Given the situation in Europe, it seems that the SBL conference in Salzburg will take place without restrictions and that we as IOTS can physically join it. We look forward to meeting you again after four years or longer.
The deadline of the Call for Papers, March 1st of this year, is approaching and we have received very interesting proposals. There is, however, room for more papers on Targums and Aramaic. Feel free to send in your proposal to e.van.staalduine-sulman@vu.nl.
It is a pleasure for the executive committee of the International Organization for Targumic Studies (IOTS) to invite you to the IOTS conference, connected to the international SBL conference on 17-21 July 2022 in Salzburg. The conference will accept proposals on the following topics:
Targums of the Tora
Targum and Qumran
Targum Studies: Past and Present
but papers on other related topics are also welcome. Abstracts of no more than 300 words can be sent to Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman (e.van.staalduine-sulman@vu.nl) before 1 March 2022.
Contrary to what we previously hoped for, the measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus have become increasingly strict, in the Netherlands as well as in other countries around the world. As we don’t know how long these restrictions will last, we have come to the conclusion that, much to our regret, we must cancel the IOTS conference scheduled for July this year. We will hopefully meet each other at the IOTS / IOSOT meeting in Zurich in 2022. Stay healthy!
Kind regards, Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman Margaretha Folmer
It is a pleasure for the executive committee of the International Organization for Targumic Studies (IOTS) to invite you to the IOTS conference on 6-8 July 2020 at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. The conference will know at least three topics,
Targums of the Tora
Targum and Peshitta
Targum and Qumran
but papers on other related topics are also welcome. Abstracts of no more than 300 words can be sent to Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman (e.van.staalduine-sulman@vu.nl) before 1 March 2020.
This past week I received word from Paul Flesher that Derek Beattie died on Saturday, 31 August at his home in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire. He was 73 years old. His son has said that plans for the funeral are still in process, but it is likely to be on 13th September.
One of my great regrets now will always be that I was unable to meet Derek in person. We corresponded quite a bit while I was working on Targum Ruth and Derek was incredibly gracious to me. The Book of Ruth and its rabbinic interpretation, especially the Targum, was a subject he knew more about than perhaps any person living. It began with his doctoral work (see Jewish Exegesis of the Book of Ruth) and continued right until the end. In the last few years I know that the had been hoping to complete his commentary on Targum Ruth.
Derek always kindly responded to my emails, offering corrections and suggestions on my work, and was even willing to make his critical edition of Targum Ruth available to me for publication. (In the end I simply provided a transcription of the base manuscript, but his work was often referenced in my volume.) I am so grateful to have corresponded with him and only wish I had truly gotten to know him.
His faculty page at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was a longtime faculty member, has this bio.
Derek read Hebrew and Semitic (formerly Oriental) Languages at Trinity College, Dublin, in the heyday of Jacob Weingreen’s Honor School, then migrated to St Andrews where he took his PhD under the supervision of William McKane. After a brief period as a lecturer in the University of Aberdeen he was appointed to a lectureship in Semitic Studies at Queen’s University Belfast in 1973 and was head of the Department of Semitic Studies from 1985 until its absorption in the school of Greek, Roman & Semitic [subsequently Byzantine] Studies.
As a very meagre memento, below is the bibliography that I have of Derek’s work. I am certain it is incomplete and welcome additions from readers.
Bibliography
Derek Beattie
Beattie, D R G. “Kethibh and Qere in Ruth IV 5.” Vetus Testamentum21, no. 4 (1971): 490-494.
Beattie, D R G. “The Book of Ruth as Evidence for Israelite Legal Practice.” Vetus Testamentum24, no. 3 (1974): 251-267.
Beattie, D R G, Jewish Exegesis of the Book of Ruth.Sheffield: Sheffield University, 1977.
Beattie, D R G. “Midrashic Gloss in Ruth 2:7.” Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft89 (1977): 122-124.
Beattie, D R G. “Redemption in Ruth, and Related Matters: A Response to Jack M. Sasson.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament5 (1978): 65-68.
