JUDAISM AND ISLAM: The Hajj, Hejaz and Be’er Zamzam in the Torah


Rabbi Ben Abrahamson’s article proves that the walls of the Ka’aba and its roof in Mecca were added during the time of Tubba’ the Yamanite Jew and Qurayish the Ishmaelite. Not taking them into account, the dimensions of the Ka’aba in Mecca and the Altar in Jerusalem parallel each other, both clearly being Abrahamic altars.


The dimensions of the Ka’aba are approximately 12 m square, and inside floor is 3 m off the original ground level. The Hateem extends northwestward about 11 m.
The dimensions of the Altar in Jerusalem were approximately 16 m square, and floor was about 4 m off the ground. The Kevesh extended southward 16 m.
The Ka’aba, however, was the Qiblah for the Muslims who followed the Ishmaelite faith. This holy site in fact has a link with the Hajj, the existence of Mecca, the Hejaz, and be’er Zamzam.
Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 24:62


וכאן אסחק קד גא פי מגיה מן אלביר אלתי ללחי אלנטאר והו מקים פי בלד אלקבלה.


Wa kana Ishaq qad ja’a fi maji’ihi min al-bi’r allati lil-Hay Al-Nadhir wa huwa muqim fi balad Al-Qiblah.

(“And Isaac came in the way of Be’er Lahai Roi and he dwelt in the country of Al-Qiblah”),

J. Derenbourg, Version Arabe du Pentateuque de R. Saadia Ben Iosef Al-Fayyoumi (Paris: Ernest Leroux, Editeur, 1893), p. 37.

Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Sefer Bereshit 16:14


באר לחי לאשר יהיה חי לשנה האחרת. כי בכל שנה היו חוגגים הישמעאלים אל הבאר הזות גם היום יקרא באר זמזם

Be’er Lachai la’asher yihyeh chay lash-shanah ha-acheret. Ki be chol shanah hayu Hoggim ha-Yishmaelim el ha-Be’er hazzot gam hayyom yiqqare Be’er Zamzam.
“Be’er Lachai means the well of him who will be alive next year. The well was so called because the Ishmaelites held the Hajj at this well. It is still in existence and is called the well of Zamzam”,

sAsher Weiser, Ibn Ezra: Perushi ha-Torah le Rabbainu Avraham Ibn Ezra (Yerushalayim: Mossad Harav Kook, 1977), p. 151


In his commentary on the Sefer Bereshit 16:14, Rabbi Bachye Ben Asher also said:


באר לחי ראי והטעם כי בכל שנה היו הישמעאלים חוגגים אל הבאר הזה, גם היום יקרא באר זמזם

Be’er Lahai Roi, ve haththo’im ki be chol shanah hayu hay-Yishmaelim Hoggim el ha-be’er hazzeh, gam hayyom yiqqare be’er Zamzam.”
(Be’er Lahai Roi, the well was so called because the Ishmaelites held annuel festivites, the Hajj at this well. It is still in existence and is called the well of Zamzam)

Rabbenu Bachye Bar Asher zl’t Midrash Rabbenu Bachye ‘al Chamisha Chumshe Torah. Bereshit – Shemot. Yerushlayim, p. 60


Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra zl’t dan Rabbi Bachye Ben Asher zl’t explained that be’er Lahai Roi, another name of be’er Zamzam was the holy site of Ishmaelites, and this holy site has a link with the Hajj in Mecca, so that why Rabbi Saadia Gaon mentioned Mesha was the holy town, מכה (Makkah) and Sephar was Medinah in Saadia’s Targum on Sefer Bereshit 10:30 [1].

Also, Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak) obviously explained the Rasag’s term מכא (Mekka) which was really referring to place-name of Mesha as the holy city for Ishmaelites to make their pilgrimage, the Hajj. Radak said:


ומשא, תרגם רב סעדיה ז"ל מכא שהולכים הישמעאלים לחוג שם

(“And Mesha: Rav Saadia Gaon in his Targum, understands the meaning of the word Mesha as what is known nowadays as Mecca, the city to which the Muslims make their pilgrimage, the Hajj”)

Torat Chayim Chamisha Chumshe Torah (Yerushlayim: Mossad Harav Kook, 1986), p. 139.


Meanwhile, Rabbi Saadia Gaon also mentioned the well of Lahai Roi, another name of Zamzam was in the Hejaz, [2]. Amazingly, this verse was to refer to Ibn Ezra ‘s and Rabbi Bachye ben Asher’s commentaries on the Sefer Bereshit 16:14. In other words, Rav Saadia Gaon mentioned the name of holy territory which so called the Hejaz in Arabian peninsula.

Meanwhile, Ibn Ezra and Rabbi Bachye Ben Asher, however, both mentioned the name of holy well which so called the be’er Zamzam in Arabian peninsula. The Rabbis have the same episteme to understand the verses on the Sefer Bereshit 16:7-14. Rasag’s commentary in his Judeo-Arabic Targum was indeed an introduction to understand the Ishmaelite holy site, the well of Zamzam [3].


פוגדהא מלאך אללה עלי עין מא פי אלבריה עלי אלעין פי טריק חגר אלחיגאז


Fa wajadaha malak ALLAH ‘ala ‘ain ma’in fi al-bariyyah, ‘ala al-‘ain allati fi thariq Hajr Al-Hijaz.”

J. Derenbourg, Version Arabe du Pentateuque de R. Saadia Ben Iosef Al-Fayyoumi. Paris: Ernest Leroux, Editeur, 1983), p. 24


Based on the rabbinical texts, Isaac came in the way of well of Zamzam (Ibn Ezra’s commentary, Sefer Bereshit 16:14; 24:62, Rabbi Bachya ben Asher 16:14), he dwelt in the country of Al-Qiblah (Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 24:62), which Al-Qiblah was in the South, in Hajr Al-Hijaz (Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 16:7).

Furthermore, the well of Zamzam was the holy site for Ishmaelites to make their Hajj (Ibn Ezra’s and Rabbenu Bachye ben Asher’s commentaries, Sefer Bereshit 16:14) which this site was in fact in the holy city of Mecca for Ishmaelites to make their Hajj [4]. Therefore, these are in fact four pillars and 4 key-words in discourse analysis on the Ishmaelite pilgrimage, the Hajj.

The Ishmaelite pilgrimage has a link with:

  1. Be’er Zamzam (באר זמזם)
  2. Hajr Al-Hijaz (חגר אלחגאז)
  3. Al-Qiblah (אלקבלה)
  4. Makka (מכא)


Negev, according to Saadia’s is the Qiblah, to refer to the HOLY PLACE, not only a place (an sich). In Saadia’s Targum, Negev is not Jerusalem as the (future) Qiblah. But Negev is the (future) Qiblah itself which lies in the south of Judea.


According to Rabbi Samson Rapael Hirsch – Hebron, now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath Arba also lies in Judea, not in Negev. According to him, Negev exactly means ערבה (Arabia). When Abraham lived in Mamre, district of Hebron (south of Jerusalem), Abraham then took a journey to the Negev, to the SOUTH, to the Qiblah. So, Abraham took a journey to the Qiblah in Arabia, not to the Qiblah in Judea. Obviously,

Isaac also took a journey to Be’er Lachai Roi, the Be’er Zamzam, a holy place in the South, a holy place of the Ishmaelites and Abraham dwelt. It is so clear.

Our topic here is about the meaning of THE QIBLAH correctly according to Saadia’s on the Sefer Bereshit 12:9. So, we have to compare the other traditional rabbinical sources, such as Ibnu Ezra, Rashi, Radak, Hirsch etc.

  1. The Qiblah (Saadia Gaon).
  2. The place of ADONAI (Rabbi Bachya ben Asher)
  3. The Neqba – dry land, hot there (Ibn Ezra).
  4. The South: the whole district from Jerusalem SOUTHWARDS which so called ערבה – ‘Araba, the wilderness territory (Hirsch).


Conclusion:


The Qiblah lies in ערבה (Araba), in the wilderness, not on the mount in Judea. The Qiblah lies in the South of Jerusalem, not in Jerusalem itself as the Qiblah.


Pls read Rashi’s words carefully, לדרומה של ארץ ישראל והיא לצד ירושלים (li-drumah shel eretz Yisrael ve hiya letzad Yerushalayim (to the South of the land of Israel which is the direction of Jerusalem). The keyword of Rashi’s words here is the preposition לצד which implies that it is not Jerusalem itself but “adjacent” or “on the side of.” Therefore we can be certain that what Rav Saadia Gaon meant was Mecca as the Qiblah, as the SOUTH in Arabian peninsula (Al Hejaz).


Rabbi Abraham ben Isaiah and Rabbi Benjamin Sharfman on “The Pentateuch and Rashi’s Commentary. Genesis: A Linear Translation into English, the Rashi’s commentary on the verse was translated by the rabbis as follows: lalechet lidromah (ללכת לדרומה) lit. means “to go to the South”, shel eretz Yisrael (של ארץ ישראל) lit. means “of the land of Israel”, ve hiya letzad Yerushalayim (והיא לצד ירושלים) lit. means “and it is on the Southern side of Jerusalem.”  [5].


In the Chamisha Chumshe Torah: Bereshit. The Pentateuch: Translated & Explained. Genesis, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch also said:

“the South of Palestine was by no means the most flourishing part, the whole district from Jerusalem southwards is called in the book of Zacharia ערבה (‘Araba), meaning “Wilderness” [6].

The whole district from JERUSALEM SOUTHWARDS is called in the book of Zacharia ערכה (‘Araba), meaning WILDERNESS. What does it mean? THE SOUTH of Palestine is not JUDEA, but ערבה (‘ARABA) itself, and Jerusalem is not a part of ערבה (‘ARABA). Jerusalem as the (future) holy place is not a part of ערבה (Araba), and according to Rabbi Somson Raphael Hirsch it means that Jerusalem is not the Qiblah, Jerusalem is not a part of Araba, Jerusalem is not a part of the South, and Jerusalem is not a part of the Neqba. Hirsch’s commentary refers to the Genesis Rabbah 39:16 “And Abram journeyed, going on still toward THE SOUTH (xii,9): he drew a course and journeyed “TOWARD THE (FUTURE) SITE OF THE TEMPLE.” Which temple is it? Of course the temple site of the South, the temple site of Neqba, the temple site of ARABA.

