The Targums

The Targums
Author: Paul V.M. Flesher
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 575
Release: 2011-08-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004218173

The value and significance of the targums—translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, the language of Palestinian Jews for centuries following the Babylonian Exile—lie in their approach to translation: within a typically literal rendering of a text, they incorporate extensive exegetical material, additions, and paraphrases that reveal important information about Second Temple Judaism, its interpretation of its bible, and its beliefs. This remarkable survey introduces critical knowledge and insights that have emerged over the past forty years, including targum manuscripts discovered this century and targums known in Aramaic but only recently translated into English. Prolific scholars Flesher and Chilton guide readers in understanding the development of the targums; their relationship to the Hebrew Bible; their dates, language, and place in the history of Christianity and Judaism; and their theologies and methods of interpretation. “With clear presentation of current research and the issues involved, including the Targums and the New Testament, and a rich bibliography, this is the most complete—and up-to-date—introduction to the Targums. An outstanding, highly recommended achievement.” Martin McNamara, Emeritus Professor of Scripture, Milltown Institute, Dublin, Ireland

The Rabbinic Targum of Lamentations

The Rabbinic Targum of Lamentations
Author: Christian M.M. Brady
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2021-10-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 900449670X

This volume is a study of how Targum Lamentations (TgLam) interpreted and responded to the theologically challenging message of the Book of Lamentations. Through various exegetical techniques the targumist has transformed Lamentations into a rabbinic program for the synagogue. The first section examines how the targumist demonstrated that Israel herself is responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and thus absolves God of all culpability. Yet the targumist continues to assert that God is the ultimate source of all history. The second section examines how the targumist depicts God as orchestrating events through his action and abstention. Finally, the targum argues that reconciliation with God can only come about through repentance and rabbinic worship. A new translation and a transcription of TgLam from Codex Urbinas Hebr. 1 is included.

Targum Song of Songs and Late Jewish Literary Aramaic

Targum Song of Songs and Late Jewish Literary Aramaic
Author: Andrew W. Litke
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004393757

In Targum Song of Songs and Late Jewish Literary Aramaic, Andrew W. Litke presents a full language analysis of the Targum that positions each feature within the spectrum of Aramaic dialects. The study includes a new transcription and translation.

Divine Discourse in the Epistle to the Hebrews

Divine Discourse in the Epistle to the Hebrews
Author: Madison N. Pierce
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2020-07-23
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 1108495419

Demonstrates how quotations are used in Hebrews to develop its characterization of God - Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Targum of Judges

The Targum of Judges
Author: Willem Smelik
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 696
Release: 2021-12-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004494707

This book forms a contribution to the vexing question of the origin and growth of the Targum to the Prophets. It provides an in-depth analysis of the Targum of Judges on the basis of new materials (unpublished manuscripts), a new tool (bilingual concordance) and a new method (analysis of consistency). A critical review of previous research concerning the Targum's origin and growth is followed by an analysis and collations of many Western manuscripts, a systematic comparison of the Targum with the ancient translations, a study of its exegetical traditions and a thorough examination of its consistency. On this basis it is suggested that the Targum assumed its basic form in the second century CE, due to the emergency of the rabbinic tradition, but outside the context of the synagogue.

The Baptismal Episode as Trinitarian Narrative

The Baptismal Episode as Trinitarian Narrative
Author: Hallur Mortensen
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2020-11-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3161596706

Hallur Mortensen examines the concept of God in Mark's Gospel, with particular emphasis on the baptismal scene of 1:9-11. This he closely relates to the beginning and end of the prologue (1:2-3 and 1:14-15) concerning the coming of the Lord, the gospel, and the kingdom of God. The allusions of the divine voice to Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42 reveal the function and identity of Jesus as the Son of God and thus also of God as the father of Jesus. The identity and descent of the Spirit at the baptism as an anointing is discussed in detail, and has a critical function in the coming of the kingdom and the defeat of Satan. These aspects are examined in the context of Jewish monotheism and what Hans W. Frei calls the "intention-action description" of identity - that 'being' is constituted by 'action' - and Mortensen thus argues that Mark's Gospel portrays a proto- and narrative trinitarian conception of God.

Surviving Lamentations

Surviving Lamentations
Author: Tod Linafelt
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2000-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780226481906

Most contemporary interpretations of the biblical book of Lamentations focus on the figure of the "suffering man" as a role model for submission in the face of God's punishment for sin. Yet such a model offers small consolation to survivors of the Holocaust or other mass atrocities and also ignores chapters 1 and 2 of Lamentations, in which the personification of Zion laments her sufferings and demands a response on behalf of her dying children. In Surviving Lamentations, Tod Linafelt offers an alternative reading of Lamentations in light of the "literature of survival" (works written by survivors of catastrophe) as well as literary and philosophical reflections on "the survival of literature." He refocuses attention on the figure of Zion as a manifestation of a basic need to give voice to suffering, and traces the afterlife of Lamentations in Jewish literature, in which text after text attempts to provide the response to Zion's lament that is lacking in Lamentations itself. Seen through Linafelt's eyes, Lamentations emerges as uncannily relevant to contemporary discourse on survival.