Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 14 describes the king of Babylon trying to rise above the heavens and challenge the deity's rule. The Aramaic translation of Targum Jonathan changes this so the king no longer wants to challenge God and instead wants to dominate the people of God, perhaps to connect it with the political realities at the time.
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Isaiah 14:13
Hebrew Bible
12 “Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! 13 You said to yourself, ‘I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. 14 I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!’
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Jonathan Isaiah 14:13
Targum
How art thou cast down from on high, who wast shining among the sons of men as the star Venus among the stars: thou art dashed down to the earth, who wast a slaughterer among the nations. And thou, thou hast said in thy heart, I will climb up the heavens; I will place the throne of my kingdom above the people of God, and I will sit upon the mountain of the solemn assembly upon the ends of the north; I will ascend over all people; I will be higher than all of them.
Date: 200-300 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... “The house of Jacob” is promised the addition of “proselytes” in a land in which the “Shekhinah” is restored (vv. 1, 2), while Babylon is the butt of a taunt against the broken strength of its sinful mastery (verses 4–6). Particular relief is expressed by rich rulers (verse 8), who presumably have borne the economic brunt of tyranny. But any such relief is to be short-lived, in that the rich are also named as the principal inhabitants of Sheol (verse 9) ...imagery of 14:12 may have influenced Luke 10:18. The arrogance of the king of Babylon is spelled out in verses 13–14, and the Targumic innovation is to replace the idea of his challenging God in the Masoretic text with the motif of his attempt to dominate “the people of God” ..."
* 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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