The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

60 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
(L. Altmann), Schaffhausen (Stadtbibliothek), St. Gallen (Stiftsbibliothek,
Stadtbibliothek).
3. Hebrew MSS in the Vatican Library. 1 * Vatican collection (613
MSS), Urbinati 59, Neofiti 51, Barberini 13, Borghiana 19, Rossiana
38, Ottoboniana 1, Chigiana 1, Additions 6. The total of the Vatican
Hebrew MSS: 801; of these only 280 are biblical MSS.
The most complete list of Hebrew and Aramaic MSS. A second opportunity
of an updated list of the manuscripts and the most complete
today, is the microfilmed list of all the MSS collected to date in the
Institute of Microfilms in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This
list is today available in microfiche, and is the richest in the world.
New problems arise with this list for the Aramaic MSS: the main concern
of this list is not the Aramaic, but the Hebrew MSS. Secondly, in
some cases, the short description given for each MS is too schematic
and uses different criteria; moreover, sometimes we see: 'with
Targum', but this Targum means either Aramaic translation, or
another translation (such as Sephardic, Ladino, Portuguese, Arabic,
etc.), because in modern Hebrew every translation can be understood
by the term Targum.
The Oldest Aramaic MSS
There is no doubt that the most ancient MSS come from the Qumran
library. This is curious because there existed a rabbinical prescription
saying that what had been given orally, should be transmitted orally
and what had been given in writing should be transmitted in writing. 19
This was also applied to Aramaic translations, because in Sinai only
the Hebrew text was given, not the Aramaic. Nonetheless, either this
rule was established in a later period, or it was never strictly
observed, because today we have written Aramaic translations from a
very early date.
18. N. Allony and D.S. Loewinger, List of Photocopies in the Institute
(Jerusalem: Rubin Mass, 1968).
19. b. Tern. 14b; b. Git. 60b; H.L. Strack and S. Stemberger, Einleitung in
Talmud und Midrasch, VII (Munich: Beck, 1982), pp. 42-54; English trans, by
M. Bockmuehl, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark,
1991), pp. 37-49.