Dialectical Features of the Non-Peshitta Layer of Targum Proverbs

The connection between Targum Proverbs and Peshitta Proverbs has been long known. First studied by Johann A. Dathe in 1764, the relationship between the two has remained ambiguous. He posited that Targum Proverbs is a reworked version of Peshitta Proverbs. Alternative views have been expressed, most notably by A. Kaminka (Sinai, 1941), who proposed a 3^rd c. BCE date for Targum Proverbs.

In the over 35 articles that treat the topic, scholars have almost exclusively examined the parallels and similarities between the Syriac and Jewish Aramaic texts. While this approach is useful to establish the texts’ relationship, chronological priority, and even the nature of Targum Proverbs qua recension of a Syriac text, it does not assist in determining the nature of Targum Proverbs qua Jewish Targum. That is, this comparative methodology leaves important questions unanswered, such as the region and date of Targum Proverbs’ composition and the nature of translation techniques of the Jewish targumist who reworked Peshitta Proverbs. To this day, there is no consensus among scholars as to the region of Targum Proverbs’ composition, and its proposed dates of composition range wildly from the 3^rd–10^th centuries, CE.

Further complicating the issue is the lack of a critical text. In this paper, using my incomplete critical text, I will examine the dialectal features of the non-Peshitta stratum of Targum Proverbs, that is, those elements that are original to the targumist. Hopefully, this will aid us in narrowing the geographic and temporal ranges of Targum Proverbs’ composition.