714 related texts · 5 related myths · Page 14 of 15
When Jacob finally yields, he does not send his sons empty-handed. He sends a basket of the land itself. "Take of the praiseworthy things of the land," he tells them, "and put them...
When the blessings were finished, Jacob turned to the practical. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan records his request with the gravity of a last will. "I am to be gathered to my people; bury...
Why was Pharaoh's daughter in the river that morning? The Hebrew says simply: "to bathe." The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (2:5) has a different answer. And it is startling. "A...
The plain verse says God made Moses as a god to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1). The phrase has rattled translators for two thousand years. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 7:1) handles ...
When Moses delivers the demand at the Nile, the Hebrew has him speak in the name of the God of the Hebrews (Exodus 7:16). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 7:16) updates the phrase...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 14:9) pictures a scene the Hebrew leaves blank. While Pharaoh's chariots thunder toward them, what is Israel doing? The Targum says they are g...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan intensifies the penalty for trespass at Sinai: "Touch it not with the hand; for he will be stoned with hailstone, or be pierced with arrows of fire; whet...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (Exodus 23:16) names two festivals without naming them by their later names: the feast of the harvest first-fruits of the work thou didst sow in th...
The climax of the consecration chapter is not a ritual instruction. It is a declaration, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan gives it a weight the plain Hebrew only hints at: the sons of Is...
Moses pressed further. How will it be known, he asked, that Israel has truly found favor before God? Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the Aramaic paraphrase of the Torah, gives his answer a...
Having promised to drive out the six nations, God gave Moses a warning about the mistake that would undo everything. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the Aramaic paraphrase of the Torah, re...
The Torah's cryptic warning not to boil a kid in its mother's milk (Exodus 34:26) becomes, in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, something much more expansive. And much more alarming. The Tar...
There is a moment on Sinai when God tells Moses to write. Not to remember, not to transmit orally, not to carve into stone alone. But to write. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 34...
The second row of the breastplate carried three more tribes, and the meturgeman names the stones: smarag, sapphire, and chalcedony. On them were inscribed Judah, Dan, and Naphtali ...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 39:14) tells us something small and enormous at once. The twelve stones of the breastplate were engraved as the engraving of a ring, each tribe's ...
One tiny, but fascinating corner of that history, exploring the origins of prayer times and blessings. Our story begins in the Book of Numbers, in Hebrew, Bamidbar, specifically th...
The book of Bamidbar Rabbah, a treasure trove of rabbinic commentary on the Book of Numbers, explores this very idea. It all starts with the command to count the firstborn males, "...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to What It Means to Give Sacred Gifts to the Priest. The verse is actually part of a larger passage that begins, "Every gift of all the sacred items of the ch...
What does it all mean? , drawing on the tradition of Jewish tradition to unravel this mystery. The Torah tells us, "The priest shall write these curses in a scroll, and erase it in...
Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, dives deep into the prophet Amos's rebuke of those who are "tranquil in Zion" (Amos 6:1). Who are these ...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Jacob Blessed Pharaoh and Outshone God's Own Generosity. Rabbi Berekhya HaKohen (a priest) offers an example. He recalls the story of Jacob’s encounter wit...
The tradition turns to Bamidbar Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Numbers. In Bamidbar Rabbah 12, we find a powerful idea presented by Rab...
Bamidbar Rabbah 14, a fascinating exploration of the offerings brought by the princes of Israel, and how those offerings connect to Jacob, Joseph, and the tribe of Manasseh. The pa...
The story, as it unfolds in the Book of Numbers, centers on Balak, king of Moab, who is terrified by the approaching Israelites. He hires Bilam, a non-Israelite prophet known for t...
What does washing your hands have to do with Bilam and curses? Stay with me! The text immediately jumps into a discussion about halakha, Jewish law, asking about the liability of s...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Moses Pleads for a Worthy Successor to Lead Israel. The key, some sages suggest, lies in the Hebrew word yifkod, "appoint." According to Bamidbar Rabbah, t...
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, quoting Rabbi Levi, offers a fascinating analogy in Bereshit Rabbah, the great rabbinic commentary on Genesis. He says a builder needs six things: water, d...
Pretty impressive. But unlike the other days, there's no resounding declaration of "that it was good." Why this omission? The rabbis of old certainly wrestled with this question, a...
Even Shabbat, the day of rest, felt that way once. Isn't that incredible? Our sages grappled with a question: why did God specifically bless Shabbat? Bereshit Rabbah, a collection ...
A powerful promise from God to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and one who curses you, I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you" (Genesis...
A fascinating little debate from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Specifically, The verse in question is (Genesis 13:14): "...
Bereshit Rabbah 42, a fascinating passage from the Midrash, the body of ancient rabbinic interpretations of Scripture. This passage looks at Genesis 14, specifically verses 4 throu...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Covenant of Ishmael. So, who gets what blessing? That's where the rabbinic interpretations come in, offering multiple readings. Rabbi Yoḥanan, quoting Rabb...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Covenant of Circumcision of Abraham. (Genesis 17:26) tells us, “On that very day, Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.” Simple. But that “very day...
It all boils down to a pot of stew. (Genesis 25:29) tells us, "Jacob cooked a stew, and Esau came from the field and he was weary." Simple enough. But within that weariness, and wi...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Isaac's Failing Eyes Served a Hidden Divine Purpose. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa opens a fascinating door into this idea, stating, "Much, Lord my God, You have ...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to The Blessing That Keeps on Giving Again and Again. The text suggests blessings, yes, but also "a hidden place." A place, as the commentary puts it, "where ...
Take the tale of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. The familiar version gives us the basics: Jacob deceives his father, Isaac, and steals Esau's blessing. But what happens after? What was Is...
That feeling is at the heart of our story today, a story about brothers, blessings, and a whole lot of bad blood. It all stems from that infamous scene: Jacob, aided by his mother ...
"Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him. He commanded him and said to him: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan" (Genesis 28:1). Simple enough. But Rabbi Abahu sees som...
Our sages wrestled with it too. to a fascinating little corner of Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah), a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Specifi...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. And they found a beautiful way to express that feeling with a single word: Hamakom (המקום), "The Place," a name for God. But why "The Place"? (Gen...
Take the story of Jacob's dream in Genesis 28, where he rests his head on a stone and sees a ladder stretching to heaven. On that ladder, angels ascend and descend. A seemingly sim...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Joseph's Birth Gave Jacob Courage to Face Esau. What does Joseph’s birth have to do with Jacob wanting to leave Laban? Our sages see something deeper here....
The drama unfolds in (Genesis 31:47), where we read: “Laban called it Yegar Sahaduta and Jacob called it Galed.” Two names, two languages, one pile of stones. What's going on here?...
The Torah itself offers some pretty practical advice about diversifying your.. well, everything? It's tucked away in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of th...
The familiar story is this: Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt. But the Rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah (86) ask us to consider this: "“[Potiphar…an Egyptian man,] purchased him [from th...
The sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), particularly in Bereshit Rabbah, that treasure trove of Genesis interpretations, weren't fond of repetition. They belie...
