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Here is a passage from Rav Saadia Gaon’s Sefer haGalui on cantillating deutero-canonical works. The passage provides a description and justification of the practice of including trōp in works outside the Tanakh in the Geonic period! Hebrew translation of the Arabic by the scholar Alexander Harkavy (1863-1939).
| Source (Judeo-Arabic) | Source (Arabic) | Translation (Hebrew), by Alexander Harkavy | Translation (English) |
|---|---|---|---|
ומנדׄ ארתפעת אלנבוה̈ צאר תדוין מא יחדתׄ פי אלזמאן ומא יכׄטר עלי אלבאל אלי אלעלמא אן יתׄבתון דׄלך תאדיבא ותעלימא למן בעדהם |
ومنذ ارتفعت النبوة صار تدوين ما يحدث في الزمان وما يخطر على البال الى العلما ان يثبتون ذلك تاديبا وتعليما لمن بعدهم |
ומעת שפסקה הנבואה היתה מלאכת החבור ממה שיתחדש בזמן ומה שיעלה על הדעת אל החכמים שיעשו אותו מוסר ולקח לבאים אחריהם. |
And since prophecy receded, it has come upon the scholars to record what occurs at the time and what comes upon the mind, that they should establish it as discipline and education for those after them. |
כמא וגׄדנא שמעון בן ישוע בן אלעזר בן סירא אלף כתאב אדאב שבה ספר משלי פי פצולה ופואסיקה וגׄעלה מסמנא מטעמא. |
كما وجدنا شمعون بن يشوع بن العزر بن سيرا ألّف كتاب آداب شبه سِفر مِشلَي في فصوله وفواسيقه وجعله مسمنا مطعما |
כמו שמצינו ששמעון בן־ישוע בן־אלעזר בן־סירא חבר ספר מוסר הדומה לספר משלי [שלמה] בפרשיותיו ופסוקיו ועשהו מסומן ומוטעם. |
As we found — Shimʕon ben Yeshuaʕ ben Elʕazar ben Sira composed a book of etiquette[1] The proverbs of Elazar ben Irai are an unknown work, unfortunately. similar to the book of Proverbs in its chapters and verses,[2] The word “verses” — fawāsīq — is one of several Hebrew words to be artificially made into an Arabic form, in this case a broken plural of pasuq. This word is not attested in Muslim Arabic, where a verse is called ‘āyah and not pasuq. and made it diacriticized[3] ”Diacriticized” — musammana — is another artificial Arabic form, in this case a form-III verbal noun of the Hebrew siman (sign) used by Rav Saʕadya to refer to vowel markings. The normative Arabic word for “vocalized” — maškūl — is not used. and cantillated.[4] ”Cantillated” — muṭaʕʕama — is another artificial Arabic form, in this case a form-III verbal noun of the Hebrew ṭaʕam. |
וכמא אלף אלעזר בן עיראי כתאב חכמה̈ ישבה ספר קהלת פי אנתטׄאמה ופואסיקה מטעמא מסמנא. |
وكما ألّف العزر بن عيراي كتاب حكمة يشبه سفر قهلت انتظامه |
וכמו שחבר אלעזר בן עיראי ספר חכמה הדומה לספר קהלת בסדרו ופסוקיו מוטעם ומסומן. |
And as Elʕazar ben ʕirai composed a book of wisdom like the book of Ecclesiastes in its organization and its verses, cantillated and diacriticized. |
[וכמא] אתׄבתו בני חשמנאי יהודה ושמעון ויוחנן ויונתן ואלעזר בני מתתיה כתאבא פי מא מר בהם ישבה כתאב דניאל בלגה̈ אלכסדאניין. |
وكما اثبتو بني حشمناي يهوده وشمعون ويوحنن ويونتن والعزر بني متتيه كتابا في ما مر بهم يشبه كتاب دنيال بلغة الكسدانين |
[וכמו] שכתבו בני חשמנאי יהודה ושמעון ויוחנן ויונתן ואלעזר בני מתתיה ספר במה שעבר עליהם הדומה לספר דניאל בלשון הכשדים. |
And as the Hasmoneans, Yehuda and Shimʕon and Yoḥanan and Yonatan and Elʕazar the sons of Matitya, established a book of what happened to them, like the book of Daniel, in the Chaldean language. |
ופי עצרנא הדׄא אלפי אהל אלקירואן כתאבא עבראניא פימא להם מן שעדי אלנצראני מספק פואסיקא מטעם בטעמין. |
وفي عصرنا هذا ألّفي اهل القيروان كتابا عبرانيا فيما لهم من شعدي النصراني مسفق فواسيقا مطعم بطعمين |
ובזמננו זה חברו אנשי קירואן ספר בעברית ממה שנמצא אצלם מן שעדי הנוצרי מופסק לפסוקים מוטעם בטעמים. |
And in this time of ours, the people of Kairouan composed a Hebrew book about what occurred to them from Shaadi al-Naṣrani,[5] Read as a proper name of the author, according to Prof. Meir bar-Ilan. That being said, Alexander Harkavy suggests this should be read as “the songs of the Christians,” while Rosen suggests “Christian witnesses” and R. Yehuda Zeivald reads as “debates with Christians.” The kairouan scroll, unfortunately, is another unknown work whose contents and authorship remain a mystery. versified[6] Yet another artificial Arabic form — musfaq — in this case a form-I verbal noun of the Hebrew pasuq. in verses, cantillated in cantillation. |
