Linguistic and Exegetical Peculiarities of Translations of the Third Chapter of Genesis from Hebrew into Aramaic
The present study analyzes the peculiarities of the Peshitta and targumim as translations of the Pentateuch from Hebrew into Aramaic. The object of study in this paper is the third chapter of the book of Genesis, which describes a pivotal moment in the history of humankind - the Fall. The author focuses on points of contention in the field of Aramaic philology and exegesis of the original text, which characterize the specifics and methodology of translation as well as the language of the targumim and the attitude of the translators to the original. The analysis concludes that the editors of the Peshitta followed the Hebrew text of the original without attempting to interpret difficult passages of the Bible. The text agrees with the usus of one of the Syriac dialects of the time period. As for the targum of Onkelos, its editor created a literal translation of the original into the Aramaic literary language, and, where the need arose, interpreted difficult passages of the Torah. By contrast, other targumists wrote in the vernacular Judaeo-Palestinian language, though in some places they were willing to depart from its norms to follow the original more closely ( for example, in marking direct objects), and carried out an extensive exegesis of the Pentateuch.