
100, 116, 209–­10; as earliest written book
in Arabic, 3, 43, 51–­52, 53, 89, 97, 116;
historiographical questions on, 17–­18;
Meccan sūrahs of, 25–­29; Medinian sūrahs
of, 29–­39; non-­Arabic vocabulary in, 16,
18–­23; polemical dimension of, 4, 24–­26,
29–­39, 58–­60, 71, 73, 87, 89, 91–­96, 175–­
76, 178; presumption of scriptural recall
in, 7, 11, 16–­17, 24–­26, 42–­43, 57–­62, 71;
quotations from the Bible in, 55–­56, 66,
71, 81–­82, 89, 214; as quoted in ‘On the
Triune Nature of God,’ 121–­22; recur-
rent patterns of recall in, 64–­89, 95–­96;
rhetorical style of, 25–­26, 37–­39; role of
prophets in, 62–­64; scriptural intertextu-
ality in, 2–­3, 54–­96; textual study of, 155.
See also prophetology of Islam
Rabbanite/Karaite controversies, 156–­57,
159–­62
Al-­Radd ʿalā n-­naṣārā (al-­Tabarī), 180
Ar-­radd al-­jamīl liʾ ilāhiyyati ʿīsā biṣarīḥ al-­injīl
(att. al-­Ghazzālī), 199–­200
Rambam, 169
Rashi, 169
‘Refutation of Christians’ (Abū ʿUthmān),
30–­31, 165–­66
religious debate. See commentary and debate
Revelation, 143n60, 151–­52
Roger II, of Sicily, 149
Romans 3:27–­4:25, 212
Rosenthal, Franz, 164
Rubin, Uri, 63n11
Saʿadyah ben Yosef al-­Fayyūmī ha-­Gaʾōn, 4,
122, 124, 130, 162–­69, 181, 205f, 210; on
anthropomorphic language for God, 165;
‘Book of Beliefs and Opinions’ of, 166,
168; impact of, 168, 169; introductory
commentaries by, 166–­67; on Mosaic law,
170–­71; script used by, 168–­69; translation
of  Job of, 159n16, 167
Sabian communities, 40–­41
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of
the Faith edition, 204
Sadeghi, Behnam, 100n
ṣāliḥ, 67–­68, 70, 188
Salmān al Fārisī, 21–­22
al-­Samawʾal ibn ʿādiyā, 52–­53
Samawʿal ibn Yaḥyā al-­Maghribī, 172
Samuel ben Ḥofnī Gaon, 169
Sarah, 192, 194, 197
Schoeler, George, 44–­46, 51, 52
Schoeps, Hans Joachim, 28, 36n
scholarship on the Qurʾān, 17–­18
Scholion (Theodore bar Kônī), 149–­50
Scripture People. See People of the Book
Sergius Baḥīrā, 21–­22
Severus of Antioch, 38
Shahid, Irfan, 41, 43n102, 47–­49
Shuʿayb, 68–­69, 70
Sibawayhī, 103
Sinai ar. N.F. parch. 8 and 28, 118–­20
Sinai Arabic MS 72, 132–­33
Sinai Arabic MS 74, 119–­20, 132–­33
Sinai Arabic MS 151, 113, 133–­36
Sinai Arabic MS 154, 112
 254  ind e x
Sinai Arabic MS 389, 139
Sinai Arabic MS 508, 186n41
Sinai Arabic MS 589, 139–­41
Sinai Arabic MSS 2 and 4, 130
Smith-­Van Dyk Version, 204
Sodom and Gomorrah, 192–­94
Solomon, 70, 81, 136, 183
Spain, 131, 199
Spelunca Thesaurorum, 184–­86
St. Catherine at Mount Sinai, 139
St. Euthymius, 14
St. John Chrysostom, 119
Steiner, Richard, 129–­31, 164–­66, 168–­69, 181
Stern, David, 155–­56
Stern, M. S., 74
‘Storehouse of Mysteries’ (Bar Hebraeus), 150
‘The Summary of the Ways of Faith . . . ,’
144–­46
sūrah II al-­Baqarah 40–­87, 77
sūrah II al-­Baqarah 124–­141, 72–­73
sūrah III āl ʿImrān 35–­59, 85
sūrah LV ar-­Raḥmān, 82, 83
sūrah LXXVIII an-­Nabāʾ, 83
sūrah ṭā Hā, 77
sūrah VI al-­Anʿām 252–­253, 78–­80
sūrah XII Yūsuf, 74–­76
sūrah XIX Maryam 1–­34, 85
sūrah XLIII az-­Zukhruf, 85–­86
sūrah XVII al-­Isrāʾ 22–­39, 78–­80
sūrah XXVI ash-­Shuʾarāʾ, 83, 87–­88
sūrah XXVIII al-­Qaṣaṣ 3–­46, 77
sūrah XXXVIII ṣād 17–­30, 81–­83
sūrat al-­Māʾidah 73, 34–­35
sūrat al-­Māʾidah 116, 35
sūrat an-­Nisāʾ 157, 37, 211
