Balashon
Balashon - Hebrew Language Detective: May 2007
It originally appeared as קלמרין kalmarin - with the same meaning of "pen case" or "inkstand", as in Mishna Mikvaot 10:1. From here we get another mistaken back formation of a singular - kalmar. She then writes that קלמרין comes from the Greek kalamarion. Klein points out that kalamarion derives from the Greek kalamos which meant "pen" and earlier meant "reed".
Ezrabrand
72 Translators, 15 Alterations: the Greek Translation of the Torah Commissioned by King Ptolemy (Megillah 9a-b)
August 10, 2025 - This sugya deals with the exceptional rabbinic permission to read the Torah in Greek for ritual purposes; limited strictly to the Five Books of Moses and not the rest of the Bible. R' Yehuda asserts that this allowance stems from one historical precedent: the incident with King Ptolemy II of Egypt.1 · As the story goes, Ptolemy gathered 72 Jewish elders, placed each in a separate room, and demanded they translate the Torah.
Bible Interp
Jewish-Greek Literature in the Hellenistic and Roman Eras: Some Findings from a Study of Genre | Bible Interp
The most basic finding of studies into Hellenistic Judaism is the recognition that some Jewish authors adopted Greek genres and were widely influenced by Greek literary culture. Writing in Greek does not automatically imply the adoption of Greek genres or substantial influence of Greek writing ...
Wikipedia
Septuagint - Wikipedia
October 6, 2025 - The association of the Septuagint with a rival religion may have made it suspect in the eyes of the newer generation of Jews and Jewish scholars. Jews instead used Hebrew or Aramaic Targum manuscripts later compiled by the Masoretes and authoritative Aramaic translations, such as those of Onkelos and Rabbi Yonathan ben Uziel.
Jewish Virtual Library
Ancient Jewish History: The Greeks & the Jews
For instance, the the Hebrew scriptures available to the Mediterranean world and to early Christians who were otherwise fain to regard Christianity as a religion unrelated to Judaism. From this Greek translation, the Hebrew view of God, of history, of law, and of the human condition, in all its magnificence would spread around the world.
Encyclopedia.com
Onkelos and Aquila | Encyclopedia.com
ONKELOS AND AQUILAONKELOS AND AQUILA (second century c.e.), two translators of the Bible, the one into Aramaic and the other into Greek, both of whom were proselytes. Source for information on Onkelos and Aquila: Encyclopaedia Judaica dictionary.
Wikipedia
Onkelos - Wikipedia
April 6, 2025 - Onkelos (Hebrew: אֻנְקְלוֹס ʾunqəlōs), possibly identical to Aquila of Sinope, was a Roman national who converted to Judaism in Tannaic times (c. 35–120 CE). He is considered to be the author of the Targum Onkelos (c. 110 CE). Onkelos is mentioned several times in the Talmud.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Judaism - Hellenistic, 4th-2nd Century | Britannica
July 20, 1998 - Judaism - Hellenistic, 4th-2nd Century: Contact between Greeks and Semites goes back to Minoan and Mycenaean times and is reflected in certain terms used by Homer and other early Greek authors. It is not until the end of the 4th century, however, that Jews are first mentioned by Greek writers, ...
Jewish Virtual Library
History of the Bible
Its antiquity is supported by its ... literature (Meg. 1:8; MK 3:4; Git. 4:6; Kelim 15:6; et al.). The Greek speaking Jews adopted this usage and translated it into their vernacular as τἁ βιβλία....
JewishEncyclopedia.com
BIBLE TRANSLATIONS - JewishEncyclopedia.com
Though Hebrew remained the sacred and the literary language, the knowledge of it must have faded to such a degree in the second century preceding the common era that it became necessary for a "meturgeman" to translate the weekly Pentateuch and prophetic lessons as read in the synagogue (Berliner, "Onkelos," p.
Jewish Languages
Judeo-Greek | Jewish Languages
Ancient Judeo-Greek of biblical translations was by far the most influential form of the ethnolect, since the canonized LXX exercised a profound effect on the nascent religiolect of Greek Christianity.
Wikipedia
Talk:Targum Onkelos - Wikipedia
As it is, you were giving more ... he made with the assistance and help of Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, he also made a Greek translation of the Bible for Greek readers....
Sefaria
About Onkelos | Sefaria
The Resurgence of Bilingualism: ... proficiency in Aramaic, Onkelos took up the mantle of Torah Translator by translating the Torah into Greek, his native language, and a prominent language of his era....
TheTorah.com
Targum Onkelos and the Translation of Place Names - TheTorah.com
Some believe that Aquilas/Onkelos was responsible for both translations, while others suggest that what was originally told of Aquilas was transferred to the anonymous Aramaic translator of what is now called Targum Onkelos. [3] Ottó (יהודה) Komlós, “תרגומים ארמיים יהודים” [Aramaic-Jewish Translations], אנציקלופדיה מקראית [Encyclopedia Biblica] (Jerusalem: Bialik, 1982), 8.742–748 [col.
Chabad.org
What Was Wrong With Translating the Torah Into Greek? - Chabad.org
December 13, 2021 - Around 2,300 years ago,the Greek-Egyptian emperor Ptolemy ordered the Jewish sages to render the Torah into Greek on two separate occasions. The first time, he had five scholars carry out the translation together. The second time, he assembled 72 scholars, isolated them in separate rooms, and had them prepare their own simultaneous Greek translations.
JewishEncyclopedia.com
GREEK LANGUAGE AND THE JEWS - JewishEncyclopedia.com
This article will be confined to the Greek material found in rabbinical works, since the language of the Septuagint and the New Testament requires separate discussion, and does not belong here. Latin was made accessible to the Jews in Talmudic times by means of Greek, and will be treated here ...
Wikipedia
Yevanic - Wikipedia
July 16, 2025 - Judaeo-Greek has had in its history different spoken variants depending on different eras, geographical and sociocultural backgrounds. The oldest Modern Greek text was found in the Cairo Geniza and is actually a Jewish translation of the Book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet).
JewishEncyclopedia.com
ONḲELOS - JewishEncyclopedia.com
3a) "that Onḳelos translated the Pentateuch into Aramaic according to the instructions of R. Eliezer and R. Joshua." For as soon as Aquila had to give place to Onḳelos it was natural that Aramaic should be named as the language in which he made his translation, for a Greek Bible was hardly known in Babylonia. ... Friedmann, Onkelos und Akylos (especially pp.
Wikipedia
Hellenistic Judaism - Wikipedia
4 days ago - The major literary product of the contact between Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic culture is the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koine Greek, specifically, Jewish Koine Greek. Mentionable are also the philosophic and ethical treatises of Philo and the historiographical works of the other Hellenistic Jewish authors. The decline of Hellenistic Judaism began in the 2nd century, and the precise causes are not fully understood.