The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

RIB ERA The Tar gum: From Translation to Interpretation 221
and Targum vocalize in hifil form ('You will carry'). The word
harob, 'be dry', of Jer. 50.21, is changed by LXX, P and Targum to
hereb 'sword'. In the same way yihollelu, 'they are made', of
Jer. 50.38 is changed in all versions to yihallelu, 'they boast'. This
tendency to read the words with different vowels corroborates the
relative value of the Masoretic punctuation.
Consonantal variants appear in Jer. 5.7, in which the verb ytgwddw,
from the root gdd, means 'gash oneself, as P seems to understand 11 ;
in LXX the word is derived from gwr, 'to take refuge, to live',
whereas Targum reads it as proceeding from gwd, 'to join'; on the
other hand, V seems to give an interpretation of the text: 'In the
prostitute house they lusted'. 12 The Hebrew word ha c dbarty in the
sentence 'I will make your enemies pass through' (Jer. 15.14) Targum
and other versions derive not from 'br but from 'bd ('And you will be
enslaved to your enemies', according to Targum). 13 This change of
dalet/res is found too in the word 'ebratw, 'his anger', of MT (Jer.
48.30)—V reads 'his boasting'—which becomes 'bdtw, 'his deeds', in
LXX, P and Targum. A modification of the verb hsp, 'strip', into hps,
'search out', is done by Targum and P (Jer. 49.10); probably ksl,
'stumble', of Jer. 18.23 in Targum and P is transformed in slk,
'throw out'. Sometimes the change is very obvious: the participle
mskyl, 'make childless' (MT Jer. 50.9) becomes mskyl, 'wise' in
Targum, P and LXX—V interprets it as 'murder'. Also the word
hrwn, 'rage, anger', which is repeated in MT of Jer. 25.38 ('from
before the rage of enemy, from before the rage of his anger'), in the
first part of the verse is changed by Targum and LXX into hrb,
'sword' 14 , because of the interpreters' tendency to explain repeated
words through synonyms; however P and V maintain the same word
in both cases. It is easy to find the interchange of 'alefand he in verbs
like rp', 'cure', of MT and rph, 'weaken', used by all the translations
(Jer. 38.4); and qr', 'exclaim', which is changed to Targum and P into
qrh,'to happen' (Jer. 4.20). Likewise sry, 'enemies of, in MT of
11. P uses 'tkts meaning 'to fight' and 'to be afflicted'.
12. It can be explained also by confusion ofdalel/res, as happens with kaf/dalet,
waw/yod, etc.
13. It is possible that the translation or interpretation of ancient versions was done
in this way to harmonize with the text of Jer. 17.4. In fact, according to BHS some
mss read c bd.
14. Also likely here there is textual harmonization with Jer. 46.16; 50.16.