The Aramaic Dream of Mordechai as a Targum of Sefer Yosippon

Bibliographic Data

ID8735752
AuthorsGavin Mcdowell (0009-0005-4506-5259, Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, corresponding author)
Year2025
Publication date2025-12-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-4298 • E-ISSN: 2042-0587
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00084298251386446
OpenAlexW7117327319
LanguageEN
References cited21

This article examines the textual history and status of the Dream of Mordecai , an Aramaic text based ultimately on the Old Greek additions to Esther. The study traces how these additions first re-entered Jewish literature through the 10th-century Hebrew chronicle Sefer Yosippon before being translated into Aramaic and appended to manuscripts of Targum Sheni to Esther. While the Dream of Mordecai never achieved canonical status, it can be considered a Targum in two distinct ways: first, as a translation of Sefer Yosippon that employs traditional targumic techniques, reflecting Sefer Yosippon ’s quasi-canonical status, and, second, as a component consistently transmitted with Targum Sheni across a significant number of manuscripts. This investigation illuminates medieval Jewish engagement with deuterocanonical literature and highlights how apocryphal texts could acquire cultural authority through their transmission patterns and translation techniques

Arabic · Hebrew · Hebrew Bible · Judaism · Targum · Evolving Legal Systems and Governance · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical and Literary Studies

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