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LIBRARY OF SECOND TEMPLE STUDIES
83 Formerly Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series
Editor Lester L. Grabbe
Editorial Board Randall D. Chesnutt, Philip R. Davies, Jan Willem van Henten, Judith M. Lieu, Steven Mason, James R. Mueller, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, James C. VanderKam
Founding Editor James H. Charlesworth
THE TEMPLE IN TEXT AND TRADITION
A Festschrift in Honour of Robert Hayward
Edited by R. Timothy McLay
Bloomsbury T&T Clark An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc LON DON • OX F O R D • N E W YO R K • N E W D E L H I • SY DN EY
Bloomsbury T&T Clark An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Imprint previously known as T&T Clark 50 Bedford Square London WC1B 3DP UK
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www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY, T&T CLARK and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2015 Paperback edition first published 2016 © R. Timothy McLay, 2015 R. Timothy McLay has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editor of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the authors. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-0-56706-269-7 PB: 978-0-56766-957-5 ePDF: 978-0-56765-828-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Series: Library of Second Temple Studies, volume 83 Typeset by Forthcoming Publications (www.forthpub.com) Printed and bound in Great Britain
CONTENTS Abbreviations Contributors
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INTRODUCTION
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PUBLICATIONS BY C. T. R. (ROBERT) HAYWARD
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THE BOUNDARIES OF TRANSLATION Anthony Gelston
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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE SERPENT? UNENDING STRUGGLE, HERMENEUTICS, AND THE INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 3.15 R. W. L. Moberly
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RECONSTRUCTING TOBIT 13.6–10 Stuart Weeks
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JEWISH WORSHIP AMID GREEKS: THE LEXICAL CONTEXT OF THE OLD GREEK PSALTER James K. Aitken
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RABBINIC AND PATRISTIC BIBLE EXEGESIS AS INTERTEXTS: TOWARDS A THEORY OF COMPARATIVE MIDRASH Philip S. Alexander
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THE PARACLETE Margaret Barker
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THE ZEAL OF READERS IN DEFENCE AND IN DISSENT: PHINEHAS’ SPEAR, THE COVENANT OF PEACE, AND THE POLITICS OF HERMENEUTICS Richard S. Briggs
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READING, SEARCHING AND BLESSING: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO SCRIPTURAL INTERPRETATION IN THE %'
George J. Brooke
JOSEPH AS EXEMPLAR OF WISDOM: A HIDDEN ALLUSION IN SIRACH 21.11–21 Jeremy Corley
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SAMPLES OF VARIANT READINGS IN THE ARMENIAN PROVERBS: A COMPARISON WITH THE HEXAPLARIC TEXT AND THE PESHITTA Lorenzo Cuppi
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THE GREEK TRANSLATIONS OF DANIEL 4–6 R. Timothy McLay
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A GLASGOW OCTATEUCH AND A LEIDEN PSALTER, TWO OLD TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS FORMERLY BELONGING TO DR JOHN CLEMENT (CA. 1500–1572): HISTORY AND HYPOTHESIS J. Lionel North
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OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE AND LITERARY FABRIC OF THE TEMPLE SCROLL Alex Samely
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THE SONS OF JOSEPH IN 1 CHRONICLES 5.1–2 AND IN EARLY SAMARITAN TRADITION H. G. M. Williamson Index of References Index of Authors
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278 298 312
ABBREVIATIONS AB ADPV AOAT BASOR BASORSup BBB BBR BEATAJ BETL BHS Bib BibInt BIOSCS BJS BKAT BO BWANT BZABR BZAW BZNW CBQ CBQMS CHANE ConBOT CPJ DCLS DJD DSD DSS EHAT EV(V)
Anchor Bible Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästinavereins Alter Orient und Altes Testament Bulletin of the American Schools for Oriental Research Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Supplements Bonner Biblische Beitrनge Bulletin of Biblical Research Beiträge zur Erforschung des Alten Testaments und des antiken Judentum Bibliotheca ephemerides theologicae lovanienses Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia Biblica Biblical Interpreation Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies Brown Judaic Studies Biblisches Kommentar zum Alten Testament Bibliotheca orientalis Beitrनge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für Altorientalishe und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft Catholic Biblical Quarterly Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Monograph Series Culture and History of the Ancient Near East Coniectanea Biblica, Old Testament Series Corpus papyrorum judaicorum. Edited by V. Tcherikover. 3 vols. Cambridge, 1957–64 Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies Discoveries in the Judean Desert Dead Sea Discoveries Dead Sea Scrolls Exegetisches Handbuch zum Alten Testament English version(s)
viii G GO HB HR HBS HUCA ICC IG IK I.métr.Ég. JAJSup JBL JBLMS JETS JIGRE JJS JNSL JQR JRS JSJ JSJSup JSOT JSP JSS JSSM JTISup JTS KAT KHC LCL LP LSJ LSTS LXX
MPIL MT
NCBC NEB NJPS NRSV
NTL NTS 1
