Editing Saadia Gaon (section)

===Method of translation===
As much as Saadia's Judeo-Arabic translation of the [[Torah]] (''Tafsīr'') has brought relief and succour to Jews living in Arabic-speaking countries, his identification of places, fauna and flora, and the stones of the [[priestly breastplate]], has found him at variance with some scholars. [[Abraham ibn Ezra]], in his commentary on the Torah, wrote scathing remarks on Saadia's commentary,<ref>''Abraham ibn Ezra's Commentary of the Pentateuch'', on Genesis 2:11–12 and on Exodus 28:30, as well as in his critique on RSG's identification of the bird, ''ʿozniah'' (the [[Steppe eagle]]), in Leviticus 11:13.</ref> saying: "He doesn't have an oral tradition [...] perhaps he has a vision in a dream, while he has already erred with respect to certain places [...]; therefore, we will not rely on his dreams."

However, Saadia assures his readers elsewhere that when he rendered translations for the twenty-odd [[kosher animals|unclean fowl]] mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]], <small>([[Leviticus]] 11:13&ndash;19; [[Deuteronomy]] 14:12&ndash;18)</small> his translation was based on an [[oral tradition]] received by him.<ref>[[Zohar Amar]], ''Flora of the Bible'', Rubin Mass Ltd.: Jerusalem, p. 58 {{ISBN|978-965-09-0308-7|invalid1=yes}} {{oclc|783455868}} {{LCCN|2012426122}} (Hebrew); Yosef Qafih, ''Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentaries on the Pentateuch'', Mossad Harav Kook: Jerusalem 1984, p. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzMzdN1V2iR8X1BZcFRnS284QWM/view 125 (note 7)] (Hebrew)</ref> Saadia's method of conveying names for the fowls based on what he had received by way of an oral tradition prompted him to add in his defense: "Every detail about them, had one of them merely come unto us [for identification], we would not have been able to identify it for certain, much less recognize their related kinds."<ref>[[Zohar Amar]], ''Flora of the Bible'', Rubin Mass Ltd.: Jerusalem, p. 59 {{ISBN|978-965-09-0308-7|invalid1=yes}} {{oclc|783455868}} {{LCCN|2012426122}} (Hebrew); Yosef Qafih, ''Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentaries on the Pentateuch'', Mossad Harav Kook: Jerusalem 1984, p. 125 (note 7) (Hebrew)</ref>