Now we understand that THE QIBLAH which was meant by Saadia’s must be the future temple site of Araba, not in Jerusalem. So, what is the reason to think that Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s commentary and Bereshit (Genesis) Rabba 39:16. contradict with Saadia’s Judeo-Arabic Targum? Nothing at all.

Footnotes

  1. See Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (ed.). Sefer Bereshit. Bereishis. A New Translation with A Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Translated and Commentary by Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (Brookyln, New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 1995), p. 332.
  2. See the Judeo-Arabic Targum on the Sefer Bereshit 16:7
  3. Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 16:7
  4. Radak’s commentary, Sefer Bereshit 10:30.
  5. (Brooklyn, New York: S.S. & R. Publishing Company, Inc., 1976), p. 105
  6. (London: L. Honig & Sonss Ltd., 1963), p. 235.

JUDAISM AND ISLAM: The Hajj, Hejaz and Be'er Zamzam in the Torah


Rabbi Ben Abrahamson’s article proves that the walls of the Ka’aba and its roof in Mecca were added during the time of Tubba’ the Yamanite Jew and Qurayish the Ishmaelite. Not taking them into account, the dimensions of the Ka’aba in Mecca and the Altar in Jerusalem parallel each other, both clearly being Abrahamic altars.


The dimensions of the Ka’aba are approximately 12 m square, and inside floor is 3 m off the original ground level. The Hateem extends northwestward about 11 m.
The dimensions of the Altar in Jerusalem were approximately 16 m square, and floor was about 4 m off the ground. The Kevesh extended southward 16 m.
The Ka’aba, however, was the Qiblah for the Muslims who followed the Ishmaelite faith. This holy site in fact has a link with the Hajj, the existence of Mecca, the Hejaz, and be’er Zamzam.
Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 24:62


וכאן אסחק קד גא פי מגיה מן אלביר אלתי ללחי אלנטאר והו מקים פי בלד אלקבלה.


Wa kana Ishaq qad ja’a fi maji’ihi min al-bi’r allati lil-Hay Al-Nadhir wa huwa muqim fi balad Al-Qiblah.

(“And Isaac came in the way of Be’er Lahai Roi and he dwelt in the country of Al-Qiblah”),

J. Derenbourg, Version Arabe du Pentateuque de R. Saadia Ben Iosef Al-Fayyoumi (Paris: Ernest Leroux, Editeur, 1893), p. 37.

Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Sefer Bereshit 16:14


באר לחי לאשר יהיה חי לשנה האחרת. כי בכל שנה היו חוגגים הישמעאלים אל הבאר הזות גם היום יקרא באר זמזם

Be’er Lachai la’asher yihyeh chay lash-shanah ha-acheret. Ki be chol shanah hayu Hoggim ha-Yishmaelim el ha-Be’er hazzot gam hayyom yiqqare Be’er Zamzam.
“Be’er Lachai means the well of him who will be alive next year. The well was so called because the Ishmaelites held the Hajj at this well. It is still in existence and is called the well of Zamzam”,

sAsher Weiser, Ibn Ezra: Perushi ha-Torah le Rabbainu Avraham Ibn Ezra (Yerushalayim: Mossad Harav Kook, 1977), p. 151


In his commentary on the Sefer Bereshit 16:14, Rabbi Bachye Ben Asher also said:


באר לחי ראי והטעם כי בכל שנה היו הישמעאלים חוגגים אל הבאר הזה, גם היום יקרא באר זמזם

Be’er Lahai Roi, ve haththo’im ki be chol shanah hayu hay-Yishmaelim Hoggim el ha-be’er hazzeh, gam hayyom yiqqare be’er Zamzam.”
(Be’er Lahai Roi, the well was so called because the Ishmaelites held annuel festivites, the Hajj at this well. It is still in existence and is called the well of Zamzam)

Rabbenu Bachye Bar Asher zl’t Midrash Rabbenu Bachye ‘al Chamisha Chumshe Torah. Bereshit – Shemot. Yerushlayim, p. 60


Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra zl’t dan Rabbi Bachye Ben Asher zl’t explained that be’er Lahai Roi, another name of be’er Zamzam was the holy site of Ishmaelites, and this holy site has a link with the Hajj in Mecca, so that why Rabbi Saadia Gaon mentioned Mesha was the holy town, מכה (Makkah) and Sephar was Medinah in Saadia’s Targum on Sefer Bereshit 10:30 [1].

Also, Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak) obviously explained the Rasag’s term מכא (Mekka) which was really referring to place-name of Mesha as the holy city for Ishmaelites to make their pilgrimage, the Hajj. Radak said:


ומשא, תרגם רב סעדיה ז"ל מכא שהולכים הישמעאלים לחוג שם

(“And Mesha: Rav Saadia Gaon in his Targum, understands the meaning of the word Mesha as what is known nowadays as Mecca, the city to which the Muslims make their pilgrimage, the Hajj”)

Torat Chayim Chamisha Chumshe Torah (Yerushlayim: Mossad Harav Kook, 1986), p. 139.


Meanwhile, Rabbi Saadia Gaon also mentioned the well of Lahai Roi, another name of Zamzam was in the Hejaz, [2]. Amazingly, this verse was to refer to Ibn Ezra ‘s and Rabbi Bachye ben Asher’s commentaries on the Sefer Bereshit 16:14. In other words, Rav Saadia Gaon mentioned the name of holy territory which so called the Hejaz in Arabian peninsula.

Meanwhile, Ibn Ezra and Rabbi Bachye Ben Asher, however, both mentioned the name of holy well which so called the be’er Zamzam in Arabian peninsula. The Rabbis have the same episteme to understand the verses on the Sefer Bereshit 16:7-14. Rasag’s commentary in his Judeo-Arabic Targum was indeed an introduction to understand the Ishmaelite holy site, the well of Zamzam [3].


פוגדהא מלאך אללה עלי עין מא פי אלבריה עלי אלעין פי טריק חגר אלחיגאז


Fa wajadaha malak ALLAH ‘ala ‘ain ma’in fi al-bariyyah, ‘ala al-‘ain allati fi thariq Hajr Al-Hijaz.”

J. Derenbourg, Version Arabe du Pentateuque de R. Saadia Ben Iosef Al-Fayyoumi. Paris: Ernest Leroux, Editeur, 1983), p. 24


Based on the rabbinical texts, Isaac came in the way of well of Zamzam (Ibn Ezra’s commentary, Sefer Bereshit 16:14; 24:62, Rabbi Bachya ben Asher 16:14), he dwelt in the country of Al-Qiblah (Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 24:62), which Al-Qiblah was in the South, in Hajr Al-Hijaz (Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 16:7).

Furthermore, the well of Zamzam was the holy site for Ishmaelites to make their Hajj (Ibn Ezra’s and Rabbenu Bachye ben Asher’s commentaries, Sefer Bereshit 16:14) which this site was in fact in the holy city of Mecca for Ishmaelites to make their Hajj [4]. Therefore, these are in fact four pillars and 4 key-words in discourse analysis on the Ishmaelite pilgrimage, the Hajj.

The Ishmaelite pilgrimage has a link with:

  1. Be’er Zamzam (באר זמזם)
  2. Hajr Al-Hijaz (חגר אלחגאז)
  3. Al-Qiblah (אלקבלה)
  4. Makka (מכא)


Negev, according to Saadia’s is the Qiblah, to refer to the HOLY PLACE, not only a place (an sich). In Saadia’s Targum, Negev is not Jerusalem as the (future) Qiblah. But Negev is the (future) Qiblah itself which lies in the south of Judea.


According to Rabbi Samson Rapael Hirsch – Hebron, now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath Arba also lies in Judea, not in Negev. According to him, Negev exactly means ערבה (Arabia). When Abraham lived in Mamre, district of Hebron (south of Jerusalem), Abraham then took a journey to the Negev, to the SOUTH, to the Qiblah. So, Abraham took a journey to the Qiblah in Arabia, not to the Qiblah in Judea. Obviously,

Isaac also took a journey to Be’er Lachai Roi, the Be’er Zamzam, a holy place in the South, a holy place of the Ishmaelites and Abraham dwelt. It is so clear.

Our topic here is about the meaning of THE QIBLAH correctly according to Saadia’s on the Sefer Bereshit 12:9. So, we have to compare the other traditional rabbinical sources, such as Ibnu Ezra, Rashi, Radak, Hirsch etc.

  1. The Qiblah (Saadia Gaon).
  2. The place of ADONAI (Rabbi Bachya ben Asher)
  3. The Neqba – dry land, hot there (Ibn Ezra).
  4. The South: the whole district from Jerusalem SOUTHWARDS which so called ערבה – ‘Araba, the wilderness territory (Hirsch).


Conclusion:


The Qiblah lies in ערבה (Araba), in the wilderness, not on the mount in Judea. The Qiblah lies in the South of Jerusalem, not in Jerusalem itself as the Qiblah.


Pls read Rashi’s words carefully, לדרומה של ארץ ישראל והיא לצד ירושלים (li-drumah shel eretz Yisrael ve hiya letzad Yerushalayim (to the South of the land of Israel which is the direction of Jerusalem). The keyword of Rashi’s words here is the preposition לצד which implies that it is not Jerusalem itself but “adjacent” or “on the side of.” Therefore we can be certain that what Rav Saadia Gaon meant was Mecca as the Qiblah, as the SOUTH in Arabian peninsula (Al Hejaz).


