Studies in the syntax of Targum Jonathan to Samuel

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation consists of a linguistic study of the Aramaic of Targum Jonathan. Targum Jonathan (and its twin Targum Onqelos) is a paraphrastic translation of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. Although it is usually recognized that it reached its final shape in Babylonia in the early centuries of our era, nowadays it is generally assumed that it was originally composed on Palestinian soil and found its way to Babylonia at a later stage. The question of its exact origin, however, has never been conclusively answered.

Taking the Books of Samuel as a basis, this doctoral dissertation investigates five points of the syntax of the Aramaic of Targum Jonathan (determination, viz. the uses of the absolute and emphatic states; morphosyntax of the numerals; distribution of the genitive constructions; the verbal system and word order). The findings of this study are then systematically compared to what is known at present of the syntax of other pre-modern Aramaic idioms, in an attempt to classify the Aramaic of Targum Jonathan along dialectological lines and shed additional light on its provenance.