The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

SOME SIMILARITIES BETWEEN TARGUM JOB AND TARGUM QOHELET
Celine Mangan
Targum Job which I translated for The Aramaic Bible, shares a volume
of this series with Targum Proverbs and Targum Qohelet. 1 This
has led me to spend some time in the past year considering points of
contact between the three Targums. In this short paper I will confine
myself to pointing out some similarities between Targum Job and
Targum Qohelet. The areas covered are: historical and geographical
additions to the MT; Torah study; preoccupation with good and evil
and mention of angels and demons. I have also taken a brief look at
the question of the avoidance, or otherwise, of anthropomorphisms in
both Targums as well as names for God.
Historical and Geographical Additions to the MT
While both Targums insert references to people and events of Israel's
past history, it is not always to the same episodes. References common
to both include:
Targum Job Targum Qohelet
The Garden
of Eden: 28.6; 38.18 1.15; 6.8; 9.7
Adam: 28.8 6.10; 7.28
The Serpent: 28.8 7.29
Abraham: 3.19; 4.7; 5.17
14.18;
4.13,14; 7.28
2 15.10; 30.19
1. C. Mangan, The Targum of Job, J.F. Healey, The Targum of Proverbs,
P.S. Knobel, The Targum of Qohelet (The Aramaic Bible 15; Collegeville, MN:
Liturgical Press, 1991).
2. This variant is in the text of all the manuscripts and in Miqra 'ot Gedolof, it is
not in the Biblia Regia: see F.J. Fernandez Vallina, El Targum de Job (Madrid:
Edition de la Universidad Complutense, 1982).