Aramaic Texts Research Articles

The Lexicon of Targum Song of Songs and Aramaic Dialectology

Targum Song of Songs contains words from several Aramaic dialects which seemingly should not coexist. This paper is an analysis of the Targum’s lexicon with particular attention given to the dialectal status of each word, and by extension the text as a whole. It is argued that the targumist primarily draws upon words from Targums Onqelos and Jonathan. A second layer of influence includes words from targumic Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and while words from the Babylonian Talmud and Biblical Aramaic are attested, they are not as influential on the overall lexicon. Finally, given the Targum’s dependence on literary texts that happen to be written in different dialects, it is argued that some terms only attested in Targum Song of Songs and other Late Jewish Literary Aramaic texts may give evidence to literary texts or traditions that have not survived.

Aramaic of Qumran


 
 
 The recent publication of A Grammar of Qumran Aramaic by T. Muraoka provides a much-needed analysis of this important corpus of Aramaic texts. The grammar treats not only the corpus of texts found near Wadi Qumran, collectively known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, but also texts from neighboring regions along the Dead Sea, including Wadi Murabba’at and Naḥal Ḥever. (Collectively, these texts represent some of the most important sources of information about Aramaic from this period of time.) The book is thorough and well written and represents the first in-depth grammar of these texts; it goes well beyond the only other existing grammar, that of Ursula Schattner-Rieser, L’araméen des manuscrits de la mer Morte: I. Grammaire. Muraoka’s grammar lists copious textual citations that give a reader the sense that the observations are backed up by solid data. All the same, it does not attempt to state more than the evidence can allow. The thoroughness of the treatment allows one to compare afresh some points of contact between the grammar of these texts and that of the Hebrew scrolls. Despite the usefulness of this grammar and the nuance with which it is realized, the grammar does contain some points of confusion and inconsistency, some of which are outlined below.
 
 

Fig leaves, bramble thorns and cedars of Lebanon: silent and talking plants in the Bible and beyond

A number of Hebrew and Aramaic texts in which trees and plants appear as speaking characters are here published in Italian translation: the parable of the trees in Judges 9, a haggadic expansion of Midrash Esther Rabbah upon Esther 5:14, a hymn inserted before Esther 7:10 in the Targum Sheni , and the two extant stanzas of a Classical Syriac dispute between The vine and the cedar . They exhibit a high level of literary elaboration and have rhythm and structure similar to the Mesopotamian dispute. Plants and trees are humanized as spokesmen who, sometimes ironically and playfully, put into stage values and knowledge of the Bible centred culture of their authors, audiences and readerships. The midrashic and targumic texts organize Biblical quotations on trees and plants in the form of brilliant debates that were possibly used for pedagogical purposes. The Classical Syriac dispute of the vine and the cedar by David bar Pawlos (8th-9th century) has a more learned character and recalls one of the elegant reuse of traditional forms and themes in Arabic adab texts.

Dan Levene,Jewish Aramaic Curse Texts from Late-Antique Mesopotamia: “May These Curses Go Out and Flee”

Dan Levene,<i>Jewish Aramaic Curse Texts from Late-Antique Mesopotamia: “May These Curses Go Out and Flee”</i>

Akkadian Names in Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt

This is an onomastic study that follows on the footsteps of two previous studies—Persian names in Aramaic texts and Egyptian names in Aramaic texts. It distinguishes between theophorous names, hypo...

A recently discovered Christo-Palestinian Aramaic inscription from northeastern Bādiyah, Jordan

During a Safaitic survey conducted in the Wadi al-Khudri in the so called Black Desert a Christian Palestinian Aramaic inscription was discovered near Qaṣr Burqa at a distance of about 15 km. Burqa as an ancient Roman military post was reoccupied by monks during proto-Byzantine period. The Aramaic inscription is engraved on a rock among a Neolithic cairn; it is accompanied by a small Arabic graffito. The Aramaic text is an invocation by a diacon Stephanos one can supposed to have been in relation with Burqa Monastery.