The question often asked by scholars now is whether Saadia applied this principle in his other translations. ''Re'em'' ({{langx|he|ראם|rəʾēm|link=no}}), as in [[V'Zot_HaBerachah#Third_reading—Deuteronomy_33:13–17|Deuteronomy 33:17]], improperly translated as "unicorn" in some English translations, is a word that is now used in [[Modern Hebrew]] to represent the "[[oryx]]". However, Saadia understood the same word to mean "[[rhinoceros]]" and writes there the Judeo-Arabic word for the creature ({{langx|jrb|אלכרכדאן|al-karkadann}}). He interprets the ''zamer'' ({{langx|he|זָֽמֶר|zāmer|link=no}}) in [[Re'eh#Fourth_reading—Deuteronomy_14:1–21|Deuteronomy 14:5]] as [[giraffe]]. 
{|class="wikitable"
|+ Comparative study of Saadia's translations for the ''Eight Creeping Things'' of Leviticus, ch. 11
|-
! style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|Source <br /><small>Leviticus 11:29–30</small>
! style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|Hebrew Word
! Saadia Gaon<br /><small>(Judeo-Arabic)</small>
! [[Rashi]]<br /><small>(Old French)</small> 
! [[Septuagint]]<br /><small>(Greek)</small> 
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:29</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|החֹלד}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-ḥoled'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלכׄלד'''<br />[[Middle East blind mole-rat]]<ref name=ZoharAmar2016>[[Zohar Amar]], ''Shmona Shratzim'', Mekhon Moshe: Kiryat-Ono 2016, pp. 13, 66 {{ISBN|978-965-90818-9-9}}</ref> 
| style="text-align:center;"| '''מושטילא'''<br />'''mustele'''<br />Weasel (''[[Mustela]] spp.'')<ref name=IsraelGukovitzki1992>''Sefer Targum La'az (Translation of Foreign Words)'', Israel Gukovitzki, London 1992, p. 140.</ref><ref>According to [[Zohar Amar|Amar]], thought to be [[Mustela subpalmata]] or [[Mustela nivalis]], species that were once endemic to Israel.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| '''γαλἡ'''<br />(''gale'')<br />Weasel<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b>[[Zohar Amar]], ''Shmona Shratzim'', Mekhon Moshe: Kiryat-Ono 2016, p. 12 {{ISBN|978-965-90818-9-9}}.</ref><ref>In Greek, the word ''gale'' is a generic term including the [[weasel]], [[ferret]], and the [[stoat]].</ref>
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:29</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|העכבּר}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-ʿaḫbar'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלפאר'''<br />[[house mouse]]<ref name=ZoharAmar2016 /><ref>By saying, "after its kind," it would include rats ([[Rattus]]), voles ([[Microtus]]), [[hamster]]s, [[Gerbillinae|gerbil]]s, [[jerboa]]s, etc.</ref> 
| style="text-align:center;"| xxx
| style="text-align:center;"| '''μυς'''<br />(''mys'')<br />Mouse<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b />
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:29</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|הצב}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-ṣav'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלצׄב'''<br />Spiny-tailed lizard (''[[Uromastyx aegyptia]]'')<ref name=ZoharAmar2016 /> 
| style="text-align:center;"| '''פוייט''' <br />'''froit'''<br />Toad (''[[Bufo]]'' spp.)<ref name= IsraelGukovitzki1992 /><ref>As for "frogs" and "toads," according to Maimonides (Mishnah commentary, Introduction to ''Seder Taharot''), both reptiles are generically called in Hebrew '''צפרדע''', but in Arabic ''dhafadaʿ'', and neither one of them can convey uncleanness by touching, even after death. See Maimonides, Mishnah ''Taharot'' 5:1, where it is proven that a dead frog is not the same as one of the dead creeping things.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| '''κροκόδειλος'''<br />(''krokódeilos'')<br />Big lizard<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b /><ref>''Krokódeilos'', not to be mistaken with the animal that is called by this name today, or crocodile. For in ancient Greek, any big lizard was called "krokódeilos."</ref>
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:30</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|האנקה}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-anaqah'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלורל'''<br />[[monitor lizard]]<ref name=ZoharAmar2016 /> 
| style="text-align:center;"| ''' הריון''' <br />'''heriçon'''<br />[[southern white-breasted hedgehog]])<ref name= IsraelGukovitzki1992 />
| style="text-align:center;"| '''μυγάλη'''<br />(''mygáli'')<br />Shrew (''[[Crocidura]]'' spp.)<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b />
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:30</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|הכח}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-koaḥ'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלחרדׄון'''<br />Agama lizard (''[[Agama (lizard)|Agama]]'' spp.)<ref name=ZoharAmar2016 />
| style="text-align:center;"| xxx
| style="text-align:center;"| '''χαμαιλέων'''<br />(''chamailéon'')<br />Chameleon<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b />
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:30</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|הלטאה}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-leṭa’ah'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלעצׄאיה'''<ref>Or what is also spelt in Arabic: {{lang|ar|العظاية}}.</ref><br />Fringe-toed lizard (''[[Acanthodactylus]]'' spp.)<br />([[Lacerta (genus)|Lacerta]] spp.)<ref name=ZoharAmar2016 /> 
| style="text-align:center;"| '''לישרדה''' <br />'''laiserde'''<br />Lizard (''[[Lacerta (genus)|Lacerta]]'' spp.)<ref name= IsraelGukovitzki1992 />
| style="text-align:center;"| '''καλαβώτης'''<br />(''kalavótis'')<br />Newt<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b />
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:30</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|החמט}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-ḥomeṭ'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלחרבא'''{{efn|reference=Rabbi [[Yosef Qafih]] and Zohar Amar correct the Judeo-Arabic text to read "אלחרבא" (Arabic: {{lang|ar|حرباء}}) = Chameleon lizard. Qafih explains in his commentary on the Responsa and Halachic Decisions of Rabbi [[Abraham ben David]] of [[Posquières]], ''responsum'' # 91 (note 2), p. 149, that what the inquirer incorrectly mentioned under the Old French name of ''limace'' (slug), based on Rashi's translation of '''חמט''' in Leviticus 11:30, the original meaning of the word is none other that chameleon lizard.}}<br />Chameleon lizard (''[[Chamaeleo]]'' spp.)<ref name=ZoharAmar2016 />
| style="text-align:center;"| '''לימצא''' <br />'''limace'''<br />[[Slug]] (''Limax'' spp.)<ref name= IsraelGukovitzki1992 />
| style="text-align:center;"| '''σαύρα'''<br />(''sávra'')<br />Lizard<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b />
|-
| style="background:Navajowhite; color:blue; text-align:center; width:65px"|<small>Leviticus 11:30</small>
| style="background:Navajowhite; text-align:center; width:65px"|'''{{Script/Hebrew|התנשמת}}'''<br /><small>(''ha-tinšameṯ'')</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|'''אלסמברץ'''<ref>Rabbi Saadia Gaon's reference here is to the lizard that is called in Arabic: {{lang|ar|سام أبرص}}
.</ref><br />[[Mediterranean house gecko]]<ref name=ZoharAmar2016 /> 
| style="text-align:center;"| '''טלפא''' <br />'''talpe'''<br />[[Mole (animal)|Mole]] (''Talpa'' spp.)<ref name= IsraelGukovitzki1992 />
| style="text-align:center;"| '''ασπάλαξ'''<br />(''aspálax'')<br />Mole<ref name=ZoharAmar2016b />
|}

