Letter: Bodl. MS heb. b 11/13

Description

An interesting begging letter by Yosef, the Samaritan priest, who apparently belonged to the Samaritan congregation in Fusṭāṭ. The letter has been edited, translated, and analyzed by A. Cowley. There is a long preamble listing a great many names of God, grouped in alphabetical order, in Samaritan Aramaic. Here is Cowley's translation of the substance of the message: "The Lord reward [you with goodness] and favour and truth for the words which you spoke on the Sabbath to the distinguished elder, the Lord preserve him. Now, my brethren, if the word which you spoke before him had been (spoken) to a stone or a flint which can neither answer nor speak a word back, it would have been ashamed and confounded before you, but up to the present he has not given me any help, nor will he. I know the Samaritans to be without intelligence, caring only for the things that are seen (?), and that they have not done good in the sight of God, and will not. For they seek only a reputation in this passing world, whereas if they took pleasure in what is lasting they would have shown kindness to the poor, the afflicted and needy, the strangers and priests, such as I am. Now, brethren, I did not ask him for either gold or silver. I am a carpenter. I can make boxes, bedsteads, doors, and beams. I asked him to speak to the head carpenter for me that he should take me with him to work every day for wages enough for me and my family to live upon. He has not done so either from the fear of the Lord, or because of what you said, or for my sake. And now it is right that we turn our faces to the Lord our God, the fountain of goodness which is not shut up, the well of mercy. . . . " Part of a pair with T-S 16.26.