Targums

Targums are Aramaic renderings of the Hebrew Bible, the language spoken by Palestinian Jews for centuries after the Babylonian Exile. They usually stay close to the Hebrew wording, but they also carry extensive interpretive material, additions, and paraphrases. These features reveal much about Second Temple Judaism, how its people read their scriptures, and what they believed.

The book surveys insights gained over roughly the past forty years, including targum manuscripts discovered in this century and targums that were known in Aramaic but only recently translated into English. Paul V. M. Flesher and Bruce Chilton trace how the targums developed, how they relate to the Hebrew Bible, and when and in what language they were produced. They also place the texts within the history of Judaism and Christianity and examine their theologies and methods of interpretation.

The authors present current research and the debates surrounding it, including the relationship between the Targums and the New Testament. A substantial bibliography accompanies the discussion, making the volume a thorough and up-to-date starting point for anyone entering the field.