Texts in Conversation
Exodus 38 mentions women who gathered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, whose mirrors were used for the creation of the bronze basin, but does not say why. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos fills in this gap, saying the women came to pray.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 38:8
Hebrew Bible
7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made the altar hollow, out of boards. 8 He made the large basin of bronze and its pedestal of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 9 Bezalel made the courtyard. For the south side the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, 150 feet long,
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Onkelos Exodus 38:8
Targum
7 And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it by them; he made it hollow, with boards. 8 And he made the Basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who come to pray at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 9 And he made the court: for the south side the curtains of the court were of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits,
Date: 50–500 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Maimonides, in his Guide of the Perplexed, praises our targumist over twenty times for his rationalistic removal of hundreds of metaphoric anthropomorphic portrayals of God. The rationalistic orientation of our targumist is also evident in his tendency to change scriptural words to inform us of the purpose or end of a particular action when the Bible is otherwise unclear. For example, it is difficult to understand what action the women were performing in Exodus 38:8 when they brought mirrors as they 'gathered' at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The targumist explains that the women gathered 'to pray.' This explanation indicates that they gave priority to prayer over personal appearance ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: 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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