are Aramaic targums such as that ofPseudo-JonathanorNeofiti;they
“translate” the Pentateuch into Aramaic, but with so many interpolations
that they are actually more like retellings than real translations.The Four Assumptions
Why was this a crucial period? Because, as already mentioned, these inter-
preters established the general way in which the Bible was to be ap-
proached for the next two millennia — indeed, to a certain extent, their
approach is still with us to this day. Their way of reading and explaining
texts was anything but straightforward — it was a highly ideological (and
idealistic) form of exegesis, one that relied on a somewhat idiosyncratic
combination of very close reading and great exegetical freedom. The inter-
pretations these ancient sages came up with soon acquired the mantle of
authority; they were memorized and passed on from generation to genera-
tion, sometimes modified in one or more details, but basically maintained
aswhat the Bible really meansfor hundreds and hundreds of years.
As best we can tell, the ancient interpreters were a highly varied lot.
Some lived in the land of Judea and were steeped in the Hebrew language
and traditional Jewish learning. A few others, however, seem to have lived
elsewhere and had a thoroughly Hellenistic education and orientation —
for example, the author of the Wisdom of Solomon or Philo of Alexandria,
both of whom wrote in Greek, alluded to Greek philosophical ideas, and
generally cited Scripture in its Septuagint translation. (Some contempo-
rary scholars doubt that Philo was even competent to read the Hebrew Bi-
ble in the original.) And even among those interpreters who inhabited
Judea there was great variety: the author ofJubileeswas a would-be reli-
gious innovator and a bit of a rebel; his contemporary, Ben Sira, was quite
the opposite, a creature of the establishment who would probably have re-
fused to sit at the same table withJubilees’author. Pharisees battled with
Sadducees over matters of interpretation, and the proprietors of the Dead
Sea Scrolls (most likely to be identified with a third group, the Essenes)
disagreed with both these other groups; some of them, having withdrawn
to the desert, vowed to keep their own interpretations of Scripture hidden
from all but the members of their own community, meanwhile waiting for
the “day of vengeance” when God would strike down the other groups for
their false teachings and errant practices.
And yet, for all their diversity, all these ancient interpreters went about164james l. kugelEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:00 PM