Etsuko Katsumata

Priests and Priesthood in the Aramaic Targums to the Pentateuch: New Approach to the Targumic Literature Etsuko Katsumata

In the past few decades, various studies have clarified that the priests and priesthood continued to have a considerable influence on Jewish society and culture even after the destruction of the Second Temple. The present study attempts to investigate comprehensively how the Aramaic Targums describe the priests and render issues in the Hebrew Scripture concerning priesthood. Our combined study of history and literature provides significant information on the relationship between the Targums and priests, which indicates the originality of the Targums as a world of their own, not merely as a part of the rabbinic world. In addition, it sheds light on the status of priesthood in the time and place where the Targums were composed. Our investigation will contribute to a greater understanding of the diversity of Judaism after the destruction of the Temple, which was also the source of Judaic creativity and energy.