2,207 related texts · 56 related myths · Page 43 of 46
The Hebrew calls Naphtali "a hind let loose, that giveth goodly words" (Genesis 49:21). The image is a deer sprinting across a mountainside with news. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan names ...
Joseph's blessing is the longest Jacob delivers, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan packs it with detail no translator could resist. "Joseph, my son, thou hast become great and mighty.. be...
Power draws enemies. Joseph rose from a prison cell to the second throne of Egypt in a single day (Genesis 41:40), and the men he displaced never forgave him. Targum Pseudo-Jonatha...
Jacob's blessing of Joseph reaches into cosmic language. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves two divine titles worth pausing on. "From the Word of the Lord shall be thy help; and He w...
The ancestral blessings were not universally loved. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan includes a striking aside in Joseph's final benediction. "The blessings of thy father be added to the ble...
Benjamin was the youngest, and Jacob's last blessing might be the most exalted. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan reads the Hebrew "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf" (Genesis 49:27) as a declarati...
Jacob names the burial site with the precision of a deed. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the legal language. "In the cave that is in the Double Field over against Mamre in the la...
Joseph was the second most powerful man in Egypt. He could have ordered the funeral procession with a wave of his hand. Instead, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves a curious diplomat...
Comes the answer. Joseph looks at his brothers, these old, frightened men. And finally explains the awkward meal. "You indeed imagined against me evil thoughts, that when I did not...
"And the Lord said again unto Mosheh, Thus shalt thou speak to the sons of Israel: The God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Izhak, and the God of Jakob, hath sent me...
Here is one of the most extraordinary expansions in all of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. The biblical Hebrew says only that Moses took the rod of God in his hand. The Aramaic adds a cosm...
The Torah gives Levi's lifespan as a hundred and thirty-seven years (Exodus 6:16), but Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds a single clause that changes the entire feel of the verse. Levi, ...
The plain verse says only that Amram married Jokeved, fathered Aharon and Moses, and lived a hundred and thirty-seven years (Exodus 6:20). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 6:20) a...
Before Aaron's household held the priesthood, someone else did. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (Exodus 24:5) preserves this little-known tradition: Mosheh sent the firstborn of t...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 28:20) closes the breastplate's geography with the fourth row: chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, engraved with Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. The ...
Moses's final argument turned to the deepest court of appeal in the Jewish tradition: the merit of the avot, the patriarchs. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves it precisely: "Remembe...
There is a stunning detail hiding inside the boring carpentry of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 36:33). The middle bar that ran the length of the Tabernacle's north wall, mortis...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:8) takes a simple instruction, set up the court around the tabernacle and hang a curtain at its gate. And turns it into one of the most strikin...
(Job 25:2) declares, "Dominion and awe are with Him. He makes peace in His high places." Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 13:2 reads this as a window into the celestial pecking ord...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to God Teaches Torah In The World To Come. Well, imagine this: God, the ultimate teacher, personally instructing all of Israel in Torah. Not just reading it, ...
That feeling, that raw, unfair sting, is at the heart of the story of Jacob and Esau, and the stolen blessing. The scene is set: Isaac, now old and with failing eyesight, calls for...
Serah, daughter of Asher, one of Jacob's sons. We find her name nestled in the list of those who went down to Egypt with Jacob to escape the famine. You can find it in (Genesis 46:...
It's about divine engagement. The verse that sparks this thought is from (Numbers 3:1): "And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses on the day that God spoke to Moses on Moun...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to If Aaron's Grandsons Had Sons the Priesthood Would Differ. The text gets a bit more complex, focusing on the phrase "al penei Aaron, their father," which l...
Why priests were priests, Levites were Levites, and the firstborn. well, what was the deal with the firstborn? Our story begins in Bamidbar Rabbah 6, a section of the great Midrash...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Why the Wicked Prosper and How Aaron Blesses Israel. We find a fascinating perspective in Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically in its commentary on (Numbers 6:23)...
From that small verse, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) launches into a fascinating exploration of Judah, the tribe of lions, fiery furnaces, and ultimately, God's pr...
The Torah portion describes the offerings brought by the leaders of the tribes of Israel at the dedication of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. Each day, a different leader brought the ...
"On the sixth day, prince of the children of Gad, Elyasaf son of Deuel" (Numbers 7:42). The text repeats. Why? The Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) don't th...
Sometimes it feels like wading through ancient accounting ledgers. But hidden within those seemingly dry details are profound connections – whispers of cosmic harmony and echoes of...
The rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ask a pointed question: why did the spies, when reporting back about the land of Israel, single out Amalek first? What ...
Rabbi Zakai of She'av offers a beautiful insight. He imagines the Israelites asking God: "Master of the universe, everywhere else You call it the land of Canaan, but here, ‘the lan...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to The Prophetic Letters That Change Form at a Word's End. What about mem mem? It's linked to Isaac, and the verse "For you have grown much mightier than we [...
Why the darkness? " This links back to (Exodus 12:42), which describes the night of the Exodus from Egypt as "a night of vigilance of the Lord…it is this night…for all the children...
The story of Bilam, found in the Book of Numbers, is one wild ride. But the real juicy stuff? It's in the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah, ...
It might be more than just luck. to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) 21, which uses the biblical verse "My offering, My food… you shall observe to presen...
When the Torah says, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: For you are coming to the land of Canaan; this will be the land that will fall to you as an inheritance” (Num...
It contrasts Adam, the first man, with Job, the righteous sufferer, highlighting their very different responses to adversity. The passage begins with Adam's infamous excuse: "The w...
In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find this idea explored through a rather unsettling lens: famine. Specifically, the ...
Take Terah, for example, the father of Abraham. The Torah introduces him with a doubled name: "These are the descendants of Teraḥ. Teraḥ begot Abram, Naḥor, and Haran, and Haran be...
The Torah gives us glimpses, but it's in the rabbinic stories, the aggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative), that we really get a sense of the spiritual climate. One story, found in ...
The Torah gives us hints, but it's in the rabbinic tradition where things get really interesting, where they piece together the ages and relationships to illuminate the story. (Gen...
It's like a song with a recurring chorus, reminding us of something vital. the story turns to one of those refrains, the reassurance "Fear not, Abram," and see what echoes it holds...
Abraham, our patriarch, knew that feeling. In (Genesis 15:2), he cries out, "My Lord God, what will You give me, seeing that I go childless, and the one who has charge of my house ...
The story unfolds in Genesis 20, after Abraham and Sarah arrive in Gerar, ruled by Avimelekh. Abraham, fearing for his life, tells Avimelekh that Sarah is his sister. Avimelekh the...
The story unfolds in Genesis 20. Avimelekh, deceived by Abraham’s claim that Sarah is his sister, takes her into his harem. God intervenes, revealing the truth in a dream. A terrif...
The story begins with Abraham making a covenant with Avimelekh, a Philistine king. As (Genesis 21:27) tells us, "Abraham took flocks and cattle, and gave them to Avimelekh, and the...
The familiar story centers on Abraham and the binding of Isaac – the Akeidah, as it's known in Hebrew. But what about Isaac? Was he just a passive participant in this earth-shatter...
