The use of paradigmatic research: The model of a perfect world according to Targum Qohelet

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The use of paradigmatic research: The model of a perfect world according to Targum Qohelet
 
Creator Lincoln, Lawrence
 
Subject Religion; Translations; Philosophy; Literature genres Targum; Eschatology; Biblical interpretation; Paradigms; Translation studies
Description The purpose of this study is to identify and explain a religious paradigm in Targum Qohelet (TgQoh). Targum Qohelet is dated to a period between 500 CE and 1101 CE. This study concludes that the most probable setting for this Targum was the beit midrash (the house of study). A paradigmatic research approach is used to identify the range of translation components to explain the translation method employed in TgQoh and the rationale behind it. This research approach reveals how the translator(s) used their interpretative ability to create a completely different thought-world when compared with the original Hebrew Text. Various subparadigms emerge as a network of connected religious beliefs to form a cogent systematic rabbinic theology of a perfect world order to replace the pessimism of the Hebrew base text. The Aramaic version reflects a complete solution to the existential problems raised by Biblical Qohelet. It seeks to provide humankind with guidelines for creating a ‘perfect world’ both on earth and in the afterlife. The use of a paradigmatic analysis based on the concept of a ‘perfect world’ provides an ideal model for analysing the translation strategy of TgQoh and understanding its method of rendering.Contribution: The application of paradigmatic methodology bridges the gap between the relatively secular nature of the Hebrew version of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) and the overwhelmingly and inescapable theological forms of the Aramaic targum. The paradigms in the Aramaic translation identify how the targum applied rabbinic ideology to explain the meanings that lies behind the original Hebrew text of Qohelet. The paradigms, when taken together reveal how the cynical nature of Hebrew Qohelet was changed into a rabbinical guide for righteous living, here described as ‘perfect world’.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Prof Johann Cook University of Stellenbosch
Date 2020-10-13
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Rabbinic literature inquiry; Literary analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v76i4.6172
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 76, No 4 (2020); 9 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6172/16139 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6172/16138 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6172/16140 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6172/16137
 
Coverage Ancient Near East Late Antiquity Not applicable
Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Lawrence Lincoln https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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