The Negative Image and the Repentance of Ishmael in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Some Implications for an Anti-Islamic Polemic
The image of Ishmael in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Tg. Ps.-J.) has been interpreted either as thoroughly negative or as ambiguous. While the negative presentation of Ishmael has been used to argue for an anti-Ishmael and an anti-Islamic polemic within the Targum, the Tar-gum's mention of Ishmael&#...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2020]
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| In: |
Journal of Semitic studies
Year: 2020, Volume: 65, Issue: 1, Pages: 223-244 |
| Further subjects: | B
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Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The image of Ishmael in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Tg. Ps.-J.) has been interpreted either as thoroughly negative or as ambiguous. While the negative presentation of Ishmael has been used to argue for an anti-Ishmael and an anti-Islamic polemic within the Targum, the Tar-gum's mention of Ishmael's repentance has been submitted as evidence of the Targums ambiguous perspective of Ishmael, with the implication that Tg. Ps.-J. is not anti-Ishmael and therefore not anti-Islamic. Beyond this, each interpretation has been used to argue for a relative date of the composition of Tg. Ps.-J. — an ambiguous image suggesting a pre-Islamic date, and a negative image suggesting a post-Islamic date. Focusing on the implications of Ishmael's repentance for the image of Ishmael in Tg. Ps-J, this paper seeks to show that the repentance of Ishmael does not subvert the Targums negative por-trayal of Ishmael. On the one hand, the targumist exploits Ishmael's repentance to honour Abraham and Isaac, not Ishmael. On the other, the targumist confirms the negative image of Ishmael by disparaging him in the very context of his repentance. This conclusion, then, affirms that (1) Ishmael is a thoroughly negative character-type in Tg. Ps-J; that (2) the negative representation of Ishmael is a plausible literary device used to deliver an anti-Islamic polemic; and that (3) the composition of Tg. Ps.-J. is better suited for a post-Islamic date — when a Jewish targumist would have had reason to disparage a traditional ancestor of Islam and in this way to promote the Jewish claim of superiority over Islam. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-8556 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Semitic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jss/fgz052 |