Qurʾān’s Detailed Knowledge of the Bible (Prof. Zinner)

Article

1. The article demonstrates that the Qurʾān has knowledge of a wide scope of fine details of Biblical passages, including the Tanakh in Hebrew and Syriac (Masoretic Text and Peshitta) and the New Testament (Greek and Syriac Peshitta). Additionally, the Qurʾān has extensive knowledge of traditional Biblical intertexts and subtexts. The knowledge of details is too extensive to be explained plausibly by passing or occasional exposure via conversations with traveling Christian missionaries in marketplaces or in inns.
2. It is disconcerting that Reynolds cites Psalm 37:9 as the purported main parallel to Q 21:105. The standardly listed parallel to Q 21:105 is Psalm 37 v. 29, not v. 9. Q 21:105 clearly and indisputably parallels Psalm 37:29, which Reynolds ironically references only in parentheses, but does not cite explicitly, in contrast to his quotation of the essentially irrelevant v. 9. One could grant that Q 21:105 does not prove the Qurʾān had direct access to the entire Book of Psalms, but one cannot, pace Reynolds, deny that Q 21:105 echoes specifically Psalm 37:29.
3. Citation vs. Mimesis The argument that because the Qurʾān generally paraphrases rather than literally cites the Bible, that therefore it knows the Bible only indirectly seems unaware of or at least unaffected by recent literary mimesis studies that document how ancient and Late Antique authors as a general rule preferred to echo their sources in creative paraphrase rather than use direct word-for-word citations. Naturally, the degree or extent of this mimetic praxis in a text depends on and varies with genre. We expect literal citations in genres such as theological treatises or scriptural commentaries. A few examples will suffice. No scholar has ever doubted that the author of the Odes of Solomon had access to the written texts of the Bible, yet the Odes of Solomon always only very loosely paraphrase brief phrases from scripture. This situation has given rise to endless scholarly debate about which scriptural texts the Odes actually refer to (see Harris, Mingana 1920, p. 110; Lattke, 2009). The Letter of James presents us with a second apt example. As Kloppenborg (2021, p. 254) explains, in ancient religious literature, “allusion and paraphrase are in fact more common than direct citation, unless there were specific reasons to quote authoritative sources precisely.” We can also mention the example of Ben Sira. As Schipper (2021, p. 293) explains by citing Wright (2013, pp. 165-166): “When starting with the book of Ben Sira, one must first state that ‘torah’ for Ben Sira meant the Mosaic Torah. ‘Although Ben Sira might refer to the Torah…, he famously does not make formal citations of Torah and is not bound to the letter of the Torah.’” By contrast, the genre of homily invites frequent scriptural citations. One thinks, e.g., of 2 Clement. When, however, we contrast the homiletical 2 Clement with the Shepherd of Hermas, which represents the apocalyptic genre, then again the ancient penchant for frequent mimesis comes into clear view.

Q21:104-105: Biblical Intertexts and Subtexts

The present example of Q 21:105’s echoes of Psalm 37:29 together with Isaiah 65:9 would seem to indicate that the Qurʾānic praxis of alluding to similar texts in earlier scriptures is congruent with Biblical precedents. To demonstrate Q 21:105’s combination of elements of Psalm 37:29 together with Isaiah 65:9’s second half we begin by comparing Q 21:104, Psalm 37:29, and Isaiah 65:9 (Table 1). First we notice that Q 21:105 lacks Psalm 37:29’s concluding idiom ָיהֶלָע דַעָל,” forever,” which is also lacking in the Isaiah 65:9 parallel, both in MT and in the Targum Jonathan of Isaiah (hereafter TJon Isa). The shared lack of “forever” in Q 21:105 and Isaiah 65:9 speaks in favor of an allusion to the latter text on the former text’s part. Second, Q 21:105’s “My righteous servants” is lacking in Psalm 37:29, which has instead “the righteous.” However, we have a perfect TJon in” ,servants righteous My and “,וְ עַבְ דֵ י צַדִ יקַיָא reading the in match Isa 65:9, which expands MT’s י ַדָבֲעַו,” and My servants.” In fact, the phrase אָיַיק ִדַצ י ֵד ְבַע occurs six times in this chapter of TJon Isa (1x in v. 8; 1x in v. 9; 3x in v. 13; 1x in v. 14), with “His righteous servants” appearing 1x in v. 15. “His righteous servants” occurs later in TJon Isa 66:14. There is no occurrence of “righteous servants” in TJon Isa chapters 40-43; 45-62; 64. “His righteous servants” occurs 1x in TJon Isa 44:26, and there is one instance of “Your righteous servants” in Isaiah 63:17. Clearly, “righteous servants” is a phrase that proliferates in TJon Isa 65 more than anywhere else in the Deutero-Isaiah and TritoIsaiah chapters in this Targum.

