Abstract
This thesis reviews the exegetical traditions in Targum Jonathan Amos (TJ Amos) with comparative religious Jewish texts to lay bare the life-worlds of the rabbinic sages and their religious audiences in the age of formative Judaism (70 AD-500 AD). The process of investigation is multifaceted in that the interpretative aspect of rendered texts considers the similarities and differences between the religious-cultural world of Ancient Israel (760 BC-750 BC) and the religious cultural world in which the Targums (Aramaic Bibles) evolved and compares the latter with midrashic and talmudic texts redacted between 70 AD and 500 AD. Ancient texts did not exist in isolation but in relation to or reaction to other texts/translations. The interrelationship of texts/translations can, therefore, provide insight into the interpretation of a source text. This stance was held in the investigative process of this study. It sought to identify, illuminate and compare specific methodologies rabbinic sages implemented to interpret the Hebrew Scriptures for various religious Jewish audiences during the age of formative Judaism. The thesis can report the following findings: (1) The rendering of TJ Amos accentuates the chief aims of the translator to present a uniformly intelligible rendering. In pursuit of this principle, the Hebrew Text became mouldable clay in the hands of the translator. (2) The investigation process reveals rules of interpretation or translation techniques which the rabbinic sages developed in their own methodological approach. These translation techniques are based on translation techniques identified by past researchers in other parts of Targum Jonathan to the Prophets. These translation techniques are noted and applied specifically to the context of TJ Amos. The deviations that occur in TJ Amos were categorized according to distinct translation techniques already identified in similar studies on Targum. This analysis establishes a better understanding of the text of TJ Amos...
D.Litt. et Phil. (Semitic Languages and Cultures)