THE HEBREW PARAPHRASE OF SAADIA GAON\u27S KITAB AL-AMANAT WA\u27L-ICTIQADAT. (HEBREW TEXT)

The bulk of this dissertation is a scientific edition of the introduction and first five treatises of the anonymous Hebrew Paraphrase of Saadia Gaon\u27s Kitab al-Amanat wa\u27l-I(\u27c)tiqadat, based on the following witnesses: mss. Vatican 266 ff. 1b-137 (the text provided), Vatican 269 and Munich 42 ff. 301a-526a. In the critical introduction to the scientific edition, the editor takes up a number of issues, including an analysis of the quality of the Paraphrase as translation. Key passages from the Paraphrase are contrasted with the Arabic original and the later Tibbonide translation. The unusual language of the Paraphrase is compared to Qallirite language. The date and provenance of the Paraphrase are discussed, and evidence is presented which suggests that the Paraphrase was written in Byzantine Italy during the eleventh century. The use of the Paraphrase in medieval Jewish philosophy is then traced, especially during the Maimonidean controversy of the thirteenth century. The employment of the Paraphrase by medieval Jewish mystics is also detailed, particularly in the development of the Kavod ( Divine Glory ) doctrine in German pietism. The critical introduction concludes with a description of the textual witnesses to the Paraphrase