Table:

The three Qurʾānic verses with the phrase “righteous servants” (of God) are thus all related to passages in the Hebrew Bible. Significantly, two of these three verses pertain respectively to David and to his son Solomon. We are thus justified if we suspect the phrase “righteous servants” reflects Biblical parlance. Isaiah 53:11 has the singular י ִּד ְבַע יק ִּדַצ, which could be parsed as “my righteous servant,” that is, the nation of Israel. Another notable connection between Q 21:105 and Isaiah 65 is the parallel between “And surely we have written (بناَتَك “(and Isaiah 65:6’s הָא TJon (הִ נֵּ֥ה כְ תּובָ ָ֖ה לְפָנָ ָ֑י “,Me before written is it ,Behold “introductory.

Q21:104 and Isaiah 34 and 65

That Q 21:105 echoes elements of both Psalm 37:29 and Isaiah 65:9 together is further confirmed by the Q 21 context. I refer to the immediately preceding verse, Q 21:104, which mentions the topos of the first and new creation. This thematically matches the nearby Isaiah 65:17, which famously announces the creation of a new heavens and a new earth (Table 2). This naturally indicates that Q 21:105’s inheritance of the earth is eschatological (cf. Q 23:10-11).

1. Q 21:104’s بِّ ُلكت ُ ل ِّ ِّل جِّ الس ِّ echoes the Peshitta, combining Isaiah 34:4’s singular emphatic ܡܓܠܬܐ,” scroll,” and Revelation 6:14’s plural ܐ̈ emphatic ܼܶ ܼܒ ܼܳ ܟܬܼ ,” scrolls/books.” Once again, the Qurʾān knows both a Tanakh verse and its echo in the New Testament. Q 21:104 contains the Qurʾān’s only mention of the word ِّلِجِّالس,” scroll.” I doubt that in ِّلِجِّالس ِبُتُلكِل what is usually understood to be the preposition ل with the sense “for” actually bears this meaning. Instead, this prefixed ل may be emphatic. The emphasis could highlight the plurality of books in what is nevertheless but a single divine scroll in some sense. The emphasis would be necessary because generally one scroll contains only one book or composition. Cf. the phrase “the roll/scroll of a book” in Psalm 40:8.
2. Q21:104, Psalm 102, and Hebrews 1 Q 21:104’s cosmic scroll that is folded reflects Psalm 102:27’s garment that is changed, but via Hebrews 1:11-12’s citation of Psalm 102:27, where Hebrews replaces the cosmic garment that is “changed” with Isaiah 34:4’s cosmic scroll that is “rolled.” Q 21:104 may or may not involve the creation of an intentionally similar odd imagery. This would depend on the intended meaning of طوى in the passage. Most English translations likely choose the rendering “roll” in order to avoid producing in Q 21:104 the odd image of a scroll that is folded up rather than the more natural rolled up.

1. The Arabic lexica ascribe to طوى not only the meaning “fold,” but also “roll.” In Hebrew, the adjectival substantive ילִל ָג, a folding, a turning, is derived from לַלָג, to roll (the verb used in Isaiah 34:4). Nevertheless, ילִלָג does not mean “a rolling.” In Lane’s entry on طوى, “roll” is a secondary definition, and a piece of paper or a letter is said to be “folded,” not “rolled.” Lane (5, col. 1898) also uses “fold” as the default or primary translation of طوى in Q 21:104: “on the day when we shall fold, or roll up, the heavens.” Arabic طوى has the Hebrew cognate טוה, to spin, that is, to draw out and twist, and Aramaic cognates mean to turn, spinning, spider (Zammit, 2002, pp. 274-275). To express rolling up a scroll in Arabic one could use َّفَلَأ, form IV of the root ف ف ل, as did Van Dyck in his Isaiah translation. In Peshitta Isaiah 34:4 we find ܘܢܬܟܪܟܘܢ. The echo in Peshitta Rev 6:14 uses the same verb, ܐܬܟܪܟܘ. In light of the Arabic lexica and Semitic cognates, we cannot be entirely sure that the intended meaning of Q 21:104’s طوى was not “roll.” If the intended meaning was “roll,” then we would have a faithful echo of the equivalent verb/s in Isaiah 34:4, Hebrews 1:12, and Revelation 6:14. In favor of this scenario would be that Q 21:104 indeed echoes these Biblical passages. Alternatively, if Q 21:104’s intended meaning is “fold,” then it could reflect a creatively modified play off of Hebrews 1:11-12’s unevenly mixed metaphor, namely, a garment is rolled like a scroll. In either case, Q 21:104 would involve an echo of a Biblical trope. It is of course possible that Q 21:104 intentionally uses طوى in both senses of fold and roll. This could be the case in order simultaneously to achieve both a modified and a literal echo of the Biblical trope under discussion, the inspiration being the odd metaphor in Hebrews 1:12 and its reworking of Psalm 102 and Isaiah 34.
2. Q 21:104, Q 22:47 and 2 Peter 3 Not only that, but Q 22:47 echoes several elements of 2 Peter 3:8- 13. These include an echo of Psalm 90:4, “For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday” (OG “because a thousand years in your sight are like the day of yesterday” NETS). However, it is manifest that Q 22:47 echoes not Psalm 90:4 directly but indirectly via 2 Peter 3:8’s paraphrasing version, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Note Q 22:47’s “with your Lord” and 2 Peter 3:8’s “with the Lord,” a feature lacking in MT Psalm 90:4 and its OG version. Q 22:47’s “hasten” and “as you count” also echo wording in 2 Peter 3:9-12.