The Hebrew Vorlage of Targum Chronicles

Careful study of the Aramaic text of Targum Chronicles reveals several apparent differences between the Hebrew source text upon which the targumist relied and the Masoretic text of Chronicles. This article is an attempt to identify and document these differences, resulting in four categories: differences in consonantal orthography, differences in vocalization, differences in syntactic division and the degree of conformity with Ketib/Qere. Suspected deviations of TgChron from MT were compared to other textual witnesses (primarily the Septuagint, the Peshitta and medieval Hebrew manuscripts), thus providing a broader context for textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible.

Tobit's Context and Contacts in the Qumran Aramaic Anthology

The debate over Tobit's compositional language was invigorated by the discovery of Aramaic and Hebrew copies of the work in Qumran cave four. The growing position among scholars, however, is that Tobit's literary-linguistic makeup is best accounted for by its origination in the Aramaic language. The now widened collection of some thirty Aramaic texts available from among the Qumran collection provides a fresh opportunity to re-read Tobit with an eye for aspects of the book's message and outlook that come into sharper relief when contrasted and compared with its closest counterparts in the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls. This exploratory study details the central theological emphases and literary motifs that Tobit shares with a core group of Aramaic writings including, but not limited to, 1 Enoch, Genesis Apocryphon, Aramaic Levi Document, Testament of Qahat, Visions of Amram, and New Jerusalem. Five points of correspondence with the aforementioned writings will be described: (1) the preference for first-person voices, (2) ancestral instruction on Israelite religious duties and observance, (3) insistence on endogamous marriages, (4) eschatological outlooks of a ‘new’ Jerusalem, and (5) the awareness of idioms and motifs drawn from dream-vision traditions. Tobit may be viewed as an important representative of the Aramaic heritage of ancient Judaism, since in it we find the confluence of several key components of the thought world of the broader Aramaic collection, of which Tobit was an essential part.

The Pauline Epistle to Philemon from Codex Vatican Arabic 13 (Ninth Century CE) Transcription and Study

Our aim in the present paper is to transcribe the Arabic translation of the Epistle to Philemon contained in Vat. Ar. 13 and analyse it from linguistic and translation viewpoints. This Arabic version shows that the translator based his translation on a Greek text, but he also made use of the Syriac version of the Peshīṭtā with a view to deciding on certain readings for exegetical or linguistic reasons. It is also possible that the translator used an intermediate secondary Aramaic text for revision purposes during the process of translating the Greek text into Arabic.

Syntaktische Aramaismen im Markusevangelium: Praesens historicum und καὶ εὐθύς

The paper describes two constructions which are widespread in the Greek text of the gospel of Mark: the historic present (149 occurrences) and the expression καὶ eὐθύς, “and suddenly” (25 occurrences). Both constructions are found in classical Greek as well, hence an influence of a foreign language cannot a priori be assumed. Both constructions, however, are used slightly differently in Mark than their use in classical and other biblical Greek texts. Their frequency and these differences on the one hand, and the widespread presence of semitisms - probably aramaisms - in Mark on the other hand, have let to the assumption of an Aramaic influence on these Greek constructions. The examination of different Aramaic texts - especially Biblical Aramaic (Daniel and Ezra) and the Peshitta of Mark’s gospel - enabled two Aramaic constructions to be isolated as possible parallels: a participle clause whose head is the participle in narrative contexts, and the Aramaic adverb (b)edayn, “then”.

Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations

Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations

Review of Charlesworth, James H. et al. (eds.), Temple Scroll and Related Documents, Vol. 7 of The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations (The Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project; Louisville: Westm

Review of Charlesworth, James H. et al. (eds.), Temple Scroll and Related Documents, Vol. 7 of The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations (The Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project; Louisville: Westm

The Syntagma of kl ‘all’ with Indeterminate Plural Nouns in Imperial Aramaic and Western Middle Aramaic

This article surveys all occurrences of the noun phrase kl ‘all’ with indeterminate plural nouns in Imperial and Western Middle Aramaic. Taking issue with the assumption that this is an archaic form of the similar determinate construction, the article exemplifies and contrasts their different nuances of meaning. It is suggested that the formal indetermination of the noun phrase marks it as non-specific. As against the construction of kl with indeterminate singular nouns it stresses plurality. The findings have implications for the origin of Imperial Aramaic and for the linguistic dating of Qumran Aramaic texts.

Bibliofilia humanista en tiempos de Felipe II: la biblioteca de Juan Paez de Castro. By ARANTXA DOMINGO MALVADI. (Obras de referencia, 32.)

Juan Páez de Castro (c. 1510–70) is little remembered today, largely because his works remained only in manuscript. Like many humanists of his time he was both a figure at court and an active correspondent with colleagues in Spain and Italy. At Alcalá he studied under Alonso de Zamora, editor of the Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Complutensian Polyglot, hence his knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and ‘Chaldean’ (Aramaic). He also owned Arabic manuscripts. He was at Trento in the entourage of Francisco de Vargas. On the recommendation of Gonzalo Pérez, translator of Homer into Spanish, he was introduced to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, ambassador and poet, whose library he used. Domingo Malvadi pronounces him a formative influence (p. 22). He was secretary to Bishop Francisco de Mendoza in Rome. In 1555 he was appointed Latin chronicler and chaplain to Charles V (and later Philip II). To Philip he addressed his ‘Memorandum on how to form a library’ of 1556 (first printed in 1749 and most recently in 1883 — a new edition is overdue), in which he urged the King to create a royal library, stocking it in part with manuscripts from decayed Italian religious houses (p. 35). He was frankly offering his own services, which the King did not take up. Páez followed his own advice and acquired Greek manuscripts from a monastery in Sicily, swapping Greek manuscripts the monks could not read for printed books (p. 67). In Flanders he knew various Spanish intellectuals, among them Archbishop Carranza. For his Chronicle he asked Philip for documents of ‘weight and authority’, unwilling to rely on ‘letters of soldiers or what people say in the squares’ (p. 41).

Christianized Targums The Usefulness of the Zamora Manuscripts and the Antwerp Polyglot Bible for an Edition of the Targum of the Former Prophets

There are two versions of the Targum of Samuel with Latin translation that have been written or edited by Christian scholars. The first is present in two manuscripts of Alfonso de Zamora, viz. MSS 7542 (Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid; dated 1533) and M-1, M-2 and M-3 (Biblioteca General Histórica, Universidad de Salamanca; dated 1532–1534). The second is edited in the Antwerp Polyglot Bible (1569–1572). Both the manuscripts and the Polyglot Bible were clearly made for a Christian readership, which is demonstrated in this article. The question arises of whether the Aramaic text in these manuscripts and this edition is suitable for the planned new critical edition of Targum Samuel.

And the Streams of Rome Will Be Turned into Pitch Attitudes towards Rome in European Versions of Targum Jonathan

This study focuses on the appropriation of Biblical doom saying to the city of Rome in Targum Jonathan. After discussing the phenomenon of anti-Roman utterances within Jewish exegesis, we will examine seven Targum verses that mention Rome. The appearance, modifications and disappearance of references to Rome are shown in Medieval manuscripts representing Targum Jonathan’s various textual branches and in early modern printed editions of the Rabbinic Bibles and the Polyglot Bibles. When transmitting such anti-Roman Targum verses, Christian Hebraists faced tension, as will be demonstrated, between loyalty to the Church’s capital city and academic integrity, which demanded compliance with the Aramaic consonantal text. We will therefore also show their, at times, creative solutions.

