The early Arabic versions of Job (first millennium C.E.)

Abstract

This work makes a contribution to the history of the interpretation of Hebrew scripture by examining the earlier texts, produced by the linguistically cognate communities of Arabic-speaking Jews, Christians, and Muslims, of one of the more theologically controversial and linguistically difficult texts of the Judeo-Christian canon: the Book of Job. Analysis relates portions of five pre-1000 C. E. Arabic versions to the Masoretic Text as well as to the Targum, Septuagint, Peshitta, Syro-Hexaplaric, and Coptic. Subtleties encountered in the course of translation, including theological emphases, inter-religious and inter-cultural influences, as well as paraphrastics and other form-literary concerns, are treated.