Studies in the Targum to the Twelve Prophets: From Nahum to Malachi

197 Pages·1997·23.85 MB·English

by  Robert P. Gordon

STUDIES IN THE T ARG UM
TO THE TWELVE PROPHETS
FROM NAHUM TO MALACHI
SUPPLEMENTS
TO
VETUS TESTAMENTUM
EDITED BY
THE BOARD OFTHE QUARTERLY
JA. EMERTON - PHYLLIS A. BIRD - W.L. HOLLADAY
A. KOOIj - A. LEMAIRE - R.E. MURPHY - B. OTZEN
VAN DER
R. SMEND -JA. SOGGIN -Je. v ANDERKAM - M. WEINFELD
H.G.M. WILLIAMSON
VOLUMELI
STUDIES IN THE TARGUM
TO THE TWELV E PROPHET
FROM NAHUM TO MALAeRI
BY
ROBERT P. GORDON
EJ. BRILL
LEIDEN· NEW Y ORK . KÖLN
1994
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
LC Card number 93-23643
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnalune
Gordon, Robert P.:
Studies in the targum to the twelve prophets from Nahum to
Malachi I by Robert P. Gordon. - Leiden; New York ; Köln:
Brill, 1994
(Supplements to Novum testamentum ; Vol. 51)
ISBN 90-04-09987-5
NE: Novum testamentum / Supplements
ISSN 0083-5889
ISBN 90 04 09987 5
© Copyright 1994 by EJ. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part qf this publication mqy be reproduced, translated, stored in
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PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
CONTENTS
Preface ................................................................................... VII
Abbreviations .............................................................................. IX
Introduction .................................................................................. 1
2. The Targum to the Latter Prophets in the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries ........................................................... 5
General Survey .................................................................. 5
Tangential Studies ............................................................ 20
Text and Language ........................................................... 25
The Palestinian Question ................................................... 34
Tailpiece ........................................................................ 38
2. Historical AIIusions in Tg Twelve Prophets .......................... 40
Nahum 1:9 ..................................................................... 41
Habakkuk 3:17 ................................................................ 45
Zephaniah 3: 18 ................................................................ 49
Zechariah 11: 1. ................................................................ 52
Zechariah 12: 11 ............................................................... 55
Malachi 1: 11 ................................................................... 56
Malachi 3:6 .................................................................... 58
3. The Hebrew Vorlage of Tg Twelve Prophets ......................... 62
Types of Divergence ......................................................... 64
Analysis ......................................................................... 67
Targumic Influence upon the MT? ...................................... 69
Conclusions .................................................................... 72
4. An Incipit Formula in Tg Prophets ..................................... 74
Survey ........................................................................... 74
Origin ............................................................................ 79
Function ........................................................................ 81
5. Tg Habakkuk and the Habakkuk Pesher ............................... 83
Cumulative Agreements .................................................... 84
Habakkuk 1: 16 ................................................................ 90
VI
6. Sperber's 'Additional Targum' to Zechariah 2: 14-15:
Studying a Targumic Cento ............................................... 96
Zech. 2:14-15 (AT) .......................................................... 98
Survey-by-Sentences ......................................................... 98
Grelot Again .................................................................. 104
Vocabulary .................................................................... 106
Postscript. ..................................................................... 106
7. The Haggadah in Tg Zechariah 3:1-5 ................................... 108
Illicit Marriage ............................................................... 109
Ordeal by Fire ................................................................ 111
Composite Text? ............................................................ 112
The Qtyl L- Syntagma ..................................................... 113
Statement and Objections ................................................. 114
8. Targum and Peshitta in the Twelve Prophets ........................ 117
Zechariah 13-14 .......................... , ................................... 120
Malachi ......................................................................... 123
Final Assessment ............................................................ 128
9. The Land and the Shekinah in Tg Twelve Prophets ................ 130
The Land ....................................................................... 130
The Shekinah ................................................................ 132
Methodological Reflections ............................................... 136
10. The Redaction of Tg Prophets ........................................... 138
Tg Isaiah 21:9 ................................................................ 139
The Islamic Factor .......................................................... 142
Conclusion .................................................................... 145
Excursus: Isa. 21:9 in Mekilta and Genesis Rabbah ............... 147
11. Summary and Prospectus .................................................. 149
Summary .................................................................................. 150
Prospectus ................................................................................. 151
Bibliography .............................................................................. 155
Index of Authors ......................................................................... 165
Index of Scripture References ......................................................... 168
Index of Other Sources ................................................................. 175
PREFACE
It occurred to me as I was lamenting in my Introduction about the obscure
origins of Tg Prophets that my own opusculum risked emulating the
Targum in this respect, and much less excusably. Most of the material
presented in this smaIl volume had its origin in my dissertation, A Study 0/
Targum Jonathan to the Minor Prophets. From Nahum to Malachi
(Cambridge, 1973), which was accepted for publication (twice over, as I
recall) soon after completion but has remained more than a trifle
photo sensitive for most of the intervening years. Other preoccupations, like
commentary-writing on 1 and 2 Samuel and work on the Syriac Old
Testament, helped to sideline Targum, though a number of articles were
published. I can see a positive side to the delay, since I know a little more
about Targum than could be claimed on the basis of my tiro effort of 1973.
What is now offered is an updated and comprehensively rewritten version of
the first part of the dissertation. (The translation and commentary sections
formed the basis of my contribution to volume 14 of The Aramaie Bible;
see the Bibliography under Cathcart.) One small point of detail perhaps
deserves mention, viz. that after ch. 1 I have given the abbreviation Tg
(=Targum) its head, for simple, practical reasons.
I should like to thank Peter Jackson for his painstaking work in
preparing the camera-ready copy, Robert (C.T.R.) Hayward for reading the
manuscript at a late stage and making encouraging noises as weIl as several
useful bibliographical suggestions, Leslie McFaIl for taking care of the
indexes and for other valuable assistance in the final stages, and most of aII
Professor J.A. Emerton who supervised the original work. For his generous
help and guidance, then and since, I am most grateful. I am dedicating the
volume to hirn as a smaIl token of my appreciation.
R.P.G.
Cambridge, May 1993