Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 18 describes a distant land beyond the rivers of Cush, a reference to Africa. The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan changes this from Cush to India, reflecting a later Babylonian perspective shaped by trade across the Indian Ocean.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 18:1
Hebrew Bible
1 Beware, land of buzzing wings, the one beyond the rivers of Cush, 2 that sends messengers by sea, who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, to a people that are feared far and wide, to a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. 3 All you who live in the world, who reside on the earth, you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains; you will hear a trumpet being blown.
Jonathan Isaiah 18:1
Targum
1 Ah, the land beyond the rivers of India, to which they come in ships from a far country, whose sails are spread out like an eagle flying with its wings! 2 It sends ambassadors by the sea, in ships on the face of the waters, saying, “Go, swift messengers, to a people oppressed and plundered, to a people that was mighty in times past and will be so in time to come, a people oppressed and robbed, whose land the nations have plundered.” 3 All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when the standard is lifted up on the mountains, you will see the standard, and when the trumpet sounds, you will hear of redemption.
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Notes and References
"... The mention of “India” rather than “Ethiopia” in the Targum changes the geographical focus of the text radically (verse 1, compare 11:11). It probably reflects the Babylonian perspective of this passage, in that trading relations involving the Indian Ocean were established from an early period ... Reference may be made to the finds of pearls from the Indian Ocean at Hasanlu described by Porada .. compare Rosh Hashannah 23a ..."
* 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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