Beattie, D R G. “Ruth III.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament5, no. 39-48 (1978): 39-48.
Beattie, D R G. “The Targum of Ruth: A Sectarian Composition?”. Journal of Jewish Studies36, no. 2 (1985): 222-229.
Beattie, D R G. “The Targum of Ruth – 18 Years On.” Hermathena (1985): 57-61.
Beattie, D R G. “Towards dating the Targum of Ruth,” in Word in Season. Sheffield, JSOT Press, 1986, 205-221.
Beattie, D R G. “Ancient Elements in the Targum to Ruth,” Pages 159-165 in Proceedings of the Ninth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, August 4-12, 1985. Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies, 1986.
Beattie, D R G. “Ruth 2:7 and midrash.” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 99 (1987): 22-423.
Beattie, D R G. “The Yemenite Tradition of Targum Ruth.” Journal of Jewish Studies41, no. 1 (1990): 49-55.
Beattie, D R G. “The Textual Tradition of Targum Ruth,” in Aramaic Bible(Sheffield, JSOT Pr), 1994, 340-348.
Beattie, D R G, The Targum of Ruth.Vol. 19. Collegeville: Liturgical, 1994.
Beattie, D R G. “Baldrick and Blackadder revive an ancient exegetical question relating to Ruth.” Belfast Byzantine Texts and Translations9 (2000).
Beattie, D R G. “The Targum Ruth: A Preliminary Edition,” Pages 231-290 in Targum and Scripture: Studies in Aramaic Translations and Interpretations in Memory of Ernest G. Clarke. Edited by Paul VM Flesher. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
Beattie, D R G and P R Davies. “What Does Hebrew Mean?”. Journal of Semitic Studies56, no. 1 (2011): 71-83.
Beattie, D R G and M J McNamara, The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context.Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press / JSOT Press, 1994.
Conference Programme: Targum Studies in London, IOTS 2018
In consultation with the Institute of Jewish Studies, the International Organization for Targumic Studies announces a summer meeting at University College London, 9-12 July 2018 (the conference will start with an evening lecture on July 9th). The full programme can be found and downloaded here: http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/hebrew-jewish-research-blog/2018/04/15/targum-studies-in-london-iots-2018/
The focus of this meeting will be on two related issues:
The Aramaic dialects within their Late Antique environment The development of the Targums within their wider interpretative milieu.
The study of the local influences on the dialect of Onqelos and Jonathan, long considered to represent a direct development of Middle Aramaic, and sometimes held to reflect little to no signs of any specific provenance (Western, Eastern, Central Aramaic), is attracting renewed attention, which warrants the re-opening of the question about these Targums’ dialect and provenance.
Moreover, the provenance and integrity of the dialect of the Late Targums remains unsolved. These days their Aramaic is considered a learned, written dialect divested from a vernacular basis, but despite arguments of a considerable Syriac influence, its provenance is as yet unclear.
At the literary and exegetical level, the milieu of composition and transmission raises questions about the meaning of parallels between targumic and non-targumic exegesis. Exactly how does targumic exegesis relate to its rabbinic parallels? What are the differences in terms of contents, context, presentation, and narrative arc? The mere observation that parallels exist does not analyse the relationship at a level that is anywhere near profound enough to be meaningful.
Beyond the old questions of literary dependence, we still need to establish whether targumic exegesis reflects signs of a non-rabbinic, late rabbinic or other specific local environment. In spite of the evidently close connection between targumic and rabbinic exegesis, questions linger about the precise relationship between the Targums and the rabbinic milieu, whether in Roman Palestine, Babylonia or Jewish communities elsewhere, and the wider society in which they took shape and to which they inevitably responded. This conference seeks to address these questions and many more.
9th International Meeting
International Organization for Targum Studies (IOTS)
July 9-11, 2018, University College London
NB: The meeting will start in the evening of July 9th.
