Home

Encyclopedia

Summa

Fathers

Library

Bible

Shop

Home >
Catholic
Encyclopedia > T > Targum

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Targum

Targum is the distinctive designation of the Aramaic
translations or paraphrases of the Old Testament. After the return from
exile Aramaic gradually won the ascendancy as the colloquial language over
the slowly decaying Hebrew until, from probably the last century before
the Christian
era, Hebrew was hardly more than the language of the schools and of
worship. As the majority of the population ceased to be conversant with
the sacred language it became necessary to provide translations for the
better understanding of the passages of the Bible read in Hebrew at the
liturgical services. Thus to meet this need it became customary to add to
the portions of the Scriptures read on the Sabbath an explanatory oral
translation — a Targum. At first this was probably done only for the more
difficult passages, but as time went on, for the entire text. The "Mishna"
gives more elaborate instructions as to the way in which this translating
should be done. According to the "Megillah" (IV, 4), when the lesson to be
read aloud was from the "Torah" only one verse was to be read to the
translator (Methurgeman). When the lesson was from the "Nebi'im" it
was permitted to read three to him, unless each verse formed a special
division. The directions also state which portions are to be read aloud
but not translated (cf. for instance "Meg.", IV, 10), and a warning is
given against translations that are either to free, palliative,
allegorical, etc.

Another regulation was that the Targum was not to be written down
("Jer. Meg.", IV, i = fol. 74d). This prohibition, however, probably
referred only to the interpretation given in the synagogue and did not
apply to private use or to its employment in study. In any case, written
Targums must have existed at an early date. Thus, for instance, one on the
Book of Job is mentioned in the era of Gamaliel I (middle
of the first century A.D.), which he, however, was not willing to
recognize ("Sabb.", 115a; cf. "Tos. Sabb.", 13, 2=p. 128, ed.
Zuckermandel). If Matt., xxvii, 46, gives the Aramaic form of Ps., xxi, 2,
the last utterance of the Saviour upon the Cross, this shows that even
then the Psalms were current among the people in the Aramaic language;
moreover, Ephes., iv, 8, has a closer connection with the Targum to Ps.,
lxvii, 19, than with the Masoretic text. In addition, the "Mishna
Yadayim", IV, 5, and "Sabb.", XVI, also indicates the early existence of
MSS. of the Targum. These MSS., however, were only owned privately not
officially as for a long period the Targums were without authoritative and
official importance in Palestine. This authoritative position was first
gained among the Babylonian Jews and through their influence the Targums
were also more highly esteemed in Palestine, at least the two older ones.
In the form in which they exist at present no Targum that has been
preserved goes back further than the fifth century. Various indication,
however, show the great antiquity of the main contents of many Targums,
their theology among other things. That as early as the third century the
text, for instance, of the Targum on the Pentateuch was regarded by the
synagogue as traditionally settled is evident from the "Mishna Meg.", IV,
10, "Jer. Meg.", 74d, "Hab. Kidd.", 49d, "Tos. Meg.", IV, 41. There are
Targums to all the canonical books excepting Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah;
for some books of the Bible there are several Targums. As regards age and
linguistic character they may be divided into three classes: (1) Targum of
Onkelos and Targum of Jonathan; (2) Jerusalem Targums; (3) Targum on the
Hagiographa.

The form of language used in the Targums is called specifically "Targum
dialect". It belongs to western Aramaic and more particularly to the
Aramaic of Palestine. Its home in to be sought in Judea, the ancient seat
of the learning of the scribes. It should be borne in mind that this
Targumic language does not represent the spoken Aramaic, but is the result
of the labours of scholars. Consequently the point under discussion turns
on a literary Aramaic originally formed in Judea. This is particularly
true of the two earlier Targums; the later ones show generally an
artificially mixed type of language. The traditional pointing of the texts
is valueless and misleading: a more certain basis was first offered by
MSS. from Southern Arabia in which the pointing for the vowels was placed
above the line. In Arabia the old synagogal custom of reciting the Targum
at the religious services had been retained, and consequently more
interest was felt there in the pronunciation. It must be acknowledged,
however, that this cannot be regarded as a direct pronunciation of the
Palestinian pronunciation; it may have sprung from a formal treatment of
the Targum of Onkelos customary among the Babylonian scholars. As regards
the method of translation all Targums in common strive to avoid as much as
possible anthropomorphisms and anthropopathic terms, as well as other
apparently undignified expressions concerning, and descriptive of God. The Targums are
printed in the Rabbinical and Polyglot Bibles, although the two do not
always contain the same Targums or an equal number of them. See below for
particulars as to individual editions.

I. THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS

The official Targum to the Pentateuch is designated by the name of
Onkelos. In the Babylonian Talmud and in the Tosephta, Onkelos is
the name of a proselyte who is mentioned as a contemporay of the elder Gamaliel ("Aboda
zara", 11a; cf. "Tos. sabb.", 8=p. 119, ed. Zuckermandel). The labours of
Onkelos are referred to in "Meg.", 3a, in the following words: "Rab
Jeremiya, according to others Rab Hiya bar Abba says: 'According to the
statement of Rab Eliezer and Rab Josua, Onkelos the proselyte has said,
that is, has orally formulated, the Targum of the Torah'". Gaon Sar Shalon
(d. 859) was the first who, taking this passage as a basis, called the
Pentateuch-Targum the Targum of Onkelos. This he did in an opinion
concerning the Targum which he evidently had before him at the time in a
written copy. The designation that thus arose became customary through its
acceptance by Rashi and others. It is evident, however, that in the
passage mentioned ("Meg.", 3a) there has been a confusion with the name of
Aquila, the translator of the Bible, for the older parallel passage of the
Palestinian Talmud ("Meg.", I, 11 = fol. 71c) says the same of Aquila and
his Greek translation of the Bible. Compare also Midrash, Tanchuma,
Mishpatim, 91, 92 (ed. Mantua, 1863, fol. 36b). Thus it seems that in
Babylonia the old and correct knowledge of the Greek translation of the
proselyte Aquila was erroneously transferred to the anonymous Aramaic
translation, that consequently Onkelos (instead of Akylas) is a corrupted
form or a provincial modification of Aquila. It
is not necessary to discuss here earlier views concerning this point. The
effort to prove the existence of an Onkelos distinct from Aquila is still
made by Friedmann ("Onkelos and Aquila" in "Jahresber. der
Israelit.-theol. Lehranstalt in Wien", 1896), but the proof adduced is not
convincing (cf. Blau in "Jewish Quarterly Review," IX, 1897, p. 727 sqq.).

Thus it is not known who wrote the Targum named after Onkelos. In any
case the Targum, at least the greater part of it, is old, a fact indicated
by the connection with Rab Eliezer and Rab Josua, and belongs probably to
the second, or it may be to the first century of our era. It arose, as the
idiom shows, in Judea, but it received official recognition first from the
Babylonian Rabbis, and is therefore called by them "our Targum", or is
quoted with the formula "as we translate". Rab Natronay (d. 869) in
speaking of this says, that it is not permitted to replace it in the
services of the synagogue by any other translation of the Pentateuch. The
high reputation of this authorized translation is shown by the fact that
it has a Masorah of its own. The fixing of the written form, and thereby
the final settlement of the text as well, should not be assigned to a date
before the fifth century. The language is, in general, an artificial form
of speech closely connected with the Biblical Aramaic. It is probably not
the spoken Aramaic used as a dialect by the Jewish people, but a copy made
by scholars of the Hebraic original, of which the Targum claims to give
the most faithful reproduction possible. In doing this the Aramaic
language is treated similarly to the Greek in the translation of Aquila,
consequently the many Hebraic idioms. There is no positive proof (Dalman,
"Gramm", 13) of a corrupting influence of the Babylonian dialect as
Noldeke held ["Semit. Sprachen" (1887), 32; (2nd ed., 1899), 38].

