Periodic Reporting for period 4 - TEXTEVOLVE (A New Approach to the Evolution of Texts Based on the Manuscripts of the Targums)
Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-06-30
TEXTEVOLVE studies Jewish Aramaic paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible, known as the Targums. They are important because they provide a unique insight into what Jews believed God was saying to them through their sacred texts at transformative moments in Jewish history. But like many ancient texts, we do not possess the author’s original copy of any Targum. Rather, in most cases we have multiple copies preserved in much later manuscripts, all of which differ from one another. It is therefore necessary to reconstruct the ‘evolution’ of the text in order not only to recover the earliest possible form of the text, but also to consider the importance of changes made by later copyists for our understanding of the place of the Targums in Jewish culture, theology, and praxis throughout time. TEXTEVOLVE therefore aimed to:
1) develop a new methodology for textual studies using techniques from evolutionary biology; and,
2) apply this methodology to an important corpus of Jewish texts, called the Targums.
The more manuscript copies of any given text one has, the more robust this analysis can be, so TEXEVOLVE also aimed to:
3) expand the corpus of available texts by recovering manuscripts that have become ‘lost’ in un-catalogued or poorly catalogued collections; and,
4) subject recently discovered manuscripts, particularly those from the so-called ‘European Genizah’, to thorough textual analysis for the first time.
1) develop a new methodology for textual studies using techniques from evolutionary biology; and,
2) apply this methodology to an important corpus of Jewish texts, called the Targums.
The more manuscript copies of any given text one has, the more robust this analysis can be, so TEXEVOLVE also aimed to:
3) expand the corpus of available texts by recovering manuscripts that have become ‘lost’ in un-catalogued or poorly catalogued collections; and,
4) subject recently discovered manuscripts, particularly those from the so-called ‘European Genizah’, to thorough textual analysis for the first time.
TEXEVOLVE focused on the Targums to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible ('the Pentateuch') and the books known as the Writings ('ketuvim' in Hebrew). By searching collections, the research team was able to find many previously overlooked manuscripts. In some cases, we did not previously know that these manuscripts of Targum existed. In other cases, we knew they existed, but their content had never been examined. For example, we knew that the European 'Genizah' contained manuscripts of Targum, but our systematic survey of the collection identified more than 350 fragments containing Targum about which we did not previously know.
Surveying the contents of the extant manuscripts of Targum Onqelos resulted in the discovery of previously unknown material, including witnesses to 'Tosefta' Targums (i.e. 'additions') and the 'Masorah' (i.e. notations intended to ensure accurate copying), marginal variants reflecting the readings of now-lost manuscripts, and versions of the 'Priestly Blessing' (usually untranslated).
TEXTEVOLVE also found previously overlooked manuscripts of Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch. These finds are particularly important because so few manuscripts are extant. In addition, we examined fragments of Palestinian Targum that had previously been identified but never analysed, e.g. from the Cairo 'Genizah' (effectively a store room for the disposal of manuscripts), and completed the first comparative study of the text of Targum contained in liturgical manuscripts (e.g. mahzorim).
Other interesting and important finds included manuscripts of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (only one manuscript was previously known) and of Targums to the Writings. We also undertook the first systematic study of the commentaries on Targum Pseudo-Jonathan.
These new primary sources expanded the dataset, enabling us to better understand how and why the texts of the Targums changed over time. This analysis required manuscripts to be compared, and differences identified and explained. We used a range of technologies to help us do this, including Handwritten Text Recognition and analytical tools that compare transcriptions using machine learning and natural language processing. We applied algorithms to establish the 'family resemblances' between manuscripts.
Finally, we reflected critically on the methodological underpinnings of our field: what are we hoping to achieve when we study manuscripts of an ancient text? Traditionally, this type of study would have sought to reconstruct a text's earliest form by expunging 'corruptions'. But this model does not work well for the Targums, since some changes in the text appear to be deliberate.
Surveying the contents of the extant manuscripts of Targum Onqelos resulted in the discovery of previously unknown material, including witnesses to 'Tosefta' Targums (i.e. 'additions') and the 'Masorah' (i.e. notations intended to ensure accurate copying), marginal variants reflecting the readings of now-lost manuscripts, and versions of the 'Priestly Blessing' (usually untranslated).
TEXTEVOLVE also found previously overlooked manuscripts of Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch. These finds are particularly important because so few manuscripts are extant. In addition, we examined fragments of Palestinian Targum that had previously been identified but never analysed, e.g. from the Cairo 'Genizah' (effectively a store room for the disposal of manuscripts), and completed the first comparative study of the text of Targum contained in liturgical manuscripts (e.g. mahzorim).
Other interesting and important finds included manuscripts of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (only one manuscript was previously known) and of Targums to the Writings. We also undertook the first systematic study of the commentaries on Targum Pseudo-Jonathan.
These new primary sources expanded the dataset, enabling us to better understand how and why the texts of the Targums changed over time. This analysis required manuscripts to be compared, and differences identified and explained. We used a range of technologies to help us do this, including Handwritten Text Recognition and analytical tools that compare transcriptions using machine learning and natural language processing. We applied algorithms to establish the 'family resemblances' between manuscripts.
