Jonathan Isaiah 43:10

Targum

9 Let all the nations be gathered together, let the kingdoms be brought together: who among them can declare this, and give us the joyful tidings of old? let them bring forth their wit nesses, that they may be justified; let them hear, and let them speak the truth. 10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant, the Messiah, in whom is my delight, in order that ye may know, and that ye may believe in me, and understand that I am He who was from the beginning; yea, ages after ages are mine, and beside me there is no god. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no saviour.

1 John 2:13

New Testament

12 I am writing to you, little children, that your sins have been forgiven because of his name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, that you have conquered the evil one. 14 I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.

 Notes and References

"... Interpretive questions include (1) what is ‘his name,’ and (2) to what does ‘the beginning’ refer — the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, or the beginning as in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1? ... Answers to both of these interpretive questions are suggested when the dependence of 1 John 2:11-14 on Targum Isaiah 43:10, 25; 44:6; 48:12, as shown by the following comparison, is recognized ... The italicized portion of Targum Isaiah 43:10 stands in place of the MT, ‘Before me there was no God formed.’ It also agrees with the Targum’s paraphrase of Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12, which read identically to the Aramaic of 43:10 ... The fact that two different phrases in 1 John 2:12-14 agree so closely with two phrases closely collocated in Targum Isaiah (one being found three times), both of which are divine ‘I am he’ sayings, makes it unlikely that the similarity between 1 John and Targum Isaiah is accidental, or that both 1 John and the Targum borrow from the same liturgical source ..."

Ronning, John L. The Targum of Isaiah and the Johannine Literature (pp. 247-278) Westminster Theological Journal No. 69, 2007

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