Texts in Conversation
In Mark, Jesus says some people hear parables but do not understand them. This is similar to the language in the Aramaic translation of Isaiah in Targum Jonathan, which explains the act of not understanding. This suggests that Mark was influenced by an Aramaic tradition that was later preserved in the Targum.
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Mark 4:11
New Testament
10 When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He said to them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, 12 “so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.” 13 He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any parable? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them. 16 These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.
Date: 60-75 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Jonathan Isaiah 6:9
Targum
7 And he placed it in my mouth, and said, Behold, I have put the words of my prophecies in thy mouth, and thy iniquities are put away, and thy sins are expiated. 8 And I heard the voice of the Word of the Lord, which said, Whom shall I send to prophesy? and who will go to teach? Then said I, Here am I, send me. 9 And He said, Go, and tell this people, who are diligently hearing, but understand not, and see diligently, but know not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and darken their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and repent, and it shall be forgiven them. 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities be wasted without an inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be laid desolate and wasted.
Date: 200-300 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Notes and References
"... Targumim may therefore enable us to find materials that are useful in comparison with the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. In a scholarly age when comparison based on social models has become common, the Targumim provide insights into the treatment of Scripture among ordinary Jews. Another example illustrates an instance in which Jesus appears to have cited a form of Scripture that is closer to the Targum than to any other extant source. In such cases, an awareness that he does so helps us to understand his preaching better than the general similarity between Luke and Pseudo-Jonathan illustrates. Targum of Isaiah 6:9, 10 is an especially famous instance, and it helps to explain Mark 4:11, 12. The statement in Mark could be taken to mean that Jesus told parables with the express purpose “that” (Greek: hina) people might see and not perceive, hear and not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven ..."
* 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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