[Avodah] Who wrote Perush Yonatan?

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Dec 29, 2022 at 02:55:30PM +0000, Motti Yarchinai via Avodah wrote:
> In many chumashim, there is a commentary on Targum Yonatan headed "Perush
> Yonatan." Does anyone know who wrote it, or t least when (approximately)
> it was written?

Are you referring to the Peirush al Targum Yonasan veTargum Y-mi,
written by R David b Yaaqov of of Szczebrzeszyn (if I got the spelling
right, it looks like it should be that based on the Cyrillic).

If so, here is what Prof Louis Ginsberg said about him, the full
Jewish Encyc entry:
    Polish scholar; known only as the author of a commentary on the
    so-called "Targum Jonathan" and "Targum Yerushalmi" of the Pentateuch
    (also known as "Targum Yerushalmi I." and "Targum Yerushalmi II."),
    and on the Targum Sheni" of the Book of Esther. It was published in
    Prague in 1609, but there is a record of a former edition printed in
    the same place in 1537, which would place the author in the first half
    of the sixteenth century. The commentary, which is really a glossary,
    was reprinted in Prague in 1781, and again in 1789. Steinschneider
    ("Cat. Bodl." No. 4816) denies the existence of the edition of 1537.

> Note, I don't ask who wrote the Targum Yonatan itself, because
> no-one knows...

One bit of trivia: It almost certainly post-dates Islam, since Yishma'el's
wife is given as "Fatima" (Bereishis 21:21). But the idea that Yishma'el's
wives were Fatima and Aisha wasn't a thing until Muhammad's wife Fatima
and daughter Aisha.

(Pirqei deR' Eliezer (30:6) also calls the wife from Egypt that Hagar found
for Yichma'el "Fatimah".)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Life isn't about finding yourself
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   Life is about creating yourself.
Author: Widen Your Tent                   - Bernard Shaw
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF