"Variæ Lectiones" and Translations

"Variæ Lectiones" and Translations.

A critical edition of Babli has been proposed repeatedly, and a number of valuable contributions have been made, especially in the huge collections of variants by Rabbinovicz; but so far this work has not even been begun, although mention should be made of the interesting attempt by M. Friedmann, "Kritische Edition des Traktates Makkoth," in the "Verhandlungen des Siebenten Internationalen Orientalisten-Congresses, Semitische Section," pp. 1-78 (Vienna, 1888). Here the structure of the text is indicated by such external means as different type, sections, and punctuation. The edition of Yerushalmi announced by Luncz at Jerusalem promises a text of critical purity.

The earliest allusion to a translation of the Talmud is made by Abraham ibn Daud in his historical "Sefer ha-Kabbalah" (see Neubauer, "M. J. C." i. 69), who, referring to Joseph ibn Abitur (second half of 10th cent.), says: "He is the one who translatedthe entire Talmud into Arabic for the calif Al-hakim." The tradition was therefore current among the Jews of Spain in the twelfth century that Ibn Abitur had translated the Talmud for this ruler of Cordova, who was especially noted for his large library, this tradition being analogous to the one current in Alexandria in antiquity with regard to the first Greek translation of the Bible. No trace, however, remains of Joseph Abitur's translation; and in all probability he translated merely detached portions for the calif, this work giving rise to the legend of his complete version. The need of a translation to render the contents of the Talmud more generally accessible, began to be felt by Christian theologians after the sixteenth century, and by Jewish circles in the nineteenth century. This gave rise to the translations of the Mishnah which have been noted elsewhere (see Jew. Encyc. viii. 618, s.v., Mishnah). In addition to the complete translations mentioned there, single treatises of the Mishnah have been rendered into Latin and into modern languages, a survey being given by Bischoff in his "Kritische Geschichte der Thalmud-Uebersetzungen," pp. 28-56 (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1899). Twenty treatises of Yerushalmi were translated into Latin by Blasio Ugolino in his "Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum," xvii. (1755), xxx. (1765); and the entire text of this Talmud was rendered into French by Moïse Schwab ("Le Talmud de Jérusalem," 11 vols., Paris, 1871-1889). The translation by Wünsche of the haggadic portions of Yerushalmi has already been mentioned; and an account of the translations of single portions is given by Bischoff (l.c. pp. 59 et seq.). In 1896 L. Goldschmidt began the translation of a German version of Babli, together with the text of Bomberg's first edition; and a number of volumes have already appeared (Berlin, 1898 et seq.). The insufficiency of this work apparently corresponds to the rapidity with which it is issued. In the same year M. L. Rodkinson undertook an abridged translation of the Babylonian Talmud into English, of which seven volumes appeared before the translator's death (1904); Rodkinson's point of view was quite unscholarly. Of translations of single treatises the following may be mentioned (see Bischoff, l.c. pp. 68-76): Earlier Latin translations: Ugolino, Zeḅahim, Menahot (in "Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum," xix.), Sanhedrin (ib. xxv.); G. E. Edzard, Berakot (Hamburg, 1713); F. B. Dachs, Sukkah (Utrecht, 1726). Noteworthy among the Jewish translators of the Talmud are M. Rawicz (Megillah, 1863; Rosh ha-Shanah, 1886; Sanhedrin, 1892; Ketubot, 1897); E. M. Pinner (Berakot, 1842, designed as the first volume of a translation of the entire Talmud); D. O. Straschun (Ta'anit, 1883); and Sammter (Baba Mezi'a, 1876). Their translations are entirely in German. Translations published by Christian scholars in the nineteenth century: F. C. Ewald (a baptized Jew), 'Abodah Zarah (Nuremberg, 1856); in 1831 the Abbé Chiarini, mentioned above, published a French translation of Berakot; and in 1891 A. W. Streane prepared an English translation of hagigah. A French version of several treatises is included in J. M. Rabbinovicz's works 'Législation Civile du Talmud" (5 vols., Paris, 1873-79) and "Législation Criminelle du Talmud" (ib. 1876), while Wünsche's translation of the haggadic portions of Babli (1886-89) has been mentioned above.