Targums Neofiti 1 and Pseudo-Jonathan: Numbers


Book Description

It is generally recognized that the Book of Numbers is one of the least unified books of the Bible. It is a collection of censuses, laws, and traditions concerning the sojourn of the people of Israel in the wilderness and of the first conquests of the territories promised to Israel. Yet it also carries narrative of notable events and lessons. Both aspects of Numbers benefit from their development in these targums.




Targum Neofiti 1, Numbers


Book Description

It is generally recognized that the Book of Numbers is one of the least unified books of the Bible. It is a collection of censuses, laws, and traditions concerning the sojourn of the people of Israel in the wilderness and of the first conquests of the territories promised to Israel. Yet it also carries narrative of notable events and lessons. Both aspects of Numbers benefit from their development in these targums.




Alternative Targum Traditions


Book Description

The present study explores the possibility of using variant readings of the Targum of the Prophets to get a better insight into the origin and history of Targum Jonathan. The focus is on two sorts of variant readings: the Tosefta Targums and the targumic quotations in rabbinic and medieval Jewish literature. The chapter on the Tosefta Targums concentrates on variants from the book of Samuel. The chapter on the targumic quotations includes quotations of all the Prophets in early Jewish literature. In the Appendix a full list is given of all quotations of Targums of the Prophets presently known. The book is useful for the study of the genesis of Targum Jonathan as well as for its later developments.




The Targums


Book Description

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 that 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, language, and place in the history of Christianity and Judaism; and their theologies and methods of interpretation. “With clear presentation of current research and the issues involved, including the Targums and the New Testament, and a rich bibliography, this is the most complete—and up-to-date—introduction to the Targums. An outstanding, highly recommended achievement.” Martin McNamara, Emeritus Professor of Scripture, Milltown Institute, Dublin, Ireland




The Interpretation of the Bible


Book Description

This unique volume, nearly 2000 pages in length and handsomely printed on Bible paper, is perhaps the most comprehensive scholarly work of our time on the translation and interpretation of the Bible. At its core are papers presented to an international symposium in Ljubljana in September 1996 to mark the publication of the new Slovenian version of the Bible, a landmark in Slovene identity and cultural life. In addition, its distinguished editor, Joze Krasovec, has commissioned a wide range of contributions devoted to translations of the Bible in many languages, including the Slavonic languages, Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish and the Scandinavian languages. The 82 chapters in this work, mostly in English, are divided into three parts. Part I, on ancient translations and hermeneutics of the Bible, contains contributions by M.-E. Boismard, S.P. Brock, K.J. Cathcart, R.P. Gordon, L.J. Grech, M. Hengel, O. Keel, J. Lust, E. Tov and others, with a notable comprehensive bibliographic survey of oriental Bible translations from the first millennium by M. van Esbroeck. Part II, on Slavonic and other translations of the Bible, includes the first detailed study of the history of the Slavonic Bible, by Francis J. Thomson (over 300 pp.). Part III, with essays by such scholars as J.H. Charlesworth, D.J.A. Clines, J. Gnilka, M. G÷rg, N. Lohfink and A.C. Thiselton, concerns the interpretation of the Bible in translation, philosophy, theology, art and music. In an appendix, a complete list of printed Bibles in languages throughout the world is presented for the first time.




Targum and New Testament


Book Description

The relevance of the Targums (Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible) for the understanding of the New Testament has been a matter of dispute over the past three hundred years, principally by reason of the late date of the Targum manuscripts and the nature of the Aramaic. The debate has become more focused by reason of the Qumran finds of pre-Christian Aramaic documents (1947) and the identification of a complete text of the Palestinian Targum of the Pentateuch in the Vatican Library (Codex Neofiti, 1956). Martin McNamara traces the history of the debate down to our own day and the annotated translation of all the Targums into English. He studies the language situation (Aramaic and Greek) in New Testament Palestine and the interpretation of the Scriptures in the Targums, with concepts and language similar to the New Testament. Against this background relationships between the Targums and the New Testament are examined. A way forward is suggested by regarding the tell-like structure of the Targums (with layers from different ages) and a continuum running through for certain texts.




Targums and the Transmission of Scripture Into Judaism and Christianity


Book Description

These essays explore ancient Jewish Bible interpretation preserved in the Aramaic Targums, bringing it into conversation with Rabbinic and Christian scriptural exegesis, and setting it in the larger world of ancient translations of the Bible.




Jesus' Sermon on the Mount


Book Description

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is the best-known repository of the teachings of Jesus and one of the most studied. Amid the considerable erudition expended on the Sermon, however, Jack R. Lundbom argues that it has proven too easy to deflect or disregard the main thrust of the Sermon, which he characterizes as a mandate to holy living and a greater righteousness. Through careful attention to the structure of Matthews Gospel and the place of the Sermon within it, keen sensitivity to the patterns and themes of Israelite prophecy, and judicious comparisons with other Jewish and rabbinic literature, Lundbom elucidates the meaning of the Sermon and its continuity with Israels prophetic heritage as well as the best of Jewish teaching. By deft appeal to Christian commentators on the Sermon, Lundbom brings its most important themes to life for the contemporary reader, seeking always to understand what the greater righteousness to which the Sermon summons might mean for us today.




Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus (4 Vols)


Book Description

V. 1. How to study the historical Jesus -- v. 2. The study of Jesus -- v. 3. The historical Jesus -- v. 4. Individual studies.




The Aramaic Bible


Book Description

The twenty-six essays in this volume represent the papers read at the international Conference on the Aramiac Bible held in Dublin (1992). The purpose of the Conference was to bring together leading specialists on the Targums and related topics to discuss issues in the light of recent developments, for instance Second Temple interpretation of the Scriptures, Qumran Literature, targumic and Palestinian Aramaic, new Genizah manuscripts, Jewish tradition, Origen's Hexapla, Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha and the Christian West. The papers are arranged under seven headings: Targum Texts and Editions; The Aramaic Language: The Targums and Jewish Biblical Interpretation; Targums of the Pentateuch; Targums of the Hagiographa; Targums and New Testament; Jewish Traditions and Christian Writings. The international team, drawn from nine countries, is as follows (following the order of the papers); M. Klein, S. Reif, L. Diez Merino, R. Gordon, M. McNamara, S.A. Kaufman, E. Cook, M. Hengel, O. Betz, A. Shinan, J. Ribera, B. Grossfeld, P.V.M. Flesher, G. Boccaccini, M. Maher, R. Hayward, R. Syren, P.S. Alexander, D.R.G. Beattie, C. Mangan, B. Ego, M. Wilcox, B. Chilton, G.J. Norton, B. Kedar Kopstein, M. Stone.