Rabbi Abraham ben Isaiah and Rabbi Benjamin Sharfman on “The Pentateuch and Rashi’s Commentary. Genesis: A Linear Translation into English, the Rashi’s commentary on the verse was translated by the rabbis as follows: lalechet lidromah (ללכת לדרומה) lit. means “to go to the South”, shel eretz Yisrael (של ארץ ישראל) lit. means “of the land of Israel”, ve hiya letzad Yerushalayim (והיא לצד ירושלים) lit. means “and it is on the Southern side of Jerusalem.”  [5].


In the Chamisha Chumshe Torah: Bereshit. The Pentateuch: Translated & Explained. Genesis, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch also said:

“the South of Palestine was by no means the most flourishing part, the whole district from Jerusalem southwards is called in the book of Zacharia ערבה (‘Araba), meaning “Wilderness” [6].

The whole district from JERUSALEM SOUTHWARDS is called in the book of Zacharia ערכה (‘Araba), meaning WILDERNESS. What does it mean? THE SOUTH of Palestine is not JUDEA, but ערבה (‘ARABA) itself, and Jerusalem is not a part of ערבה (‘ARABA). Jerusalem as the (future) holy place is not a part of ערבה (Araba), and according to Rabbi Somson Raphael Hirsch it means that Jerusalem is not the Qiblah, Jerusalem is not a part of Araba, Jerusalem is not a part of the South, and Jerusalem is not a part of the Neqba. Hirsch’s commentary refers to the Genesis Rabbah 39:16 “And Abram journeyed, going on still toward THE SOUTH (xii,9): he drew a course and journeyed “TOWARD THE (FUTURE) SITE OF THE TEMPLE.” Which temple is it? Of course the temple site of the South, the temple site of Neqba, the temple site of ARABA.

Now we understand that THE QIBLAH which was meant by Saadia’s must be the future temple site of Araba, not in Jerusalem. So, what is the reason to think that Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s commentary and Bereshit (Genesis) Rabba 39:16. contradict with Saadia’s Judeo-Arabic Targum? Nothing at all.

Footnotes

  1. See Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (ed.). Sefer Bereshit. Bereishis. A New Translation with A Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Translated and Commentary by Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (Brookyln, New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 1995), p. 332.
  2. See the Judeo-Arabic Targum on the Sefer Bereshit 16:7
  3. Saadia’s Targum, Sefer Bereshit 16:7
  4. Radak’s commentary, Sefer Bereshit 10:30.
  5. (Brooklyn, New York: S.S. & R. Publishing Company, Inc., 1976), p. 105
  6. (London: L. Honig & Sonss Ltd., 1963), p. 235.

Alkitab Berbahasa Arab dalam Tradisi Kekristenan Awal di Mesir

 

Pada 640 – 641 C. E. Mesir ditaklukkan oleh orang-orang Arab, di era Khalifah Umar ibn Khattab, dan tentu saja hal ini menandai adanya permulaan proses Arabisasi-nya di wilayah Mesir. Pada mulanya pemerintahan Muslim di Mesir menggunakan dwibahasa dalam persoalan administrasinya, di antaranya menggunakan bahasa Yunani dan Arab, atau bahasa Koptik dan Arab. Namun, bahasa Arab pada akhirnya segera menjadi bahasa utama administrasi yang menggantikan bahasa Yunani dan bahasa Koptik. Pada 780 M. bahasa Arab telah menjadi satu-satunya bahasa yang resmi di Mesir. Sejak saat itu, setiap orang Mesir yang ingin berkarir di bidang administrasi pemerintahan harus tahu bahasa Arab dengan sempurna.

Pada abad ke-19 orang-orang Kristen Koptik yang berpendidikan dipastikan menggunakan bahasa Arab sebagai lingua franca, dan mereka berbicara serta menulis dalam bahasa Arab. Akhirnya, bahasa Koptik semakin menghilang, setidaknya di kota-kota besar, kecuali hanya di wilayah pinggiran. Bahasa Arab menjadi bahasa bergengsi yang menandai strata sosial sebagai penanda identitas, sedangkan bahasa Koptik menjadi bahasa kelas pinggiran, dan termarginalkan1. Namun, akhirnya orang-orang Kristen Koptik mengembangkan peniscayaan identitas agama mereka melalui bahasa sebagai penanda identitas masyarakatnya, serta bagaimana mereka akhirnya harus mempertahankan iman mereka di era dominasi Islam di wilayah Mesir. Dalam konteks ini, mereka menciptakan identitas bahasa melalui penggunaan Alkitab berbahasa bahasa Arab. Itu artinya, Alkitab bahasa Arab di Mesir baru muncul era pasca-Islam; dan bukan muncul sejak era pra-Islam.

Saat ini orang-orang Kristen Koptik menggunakan otoritas Alkitab berbahasa Arab versi Van Dyck. Mereka menerbitkan edisi pertama edisi Arabic New Van Dyck Bible dengan referensi silang pada tahun 2013 yang disebut الكتاب المقدس با لشواهد الكتابيه (Alkitab al-Muqaddas bisy-Syawahid al-kitabiyah), yakni Alkitab dengan Referensi Silang), yang diterbitkan oleh Lembaga Alkitab Mesir. Namun, Alkitab versi berbahasa Arab yang biasanya digunakan di gereja-gereja Koptik selama Abad Pertengahan justru mereka menggunakan Alkitab berbahasa Arab yang diproduksi oleh komunitas orang-orang Yahudi di Mesir, yakni karya Sa’id bin Yusuf al-Fayyumi, yang dikenal di kalangan Yahudi sebagai Rav Saadia Gaon (Rasag). Beliau sangat dikenal karena karya-karyanya berkaitan dengan Linguistik bahasa Ibrani, Halacha, dan filsafat khas Yahudi. Beliau adalah seorang rabi yang paling awal yang menuliskan karya-karyanya dalam bahasa Judeo-Arabic yang dikenal secara luas; dan dia kemudian dianggap sebagai peletak dasar kesastraan Yahudi berbahasa Arab dengan menggunakan aksara khas Judeo-Arabic.

Rav Saadia Gaon lahir di Mesir sekitar tahun 892 M. dan beliau meninggal di Irak pada tahun 942 M. Terjemahan kitab Torah dalam versi bahasa Arab yang disebut Targum Aravit dikerjakannya berdasarkan versi asli teks bahasa Ibrani Masoret dengan sedikit parafrase, yang kemudian Targum Aravit ini akhirnya diadopsi secara masif oleh seluruh gereja Koptik di Mesir, terutama pada Abad Pertengahan. Hal ini dapat dibuktikan adanya banyaknya manuskrip-manuskrip kuno yang disalin oleh para rahib dan orang-orang Kristen Koptik, yang berdasarkan pembuktian kekunoan manuskripnya ternyata justru berasal dari abad ke-13, dan manuskrip-manuskrip itu ternyata telah tersebar di seluruh dunia2.

Hal ini semakin jelas bahwa pada Abad Pertengahan, semua orang Kristen Koptik telah mengenal dan menggunakan Alkitab berbahasa Arab versi Saadia Gaon. Itu berarti bahwa orang-orang Kristen Koptik telah mengetahui dan mengenal keberadaan kota Mekah dan kota Madinah sesuai yang termaktub dalam Alkitab versi bahasa Arab karya Saadia Gaon. Dan berdasarkan teks Alkitab berbahasa Arab tersebut menyebutkan bahwa Makkah dan Medinah adalah wilayah milik Sem. Dengan kata lain, melalui pembacaan Alkitab berbahasa Arab karya Saadia Gaon, khususnya kelima kitab Musa (Torah) maka kaum Kristen Koptik telah mengenal Makkah dan Medinah. Nama wilayah Makkah dan Medinah sebagaimana tercatat dalam kitab Kejadian 10:30:

לשון הקודש: בראשית, י, ל: וַיְהִי מוֹשָׁבָם מִמֵּשָׁא בֹּאֲכָה סְפָרָה הַר הַקֶּדֶם

265 == תפסיר: ל) וכאן מסכנהם מן מכה. אלי’ אן תגי אלי’ אלמדינה אלי’ אלגבל אלשרקי

265 == ערבית: 30 وَكَانَ مَسْكَنُهُ مِنْ مَكَّةَ، إِلَى أَنْ تَجِيءَ إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ إِلَى الجَبَلِ الشَّرْقِي

Nuh memiliki tiga putra: Sem, Ham dan Yafet. Kedua kota, yakni Makkah dan Medinah, adalah milik keturunan Sem saja, sebagaimana yang termaktub di bawah ini:

Noah – Shem – Arpachshad – Shelach – Eber – Yoktan – 13 keturunan; dan dari 13 generasi keturunan Yoktan ini telah menetap di banyak tempat termasuk wilayah yang disebut Mesha [= Mekah] dan Sefara [= Madinah]. Dengan kata lain, Makkah dan Medinah adalah milik keturunan Shem. Ham adalah ayah dari Kush, Mizraim (kakek dari Palestina), Phut and Canaan.

Wilayah Palestina ada di Sinai bagian utara. Wilayah Kanaan ada di tanah Israel. Di kawasan Mekkah dan Medinah ternyata ada 4 generasi yang mendiaminya dan mereka ada sebelum kelahiran Ismael, dan Ishmael adalah keturunan Sem dari pihak ayahnya  Avraham), dan merupakan keturunan Ham dari sisi ibunya  Hagar dari Mesir, putri Fir’aun).

Apakah Ismael termasuk keturunan Shem atau keturunan Ham? Jelas, Ismael putra Abraham telah mewarisi tanah warisan Sem di semenanjung Arabia.

Footnotes:

  1. Lihat Khalil Samir, SJ. Arabic Sources for Early Egyptian Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1992), p. 83.
  2. Lihat Khalil Samir, SJ. Arabic Sources for Early Egyptian Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1993), p. 87.

Arabic Bible in Early Egyptian Christianity

 

In 640 – 641 C.E. Egypt was conquered by the Arabs, in the era of Umar ibn Khattab the Caliph, and very early the process of its Arabization was initiated. In the beginning the Muslim administration was always bilingual, either Greek and Arabic, or Coptic and Arabic. But Arabic soon became the main language of the administration. In 780 C.E. it became the only recognized language. From that moment, any Egyptian wanting to make a career in administration had to know Arabic perfectly. By the ninth century most educated Copts spoke and wrote in Arabic. Coptic was progressively disappearing, at least in the cities1.  But the Copts then developed their religious identity and how they had to survive their faith in the era of domination of Islam in Egypt. In this context, they created the identity of language via using the Arabic Biblical version.

Nowadays the Copts use the authority of Van Dyck’s Arabic Bible. They published the first edition of Arabic New Van Dyck Bible with cross references in 2013 which so-called الكتاب المقدس با لشواهد الكتابيه (the Holy Bible with Cross References), published by the Bible Society of Egypt. But, the Arabic version normally used in the Coptic church during the Middle Ages was the one produced by the Egyptian Jewish exegate Sa’id ibn Yusuf al-Fayyumi, known in Jewish circles as Saadia Gaon (Rasag). Known for his works on Hebrew linguistics, Halacha, and Jewish philosophy. He was the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he was then considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature. He was born in Egypt about 892 and died in Iraq in 942 CE. His Arabic translation based on the Masoretic Hebrew text with a slight paraphrase was widely adopted by the Coptic church. This is clear from the numerous manuscripts copied by the Copts, which date back to the thirteenth century and which are spread today around the world2 .

The Copts, however, knew the existence of both Mecca and Medina belong to Shem, via reading the Arabic Bible as the work of Saadia Gaon on the Pentateuch. The work mentions the names of Macca and Medina as followed here (Genesis, chapter 10, verse 30):

לשון הקודש: בראשית, י, ל: וַיְהִי מוֹשָׁבָם מִמֵּשָׁא בֹּאֲכָה סְפָרָה הַר הַקֶּדֶם

265 == תפסיר: ל) וכאן מסכנהם מן מכה. אלי’ אן תגי אלי’ אלמדינה אלי’ אלגבל אלשרקי

265 == ערבית: 30 وَكَانَ مَسْكَنُهُ مِنْ مَكَّةَ، إِلَى أَنْ تَجِيءَ إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ إِلَى الجَبَلِ الشَّرْقِي

Noah has three sons: Shem, Ham and Yafet. Both towns, Macca and Medina, belong to the descendants of Shem only, as below: Noah – Shem – Arpachshad – Shelach – Ebber – Yoktan – 13 childrens. These Yoktan’s 13 children have settled in many places including the place Mesha [= Mecca] and Sefara [= Medina]. In other words, Macca and Medina belong to Shem’s descendants. Ham is the father of Cush, Mizraim (the grandfather of the Palestinians), Phut and Canaan. The territory of the Palestinians is in North Sinai. The territory of Canaan is in the land of Israel. Mecca and Medina exist 4 generations before the birth of Ishmael, which is a descendant of Shem on his father’s side (=Avraham), and is a descendant of Ham on his mother’s side (=Hagar of Egypt, Paroah’s daughter). Does Ishmael belong to Shem’s descendants or to Ham’s descendants? Obviously, Ishmael the son of Abraham inherited the land of Shem’s descendants in the Hejaz, in Arabian peninsula.

Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak) also confirmed the existence of Mecca in the Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) 10:30 according to the statement of Rav Saadia Gaon in his Judeo-Arabic Targum. Radak (1160 – 1235 CE.) was a medieval rabbi, famous biblical commentator, philosopher and grammarian. He was the son of Rabbi Joseph Kimchi and the brother of Rabbi Moshe Kimchi, both biblical commentators and grammarians. Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak) however confirmed it and he said:

ומשא, תרגם רב סעדיה ז”ל מכא שהולכים הישמעאלים לחוג שם

u-Mesha, Targum Rav Saadia Gaon zichrono livracha Makka sheholachim ha-Yishmaelim le Chog shem.

(“Rav Saadia Gaon understands the meaning of the word Mesha as what is known nowadays as Mecca, the city to which the Ishmaelites make their pilgrimage, the Hajj”) 3,

The names of מכה (Makkah) and מדנת (Medinta) in the Saadia’s Targum are amazing terms in the light of rabbinic chains, intellectual genealogy (silsilah) and networks developed in Jerusalem, Babylonia and Yaman. The majority of rabbinic studies on the Jewish history in the Middle East have highlighted the grand rabbi, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai (1 – 8 CE.). Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had one student in the Galilee, Hanina ben Dosa who remained there after Yochanan returned to Jerusalem. Hanina ben Dosa was the most prominent Tannaim of the first century who studied with Yochanan ben Zakkai (1 – 8 CE.) 4, Thus, Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa is a scholar, and a pupil of Yochanan ben Zakkai (Ber. 34b). While he is reckoned among the Tanaim and is quoted in connection with a school and its disciples, no halachot but few haggadot are preserved as from him (Baraita of Rabbi Eliezer xxix, xxxi; Midr. Mishle x.2) 5.

In the “Sefer Ha-Galui” Rav Saadia Gaon writes that he belonged to the noble family of Shelah son of Jehudah the fourth son of Yacov (Genesis 46:12) and counted among his ancestors Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa (the first century CE.) 6. Therefore, Rav Saadia Gaon previously recognized and transmitted about the existence of the names of מכה (Makkah) and מדנת (Medinta) from his noble forefathers, and he really received and inherited his intellectual genealogy on the Midrash haggadot from Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, a prominant student of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai (1-8 CE.), a famous pupil of Rabbi Hillel the Elder, the most prominent scholar of the Soferim era.

Meanwhile, where is Eden? The question of where Eden might have been rests on how we read Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) 2:10-14. Now the text looks like it is describing real geography, which its mention of rives, the land of Havilah and its gold and other stones. But what then the gold of Havilah? There is a known source of gold in Arabia, south of modern Medina, and from near those gold fields a now-dry river once arose, flowing toward the Persian Gulf through modern Kuwait 7.

The name of Mecca was derived from מכא (Makka) or מכה (Makkah), and Yamanite Jews called the town as מכה רבה (Makkah rabah), meaning “Makkah the Great” and this Yamanite Hebrew name was a famous city among the Yamanite Jews, so that why the Sabaeans previously knew the city as Makuraba. Amazingly, the Macoraba of Ptolemy cames from Sabaean term Makuraba, meaning “sanctuary.” Obviously, Ptolemy adopted the Sabaean name to refer to the ancient town in Greek as “Macoraba” in his work “Geography”, ed. Nobbe, Bk. VI, ch. 7, 32

Prof. Philip K. Hittti, a professor of Semitic Literature at Princeton University mentioned about the existence of both Mecca and Medina as the ancient towns in Arabian peninsula in his work. Prof. Philip K. Hitti said:

“The name Makkah, the Macoraba of Ptolemy, comes from Sabaean Makuraba, meaning sanctuary, which indicates that it owes its foundation to some religious association and therefore must have been a religious centre long before Muhammad was born… “Yathrib (Y-th-r-b of the Sabaean inscriptions, Jathrippa of Ptolemy)… In the hands of its Jewish inhabitants, the banu Nadir and banu Qurayzah, the town became a leading agricultural centre… It was possibly these Aramaic-speaking Jews who changed the name Yathrib into Aramaic Medinta, the explanation of the name al-Madinah (Medina) as “the town” (of the Prophet) being comparatively late one. The two leading non-Jewish tribes were the Aws and the Khazraj, who came originally from al-Yaman” 8.

Footnotes:

  1. See Khalil Samir, SJ. Arabic Sources for Early Egyptian Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1992), p. 83.
  2. See Khalil Samir, SJ. Arabic Sources for Early Egyptian Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1993), p. 87
  3. See Torat Chayim Chamisha Chumshe Torah (Yerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook, 1986), p. 139.
  4. See Jacob Neusner. “A Life of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai” (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1962), p. 29.
  5. See Jacob Neusner. “The Dictionary of Ancient Rabbis. Selections from the Jewish Encyclopaedia (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003), p. 182.
  6. See Rabbi Yomtov Chaim. “Torah The Hebrew Pentateuch: Original Commentary in Arabic by Rabbi Saadia Gaon 889-942 CE. (Jerusalem: Project Saadia Gaon, 2015), pp. iii-iv
  7. See C. John Collins. Genesis 1 – 4. A Linguistic, Literary and Theological Commentary (New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2006), p. 120.
  8. See Philip K. Hitti. “History of the Arabs: from the Earliest Times to the Present” (New York: the Macmillan Company, 1951), pp. 103-104

 

JERUSALEM AND MECCA: THE QURBAN OF ABRAHAM & THE HOLY TEMPLE

Kaaba.jpg

واذ ابتلى ابرهم ربه بكلمت فاتمهن قال اني جاعلك للناس اماما

(البقرة 2:124).

God said: “And remember that Abraham was tried Lord with certain commands which he fulfilled them. He said: I will make thee a Leader to the nations.” (al-Baqarah 2:124)

The Quran states that Abraham was subjected to various tests, and the great test was the binding of his son, Ishmael as the sacrifice of Abraham which so called the Qurban, see al-Shaffat 37:100-102. However, this verse must be presumed that what is meant here is simply Abraham’s complete submission to whatever commandments he received from God. Thus, in everything Abraham fulfilled God’s tests, and Ishmael as the sacrifice of Abraham was the gretest. After doing the binding of Ishmael and Abraham fulfilled it, he was promised the leadership of the world.

The Hebrew Quran states:

כאשר ריבונו של אברהם ניסה אותו בכמה מצוות שעמד בהן. אמר ריבונו הנני ממנה אותך אימאם לאנשים.

kaasher ribono shel av’raham nisah oto b’khamah mitz’vot sheamad bahen. amar ribono hin’niy m’maneh ot’kha ymm laanashiym.

