# Aramaic: סדר עבד בראשית יום קדמאיי



## Ali Smith

Hi,

Genesis 1:5 Targum Neofiti is:

וקרא ממרא דייי לנהורא איממ' ולחשוכא קרא לליא והוא רמש והוה צפר סדר עבד בראשית יום קדמאיי.

What does סדר עבד בראשית יום קדמאיי mean? The last three words mean "in the beginning, first day".

The words סדר עבד correspond to nothing in the original Hebrew or Targum Onkelos or Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. Witness:

בראשית א'
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃

תרגום אונקלוס בראשית א':ה'
וּקְרָא יְיָ לִנְהוֹרָא יְמָמָא וְלַחֲשׁוֹכָא קְרָא לֵילְיָא וַהֲוָה רְמַשׁ וַהֲוָה צְפַר יוֹם חַד.

תרגום ירושלמי (יונתן) בראשית א':ה'
וקרא אלקים לנהורא יממא ועבדיה למפלח ביה דיירי עלמא ולחשוכא קרא לילייא ועבדיה למינח ביה ברייתא והווה רמש והוה צפר יומא חדא.

We do, however, find them in the Fragment Targum:

תרגום ירושלמי (קטעים) בראשית א':ה'
והוה רמש והוה צפר סדר עובד בראשית יום קדמי.

It seems סדר עבד is vocalized סְדַר עֲבָד and means "order of work". Hence, סדר עבד בראשית יום קדמאיי would mean "order of work in the beginning, a first day", but I have no idea how this would connect with what precedes it.

וקרא ממרא דייי לנהורא איממ' ולחשוכא קרא לליא והוא רמש והוה צפר סדר עבד בראשית יום קדמאיי

And the word of Y----- called the light "the daytime" and He called the darkness "the night", and there was evening and there was morning order of work in the beginning, a first day.


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## Glasguensis

Do you believe that the author(s) of Targum Neofiti were intentionally distorting the Hebrew? Because if not, the overall meaning is likely to be the same. There is a concept in this text that God « worked » for six days and then rested on the seventh. I would expect that this phrase is related, along the lines of « the end of the first day of work »


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## Abaye

Note that:

בראשית is the opening word of Genesis, literally means beginning, yet the beginning of God's work on the universe may be translated as "creation" (IMHO)
Aramaic עבד is like Hebrew עשה and Phoenician פעל, it means make/do rather than work
The Jewish day starts at sunset, so the evening is the first part of day and the daytime is the second, not vice versa (it's a general comment, not specifically for this verse)
The formula you asked about appears for the other days as well

The Hebrew text says (my translation): and there was evening and there was morning (of) first day
Therefore Neofiti may mean: and there was evening and there was morning, (which God) did orderly at the creation, (of) first day


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## Ali Smith

Couldn't it be vocalized סְדַר עֲבָד בְּרֵאשִׁית and therefore mean "order of work in Genesis"?


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## 𒍝𒊑𒈾 𒂵𒉿𒀉

But that would require סְדַר to be construct. Is it?


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