The Transformation of the Torah in Second Temple Judaism

Abstract While the Torah enjoys central importance in the sectarian scrolls, it is not nearly so central in the Aramaic texts found at Qumran. These texts show familiarity with the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but they treat them as sources for stories and wisdom instruction rather than for prescriptive law. The same is true of Ben Sira. Ancestral laws were very important in the Hellenistic world, but their importance was largely symbolic. Even Ezra seems to have focused primarily on a few issues of symbolic importance. Only after the Maccabean revolt do we begin to get sustained halakic discussion in such books as the Temple Scroll and Jubilees. The increased prominence of halakic disputes went hand in hand with the rise of sectarianism.

“His Wisdom Will Reach All Peoples”: 4Q534–536, Q 17:26–27, 30, and 1 En. 65:1–67:3, 90 1

Abstract The Qumran Aramaic texts represent a distinctive group within the larger Qumran corpus that is of considerable significance to the study of Jewish messianism and the New Testament. The identities of the figures in 4Q246 and 4Q534, in particular, have been the subject of ongoing debate. The Parables of Enoch, although not found at Qumran, also plays a role in the comparative study of the Enochic corpus and the New Testament. This discussion revolves, in part, around the identification of Jesus as “son of man,” a title used both in Q and the Parables. Using Q 17:26–27, 30 as a control text, this study focuses on the identity of the mysterious Elect of God figure in 4Q534 in order to explore whether 4Q534, like 4Q246, provides evidence of a confluence of apocalyptic traditions in Early Judaism and nascent Christianity.

Fragments of Targum Onkelos of Exodus Recently Found in Rijeka, Croatia

During the research in the library of the Monastery of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars in Rijeka, Croatia, two folia of a parchment were found in the cover of a 15th century book. The parchments contain an interlinear Hebrew-Aramaic fragment of a manuscript from the Book of Exodus (Exodus 21:23-22:8a; 26:26b- 27:10). In relation to the calligraphic models of Hebrew and Aramaic texts, the origin of the manuscript may be dated between the 12th and 15th centuries, and it may be said to belong to the Ashkenazi Bible-copying tradition, while an examination of the parchment treatment and its preparation for writing places it into the late 13th or early 14th century. The Hebrew text, which is vocalised, does not seem to vary much from the accepted vocalised Hebrew text, except for a certain number of orthographic differences. The Hebrew text of The Book of Exodus is accompanied by a corresponding masora parva which mostly corresponds with what is common in other manuscripts, while masora magna is not legible enough to reach a final conclusion. The Aramaic text contains a vocalised Targum Onkelos, but with certain differences not only in orthography but also in the content. The number and types of differences in relation with the usual text of Targum Onkelos indicate that FgCap VlaTep differs from it in three ways: (i) it attempts to further harmonise the text with the Hebrew Bible, (ii) it avoids matres lectionis and (iii) it contains quite a few grammatical structures characteristic of Palestinian Aramaic. The manuscript was undoubtedly not used in synagogal liturgy, but was an aid in the personal (scholarly) study of the Holy Scripture, and the fragments were a part of a larger codex that could have contained either The Book of Exodus or the complete Torah.

The Son of Man Debate Revisited (1960-2010)

In a lecture delivered in 1965 and published in 1967, I argued that the Greek expression ‘son of man’ in the Gospels represented an Aramaic phrase which in the context of a monologue or dialogue stood as an exclusive but veiled reference to the speaker. The published paper, based on examples collected mostly from Galilean rabbinic Aramaic texts, was followed by a substantial debate in which Maurice Casey and Barnabas Lindars introduced the idea of a generic expression also including the speaker. J. A. Fitzmyer objected to the use of late rabbinic literature and championed biblical and Qumran Middle Aramaic as the only valid comparative material. Finally, Paul Owen and David Shepherd concluded their survey of the Aramaic evidence by asserting that the examples supplied by me did not provide solid linguistic ground for my thesis. This article, re-examining 50 years of debate, sets out to refute the objections and reformulate the self-reference theory.