Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] cognate alphabet

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] cognate alphabet
  • Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 01:30:49 +0200

Hi Chris,

A few comments.

1. Not that I know of. I have seen the Targum referred to in some modern
scholarly commentaries, but as far as I know, the Targum is no part of the
usual Christian exegetical tradition - but someone more knowledgeable than I
may correct me on this.

2. The Targum Onkelos is only of the Torah. The equivalent Targum for the
Prphets is Targum Jonathan.

3. We don't really know a lot about the origins of either translations. They
seem to have originated in the first or second centuries, probably in the
Land of Israel. The Talmud attributes them to specific people, but we really
don't know. In any case, the text that they were translating seems to be the
same as that which became the MT. There are very few places in which the
Targum actually preserves an original Hebrew that is different from the
proto-MT.

4. Like the Septuagint, Targum Onkelos and Jonathan are more interpretive
than literal. So they are useful for knowing how people understood the text,
not for reconstruction the "original" text.

Yigal Levin




-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Kimball [mailto:transcriber AT tanach.us]
Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2010 8:21 PM
To: Yigal Levin
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] cognate alphabet

We have two translations, the Septuagint and the Targum of Onkelos, one
not in a cognate language and one in a cognate language.

Is the Targum's translation ever taken as better than the MT text? It's
older than the MT, too.

Do Christians ever consult the Targum for "correct" reading?

Chris Kimball
West Redding, CT
USA





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page