The Hebrew word ניסה (nisah) in this Hebrew Quran is to represent the “tests” of the commands, mitzvot (מצוות).

The Mishnah (Torah she be’al phe), Pirke Avot 5:3 also stated that Abraham was subjected to the עשר ניסה (ashar nisah), meaning “ten tests”, but the sages differ as to which of his life experiences were tests. All sages agree that the call to leave his homeland (see Sefer Bereshit 12:1), and the binding of Isaac described in this Pirke Avot 5:3 are included. Sefer Bereshit 22:2 also states:

וימר קח נא את בויך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק ולך לך ארצ המריה

vay-yomer qach-na et bincha et yechidecha asher achavta et Yitzhaq ve lech lecha el eretz ha-Moriyah.

“And he said, “Take now your son, your only one whom you lovest, Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah (Genesis 22:2)

Based on the Torah, Isaac as the Qurban of Abraham is a specific trial of Abraham than other previous ones.

According to the Quran, after Abraham was tried to sacrifice Ishmael as the great test (al-Baqarah 2:124) God then promised Abraham as the Leader of all nations, so that why God ordered Abraham himself to build the sacred refuge of the Ka’bah, the holy Temple with Ishmael as the sacred site, the qiblah for all nations (see al-Baqarah 2:127). Rav Saadia Gaon also confirmed the existence of the ruins of this sacred site, before Abraham was appointed by God to build the refuge of the Ka’bah. In the Judeo-Arabic Targum of Chamisha Chumshe Torah, Saadia Gaon translated the Sefer Bereshit 12:9 as follows

תם רחל אברם כל מא מר רחל אלי אלקבלה

Tsumma rachala Abram kulla ma marra rachala ila al-Qiblah

“And Abram journeyed, going and journeying towards the Qiblah.”

“Abram partit ensuite, allant et se deplacant vers le Qiblah.”

The readers may refer to the Sefer Bereshit Lech Lecha 12:9), R. Saadia Ben Iosef Al-Fayyoumi. Volume premier. Version arabe du pentateque (Paris: Ernest Leroux, Editeur, 1893), p. 19.

Ishmael was 13 years old (Sefer Bereshit 17:25), and the Sefer Bereshit 18:6-7 also confirms: “So Abraham hastened to the tent to Sarah and said, “Hurry! Three seah’s of unsifted flour, sifted flour! Knead and make cakes!” The Abram ran to the cattle, took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the youth who hurried to prepare it. Amazingly, Rashi also explained the Hebrew phrase אל הנער (el han-Na’ar), lit. “au jeune homme. C’est Ismael, afin de l’initier a l’accomplissement des Mitsvot. “Chamisha Chumshe Torah. Le pentateuch avec commentaires de Rachi et notes explicatives (Paris: Fondation Samuel et Odette Levy, 1979), p. 103.

Mikraot Gedolot: Bereshit. Volume One. A New English Translation by Rabbi A.J. Rosenberg on the Sefer Bereshit 18:7, he said:

“to the Youth – this was Ishmael, to train him to perform mitzvoth (Rashi from Aboth d’Rabbi Nathan, chapter 13).

Derech Tov explains that the definite article means the Youth mentioned above who was ISHMAEL. Now why did Abraham give the calves to Ishmael? The Answer is that he wished to train Ishmael in the performance of mitzvoth.” (New York: the Judaica Press, 1993), p. 211a.

Rashi himself also explains that the definite article “the” is expressed by prefixing a “hay” to the noun. This is called הי הידיעה (hay-hayedi’a), see , Sampson A. Isseroff. An Introduction to Rashi’s Grammatical Explanations in the Book of Genesis. Sha’ar le Diqduqei Rashi. Sefer Bereshit (the Torah Education Department of the World Zionist Organization, 1985), p. 9.

In addition, it is important to note that according to the Midrash, הנער (han-Na’ar) is to be explained as ISHMAEL. The language clearly defines this Hebrew word not as any ordinary “young boy” or “lad” because it uses the Hebrew letter ה (hay) to designate the special “young boy.” The letter ה (hay) added emphasis to the importance and greatness of this “young boy”, even, his position for Abraham, so that why Rashi confirms that this young boy is ISHMAEL.

The Hebrew word הנער (han-Na’ar) means “the young man”, however, is to refer to Ishmael whom he bade to do this in order to train him to the performance of the religious duties, the Mitzvoth. Ishmael was 13 years old, according to the Mosaic Law, the age of Bar Mitzvah. But how to do this? How to slaughter the calf according to the Mitzvoth for the Bar Mitzvah (the son of the Mitzvoth? Is it a must to slaughter animal with the existence of the Qiblah? Yes, it is right. Sulchan Aruch explained it, about the important thing of the Qiblah when the one wants to slaughter the animal according to the Mitzvoth. But the Temple of Jerusalem did not exist in that moment. Did Ishmael slaughter the calf directed to the Temple of Jerusalem? Of course not. Amazingly, according to the Quran, Abraham and Ishmael already built the Temple of Mecca with his son, Ishmael. Ka’bah is the Qiblah, the direction to which Ishmael and Ishmaelites turn in prayer. Therefore, the Quran confirms that the first, Abraham took Ishmael as the Qurban, and the second, Abraham then built the Temple of Mecca with Ishmael (al-Baqarah 2:124-127).

Obviously, the Qiblah אלקבלה (al-Qiblah) that was really meant by Rav Saadia Gaon is the direction of Mecca, to the Ka’bah, not to the direction of Jerusalem, to the mount of Moriah as Rashi’s commentary. If we received Rashi’s commentary, there are many problems. Did Ishmael slaughter the animal to the direction of Jerusalem, to mount Moriah as the Qiblah? Did Ishmael slaughter the animal to the direction of Mecca, the Kaaba as the Qiblah? Where did Ishmael do to slaughter the animal? The Torah said that Abraham and Ishmael lived in Mamre (Sefer Bereshit 18:1-7). Firstly, Jerusalem however is not the south of Mamre. Secondly, Abraham never knew the holy place which God had told him, mount Moriah as the Qiblah. It seems Ishmael slaughtered the animal in the direction of Ka’bah. There was no holy Temple or direction prayer in Jerusalem at that time. Mostly likely the direction was towards the Ka’bah. Thus, Abraham never knew the mount Moriah as the Qiblah before God ordered him to slaughter his son, Isaac. Therefore, Rav Saadia Gaon mentioned the Qiblah, the southward is to refer to the direction of Mecca. Amazingly, Rav Saadia Gaon also confirmed the existence of Mecca in Sefer Bereshit 10:30.

1. Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1 “ And the Eternal appeared unto him in the oaks of Mamre …. “

2. Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) 18:6 “And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah and said, Hasten three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make hearthcakes.”

3. Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) 18:7 “And Abraham ran unto the herd and took a calf tender and good, and gave it unto THE LAD or THE YOUTH (Ishmael) and HE (Ishmael) hasted to dress it”.

Based on these verses, Abraham and his son, Ishmael lived in Mamre. Where is the territory of Mamre? Mamre is a place in the Hebron district, WEST of Machpelah and SOUTH of Jerusalem. It indicates that Jerusalem is not a direction of prayer at that time before the binding of Isaac as the Qurban. Jerusalem, NORTH of Mamre, and Ishmael clearly slaughtered the animal to the direction of the SOUTH of Mamre as the Qiblah according to Rav Saadia Gaon, that is in Mecca, not to Jerusalem. Ka’bah is a Qiblah in Mecca, south of Mamre. Obviously, based on the Sefer Bereshit (Genesisi) 12:9 Abraham lived in Mamre, he then journeyed, going and journeying towards the Qiblah, the South. What does it mean? Abraham already knew הנגבה (han-Neqba), was literally refer to the South, as the direction of the Qiblah, the South of Mamre. Jerusalem lies North of Mamre; and Mecca lies South of Mamre. Thus Abraham traveled South, not North.

Interestingly, based on the verse of the Sefer Bereshit 12:9, Rabbi Bachya ben Asher in his Midrash ‘al Chamisha Chumshe Torah: Bereshit, he said:

וכל המסעות האלו כדי להשיג השגת נבואתו של אל שדי הוא כנוי של אל”ף דל”ד שכולל אותו הנגבה. ועל כן יזכירנו תמיד בדבריו

Ve chol ham-massa’ot ha-ellu kedei le-hassiq has-sagat nevuato shel El-Shaddai, Hu kinnui shel alef-daled (65) shekolel oto han-Neqba. Ve ‘al ken yazkirenu tamid Midbaraiv.

“All of these journeys had as their purpose that he should qualify for the gift of prophecy on the level of communication with the attribute of God known as שדי (Shadai). This is an attribute of the אדני (ADONAI) level of God. It is alluded to in the word הנגבה, meaning “Southward”, whose numerical value 65 equal to the name אדני (ADONAI), see Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher (Yerushlayim: Mossad Harav Kook, 1977), 53.

However, this is the Torah’s hidden message in the light of gematria (number patterns) according to Rabbi Bachya ben Asher on the meaning of the South – the holy place of ADONAI, or the Qiblah in the Saadia’s commentary. Amazingly, Rabbenu Bachya ben Asher and Rav Saadia Gaon exactly explained that the South has a link with the Qiblah and ADONAI (Hashem).

Ibn Ezra in his Perushi ‘al ha-Torah le Rabbenu Avraham ben Ezra on the Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) 12:9 he also describes:

הנקבה: פאת דרום. ונקרא כן בלשון ארמית נגיבו מיא כי צד דרום חן. ומרוב החום ייבש. וכן טעם כי ארץ הנגב נתתני

han-Neqba. Peat darom ve niqrea ken be leson Aramit Negivu-mayya ki tzat darom chen, u merov hachom yibash, ve ken tha’am ki eretz han-Negev netattani (יהושע טו, יט)

Toward the South. Negev means South and it means the same in Aramaic. Negev in Aramaic means dry as we see from Onqelos who renders the waters were dried up (Genesis 8:13) as Negivu-mayya. The South is called Negev (dry) because it is hot there, and the heat parches the land. This is the way for that thou hast set me in the Southlands, eretz ha-negev give me therefore springs of water (Joshua 15:19), see Ibn Ezra (Yerushlayim: Mossad Harav Kook, 1977), p. 52.

