1,340 texts · Page 20 of 28
Ben ‘Azzai said: He whose mind is at ease because of his learning,1The knowledge which he acquired did not make him overbearing, but confirms him in his faith and helps him to live...
R. JOSE SAID: HE WHO HONOURS THE TORAH IS HIMSELF HONOURED BY MANKIND, as it is stated, For them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.11...
R. SIMEON B. ELEAZAR SAID IN THE NAME OF R. MEIR: DO NOT APPEASE YOUR FELLOW IN THE TIME OF HIS ANGER; DO NOT COMFORT HIM IN THE TIME OF HIS MOURNING;1Aboth 4:23 (Sonc. ed., IV, 18...
R. NATHAN1Aboth 4:11 (Sonc. ed., IV, 9, pp. 48f) where the dictum is given in reverse order in the name of R. Jonathan. GRA emends to R. Jonathan b. Joseph, a disciple of R. ‘Aḳiba...
THERE WERE TEN GENERATIONS FROM ADAM TO NOAH. What need is there for mankind to [know] this? It is to teach you that although those generations provoked Him continually, the Holy O...
THERE WERE TEN GENERATIONS FROM NOAH TO ABRAHAM. What need is there for mankind to [know] this? It is to teach that all those generations were provoking Him, and there was not one ...
TEN MIRACLES WERE WROUGHT FOR OUR FATHERS IN JERUSALEM:1The current editions read ‘in the Temple’. This is an error, because the list of miracles wrought in the Temple is given lat...
The men of Sodom will neither come to life [in the hereafter] nor be brought to judgment,1The eschatological doctrines assumed here are that some time in the future, after the Mess...
There are seven creations [in the universe] in ascending degrees of importance. High above everything God created the firmament. Above1i.e. of greater importance and usefulness. th...
SEVEN KINDS OF PUNISHMENT COME UPON THE WORLD FOR SEVEN CARDINAL TRANSGRESSIONS. IF SOME GIVE THEIR TITHES AND OTHERS DO NOT, THERE COMES A FAMINE THROUGH DROUGHT.1Aboth 5:11 (Sonc...
Five persons are not granted forgiveness:1The meaning is not that the doors of forgiveness are for ever shut against them, but that they are so hardened in sinning that they will n...
There are four acts that a man performs, the fruits of which he enjoys in this world, while the capital is laid up for him in the world to come. They are: honouring father and moth...
(Genesis 4:8) contains one of the strangest silences in the Torah. It says "Cain spoke to Abel his brother," and then nothing. The sentence just stops. The next thing that happens ...
The Hebrew Bible says Noah planted a vineyard (Genesis 9:20). The Targum Jonathan says he "found a vine which the river had brought away from the garden of Eden." This single addit...
Abraham had just defeated four kings and rescued his nephew. In (Genesis 15:1), God simply says "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." But the ancien...
The Hebrew Bible says three "men" appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:2). The Targum Jonathan tells you exactly what they were and exactly why each one came. They ...
Genesis 30 describes the intense rivalry between Rachel and Leah as they compete to bear Jacob's children. The Targum Jonathan turns this domestic drama into a prophetic saga where...
The standard Torah tells us that Jacob traveled to Beersheba and offered sacrifices before heading down to Egypt. But Targum Jonathan, the ancient Aramaic translation dating to the...
Jacob gathered his twelve sons around his golden bed to reveal the future. But something went wrong. According to Targum Jonathan, Jacob intended to show them "the hidden mysteries...
The plague of hail in Exodus chapter 9 comes with a warning: anyone who fears God's word should bring their livestock inside. The Hebrew Bible says some of Pharaoh's servants feare...
The splitting of the Red Sea is dramatic enough in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan on (Exodus 14) turns it into something almost mythological, adding details about the Garden...
In the Hebrew Bible, Jethro visits Moses in the wilderness, gives advice about delegating judges, and leaves. The Targum Jonathan on (Exodus 18) transforms this administrative visi...
The laws of (Exodus 21) sound harsh in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan systematically softens many of them, adding legal specifics that transform ancient punishments into som...
The laws of (Exodus 23) cover justice, festivals, and the conquest of Canaan. The Targum Jonathan on this chapter adds moral psychology, legal specifics, and one of the most striki...
The priestly garments in (Exodus 28:1-43) are already elaborate in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan turns them into theological weapons. Every piece of clothing becomes an ins...
Nadab and Abihu, the two eldest sons of Aaron, offered unauthorized incense—and died. The Hebrew Bible says fire "came out from the Lord and consumed them" (Leviticus 10:2). The Ta...
Leviticus 19 contains the famous command "love your neighbor as yourself." The Targum Jonathan's version is subtly different: "thou shalt love thy neighbour himself, as that though...
Leviticus 24 tells the story of a man who blasphemed God's Name and was stoned. The Targum Jonathan turns this brief account into a full courtroom drama with backstory, legal philo...
The Hebrew Bible records that Moses invited Hobab his father-in-law to travel with Israel, and Hobab refused. The Targum Jonathan expands this exchange into a deeply personal plea ...
A man gathered wood on the Sabbath and was executed for it. The Hebrew Bible tells this story in three verses. The Targum Jonathan expands it into a legal precedent about judicial ...
The five daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah—heard that the Promised Land would be divided only among males and immediately went to the court. The Targ...
The Targum's version of (Numbers 35) contains one of the most radical theological claims in all of ancient Jewish literature. It explains why a manslayer confined to a city of refu...
The standard text of (Deuteronomy 1) opens with Moses speaking to Israel "beyond the Jordan." But the Targum Jonathan, an ancient Aramaic translation composed between the 1st and 4...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 7) contains one of the most theologically radical statements in all of ancient Aramaic literature. God did not choose Israel because they were t...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 10) buries an entire civil war inside what the Hebrew Bible treats as a simple travel itinerary. The Hebrew says Israel "journeyed from Beeroth ...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 15) contains a bleak prophecy hidden inside a law about debt forgiveness. The Hebrew says "the poor will never cease from the land." The Targum ...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 16) transforms the three pilgrimage festivals into richly detailed celebrations. The Hebrew describes Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot (the Festiva...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 17) puts hard numbers on royal power. The Hebrew says the king shall not "multiply horses" or "multiply wives." But how many is too many? The Ta...
Targum Jonathan transforms the dry legal code of (Deuteronomy 19) into something visceral. Where the Torah simply warns that the blood avenger might overtake a fleeing killer, the ...
The unsolved murder ritual in (Deuteronomy 21) is already strange in the Torah—elders break a heifer's neck in a barren valley. Targum Jonathan makes it stranger and more spectacul...
The Torah's rule against cross-dressing in (Deuteronomy 22:5) is brief and absolute. Targum Jonathan rewrites it entirely, replacing the general prohibition with something specific...
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...
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...
It will be, from new month to new month, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh will come to bow before Me," said Hashem (Isaiah 66:23). Teach us, our teacher, a person from Israel...
From Ephraim, who wrote in Amalek after you, Benjamin (Judges 5:14). May our Rabbis teach us what a person should say when he reads the Book of Esther. The Talmud teaches us that o...
Another explanation. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion… And many nations shall join the Lord…” (Zechariah 2:14-15) R’ Chanina bar Papa said: this verse is only speaking of that...
