Texts in Conversation
In the Aramaic Targum Neofiti of Exodus, “getak” describes the Israelites’ celebration of the golden calf and can imply obscene behavior. In 1 Corinthians, Paul similarly connects the episode with sexual sin.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Corinthians 10:7
New Testament
5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and 23,000 died in a single day. 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.
Date: 55–57 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Neofiti Exodus 32:6
Targum
4 He received them from their hands and cast them into a mold. He made it into a cast-metal calf and said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 Aaron saw Hur the prophet before it and was afraid. He built an altar before it. Aaron made a proclamation: “A festival before the Lord tomorrow!” 6 They rose early the next day, arranged burnt offerings, and brought sacrifices of holy things. The people sat down to eat and drink, then rose to engage in obscene revelry in foreign worship. 7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down, because your people, whom you redeemed and brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They quickly turned aside from the way I commanded them. They made themselves a cast-metal calf, bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”
Date: 300–1000 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Paul enjoins the Corinthian Christians, "Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.' We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did". Paul is quoting part of Exodus 32:6 and alluding to the sorry episode of the golden calf. But that story says nothing about sexual immorality. According to Exodus 32:6 in the Hebrew: 'They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel [literally 'and rose up to laugh'].' The LXX reads, 'and the people sat down to eat and drink and arose to dance.' Paul has followed the LXX, but his warning not to indulge in sexual immorality may reflect the Aramaic paraphrase: 'and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play obscenely [getak] in foreign worship' (Targum Neofiti). In Aramaic, getak means either 'to laugh' or 'to jest,' as does tsahaq in Hebrew, but it also means "to be obscene," particularly with reference to idolatry ... In antiquity, pagan worship often involved temple prostitutes. It is this aspect that the Targum may reflect and that Paul also presupposes; hence his warning to avoid sexual immorality ..."
Craig A. Evans, Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies: A Guide to the Background Literature (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2005), 212–213.
* 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.
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