1. It is well known that the Qurʾān is also aware that the origin of the trope of inheriting the earth/land is from the Torah’s topos of the Promised Land (e.g., Q 7:128 and 137). This Torah trope is in fact the original inspiration for Psalm 37:29’s inheriting and dwelling in the land. This brings full circle the Qurʾān’s knowledge of earlier scriptural exegesis and associations. This knowledge is both wide-ranging and intimately detailed. This is demonstrated or illustrated by the Qurʾān’s knowledge of the reuse of Tanakh texts in the New Testament.
2. Q5:45 The truism that Q 21:105 is the only direct Biblical citation in the Qurʾān. This claim is in fact not entirely correct. Q 5:45 supplies a citation explicitly attributed to “the Torah” (v. 44): “We prescribed for them in it: ‘The life for the life, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and (for) the wounds retaliation.’” (Droge) The three Biblical versions of the lex talionis are in Exodus 21:23-27, Leviticus 24:19-22, and Deuteronomy 19:21. Q 5:45’s “The life for the life, and the eye for the eye, . . . and the tooth for the tooth” echoes Exodus 21 (and/or Deut 19:21), while Q 5:45’s “and wounds,” َوحُرُجْالَو, echoes Leviticus 24:20’s מומ. The Exodus 21 version reads “wound for wound,” whereas Lev 24:20 mentions the word “wound” once, without the two mentions in the idiom “wound for wound”: “Just as another person has received injury from him, so it will be given to him.” This agrees with Q 5:45’s “and (for) the wounds retaliation.” Q 5:45’s “and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear” has no parallels in the two Biblical passages, nor in their Targumic versions. Q 5:45 ends with the following qualification: “But whoever remits it as a freewill offering, it will be an atonement for him. Whoever does not judge by what God has sent down, those – they are the evildoers.” (Droge) This qualification overlaps, though less radically so, with the spirit of Jesus’ well-known teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.
3. Summary
   • Q 21:105’s Psalm citation combines elements of Psalm 37:29 with Isaiah 65:9 (including the latter’s TJon Isaiah version). This is a wellknown ancient literary praxis. Indeed, one of its famous examples is precisely Hebrews 1:12’s combining of wording from Psalm 102:27 and Isaiah 34:4.
   • The Qurʾān is aware of its combination of cited Biblical texts. This is indicated by Q 21:105’s allusion to a nearby verse in the same Isaiah chapter, the famous Isaiah 65:17.
   • Q 21:104 combines elements of Isaiah 65:17 with Isaiah 34:4. These two texts are then linked to Hebrews 1:11-12, via the latter’s echo of Isaiah 34:4. Hebrews 1:12 imports Isaiah 34:4 into a Psalm 102:26- 27 citation, producing an odd mixture of metaphors, rolling instead of folding a cosmic garment. Q 21:104 intentionally avoids correcting the odd metaphor to “folding (instead of the expected rolling) a cosmic garment” and instead employs mimesis to produce an equivalent overlapping odd metaphor, i.e., folding (instead of the expected rolling) a cosmic scroll.
   • Q 21:104 directly knows both Hebrews 1:11-12 and its Isaiah 34:4 subtext, despite the fact that Hebrews 1:11-12 obscures the fact of an Isaiah echo by embedding it in a Psalm 102 citation.
   • Q 21:104 demonstrates knowledge of several texts: Isaiah 34:4; Isaiah 65:17; Psalm 102:26-27; Hebrews 1:11-12; and Peshitta Revelation 6:14.