Abbreviations Greek Glasgow Octateuch Hebrew Bible Hatch-Redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint and the other Greek Versions of the Old Testament Herders biblische Studien Hebrew Union College Annual International Critical Commentary Inscriptiones Graecae Engelmann, H., Die Inschriften von Kyme. Bonn, 1976 Bernand, É., Inscriptions métriques de l'Égypte gréco-romaine. Paris, 1969 Journal of Ancient Judaism Supplements Journal of Biblical Literature Journal of Biblical Literature, Monograph Series Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Jewish Inscriptions of Graeco-Roman Egypt Journal of Jewish Studies Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages Jewish Quarterly Review Journal of Roman Studies Journal for the Study of Judaism Journal for the Study of Judaism, Supplement Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Journal of Semitic Studies Journal of Semitic Studies, Monographs Journal of Theological Interpretation Supplements Journal of Theological Studies Kommentar zum Alten Testament Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten Testament Loeb Classical Library Leiden Psalter Liddell and Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon Library of Second Temple Studies Septuagint, not necessarily in its oldest recoverable form (according to Rhalfs) Monographs of the Peshi৬ta Institute, Leiden Masoretic Text New Century Bible Commentary New English Bible Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: The New JPS Translation according to the Traditional Hebrew Text New Revised Standard Version New Testament Library New Testament Studies
Abbreviations OBO OG OTS PSI PTA RB REB
RevQ RV
RVV S SB SBL SBLMS SBLSCS SBS SCS SEG Sem SJOT STDJ StPB TAM Th TSAJ TynBul UPZ VT VTSup WMANT WUNT ZAW
1
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Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis Old Greek Oudtestamentische Studiën Papyri Greci e Latini. Pubblicazioni della Società italiana per la ricerca dei papiri greci e latini in Egitto. Florence, 1912–79 Papyrologische Texte und Abhandlungen Revue Biblique Revised English Bible Revue de Qumran Revised Version Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten Syriac Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten. Edited by F. Preisigke et al. Vols. 1–, 1915– Society of Biblical Literature SBL Monograph Series SBL Septuagint and Cognate Series Stuttgarter Bibelstudien Septuagint and Cognate Studies Series Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum Semitica Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah Studia post-biblica Tituli Asiae Minoris. Vienna, 1901– Theodotion Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism Tyndale Bulletin Urkunden der Ptolemäerzeit (ältere Funde), ed. U. Wilcken Vetus Testamentum Vetus Testamentum Supplements Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
CONTRIBUTORS James K. Aitken, Lecturer in Hebrew, Old Testament and Second Temple Studies Fellow, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK Philip S. Alexander, Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester, UK Margaret Barker, Independent Scholar, Co-founder of the Temple Studies Group, UK Richard S. Briggs, Lecturer in Old Testament and Director of Biblical Studies, Cranmer Hall, St John’s College, Durham University, UK George J. Brooke, Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, University of Manchester, UK Jeremy Corley, Lecturer in Scripture, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland Lorenzo Cuppi, Independent Scholar, Bologna, Italy The Rev. Dr. Anthony Gelston, Emeritus Reader in Theology, University of Durham, UK R. Timothy (Tim) McLay, Independent Scholar and President, Scholar’s Publisher, Halifax, NS, Canada R. W. L. (Walter) Moberly, Professor of Theology and Biblical Interpretation, Durham University, UK J. Lionel North, New Testament, University of Hull (Retired), UK Alex Samely, Professor of Jewish Thought, Manchester University, Manchester, UK
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Contributors
Stuart Weeks, Senior Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew, Durham University, UK H. G. M. Williamson, Professor of Hebrew (Emeritus), University of Oxford, and Student of Christ Church, UK
1
INTRODUCTION How does one summarize a life-time of work and verbalize the impact of someone’s life and research? Although all of us devote a great deal of time and energy to a discipline centered around texts, words are inadequate. What matters is the evolution of our interaction and engagement with someone and the impact they have made on our lives. In some cases, it is incumbent upon us to stop, reÀect, and celebrate such a life. Robert Hayward is such a person. He is a gentleman and a scholar who has set a standard in his personal life and scholarship for all to emulate. Durham has been Robert’s academic home for four decades. He began his journey there as an undergraduate where he completed his Honours degree in Theology (1971) and Masters (1973) before moving on to his doctoral work with Professor Geza Vermes at Oxford. On completion of his studies and after a brief spell at Lancaster University (1977–79) Robert had the opportunity to return to his alma mater where he has helped anchor one of the best theology departments in the world. Robert has been a devoted and engaging teacher, inspiring generations of students, and not just in the ¿eld of Hebrew Bible. At a time when nationally language learning has been on the decline, Robert has inspired students to master not only Hebrew but also Aramaic and Syriac, maintaining signi¿cant numbers in the classes. His own mastery of the languages has been the key tool for reading the texts and discovering their secrets. The time he has devoted to students has not prevented him from maintaining an impressive research output. Robert’s research interests and publications are far-ranging in ancient Judaism but have focused most particularly on his ¿rst love: the Targums. For Robert, the Targums offer puzzles to be interpreted, brief allusions to wider interpretative traditions. To solve the conundrums one must pay attention to the details of the text of the Hebrew Bible, and how it has been interpreted and explained through the Second Temple period and on into the Rabbis. His writings display this breadth of knowledge of sources and attention to the details and interpretative possibilities buried within the texts.
