Targums WordMap – Accordance Bible Software

Apologies from the Editor: I had intended to post this quite literally years ago. Just before the outbreak of COVID, this product was announced and demonstrated. Dr. Leeor Gottleib of Bar-Ilan University created the Equivalent Project which resulted in this incredible new(ish) tool for Accordance. This is from their blog post in January 2020

Newly available with the release of Accordance Version 13.0.3, the Targums WordMap database is the product of the Equivalent Project – a research initiative headed by Dr. Leeor Gottlieb of Bar-Ilan University – which strives to identify and link the contents of ancient biblical translations back to their equivalents in the Hebrew Bible, thus creating a comprehensive synopsis and thesaurus of equivalents of the ancient translations of the Bible.

Utilizing Accordance Software’s Targums texts, (the most advanced digital Targum editions available with morphological tagging), the Targums WordMap provides users with powerful and previously unavailable cross-textual search capabilities. For example, a user can easily search for any word in the Hebrew Bible and create a comprehensive list of equivalent translations in the Targums. The results could also be narrowed by specifying which Targum texts to include in the search. Users can also create a detailed synopsis of the texts with precise alignment of all words and their equivalents.

For example, here you can see the comparison of the various versions of Genesis 3:15. Some versions are quite a bit long, so the line has to wrap, but here in one pane you can see all the Targumic versions aligned and in comparison to one another. It is an incredibly powerful tool and we are grateful to Dr. Gottlieb’s incredible and continuing work on this project and Accordance for making the tool available.

Follow the links above or check out the YouTube video below, demonstrating the tool. 

IOTS 2024 Call for Papers

11th International Organization for Targumic Studies

Call for Papers

It is a pleasure for the executive committee of the International Organization for Targumic Studies (IOTS) to invite you to the eleventh IOTS meeting that will be held in connection with the international SBL conference: 28 July—1 August 2024. The conference will be held in the buildings of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

The IOTS meeting hopes to include at least the topics

  • Manuscript traditions of the Targums
  • The role of the Targums in Biblical Studies
  • The relationship between Targum Onkelos and Targum Jonathan
  • The relationship between the Pentateuchal Targums

but papers on other topics within Targumic or Aramaic studies are also welcome. 

Abstracts of no more than 300 words can be sent to Prof. Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman (e.van.staalduine-sulman@vu.nl) before 1 March 2024.

IOTS 2022 – SBL International Meeting Targum Sessions

Follow this link for the full schedule and abstracts for Targum papers to be delivered at the 2022 IOTS/SBL IM in Salzburg this summer.

Reminder – IOTS 2022 Call for Papers & SBL International Meeting

Dear Targum colleagues, 

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

If you want to come to Salzburg, please, consider the following: It is wise to become a member of the SBL – at least for this year – and to register as a visitor of the SBL conference via sbl site: https://www.sbl-site.org/membership/joinnow.aspx. There are a lot of interesting sessions besides our Targum sessions (see https://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/Congresses_ProgramUnits.aspx?MeetingId=40). Hotels can also be booked via the SBL site: https://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/Internationalmeeting.aspx

We hope to see you all. Stay safe! 

Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman 

Margaretha Folmer  

2022 IOTS Conference Call for Papers

Call for Papers

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.

Conference Programme: Targum Studies in London, IOTS 2018

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.

www.ucl.ac.uk/ijs

ijs@ucl.ac.uk

020 7679 3520

Booking through Eventbrite is advised—details to be announced.

 

 

9th International Meeting of the International Organization for Targum Studies

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.

Download Announcement: 9thIOTSConference

Valmadonna Collection Purchased by the National Library of Israel – Targum MS in Museum of the Bible

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).

The Origins of the SBL Aramaic Studies Section and the NTCS

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

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.

Continue reading