Biblical Hebrew Forum

[dwashbur AT nyx.net]

Three Targumim were found at Qumran, so at least somebody was using them for 
a century
or more before the destruction of Jerusalem.  There were several other items 
in Aramaic
found in the caves, as well.

On 30 Aug 2009 at 9:03, James Read wrote:

> Thanks for that. I've had a look round and all the Targum MSS I can
> find seem to have been found outside of Isreal. A lot of them in
> Iraq.
> This would seem to suggest that the Aramaic translations were used
> by
> and large by Jewish communities outside of Isreal. Aramaic, being a
> lingua franca of the time, would seem to be the obvious choice of
> language to translate the Hebrew Tanakh into for these
> communities.
>
> As regards dates, I haven't been able to find any particularly old
> MSS
> of Targumim. They all seem to be pretty late. It would seem that you
> are suggesting that the Aramaic translations predated the Greek LXX.
> This would indeed be something interesting to investigate.
>
> If there is something you know that I'm missing here please help me
> out. I would be interested in finding:
>
> a) the oldest Targum MSS
>
> b) any ancient references to their usage
>
> in order to get an approximate date and period of usage for these
> translations.
>
> James Christian
>
> Quoting "Joel C. Salomon" <joelcsalomon AT gmail.com>:
>
> > James Read wrote:
> >> I'm following what you are saying here Randall with one
> exception. You
> >> have assumed that the Hebrews spoke and used Greek and Aramaic
> during
> >> the second temple period up until the revolt of Bar Kochba.
> > <snip>
> >> So, just what are you basing this assumption on? (I am
> genuinely
> >> interested as I have heard this stated many times but have yet to
> see
> >> any form of evidence)
> >
> > How early is the use of a Targum recorded?  Onkelus´s seems to
> date to
> > soon after the temple era; is that helpful?
> >
> > -Joel Salomon
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Dave Washburn

http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur