Texts in Conversation
The Aramaic translation of Genesis in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan follows a tradition in the book of Jubilees that emphasizes public modesty, with both responding to the common behavior of Greco-Roman culture that practiced public nudity.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 3:31
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
29 And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types to the places which had been created for them. 30 And to Adam alone He gave (the means) to cover his shame, of all the wild animals and cattle. 31 For this reason, it is prescribed on the heavenly tablets regarding all those who know the judgment of the Torah, that they should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the nations uncover themselves. 32 And on the new moon of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went out from the Garden of Eden, and they lived in the land of Elda in the land of their creation.
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 6:2
Targum
1 When the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and beautiful daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of the great ones saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, that they painted their eyes and put on rouge, and walked about with naked flesh. They conceived lustful thoughts, and they took wives to themselves from among all who pleased them. 3 The Lord said in his Memra, 'None of the evil generations that are to arise (in the future) will be judged according to the order of judgment applied to the generation of the Flood, (that is) to be destroyed and wiped out from the world. Did I not put my holy spirit in them that they might perform good deeds? But behold, their deeds are evil. Behold, I gave them an extension of a hundred and twenty years that they might repent, but they have not done so.'
Date: 300–1200 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Particularly in the gymnasium the “curious” feature of Judean ethnic identity became all too visible – the circumcision of the male foreskin, since exercises were conducted in the nude. Some Judeans underwent an epispasm by which the foreskin was restored, and so was said to have forsaken the “holy covenant” (1 Maccabees 1:15). No wonder the gymnasium was regarded as one of the most important abominations of Hellenism (1 Maccabees 1:14-15; 2 Maccabees 4:9-17). Jubilees 3:31 also says Adam and Eve covered their genitals, unlike the Gentiles. According to Cohen, there are passages in the Tanak that speak of the importance of circumcision (Jeremiah 9:24-25; Genesis 17, 34; Exodus 4:24-26, 12:43-49; Joshua 5:2-11) but the Bible “as a whole generally ignores it and nowhere regards it as the essential mark of [Judean] identity or as the sine qua non for membership in the [Judean polity]. It attained this status only in Maccabean times” ..."
Markus Cromhout, “A Clash of Symbolic Universes: Judeanism vs Hellenism,” HvTSt 63.3 (2007): 1089–1117.
* 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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Thank you for the insight. Where can I buy the pseudo Johnathan targum?
Thank you for the insight. Where can I buy the pseudo Johnathan targum?