The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

288 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
In translating the verb ntn in the idiom ntty Ipnykm, 'I have set (the
land) before you', Pseudo-Jonathan, Neofiti and Neofiti interlinear
gloss use the verb msr, while Neofiti marginal gloss and Onqelos use
the root yhb. The Targums usually translate ntn by its Aramaic
cognate, or, more frequently, by yhb. When, however, ntn occurs in
the idioms ntn byd, 'give into (one's) hand', 50 and ntn Ipny, 'give over
to', 51 the Targums usually translate ntn by msr, 'hand over, deliver'.
Therefore in our present verse, Deut. 1.8, where the Lord promises
to set the land before (ntn Ipny) the Israelites, that is, to place it at
their disposal, one would expect to find ntn translated by msr, as is the
case in Pseudo-Jonathan, Neofiti and Neofiti interlinear gloss, rather
than by yhb, which is used in Onqelos and Neofiti marginal gloss.
Whereas HT states that 'the land' was placed before the Israelites,
Pseudo-Jonathan and Neofiti refer rather to 'the inhabitants of the
land'. Other texts where the Targums add 'the inhabitants' before 'the
land' are, for example, Gen. 11.9 (Pseudo-Jonathan, Neofiti, but not
Neofiti marginal gloss or Onqelos); 41.30b (Pseudo-Jonathan; not
Neofiti; Onqelos has 'm', 'people'); 41.57a (Pseudo-Jonathan, Neofiti,
Onqelos); 47.13b (Pseudo-Jonathan [twice], Neofiti [once]; Onqelos
again has 'm' [twice]); Exod. 34.10 (Pseudo-Jonathan); Deut. 9.28
(Pseudo-Jonathan, Neofiti, Neofiti interlinear gloss, Onqelos).
Commenting on the words 'Go in and take possession of the land'
Sifre 1 says: 'He said to them, "When you enter the land, you will
need no weapons—just take a compass and divide it up"'. Since the
biblical text uses the verb ntty, literally, 'I have given', and since it
makes no mention of fighting, the midrash takes it for granted that
there will be no need to take the land by force. The land will be a gift
from God. Pseudo-Jonathan makes this interpretation of the text his
own, and so he follows his translation of the words ntty Ipnykm 't
h'rs, 'I have set the land before you' (RSV), with the words 'and you
will have no need to rake up arms (wl' tstrkwn Imytwl zyyn'y', which
correspond quite closely to the first part of the Sifre text just quoted,
'you will need no weapons ('yn 'tm srykym kly zyyn)'.
Pseudo-Jonathan follows its translation of the words 'go in and take
possession of the land' with the words 'fix landmarks in it, and divide
50. Cf. e.g.. Gen. 9.2; 39.4, 8; Exod. 23.31; Num. 21.2 (see also the Targums
of v. 3, and note that LXX and Syriac add 'into their hands' to HT); 21.34; Deut.
7.24.
51. Cf. e.g., Deut. 2.33, 36; 7.2, 23.