Editing Targum Jonathan (section)

== Linguistic analysis ==

The language of Targum Jonathan is Aramaic. Its overall style is very similar to that of Targum Onkelos, though it sometimes seems to be a looser paraphrase of the Biblical text.<ref>A. Shinan, "Dating Targum Pseudo- Jonathan: Some More Comments", JJS 61 (1990) 60 (57-61), comments, such a conclusion ...</ref>

It is the result of a single redaction.<ref name="je"/>

Like Targum Onkelos, it gained general recognition in Lower Mesopotamia in the third century, and from the [[Talmudic academies in Babylonia]] it was carried throughout the Diaspora. It originated, however, in [[Syria Palaestina]] but was adapted to [[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic]], so it contains the same linguistic peculiarities as the Targum Onḳelos, including sporadic instances of Persian loanwords.<ref>e.g., "enderun," Judges 15:1, 16:12; Joel 2:16; "dastaka" = "dastah," Judges 3:22</ref> In cases where the Palestinian and Babylonian texts differ, the Onqelos follows the latter.<ref>"madinḥa'e"; see Pinsker, "Einleitung in die Babylonische Punktuation," p. 124</ref>

Although Targum Jonathan was composed in [[classical antiquity]], probably in the [[2nd century]], it is now known from medieval manuscripts, which contain many textual variants.<ref>Hector M. Patmore, [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-transmission-of-targum-jonathan-in-the-west-a-study-of-italian-and-ashkenazi-manuscripts-of-the-targum-to-samuel-9780198765851?lang=en&cc=fi The Transmission of Targum Jonathan in the West: A Study of Italian and Ashkenazi Manuscripts of the Targum to Samuel] (Oxford University Press, 2015)</ref> The earliest attestation appears as citations of [[Jeremiah 2]]:1–2 and [[Ezekiel 21]]:23 on an [[incantation bowl]] found in [[Nippur]].<ref>Stephen A. Kaufman, "A Unique Magic Bowl from Nippur," ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' 32 (1973), pp. 140–143.</ref>