The author offers many new insights for students of migration and ethnicity across several social science disciplines. Focusing on the ordinary immigrants who have often been ignored in the historical record; he demonstrates that German newcomers arrived with fewer resources than previously supposed but that they were remarkably successful in becoming independent farmers.Originally published in 1987.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
#623851 in Books 2015-10-27Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.21 x .61 x 6.14l; .0 #File Name: 0691168083272 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Read and LearnBy Stefano NikolaouSidney H. Griffith is an expert in Arabic Christianity. It was only natural that he should eventually write about the Bible in Arabic. Unlike the west; the East had no problem with vernacular Bibles so when Arabic started to replace Greek; Syriac; Palestinian Aramaic and Coptic it was only natural that Christians should start to translate the Bible into Arabic. The Jews in the Middle East soon followed but their Arabic Old Testaments were like 'study aids' as Hebrew remained their sacred language.This book has seven chapters. Each deals with a specific aspect of the topic of the Bible in Arabic.I - The Bible in Pre-Islamic ArabiaII - The Bible in the Arabic Qur'anIII - The Earliest Translations of the Bible into ArabicIV - Christian Translations of the Bible into ArabicV - Jewish Translations of the Bible into ArabicVI - Muslims and the Bible in ArabicVII - Intertwined ScripturesGriffith states in his introduction that the Arabic Bible has basically been ignored in scholarship but there is a growing interest in the topic. There are a massive number of manuscripts out there and translations were constantly being revised and compared so the origins of the first translations are unclear. What is certain is that (like English) there were multiple translations of the Bible; some dependant on previous translations and some not.Griffith concludes that there must have been some translations of the Gospels in Pre-Islamic Arabia (pages 47-53) but he admits the evidence is scanty. There is plenty of undisputable evidence of Christian Arabic tribes so it is only natural they improvised translations of portions of the Bible into their language.Chapter 2 is a bit strange. Griffith surveys how the Bible is used in the Qur'an. He states that the Qur'an presupposes a high level of knowledge of the Bible (or 'Biblical awareness' as he calls it; page 55). How exactly a supposedly pagan society in Mecca had so much knowledge of the Bible is never explained by Griffith. Without the subtext of the Biblical narrative the Qur'an is basically unintelligible.An interesting fact I learned was if was the Karaites who first translated the Old Testament for Jews (page 159). Eventually the famous Sa'adyah Gaon (882-942) produced a definitive translation of the Pentateuch; Isaiah; Psalms; Proverbs; Job; Lamentations; Esther and Daniel into Arabic based on the Massoretic Text.One of the byproducts of the Bible in Arabic was that Muslims started to read the Bible and all sorts of disputes arose over the authenticity of the text. Muslims were eager to prove that Muhammad was predicted in the Bible but they were also eager to show that the Bible had been corrupted (pages 177-178). I found this discussion informative. I should note that Griffith is not trying to be polemical so he just states the facts. He is not trying to 'prove' the authenticity of the Bible even though; as a Catholic priest; he must believe that.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Goodhistory. No translationBy RustyGood history of Arabic translations. No Arabic scripture2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Arabic versions of the BibleBy Bassam Michael MadanyExcellent work on an important topic; helpful for students of Christian Muslim relations as it clears up issues not fully covered in the past.
