Page 192 - GQ 12

A 14th-century Karaite view of Jewish history and philosophy of religion 39*

thought or even lie. And even if he ‫וא ̇לתאמן הו אנא וגדנא אלקום יעמלו עלי‬
did not intend (to do one of) these, ‫מעשה ואחד מן אלחכמים ואלנקל אלצחיח‬
he would have still been susceptible
to carelessness and mistakes, for he .‫לא יגב אן ירגע פיה אלי נקל ש̇כץ ואחד‬
was neither a prophet, nor endowed
with divine aid in memorisation. ‫ואלתאסע הו אן פי כתבהם אסתדלאלאת מן‬
Eighth, that we witness the ‫ למא‬,‫אלמקרא פלו כאנו נאקלין ען אלרסול‬
(Rabbanite) people acting according
to the account of a single individual ?‫אסתדלו מן כתב אלאנביא‬
of the sages, and authoritative
tradition should not be derived from ‫ לם נגד אלחכמים מגמעון‬76‫ואלעאשר אננא‬
the tradition of a single individual. ‫עלי פר̇ץ יקולון פיה באגמעהם אנא נקלנא‬
Ninth, that their books employ ‫ יקולון פי‬77‫̇הדא ען קהל ען משה ע"ה כמא‬
reasoning based on the entire Bible,
but if they are transmitting on the .‫אלמכתוב‬
authority of the Prophet, why do
they use the (other) prophetic books ‫ פלו‬.‫ הו אן פי אלתלמוד ̇כלף כ̇תיר‬78‫אלי"א‬
as evidence? .79‫כאן אלנקל ̇תאבת לם ̇יכתלפו פי אלמכתוב‬
Tenth, that we do not find the sages
are of unified opinion regarding any
commandment, saying regarding it
that “we transmit this on the authority
of a large community of people on
the authority of Moses,” as they say
regarding the Written Torah.
Eleventh, that there are many
differences of opinion in the Talmud.
Yet were the tradition fixed, there
would be no differences of opinion
in the written version.

.)‫אנא פ(א‬ 76
.)‫כמא] ען מא פ(א‬ 77
78
.‫אלא"י ג‬ 79
.)‫– פ(א‬