“The Rule of Creative Completion: Neofiti’s Use of שכלל” now available in Aramaic Studies

Aramaic Studies

You are invited to read my latest article in the Brill Journal Aramaic Studies entitled, “The Rule of Creative Completion: Neofiti’s Use of שכלל“.

Here is the abstract:

The verb שכלל never appears as the sole verb of a creative process in Targum Neofiti—a practice unique to TgNeof among the Palestinian Targums. Rather, the authors exclusively reserve שכלל for the final position of Aramaic verbal doublets and triplets that complete a creative action initiated by a prior Hebrew verb. This article examines each use of שכלל in TgNeof and demonstrates how its consistent usage—designated as the ‘Rule of Creative Completion’ by the author—can inform contested interpretations elsewhere within the text, and notably its presence in the extant text of TgNeof Gen. 1.1, as well as offer further evidence for an established Aramaic scribal style employed during the composition of Palestinian Targums.

The article was actually the product of a discussion that resulted from an particular Seattle-based pastor’s failed attempt to invoke the targums as an apologetic for the doctrine of the Trinity.

If you like Aramaic, or if you want to know why Targum Neofiti says absolutely nothing about the “Son of God”, give it a read.