The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

274 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
Jonathan). The actual idiom in Pseudo-Jonathan is tpltwn 'Iwy myly
syqr\ literally, 'you, plastered (or: smeared) him with lying words',
that is, 'you accused him falsely'. Essentially the same idiom is found
in Hebrew form in Ps. 119.69 where we read tplw 'ly sqr, which
NRSV renders as 'They smear me with lies'. The same Hebrew idiom
occurs again in Job 13.4. In both cases the Targums use the verb hbr,
literally 'join', to translate the Hebrew verb. Obviously Pseudo-
Jonathan Deut. 1.1 had to use the verb tpl to retain the play on the
word Tophel. None of the Palestinian Targums uses the verb tpl so
that they fail to represent this play on words.
Having said that the Israelites accused God falsely Pseudo-Jonathan
goes on to add that they 'murmured' about the manna, using the verb
r'm, the verb that is used in all the Targums with reference to the
people's murmuring about the manna; see, for example, the Targums
of Num. 21.5-7. Pseudo-Jonathan is the only Targum to use that verb
in Deut. 1.1. The Palestinian Targums quote the actual words of complaint
uttered by the people, citing Num. 21.5.
Pseudo-Jonathan represents the Hebrew name 'Laban' by 'white',
explaining that the manna was white. Pseudo-Jonathan is the only
Targum to take this particular line of interpretation in our present
verse. In specifying that the manna was white Pseudo-Jonathan is here
echoing what is said explicitly in Exod. 16.31 (HT), and reiterating
something Pseudo-Jonathan had already stated in Num. 11.7, where
he, and he alone among the targumists, says that the manna was 'white
when it came down from heaven'. 25 Here again we see an example of
Pseudo-Jonathan's tendency to repeat haggadic traditions, 26 and this
particular example shows how this kind of repetition gives a certain
consistency to his text.
Against this, however, we might take an example which one could
regard as a case of inconsistency on the part of Pseudo-Jonathan. The
Fragmentary Targums say in Deut. 1.1 that the Lord punished the
Israelites for their complaints about the manna by sending serpents
against them. Pseudo-Jonathan knew of this punishment and recorded
it with some elaboration at Num. 21.6 (cf. also Neofiti, Fragmentary
Targums), and it would not be surprising if he mentioned it in
Deut. 1.1. On the other hand, Pseudo-Jonathan (unlike the Palestinian
Targums) does not name a punishment for any other sin of Israel that
25. Cf. b. Yoma 75a, repeated in Midrash Leqah Tob to Num. 11.7 (p. 200).
26. See above n. 20.