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When I wrote to the department in the fall of 1988 to make an initial inquiry about research in Septuagint Daniel, I had no idea how fortunate I was that Robert had a ‘keen’ interest in my topic. He treated me like a colleague and allowed me to develop my own ideas. We did not meet a lot, but he was always available if I wanted to discuss something and he encouraged me constantly. Thus, I considered it an honour when I was asked to oversee this project. Robert is beloved by us and many more, and, as friends, colleagues, and former students, we offer this volume in celebration of Robert’s decades of service to the academic community in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. The ¿rst three contributions are by long-time colleagues of Robert at Durham. The paper by Anthony Gelston, who was also Robert’s teacher during his studies at Durham, is the ¿rst essay. Starting with an examination of the particularly audacious rendering of Isa. 19.25 in Targum Jonathan, Gelston’s study attempts an assessment of the boundaries of legitimate interpretation and reinterpretation within the Targumic practice of translation. Some precedents are found in reinterpretation of passages within the biblical text itself, and comparisons are also made with the phenomenon of ‘rewritten’ works. The next two essays are also from colleagues of the department at Durham. R. W. L. Moberly considers two divergent interpretations of Gen. 3.15. One is that the text depicts unending hostility between humans and snakes, as an aetiology of a regular phenomenon in life. The other, which is both ancient and recently revived, is that the text not only depicts hostility but also promises human victory over the snake; as such, in a Christian frame of reference, it looks towards the victory of Christ, and those who are in Christ, over Satan. Moberly makes the best case for each interpretation, and asks whether the victory interpretation can withstand the criticism that it is insuf¿ciently rooted in the wording of Gen. 3.15. Much depends on the weight that is given to wider canonical and theological factors. Stuart Weeks provides a reconstruction of Tob. 13.6-10. Most of the passage has been lost in Codex Sinaiticus, which is our principal source for the unrevised Greek text of the book, but which contains many such omissions. Weeks attempts to reconstruct the probable form of the text, principally on the basis of the revised manuscripts and of the Old Latin witnesses, with some guidance from the fragmentary Aramaic 4Q196. Although not every minor detail can be established with certainty, it is possible to gain a much clearer sense of the original content and structure of the chapter as a whole, which has been signi¿cantly altered in the revised, majority Greek text.
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The remainder of the contributions have been arranged in alphabetical order by last name. James Aitken examines some of the verbs and adjectives used for praising God in the Greek translation of the Psalms and ¿nds that the same terms are employed in Greek cults in the east. It seems that the Greek translators shared vocabulary with cultic groups in antiquity, and especially those from Egypt, and shared concepts of god with the worshippers of Isis, Sarapis, and other cults, leading to the adoption of terms distinct from the Olympian deities. The translation can thus be most likely situated in Egypt and the self-understanding of the translators seen in relation to other religious groupings in the east. The next essay examines parallels between Rabbinic and Patristic Bible exegesis as Philip Alexander attempts to lay down some parameters for a theory of Comparative Midrash. According to Alexander, a successful theory has to start from the recognition that both Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity are ‘scholastic religions’. However, their similarity is much more than a question of type. They share the same canon, the same doctrine of Scripture, a similar hermeneutical approach, and a common heritage in Second Temple Judaism. Alexander further suggests that an obvious place to start is with those questions which we know from the apologetic tradition to have constituted major points of dispute between the two sides. He explores one of these questions, the abrogation of the Torah, and concludes by arguing that a new approach is needed to both Rabbinic and Patristic Bible exegesis, one that might be called Comparative Midrash, in which one tradition should always be read synoptically against the other and the intertextualities explored. Margaret Barker explores the origins of the name Paraclete, which is unique to the writings of John and is not identical with the Holy Spirit mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. Barker argues that the original Christian proclamation was that Jesus was Yahweh—‘Jesus is the LORD’—and the Paraclete was his presence returning after the cruci¿xion of Jesus. According to Barker, the Paraclete was the Angel of the LORD, and the name does not mean ‘the comforter’ but ‘the one who is summoned’. In ‘The Zeal of Readers’, Richard Briggs examines the story of Phinehas and his spear in Numbers 25, in pursuit of questions about the interpretation of a violent text. His argument proceeds in three stages: ¿rst, a careful literary-historical reading of the text; secondly, a review of the various forms of interpretative zeal that creep into almost all discussions of this passage; and, ¿nally, a turn to questions of theological and hermeneutical frameworks, and a wrestling with the politics of hermeneutics.
