R. Joseph Kimḥi's translation of Baḥya Ibn Paquda's <i>Duties of the Hearts</i>: A revised reading of MS Leipzig UBL B.H. 39, and its implications

Abstract Baḥya ibn Paquda's Al-Hidāya ‘ilā Farā‘iḍ Al-Qulūb was translated from Arabic into medieval Hebrew by R. Judah Ibn Tibbon and R. Joseph Kimḥi. While Ibn Tibbon's translation has many surviving witnesses, only a fragment of Kimḥi's remains in four sources: one manuscript (MS Leipzig UBL B.H. 39) and three printed editions. A study of MS Leipzig reveals the inaccuracies in all editions of Kimḥi's translation, which were treated as an appendix to Ibn Tibbon's translation. These inaccuracies include abbreviations, word replacements, changes in verb tenses, pronouns, verbal stems, omissions, and additions. The impact of these discrepancies on the text's meaning and the study of medieval Hebrew and Kimḥi's translation method are significant. This article analyzes the codicological and philological aspects of MS Leipzig, presents a new reading of the manuscript, and discusses the central linguistic significance of the new reading compared to the printed editions and their implications for the text's meaning and linguistic nature.