The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

210 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
Targum and Genesis Kabbah. First of all we have to admit, as already
stated, that the targumic tradition per se is unclear, while the Midrash
elucidates the Targum's meaning. We also take due note that the tradition
in the Targum first emerges before the Meturgeman commences
his translation of the scriptural verse (i.e. the phrase KTI '3
Nnus0, 'At that time'). This kind of preliminary expansion is
exceedingly rare in the world of Targum. Of the 5,800 or so verses of
the Pentateuch, we find it appended to several dozen alone, and almost
always in the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. 14 It seems as though the
Meturgeman sought to preserve the integrity of the unit to be translated
(that is, the scriptural verse), if only by opening his Targum
with the same word that opens the verse. The phenomenon of Aggadic
or Halakhic expansion preceding the translation of the scriptural verse
seems therefore un-targumic by its very infrequency. That the same
tradition is found in a clear and more elucidated midrashic parallel
should serve as a base for the claim that it was imported from the
world of Midrash (and it is immaterial whether that Midrash is
Genesis Rabbah or whether some other tradition, either written or
oral). We might tighten our argument by noting the existence of the
word Tiobi (slander) in the Targum, a word apparently not found in
the world of Targums to the Pentateuch except in this case. 15 We find
the pendulum swinging, therefore, towards the possibility that here
the Meturgeman is mobilizing a tradition that he took from Midrash.
And a third and final example:
Exodus 17.15: (=And Moses built an altar and called it
Adonai-nissi).
Pseudo Jonathan:
(=and he called its name 'Memra of the Lord, this is my miracle',
for the miracle that God [=Aramaic: fcnnK] performed in this place was
[done] for me).
Mechilta: (=Said Moses: This
miracle which God [=Hebrew: mpon] has performed He performed for
me).
It has already been noted 16 that among all the epithets signifying God
in the Targums, the rabbinic epithet of Dipan (Aramaic: fconK) is
14. See Shinan, Embroidered Targum, pp. 47-60.
15. Cf. R. Weiss, The Aramaic TargumofJob (Tel Aviv, 1979), p. 80 [Hebrew].
16. See A. Chester, Divine Revelation and Divine Titles in the Pentateuchal
Targumim (Tubingen, 1986), pp. 352-60.