Japheth Ben Ali's Book of Jeremiah: A Critical Edition and Linguistic Analysis of the Judaeo-Arabic Translation »

The author of this volume attempts to re-integrate the Judaeo-Arabic language variety and its literature within the realm of Arabic Studies, by focusing on the nature and functions of Middle Arabic on the one hand, and by analysing the functions of the Arabic language and the script in the medieval Karaite -Jewish - literary system on the other. Moreover, this study is a scientific effort in the fields of Arabic sociolinguistics and Arabic Biblical research. In light of the contribution of Karaite in the Middle Ages in the area of Arabic Bible translation, as well as of other non-Classical Arabic linguistic features, this book presents for the first time a critical edition of Japheth Ben Ali's Biblical text, transcribed into Arabic script, and his Arabic translation of the Book of Jeremiah. This is done on the basis of five manuscripts: BL. Or. 2549 (A), NLR. Arav-Evr. 070 (B), ENA. 3913 (C), BL. Or. 2503 (D), BL. Or. 2504 (E). As a critical edition of these manuscripts, this volume is very important for biblical research and for research in cognate fields, such as medieval Judaism or the history of Islamic-Jewish relations.