The twenty-six essays in this volume represent the papers read at the international Conference on the Aramiac Bible held in Dublin (1992). The purpose of the Conference was to bring together leading specialists on the Targums and related topics to discuss issues in the light of recent developments, for instance Second Temple interpretation of the Scriptures, Qumran Literature, targumic and Palestinian Aramaic, new Genizah manuscripts, Jewish tradition, Origen's Hexapla, Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha and the Christian West. The papers are arranged under seven headings: Targum Texts and Editions; The Aramaic Language: The Targums and Jewish Biblical Interpretation; Targums of the Pentateuch; Targums of the Hagiographa; Targums and New Testament; Jewish Traditions and Christian Writings. The international team, drawn from nine countries, is as follows (following the order of the papers); M. Klein, S. Reif, L. Diez Merino, R. Gordon, M. McNamara, S.A. Kaufman, E. Cook, M. Hengel, O. Betz, A. Shinan, J. Ribera, B. Grossfeld, P.V.M. Flesher, G. Boccaccini, M. Maher, R. Hayward, R. Syren, P.S. Alexander, D.R.G. Beattie, C. Mangan, B. Ego, M. Wilcox, B. Chilton, G.J. Norton, B. Kedar Kopstein, M. Stone.

Although the term "minor prophets" is a familiar one in English Bible translations, it is not a felicitous one, since it applies as much to Hosea as to Haggai and to Amos as to Obadiah. The Targum offers no such pecking order. Nuggets of importance are as likely to be found in a Targumized "minor" prophet as a "major" one. Included in this volume are the books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The authors' apparatus in the introduction provides the translational characteristics, theology, life-setting, text and versions, language, rabbinic citations and parallels, dating, manuscripts, and bibliography. A series of indices is also included.

This book conducts a study of contradictions and coherence in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and suggests that the alleged contradictions are ultimately given to resolution, once the greater context of biblical and Jewish tradition is taken into consideration.

Beginning with an introduction of the "Palestinian Targums," or "Targum Yerushalmi," the author relates the history of the term, research in the field, and other background information on the Palestinian Pentateuch Targums before providing a verse-by-verse translation of Neofiti 1.

Targum Chronicles and Its Place Among the Late Targums heralds a paradigm shift in the understanding of many of the Jewish-Aramaic translations of individual biblical books and their origins. Leeor Gottlieb provides the most extensive study of Targum Chronicles to date, leading to conclusions that challenge long-accepted truisms with regard to the origin of Targums. This book’s trail of evidence convincingly points to the composition of Targums in a time and place that was heretofore not expected to be the provenance of these Aramaic gems of biblical interpretation. This study also offers detailed comparisons to other Targums and fascinating new explanations for dozens of aggadic expansions in Targum Chronicles, tying them to their rabbinic sources.

The Book of Exodus speaks of central events in Jewish self-understanding: the Exodus from Egypt, the covenant with Moses, and the giving of the Law. It is part narrative, part religious law. This translation of the Palestinian Targums of Exodus will assist in understanding this biblical book which is, in itself, an elaborate redaction of the Jewish faith.

The value and significance of the targums—translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, the language of Palestinian Jews for centuries following the Babylonian Exile—lie in their approach to translation: within a typically literal rendering of a text, they incorporate extensive exegetical material, additions, and paraphrases that reveal important information about Second Temple Judaism, its interpretation of its bible, and its beliefs. This remarkable survey introduces critical knowledge and insights that have emerged over the past forty years, including targum manuscripts discovered this century and targums known in Aramaic but only recently translated into English. Prolific scholars Flesher and Chilton guide readers in understanding the development of the targums; their relationship to the Hebrew Bible; their dates, language, and place in the history of Christianity and Judaism; and their theologies and methods of interpretation. “With clear presentation of current research and the issues involved, including the Targums and the New Testament, and a rich bibliography, this is the most complete—and up-to-date—introduction to the Targums. An outstanding, highly recommended achievement.” Martin McNamara, Emeritus Professor of Scripture, Milltown Institute, Dublin, Ireland