From Sidus to Providentia: Theological Reinterpretations of Mazal in the Translation History of the Targum Qohelet

Anna Kuśmirek

doi:10.21697/ct.96.3.02

Published: 2026-09-28

Vol. 96 No. 3 (2026)

From Sidus to Providentia

Theological Reinterpretations of Mazal in the Translation History of the Targum Qohelet

Anna Kuśmirek

Collectanea Theologica

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.96.3.02

Abstract

This article analyzes the semantic development and translation history of the Aramaic lexeme mazal in Targum Qohelet. Although absent from the Hebrew text, mazal appears fifteen times as an interpretive term linking astral language with causality and distribution. Tracing its evolution from an astronomical concept to a theological category in rabbinic literature, the study compares its fifteen occurrences with later Latin, English and French renderings. The shift from astral translations such as sidus (“star”) to abstractions like “Providence” reflects interpretive intervention rather than semantic necessity, reshaping the cosmological and theological horizon of the Targum.

Keywords:

Targum Qohelet, mazal, Aramaic, targumic exegesis, translation history, Providence, mazel tov

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Kuśmirek, A. (2026). From Sidus to Providentia: Theological Reinterpretations of Mazal in the Translation History of the Targum Qohelet. Collectanea Theologica, 96(3), 499–519. https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.96.3.02

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