Aramaic Texts to Accompany the Zohar

This page includes links to the Aramaic text underlying each volume of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, as well a file describing the composition and preparation of this Aramaic text.

Three files of the Aramaic text for each volume are provided here, each consisting of the same reconstructed Aramaic text based on manuscript variants. The first file for each volume presents the text in simple format. The second file (Underlined) is identical except that emendations of the standard printed version are underlined so that readers can identify them easily. The third file (User-Friendly), prepared by the translator's brother, Rabbi Jonathan Matt, resembles the second file (with emendations underlined) but includes several user-friendly features:

1. Corresponding page numbers in The Zohar: Pritzker Edition are indicated in brackets.2. Biblical verses appear in italics.3. Citations of these verses include verse number in addition to chapter number.

Professor Ronit Meroz of Tel Aviv University, whose work has dramatically advanced the study of the manuscripts of the Zohar, has generously shared with the translator (Professor Daniel Matt) the data that she has collected relating to hundreds of these manuscripts, along with her analysis. Her research has provided Prof. Matt with a panoramic perspective of the manuscripts, helping him to determine their reliability. She has also provided a list of manuscripts for most of the parashot in Sefer Bereshit of the Zohar and for each parashah in Sefer Shemot. In preparing the Aramaic text of Parashat Shemot, Prof. Matt has consulted the manuscript variants included in the synoptic edition of this parashah, which was prepared by Prof. Meroz and her research team.

For a comparison of the organization of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition to the standard printed Aramaic editions (and specifically the Margaliot edition), please see this chart and the accompanying explanation.

Vol 4 Aramaic (updated January 2018, July 2024 for Underlined and User-Friendly)