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George Brooke analyzes a well-known passage of the Rule of the Community and proposes that three terms—‘reading’, ‘searching’ and ‘blessing’—provide us with summary access to the three principal modes of the handling of authoritative scriptural texts in Second Temple Judaism. He suggests that ‘reading’ might include the performance of scriptural texts which could also include the kind of glossing that is well known from the manuscript evidence for the transmission of texts, in many ways akin to several of the aspects of rewriting; ‘searching’ might cover all kinds of implicit and explicit interpretation of legal, prophetic and narrative texts; and ‘blessing’ might be an umbrella term for the use of prayers and hymns that rework poetic passages of scripture for new contexts. Much of this interpretative transmission takes place within liturgical or cultic contexts, a long-standing interest of our honorand. Jeremy Corley provides a close reading of Sirach in order to isolate echoes of the Joseph story. Ben Sira’s book mentions Joseph only once (Sir. 49.15), but the Genesis patriarch’s example of wise conduct ¿nds hidden echoes in Sir. 21.11–21. Furthermore, the Greek text of Sir. 21.11 combines important elements reÀected in Joseph’s life: the law, selfcontrol, fear of the Lord, and wisdom. Moreover, the poem’s Syriac text makes reference to a cistern (or well) and to a prison (Sir. 21.14, 18), both of which recall the patriarch’s sufferings. In addition, the contrast between fetters and a gold ornament serves to symbolize Joseph’s rise to power. The comparable motif of someone unexpectedly rising to a powerful position because of his wisdom also appears in Sir. 10.19–11.6. One of Robert’s most recent doctoral students is Lorenzo Cuppi, whose research focuses on the Septuagint of Proverbs. Cuppi provides an initial philological attempt to check textual evidence for the claim in the Armenian historical tradition that the translation of the book of Proverbs was the ¿rst to be accomplished after the invention of the alphabet. The same tradition infers that the ¿rst translators of the Bible were conversant both in Syriac and Greek, and that Greek manuscripts were brought after the council of Ephesus (431 CE) directly from Constantinople with the purpose of producing a reliable translation. The Armenian Proverbs are compared with the Hexaplaric text as well as the Peshitta. In the last of his series of studies on the Greek texts of Daniel, McLay compares the OG and Th translations of chs. 4–6. The text of OG has been characterized as midrash and pesher because of its lengthy additions compared to MT/Th. However, McLay demonstrates that the expanded nature of OG’s version is due to the corruption of OG by the secondary addition of Th readings.
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While a number of contributors focus on textual problems, the essay by Lionel North brings life to the study of manuscripts by reminding us that they have a history. North tells the story of two manuscripts studied by John Clement (ca. 1500–1572), who was a son-in-law of Sir Thomas More. For the sake of the Catholic faith, Clement lived abroad for some years in voluntary exile in Holland where he rubbed shoulders with prominent scholars. In addition to his medical duties, he devoted a lot of time to the study of Old Testament MSS. Two of these, now in the University Libraries of Glasgow and Leiden, shared in the dangers of the times and led adventurous lives. They were used in the preparation of the Antwerp Polyglot made by Benedictus Arias Montano (1568–1573) and in subsequent editions of the Septuagint. The pro¿le of the Temple Scroll is the subject of the contribution by Alex Samely. He argues, ¿rst, that the Temple Scroll’s literary surface must be described on its own terms, without presupposing that it merely reproduces ‘biblical’ literary features or is exhaustively characterized by its dependency on earlier texts. Second, Samely suggests that the Temple Scroll’s literary surface is in fact signi¿cantly different from that of its likely biblical sources, and also from Jubilees. The third point of his essay draws attention to the Temple Scroll’s numerous individually constituted statements, namely the commands that make up much of its fabric. Fourthly, he points out that, in apparently creating a comprehensive large-scale thematic order, the scroll stands in contrast to other normative texts of ancient Judaism. Finally, Samely enumerates typical grammatical and semantic features of the Temple Scroll, and then summarizes what he see as its fundamental literary characteristics. The ¿nal essay, by H. G. M. Williamson, focuses on 1 Chr. 5.1–2 and its startling and unparalleled claim regarding the position of Joseph within the tribal divisions of Israel. After a brief examination of a textual problem in these verses in a way which defends the current form of the Hebrew text against those who have suggested that it should be emended, the essay explores the unusual claims advanced and suggests that later Samaritan literature, especially the Memar Marqah, together with earlier allusions in Jewish texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls and elsewhere, may be based on much earlier traditions that retain a clue as to the Chronicler’s positive concession at this point. Thank you again, Robert, for your humble and inspiring example of teaching and scholarship. Tim McLay, April 4, 2014
PUBLICATIONS BY C. T. R. (ROBERT) HAYWARD Books Divine Name and Presence: The Memra (Totowa, N.J.: Allenheld Osmun, 1981). The Targum of Jeremiah. Translated, with a Critical Introduction, Apparatus, and Notes (The Aramaic Bible, 12; Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1987). (with Martin McNamara) Targum Neo¿ti 1: Exodus Notes (The Aramaic Bible, 2; Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1994). (with Martin McNamara) Targum Neo¿ti 1: Leviticus Introduction and Notes (The Aramaic Bible, 3; Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1994) Jerome’s Hebrew Questions on Genesis: Translated with an Introduction and Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). The Jewish Temple: A Non-Biblical Sourcebook (London: Routledge, 1996). Edited, with Peter J. Harland, New Heaven and New Earth: Prophecy and the Millennium: Essays in Honour of Anthony Gelston (Leiden: Brill, 1999). Pauline Allen and C. T. R. Hayward, Severus of Antioch (London: Routledge, 2004). Edited, with Brad Embry, Studies in Jewish Prayer (JSSSup, 17; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Interpretations of the Name Israel in Ancient Judaism and Some Early Christian Writings (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Targums and the Transmission of Scripture into Judaism and Christianity (Leiden: Brill, 2010). Collaborator with Alex Samely, Philip Alexander, and Rocco Bernasconi, Pro¿ling Jewish Literature in Antiquity: An Inventory, from Second Temple Texts to the Talmuds (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).
