A Key-Word-in-Context Concordance to Targum Neofiti: A Guide to the Complete Palestinian Aramaic Text of the Torah (review)

Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 202 Reviews sweep in one volume than we find here. Although Nelson has done a good job of integrating a number of "background themes," the work ultimately reads like a collation of technical word studies and grammatical discussions . I think that further broad thematic and theological discussions would have enhanced the quality of this monograph. John T. Squires United Theological Col/ege North Parramatta, N.S.W. 2151 Australia A KEY-WORD·IN·CONTEXT CONCORDANCE TO TARGUM NEOFITI: A GUIDE TO THE COMPLETE PALESTINIAN ARAMAIC TEXT OF THE TORAH. By Stephen A. Kaufman and Michael Sokoloff. The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Pp. 1494. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Cloth. The Aramaic Bible translations, known as the Targumim, have been of immense interest since their introduction during the second Temple period. The Talmud (b. Ber. 8a) encouraged Jews to read the biblical portion of the official literal Targum (Onqelos) weekly. A later, more prolix, and also complete Tg. Pseudo-Jonathan has been and continues to be mined frequently by scholars and lay readers for midrashic and other post-biblical material. Other existing targum texts include various fragmentary largumim , Tosejla Targumim to some Pentateuchal books, the "sectarian" Peshitta, the Syro-Palestinian translation, and Samaritan Aramaic versions. The manuscript of yet another complete targum, somewhat more expansive than Tg. Onqelos but less so than Tg. Pseudo-Jonathan, was discovered in 1949 in the Vatican Library by Professor Jose Maria Millas Vallicrosa and Alejandro Diez Macho. Codex NeoJiti 1 was labeled "Item 1" among a group of manuscripts that came to the Vatican Library from the Pia Domus Neophytorum in Rome, hence its name. Though its origin is uncertain, the colophon to the manuscript dates the copy to 1504 C.E. The manuscript may have been donated to Pia Domus Neophytorum in 1602 C.E. along with a text of the fragmentary targum. The Codex itself has many marginal glosses containing corrections and different interpretations, probably drawn from Tg. Pseudo-Jonathan. The occasional interlinear glosses, with the same apparent purpose, were likewise apparently derived from other, now non-existent, targum texts. Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 203 Reviews In 1956, Diez Macho identified his find as a copy of a complete, earlier, and undiscovered Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch. In 1959, he argued that the new-found targum belonged to the first century C.E. and was grounded on a pre-Christian textual tradition. Macho based his conclusions primarily on anti-halachic material, early geographical and historical terms, New Testament parallels, Greek and Latin words, and some supposedly pre-masoretic Hebrew Vorlage. Contemporary scholars have turned to Tg. Neo/iti with different purposes and agendas. Some sought aid in understanding the New Testament while others used it as proof for the dialect spoken by Jesus. Martin McNamara (The Aramaic Bible, Targum Neo/iti 1, Michael Glazier, p. 45) suggests that Tg. Neofiti originated in the fourth century. To date, no conclusive findings have been reached on any Neofiti issue. The use and value of this targum continues to be investigated. Kaufman and Sokoloff's Concordance is an invaluable tool for the further study of this targum. The possibility for a major revelation as to the meaning and purpose of Tg. NeoJiti is closer at hand. The clear and copious entries enable the researcher to see the range of distribution of the Targum word forms, the various spellings, phraseologies, etc. Through its use one can obtain a better understanding of the Neo/iti Targum and also compare its interpretation and treatment of the Pentateuch with those found in the other Aramaic translations. The volume is divided into five sections. Its four page Preface describes the origin of the Concordance and its relation to a 1990 dictionary of the Targum. The Aramaic vocabulary follows in 1364 pages with definitions for each headword but not for the verbal stems. There is a tally for each headword. A section on proper nouns comprises pages 1365-1470. Hebraisms abound in all of the targums and pages 1471-1476 list 188 occurrences in Tg. Neofiti. The final section, until page 1494, is an index to the abovementioned 1990 dictionary. The volume does not contain the Neofiti text...