In this Book
- The Targums: A Critical Introduction
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: Baylor University Press
The value and significance of the targums—translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, the language of Palestinian Jews for centuries following the Babylonian Exile—lie in their approach to translation: within a typically literal rendering of a text, they incorporate extensive exegetical material, additions, and paraphrases. These alterations reveal important information about Second Temple Judaism, its interpretation of its bible, and its beliefs.
This remarkable survey introduces critical knowledge and insights that have emerged over the past forty years, including targum manuscripts discovered this century and targums known in Aramaic but only recently translated into English. Prolific scholars Flesher and Chilton guide readers in understanding the development of the targums, their relationship to the Hebrew Bible, their dates, their language, their place in the history of Christianity and Judaism, and their theologies and methods of interpretation.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xiii-xiv
- List of Abbreviations
- pp. xv-xvii
- 1. Introduction
- pp. 3-17
- 2. Defining Targum
- pp. 19-37
- 3. The Seven Rules of Targum
- pp. 39-54
- 4. Rabbinic Literature
- pp. 55-68
- 5. Pentateuchal Targums
- pp. 71-89
- 6. Sources of the Palestinian Targums
- pp. 91-107
- 7. Targum Onqelos and the Targums of Israel
- pp. 109-129
- 9. Dating the Targums of Israel
- pp. 151-166
- 10. Targum Jonathan of the Prophets
- pp. 169-198
- 11. Targum Jonathan
- pp. 199-228
- 12. Targums to the Writings
- pp. 229-264
- 13. Aramaic in Judaism
- pp. 267-283
- 16. Ancient Scripture Translations
- pp. 339-381
- 19. The Fourth Gospel and Targumic Memra
- pp. 423-436
- 21. Targums in the Rabbinic World and Beyond
- pp. 475-493
- Bibliography
- pp. 511-539