Furthermore, in the Chamisha Chumshe Torah: Bereshit. The Pentateuch: Translated & Explained. Genesis, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch said: “the South of Palestine was by no means the most flourishing part, the whole district from Jerusalem southwards is called in the book of Zacharia ערבה (‘Araba), meaning “Wilderness” (London: L. Honig & Sonss Ltd., 1963), p. 235. Hirsch’s commentary also agree that the South is another name of ARABIA, the territory of the Wilderness, במדבר (Bemidbar). And Ibn Ezra confirms it, that eretz ha-negev means “a dry land.” So, it is a clear that Ishmaelites are B’nei Bamidbar (the sons of the Wilderness), who lived in a dry land in Arabia.

Meanwhile, according to the Torah and Pirke de Rav Eliezer, Abraham took Isaac as the Qurban with the first born-son of Abraham himself, he was Ishmael. Rashi also confirms this. Ibn Ezra also states that Isaac was 13 years old, the age of Bar Mitzvah when he was sacrificed by Abraham. “It thus appears logical to assume that Isaac was close to 13 years old.” Based on this verse, Abraham took Isaac as the Qurban with Ishmael in the land of Moriah. And Rashi explained that the land of Moriah is to refer to Jerusalem. He said: “This is Jerusalem”, and so we find 2 Chron. 3:1 “to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem Mount Moriah. Our rabbis have explained that it is called Moriah – Instruction – because from it ( i.e. from the Temple built on that mountain) instruction (huraah) הוראה came forth to Israel (Bereshit Rabba 55). The Torah depicts how Abraham really did the trial command to sacrifice his son, the binding of Isaac before the sacred place was then built by King Salomon as the Temple of Jerusalem. The Temple was not built by Abraham himself.

However, both Quran and the Torah agree in the grand narrative of the great trial of Abraham, the Qurban. After the Qurban, God prepared to establish His holy Temple. Thus, the grand narrative of both holy Temples through the Qurban are similar, but not exactly the same.

********

Summary

1. Rav Saadia Gaon confirms the real name of מכה (Makkah) in his Targum, Sefer Bereshit 10:30.

2. Rav Saadia Gaon confirms Al-Qiblah אלקבלה (the South) in his Targum, Sefer Bereshit 12:9.

3. The Torah confirms Abraham and Ishmael lived in Mamre, Sefer Bereshit 18:1 and Mamre, the South of Jerusalem.

4. Rashi confirms that Ishmael slaughtered the animal, see Perush Rashi ‘al ha-Torah, Sefer Bereshit 18:7

5. Ibn Ezra confirms באר לחי (be’er Lahai) as באר זמזם (be’er Zamzam), see Perush Ibn Ezra, Sefer Bereshit 16:14

6. Rav Saadia Gaon in his Targum also confirms the name of Hajr Al-Hijaz, Sefer Bereshit 14:7.

7. Rabbi Bachya ben Asher also confirms the name of Zamzam in his Perush Bachya al ha-Torah as well as Ibn Ezra. (Sefer Bereshit 16:14). Rav Saadia Gaon confirms this holy place in חגר אלחגאז (Hajr Al-Hijaz), אלקבלה (Al-Qiblah) and מכה (Makkah).

8. Radak also confirms the name of Mecca as well as Rav Saadia Gaon’s, see Sefer Bereshit 10:30.

Rav Saadia Gaon dan Ibn Ezra confirmed the existence of the Qiblah, the South of Mamre, so that why Rav Saadia Gaon and Ibn Ezra mentioned the name of Hajr Al-Hijaz, the name of Zamzam, the name of Mecca, all are refer to the South, the Qiblah as Rav Saadia Gaon said. These prove that the Qiblah according to Rav Saadia Gaon is to refer to the South of Mamre, that is Mecca, not Jerusalem. It proves clearly accoding to Rav Saadia Gaon.

Critical Notes

According to traditional Jewish understanding such as Ibn Ezra and Radak, the book of Zechariah 13:7 refers directly to the suffering Messiah. The only possible interpretation for this scripture relates to the suffering Messiah, as Ibn Ezra suggested, who will die, as the scripture clearly states by crucifixion, see Itzhak Sapira, The Return of the Kosher Pig: the Divine Messiah in Jewish Thought (Maryland: Lederer Books – Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2013), 128. Do you think that Ibn Ezra and Radak have been influenced by theological power of Christian term when he explained that the verse referred to the suffering Messiah? Do you also think that the use of באר זמזם (be’er Zamzam) is the influence of Islamic term when Ibn Ezra explained the verse in the Sefer Bereshit 16:14? Maybe you will say “case by case.”

Rabbi Saadia Gaon also connecting Daniel 7:13 to Zechariah 9:9 declares: “As a sign of humality, the Messiah will come riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). He will however be accompanied by the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13), i.e. the angels of heavens, see Itzhak Sapira, The Return of the Kosher Pig: the Divine Messiah in Jewish Thought (Maryland: Lederer Books – Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2013), p. 200. Do you also think that Rav Saadia Gaon was influenced by Christian theology on the coming of Christian Messiah based on the New Testament? Maybe you will say “case by case too.” The Islamic terms in Ibn Ezra’s works are the influence of Islam, but the Christian terms and its theology in Ibn Ezra’s works are not the influence of Christianity. Indeed, you really did a selected judgement to make a critical episteme to the rabbinic texts.

Hindeya-raba (הנדיא רבא) dan Makah-raba (מכה רבא) dalam Targum dan Tradisi Yahudi.

שלום עליכם
السلام عليكم

Dalam riset linguistic, Prof. James Barr, Ph.D., penulis buku “Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament” (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1968) menyebutkan adanya hegemoni loanwords and words of non-Semitic origin dalam teks Perjanjian Lama (Biblical Hebrew Texts). Begitu juga Prof. Mats Eskhult, Ph.D., telah menulis tentang “the Importance of Loanwords for Dating Biblical Hebrew Texts” (London-New York: T & T Clark International, 2003). Prof. Mats Eskhult adalah seorang linguist dari Department of Asian and African Languages, Uppsala University (Swedan). Dalam tulisannya beliau memaparkan bahwa bahasa-bahasa dominan yang berpengaruh dan jejaknya terekam dalam teks TaNaKH (Perjanjian Lama) meliputi 4 bahasa utama, yakni bahasa Akkadia, bahasa Aramaic, bahasa Koptik (Ancient Egytian) dan bahasa Persia.

Riset yang dilakukan oleh Prof. James Barr, Ph.D. dan Prof. Mats Eskhult, Ph.D. keduanya membuktikan adanya pengaruh/dominasi loanwords of non-Semitic origin. Ini membuktikan bahwa teks Hebrew Bible (Perjanjian Lama) tidak pernah ‘menjadi’ sebagai teks suci secara steril dan terasing dari bahasa-bahasa lain yang mengitarinya.

Berdasarkan pembuktian filologis, saya mencoba meriset adanya istilah “Hoddu” sebagai “Hebraized-Sanskrit term dalam Biblical Hebrew. Begitu juga adanya istilah “Hindeya-raba” (הנדיא רבא) sebagai Aramo-Sanskrit term dalam Targum kitab Esther. Hal ini telah saya jelaskan dalam karya saya berjudul “Aryo-Semitic Philology: The Semitization of Vedas and Sanskrit Elements in Hebrew and Abrahamic Texts” (Surabaya: Airlangga University Press, 2018). Riset ini sebagai alternatif bacaan kepada para pembaca tentang adanya pengaruh kosakata asing non-Hebrew di antaranya hegemoni bahasa Sanskrit dalam korpus rumpun linguistik Arya, sebagaimana yang termaktub dalam teks Perjanjian Lama. Hegemoni bahasa Sanskrit merupakan bahasa utama dalam tradisi Arya; dan bahasa tersebut ternyata jejaknya amat dominan dalam bahasa Ibrani Masoret (Biblical Hebrew). Dalam hal ini, bahasa Sanskrit justru dominan menaklukkan (‘conquer’) bahasa Ibrani Biblikal, yang jejaknya termaktub dalam teks Perjanjian Lama.

Sebagaimana yang saya jelaskan bahwa dalam Aramaic Targum kitab Esther disebutkan istilah Hindeya-raba (הנדיא רבא) yang bermakna “India the Great.” Dalam kitab Mikraot Gedolot, Chamesh Megillot, Sefer Esther 8:9 tertulis demikian.

ולות אסטרטילוסין והפרכין ורברבנין דמתמנן ארכונין על פלכיא דמן הנדיא רבא ועד כוש …

“… u-l’wat istharthilosyn we hefarchiyn we ravrebaniyn d’mitmanan archuniyn ‘al pilchaya d’min Hindeya rabba we ‘ad Kush …”

“… dan kepada para wakil pemerintah, para bupati, dan para pembesar daerah, dari India sampai Etiopia ….”

Istilah “Hindeya-raba” (הנדיא רבא) merupakan kosakata Aramaic yang termaktub dalam Targum. Istilah הדו (Hoddu) dalam kitab TaNaKH (Torah Neviem ve Khetuvim) berbahasa Ibrani, sebagaimana yang termaktub dalam kitab Esther (Sefer Esther) yang ditulis di wilayah tradisi Arya, ternyata term הדו (Hoddu) asalnya merupakan istilah kosakata Sanskrit yang ter-Ibrani-kan atau Hebraized-Sanskrit term. Dengan kata lain, istilah הדו (Hoddu) merupakan kosakata Judeo-Sanskrit sebagai bentuk Ibranisasi dari kosakata khas keagamaan Hindu dari tradisi Arya yang kemudian diadopsi dalam bahasa Ibrani Masoret (Biblical Hebrew).