In Saadia's translation and commentary on the ''[[Book of Psalms]]'' (''Kitāb al-Tasābiḥ''), he has done what no other medieval writer has done before him, bringing down a biblical [[exegesis]] and noting where the verse is to be read as a rhetorical question, and where the verse itself derides the question with good humor:
{{blockquote|
<poem>{{Script/Hebrew|
הַר אֱלהִים הַר בָּשָׁן. הַר גַּבְנֻנִּים הַר בָּשָׁן
לָמָּה תְּרַצְדוּן הָרִים גַּבְנֻנִּים
הָהָר חָמַד אֱלהִים לְשִׁבְתּוֹ. אַף יי' יִשְׁכּן לָנֶצַח
}} 
Is the hill of God the hill of Bashan? A hunchback mountain is the hill of Bashan! (Meaning, it is unfit for God's Divine Presence).
Why leap ye, ye hunchback mountains?
That mountain wherein God desires to dwell (i.e. Mount Moriah in Jerusalem), even the Lord shall dwell [therein] forever more.
</poem>
|Saadia Gaon's Commentary<ref>''Sefer Tehillim - with a Translation and Commentary of Rabbi Saadia Gaon'', ed. [[Yosef Qafih]] (2nd edition), Mechon-Moshe: Kiryat-Ono 2010, s.v. Psalm 68:15–16 [in some editions, vss. 16–17], p. 162 (Hebrew)</ref>}}

