03-05-2009, 09:00 PM
Shlama all--
I was studying the Jerusalem and Pseudo Jonathan Targums for Genesis 38 and found something interesting. The Gospels read:
???for by the judgment that you judge, you will be judged. And by the measure you measure it will be measured to you,??? (Matthew 7:2).
???for it is better than one of your members should perish and not all your body be thrown into Gehenna,??? (Matthew 5:30).
Now look at the Targum:
And Judah recognized the three witnesses, and arose upon his feet and said, I pray you, my brothers, and you men of the house of my fathers, to hear me. With the measure that a man measures shall it be measured to him; whether good measure or evil; and blessed is every man who confesses his works. Because I took the coat of Joseph my brother and dipped it into the blood of a goat, and brought it before the feet of my father and said to him, Know now whether this be your son's coat or not, the measure is according to the measure, and the rule to the rule. Better is it for me blush in this world than to blush in the world to come; better to burn with a fire that goes out, than to burn in the fire devouring fire. Let Tamar my daughter-in law be spared. She has not conceived a child by fornication, but because I did not give to her Shelah my son. The Bath kol came forth from heaven , and said, Both of you are acquitted in the judgment. The thing was from YHWH.
Like the Talmud, this work is supposed to be an apologetic against the Nazarenes and Christians in some cases. At a minimum, it is a reinforcement of Rabbinic interpretation and practice. But as I also demonstrated in my first book "Signs", the Talmud also takes large portions of Y'shua's teachings and incorporates them almost completely. The same is now happening in the Jerusalem and Psuedo Jonathan Targums, perhaps an underground movement a la Acts 6:7?
In the Targum's case, this reference puts the phrase of Y'shua somewhat close to Scripture. Granted Onkelos is the "authorized" version here and Onkelos does not have this reference, but these other two Targums did enjoy rabbinic support too, and not only are they quoting two lines from the Sermon on the Mount, they are putting it in the mouth of Y'shua's ancestor Judah, forefather of David. And yes, there are instances in Tanakh where SOME of these concepts Y'shua relates are touched upon, but I would argue this reading is so close and put together in such a way that they had to have read a copy of Matthew.
What's more the Aramaic is telling. The Targum uses mekela kebel mekela (measure that you measure). The Peshitta reads nearly the same way, but in plural form of "you", whereas Judah is talking in the singular of the third person. Other than that, it is the same phrase.
Something is definitely going on here...
I was studying the Jerusalem and Pseudo Jonathan Targums for Genesis 38 and found something interesting. The Gospels read:
???for by the judgment that you judge, you will be judged. And by the measure you measure it will be measured to you,??? (Matthew 7:2).
???for it is better than one of your members should perish and not all your body be thrown into Gehenna,??? (Matthew 5:30).
Now look at the Targum:
And Judah recognized the three witnesses, and arose upon his feet and said, I pray you, my brothers, and you men of the house of my fathers, to hear me. With the measure that a man measures shall it be measured to him; whether good measure or evil; and blessed is every man who confesses his works. Because I took the coat of Joseph my brother and dipped it into the blood of a goat, and brought it before the feet of my father and said to him, Know now whether this be your son's coat or not, the measure is according to the measure, and the rule to the rule. Better is it for me blush in this world than to blush in the world to come; better to burn with a fire that goes out, than to burn in the fire devouring fire. Let Tamar my daughter-in law be spared. She has not conceived a child by fornication, but because I did not give to her Shelah my son. The Bath kol came forth from heaven , and said, Both of you are acquitted in the judgment. The thing was from YHWH.
Like the Talmud, this work is supposed to be an apologetic against the Nazarenes and Christians in some cases. At a minimum, it is a reinforcement of Rabbinic interpretation and practice. But as I also demonstrated in my first book "Signs", the Talmud also takes large portions of Y'shua's teachings and incorporates them almost completely. The same is now happening in the Jerusalem and Psuedo Jonathan Targums, perhaps an underground movement a la Acts 6:7?
In the Targum's case, this reference puts the phrase of Y'shua somewhat close to Scripture. Granted Onkelos is the "authorized" version here and Onkelos does not have this reference, but these other two Targums did enjoy rabbinic support too, and not only are they quoting two lines from the Sermon on the Mount, they are putting it in the mouth of Y'shua's ancestor Judah, forefather of David. And yes, there are instances in Tanakh where SOME of these concepts Y'shua relates are touched upon, but I would argue this reading is so close and put together in such a way that they had to have read a copy of Matthew.
What's more the Aramaic is telling. The Targum uses mekela kebel mekela (measure that you measure). The Peshitta reads nearly the same way, but in plural form of "you", whereas Judah is talking in the singular of the third person. Other than that, it is the same phrase.
Something is definitely going on here...
Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth
Andrew Gabriel Roth