The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
ALEXANDER The Targum of the Song of Songs 329 Aramaic. However, having given all these caveats their due weight, the analysis which I have tried to illustrate yields some useful results. Despite its limited scope, it suffices to show that the targumist of Shir ha-Shirim knew and utilized already extant Targumim of the Pentateuch, and, indeed, of the Prophets. Here, unquestionably, we have sources for his work. Some of his renderings reflect the common tradition of all the Targumim; others incline towards the so-called Palestinian tradition; still others incline towards Onqelos (these Onqelos aligments are seriously neglected by Melamed and Churgin). In a few cases he offers a distinctive translation unattested elsewhere. Sometimes (as I have already suggested) this may be due to him remembering and retranslating the original Hebrew. Sometimes, however, he appears to have preserved 'lost' Targumim. The most striking example of this is his rendering of Isa. 30.29, embedded in his paraphrase of Shir l.l: 16 TARGUM SHIR HA-SHIRIM 1.1: The tenth song will be recited by the children of the exile when they depart from their dispersions, as is clearly written by Isaiah the prophet (Isa. 30.29): 'You shall have a song , as on the night when the festival was sanctified, and [you shall have] gladness of heart, like the people who go with all kinds of musical instruments to ascend into the Mountain of the Lord, before the Mighty One of Israel.' MT Isa. 30.29: You shall have a song, as on a night when a festival is sanctified, and [you shall have] gladness of heart, as one who goes with the pipe, to come into the Mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. TARGUM JONATHAN Isa. 30.29: You shall have [a song of] praise, as on the night when the festival was sanctified, and [you shall have] gladness of heart like those processing with the flute, to ascend into the Mountain of the Lord, before the Mighty One of Israel. It is very likely that the targumist of Shir ha-Shirim is quoting here from a lost Palestinian Targum of Isa. 30.29. It emerges clearly from our analysis of both the aggadic and translational parallels to Targum Shir ha-Shirim that the targumist of Shir ha-Shirim had a comprehensive knowledge of rabbinic tradition, and 16. enclose explanatory additions in the Targum; [ ] enclose words added for the sake of the English sense; () enclose biblical references.
330 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context that his approach to that tradition was highly eclectic. He was, however, no mere compiler: his work is not a pastiche. His use of the tradition was controlled by a highly detailed and coherent reading of the Hebrew, and he chose only those elements of the tradition which were congruent with, or could be adapted to, that reading. He rigorously applied to the tradition the discipline of the biblical text. It is a failure to stress this point that fatally flaws Churgin's and Melamed's handling of Targum Shir ha-Shirim. In their passion for parallels they have failed to respect the integrity of the text and to read it in its own terms. I would like to consider briefly the coherence and discipline of the targumist's reading of the biblical text at both the micro- and the macro-levels. To illustrate his micro-analysis we shall look at his rendering of Song 7.3. Micro-Analysis MT: Your navel is a round goblet, Wherein mixed wine is not wanting; Your belly is a heap of wheat, Fenced round by roses. TARGUM: The Head of your College, through whose merit all the world is sustained, just as the foetus is sustained from the navel in the entrails of its mother, shines forth with [a knowledge of] the Law like the disc of the moon, when he comes to pronounce pure or impure, innocent or guilty, and the words of the Law never fail [to flow] from his mouth, just as the waters of the great river which issues from Eden, never fail. Seventy sages surround him, like a round threshing-floor, and their treasuries are full of the holy tithes, votive and free-will offerings, which Ezra the priest, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, and Mordechai Bilshan, the Men of the Great Assembly, who are compared to roses, ordained for their benefit, so that they might be enabled to engage in the study of the Law day and night. 1. It was a common rabbinic view that the 'navel' here alludes to the Sanhedrin, which is so-called (a) because it sustained Israel as an umbilical cord sustains a foetus, (b) because it sat in a circle, and (c) because it met in Jerusalem, the 'navel' of the earth. The targumist typically nuances the tradition: he notes that the biblical text speaks both of the 'navel' and of the 'belly'. The former he identifies with the Head of the College, the latter with the body of the Sages. This
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ALEXANDER <strong>The</strong> Targum of the Song of Songs 329<br />
<strong>Aramaic</strong>. However, hav<strong>in</strong>g given all these caveats <strong>their</strong> due weight,<br />
the analysis which I have tried to illustrate yields some useful results.<br />
Despite its limited scope, it suffices to show that the targumist of Shir<br />
ha-Shirim knew and utilized already extant Targumim of the<br />
Pentateuch, and, <strong>in</strong>deed, of the Prophets. Here, unquestionably, we<br />
have sources for his work. Some of his render<strong>in</strong>gs reflect the common<br />
tradition of all the Targumim; others <strong>in</strong>cl<strong>in</strong>e towards the so-called<br />
Palest<strong>in</strong>ian tradition; still others <strong>in</strong>cl<strong>in</strong>e towards Onqelos (these<br />
Onqelos aligments are seriously neglected by Melamed and Churg<strong>in</strong>).<br />
In a few cases he offers a dist<strong>in</strong>ctive translation unattested elsewhere.<br />
Sometimes (as I have already suggested) this may be due to him<br />
remember<strong>in</strong>g and retranslat<strong>in</strong>g the orig<strong>in</strong>al Hebrew. Sometimes, however,<br />
he appears to have preserved 'lost' Targumim. <strong>The</strong> most<br />
strik<strong>in</strong>g example of this is his render<strong>in</strong>g of Isa. 30.29, embedded <strong>in</strong><br />
his paraphrase of Shir l.l: 16<br />
TARGUM SHIR HA-SHIRIM 1.1: <strong>The</strong> tenth song will be recited by the<br />
children of the exile when they depart from <strong>their</strong> dispersions, as is clearly<br />
written by Isaiah the prophet (Isa. 30.29): 'You shall have a song , as on the night when the festival was sanctified, and<br />
[you shall have] gladness of heart, like the people who go with all<br />
k<strong>in</strong>ds of musical <strong>in</strong>struments to ascend <strong>in</strong>to the Mounta<strong>in</strong> of the Lord, before<br />
the Mighty One of Israel.'<br />
MT Isa. 30.29: You shall have a song, as on a night when a festival is<br />
sanctified, and [you shall have] gladness of heart, as one who goes with<br />
the pipe, to come <strong>in</strong>to the Mounta<strong>in</strong> of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.<br />
TARGUM JONATHAN Isa. 30.29: You shall have [a song of] praise, as<br />
on the night when the festival was sanctified, and [you shall have] gladness<br />
of heart like those process<strong>in</strong>g with the<br />
flute, to ascend <strong>in</strong>to the Mounta<strong>in</strong> of the Lord, before the Mighty One of Israel.<br />
It is very likely that the targumist of Shir ha-Shirim is quot<strong>in</strong>g here<br />
from a lost Palest<strong>in</strong>ian Targum of Isa. 30.29.<br />
It emerges clearly from our analysis of both the aggadic and translational<br />
parallels to Targum Shir ha-Shirim that the targumist of Shir<br />
ha-Shirim had a comprehensive knowledge of rabb<strong>in</strong>ic tradition, and<br />
16. enclose explanatory additions <strong>in</strong> the Targum; [ ] enclose words added for<br />
the sake of the English sense; () enclose biblical references.
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