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 ...

Nevi'im The (; ) is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the () and (). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets ( ) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings ...

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Lower Mesopotamia ("Babylonia"). It is not to be confused with "

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 ...

," an Aramaic translation of 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 () ...

. It is often known as "Targum Jonathan" due to a printer's error or perhaps because it is so stylistically similar to the Targum Jerusalem, which is named "Jonathan" to differentiate the two later translations.

Origin

Like

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 ...

, it originated in the synagogue reading of a translation from the Nevi'im, which was part of the weekly lesson. The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

attributes its authorship to Jonathan ben Uzziel, a pupil of

Hillel the Elder Hillel ( ''Hīllēl''; variously called Hillel the Elder or Hillel the Babylonian; died c. 10 CE) was a Jewish religious leader, Sage (philosophy), sage and scholar associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud and the founder of ...

, in Megillah 3a:4. According to this source, it was composed by Jonathan ben Uzziel "from the mouths of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi," implying that it was based on traditions derived from the last prophets. The additional statements that, on this account, the entire land of Israel was shaken and that a voice from heaven cried: "Who has revealed my secrets to the children of men?" are legendary reflections of the novelty of Jonathan's undertaking and the disapprobation it evoked. The story adds that Jonathan wished to translate the Ketuvim, but a heavenly voice instructed him to stop. The Targum to the

Book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...

, which was withdrawn from circulation by Gamaliel, nasi of the Sanhedrin, may have represented the result of his attempts to translate the Ketuvim. Jonathan ben Uzziel is named as Hillel's most prominent pupil, and the reference to his Targum is at least of historical value, so there is nothing to controvert the assumption that it served as the foundation for the present Targum to the Prophets.Jewish Encyclopedia
Targum
/ref> It was thoroughly revised, however, before it was redacted in Babylonia. In the Babylonian Talmud it is quoted with especial frequency by Joseph, head of the Academy of Pumbedita, who writes concerning the two biblical passages

Isaiah 8 Isaiah 8 is the eighth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Text The orig ...

:6 and Zechariah 12:11, "If there were no Targum to it we should not know the meaning of these verses". This shows that as early as the beginning of the fourth century the Targum to the Prophets was recognized as of ancient authority. The targum is sometimes cited with the introduction "Rav Yosef has translated", suggesting a tradition of authorship by Joseph bar Hama.

Linguistic analysis

The language of Targum Jonathan is Aramaic. Its overall style is very similar to that of Targum Onkelos, though it sometimes seems to be a looser paraphrase of the Biblical text. It is the result of a single redaction. Like Targum Onkelos, it gained general recognition in Lower Mesopotamia in the third century, and from the Talmudic academies in Babylonia it was carried throughout the Diaspora. It originated, however, in

Syria Palaestina Syria Palaestina ( ) was the renamed Roman province formerly known as Judaea, following the Roman suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt, in what then became known as the Palestine region between the early 2nd and late 4th centuries AD. The pr ...

but was adapted to Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, so it contains the same linguistic peculiarities as the Targum Onḳelos, including sporadic instances of Persian loanwords. In cases where the Palestinian and Babylonian texts differ, the Onqelos follows the latter. Although Targum Jonathan was composed in

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

, probably in the 2nd century, it is now known from medieval manuscripts, which contain many textual variants. The earliest attestation appears as citations of Jeremiah 2:1–2 and Ezekiel 21:23 on an incantation bowl found in Nippur.

Liturgical use

In

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic times, and still by

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...

, Targum Jonathan was read as a verse-by-verse translation alternately with the Hebrew verses of the haftara in the

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. Thus, when the Talmud states that "a person should complete his portions of scripture along with the community, reading the scripture twice and the ''targum'' once",Berakhot 8a-b the passage may be taken to refer to the Targuma Jonathan and Onqelos.

Notes

References

External links