CALL FOR PAPERS We are pleased to announce a call for papers related to Targum and Cognate Studies. We particularly invite paper proposals with a thematic focus on one of two closely related and increasingly topical aspects of the contents and language of the Targums:
The Aramaic dialects within their Late Antique environment; The development of the Targums within their wider interpretative milieu.
In keeping with former IOTS meetings, we also issue an open call for paper proposals by scholars who wish to present their research on any topic in the field of Targum Studies.
The Aramaic dialects within their Late Antique environment The study of the local influences on the dialect of Onqelos and Jonathan, long considered to represent a direct development of Middle Aramaic, and sometimes held to reflect little to no signs of any specific provenance (Western, Eastern, Central Aramaic), is attracting renewed attention, which warrants the re-opening of the question about these Targums’ dialect and provenance. Moreover, the provenance and integrity of the dialect of the Late Targums remains unsolved. These days their Aramaic is considered a learned, written dialect divested from a vernacular basis, but despite arguments of a considerable Syriac influence, its provenance is as yet unclear.
The development of the Targums within their wider interpretative milieu At the literary and exegetical level, the milieu of composition and transmission raises questions about the meaning of parallels between targumic and non-targumic exegesis. Exactly how does targumic exegesis relate to its rabbinic parallels? What are the differences in terms of contents, context, presentation, and narrative arc? The mere observation that parallels exist does not analyse the relationship at a level that is anywhere near profound enough to be meaningful.
Beyond the old questions of literary dependence, we still need to establish whether targumic exegesis reflects signs of a non-rabbinic, late rabbinic or other specific local environment. In spite of the evidently close connection between targumic and rabbinic exegesis, questions linger about the precise relationship between the Targums and the rabbinic milieu, whether in Roman Palestine, Babylonia or Jewish communities elsewhere, and the wider society in which they took shape and to which they inevitably responded.
Location and hospitality
The conference will be organized under the auspices of the IOTS by the Institute for Jewish Studies (IJS) at University College London. Hospitality will be available via the IJS at the Tavistock Hotel in Bloomsbury, for £85 a person a night; please contact the IOTS at the address below. To take advantage of this discounted price, early reservations via our organization are recommended. Details to follow.
How to submit paper proposals
Papers should be of twenty-minutes length, allowing ten additional minutes for discussion. All proposals should include title, speaker, academic affiliation, and a short abstract of 200- 250 words. This call for papers will remain open until 31 December 2017. Please send your proposal to: Professor Willem Smelik, Email: willem.smelik@ucl.ac.uk; postal address (until May 1, 2018): 17 Gray Street, #3, Cambridge MA, 02138 USA.
This is very good news! It appears the entire collection has been purchased by the Israeli National Library. Several years ago Sotheby’s was exhibiting and the family seeking to sell this incredibly important collection. It is particularly important for Targum scholars because it includes Valmadonna 1 (formerly Sassoon 282). UPDATE: That is NOT the case. Valmadonna 1 was purchased by the Museum of the Bible: Codex Valmadonna 1. The Sotheby’s catalogue described the manuscript as follows:
Codex Valmadonna I
The jewel in the Valmadonna Library’s crown is one of the most important privately-owned books in the world – a Pentateuch (Hebrew Bible), written in England the summer of 1189. Known as the Codex Valmadonna I, this extraordinary book is the only dated Hebrew text in existence from medieval England, before King Edward I’s 1290 edict expelling the Jews.
It is a massive collection and many scholars were worried it would be separated and go into private collections. This should ensure access and enable new research going forward. The JC article shares a few more details about the collection and the owner, Jack Lunzer, who recently passed away.
The Valmadonna Trust Library, widely regarded as the finest private collection of Hebrew books and manuscripts in the world, was assembled by Jack Lunzer, who spent more than six decades assembling it.
The vast collection charts the spread of Hebrew printing around the world and includes 550 broadsheets and newspapers dating back as far as the 16th century.
Hailing the purchase, Oren Weinberg, director of the National Library of Israel said: “The Valmadonna Trust Library represents an historic addition to our leading collection of Jewish manuscripts, prints and books, which reflect and embody the cultures of the Jewish people around the world and across the ages.”
