Targum Studies: Targum and Peshitta (Studies in the History of Judaism)

This collection of nine essays examines the issue of whether the targums and the Peshitta-both ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible into dialects of Aramaic-are related in some way. Peshitta scholars have debated the question of the relationship for over 135 years. Without knowing what the other authors were saying, each contributor to this volume has added a piece to the puzzle so that together the essays add up to a resolution of the scholarly debate. By focusing on different books of the Bible, the essays together show that generally the targums and the Peshitta are unrelated and that the translators of the Peshitta were acquainted with the form and content of Jewish exegesis. The defining and significant characteristic of this work is that the essays were written at the end of a multi-decade project to produce a critical edition of the Peshitta. Now that the text and the history of the Peshitta's development is known the question of its relationship to the targums can be answered with confidence.