Quote:
The Aramaic rendering of the Prophets belongs to the earliest
translations of the Bible which have come down to us. Its
importance for the textual investigation and early Biblical
interpretation cannot be overestimated. While the targumist makes
little display of critical study in rendering intricate passages,
and while he does not pretend to present a minutely literal
translation of the Hebrew text, his reverence for the letter and
transmitted reading of the text must by far have exceeded that
of the Greek and Syriac translators. At the same time his
translation is doubtlessly based on a sounder and exacter
understanding of both the etymology and usages of the Hebrew language.
- Targum Jonathan to the Prophets, by Pinkhos Churgin (1907)