As regards the character of the translation it is, taken altogether,
fairly literal. Anthropomorphic and anthropopathic expressions are avoided
by roundabout expressions or in other ways; obscure Hebrew words are often
taken without change into the text; proper names are frequently
interpreted, as Shinar-Babylon, Ishmaelites-Arabs; for figurative
expressions are substituted the corresponding literal ones. Haggadic
interpretation is only used at times, for instance in prophetic passages,
as Gen., xlix; Num., xxiv; Deut., xxxii. This Targum was first printed at
Bologna (1482) together with the Hebrew text of the Bible and the
commentary of Rashi; later, in the Rabbinical Bibles of Bomberg and
Buxtorf, and with a Latin translation in the Complutensian Polyglot
(1517), and the Polyglots of Antwerp (1569), Paris (1645), and London
(1657). Among separate editions of the Targum special mention should be
made of that printed in 1557 at Sabbioneta. More modern editions are:
Berliner, "Targum Onkelos" (2 vols., Berlin, 1884), in which vol. I
contains the text according to the Sabbioneta edition, and vol. II,
elucidations; the Yemanites at Jerusalem have printed with an edition of
the Pentateuch (sefer Keter tora) from MSS. the Arabic translation
by Saadya (Jerusalem, 1894-1901), in which publication the vowel pointing
above the line has been changed to sublinear pointing; Barnheim, "The
Targum of Onkelos to Genesis" (London, 1896), on the text of the Yemen
manuscripts. In addition to the Latin translations in the Polyglot Bibles
there is one by Fagius (Strasburg, 1546); there is also an English
translation by Etheridge, "The Targum of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel
on the Pent., with the Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum", from the
Chaldee (2 vols., London, 1862-65).

THE TARGUM OF JONATHAN (YONATHAN)

The Targum to the Prophets (priores, historical books;
posteriores, the actual Prophets) now in existence is ascribed to
Jonathan ben Uzziel, who is said on the authority of the Babylonian
"Megillah", 3a, to have formulated it orally, in accordance with the
instructions of Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi. This assertion probably
means that in his exposition he gives the traditional interpretation that
had been handed down from one generation to another since early times.
According to the Babylonian "Sukkah" (28a = baba bathra 134a), he was the
most noted pupil of the elder Hillel, and is therefore assigned to the
first Christian
century. The Babylonian Talmud in quoting passages from this Targum
ascribes them to Rab Joseph bar Hiya (d. 333), the head of the school at
Pumbaditha. Rab Joseph was regarded as a great authority on the tradition
of the Targum and his judgment on the translation of many individual
passages was eagerly listened to; he may perhaps be considered as the
editor of this Targum. For Jonathan as for Onkelos the final settlement of
the written form did not occur until the fifth Christian century.
Cornill claims to show ("Einleitung", 2nd., ed., 1893, p. 308) that the
Targum on the Prophets is older than the Torah-Targum, but the reasons
produced are not convincing (cf. Dalman, 15, passim).
Linguistically, this Targum approaches most closely that of Onkelos; in
grammatical construction the two are alike but the words used differ, and
this Targum is more paraphrastic. In the historical books Jonathan himself
is often the expounder, but in the actual prophetic books the exposition
is in reality Haggadic. The religious opinions and theological conceptions
of the era that are interwoven are very instructive. The text, further, is
not free from later additions; from this cause arise the double
translations of which the Targum contains several. The "Prophetae priores"
was the first printed with the Hebrew text and the commentaries of Gimhi
and Levi at Leiria, Portugal, in 1494. At a later date the whole Targum
was printed in the Rabbinical Bibles of Bomberg and Buxdorf and in the
Polyglot Bibles of Antwerp, Paris, and London. The last edition is that of
de Lagarde, "Prophetae chaldice e fide codicis Reuchliniani" (Leipzig,
1872). There are supplementary additions to this from an Erfurt MS. in
"Symmicta", I, 139. The Targum to the Haphtarah is to be found in what is
called the Pentateuch edition of the Yemanites at Jerusalem. English
translations are: Pauli, "The Chaldee Paraphrase on the Prophet Isaiah
Translated" (London, 1871); Levy, "Targum on Isaiah," I (London, 1889).

II. THE JERUSALEM TARGUMS

This designation is not correct; the older and more correct name,
"Palestinian Targum", is found for instance in the writings of Gaon Hai
(d. 1038). Fundamentally
the language of these Targums is Palestinian Aramaic but of a very mixed
type. Neither of them is homogeneous grammatically and lexically. Besides
expressions that recall the Galilean dialect of the Palestinian Talmud a
preference is shown for imitation of the language of the Targum of
Onkelos, while there are also various terms belonging to the language of
the Babylonian Talmud.

