On Marqe and the Samaritan Tradition

Kippenberg’s article is about the collection called the Durrân, not about the collection ascribed to Marqe. At the moment I think the Durrân is by Marqe but re-written to express the rejection of a part of what was written by the original Marqe so that the inoffensive parts could be kept. Anyway, the new version of these lines will be clearer and more convincing. I will send the revised version after I have looked through the material again and thought it through. This means more work. Lots more work. Sigh….

I suppose you have thought about the significance of the name ‘Amram Dâre, Amram the ancient. Amram is Moses’s father. In this case, the reference might be to the figure to whom Marqe dedicated the small collection.

If this line of thought is right, the early collections are either all by Marqe or all associated with him. The only remaining author is called Ninna the son of Marqe. All four, Marqe, Durrân, ‘Amram (father of Marqe), Ninna (son of Marqe), can be regarded as parts of one work in origin. Why four?

And remember Ninna is a diminutive of Yoḥanan. Durrân is an adaptation to suit Arabic. The Aramaic is Dúrran. Look up doron in Jastrow. This would take the form dúrran in Samaritan Aramaic. In that case the name renders or slightly disguises Yonatan or its diminutive Yonah.

Revised explanation of the name ‘Amram Dáre. The name ‘Amram occurs now and then in the lists of High Priests. It is as close as you can get to using the name Moses. In this case ‘Amram = substitute for Moses = Marqe.