The Targums: A Critical Introduction

7. Targum Onqelos and the Targums of Israel

109 At the beginning of the previous chapter, Genesis 41:43 and Exodus 14:20 illustrated the common character of the Palestinian Targums. It was clear that the expansions for each verse appear in several different Targums, and were similar in size, structure, and language, although each one had variations the others lacked. The Proto-PT source, our hypothesis for the origin of these coherent additions, contains hundreds of parallel expansions like these. Targum Onqelos’ comparatively literal character, by contrast, means that it lacks the larger expansions that would have signaled its membership in this class of Targums. Despite this fact, Targum Onqelos sometimes reveals material in common with Proto-PT on a scale too small to suggest a source, and yet in too close agreement to be dismissed as mere coincidence. For many of the Proto-PT expansions, Targum Onqelos contains a few words added into the translation that constitute a subset of a Proto-PT expansion. At Genesis 41:43, for example, Targum Onqelos follows the interpretation found in a Cairo Geniza fragment and the Fragment Targums, but seems to possess only half of it. CG(E) divides the Hebrew hapax legomenon ‫ְך‬ ֵ ‫ר‬ ְ ‫ב‬ ַ ‫א‬ into two parts, we recall, and interprets both of them, “May the father (‫)אב‬ of the king live! For he is great in wisdom and tender (‫)רכיך‬ in years.”1 Targum Onqelos contains the same division but provides only half the interpretation, “This is the father of the king (‫”!)אב‬ It seems clear that Onqelos knows the interpretation found in the other Targums, even 7 Targum Onqelos and the Targums of Israel 1 See Vermes, “Haggadah in the Onqelos Targum,” 129–30. This passage is also dealt with in Lee, “Hapax legomena,” 258–59. For an analysis of the Hebrew, see Skinner, Critical and Exegetical Commentary of Genesis, 47, who shows the term does not come from Hebrew ‫ברך‬ “to bless.” Other Onqelos additions were addressed in Bowker, “Haggadah in the Targum Onkelos.” 110 — The Targums: A Critical Introduction though it is incomplete. Did the rendering in Onqelos inspire the more complete interpretation found in the Palestinian Targums and PseudoJonathan , or does Onqelos comprise a cut-down version of the longer expansions found there? Targum Onqelos to Exodus 14:20 also possesses added material related to the Palestinian addition.2 Targum Neofiti’s version of the ProtoPT expansion is: ‫מחׁשך‬ ‫חׁשוכא‬ ‫נהורא‬ ‫ופלגא‬ ‫חׁשוך‬ ‫עננא‬ ‫והוה‬ ‫לילייא‬ ‫כל‬ ‫לישׂראל‬ ‫ונהורא‬ ‫למצרייה‬ And the cloud was darkness and half light. The darkness cast dark upon the Egyptians and light was upon the Israelites all the night. Targum Onqelos’ treatment of this verse begins with a literal translation of the Hebrew text but adds in three words found in the Proto-PT rendering. ‫א‬ָ‫ילי‬ ֵ ‫ל‬ ‫ֹל‬‫כ‬ ‫ר‬ ַ ‫ה‬ ָ‫נ‬ ‫ל‬ ֵ ‫א‬ ָ ‫ר‬ ְ ‫שׂ‬ִ‫ּולי‬ ‫י‬ ֵ ‫א‬ ָ ‫צר‬ ִ ‫מ‬ ְ ‫ל‬ ‫א‬ ָ ‫בל‬ ַ ‫ק‬ ְ‫ו‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫נ‬ ָ‫נ‬ ְ ‫ע‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ו‬ ְ ‫ה‬ ַ‫ו‬ And there was a cloud and darkness on Egypt and on Israel it shone light all the night. Targum Onqelos adds “on Egypt” and “on Israel” to identify clearly which group receives the darkness and the light, while it also inserts “all” to indicate that the situation lasts the entire night. While these three added words do not actually require the interpretation found in the Palestinian Targums to make sense, they can be seen as providing the inspiration for the more complex Palestinian expansion. The key question is whether links such as these between Onqelos and Proto-PT are frequent and deep enough to indicate a relationship between the two or whether these are simply random. The first part of this chapter will explore this question and draw upon earlier research to show that there is a small but significant link between Onqelos and the ProtoPT source of expansions. If the added words in Targum Onqelos’ otherwise literal translation require an investigation of possible links between Onqelos and the Palestinian Targums, then Onqelos’ translation itself deserves an exploration of whether it possesses links to the other Pentateuchal Targums, especially the Palestinian Targums. Since Onqelos’ translation comprises a very 2 B. S. Childs indicates the difficulties of this verse in Hebrew. See Childs, Book of Exodus, 218. Targum Onqelos and the Targums of Israel — 111 high percentage of the text in comparison to its added material, it would be significant to discover whether or not that translation provides a basis for the translations of the other Targums. This chapter’s second section will explore that question. targum onqelos anD the proto-pt source The central question here is whether or not material in Targum Onqelos served as a source for Proto-PT expansions. A quick comparison between Onqelos and Proto...