[asa] Second-Temple Judaism's hermeneutical approaches

Someone asked this question on the ASA chatserv and I forwarded it to a
Hebrew scholar.

"Does anyone know if a study has been made on the hermeneutic Jesus used
in the light of recent important research into Second-Temple Judaism's
hermeneutical approaches? It would be very useful for a discussion like
this one. Bruce Chilton has made a study of the Targumin and in a book
on the topic offered that when Jesus cites Scripture he is often using
the text of a Targum Amaraic paraphrase on the Scriptures."

His response was:

There has always been a vocal minority that insists that these citations
by Jesus of the Old Testament were in Aramaic and not in Greek. The
structure of the Septuagintal Greek more closely resembles Attic or
Ionic Greek. It is the earliest and best attested of the Old Testament
translations.

Most of the Jews that Jesus appealed to were Hellenists and most refer
to themselves as such. Logic and history lean toward the Greek. Old
Syriac, like Hebrew, while used by some contemporaries as a universal
language lacks the popularity and clarity of the older, more classical
Greek. Aramaic also uses more Eastern thought patterns whereas the
Helleni (Greek patterned Jews) were much more Western in their
orientation.

I read a quotation by Thomas Jefferson today that really reads to the
nuts and bolts of the issue. I think that the Aramaic supporters are
good hearted if not on the mark.

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We
have called by different names brethren of the same principle."

-- Thomas Jefferson (First Inaugural Address, 4 March 1801)

Dick Fischer

Dick Fischer, Genesis Proclaimed Association

Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History

 <http://www.genesisproclaimed.org/> www.genesisproclaimed.org

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Wed Sep 5 15:01:05 2007