I am very grateful to my friend Dr. Robert Cargill (yet again!). He has given me the wonderful gift of…a URL! http://pelonialmoni.com/
This comes from, as you all know, Ruth 4:1 וַיֹּאמֶר סוּרָה שְׁבָה־פֹּה פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי The NRSV provides a lovely (if not entirely accurate) translation, “So Boaz said, ‘Come over, friend; sit down here.'” The term פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי is a bit problematic, to say the least, often rendered as “so and so.” But I like the comfortable sound of NRSV’s rendering, a bit like the southern, “Y’all come over here and sit for a spell.”
Knowing that I am currently working Ruth and its Targum Dr. Cargill was incredibly kind in making this gift. At the moment the URL points to my page on Targum Ruth. In the future, given this inspiration, I think I will expand that site for Ruth research at large or…well, let’s just wait and see. 😉
2 thoughts on “Peloni Almoni”
Sweet – our study group just spent the last 4 weeks on Ruth – maybe next year they would learn about Targumim – sounds like something you shoot at. I translated this phrase as: what a coincidence!
I love that the peloni almoni‘s concern in refusing to “raise up a name” for his dead relative (4:5) is that his own legacy be destroyed (4:6)–but ironically his name is the one that is “cut off from among his brethren” (4:10).