Begitu juga istilah “Macoraba” dalam peta kuno karya Ptolemy merupakan istilah Aram populer era pra-Islam, yakni מבה רבא (Makah-raba), yang bermakna “Mecca the Great”, yang dikenal di kalangan masyarakat Yahudi Yamanite (Yahudi Te

Hagra Makkah Hijr

manim). Wilayah Makah-raba (Macoraba) ini terletak di selatannnya wilayah Yatsrib (Iathrippha), dan wilayah Yatsrib (Iathrippa) ini juga terletak di selatannya wilayah Hagra (Egra) sebagaimana peta kuno karya Ptolemy era pra-Kristen. Ptolemy menyebutkan nama Macoraba, Iathrippa dan Egra yang ketiga wilayah itu terletak di kawasan Hijaz. Nama wilayah Egra yang terletak di kawasan Hijaz ini juga dibenarka

n dalam Targum Onkelos, yang dalam istilah Aramaic tersebut ternyata Onkelos menyebutnya dengan nama Hagra. Nama wilayah Hagra ini juga dibenarkan pula oleh Rav Saadia Gaon dengan menyebutnya sebagai wilayah Hijr di kawasan Al-Hijaz.

Bila Ptolemy menyebut Egra dalam istilah Yunani, maka Onkelos menyebutnya dengan nama Hagra dalam bahasa Aramaic. Bila Onkelos menyebutnya Hagra dalam Targum bhs Aramaic, maka Saadia Gaon menyebutnya dengan nama Hijr yang terletak di kawasan Al-Hijaz. Itulah sebabnya Rabbi Saadia Gaon dalam Targum bhs Arabic menyebut kawasan tersebut dengan sebutan Hijr Al-Hijaz.

Dengan demikian, wilayah Egra menurut Ptolemy memang terletak di kawasan Hejaz. Peta kuno karya Ptolemy ini ditulis pada era pra-Kristen. Begitu pula wilayah Hijr menurut Rabbi Saadia Gaon juga terletak di kawasan Al-Hijaz. Targum Arabic karya Saadia Gaon ini ditulis pada era Islam. Menurut Targum Aramaic karya Onkelos yang ditulis pada era Kristen itu sebenarnya dimana letak wilayah Hagra tersebut? Dalam kamus berjudul “A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic Literature” yang dikompilasi oleh Marcus Jastrow, Ph.D., D. Litt. disebutkan penjelasan demikian:

חגרה, חגרא ch. pr.n. Hagra, 1) a town and province in the desert of Shur. Targ. O. Gen. 16:14 (h. text. ברד) Ib. 7 (h. text. שור). Targ. Gen. 20:1. Targ. O. Gen. 25:18 (v. חלוצא) – 2) Petra. Tosef. Shebi. 4.

Ortografi penulisan nama Hagra dalam dokumen teks-teks Rabbinic memang ada 2 model,

  1. חגרא,
  2. חגרה.

Begitu juga ortografi penulisan nama Makah dalam dokumen teks-teks Rabbinic ada 2 model,

  1. מכא,
  2. מכה.

Berdasarkan penjelasan tersebut, nama Hagra bisa merujuk pada 2 kemungkinan. Pertama, Hagra adalah nama lain dari Petra yang terletak di wilayah Yordania. Kedua, Hagra adalah wilayah yang ada di kawasan Shur. Persoalannya apakah nama lain kawasan Shur itu adalah Al-Hijaz (Hejaz) sebagaimana yang dipahami oleh Ptolemy dan Rabbi Saadia Gaon? Apa batasan wilayah Shur atau wilayah Al-Hijaz itu? Apakah Shur itu kawasan yang berhadapan dengan Mesir? Apakah Al-Hijaz itu juga kawasan yang berhadapan dengan Mesir? Apakah itu kawasan yang ada bukti arkeologisnya? Bila Hagra yang dimaksud dalam Targum Onkelos itu terletak di kawasan Shur dan hanya merujuk pada kawasan Semenanjung Sinai (padang gurun Sinai di Mesir), maka di sana tidak ada bukti arkeologis apapun. Namun, bila yang disebut sebagai wilayah Hagra itu bukan merujuk pada kawasan Semenanjung Sinai tetapi justru merujuk pada kawasan Semenanjung Arab (padang gurun Al-Hijaz di Saudi Arabia), maka di lokasi tersebut ditemukan banyak data arkeologi. Jadi pernyataan Rabbi Saadia Gaon yang menyebut Hijr sebagai padanan Hagra yang terletak di kawasan Al-Hijaz ini sepadan dengan bukti peta kuno era pra-Kristen, karya Ptolemy.

Dengan demikian, Egra yang dimaksud oleh Ptolemy memang berada di Semenanjung Arab, yakni Hejaz. Hijr yang dimaksud oleh Rav Saadia Gaon juga berada di Semenanjung Arab, yakni Al-Hijaz. Kedua tokoh ini mewakili era pra-Kristen dan era Islam. Tidak ada satu pun tokoh era pra-Kristen yang menyebutkan adanya Egra di kawasan Semenanjung Sinai. Itu berarti membuktikan bahwa lokasi Hijr yang dimaksud oleh Saadia Gaon, dan lokasi Hagra yang dimaksud oleh Onqelos maksudnya sama, yakni suatu lokasi yang berada di kawasan Semenanjung Arab yakni Al-Hijaz, yang nama lainnya adalah Shur. Kawasan Semenanjung Arab (Arab Saudi) kaya peradaban dan bukti arkeologi, yang berbeda dengan kawasan Semenanjung Sinai (Mesir) yang hampa peradaban dan ketiadaan fakta arkeologi.

Ada bukti yang tak terbantahkan bahwa Rabbi Saadia Gaon sebenarnya sangat paham teks Hebrew yang tertulis istilah הדו (Hoddu) dalam teks Masoret, dan teks Aramaic yang tertulis הנדיא (Hindeya) dalam Targum kitab Esther 8:9. Itulah sebabnya Rav Saadia Gaon dalam teks Chamesh Megillot versi Judeo-Arabic menyebutnya אלהנדי (Al-Hindi). Rav Saadia Gaon juga sangat paham teks Hebrew yang tertulis dengan istilah שור (Shur) dalam naskah Masoret dan teks Aramaic yang tertulis dengan istilah חגרא (Hagra) dalam Targum Onqelos. Itulah sebabnya Rav Saadia Gaon dalam teks Chamisha Chumshe Torah versi Judeo-Arabic menyebutkan nama Hijr yang ada di kawasan Al-Hijaz. Bahkan berdasarkan kajian validitas manuskrip kuno terhadap peta Ptolemy, yang dibuat pada Abad ke-3 SM., ternyata peta Ptolemy menyebutkan nama Egra yang ada di kawasan Hejaz (Semenanjung Arabia). Hal ini sepadan dengan Targum Onqelos yang ditulis pada Abad ke-2 M., yang menyebutkan nama Hagra. Dan teks Targum Onqelos yang menyebutkan nama חגרא (Hagra) ternyata merupakan penjelasan atas munculnya nama שור (Shur) yang termaktub dalam manuskrip tertua, yakni “the Dead Sea Scrolls” (Naskah Laut Mati) yang berdasarkan uji corban C-14 faktanya ditulis pada Abad ke-2 SM. Ini merupakan upaya pelacakan teks berdasarkan validitas kekunoan manuskrip tertua melalui uji carbon C-14 yang amat penting dengan pendekatan ilmu filologi, tekstologi dan kodikologi. Faktanya, lokasi Egra, Hagra, dan Hijr telah terlacak dengan sendirinya, dan ternyata terletak di kawasan Al-Hijaz (Semenanjung Arabia).

Selain itu, pada peta kuno tersebut, Ptolemy menyebutkan nama Macoraba yang terletak di kawasan Semenanjung Arab, bukan di kawasan Semenanjung Sinai. Bila Ptolemy menyebut Macoraba dalam istilah Yunani, maka Onkelos mempertahankan istilah Ibrani משה (Mesha) untuk menyebut wilayah tersebut, yang sebenarnya wilayah tersebut disebut מכה רבא (Makah-raba), yakni “Mecca the Great” dalam tuturan bahasa Aramaic kaum Yahudi Yaman sebagaimana yang dicatat oleh Prof. Philip K. Hitti dalam karyanya “History of the Arab: from the Earliest Times to the Present.” (New York: the Macmillan Company, 1951). Itulah sebabnya Rabbi Saadia Gaon secara gamblang menyebut kawasan tersebut dengan nama מבה (Makah) yang terletak di kawasan Semenanjung Arabia. Itulah sebabnya rabbi-rabbi otoritatif yang pernyataannya termaktub dalam kitab Mikraot Gedolot maupun Torat Chaim seperti Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak), Rabbi Bachye ben Asher dan Rabbi Ibn Ezra tidak menyangkal pernyataan Rabbi Saadia Gaon.

Rabbi Saadia Gaon menyebut dengan sebutan מכה (Makah) dalam Targum Arabic nas Sefer Bereshit 10:30 dalam Chamisha Chumshe Torah, sebagaimana beliau juga menyebut dengan sebutan אלהנדי (Al-Hindi) dalam Targum Arabic nas Sefer Esther 8:9 dalam Chamesh Megillot. Begitu pula Al-Biruni juga menyebut wilayah tersebut dengan sebutan الهند (al-Hindi) dalam kitabnya yang berjudul Tarikh Al-Hindi. Lebih detail persoalan penyebutan “India” dalam berbagai dokumen, misalnya dokumen berbahasa Sanskrit (Sindhu), Persian (Hendhu), Urdu (Hendustan), Greek (Indikes), Latin (Indie), Ibrani (Hoddu), Aramaic (Hindeya) dan Arabic (Al-Hindi) sebagaimana yang tercatat dalam dokumen-dokumen agama Hindu, agama Yahudi, agama Kristen dan agama Islam, maka Anda dapat membaca karya saya berjudul “Aryo-Semitic Philology: the Semitization of Vedas and Sanskrit Elements in Hebrew and Abrahamic Texts (Surabaya: Airlangga University Press, 2018).

