Kaufman, cal targum texts, text base and variants, the comprehensive aramaic lexicon, hebrew union college jewish institute of religion. First, the targum rishon says that mordecai prayed for seven days. It is so extensive that despite its name it can hardly be regarded as a translation. The book of esther described part of the jewish diaspora that stayed behind in persia and did not return to jerusalem during the restoration. The targum was to be read after every verse of the parashiyyot of the pentateuch, and after every third verse of the lesson from the prophets. When he learns of the edict against the jews, he encourages esther to confront the king. After the return from exile aramaic gradually won the ascendancy as the colloquial language over the slowly decaying hebrew until, from probably the last. Targum sheni was written in byzantine palestine before the rise of islam and then used in islams textual construction of. The place of the book of esther in the christian bible. Esther is, among the generality of jews, the best known of all the books of the bible p. Second translation, a collection of homilies in aramaic on the book of esther scroll of esther. In addition, there is for the law the targum yerushalmi, another recension of which is called targum yonathan ben uzziel.
Mar 01, 2014 the targums to esther the targums to esther damsma, alinda 20140301 00. The cal is a text base of the aramaic texts in all dialects from the earliest 9 th century bce through the th century ce, currently with a database of approximately 2. The fact that none of the events that happened in the movie happened in the book really saddens me. Targum is the distinctive designation of the aramaic translations or paraphrases of the old testament. The two targums of esther download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. It is possible that esther was hadassahs throne name, but this is unsubstantiated. In the book of esther this information is casually presented as unimportant, but comes up later in the story.
Cmrs roundtable the second targum of the book of esther, a translation of esther from hebrew into aramaic, contains material about solomon and sheba not found in the hebrew esther, but found in the koran. The targums are important to biblical scholars for several reasons. The official targums of the law and the prophets approach more nearly the character of translations, though even in them verses are at times explained rather than translated. After the return from exile aramaic gradually won the ascendancy as the colloquial language over the slowly decaying hebrew until, from probably the last century before the christian era, hebrew was hardly more than the language of the schools and of worship. Targums hastings dictionary of the bible bible dictionary. On the other hand, the name xerxes is actually the appropriate greek derivation of the kings persian name, khsyay. This introductory article acquaints the reader with a fascinating, ancient translation of the scroll of esther, the socalled targum to esther. The hebrew book of esther had a religious and social value to the jews during the time of greek and roman antisemitism, though the hebrew short story did not directly mention gods intervention in historyand even god himself is not named. The first targum to esther august 1983 edition open library. May 04, 2016 cmrs roundtable the second targum of the book of esther, a translation of esther from hebrew into aramaic, contains material about solomon and sheba not found in the hebrew esther, but found in the koran. In 2012, a graphic adaptation of the book of esther was illustrated by j.
Kaufman, cal targum texts, text base and variants, the comprehensive aramaic lexicon, hebrew union. Click download or read online button to get the two targums of esther book now. The first targum to esther by bernard grossfeld, august 1983, sepher hermon pr edition, paperback in english. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. Ahasuerus, a name which is confirmed by other greek translations, the latin vulgate, the targums, and the syriac translation. This is not merely because the book, in comparison to the frequented oases of inspired scripture, is an uninviting wilderness. Targums of ruth and chronicles volume 19 aramaic bible mcivor, j. The best known of these is the socalled targum of onkelos, which was one of the earliest targums to be written down.
Waldman and appeared in volume one of the graphic canon, edited by russ kick and published by seven stories press. But many of the targums also have detailed summaries of the translation techniques used, the relationship of the targums to each other like the two esther targums or neofiti and onqelos on the pentateuch, the relation of the targums to other rabbinic writings, the halakha laws, midrash interpretation and haggadah legends, the. The book ends with mordecai as the kings chief minister. What is called the magillat esther scroll of esther is part of the biblical group of books in the hagiographa known as the five megillot, designating esther, the scrolls of canticles, ruth, lamentations, and ecclesiastes. This translation exists in several versions, and therefore it is better to use the plural and speak of the targums to. Two targums of esther aramaic bible vol 18 grossfield, bernard on. For example, commentator mervin breneman writes, vashti was ordered so because of three prior events not mentioned in the book of esther. Summary of the book of esther genuine leather bible. This is the only book length introduction to the targums and their study that takes into account the new targum texts and the implications of their analysis to date. Esther this is a hebrew name from the term myrtle bdb 2, from the targums, cf. From palestine, the tradition of targum to ketuvim made its way to italy, and from there to medieval ashkenaz and sepharad. The megillat esther book of esther became the last of the 24 books of the tanakh to be canonized by the sages of the great assembly. A late targum on chronicles has been found and published separately. Since the pentateuch in its entirety was read consecutively in the successive weekly synagogue services, the targums of the pentateuch were particularly important.
