The Targums: A Critical Introduction

11. Targum Jonathan

199 As we move beyond the Targum of Isaiah to the Targums of the other prophetic books, we find that these contributions both reinforce and build upon the two exegetical frameworks so far identified. The Targums of the large books (Jeremiah and Ezekiel), as well as of the minor prophet Zechariah, provide solid evidence of these two major exegetical layers, one identified with the Tannaim and one identified with the Amoraim. In general, the Tannaitic framework is temporally located in the decades prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt and the Amoraic framework during the third and fourth centuries CE. The two frameworks distinguish themselves by their different approaches to the central concept of prophecy as well as their anticipations of the Messiah and the coming Kingdom of God. The Tannaitic framework reacts to the sudden exile after Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 CE with an eschatological program of the immediate restoration of Israel by the Messiah and the accompanying elimination of Rome. The Amoraic framework takes a longer—properly speaking transcendent— view, accepting the present state of Israel’s exile and looking for messianic redemption on a cosmic scale, while tempering anticipation with cautions about the proper Jewish life during exile. In the Targums of the Former Prophets, and of Malachi and Haggai, only one framework appears clearly, that belonging to the Amoraic period of the third and fourth century. As we shall explain, however, that may be because simple translation, without added interpretation, rendered these prophetic works useful within the Tannaitic period. The composition of Targum Jonathan involved a process of aggregation, so that the absorption of the earlier framework by the later is a possibility that cannot be excluded. 11 Targum Jonathan Former and Latter Prophets 200 — The Targums: A Critical Introduction The Tannaitic framework also appears to be missing from the remaining Targums of the Minor Prophets, although occasionally there are scattered interpretations that could be seen as stemming from this period. More importantly for these Targums, they evidence two later interpretative layers that build upon the Amoraic one common throughout Targum Jonathan. The fifth century saw a development of the exilic theology beyond its character in the Amoraic framework in the Targums of Hosea, Amos, Nahum, Obadiah, Micah, and Zephaniah. Following this, a fourth level of interpretation personalized those notions of Israel in exile to the individual in the Targums of Joel, Jonah, and Habakkuk. This chapter constitutes the first point in this Introduction where we as authors move outside the areas of our primary research. To support our discussion, we therefore rely upon key scholars who have worked primarily on these targums: Willem Smelik on Judges, Eveline van StaalduineSulman on Samuel, Daniel Harrington and Anthony Saldarini on the Former Prophets, Robert Hayward on Jeremiah, Samson Levey on Ezekiel , and Kevin Cathcart and Robert Gordon on the Minor Prophets. We acknowledge their work with gratitude. the targum of the former prophets In some ways Targum Jonathan to the Former Prophets is the most mysterious within Targum Jonathan as a whole. As a translation it stays programmatically close to the Hebrew text, somewhat in the manner of Targum Onqelos to the Pentateuch. Indeed, the Targum of Joshua’s rendering adheres to a straightforward policy of translating the Hebrew text and includes few additions. The little additional material is so sparse that it provides few clues to its exegetical character, although it is consistent with the process of editing during the Amoraic period. Linguistically , Targum Jonathan to the Former Prophets is also the closest of the Targums to Onqelos. Both of them have been dated prior to 135 CE on the grounds that they are written in Jewish Literary Aramaic and show no influence of the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic that emerged after 200.1 As we shall see, however, JLA continued as a targumic idiom after 135, so that a dating somewhat later during the second century or even into the third is also entirely possible on linguistic grounds, and there is good reason to conclude on the basis of literary evidence that the Targum of the Former Prophets emerged in its present form during the third century. 1 See Tal, Language of the Targum of the Former Prophets and its Position within the Aramaic Dialects; Harrington and Saldarini, Targum Jonathan of the Former Prophets, 3. Van StaalduineSulman agrees with this dating in her history of discussion and analysis; see Targum of Samuel, 47, 711. Targum...