Mr Lunzer, who died last month at the age of 92, was born in Antwerp and made his fortune as a young man in the diamond industry in London. He named his collection after the town of Valmadonna in northern Italy, where he and his wife Ruth Zippel, had connections. In 2015 Mr Lunzer sold his 16th century Babylonian Talmud, made by the Christian printer Daniel Bomberg, for US$9.3 million (£7.5 million).
A new translation of Targum Obadiah by Thomas Lenihan (B.A. History – California University of Pennsylvania) has been submitted and added to the site. Feel free to address any questions or suggestions on the translations directly to TL.
As a reminder, if you have your own translation of Targumic texts not represented here please feel free to submit them to Christian Brady, webmaster.
What is the use of a Targum in a cultural setting where Aramaic is not a common language anymore? And why would Christians be interested in a typically Jewish text in an otherwise anti-Jewish milieu? These and related questions have served as guides for Alberdina Houtman, Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman and Hans-MartinKirn in bringing together the articles for the present book, which consists of three parts:
Uses and Functions of Targum in Europe;
Editing Targums and their Latin Translations;
Targums and Christianity.
A number of the articles deal with the codicological and paratextual aspects of the relevant manuscripts and editions as witnesses of their cultural historical situations. The intended readership includes specialists in Targum, Jewish and medieval studies, (church) historians, codicologists and (Christian) theologians.
We had an excellent session at SBL and a nice surprise as well: Malcolm C. Doubles shared with us the history of Aramaic Studies in SBL. He has kindly shared his paper with me along with a picture of the earliest members of the group.
How It Began by
Malcolm C. Doubles
Visiting Professor of Religious Studies
St. Andrews University, Laurinburg, NC
A Paper Read at the
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting
Baltimore, Md., 11/23/2013–11/26/2013
Aramaic Studies Section, 11/24/13, 1:00–3:45 p.m.
The Society of Biblical Literature was organized in 1880 and has met annually ever since. Until 1967, these meetings were often hosted by Union Theological Seminary in New York. You may find it hard to believe, but for the first ninety-five years of its existence the Society sponsored no program segment devoted to matters of Aramaic origin. Such items were usually relegated to Old Testament program sections, or occasionally to a New Testament section. I begin this paper with thanks to Ed Cook for his willingness to allow me a few minutes to share with you my memories of how the Society was moved to initiate a discrete program segment devoted to rēbus aramaica. In this endeavor, I am especially indebted to Julia Foster who was involved in this effort from the beginning and who has shared much material and many memories with me.
Meeting at Baltimore Hebrew College, June 13–14, 1973 Front: Shirley Lund, Julia Foster, Roger Le Déaut, Malcolm Doubles Back: Moses Aberbach, Douglas Fox [the photographer], Bernard Grossfeld, Ernest Clarke, Stephen Kaufman, Walter Aufrecht, Moise Ohana, Samuel Iwry
The story begins with the 1972 SBL Congress Meeting in Los Angeles and the person most responsible for our start, the late Bernard Grossfeld who sadly passed away this past July just a week or so before Julia was able to inform him about today’s planned presentation. Between sessions one evening in Los Angeles, Bernard approached Julia and me with the argument that we in Targum Studies needed an organization similar to that in Septuagint Studies. Furthermore, he noted that on the weekend of October 28–29, Gerard Kuiper was hosting a meeting in Atlanta with Julia and the late Shirley Lund to examine some Neofiti and Pseudo-Jonathan readings. Bernard insisted that if I would go down so would he and we could “crash” that meeting for a few hours. So that’s what we did.
![Meeting at Baltimore Hebrew College, June 13–14, 1973 Front: Shirley Lund, Julia Foster, Roger Le Déaut, Malcolm Doubles Back: Moses Aberbach, Douglas Fox [the photographer], Bernard Grossfeld, Ernest Clarke, Stephen Kaufman, Walter Aufrecht, Moise Ohana, Samuel Iwry](http://targum.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Mac-003.jpg)