Targum Jonathan to the Prophets and the Masoretic Cantillations

Abstract

This article compares the Targum with Masoretic cantillations. The comparison between the different reading traditions shows agreement in everything concerning the division between one verse and the next. Usually, there is agreement in the division within each verse as well, particularly when both the cantillations and the Targum respond to an ideological or exegetical problem in the text. Juxtaposing the cantillations and the Targum in this manner may also reveal aspects of the stages of development of these two interpretative tools in relation to one another. Comparing Targumim and Babylonian cantillations also strengthens the assessment that the Tiberian system of accents was influenced by the Targum in its division of the verses. In addition, examining the way each verse is divided shows how the Targum seems to prefer a subordinate structure even when it translates paratactic clauses.