Addenda a Sifre-Números

Abstract

The present article is dedicated to the study of Greek and Latin words in Sifre Bamidbar, a rabbinical commentary to the book of Numbers. This commentary was written before the third century A. D. and is representative of the language spoken and written during the late Roman period in the Eastern provinces of the Empire. We arrive al this conclusion after a comparative study of the vocabulary with papyri and inscriptions of this same period. The study of these words is based on the reading of manuscripts made by the staff of The Academy of the Hebrew Language of Jerusalem, on the classical edition of Sifre Bamidbar and on the Spanish translation and commentary made by M. Pérez Fernández as a part of the «Biblioteca Midrašica» project. For research of the Hellenistic and Latin background of this vocabulary we were kindly assisted by the DGE researchers and allowed free access of their catalogue. Selected words of this study may be included in further editions of the DGE dictionary, the staff of which exhibited a special interest in «Greek rabbinical» sources.