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Book Reviews 2006080. AS. Proef 3. 4-9-2007:12.18, page 151. Aramaic Studies Aramaic Studies 5.1 (2007) 151–163 www.brill.nl/arst Book Reviews Eldon Clem, ‘Targum Onkelos and Jonathan (English),’ (Version 2.0) 2006; ‘Targum Neofiti (English),’ (Version 1.1) 2006. Accordance Bible Software, Oaktree Software, Inc. http://www.accordancebible.com Accordance Bible Software has embarked on an exciting new venture, namely, the translation into English of all rabbinic-era targums. This marks the first time a targum translation has been created expressly for computer rather than printed publication, and the first time a private company has commissioned a targum translation for commercial purposes. This trailblazing belongs to a powerful set of tools for targum study, and the translation itself compares to the previous comprehensive translation of the Targums—The Aramaic Bible, published in 19 volumes.1 This review focuses on the first two translations released, those of Targum Onkelos and Targum Neofiti. These have been done by Dr. Eldon Clem, who is responsible for the entire translation project. This review will evaluate Clem’s work from three perspectives: as a computer-based tool, a translation, and as a targum translation, that is, as a translation of a translation. The Accordance Translation: A Computer-based Text A computer-based text—whether in translation or in its original language— becomes useful through two things, namely, the power of its supporting computer program for textual analysis, and the suite of comparative texts that accompany it. The two targum translations belong to the software program called Accordance Bible Software which provides a strong and flexible array of the abilities we now expect from ‘computer Bibles.’ The user can move immediately to a passage of interest by specifying book, chapter and/or verse, which is then displayed either by verse or by paragraph. All texts can be searched by word, and tagged texts can be searched by root, conjugated form, 1) The Aramaic Bible (M. McNamara, project director; 19 vols.; Wilmington: Michael Glazier, Inc. 1987–1991; Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1992–2006). © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/147783507X234504 2006080. AS. Proef 3. 4-9-2007:12.18, page 152. 152 Book Reviews / Aramaic Studies 5.1 (2007) 151–163 and grammatical information. Accordance texts also contain footnotes and even allow users to add their own notes to verses. Clem’s targum translations gain further utility from the suite of texts with which they are associated. OakTree Software has already converted most targum texts into their format. The module ‘Targums-T’ (=Targ-T) contains the text of Targum Onkelos to the Pentateuch and Targum Jonathan to the Prophets, as well as the texts of targums to Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Chronicles, Ruth, and Song of Songs, as well as the First Esther Targum. The ‘Targ2-T’ module contains Targum Neofiti to the Pentateuch and Targum Esther Sheni, and ‘Targ3-T’ contains Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to the Pentateuch. Only the Fragment Targums and the Geniza Fragments of the Palestinian Targums to the Pentateuch are missing, and Oaksoft plans to add them shortly. When these are added, this suite of texts will be a powerful tool for studying the Targums to the Torah, Judaism’s most widely used sacred books. Accordance’s targum texts have a solid pedigree. They originated with the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (CAL) project directed by Steven Kaufman. These were analyzed and tagged with lexical and grammatical information by Edward Cook, a widely respected Aramaic scholar. With these Aramaic targum texts alongside Clem’s translation, Accordance has created a powerful array of tools for targum study, especially when the texts are displayed in parallel. Not only can Clem’s English translations of Onkelos and Neofiti be displayed in tandem with their Aramaic sources, but they can also be viewed with the Hebrew text or translations of it into a variety of modern languages. They can also be studied alongside other ancient translations, such as the Greek Septuagint and soon, I understand, the Syriac Peshitta Old Testament. How do Accordance’s targum resources stack up against its competitors? Neither of the other two largest computer Bibles—Bibleworks and Logos— had English translations of the Targums at press time, although BibleWorks plans to adapt Etheridge’s old translations of Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan, as well as translations of other books. Furthermore, both Logos and BibleWorks have produced computer targum texts, essentially publishing the CAL texts. Accordance Bible Software is designed for Macintosh Computers (Apple). Since most computers run the Windows operating system, Accordance stands at a disadvantage. There are two ways for Windows users to take advantage of Accordance’s targum translations. First Accordance can be run on a Macintosh emulator program; Accordance supplies and supports a Macintosh emulator program. Second, Apple computers now run on the same Intel computer chips.
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