Articles ‘The Memra of YHWH and the Development of its Use in Targum Neo¿ti 1’, JJS 25 (1974), pp. 412–18. ‘Phinehas—The Same Is Elijah: The Origins of a Rabbinic Tradition’, JJS 29 (1978), pp. 22–34. ‘The Holy Name of the God of Moses and the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel’, NTS 25 (1978–79), pp. 16–32. ‘The Fourth Philosophy: Sicarii and Zealots’. Appendix B in E. Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, vol. 2 (ed. G. Vermes, F. Millar, and M. Black; rev. ed.; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1979), pp. 598–606.
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‘The Aqedah’, Appendix to article by S. W. Sykes, ‘Sacri¿ce in the New Testament and Christian Theology’, in Sacri¿ce (ed. M. F. C. Bourdillon and M. Fortes; London: Academic Press for the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1980), pp. 84–87. ‘Memra and Shekhina: A Short Note’, JJS 31 (1980), pp. 210–13. ‘The Present State of Research into the Targumic Account of the Sacri¿ce of Isaac’, JJS 32 (1981), pp. 127–50. ‘The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis: A Reconsideration’, JJS 33 (Essays in Honour of Yigael Yadin) (1982), pp. 429–43. ‘Jewish Traditions in Jerome’s Commentary on Jeremiah and the Targum of Jeremiah’, Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association 9 (1985), pp. 100–120. ‘Some Notes on Scribes and Priests in the Targum of the Prophets’, JJS 36 (1985), pp. 210–21. ‘St. Jerome and the Aramaic Targumim’, JSS 32 (1987), pp. 105–23. ‘The Date of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Some Comments’, JJS 40 (1989), pp. 7–30. ‘Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Anti-Islamic Polemic’, JSS 34 (1989), pp. 77–93. ‘Jacob’s Second Visit to Bethel in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan’, in A Tribute to Geza Vermes: Essays on Jewish and Christian Literature and History (ed. P. R. Davies and R. T. White; JSOTSup, 100; Shef¿eld: Shef¿eld Academic Press, 1990), pp. 175–92. ‘The Sacri¿ce of Isaac and Jewish Polemic Against Christianity’, CBQ 52 (1990), pp. 296–306. ‘Some Observations on St. Jerome’s Hebrew Questions on Genesis and the Rabbinic Tradition’, Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association 13 (1990), pp. 58–76. ‘The Vine and Its Products as Theological Symbols in First Century Palestinian Judaism’, Durham University Journal 82 (1990), pp. 9–18. ‘Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan’, JJS 42 (1991), pp. 215–46. ‘Sacri¿ce and World Order: Some Observations on Ben Sira’s Attitude to the Temple Service’, in Sacri¿ce and Redemption (ed. S. W. Sykes; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 22–34. ‘The Figure of Adam in Pseudo-Philo’s Biblical Antiquities’, JSJ 23 (1992), pp. 1–20. ‘Inconsistencies and Contradictions in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: The Case of Eliezer and Nimrod’, JSS 37 (1992), pp. 31–55. ‘The New Jerusalem in the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira’, SJOT 6 (1992), pp. 123–38. ‘Red Heifer and Golden Calf: Dating Targum Pseudo-Jonathan’, in Targum Studies. Vol. 1, Textual and Contextual Studies in the Pentateuchal Targums (ed. P. V. M. Flesher; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992), pp. 9–32. ‘A Note on Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of Genesis 27:31’, Jewish Quarterly Review n.s. 84 (1993–94), pp. 177–88. ‘The Cursing of Adam and the Burning Bush’, in Kairos Tomos Timetikos ston Omitomo Kathegete Damiano Ath. Doiko (Thessalonica: Nea Seira, 1994), pp. 501–12. ‘Major Aspects of Targumic Studies 1983–1993: A Survey’, Currents in Research: Biblical Studies 2 (1994), pp. 107–22. 1
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‘A Portrait of the Wicked Esau in the Targum of Neo¿ti 1’, in The Aramaic Bible. Targums in their Historical Context (ed. D. R. G. Beattie and M. McNamara; JSOTSup, 166; Shef¿eld: Shef¿eld Academic Press, 1994), pp. 291–301. ‘Pseudo-Philo and the Priestly Oracle’, JJS 46 (1995), pp. 43–54. ‘Some Ancient Jewish ReÀections on Israel’s Imminent Redemption’, in The Bible in Human Society: Essays in Honour of John Rogerson (ed. M. Daniel Carroll R., D. J. A. Clines, and P. R. Davies; JSOTSup, 200; Shef¿eld: Shef¿eld Academic Press, 1995), pp. 293–305. ‘Heaven and Earth in Parallel: The Key Role of Angels in Ancient Judaism’, in Christ: The Sacramental Word. Incarnation, Sacrament and Poetry (ed. David Brown and Ann Loades; London: SPCK, 1996), pp. 57–74. ‘Shem, Melchizedek, and Concern with Christianity in the Pentateuchal Targumim’, in Targumic and Cognate Studies: Essays in Honour of Martin McNamara (ed. K. J. Cathcart and M. Maher; JSOTSup, 23; Shef¿eld: Shef¿eld Academic Press, 1996), pp. 67–80. ‘Behind the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Sons of Zadok the Priests and their Priestly