וכמא אלפת באלעראק כתאבא עבראניא ען ראי מן כאן באלחצרה̈ [ריסא] פימא ורד עלי אלאמה̈ מן כׄטא בן מאיר [והו אלמסמי בכתאב אל]אעיאד מקטעא פואסיקא מטעמא בטעמין. |
وكما آلّفت بالعراق كتابا عبرانيا عن رأي من كان بالحصرة [ريسا] فيما ورد على الامة من خطا بن مأير [وهو المسمى بكتاب] الاعياد مقطعا فواسيقا مطعما بطعمين |
וכמו שחברתי בהיותי בעראק [בבל] ספר בעברית לפי דעת מי שהיה אז [ראש] במה שקרה להאומה מחטא בן מאיר. [והוא הנקרא] ספר המועדים. מקוטע לפסוקים ומוטעם בטעמים. |
And as I composed, in Iraq, a Hebrew book per the opinion of he who was then appointed head of the court[7] The exilarch David ben Zakkai, who was — at the time of this book’s composition — friends and allies with Rav Saʕadya in their calendric dispute with ben Meir. Later they had a severe falling out, with mutual excommunications on both sides, and it seems that Rav Saʕadya held a grudge. of what came upon the nation from the sin of Ben Meir.[8] Aaron ben Meir, a scholar in the west who insisted on recalculating the molad and celebrating the festivals two days earlier than the normative position in the year 4682/922 CE. It is called the Book of the Festivals, divided into verses and cantillated with cantillation. |
כדׄלך אלפת כתאבא פימא לקיתה מן קום מן אהלה מן אלמחן ואלגׄהד עבראניא מפסקא פואסיקא מסמנא מטעמא ליכון אסהל לקראתה ואמכן לחפטׄה. |
كذلك آلّفت كتابا فيما لقيته من قوم من اهله من المحن والجهد عبرانيا مفسقا فواسيقا مسمنا مطعما ليكون اسهل لقراءته وامكن لحفظه. |
כמו כן חברתי ספר במה שראיתי [איזה] מן האנשים שתחסרנה להם הבחינה וההשתדלות. בעברית. מופסק לפסוקים מסומן ומוטעם למען יהי יותר קל לקריאה ויותר מסוגל לשמרו [בזכרון]. |
Similarly, I wrote a book of the trials and tribulations I encountered from the people of his family, in Hebrew, versified in verses, diacriticized, and cantillated, so as to make it easier to read and possible to preserve.[9] We do have some passages from Rav Saadya Gaon’s Sefer Moadim but, alas, not a complete work. |
Notes
| 1 | The proverbs of Elazar ben Irai are an unknown work, unfortunately. |
|---|---|
| 2 | The word “verses” — fawāsīq — is one of several Hebrew words to be artificially made into an Arabic form, in this case a broken plural of pasuq. This word is not attested in Muslim Arabic, where a verse is called ‘āyah and not pasuq. |
| 3 | ”Diacriticized” — musammana — is another artificial Arabic form, in this case a form-III verbal noun of the Hebrew siman (sign) used by Rav Saʕadya to refer to vowel markings. The normative Arabic word for “vocalized” — maškūl — is not used. |
| 4 | ”Cantillated” — muṭaʕʕama — is another artificial Arabic form, in this case a form-III verbal noun of the Hebrew ṭaʕam. |
| 5 | Read as a proper name of the author, according to Prof. Meir bar-Ilan. That being said, Alexander Harkavy suggests this should be read as “the songs of the Christians,” while Rosen suggests “Christian witnesses” and R. Yehuda Zeivald reads as “debates with Christians.” The kairouan scroll, unfortunately, is another unknown work whose contents and authorship remain a mystery. |
| 6 | Yet another artificial Arabic form — musfaq — in this case a form-I verbal noun of the Hebrew pasuq. |
| 7 | The exilarch David ben Zakkai, who was — at the time of this book’s composition — friends and allies with Rav Saʕadya in their calendric dispute with ben Meir. Later they had a severe falling out, with mutual excommunications on both sides, and it seems that Rav Saʕadya held a grudge. |
| 8 | Aaron ben Meir, a scholar in the west who insisted on recalculating the molad and celebrating the festivals two days earlier than the normative position in the year 4682/922 CE. |
| 9 | We do have some passages from Rav Saadya Gaon’s Sefer Moadim but, alas, not a complete work. |
“On cantillating deutero-canonical works, from Sefer haGalui by Saadia Gaon (ca. 10th c.)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license.
