I received a note from friend and colleague Dineke Houtman about the publication of a new projection on the origin and history of Targum Jonathan. This book was a collaborative project with Harry Sysling and is being published by Brill. Volume 9 in the Studies in the Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture series, Alternative Targum Traditions The Use of Variant Readings for the Study in Origin and History of Targum Jonathan is available from Brill now.
The present study explores the possibility of using variant readings of the Targum of the Prophets to get a better insight into the origin and history of Targum Jonathan. The focus is on two sorts of variant readings: the Tosefta Targums and the targumic quotations in rabbinic and medieval Jewish literature. The chapter on the Tosefta Targums concentrates on variants from the book of Samuel. The chapter on the targumic quotations includes quotations of all the Prophets in early Jewish literature. In the Appendix a full list is given of all quotations of Targums of the Prophets presently known. The book is useful for the study of the genesis of Targum Jonathan as well as for its later developments.
Congratulations to Dineke and Harry! This will be a great resource for all interested in targumic studies and exegetical traditions.
Steve Kaufman would like to invite all targumists to share with him a list of the additional features that they would like to see implemented on the CAL targum research site. The CAL is the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon and is an excellent resource. Be sure to check it out if you are not already familiar with and, as he has requested, please send him any additional features you may be interested in.
I will take his contact information directly from the site:
For further information, please contact Prof. S. Kaufman. Please DO NOT send requests for for translations from Aramaic for engagement rings and tattoos!
For information about bodily adornment in Aramaic contact Steve Caruso of The Aramaic Blog.
From our beloved IOTS President Willem Smelik:
Dear members of the IOTS and other interested parties,
The IOTS has long discussed the desirability of new editions of (most of) the Targums. A first task, the collection of data on targumic manuscripts, has already started and has come to a promising, even if partial, conclusion at the Theologische Universiteit of Kampen, the Netherlands. Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman came with a proposal for a system of sigla which, if agreed upon and endorsed by the IOTS, could be used in any future studies and editions of the Targums, similar to the sigla nowadays common in the study of the Peshitta. The advantages of a common system are clear to everyone.
At the last meeting of the IOTS it was agreed that we should establish a committee to discuss the format for the sigla of manuscripts, starting with the afore-mentioned proposal. We would therefore like to invite interested scholars to come forward and express any interest that they might have in contributing to this task. The executive body of the IOTS will then discuss the options and decide upon a representative and suitable committee, who will hopefully be able to report their findings at the next meeting of the IOTS in Helsinki 2010.
The contact address is:
Willem Smelik
willem.smelik AT ucl.ac.uk
26 Tenison Road
Cambridge CB1 2DW
UK
With kind regards,
on behalf of the IOTS
Willem Smelik
I received an email today from Bro. Larry Kelsey with a link to Pauli’s translation of Targum Isaiah on Google Books. The excellent suggestion was that I should add it to our links of targumic texts in English translation available over at the Newsletter for Targumic and Cognate Studies (which I have done).
That started me poking around and while I am sure this is old hat to many of you, I was amazed at how many books on the targumim, current and recent volumes, are readily available there! In full form! Including my own, The Rabbinic Targum of Lamentations (although for some reason it is classified as “architecture”). Various volumes of the Aramaic Bible series are there and seem to be complete (some, like mine, are listed as “limited preview” but with 5 minutes of poking around several volumes I didn’t find any missing pages). So if you are looking for quick access to various and important studies on targumic literature and don’t have a library to hand, be sure to check out Google Books.
I am pleased to be able to post on NTCS images for TgLam and TgRuth from the Codex Solger MS 1-7.2° (Solger) manuscript. The images are made available with the permission of the Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg. They can be found under the “Targumim of the Megillot” section of this site
Codex Solger MS 1-7.2° (Solger) of Nürnberg is dated to 1291 and is likely to be the basis for the Rabbinic Bible, prepared by Felix Pratensis and printed in 1517 by Daniel Bomberg and reprinted without Tiberian pointing (and other minor alterations) by Lagarde in 1872. The MS contains the Hebrew text followed verse by verse with the Targum.
Images from the Solger MS:
I have now added the targumim files for Palm devices under the “Targumic Texts” section. You can use this link to go directly there. I am grateful to Prof. Steve Kaufman and the crew at the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon for making these texts available. They have been put into the Palm format by Prof. Kaufman’s student David Everson.
