Arabic translations of the Bible: Manuscripts, versions and text types

This lecture offers a status quaestionis of current research on the Arabic Bible, a field that remains marked
by significant fragmentation and open questions. Fundamental issues—including the origins of Arabic
biblical versions, their textual affiliations, source texts (Vorlagen), translation techniques, and their
geographical, chronological, and confessional distribution—are often still addressed only provisionally.
Likewise, the processes by which these texts were produced, transmitted, and received remain imperfectly
understood. Against this backdrop, the lecture aims to synthesize the diverse strands of a rapidly
developing area of scholarship that has gained notable momentum since the turn of the millennium.
Particular attention will be given to recent research grounded in previously understudied primary sources,
which are reshaping our understanding of the Arabic Bible and its place within the broader history of
biblical transmission