Table Of ContentStudies in the Aramaic
Interpretation of Scripture
Managing Editor
Paul V.M. Flesher
University of Wyoming
Editorial Board
Bruce Chilton
Bard College
Willem Smelik
University College, London
Moshe Bernstein
Yeshiva University
Edward M. Cook
Catholic University of America
Luis Díez Merino
University of Barcelona
VOLUME 9
Alternative Targum Traditions
The Use of Variant Readings for the Study in
Origin and History of Targum Jonathan
By
Alberdina Houtman
Harry Sysling
LEIDEN (cid:129) BOSTON
2009
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Houtman, Alberdina.
Alternative targum traditions : the use of variant readings for the study in origin and
history of targum Jonathan / by Alberdina Houtman and Harry Sysling.
p. cm. — (Studies in the Aramaic interpretation of scripture ; v. 9)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-17842-7 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Bible. O.T. Prophets (Nevi’im). Aramaic—Versions—Targum Jonathan—History.
2. Bible. O.T. Prophets (Nevi’im—Quotations in rabbinical literature. I. Sysling, Harry.
II. Title. III. Series.
BS1286.A4A734 2009
224.04’2—dc22
2009022045
ISSN 1570-1336
ISBN 978 90 04 17842 7
Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................. ix
Abbreviations and Signs .......................................................................... xi
1. Bible and Targum ............................................................................ xi
2. Rabbinic Literature .......................................................................... xi
3. Journals, Books & Series ............................................................... xii
4. Signs Used in the Reproduction of the Texts .............................. xiii
Introduction ............................................................................................... 1
Why this book? ........................................................................................ 1
What to expect? ....................................................................................... 2
Chapter One – Preliminary Issues .......................................................... 7
A. Definition: What is a Targum? ......................................................... 7
1. The semantic field of ‘targum’ in rabbinic literature ..................... 7
2. The character of Targum as a Bible translation according to
rabbinic literature ......................................................................... 14
3. Characteristics of Jewish Bible translations according to early
Christian sources ........................................................................... 15
4. Modern definitions ......................................................................... 16
5. Different targum types ................................................................... 21
6. Targum characteristics ................................................................... 25
7. Qumran Aramaic versions ............................................................. 27
B. Background to the Targums ............................................................ 32
1. The raison d’être .............................................................................. 32
2. Sitz im Leben .................................................................................... 35
C. Survey and Conclusions .................................................................. 39
vi contents
Chapter Two – Tosefta Targums and Other Targumic Traditions
to the Books of Samuel ......................................................................... 41
A. Survey of Previous Research on the Tosefta Targums ................ 42
1. Excursus: the case of the Pentateuch ............................................. 46
B. Piyyut .................................................................................................. 48
1. Aramaic poetry ................................................................................ 50
C. Description of the Corpus ............................................................... 54
1. The main sources ............................................................................. 56
2. Distribution among the sources ................................................... 60
D. Characterisation of the Toseftan Material According to their
Designations .......................................................................................... 61
1. Sefer aer .......................................................................................... 61
2. Lishna Aerina ............................................................................... 78
3. Jerushalmi ........................................................................................ 82
4. Tosefta .............................................................................................. 97
5. No special designation .................................................................. 108
6. Special cases ................................................................................... 113
E. Survey and Conclusions .................................................................. 131
1. Do all the Tosefta Targums treated here deserve their name? ... 131
2. Are there linguistic tendencies to be noted in the toseftan
material? ....................................................................................... 134
3. Are there other common tendencies to be discovered in the
toseftan material? ........................................................................ 134
Chapter Three – Quotations of Targumic Passages from the
Prophets in Rabbinic and Medieval Sources ................................... 137
A. Survey of Previous Research on Targumic Quotations ............. 137
B. How to Define a Quotation ............................................................ 142
1. Explicit quotations ........................................................................ 144
2. Implicit quotations ....................................................................... 147
3. Philological interpretation of biblical words ............................... 152
contents vii
C. Exchangeability of Aramaic and Hebrew Quotations ................ 153
D. Sources: Characterisation of the Material in the Different
Sources ................................................................................................... 155
1. Quotations from the Prophets in the Palestinian Targums to
the Pentateuch .............................................................................. 155
2. Quotations from the Prophets in Targum Esther Sheni and
Targum Canticles ......................................................................... 172
3. Quotations from the Prophets in the Tosefta Targums .............. 181
4. Quotations from the Prophets in magical texts ......................... 192
5. Quotations from the Prophets in the Babylonian Talmud ....... 194
6. Quotations from the Prophets in the Palestinian Talmud ....... 208
7. Quotations in the Midrashim ...................................................... 214
E. Survey and Conclusions .................................................................. 231
Chapter Four – Summary and Conclusions ....................................... 235
A. Evaluation of the Terminology ...................................................... 235
