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
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Geography
* Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy
* Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City
* Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome
* Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
bought it along with other manuscripts when the Collegium closed.
At that time Targum Neofiti was titled incorrectly as a manuscript of
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 ...
, 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,
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
parallels,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
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.
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