Jewish philosophy -- Early works to 1800; Judaism -- Works to 1900; Philosophy, Medieval -- Early works to 1800
I. The Arabic Text.—The editio princeps, the only edition of the
original text of the Guide (in Arabic, Dĕlil, or Dalalat al-ḥaïrin),
was undertaken and executed by the late S. Munk. Its title is: Le Guide
des Égarés, traité de Théologie et de Philosophie par Moïse ben Maimon,
publié pour la première fois dans l’original Arabe, et accompagné d’une
traduction Française et de notes critiques, littéraires et
explicatives, par S. Munk (Paris, 1850–1866). The plan was published,
1833, in Reflexions sur le culte des anciens Hébreux (La Bible, par S.
Cahen, vol. iv.), with a specimen of two chapters of the Third Part.
The text adopted has been selected from the several MSS. at his
disposal with great care and judgment. Two Leyden MSS. (cod. 18 and
221), various MSS. of the Bibliothèque Nationale (No. 760, very old;
761 and 758, written by R. Saadia Ibn Danan), and some MSS. of the
Bodleian Library were consulted. In the notes which accompany the
French translation, the various readings of the different MSS. are
fully discussed. At the end of the third volume a list is added of
“Variantes des Manuscrits Arabes et des deux Versions Hébraïques.”
The library of the British Museum possesses two copies of the Arabic
text; the one Or. 1423 is complete, beautifully written, with
explanatory notes in the margin and between the lines. The name of the
copyist is not mentioned, nor the date when it has been written. The
volume has in the beginning an incomplete index to the Scriptural
passages referred to in the Guide, and at the end fragments of Psalm
cxli. in Arabic and of astronomical tables.
The second copy of the Dalalat al-ḥaïrin is contained in the MS. Or.
2423, written in large Yemen Rabbinic characters. It is very
fragmentary. The first fragment begins with the last paragraph of the
introduction; there are a few marginal notes in Hebrew.
In the Bodleian Library there are the following copies of the Dalalat
al-ḥaïrin according to the Catal. of Hebr. MSS. by Dr. A. Neubauer:—
No. 1236. The text is preceded by Jehudah al-Charizi’s index of the
contents of the chapters, and by an index of Biblical quotations. In
the margin there are notes, containing omissions, by different hands,
two in Arabic characters. The volume was written 1473.
No. 1237. The Arabic text, with a few marginal notes containing various
readings; the text is preceded by three Hebrew poems, beginning, De’i
holek, Bi-sedeb tebunot; and Binu be-dat Mosheh. Fol. 212 contains a
fragment of the book (III., xxix.).
No. 1238. Text with a few marginal notes.
No. 1239. The end of the work is wanting in this copy. The second part
has forty-nine chapters, as the introduction to Part II. is counted as
chapter i.; Part III. has fifty-six chapters, the introduction being
counted as chapter i., and chapter xxiv. being divided into two
chapters. The index of passages from the Pentateuch follows the
ordinary mode of counting the chapters of the Guide.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account