Ideology’, Toronto Journal of Theology 13, no. 1 (1997), pp. 7–21. ‘The Chant of the Seraphim and the Worship of the Second Temple’, Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association 20 (1997), pp. 62–80. ‘Abraham as Proselytizer at Beer-Sheba in the Targums of the Pentateuch’, JJS 49 (1998), pp. 24–37. ‘Sanctus 1. Alttestamentlich und jüdisch’, in Theologische Realenzyklopädie, vol. 30.1 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1998), pp. 20–25. ‘Balaam’s Prophecies as Interpreted by Philo and the Aramaic Targums of the Pentateuch’, in New Heaven and New Earth (ed. C. T. R. Hayward and P. J. Harland; Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 19–36. ‘The Priestly Blessing in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan’, JSP 19 (1999), pp. 81–101. ‘Saint Jerome and the Meaning of the High Priestly Vestments’, in Hebrew Study from Ezra to Ben-Yehuda (ed. W. Horbury; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1999), pp. 90–105. ‘Sirach and Wisdom’s Dwelling Place’, in Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? (ed. S. C. Barton; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1999), pp. 31–46. ‘Philo, the Septuagint of Genesis 32:24–32 and the Name “Israel”: Fighting the Passions, Inspiration, and the Vision of God’, JJS 51 (2000), pp. 209–26. ‘Targum Perspectives on Jacob’s Change of Name to Israel’, Journal for the Aramaic Bible 3 (2001), pp. 121–37. ‘El Elyon and the Divine Names in Ben Sira’, in Ben Sira’s God: Proceedings of the International Ben Sira Conference Durham—Ushaw College 2001 (ed. R. Egger-Wenzel; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2002), pp. 180–98. ‘Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and the Bread of the Presence’, in Targum and Scripture: Studies in Aramaic Translation and Interpretation in Memory of Ernest G. Clarke (ed. Paul V. M. Flesher; Leiden: Brill, 2002), pp. 115–28. ‘The Sancti¿cation of Time in the Second Temple Period: Case Studies in the Septuagint and Jubilees’, in Holiness Past and Present (ed. S. C. Barton; London: T&T Clark, 2003), pp. 141–67. 1
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‘“The Lord Is One”: ReÀections on the Theme of Unity in John’s Gospel from a Jewish Perspective’, in Early Jewish and Christian Monotheism (ed. L. T. Stuckenbruck and W. E. S. North; London: Continuum, 2004), pp. 138–54. ‘Multum in Parvo: Ben Sira’s Portrayal of the Patriarch Joseph’, in Intertextual Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit: Essays in Honour of Alexander A. di Lella (ed. Jermey Corley and V. Skemp; CBQMS, 38; Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2005), pp. 185–200. ‘The Temple as a Place for Prayer in the Pentateuchal Targumim’, in Studies in Jewish Prayer (ed. C. T. R. Hayward and B. J. Embry; JSSSup, 16; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). ‘Observations on Idols in the Septuagint Pentateuch’, in Idolatry: False Worship in the Bible, Early Judaism and Christianity (ed. S. C. Barton; London: T&T Clark International, 2007), pp. 40–57. ‘Targum, Biblia Hebraica Quinta, and Jewish Bible Interpretation’, Aramaic Studies 5 (2007), pp. 93–110. ‘Understandings of the Temple Service in the Septuagint Pentateuch’, in Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel (ed. J. Day; London: T&T Clark International, 2007), pp. 385–400. ‘Guarding Head and Heel: Observations on Septuagint Genesis 3:15’, in Studies in the Greek Bible: Essays in Honour of Francis T. Gignac, S.J. (ed. Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp; The CBQ Monograph Series, 44; Washington, D.C.: The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2008), pp. 17–34. ‘What Did Cain Do Wrong? Jewish and Christian Exegesis of Genesis 4:3-6’, in The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity (ed. E. Grypeou and H. Spurling; Jewish and Christian Perspectives, 18; Leiden: Brill, 2009), pp. 101–23. ‘Targum’, in Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine (ed. M. Goodman and P. S. Alexander; Proceedings of the British Academy, 165; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 235–52. ‘Mules, Rome, and a Catalogue of Names: Genesis 36 and Its Aramaic Targumim’, in Studies on the Text and Versions of the Hebrew Bible in Honour of Robert Gordon (ed. G. Khan and D. Lipton; Leiden: Brill, 2011), pp. 295–314. ‘Saint Jerome, Jewish Learning, and the Symbolism of the Number Eight’, in Meditations of the Heart: The Psalms in Early Christian Thought and Practice (ed. A. Andreopoulos, A. Casiday, and C. Harrison; Turnhout: Brepols, 2011), pp. 141–59. ‘Targum a Misnomer for Midrash? Towards a Typology for the Targum Sheni of Esther’, and ‘Pro¿le Targum Esther Sheni’, Aramaic Studies 9 (2011), pp. 47– 63, 65–82. ‘Genesis and its Reception in Jubilees’, in The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation (ed. C. A. Evans, J. N. Lohr, and D. L. Petersen; Leiden: Brill, 2012), pp. 375–404. ‘The Hand upon the Lord’s Throne: Targumic and Midrashic Perceptions of Exodus 17:14–16’, in Midrash Unbound: Transformations and Innovations (ed. Michael Fishbane and Joanna Weinberg; Oxford: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2013), pp. 25–40. 1