A. Targum Yerushalmi I on the Pentateuch

This is generally called the Targum of Jonathan or of the
Pseudo-Jonathan, because it is cited in the first printed edition (Venice,
1591) under the name of Jonathan ben Uzziel. This designation, however,
rests on a mistaken solution of an abbreviation. The Targum could not have
appeared in its present form before the second half of the seventh
century. For example (Gen., xxi, 21), a wife and daughter of Mohammed are
mentioned. Compare also (Gen., xlix, 26) the position of Esau and Ishmael
as representatives of the Mohammedan world.
The Targum covers the entire Pentateuch. The only passages that are
lacking are: Gen., vi, 15; x, 23; xviii, 4; xx, 15; xxiv, 28; xli, 49;
xliv, 30-31; Exod., iv, 8; Lev., xxiv, 4; Num., xxii, 18; xxx, 20b, 21a;
xxxvi, 8-9. As to its form it is a free Haggadic treatment of the text,
that is, an exposition of rather than a translation. A large part of it is
made up of legendary narratives; there are also dialogues, rhetorical and
poetical digressions. The paraphrase also discusses religious and
metaphysical conceptions, as was the custom of the Jewish mystics of the
seventh century. This Targum was first printed at Venice in 1591. It was
also to be found in volume IV of the London Polyglot. A separate edition
of this Targum was edited from the manuscript in the British Museum (MS.
Addit. 27031) by Ginsburger, "Targum Jonathan ben Usiel zum Pentat,"
(Berlin, 1903). Concerning this codex cf. Barnstein in "Jew. Quart Rev.",
XI (1899), 167 sqq. An English translation has been published by Etheridge
(supra).

B. Targum Yerushalmi II

Targum Yerushalmi on the Pentateuch is also called the Fragmentary
targum because the Targum on the entire Pentateuch has not been preserved,
but only portions of it on numerous longer and shorter passages,
frequently only the Targum on individual verses or parts of such. These
fragments were first printed in the rabbinical Bible of 1517. In language,
method of translation, and exegetical form they are related to the
Pseudo-Jonathan. A perspicuously arranged compilation of the fragments
that have been preserved is given by Ginsburger in the "ZDMG", LVII
(1903), 67 sqq., and in loc. cit., LVIII (1904), 374 sqq., on a page that
came from a geniza or repository in a synagogue for damaged
manuscripts. A Latin translation from the Venice edition of 1517 was
published by Taylor (London, 1649); English tr. by Etheridge
(supra).

Opinions concerning the connection between the Targums Jerushalmi I and
Jerushalmi II agree in general that both are to be traced back to
different recensions of an old Jerusalem Targum. This is the view of Zunz
(p. 73, and passim), and also that of Geiger, "Urschrift und Udersetzungen
der Bibel" (Berlin, 1857), 454. Bassfreund (infra) reaches the
conclusion that the basis both of the Fragmentary Targum and that of the
Pseudo-Jonathan is a complete Jerusalem Targum of post-Talmudic origin,
but that the two Targums, Jerushalmi I and II, presuppose the existence of
the Targum of Onkelos. The Fragmentary Targum gives from this ancient
Jerusalem Targum gives from this ancient Jerusalem Targum, according to
Bassfreund, only matter supplementary to Onkelos, while Onkelos and the
Jerusalem Targum have been used in preparing the Pseudo-Jonathan. In the
preface to his edition of the Pseudo-Jonathan (see below) Ginsburger tries
to prove that both the Fragmentary Targum and the Pseudo-Jonathan may be
traced back to a very ancient Palestinian Targum, which was not influenced
by the Targum of Onkelos until a later date. The Fragmentary Targum, in
Ginsburger's opinion, represents a variant collection, not to Onkelos (as
Bassfreund thinks), but to another recensions of that ancient Jerusalem
Targum. Ginsburger's views will have to be accepted as the more probable.

