Can the Grammar of Babylonian Aramaic Be Used in Evaluating the Language of the Zohar, and If So, How?

Synoptic approach to the grammar of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (=JBA), examining all versions of the text, brings us closer to a grip on the grammars of JBA. At the same time, paying attention to the various forms that occur in the other manuscripts, which would be considered late deviations in the context of JBA, can sometimes provide us with some information about what was considered to be ‘the correct Aramaic grammar’ later. In this context, the language of the Zohar is highly significant. When we recognize similarity between these deviations and the language of the Zohar, it may strengthen the hypothesis that this is not a random change but something that is important for our knowledge of the history of the Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud. According to this approach, we should speak about a reciprocal relation rather than unidirectional relation between the study of JBA and the study of the Aramaic of the Zohar. The more we know about the time and location of the composition of the Zohar, and the more we know about its Aramaic grammar, the more help we have in understanding some of the motivations behind the changes in the various manuscripts. Thus we are in a better position to distinguish between the original JBA forms and the late deviations. At the same time we can understand better the nature of the Aramaic of the Zohar as a possible representative of Jewish Literary Aramaic during the High Middle Ages.