Texts in Conversation
Exodus 13 says God swore an oath to the ancestors about the land. The Aramaic language in Targum Onkelos avoids this and instead uses the more abstract term “affirmed,” likely to avoid the idea that God allowed himself to be bound by any oath.
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Exodus 13:5
Hebrew Bible
4 On this day, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 “When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, then you will keep this ceremony in this month. 6 For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to the Lord.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Onkelos Exodus 13:5
Targum
4 Today you are leaving, in the month of Abib. 5 And it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which He affirmed to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this ceremony in this month. 6 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord.
Date: 100-200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Oaths play an important role in the Bible. Taking a false oath or an oath in vain is regarded a serious violation of God's command. Even though an oath is a mere verbal utterance, it involves the creation of a sanctified relationship. Scripture often depicts God as 'swearing an oath.' The Targum generally replaces Scripture's 'took an oath,' as in verse 13:5, with the more respectful 'affirmed,' to avoid the improper and, indeed, impossible notion that God had a physical relationship with the Israelites, appeared before them, and allowed them to extract an oath from him. In verse 13:19, 'extracted an oath' is retained because it concerns an Israelite oath. ..."
Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner
Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text
(p. 78) Gefen, 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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