Texts in Conversation
In Romans, Paul describes God’s kindness intending to lead to repentance. This resembles a tradition in the Aramaic translation of Genesis in Targum Neofiti where the 120 years given to humans is seen as divine patience intended to bring repentance.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Romans 2:4
New Testament
2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! 6 He will reward each one according to his works:
Date: 55–58 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Neofiti Genesis 6:3
Targum
1 And when people began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of the judges saw that the daughters of people were beautiful to look at, and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, “None of the generations that are to arise will be judged by the order of judgment of the generation of the flood. Is not the order of judgment of the generation of the flood sealed before him, that it be destroyed and wiped out from the midst of the world? Look, I put my spirit in people, because they are flesh and their deeds are evil. Look, I have given you a reprieve of a hundred and twenty years, in case they might repent, and they have not done so.” 4 The giants were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, after the sons of the judges went in to the daughters of people and they bore them children. These are the giants who from the beginning of the world were mighty men known by their names. 5 And it was revealed before the Lord that the wickedness of people was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their heart pondered nothing but evil all day long.
Date: 300–600 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... 'Kindness ... leads to repentance': compare Psalm 50.16-23, 73.11, Ecclesiastes 8.11, Isaiah 57.11, Titus 3.4, Wisdom of Solomon 11.23 ... God's 'overlooking' of man's transgressions should lead him to turn from his iniquity and repent ..."
Joseph Shulam and Hilary Le Cornu, A Commentary on the Jewish Roots of Romans (Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish, 1998), 83.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,