Peter Kirby

Apikorus writes:

"The Targum Jonathan (falsely attributed to the tanna Yonatan ben Uzziel) is generally accepted to depend on the Targum Onqelos and probably dates to ca. 400-500 CE."

Does anyone (Apikorus obviously included here) have any references concerning the date of the Targum Jonathan and/or know any arguments? I tried looking in a couple books and didn't turn up anything. Thanks for your help.

best,
Peter Kirby

Haran

Apikorus probably knows more about this stuff (and I'm not sure what the original context was), but I think we might be confusing the Targum of Jonathan and the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan.

According to my sources, Pseudo-Jonathan (of the Pentateuch, attributed falsely to Jonathan ben Uzziel) was composed around 650 AD and consists of a mixture of Onkelos and midrashic materials. I wonder if it might have been created in the name of Jonathan to replace the Targum of Onkelos (of the Pentateuch) for some reason...just speculation.

The Targum of Jonathan (of the Prophets), on the other hand, my sources say, dates to around 300 AD and is, I believe, separate from Onkelos.

The traditions in them are said to possibly date back to pre-christian times.

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Targum of Onkelos - Pentateuch
Targum of Jonathan - Prophets

Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan - Pentateuch

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Sources:

• Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible by Emanuel Tov - pp. 148-151
• The Text of the Old Testament by Ernst Wurthwein - pp. 80-84
• A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by Gleason Archer - pp. 42, 53-54

Celsus

Thanks, Haran. I was wondering about that since I thought it was post-Islamic. Isn't Targum Pseudo-Jonathan actually Targum Jerusalem (I)?

Joel

Haran

Yes.

BTW, more info for you and others who might be interested....Onkelos seems to be a corruption of Aquila. There is speculation that this is the same Aquila responsible for the woodenly literal Septuagint version by the same name. This is interesting because the Aramaic Targum of Onkelos is also considered a rather literal translation.

Haran

Apikorus,

I have Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash by Strack & Stemberger. It is a great source of information (if you know of a better one, I'd appreciate an amazon link).

However, I can't find Yonatan ben Uzziel listed among the Tannaim. Was he known by a different name?

Also, I don't think the targumim are covered in the above book. Have any idea why they wouldn't be (if you are familiar with it, of course)? Is there another word used for 'targum'?

Peter Kirby

I would like to know the date of the Targum of Jonathan (of the Prophets). Does anyone have quotes or arguments?

best,
Peter Kirby

Haran

I mentioned the date of c. 300 AD above, this came from a table in Archer's Introduction to the OT, page 42. The text of page 54 says: "The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Prophets (i.e., Joshua to Kings, Isaiah to Malachi) was composed in the fourth century AD, and likewise in Babylonian circles."

Wurthwein (mentioned above) says: "These {i.e. Onkelos/Jonathan} are official Targums whose definitive wording was evidently established in Babylon in the fifth century after a long history of development." And also: "Targum Jonathan...contains more haggadic material and in part goes back to pre-Christian times..."

Looking into the matter further, it seems that dates for this Targum are all over the map....

I found something very similar to Apikorus' quoted view in The Journey from Texts to Translations by Wegner (p. 202): "Targum Jonathan - Date: 4th-5th century." And also: "The official Babylonian Targum of the Prophets probably translated by Rabbi Joseph ben Hayya (c. 270-330), head of the academy of Pumbeditha (T.B. Baba Bathra 3b; Yoma 32b). Bears many similarities to Targum Onkelos; though not generally expansive, it includes a significant amount of haggadah."

The Dictionary of New Testament Background has some interesting things to say: "Perhaps equally important is the question of when these targumic traditions started. Onqelos and Jonathan are missing from Qumran. (The only clear evidence of any targum at Qumran are two copies of Job, a unique work in the Hebrew Bible. There is also a piece of an Aramaic document related to Leviticus 16...) This silence is quite loud in comparison to the many Aramaic texts found at Qumran and would suggest that the origins of Onqelos and Jonathan are more probably to be dated after AD 70 than before. But they probably arrived in Babylon before 200." And also: "Thus the time of origin of both Onqelos/Jonathan and the Palestinian Targum may overlap in the second century. The Palestinian Targum is likely to have been written down from AD 150 to 250 and Onqelos/Jonathan sometime between AD 70 and 200."

Here are a few on the web resources:

"For Jonathan as for Onkelos the final settlement of the written form did not occur until the fifth Christian century."
NewAdvent

"...as early as the beginning of the fourth century the Targum to the Prophets was recognized as of ancient authority."
Jewish Encyclopedia

"...the year 275 CE is not impossible, within the terms of reference of current discussion, as a date for Targum Jonathan to the Latter Prophets in its present form."
A New Source in the Vision of Isaiah

Many of these sources seem to say there is still a lot of work to be done in this area of study, especially when it comes to the finds among the DSS. This must be why the dating seems so scattered. Perhaps Apikorus will know more.

Peter Kirby

Thanks, Haran, you're a stud. Apikorus, can you add anything?

best,
Peter Kirby

Celsus

Apikorus is away at the moment (travelling to Israel IIRC). Bumping this topic the next time he posts is probably the best thing to do.

Joel

Haran

Bumped for Apikorus, since I saw him post yesterday afternoon.