The Targums and Rabbinic Literature: An Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture - Hardcover

Bowker, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521074150 ISBN 13: 9780521074155

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1969

Synopsis

The Targums are interpretative translations of the Hebrew text of the Bible which originated in Synagogue teaching, where an interpretation of the Hebrew text had to be given orally for the benefit of non-Hebrew speaking congregations. Over the centuries, a loose 'Targum Tradition' began to form and the written Aramaic Targums can best be understood as crystallisations of the Targum tradition at different points of time. In the first part of this book Professor Bowker examines the emergence and development of Jewish exegesis and the importance of the Targums. Bearing in mind that Jewish and rabbinic material is being increasingly applied to problems of Christian origins, he provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject (referring to the texts and translations most readily available) with emphasis on recent work and discoveries. The second part of the book gives actual material in translation, showing how Jewish exegesis arrived at its interpretations of Scripture.

About this title

Book Description:

Bearing in mind that Jewish and rabbinic material is being increasingly applied to problems of Christian origins, he provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject (referring to the texts and translations most readily available) with emphasis on recent work and discoveries.

About the Author:

John Bowker is an Emeritus Professor at Gresham College, London. He has also been a Fellow and Dean of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Professor of Religious Studies at the universities of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina State. He is the author or editor of more than forty books, including Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World; The Meanings of Death (winner of the HarperCollins Book Prize, 1993); Is God a Virus? Genes, Culture and Religion; The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions; God: A Brief History; Beliefs that Changed the World and Knowing the Unknowable: Science and Religions on God and the Universe.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1969
• ISBN 10: 0521074150
• ISBN 13: 9780521074155
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 402