C. Targum Yerushalmi III

Targum Yerushalmi III is the name assigned by Dalman (Gramm., 29) to
fragments which are given in old editions of the Pentateuch, as Lisbon
(1491), Salonica (1520), Constantinople (1546), Venice (1591), and in
several MSS. Nearly all have been published by Ginsburger, "Das
Fragmententargum" (1899), 71-74.

D. Other Jerusalem Targums

There have also been Jerusalem Targums on the Prophets and on
individual books of the Hagiographa. As regards the Targums on the
Prophets de Lagarde has given Reuchlin's notes from the "Nebi'im Codex" in
the introduction (pp. VI-XLII) to his "Prophetae chaldice" (infra).
There are fragments on Josue, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaias, Jeremias,
Amos, Jonas, Zacharias. [Cf. Bacher in "ZDMG", XXVIII (1874), 1-72; XXIX
(1875), 157 sqq., 319 sq.]

III. TARGUMS ON THE HAGIOGRAPHA

They are the work of various authors and have the character more or
less of private undertakings, with the production of which the schools had
nothing to do. Linguistically they are to be regarded as the work
artificially produced of a late age. They depend in the main on the
Jerusalem Targums and probably belong to the same era; the Targum on
Chronicles may be somewhat later. Three groups are to be distinguished as
regards linguistic character and relation to the original text: (a)
Targums to Proverbs, Psalms, and Job; (b) Targums to the five
Megilloth, that is Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
Canticles; (c) Targums to the Books of Chronicles.

The Targums mentioned under (a) adhere relatively closest to the text
of the Bible. The Targum to Proverbs is in language and contents very
dependent on the text of the Syriac Peschitto, and is but little more than
a Jewish recension of the same. [Cf. Noldeke in "Merx' Archiv fur
wissenschaftl. Erforschung des A. T.", II (1872), 246 sqq.' Baumgartner,
"Etude critique sur l'etat du texte du livre des Proverbes" (Leipzig,
1890), 267 sqq.] Haggadic additions are found only occasionally in the
Targum on the Psalms. In a number of passages a second translation is
introduced with the remark "another Targum". The Targum to Job contains
many more additions. There are also variants of the usual formula of
citation, and much oftener than in the Targum on the Psalms. In style and
language this Targum resembles that on the Psalms, consequently both
perhaps are the work of the same author.

(b) The Targums on the Megilloth are not in reality translations
but rather Haggadic commentaries. the Biblical text is most clearly
evident in the Targums to Ruth and to Lamentations. The Targum to
Ecclesiastes is a tasteless declamation upon the text on which it is
based; that on Canticles is an allegorico-mystical Midrash. There are two
Targums to Esther, the one closely resembles a paraphrase and has no
legends interwoven with it; the other, called Targum scheni, has
altogether the character of a Midrash. It is only to a small degree a
translation; the greater part of it consists of stories, legends, and
discourses that have but slight connection with the contents of the book.

(c) A Targum on the Books of Chronicles was edited from a MS. in Erfurt
by Matthias Beck (2 pts., Augsburg, 1680-83); a more complete and correct
text taken from a MS. at Cambridge was edited by Wilkins, "Paraphrasis
Chaldica in librum priorem et posteriorem Chronicorum" (Amsterdam, 1715).

All the Targums to the Hagiographa (excepting Chronicles) were printed
for the first time in the Bomberg Bible in 1517; afterwards in the
"Polyglots" of Antwerp, Paris, and London. A modern edition from the
Bomberg text, with Chronicles from the Erfurt Codex, was edited by de
Lagarde, "Hagiographa chaldaice" (Leipzig, 1873).

GENERAL: ZUNZ, Die gottesdienstlichen Vortrage der
Juden (Berlin, 1832), 61-83; HAUSDORFF, Zur Gesch. der Targumim
nach talmudischen Quellen in Monatschr. fur Gesch. u. Wissensch.
des Judentums, XXXVIII (1894), 203 sqq., 241 sqq.; MAYBAUM, Die
Anthropomorphien u. Anthropopathien bei Onkelos u. in den spateren
Targumim (Breslau, 1878); GINSBURGER, Die Anthropomorphismus in den
Thargumim in Jahrbucher fur prot. Theol. (Brunswick, 1891), 262
sqq., 430 sqq. As regards the language: DALMAN, Grammatik des
judisch-palastinischen Aramaisch (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1905); IDEM,
Aramaisch-neuhebr. Worterbuch (Frankfort, 1897-1901).

I. THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS: KAUTZSCH, Mitteilung uber eine alte
Handschr. des Targ. Onk. in Cod. Socini, No. 84 (Halle, 1893);
BERLINER, Die Massorah zum Targ. O. (Leipzig, 1877); LANDAUER,
Die Masorah zum O. (Amsterdam, 1896); BREDERECK, Concordanz zum
T. O. (Giessen, 1906); IDEM, Uber die Art der Ubersetzung im T.
Onk. in Theol. Studien u. Kritiken (Gotha, 1901), 351-77.

THE TARGUM OF JONATHAN: PRACTORIUS, Das Targum zu Josua nach
Yemenischer Uberlieferung (Berlin, 1899); IDEM, Das Targum zum Buch
der Richter nach yemen. Uberlieferung (Berlin, 1900); WOLFSOHN, Das
Targum zum Propheten Jeremias in yemen. Uberl. (Halle, 1902), ch.
i-xii; SILBERMANN, Das Targum zu Ezechiel nach einer sudarabischen
Handschrift (Strasburg, 1902), ch. i-x; WRIGHT, Targum zu Jonas
(London, 1857); ADLER, Targum to Nahum in Jew. Quart. Rev.,
VII (1895), 630 sqq.; BACHER, Kritische Untersuchungen zum
Prophetentargum in ZD MG, XXVIII (1874), I sqq.; KLEIN in loc.
cit., XXIX (1875), 157 sqq.; FRANKEL, Zu dem Targum der Propheten
(Breslau, 1872).

TARGUM YERUSHALMI I: SELIGSOHN AND TRAUB, Uber den Geist der
Ubersetzung des Jonathan ben Usiel zum Pent. etc. in Monatschrift
fur Gesch. u. Wissenschaft des Judentums (1857), 96 sqq., 138 sqq.;
MARMORSTEIN, Studien zum Pseudo-Jonathan Targum (Presburg, 1905).

TARGUM YERUSHALMI II: GINSBURGER, Das Fragmententargum (Berlin,
1899); (1) Targum according to Cod. 110 of the National Library at Paris;
(2) variants from Cod. Vat. 440 and Lips. 1; (3) quotations from old
writers; matter supplementary to this work is given by MARX in
Zeitschrift fur hebr. Bibliographie (1902), 55-58.

TARGUMS YERUSHALMI I & II: BASSFREUND, Das Fragmententargum u.
sein Verhaltnis zu den anderen palast. Targumim in Monatschrift fur
Gesch. u. Wissenschaft des Judentums, XL (1896), 1 sqq., 49 sqq., 97
sqq., 145 sqq., 241 sqq., 352 sqq., 396 sqq.; GINSBURGER, loc. cit., XLI
(1897), 289 sqq., 340 sqq.; preface to Pseudo-Jonathan, ed. IDEM
(Berlin, 1903); NEUMARK, Lexikalische Untersuchungen zur Sprache der
jerusalemischen Pentat. Targume (Berlin, 1905).

TARGUM YERUSHALMI III: LEVY, Das Targums zu Koheleth nach sudarab.
Handschriften (Berlin, 1905); GOLLANCZ, Targum to the Song of
Songs (London, 1908), translation; POSNER, Das Targum Rischon zu d.
bibl. B. Esther (Breslau, 1896); DAVID, Das Targum scheni zum B.
Esther (Berlin, 1898); TAYLOR, Targ. prius et posterius in Estheram
. . . in linguam Latinam translatum (London, 1655); GELBHAUS, Das
Targum scheni zum B. Esther (Frankfort, 1893).

FR. SCHÜHLEIN
Transcribed by John D. Beetham

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume
XIV
Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition
Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight
Nihil Obstat, July 1, 1912. Remy
Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley,
Archbishop of New York

If an ad appears here that contradicts Catholic
teachings, please click here to notify the
webmaster.

Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. All rights reserved. Updated 15
September 2003.

Praise Jesus Christ in His Angels and in His Saints.
New Advent is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary.