The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

HAYWARD A Portrait of the Wicked Esau 297
To refer this verse to 'kingdoms', as the Targums and many Midrashim
do, 11 effectively annuls the Christian exegesis, by anchoring it firmly
in political history rather than in speculative theology. But to say this
is not to bring proof that Neofiti, Onqelos, and Pseudo-Jonathan, at
some point in their history, exchanged an original literal rendering of
this verse, still partially attested by Ngl, for an exegesis determined by
opposition to Christianity. For as we have seen, the rendering
'kingdoms' is possibly older than Christianity, being very likely latent
in Philo's writings. 12 The most that may be said is that the majority of
the Targums may have come to prefer 'kingdoms' as a translation of
'peoples', and that known Christian exegesis may have played a part in
this. And the question whether these same Targums, with the exception
of the Ngl, implicitly identified Esau with Rome, cannot be
answered on the evidence sifted so far.
Neofiti translates literally the description of Esau's birth (Gen.
25.25), but the MS omits his name at the end of this verse, and the
whole of the next verse up to the name Jacob, probably by
homoioteleuton. The Bible says that Isaac was sixty years old when he
fathered them: instead of 'them', Ngl has 'this nation', a curious
reading not without interest given our previous observations.
2. Events during Esau's Lifetime
The Bible tells (Gen. 25.27) how the boys grew up:
and Esau was a man knowing hunting, a man of the field; but Jacob was a
plain man, dwelling in tents.
Neofiti follows the Hebrew in describing Esau as knowing hunting;
but, uniquely among the Targums, translates 'a man of the field' as 'a
man, lord of fields', gbr mry hqlyn. Neofiti says nothing more in this
verse about Esau, so the remark is particularly arresting: Esau is a
landowner, a master of territory unspecified in extent, but probably to
be understood as great. The expression certainly implies that Esau is
and the designation of the Jews as people he uses to convict the Jewish people of
idolatry in the matter of the golden calf and the idols of Jeroboam son of Nebat.
11. See Gen. R. 68.7; b. Hul 92a; 'Abod. Zar. 2b; PRK29.
12. See Leg. All. 3.88 (xxix); and cf. Quaest. in Gen. 4.157, where Jacob and
Esau are described as patriarchs of two nations.