Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 32 describes the fool as one who speaks and acts unrighteously, denying the hungry and thirsty. The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan expands this by comparing the righteous to those who hunger for teaching and thirst for the Torah.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 32:6
Hebrew Bible
4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment, and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity. 5 A fool will no longer be called honorable; a deceiver will no longer be called principled. 6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; his mind plans out sinful deeds. He commits godless deeds and says misleading things about the Lord; he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. 7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; he dreams up evil plans to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy are in the right. 8 An honorable man makes honorable plans; his honorable character gives him security.
Jonathan Isaiah 32:6
Targum
4 Even the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of those that was tied will be ready to speak plainly. 5 And the wicked man will no longer be called just, and he who transgresses against His Memra will not be called mighty. 6 For the wicked will speak wickedness, and in their heart they plot violence, to practice falsehood and to speak revolt against the LORD, to weary the soul of the righteous, who long for instruction as the hungry long for bread; and the words of the Torah, which are like water to one who is thirsty, they purpose to make cease. 7 And the wicked, whose works are evil, take counsel with sinners to destroy the poor with lying words, and the cause of the needy in judgment. 8 But the righteous counsel truth, and in their truth they will be established.
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Notes and References
"... The Isaiah Targum speaks of “the righteous, who desire teaching as a hungry person desires bread, and the words of the law, which they desire as a thirsty person desires water” (32:6). That interpretation of hunger and thirst is reminiscent of the Matthean Jesus, who blesses those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (see Matthew 5:6). This comparison does not extend to the Lukan Jesus (compare Luke 6:21), which raises the possibility that the present wording in Matthew was shaped during the course of transmission along the lines of Targumic interpretation. Similarly, The Targum’s association of the image of those who are lame with sinners and exiles might illuminate Matthew 21:14–15 (see 2 Samuel 5:8; Zephaniah 3:19; Isaiah 35:6; Micah 4:6–8, all in Targum Jonathan, and the article by Craig Evans). The statement “Blessed are you, the righteous” in Targum Jonathan at 2 Samuel 23:4 might also be mentioned, together with a striking comparison in the Jeremiah Targum (23:28b) that Robert Hayward has called attention to ..."
Chilton, Bruce
"Targum, Jesus, and the Gospels" in Levine, Amy-Jill, et al. (eds.) The Historical Jesus in Context
(pp. 238-255) Princeton University Press, 2006
* 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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