B. Assessment of the Variants ............................................................ 237
C. The Origin and Early Development of the Targum of the
Prophets ............................................................................................... 238
1. The common opinion .................................................................... 239
2. Evaluation of the evidence .......................................................... 240
3. Sitz im Leben ................................................................................. 247
4. Epilogue ......................................................................................... 249
Appendix One – Targumic Quotations from the Prophets in the
Order of the Works in which they Appear ....................................... 251
A. Targum, Magical Texts and Rabbinic Literature ........................ 251
1. Targum ........................................................................................... 251
2. Magical texts .................................................................................. 253
3. Talmud ........................................................................................... 254
4. Midrash ........................................................................................... 255
viii contents
B. Medieval Works .............................................................................. 257
1. Late Midrash and Kabbalah ........................................................ 257
2. Dictionaries and lexical works .................................................... 258
3. Bible and Bible commentaries ..................................................... 261
4. Tosafot and other commentaries on rabbinic literature ........... 263
5. Piyyut and prayer books ............................................................... 264
Appendix Two – Targumic Quotations from the Prophets in the
Biblical Order ...................................................................................... 266
Bibliography ........................................................................................... 270
Primary Literature ............................................................................... 270
Secondary Literature ........................................................................... 276
Index of Primary Sources .................................................................... 290
Biblical References ............................................................................... 290
Early Christian Literature .................................................................. 299
Early Jewish Literature ........................................................................ 299
Rabbinic Literature .............................................................................. 299
Medieval Literature ............................................................................. 304
ACknowledgements
It is a pleasant duty to express at this point our gratitude to a number
of people and institutions that played an indispensable role in the re-
alisation of this work. We are indebted to The Netherlands Organi-
sation for Scientific Research (NWO) and The Protestant Theological
University (PThU) for their generous financial support without which
this work would have been impossible. We wish to thank Gerard van
Zanden for the correction of the text, the editing of the layout, and the
production of the index. He did a wonderful job in turning a demand-
ing two-authored manuscript into a uniform book. It was a pleasure
working with him. We are indebted to Johanna Tanja who checked the
information on the Targum manuscripts and to Joop van Klink for his
selfless advise in computer matters. Helen Richardson corrected our
English. Hector Patmore read the last version of the manuscript, and
his critical eye detected some remaining flaws. Our colleagues from
the Targum research group in Kampen, under the mild guidance of
Jan Wim Wesselius, contributed to the realisation of this book by the
friendly and stimulating interest they took in our work. Apart from
the members mentioned already, we name David Kroeze, Renaud
Kuty, Rinske Scholten and Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman. Especially
Eveline’s knowledge of Targum Samuel was of great help to us.
Our work relies heavily on previous work by the Israeli scholars
Moshe Goshen-Gottstein of blessed memory and Rimon Kasher. With-
out their pioneering work our task would have been much harder.
We are very grateful to the members of the editorial board of Stud-
ies in the Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture for accepting this work
into their series and to Brill Academic Publishers for working our
manuscript into a well-finished book.
Last but not least we especially offer our gratitude to the initiator
of Targum studies in Kampen, Professor Johannes C. de Moor. With-
out his initiative and his contagious enthusiasm there would probably
never have been a Targum research group in Kampen and this book
would perhaps not have been written. In appreciation of all his efforts
and his great learning, we dedicate this work to him.
Amersfoort, March 2009
AbbreviAtions And signs
1. Bible and Targum
CgF Cairo genizah Fragments
Ft(s) Fragment targum(s)
Ftn Fragment targum, ms nürnberg — stadtsbibliothek
solger 2.2
FtP Fragment targum, ms Paris — bibliothèque
nationale Hébr. 110
Ftv Fragment targum, ms vatican ebr. 440
Ht Hebrew text of the bible, not necessarily the mt
mt masoretic text
neof targum neofiti
neof [m] targum neofiti, marginal glosses
nt new testament
PsJon Pseudo-Jonathan
Pt(s) Palestinian targum(s)
tg targum
tJ targum Jonathan
to targum onkelos
tt(s) tosefta targum(s)
2. Rabbinic Literature
AgBer Aggadat bereshit
ARN Avot de rabbi nathan
b. babylonian talmud
BerRabbati bereshit rabbati
DeutR deuteronomy rabbah
EcclR ecclesiastes rabbah
EcclZ ecclesiastes Zutta
ExodR Exodus Rabbah
CantR song of songs rabbah
GenR genesis rabbah
LamR lamentations rabbah
LevR leviticus rabbah
m. mishnah
MasSof massekhet soferim
xii abbreviations
Mek mekhilta de rabbi ishmael
MidrPss midrash Psalms
MidrSam midrash samuel
MRS mekhilta de r. simeon b. Yo h.ai
NumR numbers rabbah
PesR Pesikta rabbati
PRE Pirke de-rabbi eliezer
PRK Pesikta de-rav kahana
RuthR ruth rabbah
SER seder eliahu rabbah
SifrDeut sifre deuteronomy
SifrNum sifre numbers
t. tosefta
Tan tan h.uma
TanB tan h.uma buber
y. Palestinian talmud
YalkSh Yalkut shimoni
3. Journals, Books & Series
AS Aramaic studies
BHS biblia Hebraica stuttgartensia
BIOSCS bulletin of the international organization for
septuagint and Cognate studies
BiOr bibliotheca orientalis
BJRL bulletin of the John rylands library
BThB biblical Theology bulletin
CAL Comprehensive Aramaic lexicon
CBQ Catholic biblical Quarterly
CSEL Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum
EJ encyclopaedia Judaica
FJB Frankfurter Judaistische beiträge
GGA göttingsche gelehrte Anzeigen
GNB96 groot nieuws bijbel 1996
HAR Hebrew Annual review
IEJ israel exploration Journal
JAB Journal for the Aramaic bible
JAOS Journal of the American oriental society
JBA m. sokoloff, Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
of the Talmudic and Geonic Periods, ramat-gan 2002
JBL Journal of biblical literature
