Texts in Conversation
In an Aramaic Targum of Genesis 32, Jacob fulfills his vow to give a tenth of all he has by including Levi as his tenth son, offering him as a human tithe to God. This parallels the book of Jubilees, suggesting that the Targum is based on that tradition.
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Jubilees 32:3
Pseudepigrapha
2 Jacob got up early in the morning on the fourteenth day of this month and gave a tithe of everything which had come with him — from people to animals, from money to all utensils and clothing. He gave a tithe of everything. 3 At that time Rachel became pregnant with her son Benjamin. Jacob counted his sons from him. He went up the list, and it came down on Levi in the Lord’s share. His father put priestly clothes on him and ordained him. 4 On the fifteenth of this month he brought to the altar 14 young bulls from the cattle, 28 rams, 49 sheep, 7 kids, and 21 goats — as a burnt offering on the altar and as a pleasing offering for a pleasant aroma before God.
Date: 150-100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 32:25
Targum
24 He took them and sent them across the stream, and he sent what belonged to him across 25 Jacob was left alone beyond the Jabbok And an angel in the form of a man wrestled with him And he said, “Did you not promise to tithe all that would be yours? Now behold, you have twelve sons and one daughter, and you have not tithed them” Immediately he set aside the four first-born of the four mothers, and there remained eight And he began to count from Simeon, and Levi happened to be the tenth Michael spoke up and said, “Master of the world, this one is your lot” It was on account of these things that he tarried beyond the stream until the column of the dawn rose 26 When he saw that he had no power to harm him, he touched the socket of his hip, and he dislocated the socket of Jacob’s hip when he wrestled with him
Date: 300-1200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... This mention of Jacob’s tithe serves as an introduction to another, quite separate tradition about how Levi came to be the priestly tribe. At that time Rachel became pregnant her son Benjamin, and Jacob counted his sons for the purpose of giving God a tithe of his sons as well. Counting backwards from his twelfth son, Benjamin (then in utero), he arrived at Levi who, as number ten, therefore ought to be given to God as part of Jacob’s vow to return to God a tenth of all he had acquired; in other words, Levi was a human tithe (compare Pirqei de R. Eliezer 37, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Genesis 32:25), a further confirmation of his selection. Jacob therefore put priestly clothes on him (no doubt given to him by Isaac) and ordained him for the priesthood (literally “filled his hands,” the biblical idiom for “ordain”) ..."
Kugel, James L.
A Walk through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation
(p. 152) Brill, 2012
* 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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