01_AzuelosVoltaggio_161_178_copia_161_178 10/07/15 11:33 Pagina 168 168 YAACOV AZUELOS – FRANCESCO GIOSUÈ VOLTAGGIO 168 III. The identity of the angel appearing before Joshua: Uriel or Michael? The various Aramaic Targums of the Pentateuch — Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Targum Neofiti, Fragmentary Targum and the Cairo Genizah Fragment Targum — mention eight angels by name in 18 different verses. Most of these occurrences are in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, which names seven angels in 16 verses, even though the Hebrew Bible generally does not mention angels by name, with the exception of Michael and Gabriel 21. In the Targum Jonathan of Joshua, “commander of the army of the Lord” (hwhy-abc-rf) is translated simply as “the angel of the Lord”, with no mention by name. In this respect then, the Targum Jonathan translation of Prophets differs significantly from the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan translation of the Pentateuch, well known for its fondness for angels, and is closer to Targum Onqelos, which is cautious about expanding about angels beyond what appears in the Hebrew Bible. In contrast, in the Cairo Genizah Fragment Targum, the angel “Uriel/Ariel” is explicitly named as the “commander of the Lord’s army” 22. It is possible that there existed a tradition regarding the angel Uriel, later expressed in the literature of the Zohar, whereby he is one of the four angels surrounding God’s throne, and is also identified with the angel who wanted to kill Moses (or his infant son) on route to Egypt (cf. Exod 4,24-26). Consequently, the choice of a specific name for the angel would signify the desire of the translators to strengthen the association between the figure of Moses and that of Joshua, by creating a parallel between the rabbi and his disciple 23. 21 See AZUELOS, The Angelology, 112-113. Michael and Gabriel are men- tioned by name in Dan 10,13.21; 12,1. 22 KASHER, “The Aramaic Targums”, 93, notes this mythical interpretation: mention of angels and references to the pious man characterize many of the additions of the Targum. With regard to the angel’s name, R. KASHER, Tar- gumic Toseftot to the Prophets (Jerusalem 1996) 74 (Hebrew), comments that the name of the angel is “Ariel” in other versions, but he does not accept this change; cf. R. KASHER, “Angelology and the Supernatural Worlds in the Ara- maic Targums to the Prophet”, JSJ 27 (1996) 169 n. 5. 23 See R. MARGALIOT, Malakhei Elyon. Those Mentioned in the Baby- lonian and Palestinian Talmuds, in All the Midrashim, Zohar and Tikkunim, Targumim and Yalkutim with Notes to the Holy Books of the Kabbalah (Jerusalem 19642) 8-10 (Hebrew).