Texts in Conversation
Genesis says that leadership will remain with Judah, which is contradicted by the fall of the Davidic monarchy. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos resolves this by adding “forever,” to say that it will one day return through the Messiah.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 49:10
Hebrew Bible
9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah, from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches and lies down like a lion; like a lioness—who will rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him. 11 Binding his foal to the vine, and his colt to the choicest vine, he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Onkelos Genesis 49:10
Targum
9 The dominion shall be yours in the beginning, and in the end the kingdom shall be increased from the house of Judah, because from the judgment of death, my son, you have withdrawn. He shall rest and remain in strength as a lion, and as a lioness, there shall be no king that may cut him off. 10 He who rules shall not pass away from the house of Judah, nor the saphra from his children's children forever, until the Meshiha comes, to whom the kingdom belongs and whom the nations shall obey. 11 He shall lead Israel around His city; the people shall build his temple, they will be righteous around him, and obey the law through his teaching. His clothes will be of fine purple, and his outer garment of crimson wool with colors.
Date: 50–500 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... But, of course, the scepter did depart from Judah. Centuries later, the Jewish homeland was conquered by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.E. The king, scion of the Davidic dynasty, was led away in chains, and never again did a descendant of David sit on the royal throne. Instead, the people of Israel went on to suffer a long period of outside domination by one foreign ruler after the next. As time went on, people yearned more and more for the restoration of the Davidic kingship and the military and political power that went with it ... The word 'forever' here [in Targum Onkelos] does not correspond to any word in the Hebrew original of this verse. Instead, it represents a conscious attempt by this translator to make sense of an ancient prophecy. Jacob could not have meant that kingship simply would not depart from Judah, not even once, since that had not turned out to be true. The real meaning must therefore have been that it would not depart forever, that sometime it would be restored ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 276.
* 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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