Publications by C. T. R. (Robert) Hayward
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‘A Targumic Interpretation in the Mishnah? Or a Case of Mistaken Identity?’, Aramaic Studies 11 (2013), pp. 1–14. ‘The Targums’ and ‘Scripture in the Jerusalem Temple’, in The New Cambridge History of the Bible. Vol. 1, From the Beginnings to 600 (ed. J. Carleton Paget and J. Schaper; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), pp. 218–41, 321–44. ‘God as Father in the Palestinian Targumim’, in The Divine Father: Religious and Philosophical Parenthood (ed. Felix Albrecht and Reinhard Feldmeier; Leiden: Brill, 2014), pp. 137–64. Forthcoming ‘The Aramaic Song of the Lamb (The Dialogue between David and Goliath)’, in More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. James Davila; n.p.). ‘Jewish Roots of the Christian Liturgy’, in Companion to Liturgical Studies (ed. Dom Alcuin Reed; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark). ‘The Roman Ember Days of September and the Jewish New Year’, in The Construction of Time in Antiquity (ed. Jonatan ben Dov and Lutz Doering; n.p.).
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THE BOUNDARIES OF TRANSLATION Anthony Gelston
Since Ben Sira’s grandson wrote the prologue to his Greek translation of his grandfather’s work it has been generally recognized that no translation of the text of the Hebrew Bible can be an exact equivalent of the original. Apart from differences in the structure of languages, the semantic range of vocabulary varies from one language to another, and, in all but the shortest passages, an element of interpretation is inevitable in the process of translation. Some translations, like that of Aquila, have aimed at a strict word for word equivalence, but this has generally resulted in a stilted translation, which may obscure the meaning of the text for a reader who has no knowledge of Biblical Hebrew. At the opposite extreme are translations which resort to paraphrase in an attempt to convey the meaning of the original text in a form suitable to the receptor language. But what boundaries are there to the translators’ freedom of interpretation without rendering their version liable to be judged as misleading or erroneous? A particularly audacious rendering of a biblical text is to be found in Targum Jonathan’s version of Isa. 19.25. Although this is not the place to consider the exegesis of the biblical passage itself, it is necessary to set it brieÀy in context before attempting to evaluate the Targum’s rendering. It is the last of ¿ve sayings, each introduced by the phrase ‘On that day’, appended to the oracle about Egypt in 19.1–15, namely vv. 16–17, 18, 19–22, 23, and 24–25. Commentators have tended to regard these as ¿ve individual sayings, grouped together secondarily, and appended to vv. 1–15 because of their common concern with Egypt. A recent study,1
1. S. Lauber, ‘“JHWH wird sich Ägypten zu erkennen geben, und die Ägypter werden an jenem Tag YHWH erkennen” (Jes 19, 21). Universalismus und Heilszuversicht in Jes 19, 16–25’, ZAW 123 (2011), pp. 368–90. For an overview of Isa. 19.16–25 as a whole see also J. F. A. Sawyer, ‘“Blessed be Egypt, my people”: A Commentary on Isaiah 19:16–25’, in his Sacred Texts and Sacred Meanings:
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The Temple in Text and Tradition
however, has suggested that vv. 16–25 are conceived as a unity, closely parallel to and inÀuenced by Isa. 11.11–16. One of the striking contents of this passage is certainly v. 21, where the Egyptians are envisaged as appealing to YHWH in the face of their oppressors, experiencing YHWH’s salvation, and being converted to the worship of YHWH. The fourth saying, in v. 23, introduces Assyria, and ends with the picture of both the Egyptians and the Assyrians joining in the worship of YHWH. There is admittedly an ambiguity in the Hebrew text of this verse, to which we shall have to return. More immediately the question has to be considered who are the Assyrians denoted in this passage. The historical Assyrians would naturally be appropriate if the passage were derived from Isaiah himself, but that in turn might be a reason for a later writer to adopt this name for use in a passage incorporated in the book of Isaiah. There is evidence that later powers who occupied the same territory were themselves sometimes called Assyrians, for example, Ezra 6.22, where the ‘king of Assyria’ must actually denote Darius, the king of Persia. See also 4 Macc. 13.9, where ‘Assyria’ must