Publications

Books

Zewi, T. (2015). The Samaritan Version of Saadya Gaon’s Translation of the Pentateuch. Leiden: Brill

This edition of MS London BL OR7562 discusses a Samaritan adaptation of Saadya Gaon’s Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, its main characteristics and place among other early Medieval Arabic Bible translations, viz., other versions of Saadya’s translation of the Pentateuch, other Samaritan Arabic versions of the Pentateuch, and Christian and Karaite Arabic Bible translations. 

The study was funded by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF grant 18/09).

Journals

Carmelim: for the study of Hebrew and adjacent languages [in Hebrew]

Published by the Department of Hebrew Language, University of Haifa, and Yad Izhak Ben Zvi Institute.

 

Theses & Dissertations

M.A. Theses

  • Phillips, Yoav. 2022. Identifying the Islamic Sources of baḥya ibn paqūda’s: “kitāb al- hidāya ʾilā farāʾiḍ al-qulūb” Using Automatic Transliteration and Text Reuse Processes. Master’s Thesis. Department of Jewish History. University of Haifa. Supervisors: Moshe Lavee, Tsvi Kuflik, Tamar Zewi.
    Abstract: The study is the first phase in research of a larger scale intended to systematically unveil the anonymity of baḥya ibn paqūda’s: “kitāb al- hidāya ʾilā farāʾiḍ al-qulūb” known as “Duties of the Hearts”. The overall research addresses the question: What are the sources for the anonymous Islamic quotations in the hidāya and can they be identified by computational methods? This phase focuses the question of: How to compare two texts of different dialects with different orthographic systems? Or specifically: How to detect Islamic Arabic texts, quoted or integrated into a Judeo-Arabic text? Thus, the main concern in this phase is on developing the tools and methods needed to address the main technological challenges
    Full text (accessible to University of Haifa faculty and students)
  • Abbas, Z. (2007). Semantic and Syntactic aspects of the word “Ki” in Saadya Gaon’s translation ofGenesis and in Arabic modern Christian-catholic translation.  Master’s thesis. Department of Hebrew Language, University of Haifa. Supervisor: Prof. Tamar Zewi. [in Hebrew]
    Abstract: This study examines the semantic and syntactic aspects of the word “ki” in the biblical Hebrew. Methods of translation were studied within two translations of the bible: Saadya Gaon’s translation (SGT) and Arabic modern Christian-catholic (AMCC), while comparing translation strategies between the two. The selected corpus is the book of Genesis, which is the only source of the relevant examples in the study section. Three versions of SGT were examined: Ms .St. Petersburg, Derenbourg edition, and Hasid edition. A comparison was conducted among the three regarding ways of translating the word “ki”.
    Full text (accessible to University of Haifa faculty and students)

Ph.D Dissertations

  • Habib, J. (2021). Accents, Vocalization, and Qere/Ketiv in Medieval Judaeo-Arabic Bible Commentaries. PhD Dissertation. Cambridge University. Supervisor: Prof. Geoffrey Khan (Cambridge  University); co-supervisor: Prof.  Tamar Zewi (University of Haifa)
    * Dr. Joseph Habib was the winner of the Valler Doctoral Fellowship for the Years 2020 – 2021, on behalf of the Department of Jewish History and Bible at the University of Haifa.
  • Avirbach, B. (2014). The Translation Method of R. Judah Ibn-Tibbon: Issues of Version and Lexicon in his Translation of “The Duties of the Hearts” by R. Bahye  Ibn-Paquda. Doctoral dissertation. Department of Hebrew Language, University of Haifa. Supervisors: Prof. Matthew Morgenstern and Prof. Tamar Zewi. [in Hebrew]

    Abstract: This study deals with the vocabulary and lexicon of R. Judah Ibn-Tibbon as reflected in his translation of the book “The Duties of the Hearts” by R. Bahye Ibn-Paquda. The study also examines the version of this translation. Two aspects of Ibn-Tibbon’s lexicon were analyzed in detail: (a) the way earlier Hebrew sources influenced Ibn-Tibbon’s lexical variety; (b) the methods Ibn-Tibbon used in order to expand and enrich the Hebrew vocabulary.
    Full text (accessible to University of Haifa faculty and students)

  • Abbas, Z. (2012). The Reflection of the Biblical Hebrew Conjunctions in Saadya Gaon’s Translation of the Pentateuch.  Doctoral dissertation. Department of Hebrew Language, University of Haifa. Supervisor: Prof. Tamar Zewi. [in Hebrew]

    Abstract: This stud examines conjunctions in Biblical Hebrew, as they occur in Saadya Gaon’s translation of the Pentateuch in three versions of Saadya Gaon’s translation. The three are: Ms .St. Petersburg, Derenbourg edition, and Hasid edition. The ways and methods in which these connectors occur has been inspected and their syntactic and semantic aspects in their Arabic equivalents is discussed.
    Full text (accessible to University of Haifa faculty and students)