Targum Neofiti (or Targum Neophyti) is the largest of the western or Israeli

Targum A targum (, ''interpretation'', ''translation'', ''version''; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ) that a professional translator ( ''mǝṯurgǝmān'') would give in the common language o ...

im on the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

. The name derives from the ecclesiastical Latin word Neophyte (a new convert to a religion, in Greek ''neophutos)'' because the owners of the earliest copy were converts from Judaism''.'' The extant copy consists of 450

folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

s covering all books of the Torah, with only a few damaged verses. More than a mere

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

translation of the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

text, Neofiti offers lengthy expansions on the biblical text at several places. It is often more expansive than

Targum Onkelos Interlinear text of Hebrew Numbers 6.3–10 with British_Library.html" ;"title="Aramaic Targum Onkelos from the British Library">Aramaic Targum Onkelos from the British Library. Targum Onkelos (or Onqelos; , ''Targūm ’Unqəlōs'') is t ...

, but less so than

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (also known as the Jerusalem Targum, Targum Yerushalmi, or Targum Jonathan) is an Aramaic translation and interpretation (targum) of the Torah (Pentateuch) traditionally thought to have originated from the land of Israel, al ...

History

In 1587, Andrea de Monte gave the Targum Neofiti to his friend Ugo Boncompagni, who, like him, was a convert from Judaism. De Monte had censored it by deleting most references to idolatry while he owned the manuscript. In 1602 Boncampagni gave what was at that time labeled "Item 1" along with a fragmentary targum to the College of the Neophytes, the document's namesake, who preserved it until 1886, when the

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bought it along with other manuscripts when the Collegium closed. At that time Targum Neofiti was titled incorrectly as a manuscript of

, and it remained unremarked until 1949, when Professor Jose Maria Millas Vallicrosa and Alejandro Díez Macho noticed that it differed significantly from Targum Onkelos. It was translated and published from 1968 to 1979 and has since then been considered the most important of the Palestinian Targumim, as it is by far the most complete of the Western Targumim and perhaps the earliest as well.

Dating

Neofiti's date of origin is uncertain. The manuscript's colophon dates the copy to 1504 in Rome. Díez Macho argues that Neofiti dated to the first century CE as part of a pre-

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

textual tradition, based upon anti- halakhic material, early geographical and historical terms,

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parallels,

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and

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words, and some supposedly pre- masoretic Hebrew text. Martin McNamara argues that Neofiti originated in the fourth century CE.McNamara, Martin, The Aramaic Bible, Targum Neofiti 1, Michael Glazier, 1992, p. 45. The language of the Targum Neofiti is conventionally known as " Palestinian Aramaic" as opposed to the " Babylonian Aramaic" of the Targum Onkelos.

Text

The Codex itself has many marginal glosses containing corrections and different interpretations, perhaps drawn from Targum Pseudo-Jonathan.

References

External links

Online Targum Neofiti with critical apparatus

Bibliography

* Golomb, David M., ''The Grammar of the Targum Neofiti'' (Harvard, Harvard Semitic Museum, 1985) (Harvard Semitic Monographs - HSM, 34). *McNamara, Martin, ''Targum Neofiti 1: Genesis'' (The Aramaic Bible, Volume 1A) (Collegeville, MN: Michael Glazier, 1992). *Díez Macho, Alejandro, ''Neophyti 1: Targum Palestinense MS de la Biblioteca Vaticana'', Vol. 1: Genesis: Edición Príncipe, Inroducción General y Versión Castellana (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1968). *Jacob Neusner, Alan J. Avery-Peck, ''Judaism in Late Antiquity: Where We Stand, Issues and Debates in Ancient Judaism'', Volumes 40-41 of Handbuch der Orientalistik, BRILL, 1999, , 118f. {{Books of the Bible Targums History of Palestine (region) Jews and Judaism in Palestine (region)