The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

REIF The Cairo Genizah and its Treasures 37
Canada, Chiesa in Italy and Davis in Cambridge. 17 What emerges
from such research relates not only to the content of the fragments but
also to the nature of the medium by which the text was transmitted.
While this latter field of study is still at an early stage, it is becoming
clear that Jewish scribal techniques made major advances during the
geonic period and that this had a significant impact on the quality and
consistency of the scrolls used for synagogal rites and on the early
development of the biblical Hebrew codex. Differences in format
between early and late Genizah material stand testimony to the degree
to which the technical details of Hebrew Bible production were of
increasing importance to Jewish custom. 18
As far as the consonantal text itself is concerned, it is perhaps not
surprising to find that most of the Genizah texts may be linked to one
or other of the major medieval codices that served as models for
copyists, and that the textual variants are not therefore substantial in
number or significance. Where major discoveries and novel historical
assessments have been made has been in the area of vocalization systems
for the Hebrew Bible. It is now clear that the standard Tiberian
system of Ben-Asher, so sanctified since the period of late manuscripts
and early prints by both tradition and scholarship, was only one of a
17. L. Dfez Merino, La Biblia Babilonica (Madrid, 1975); I. Yeivin, The
Babylonian Vocalisation and the Linguistic Tradition it Reflects (Hebrew; Jerusalem,
1968); EJ. Revell, Hebrew Texts with Palestinian Vocalization (Toronto, 1970) and
Biblical Texts with Palestinian Pointing and their Accents (Missoula, 1977);
B. Chiesa, L'Antico Testamento Ebraico secondo la tradizione Palestinese (Torino,
1978); M.C. Davis, Hebrew Bible Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah
Collections, I-II (Cambridge, 1978 and 1980).
18. M. Beit-Arie, Hebrew Codicology (Jerusalem, 2nd edn, 1981), The
Contribution of the Fustat Geniza to Hebrew Palaeography', Pe'amim 41 (1990),
pp. 32-40, and the forthcoming text of his Panizzi Lectures given at the British
Museum in November/December 1992 and entitled Hebrew Manuscripts from East
and West. Towards a Comparative Codicology; C. Sirat and M. Beit-Arie',
Manuscrits medievaux en caracteres hebraiques (Jerusalem and Paris, 1972-86);
M. Haran, 'Bible Scrolls in Eastern and Western Jewish Communities from Qumran
to the High Middle Ages', HUCA 56 (1985), pp. 21-62; idem, The Codex, the
Pinax and the Wooden Slats', Tarbiz 57 (1988), pp.151-64; idem, 'Note: More concerning
the Codex and Pinax', Tarbiz 58 (1989), pp. 523-24; S.Z. Havlin, 'From
Scroll to Codex', Alei Sefer 16 (1989-90), pp. 151-52 and 160-61; I.M. Resnick,
The Codex in Early Jewish and Christian Communities', Journal of Religious
History 17 (1992), pp. 1-17; S.C. Reif, 'Codicological Aspects of Jewish Liturgical
History', BJRL 15 (1993).