Renungan

  1. Tidak ada satu pun data era pra-Kristen yang menyatakan bahwa Egra dan Macoraba terletak di Semenanjung Sinai. Dan tidak ada satu pun data era Abad Pertengahan yang menyebutkan bahwa Egra dan Macoraba ada di kawasan Semenanjung Sinai. Justru sebalinya, semua data era pra-Kristen dan data era Abad Pertengahan semuanya menyebutkan bahwa Egra dan Macoraba berada di kawasan Semenanjung Arabia.
  2. Pembahasan mengenai Egra dalam dokumen Yunani tidak dapat dipisahkan dengan pembahasan mengenai Hagra dalam dokumen Aramaic. Data mengenai kawasan Egra dan Hagra merupakan poin awal sebelum membahas mengenai Macoraba.
  3. Pembahasan mengenai הנדיא (Hindeya raba) dan חגרא (Hagra) dalam pemikiran para Targumim dalam Targum Judeo-Aramaic juga tidak bisa dipisahkan, sebagaimana pembahasan mengenai אלהנדי (Al-Hindi) dan חגר אלחגאז (Hijr Al-Hijaz) dalam pemikiran (episteme) Rav Saadia Gaon dalam Targum Judeo-Arabic.

Ishmael dalam narasi kitab suci Yahudi dan Islam (Part VI) – Dimana Lokasi Hijr Al-Hijaz dan Al-Jafar dalam Targum Saadia?


Tulisan sederhana ini bertujuan utk membedah nalar absurd dari Jimmy Jeffry, sang apologet Kristen yang tidak paham linguistic studies.

Dalam Targum Saadia, terkait Sefer Bereshit 25:18, Rabbi Saadia Gaon (Rasag) menyebut Shur dengan nama lain, yakni Al-Jafar. Sementara itu, dalam Sefer Bereshit 16:7, Rasag menyebut Shur dengan nama yang lain lagi, yakni Hijr Al-Hijaz. Nama Al-Jafar dalam Targum Saadia merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis, sebagaimana nama Hijr Al-Hijaz dalam Targum Saadia juga merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis. Nama Al-Jafar dan nama Hijr Al-Hijaz dalam Targum Saadia yang mengacu pada nama lokasi geografis ini bersifat saling menjelaskan, dan bukan saling menegasikan. genesis 16-7

Nama Al-Jafar sebagai nama lokasi geografis tersebut ternyata diteguhkan pula dengan pernyataan Flavius Josephus dalam karyanya The Antiquities of the Jews 12.4.

“These inhabited all the country from Ephrates to the Read Sea and called it Nabatene.”

Flavius Josephus, seorang sejarawan Yahudi abad 1 M., mengidentifikasi nama Shur berkaitan dengan Read Sea (kawasan Laut Merah). Hal ini senada dengan kawasan Al-Jafar yang dimaksud oleh Rabbi Saadia Gaon (Rasag) dalam Sefer Bereshit 25:18. Rasag paham betul lokasi geografis yang bernama Al-Jafar yang berada di kawasan Laut Merah ini, sehingga beliau menyebut nama Al-Jafar dengan nama lain, yakni nama Hijr Al-Hijaz sebagaimana yang termaktub dalam Sefer Bereshit 14:7.

Rasag juga paham betul terkait nama lokasi geografis yang disebut Hagra dalam Targum Onqelos dalam bahasa Judeo-Aramaic tersebut. Dalam konteks ini, sebutan nama Hijr dalam Targum Saadia, yang sejajar dengan nama Hagra, merupakan kata kunci dalam memahami makna nama Hijr secara tepat, sebagaimana yang dimaksud dalam Targum Saadia. Itulah sebabnya Rasag dalam Targum-nya menyebut nama Hijr dlm bhs Judeo-Arabic, yang secara linguistik sepadan dengan nama Hagra dalam bhs Judeo-Aramaic.

Istilah “sepadan” yang saya maksud dalam kedua Targum tersebut adalah kesejajaran makna yang merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis. Ini terbukti bila istilah Hagra dan Hijr tersebut keduanya dikaji berdasarkan pada domain linguistik rumpun bahasa-bahasa Semitik, terutama dari aspek fonologis (bunyi), morfologis (kata), dan semantis (terutama makna leksikal sekaligus makna terminologisnya). Jadi, nama Hagra (H-g-r) dan Hijr (H-j-r) telah terbukti secara linguistik ternyata keduanya memang merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis. Pemahaman Rasag tentang Hijr yang mengacu pada nama lokasi geografis ini dipertegas dng ditambahkannya istilah Al-Hijaz sebagai kata penjelas di belakang nama Hijr, dan istilah Al-Hijaz itu sendiri memang mengacu pada makna lokasi geografis.

Dengan kata lain, Rasag sekaligus menambahkan penjelasan Al-Hijaz di belakang nama Hijr tersebut, agar komunitas Yahudi Musta’ribah sbg pembaca Targum Judeo-Arabic dapat memahami bahwa Al-Hijaz itu sebagai nama lain dari Hagra. Bila nama Al-Hijaz dalam Targum Saadia merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis, maka nama Hijr dalam Targum Saadia juga merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis, sebagaimana nama Hagra dalam Targum Onqelos yang juga merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis. Bahkan sebutan Al-Jafar dan Hijr Al-Hijaz dalam Targum Saadia dikuatkan dgn penjelasan Flavius Josephus sebagai kawasan Laut Merah. Bukankah secara geografis, Hijaz itu berada di kawasan Laut Merah?

Bila seorang apologet Kristen menyatakan bahwa nama Hagra dalam Targum Onqelos dan nama Hijr dalam Targum Saadia memiliki makna yang berbeda secara leksikal dan makna terminologisnya, sebenarnya ini pemahaman orang yang sangat awam dalam bidang linguistik, apalagi bidang linguistik Semitik. Bukankah secara linguistik kata H-g-r (Hagra) dan kata H-j-r (Hijr/Hajar) faktanya sama-sama merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis yang sama? Kalau kata Hijr dikaitkan dengan Hajar Aswad sedangkan kata Hagra diklaim tidak ada kaitannya dng Hajar Aswad, bukankah kata Hajar dan kata Hagra keduanya secara leksikal bermakna batu? Sejak kapan Rasag mengaitkan Hijr dengan Hajar Aswad? Kenapa kata Hijr dalam Targum Saadia tidak dikaitkan dengan Hijr Ismail saja? Itu nalar imaji seorang apologet Kristen yang tidak paham bahasa Judeo-Aramaic dan bahasa Judeo-Arabic, dan mencoba memanipulasi makna Hagra dan Hijr atau Hajar secara berbeda. Ini namanya bernalar secara pseudo-academic yang absurd. Bagaimana mungkin kata Hijr atau pun kata Hajar dan kata Hagra secara semantik leksikal tidak ada hubungannya secara linguistik?

Nama Hijr dalam Targum Saadia, atau pun dibaca Hajar, telah dijelaskan oleh Rasag sendiri, ternyata tidak ada kaitannya sama sekali dengan Hajar Al-Aswad, tetapi dikaitkan dng Al-Hijaz, yang istilah ini merujuk pada nama lokasi geografis. Pada catatan kaki Targum Chamisha Chumshe Torah be Leson ‘Aravit le Rabbenu Saadia Gaon ben Yosef al-Fayyumi terdapat penjelasan sbb:

Screen Shot 2017-03-21 at 10.31.18

Transliteration:

” … be derech Hijr Hijaz wa kana Targum Onqelos Hagra ve zehu eretz ha-‘Erev hamatz’it asher bo ‘Ir Mekah ha-qadoshah le Yishma’elim u-Baka. “

(ke jalan Hijr Hijaz, dan pada Targum Onqelos disebut Hagra, dan kawasan itu berada di tanah Arabia, yang orang datang di kota Mecca yang kudus bagi kaum penganut iman Ishmael atau Bakka.”

Jadi, penyebutan Hijr Al-Hijaz oleh Rasag dalam Targum-nya bukan merujuk pada nama obyek berupa hajar (batu) an sich, dan tidak ada hubungannya sama sekali dengan nama obyek batu yang disebut Hajar Aswad, tetapi nama Hijr yang dimaksud oleh Rasag dalam Targum-nya adalah nama tempat atau nama lokasi geografis yang amat khusus dan menjadi semacam common knowledge di kalangan internal kaum Yahudi Musta’ribah yang merujuk pada kawasan Al-Hijaz. Itulah sebabnya, yang termaktub dalam Targum Saadia adalah frase nama Hijr Al-Hijaz atau bisa dibaca Hajar Al-Hijaz, tetapi frase yang muncul tidak tertulis nama Hajar Al-Aswad. Bila nama Hijr atau Hajar yang dimaksud oleh Rabbi Saadia Gaon (Rasag) tersebut merujuk pada nama Hajar Al-Aswad, maka pasti dalam Sefer Bereshit 14:7 versi Targum Judeo-Arabic tersebut tertulis nama Hajar Al-Aswad dan bukan tertulis Hijr Al-Hijaz. Dengan demikian, istilah Hagra dalam Targum Onqelos yang ditulis pada abad 1 M. merujuk pada kawasan Laut Merah sebagaimana yang ditulis oleh Flavius Josephus (abad 1 M.). dan Rabbi Saadia Gaon menyebutnya sebagai kawasan Al-Hijaz sebagai penjelas nama Hijr/Hajar dalam Targum Saadia, sepadan dengan nama Hagra dalam Targum Onqelos.