The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

HAYWARD A Portrait of the Wicked Esau 295
Neofiti's translation of Hebrew gyym as 'wmyn is not shared with
Onqelos and Pseudo-Jonathan (cf. Peshitta), which have 'mmym it is,
however, picked up later in the verse by Ngl (cf. Peshitta), which says
that one '\vrnh shall be stronger than the other 'wmh; and most
significantly by Neofiti itself at Gen. 27.29, where the '\vrny' who will
be in servitude to Jacob are defined as 'all the sons of Esau'.
But Neofiti certainly agrees with Onqelos and Pseudo-Jonathan,
against LXX, Vulgate, and Peshitta, that two kingdoms rather than two
peoples are in Rebecca's womb, one of which will be the stronger: and
it is the view of rabbinic texts such as Gen. R. 63.7, b. 'Avod. Zar.
2b, and PRK 29 that the Hebrew I'wm means 'kingdom'. Such an
interpretation may be latent in the thought of Philo, who emphasizes
that God does not allude to their names, but to the nations which were
to arise from them, since they were both patriarchs of great nations
which would later appear; and that the one would be archon,
hegemon, and despotes, while the other would be hupekoos and
doulos. 6
The last part of the prophecy, that the elder should serve the
younger, is expressed in Hebrew as wrb y'bds'yr. All the Targums
keep close to the actual Hebrew vocabulary, using similar words in
Aramaic: Neofiti has wrbh yhwwy ms'bd qdm z'yr\ which may
indeed refer to the two children as elder and younger, but equally may
speak of them as greater and lesser respectively. Grossfeld, commenting
on Onqelos here, notes the power of the verb s'bd, 'to
enslave, reduce to servitude or slavery', and thus translates as 'greater'
and 'lesser', seeing in these expressions a reflection of the conflict
between Jacob-Israel and Esau-Rome. 7 It is possible that Neofiti
should be understood in the same way; but it is not certain, and it
should be noted that there is no reference in the text to Esau or to
Rome. Possibly to remedy what was felt to be a defect, the Ngl has
supplied further information:
because the kingdom of Esau is at an end; and afterwards (will arise)
Jacob, his kingdom which shall not be destroyed and which shall not
cease from him for the ages of ages. Therefore he called his name Jacob.
6. See Philo, Leg. All. 3.88 (xxix).
7. See M. Aberbach and B. Grossfeld, Tar gum Onkelos to Genesis. A Critical
Analysis together with an English Translation of the Text (New York: Ktav, 1982),
pp. 150-51; B. Grossfeld, The Targum Onqelos to Genesis (Aramaic Bible, 6;
Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988), p. 95.