The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

270 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
ordinances of the Lord were given through Moses in the plains of
Moab, and Deut. 1.5 informs us that Moses expounded the law in the
land of Moab. Thus the targumic tradition in Deut. 1.1 that refers to
the explanation of the law in the plains of Moab is in line with these
biblical statements. See the discussion in b. Hag. 6a-b.
Onqelos interprets HT 'in the wilderness' and 'in the Arabah' to
refer to some unnamed misdemeanors of the Israelites. This is similar
to a statement in Sifre 1 which says that we learn from the words 'in
the wilderness' that Moses 'rebuked them for what they had done in
the wilderness', and that the words 'in the Arabah' teach us that he
'rebuked them for what they had done in the plains of Moab'. Onqelos
however links 'in the Arabah' with the following words 'opposite
Suph', so that it reads lhe rebuked them for having sinned in the
wilderness and for having provoked anger in the plain opposite the
Sea of Reeds'.
In interpreting the words 'opposite Suph' the Palestinian Targums
and Pseudo-Jonathan continue their positive understanding of the biblical
text. The Fragmentary Targums attribute miracles and mighty
deeds to 'the Memra of the Lord', while Neofiti attributes them to 'the
Lord'. Ctg Br uses a passive form of the verb and reads: '(How) many
miracles and mighty deeds were performed for (you)...!'. Pseudo-
Jonathan is alone in attributing the miracles to 'the Holy One, blessed
be He'. This particular divine title which occurs frequently in rabbinic
literature 13 is not very common in the pentateuchal Targums. Besides
our present text see, for example, Gen. 22.1 (Pseudo-Jonathan); 25.21
(Pseudo-Jonathan; here the title is written in abbreviated form, qbh, in
both Land. 14 and editio princeps); 38.25 (P, Pseudo-Jonathan ['blessed
be He' is omitted in Lond.f); Exod. 15.18 (V), 20.2 (P, Machzor
Vitry; compare Neofiti, Pseudo-Jonathan, Ctg F 15 ); Num. 21.34
(Pseudo-Jonathan, P; compare V); Deut. 3.2 (V).
Pseudo-Jonathan's reference to miracles and wonders which the
Lord performed for Israel 'since they crossed the shore of the Sea of
Reeds' might lead us to expect that Targum to mention a number of
13. Cf. e.g., A. Marmorstein, The Old Rabbinic Doctrine of God, I (London:
Oxford University Press, 1927), pp. 97-99.
14. Lond = British Library MS 27031 of Pseudo-Jonathan.
15. Ctg (A, B, C, etc.) = Cairo Genizah Palestinian Targum Fragments published
by M.L. Klein, Genizah Manuscripts of Palestinian Targum of the Pentateuch
(2 vols.; Cincinnatti: Hebrew Union College Press, 1986)