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Introduction chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 The Targumim A targum is an Aramaic translation of the Bible.1 While it is appropriate to use the label “translation,” there is one characteristic which fundamentally differ- entiates the targumim from other ancient translations of the Bible. The targu- mim were never meant to replace the Hebrew text as the community’s Bible, and in fact, the Hebrew source text is nearly always present in some form.2 This vital difference makes the targumim much more than translations. They have an inherent explanatory function, and as such, they are translational explica- tions of their accompanying source texts. Some of this explanatory impulse results in long insertions and creative translation techniques.3 One targum that is particularly expansive in this regard is the text under consideration in this study, Targum Song of Songs (TgSong). The underlying Hebrew text of Song 1 Defining the targumim is a particularly difficult task, and there has not been any consensus. For instance, Alexander prefers the term “translation” and asserts that an alternate term like “paraphrase” is “of little use”; Philip S. Alexander, “The Targumim and the Rabbinic Rules for the Delivery of the Targum,” in Congress Volume: Salamanca 1983 (ed. J.A. Emerton; Leiden: Brill, 1985), 14. Samely takes the exact opposite approach in Alexander Samely, The Interpre- tation of Speech in the Pentateuch Targums: A Study of Method and Presentation in Targumic Exegesis (Tübingen: Mohr, 1992), 158–159; Samely, “Is Targumic Aramaic Rabbinic Hebrew? A Reflection on Midrashic and Targumic Rewording of Scripture,” JJS 45 (1994): 92–94. Alexan- der also attempts to subdivide the targumim into “Type A” and “Type B” in “Rabbinic Rules,” 17–21; Alexander, “Jewish Aramaic Translations of Hebrew Scriptures,” in Mikra: Text,Transla- tion, Reading & Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Ancient Judaism & Early Christianity (eds. Martin Jan Mulder and Harry Sysling; Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004), 229–237. Note, however, the analysis of these categories in Willem F. Smelik, “Translation and Commentary in One: The Interplay of Pluses and Substitutions in the Targum of the Prophets,” JSJ 29 (1998): 245– 260. See also the discussion in Paul V.M. Flesher and Bruce Chilton, The Targums: A Critical Introduction (SAIS 12; Leiden: Brill, 2011), 19–36. 2 Though others have made this same point, see especially the recent comments in Willem F. Smelik, “The Translation as a Bilingual Text: The Curious Case of the Targum,” AJS Perspec- tives (Fall 2015): 8–10. 3 On the various ways that the targumim interpret the Hebrew text, see Moshe J. Bernstein, “The Aramaic Targumim: The Many Faces of the Jewish Biblical Experience,” in Jewish Ways of Reading the Bible (ed. George J. Brooke; JSS Supp 11; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 133–165; Edward M. Cook, “The Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in the Targums,” in A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism (ed. Matthias Henze; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 92–117. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004393752_002 2 chapter 1 of Songs is completely subsumed into a historical narrative about the Israelite people and their hope for the coming Messiah. The explanatory function of the targumim is not limited to the most expansive targumim, though; it is also noticeable in portions of the targumim that are more “literal” in their transla- tion. This dual function of the targumim as both translation and explication contributes to the unique character of the targumim and sets them apart from other ancient texts. The extant rabbinic targumim can be subdivided into three groups, and each group is written in a different dialect.4 The first group includes the old- est rabbinic targumim, namely Targum Onqelos to the Pentateuch and Tar- gum Jonathan to the Prophets.5 The second group is collectively referred to as the Palestinian Targum or the Palestinian targum tradition, and all of these targumim are limited to the Pentateuch. Targum Neofiti contains the entire Pentateuch.6 The so-called Fragment Targum and the fragmentary targumic manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah contain portions of the Pentateuch.7 The third and latest group of targumim includes Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (TgPsJ) to the Pentateuch and targumim to specific books of the Writings.8 With the completion of this third group, there is a targum to every portion of the Hebrew Bible except for Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah. 4 For a thorough survey of the extant targumim, see Philip S. Alexander, “Targum, Targumim,” ABD 6: 321–328. There were two pre-rabbinic targumic texts discovered at Qumran, a Job Tar- gum (11Q10 and 4Q157), and a LeviticusTargum (4Q156). On the early history of the targumim, generally see Cook, “Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible,” 93–95; Alexander, “Targum, Targu- mim,” 329–330. 5 Text according to Alexander Sperber, The Bible in Aramaic I–III (Leiden: Brill, 1959–1973; 2004–2013). 6 Text according to the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (CAL): http://cal.huc.edu. 7 Though the Fragment Targum is known from several sources, I interact with two manuscripts in this study: Ms. Paris, Héb. 110 Bibliothèque Nationale (P) and Ms. Ebr. 440, Vatican Library (V). The texts are according to Michael L. Klein, The Fragment-Targums of the Pentateuch Vol. 1 (Analecta Biblica 76; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1980). Genizah texts are according to Michael L. Klein, Genizah Manuscripts of Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1986). 8 The text of TgPsJ is according to Ernest G. Clarke, et. al, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of the Pen- tateuch: Text and Concordance (Hoboken: KTAV Publishing House, 1984). For the targumim to the Writings, see Introduction 1.4.2..
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