For printed editions of these, reference may be made to the bibliographies given in schurer, hjp note. The ancient jewish rabbis offer several speculations as to why in the aramaic targums ancient versionparaphrase of the hebrew scriptures. The second targum to esther is an ancient aramaic translation of the hebrew book of esther. Robert appleton company, 1912 targum is the distinctive designation of the aramaic translations or paraphrases of the old testament. But when the dead sea scrolls were finally translated, we saw every book of the old testamentexcept one, estherhad some fragment in it or whatever. This translation exists in several versions, and therefore it is better to use the plural and speak of the targums to esther. They are a witness to the hebrew bible text as it existed in the first few centuries ce, and references to them are frequent in the apparatus of the biblia hebraica. Biblical literature greek additions to esther britannica. The two targums of esther download ebook pdf, epub.
The book of esther is a 20 movie starring jen lilley as queen esther and joel smallbone as king xerxes. To bring the canonical book uptodate in connection with contemporary anti. The author of the book of esther is unknown, though some attribute the work to mordecai. Some of the apocryphal additions to esther appear in a late targum to that book. The aramaic bible volume 18 the two targums of esther translated, with apparatus and notes by bernard grossfeld a michael glazierz book the liturgical press. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. The targum of chronicles is quite late, possibly medieval.
The value and significance of the targumstranslations of the hebrew bible into aramaic, the language of palestinian jews for centuries following the babylonian exilelie in their approach to translation. Email citation this is the only booklength introduction to the targums and their study that takes into account the new targum texts and the implications of their analysis to date. If this is what the movie is called, let it be true to its story. The canonicity of the book was questioned by some in ancient judaism and early christianity.
The two targums just described represent the judaic aramaic. Admit its historical character and all is easywe have an adequate cause assigned for the visible effects. These five scrolls play an integral part in jewish liturgy next to the pentateuch. Esther s uncle, mordecai, appears first as an adoptive father, whose solicitude for esther leads him to the kings gate, where he foils a plot to assassinate the king. One approach to chronicles would suggest that it was not considered an altogether vital component in the canon. Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king and made it known to esther who passed the news to the king.
The targums are the aramaic translationsor rather paraphrasesof the books of the old testament, and, in their earliest form, date from the time when aramaic superseded hebrew as the spoken language of the jews. The book of esther describes the jewish heroine esther, who saved the jewish people in persia from annihilation during the reign of king xerxes i ahasuerus of persia, who ruled from 486 to 465 bc. While any translation of the scriptures may in hebrew be called a targum, the word is used especially for a translation of a book of the hebrew bible into. Excepting the scroll of esther, which might be read by two persons in turn, only one person might read the targum, as the pentateuch or prophetic section also was read by a single person.
The textual lineaments of three medieval identities. The whole scroll is now in the shrine of the book museum in jerusalem. Listen to this description in the five megilloth, a jewish commentary published by the soncino press. The targumim of psalms, proverbs, and job are generally treated as a unit, as are the targumim of the five scrolls esther has a longer second targum as well. The paraphrase is greatly influenced by the book of daniel.
Pdf the targums to esther, in european judaism, 47. Targums of ruth and chronicles volume 19 aramaic bible. This translation exists in several versions, and therefore it is better to use the plural and speak of. Subsequent to esther, ezra leads a second return to the land of israel about 20 to 30 years later in 458 bc under artaxerxes ezra 7.
Apr 30, 20 but many of the targums also have detailed summaries of the translation techniques used, the relationship of the targums to each other like the two esther targums or neofiti and onqelos on the pentateuch, the relation of the targums to other rabbinic writings, the halakha laws, midrash interpretation and haggadah legends, the. It includes the aramaic text, variant readings, lexical form tags to assist the reader in looking up words, and. The book of esther 6 powerful life lessons from the bible. Michael sokoloff, the targums to the book of esther, barilan university s parashat hashavua study center, parashat tezavehzakhor 5764 march 6, 2004 a b s. The source of this digital edition of the second targum to esther comes from the comprehensive aramaic lexicon project at hebrew union collegejewish institute of religion, cincinnati, usa. According to the talmud, it was a redaction by the great assembly of an original text by mordecai.
The targums that require most to be considered are the official targums, those that are given in the rabbinic bibles in columns parallel with the columns of hebrew. The book of esther chapter 1 the kings banquets and queen. Song of songs, ruth, lamentations, ecclesiastes, esther. Biblical literature biblical literature greek additions to esther. Anderson i ike saul among the prophets, the book of esther seems strangely out of place in the christian bible. The targum sheni second targum is an aramaic translation and elaboration of the book of esther, that embellishes the biblical account with considerable new apocryphal material, not on the face of it directly related to the esther story.