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

Please be patient! Rebuilding…

DSC09682.JPGWe had a crash of the site and all of the pages other than this one are down. In fact, you cannot even get to this posts page! It only appears on the home page. The content is safe, but it will take some time to determine how to restore it to functioning order. (I believe it is a MSQL issue…any WordPress gurus want to lend a hand? Let me know!)

Welcome Back!

After several months down we are slowly bringing the Newsletter for Targumic and Cognate Studies back! All the currently available English translations of the Targumim are back online as well as the Solger MS images of TgRuth and TgLam. Stay tuned for updates and news from the International Organization for Targum Studies.