Texts in Conversation
In Jeremiah 7:11, the Hebrew text calls the temple a “den of robbers.” The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan changes this to the “house of assembly of wicked men,” anachronistically shifting the setting from the temple to the synagogue, reflecting the concerns of the translators who applied the prophet’s warning to their own time.
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Jeremiah 7:11
Hebrew Bible
10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! 11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord. 12 So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped in the early days. See what I did to it because of the wicked things my people Israel did.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Jonathan Jeremiah 7:11
Targum
10 And come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a house of an assembly of wicked men in your eyes? Even so, I have seen it, says the Lord. 12 But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
Date: 200-300 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In 2 Clement and the Apostolic Constitutions, Jeremiah’s warnings of judgment are cited to abate impiety in churches (2 Clem. 14:1; Apostolic Constitutions 4.1.6). In Targum Jeremiah 7:11, Jeremiah’s “den of brigands” (םיצרפ תרעמ) is applied to a synagogual context: “as a house of an assembly of wicked men” (ןיעישר תשינכ תיבכ). And in the Talmud and midrashic literature, passages from Jeremiah 7 are cited under the assumption that they point to the destruction of the temple (b. Naz. 32b; Sipre Deuteronomy 342:1; Pesiqta de Rav Kahanna 14:2; Lamentations Rabbah 31:2; 56:1; Zohar 1:55b). In sum, then, those who wished to speak of divine judgment, or to depict their opponents as enemies of God’s covenant, often found this famous sermon near to hand ..."
Ferda, T. S.
Jeremiah 7 and Flavius Josephus on the First Jewish War
(pp. 158-173) Journal for the Study of Judaism 44 (2), 2013
* 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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