denote Babylon. Much depends on the date assigned to these verses, about which there is a wide variety of scholarly opinion and no de¿nitive evidence. The ¿fth saying, in vv. 24–25, envisages a new pattern of international relationships, in which Israel ranks as a third power alongside Egypt and Assyria. There is nothing to suggest that ‘third’ denotes a junior rank; everything in the passage implies three equal powers. The most striking thing is that all three are said to enjoy the kind of special relationship to YHWH normally reserved for Israel. Egypt is described as ‘my people’, Assyria as ‘the work of my hands’ and Israel herself as ‘my heritage’. It seems as though the concept of the ‘chosen people’ and the ‘promised land’ has been broadened to include the two great powers on either side of Israel. It is by any reckoning a remarkable passage. One further approximation to the application of the term ‘my people’ to nations other than Israel may in fact be found in Zech. 2.15 (EVV 2.11), where it is anticipated that ‘many nations’ will join themselves to YHWH, and become his people (-3+ '+ #'!#), although the exact term '/3 is not applied either to them in general or to any one of them in particular.
Studies in Biblical Language and Literature (HBM, 28; Shef¿eld: Shef¿eld Phoenix Press, 2011), pp. 138–50; originally published in J. D. Martin and P. R. Davies, eds., A Word in Season: Essays in Honour of William McKane (JSOTSup, 42; Shef¿eld: JSOT Press, 1986), pp. 57–71.
GELSTON The Boundaries of Translation
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Paul M. Cook recently drew attention to the most signi¿cant point: In verses 24–25 Egypt is called ‘my people’…, and Assyria is known as ‘the work of my hands’…, both of which are expressions otherwise reserved for Israel. Therefore, on one hand, this section imparts unparalleled status on Egypt and Assyria, while on the other hand, it designates Israel as a catalyst for the transformation of these nations. Despite the blessing for Egypt and Assyria and the focus on Egypt until this point of the oracle, it is clear that the main emphasis in this concluding section is on the future of Israel among the nations. In particular, Israel’s role as a blessing in the midst of the earth echoes the Abrahamic promise of Gen 12:2–3.2
M. Fishbane also treats at least Isa. 19.19–25 as a unity. He writes: ‘in that eschatological oracle what is most astonishing is its audacious inversion and transfer of a national tradition of redemption to the very people—the Egyptians—who were its original enslaver’.3 After tracing parallels with the Exodus tradition, although he does not allude to Isa. 11.11–16, he comments: ‘the true new exodus will be nothing less than the redemption of the original enemy in a manner typologically similar to the foundational redemption of YHWH’s chosen people’. He thus draws attention to the quali¿cation of ‘the older notion of Israelite chosenness’: ‘for in v. 25 Isaiah projects a time when Egypt, like Israel, will also be called “my people”’. Finally he refers to ‘later tradents who attempted to thwart this blow to national pride’, specifying the LXX and Targum. When we turn to the rendering in Targum Jonathan, we ¿nd a rewriting that amounts to a complete reversal of the sense of the original passage: In that time Israel will be a third with the Egyptians and the Assyrians, a blessing in the midst of the earth: whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed are my people whom I brought forth from Egypt; because they sinned before me I exiled them to Assyria, and now that they repent they are called my people and my heritage, Israel’.4
In this rendering the focus is entirely on Israel. They will indeed rank as a third power alongside Egypt and Assyria, but Egypt and Assyria themselves are now treated merely as foils to the salvation history of Israel, for whom the expressions ‘my people’ and ‘my heritage’ are reserved. 2. Paul M. Cook, A Sign and a Wonder: The Redactional Formation of Isaiah 18–20 (VTSup, 147: Leiden: Brill, 2011), pp. 121–22. 3. M. Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), pp. 367–68. 4. Translation from Bruce D. Chilton, The Aramaic Bible, vol. 11 (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1999), p. 39 (italics original).
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The Temple in Text and Tradition
At this point we need to make a few observations about the rendering of this passage in the ancient versions as a whole. An important preliminary observation is that none of them reÀect any dif¿culty in the concept of the Egyptians’ experience of YHWH’s salvation, or of their conversion to and worship of YHWH in vv. 20–22. The ¿rst signi¿cant point arises in v. 23, where, as mentioned earlier, there is a de¿nite ambiguity in the Hebrew text of the last four words of this verse: :#