sūrat ash-­Shuʿarāʾ (XXVI), 65, 70
Syriac-­speaking Christians. See Aramaic/
Syriac-­speaking Christians
Syro-­Palestinian Lectionary, 120, 179
al-­Tabarī, ʿAli ibn Rabbān, 108, 179, 180
Tafsīr (Saʿadyah), 162–­69, 210
Takla, Hany, 148
Tanqīḥ al-­abḥāth lilmilal al-­thalāth (Ibn
Kammūnah), 173–­74
targums, 7, 124, 157–­59, 161
Taʾrīkh (al-­Yaʿqūbī), 182–­98; on Abraham,
189–­98; manuscripts of, 183n29; methods
used in, 186–­88; perspective of Quʾrān
in, 188–­91, 197–­98; principle sources of,
184–­86; prophetology in, 189
Tathbīt dalāʾil an-­nubuwwah (ʿAbd al-­Jabbār),
197–­98
Tatian, 141
aṭ-­ṭayyib, Abū l-­Faraj ʿAbd Allāh, 141–­43,
150–­51
Ten Commandments, 78–­80
Terah, 190–­92
Testament of Abraham, 211
Theodore bar Kônī, 149–­50
Theodore of Mopsuestia, 151
Tobi, Yosef, 44n105
Torah/Pentateuch, 120, 214; Christian trans­
lations of, 129–­32, 135; Coptic/Arabic
text of, 147–­48; Ibn Ḥazm’s response
to, 198–­99; Jewish translations of, 3–­4,
130; Mosaic law in, 170–­74; Qurʾān’s
recognition of, 58–­59, 77–­80; Saʿadyah’s
translation of, 162, 164, 165, 166, 168–­69,
181, 210; traditional Jewish study of, 170;
transmission histories of translations of,
129–­30. See also Hebrew Bible
translations of the Bible into Arabic, 13–­14,
90; availability of, 178, 181, 199–­200; by
Christians, 100–­103, 108–­54; earliest of,
90, 97–­127, 132–­33, 155–­58, 209–­10; of
the Gospels from Greek, 118–­20, 132–­33;
of the Gospels from Syriac, 114–­18; He-
brew script in, 104–­5, 123–­24, 156–­57, 161,
168–­70; influence of oral transmission on,
98, 100, 109n42, 115; interreligious ex-
change fostered by, 4, 126, 174, 206–­15; by
Jews, 122–­25, 130, 155–­74; manuscripts of,
1, 3, 50–­51, 106; Middle Arabic of, 104–­6,
123, 138, 148; Muslim responses to, 175–­
203; of non-­Gospel books, 120–­21; om-
nibus binding of, 119; in ‘On the Triune
Nature of God,’ 121–­22; phonetic spelling
in, 123–­24; in the pre-­Islamic era, 41–­53,
90, 98; roles played by, 126; script used
for, 41, 45–­46; surviving copies of, 114–­15,
122; transmission histories of, 129–­30;
Vatican edition/by Western churches, 204;
by Waraqah ibn Nawfal, 21–­22, 45–­46, 99,
178. See also Torah/Pentateuch
transliteration, 123–­24
 ind e x   255

aṭ-­ṭūf ī, Najm ad-­Dīn Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd Waraqah ibn Nawfal, 21–­22, 45–­46, 99, 178
al-­Qawī, 201 Wellhausen, Julius, 36n
Whittingham, Martin, 200
ʿUmar, 45, 65, 126 Wisdom of Ben Sirach, 137
Umayyad period, 100–­101 Witztum, Joseph, 76
ʿUthmān (caliph), 99–­100
al-­Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad ibn Abī Yaʾqub ibn
Vagican Borgia MS 95, 132–­33 Wādiḥ, 4, 107, 182–­98. See also Taʾrīkh
Vatican Arabic Manuscript 13, 50–­51, 114–­ Yefet ha-­Levi ben ʿElī, 159, 160
18, 120 Yeshuʿah ben Yehudah, 159
Vatican edition, 204 Yonṭon, 190
Vita S. Hilarionis ( Jerome), 48 Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās, 10
Vollandt, Ronny, 130–­32, 135
Zayd ibn Thābit, 20, 46, 99–­100
Wahb ibn Munabbih, 107, 177–­78 Zerubbabel, 184
al-­Walīd (caliph), 101 Zoroastrians, 40, 190
Wansbrough, John, 175 Zwettler, Michael, 77
 Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient
to the Modern World

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