Saadia's approach to [[Biblical exegesis|rabbinic exegesis]] and midrashic literature was ambivalent. Although he adopted them in his liturgies, he did not recoil from denouncing them in his commentary on the Bible whenever he thought that they broke-away from the plain and ordinary meaning of the text.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tobi |first=Yosef|title=Sa'adia's Biblical Exegesis and his Poetic Practice |journal=Hebrew Annual Review|publisher=Ohio State University |volume=8|pages=241–257|date=1984|oclc=231040805|language=en}}; {{cite book|last=Ben-Shammai|first=Haggai |title=Leader's Project: Studies in the Philosophical and Exegetical Works of Saadya Gaon
|publisher=[[Bialik Institute]]|year=2015|location=Jerusalem|pages=336–373 |language=he|oclc=909032204}}</ref> Saadia adopts in principle the method of the [[Chazal|Sages]] that even the episodic-like parts of the Bible (e.g. story of Abraham and Sarah, the selling of Joseph, etc.) that do not contain commandments have a moral lesson to tell.<ref>{{cite book|last=Saadia|author-link=Saadia Gaon|title=The Book of Psalms, with a Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Saadia ben Yosef Gaon |editor=Yosef Qafih |publisher=American Academy of Jewish Studies|year=1966|location=Jerusalem, New-York|pages=19–21 |language=he|oclc=868644462}}</ref>

In some instances, Saadia's biblical translations reflect his own rationale of difficult Hebrew words based on their lexical root, and he will, at times, reject the earlier [[Targum]] for his own understanding. For example, in Psalm 16:4, Saadia retracts from the Targum (translated): "They will multiply their goddesses<ref>English translation "goddesses" follows the Aramaic Targum of Psalm 16:4, where the word '''צלמניהון''' is used for '''עצבות''', the plural feminine form of עצבים (images; idols) found in Psalm 115:4, Psalm 135:15, among other places.</ref> ({{Langx|he|עַצְּבוֹתָם}}); they have hastened after some other thing; I shall not pour out their libations of blood, neither shall I take-up their names upon my lips", writing instead: "They will multiply their revenues (Judeo-Arabic: אכסאבהם); they have hastened after some other thing", etc.<ref>{{cite book|last=Saadia|author-link=Saadia Gaon |translator=Qafih, Yosef |translator-link=Yosef Qafih |title=Book of Psalms with a Translation and Commentary of Rabbi Saadia Gaon (תהלים עם תרגום ופירוש הגאון רבינו סעדיה בן יוסף פיומי זצ"ל)|date=2010|publisher=Makhon Moshe (Makhon Mishnat haRambam)|location=Kiryat-Ono |page=74 (Ps. 16:4) |language=he |oclc=741156698 }}</ref> Even where a certain explanation is given in the [[Talmud]], such as the Hebrew words {{Script/Hebrew|בד בבד}} in Exo. 30:34 (explained in ''[[Taanit (Talmud)|Taanit]]'' 7a as meaning "each spice pounded separately"), Saadia deviates from the rabbinic tradition in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, in this case explaining its sense as "having them made of equal portions."<ref>{{cite book|last=Saadia Gaon|author-link=Saadia Gaon|title=Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentaries on the Pentateuch |editor=Yosef Qafih |editor-link=Yosef Qafih |edition=4 |year=1984|publisher=[[Mossad Harav Kook]]|location=Jerusalem|page=97 |language=he|oclc=232667032}}</ref>

In another apparent deviation from Talmudic tradition, where the Talmud (''Hullin'' 63a) names a biblical species of fowl <small>(Leviticus 11:18)</small> known as ''raḥam'' ({{langx|he|רחם}}) and says that it is the colorful [[European bee-eater]] called the ''sheraqraq'', Saadia in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the [[Humash]] writes that ''raḥam'' is the [[Egyptian vulture]] based on the phonetic similarity of its Arabic name with the Hebrew.<ref name= "Dalman2013">{{cite book |author-last=Dalman|author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=Work and Customs in Palestine |volume=I/1 |translator=Nadia Abdulhadi Sukhtian |location=Ramallah|publisher=Dar Al Nasher |year=2013 |pages=168–169 (vol. 1) |language=en |url=https://www.amazon.com/Customs-Palestine-Translation-Gustaf-2013-08-02/dp/B01K3MCDFE |oclc=1040774903|isbn=9789950385-00-9}}</ref> The ''sheraqraq'' ({{langx|ar|شقراق|translit=šiqirrāq}}) is a bird that harbingers rain in the [[Levant]] (around October), for which reason the Talmud says: "When ''raḥam'' arrives, mercy (''raḥamīm'') comes into the world."<ref name= "Dalman2013"/>