Texts in Conversation
Jesus in Matthew 7 and the Aramaic translation of Leviticus in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan both express the Golden Rule, teaching that you should treat others as they wish to be treated. The Targum uniquely uses both the positive and negative expression, that you should do good and also do no harm.
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Matthew 7:12
New Testament
9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Pseudo Jonathan Leviticus 19:18
Targum
Thou shalt not hinder the acquittal of thy neighbour in witnessing against him in the judgment: I am the Lord. against your neighbour, nor be silent about thy neighbour's blood, what time in the judgment thou knowest the truth: so speaketh the Lord.] Speak not bland words with your lips, having hatred to your brother in your hearts; but reproving you shall reprove your neighbour; and though it make you ashamed, you shall not contract sin in account of him. Be not revengeful, nor cherish animosity against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbour himself, as that though there be (cause of) hatred with thee thou mayest not do (evil) to him: I am the Lord. You shall keep My statutes. Thy cattle shall not be made to gender with various kinds, neither sow thy field with mixed seeds, nor put upon thee a garment of divers materials, (as) wool and linen.
Date: 300-1200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... it seems inherently unlikely that Pseudo-Jonathan, which of all the Pentateuchal Targumim is perhaps the most influenced by a concern to guard and articulate Judaic integrity, would inadvertently convey a saying of Jesus.' More probably, both Pseudo-Jonathan and Luke's Jesus are here independently passing on wisdom of a proverbial nature: both sources convey material from the stock of folk culture. After all, the same Targum twice explains love of another person (whether an Israelite or a stranger) with the maxim "that which is hateful to you, do not do" (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus 19:18, 34; compare Luke 6:31; Matthew 7:12). Luke shows that this stock goes back to the first century, and Pseudo-Jonathan shows that it continued to be replenished until the seventh century. The targumic echo is therefore most certainly not immediately the source of Jesus' statement, but it may help us to describe the nature, general type, and origin of Jesus' statement ..."
Chilton, Bruce
"From Aramaic Paraphrase to Greek Testament" in Evans, Craig A. (ed.) From Prophecy to Testament: The Function of the Old Testament in the New
(pp. 23-43) Hendrickson Publishers, 2004
* 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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