The Equivalent Project: A New Tool for Targum Studies

The Equivalent Project is a new research project that builds upon the digitization achievements of the last generation and adds to them by linking every Aramaic word in the Targum to its corresponding Hebrew equivalent in the biblical text. In its first stage, the project will review the entire Pentateuch and its Targums with a fine tooth comb, determining the equivalent of each Hebrew word, commenting on various translation techniques and textual issues and marking Aramaic elements which are not equivalent to Hebrew words in the biblical text. Once all words are properly studied and marked, the resulting digital tool will offer a new module for reading and studying the Targums, their texts fully aligned with the Bible and with each other in a word for word manner. Moreover, scholars will be able to perform powerful multi-textual searches that will help identify dialectological elements, track and assess the translation technique of a given unit in the Targum, and compare different Targums to each other on a large scale.

In this paper I will demonstrate some of the achievements of the Equivalent Project in its first year. I will display its multi-textual alignment and discuss its advantages, as well as some difficulties that needed to be addressed. I will also show some types of searches that will be made available to the scholarly community upon completion of the project, with the intention of providing a new way of studying Targum.