This book forms a contribution to the vexing question of the origin and growth of the Targum to the Prophets. It provides an in-depth analysis of the Targum of Judges on the basis of new materials (unpublished manuscripts), a new tool (bilingual concordance) and a new method (analysis of consistency). A critical review of previous research concerning the Targum's origin and growth is followed by an analysis and collations of many Western manuscripts, a systematic comparison of the Targum with the ancient translations, a study of its exegetical traditions and a thorough examination of its consistency. On this basis it is suggested that the Targum assumed its basic form in the second century CE, due to the emergency of the rabbinic tradition, but outside the context of the synagogue.

The present study explores the possibility of using variant readings of the Targum of the Prophets to get a better insight into the origin and history of Targum Jonathan. The focus is on two sorts of variant readings: the Tosefta Targums and the targumic quotations in rabbinic and medieval Jewish literature. The chapter on the Tosefta Targums concentrates on variants from the book of Samuel. The chapter on the targumic quotations includes quotations of all the Prophets in early Jewish literature. In the Appendix a full list is given of all quotations of Targums of the Prophets presently known. The book is useful for the study of the genesis of Targum Jonathan as well as for its later developments.

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.

The oracle against the King of Tyre, found in Ezekiel 28.12-19, is a difficult text that inspired diverse interpretations in Late Antiquity. For example, according to one rabbinic tradition the text spoke of the first man, Adam, while the Church Fathers found in the same text a description of the fall of Satan. This book studies the rabbinic sources, patristic literature, the Targum, and the ancient translations, and seeks to understand the reasons for the diverse interpretation, the interaction between the exegetical traditions and the communities of interpreters, in particular between Jews and Christians, and the effect the specific form and wording of the text had on the formation and development of each interpretation.

This seminal and comprehensive study of Targum Jonathan to Zephaniah focuses on two major facets of exegesis: The twenty-one manuscripts from five different provenances, reflecting a variety of textual traditions and scribal erudition, thus revealing distinct stemmas; and the history of transmission of Targum Jonathan. Divergences from the literality of the MT unveil the emotions a " fear, dismay, and hope a " and the prayers of the meturgeman, as he reacts to historical events in the near past and in his own time.

The essays that comprise this volume in honor of Adrian Schenker address a variety of issues and topics in the field of textual criticism and the textual history of the Hebrew Bible. Except for the Book of Kings, the contributors are editors of individual Biblical books for the new Biblia Hebraica Quinta. The topics of the essays range from assessments of the overall textual situation for a particular book to investigations of translation technique to studies of particularities in the Leningrad Codex and its Masorah. Most books of the Hebrew Scriptures are treated in one of the essays.

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliography contains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

This book deals with many aspects of the land of Israel. In the first part, the emphasis is on descriptions of the land in Joshua and other books of the Hebrew anf Greek Bible. In the second part, the focus shifts to the land in history and theology: reception-history of biblical texts dealing with the land, archaeology of Palestine, and theological-hermeneutical implications of taking the land traditions of the Bible seriously. The result is a rich collection of articles on one of the main themes of the Old Testament; a theme that has a fascinating, although not always unproblematic reception history.

This extract from the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible provides Guest and West’s introduction to and concise commentary on Judges and Ruth. The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible presents, in nontechnical language, the best of modern scholarship on each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. Reader-friendly commentary complements succinct summaries of each section of the text and will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers. Rather than attempt a verse-by-verse analysis, these volumes work from larger sense units, highlighting the place of each passage within the overarching biblical story. Commentators focus on the genre of each text—parable, prophetic oracle, legal code, and so on—interpreting within the historical and literary context. The volumes also address major issues within each biblical book—including the range of possible interpretations—and refer readers to the best resources for further discussions.