Finally, we reflected critically on the methodological underpinnings of our field: what are we hoping to achieve when we study manuscripts of an ancient text? Traditionally, this type of study would have sought to reconstruct a text's earliest form by expunging 'corruptions'. But this model does not work well for the Targums, since some changes in the text appear to be deliberate.
TEXTEVOLVE have moved beyond the state of the art by increasing the number of available primary sources. It will take time before the wider significance of these textual witnesses can be fully appreciated. Nonetheless, TEXTEVOLVE's analysis gives us an indication of their likely impact.
Our results show that interest in the Targums, especially in medieval Europe, was more than merely antiquarian. Targums were not just robotically copied as ossified artefacts. Rather, they remained a 'living' tradition. Copyists continued to intervene creatively in the text, rewording, modifying, and expanding it.
This result disrupts traditional approaches to ancient texts. TEXTEVOLVE has shown the need for an approach that values the whole textual tradition, rather than prioritising its start (initial composition) or end (artefact). Drawing on insights from cognate disciplines, it has articulated its approach to textual traditions in terms of 'evolution' (rather than 'deterioration', for example).
TEXTEVOLVE has shown that such an approach is necessary because textual variants can tell us about the function of texts in the communities that transmitted them. Not all changes are mere accidents; some reflect new theological and exegetical engagements with the text.
Analysis of the 'family resemblances' between manuscripts also yielded a clearer picture of how Targum was transmitted. It gave us a better idea of Jewish scribal networks and the processes by which new copies were produced. Manuscripts of Fragment Targum, for example, appear to have been copied from other manuscripts of Fragment Targum, rather than from manuscripts containing the continuous text.
Taken together, these results raise new questions that future research will need to address. Why did Jews continue to use Aramaic long after it had ceased to be a spoken? How and why did they learn it? What kind of authority did the Targums have? When did a scribe feel free to change a text? When did they feel obliged to preserve it unchanged?
These future avenues of research will build on insights into aspects of European history, such as Jewish education and scribal and material culture, that TEXTEVOLVE has generated. Some of the issues raised, such as the social function of non-spoken languages and the transmission of cultural identity, have wide implications and invite reflection beyond disciplinary boundaries. The most intriguing of these concerns the relationship between religious texts and truth claims, for our analysis of the Targums provides an example of religious insights emerging from the creative tension between preservation and innovation in authoritative religious texts.
Many of the results of TEXTEVOLVE have already been disseminated; others will be made available to the wider scholarly community in the near future. Specifically, the team has delivered forty-four presentations in conferences, seminars, and workshops; it has twenty-six journal articles and book chapters published, accepted, or under peer-review; one monograph is forthcoming, four more are being finalised; proceedings from one of the international workshops organised by TEXTEVOLVE have been published and proceedings from the second are now being finalised; another volume aimed at an international academic audience has been co-edited; and preliminary results have been disseminated via various online channels.
Our results show that interest in the Targums, especially in medieval Europe, was more than merely antiquarian. Targums were not just robotically copied as ossified artefacts. Rather, they remained a 'living' tradition. Copyists continued to intervene creatively in the text, rewording, modifying, and expanding it.
This result disrupts traditional approaches to ancient texts. TEXTEVOLVE has shown the need for an approach that values the whole textual tradition, rather than prioritising its start (initial composition) or end (artefact). Drawing on insights from cognate disciplines, it has articulated its approach to textual traditions in terms of 'evolution' (rather than 'deterioration', for example).
TEXTEVOLVE has shown that such an approach is necessary because textual variants can tell us about the function of texts in the communities that transmitted them. Not all changes are mere accidents; some reflect new theological and exegetical engagements with the text.
Analysis of the 'family resemblances' between manuscripts also yielded a clearer picture of how Targum was transmitted. It gave us a better idea of Jewish scribal networks and the processes by which new copies were produced. Manuscripts of Fragment Targum, for example, appear to have been copied from other manuscripts of Fragment Targum, rather than from manuscripts containing the continuous text.
Taken together, these results raise new questions that future research will need to address. Why did Jews continue to use Aramaic long after it had ceased to be a spoken? How and why did they learn it? What kind of authority did the Targums have? When did a scribe feel free to change a text? When did they feel obliged to preserve it unchanged?
These future avenues of research will build on insights into aspects of European history, such as Jewish education and scribal and material culture, that TEXTEVOLVE has generated. Some of the issues raised, such as the social function of non-spoken languages and the transmission of cultural identity, have wide implications and invite reflection beyond disciplinary boundaries. The most intriguing of these concerns the relationship between religious texts and truth claims, for our analysis of the Targums provides an example of religious insights emerging from the creative tension between preservation and innovation in authoritative religious texts.
Many of the results of TEXTEVOLVE have already been disseminated; others will be made available to the wider scholarly community in the near future. Specifically, the team has delivered forty-four presentations in conferences, seminars, and workshops; it has twenty-six journal articles and book chapters published, accepted, or under peer-review; one monograph is forthcoming, four more are being finalised; proceedings from one of the international workshops organised by TEXTEVOLVE have been published and proceedings from the second are now being finalised; another volume aimed at an international academic audience has been co-edited; and preliminary results have been disseminated via various online channels.