204 texts in Midrash Aggadah
Targum Jonathan transforms the assembly laws of (Deuteronomy 23) with details that reshape who belongs to Israel and why. A man "born of fornication" cannot enter the congregation—...
The Torah's divorce law in (Deuteronomy 24) states that a second husband may dislike the wife. Targum Jonathan adds something astonishing: "should they proclaim from the heavens ab...
The levirate marriage ceremony in (Deuteronomy 25) is already dramatic in the Torah. Targum Jonathan turns it into theater. The brother-in-law's refusal must happen "before five of...
The first-fruits ceremony in (Deuteronomy 26) is beautiful in the Torah. Targum Jonathan makes it lavish. Where the Hebrew says simply to bring produce in a basket, the Targum adds...
The Torah says write the law on plastered stones after crossing the Jordan. Targum Jonathan says write it "with writing deeply engraven and distinct, which shall be read in one lan...
The blessings of (Deuteronomy 28) receive domestic detail. Being blessed "when you go out" becomes "blessed shall you be in your coming in to your houses of instruction, and blesse...
The covenant at Moab in (Deuteronomy 29) is addressed to the Israelites standing there. Targum Jonathan expands the audience to infinity: "all the generations which have arisen fro...
The Torah's promise of return from exile in (Deuteronomy 30) is hopeful. Targum Jonathan makes it messianic. Where the Hebrew says God will gather the scattered, the Targum says: "...
Targum Jonathan opens (Deuteronomy 31) with Moses entering not a tent but "the tabernacle of the house of instruction"—a study hall. Even at the threshold of death, the setting is ...
The Song of Moses in (Deuteronomy 32) is the Torah's great poem. Targum Jonathan wraps it in an elaborate theological commentary that dwarfs the original. It opens with Moses choos...
The Blessing of Moses in (Deuteronomy 33) gets the full Targum treatment—every tribe's destiny expanded, every blessing loaded with specifics the Torah never mentions. It opens wit...
The death of Moses in (Deuteronomy 34) is eight verses in the Torah. Targum Jonathan turns it into one of the most elaborate death scenes in all of ancient Jewish literature. From ...
