Moses Waits for the Lord’s Call
1 And it happened, when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it and all its vessels, that Moses reasoned in his heart and said, “As for Mount Sinai, whose anointing was the anointing of an hour, and its holiness the holiness of an hour, I did not go up into it until the time it was said to me from before the Lord. But as for the tent of meeting, whose anointing is an everlasting anointing, and its holiness an everlasting holiness, it is right that I should not enter it until the time it is said to me from before the Lord.” And the Dibbera of the Lord called to Moses, and the Memra of the Lord was wholly with him from the tent of meeting, saying.
6 And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.
9 He shall wash.
Preparing the Bird Burnt Offering
15 And the priest shall bring it up onto the altar, and wring off its head, and arrange it on the altar, and drain out its blood at the base of the altar. 16 And he shall remove its crop with its dung, and throw it down near the altar, on the east, at the place where the ashes are poured out. 17 And he shall tear it open by its wings, but not divide it. And the priest shall arrange it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire.
5 And rolls of unleavened bread. 6 And you shall break it into pieces and pour oil on it.
11 For anything leavened and anything sweet.
Removing the Fat From the Offering
9 He shall remove the fat and the whole fat tail close by the backbone, and the fat that covers the belly.
Sprinkling the Blood Seven Times
6 And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle seven times.
4 To do evil or to do good.
23 Or has defrauded his neighbor.
3 And trousers.
Preparing the Grain Offering
13 You shall bring it in sizzling hot, and you shall offer it broken into pieces as the grain offering of broken pieces, a pleasing aroma of acceptance to the Name of the Lord.
7 One instruction.
18 It shall be unfit.
The Fat, the Breast, and the Wave Offering
30 His own hands shall bring in the offerings of the Lord. The fat that is on the breast he shall give, together with the breast, to wave it as a wave offering before the Lord. 31 The breast.
24 And they bowed down in prayer on their faces.
1 Outside fire.
Aaron’s Mourning and Moses’s Admission
19 “They have offered their sin offerings and their burnt offerings before the Lord, and I have been taught that the sin offering is weightier than the second tithe, of which a mourner may not eat. And great mourning has come upon me this day, when my two sons Nadab and Abihu died, and I am mourning for them. Look, if I had eaten the sin offering today, could it be pleasing and right before the Lord?” 20 As soon as Moses heard, the word was pleasing in his sight, and he sent out a herald through all the camp of Israel and said, “I am the one from whom the rule was hidden, and Aaron my brother taught it to me.” And because Moses humbled himself, he received a great reward for it. And Moses heard, and the word was pleasing in his sight.
35 They shall be broken.
42 Whatever crawls on its belly among all living creatures.
2 A swelling, or a scab, or a bright spot.
42 And they shall plaster the house.
56 And for swellings, and for scabs, and for bright spots.
1 The two sons of Aaron, when they offered outside fire.
27 Their dung.
31 And on it you shall fast for your souls.
Washing and Responsibility for Sin
16 And if he does not wash, and does not rinse his flesh, he shall bear his sin.
21 And you shall not profane the Name of your God. Thus says the Lord.
28 And the land shall not vomit you out.
Leaving the Harvest’s Gleanings
9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not finish reaping the last swaths that are in your fields, and you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyards of their clusters, and you shall not gather the fallen grapes of your vineyards.
The Third Tongue and Speaking Truth in Judgment
16 “My people, house of Israel, you shall not go after the third tongue against your neighbors, and you shall not keep silent about your neighbor’s blood at the time when you know the truth in judgment.” Thus says the Lord.
20 They have rebelled, they are guilty.
35 And in the scales.
11 Their blood is on their heads.
6 And they shall not profane. 7 A woman who is a prostitute, or profaned.
Bodily Conditions That Exclude a Priest
20 Or one whose eyebrows cover his eyes, or who has no hair on his eyebrows, or who is too tall, or a dwarf, or who has a white spot in his eyes, or who is full of itch, or full of eruptions, or who is missing a testicle.
Offerings and the Merit of the Fathers
27 At the time when You remember in our favor the orders of our offerings, which we used to offer every year, our offerings made atonement for our sins. And now that our sins have caused it, and we have nothing to offer from our flocks of sheep, the ox was chosen before Me to recall the old man from the east, who was entirely pure, who brought a calf near to Your Name, and ran to his herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the young man. And the young man hurried to prepare it, and he baked unleavened cakes and fed the angels, and he was found worthy to receive the tidings that Sarah would indeed give birth to Isaac.
The lamb was chosen second, to recall the merit of the just one who bound himself on the altar and stretched out his neck for Your Name’s sake. The heavens bowed down and descended, and Isaac saw their perfections, and his eyes were dimmed by the heights. Because of this he was found worthy, and a lamb was provided for him there in his place for a burnt offering.
And further, third, a kid of the goats was chosen, to recall the merit of the perfect one who put on the skins of kids, and made savory dishes, and brought his father some of his dishes, and gave him wine to drink. And he was found worthy to receive the order of blessings from Isaac his father, and to raise up twelve holy tribes to Your Name.
Then Moses, the prophet of the Lord, explained and said, “My people, house of Israel, when an ox or a kid is born, it shall be seven days behind its mother, and from the eighth day onward it shall be fit to be offered as an offering to the Name of the Lord.”
Fasting and Rest on the Day of Atonement
29 For every soul who is able to fast and does not fast on the day of the Fast of Atonement.
32 From evening to evening you shall fast your fast, and rest your rest, and keep the times of your festivals with joy.
40 Citrons and lulabs.
The Blasphemer and the Four Cases Before Moses
11 And the son of the Israelite woman reviled the Explicit Name, and blasphemed. 12 This is one of four cases that came before Moses our master. In two of them Moses was deliberate, and in two of them Moses acted promptly. With the blasphemer who blasphemed the holy Name with reviling, and with the gatherer of sticks who profaned the Sabbath presumptuously, Moses was deliberate, because their cases were capital cases. And with the unclean who could not keep the Passover at its time, and with the daughters of Zelophehad, Moses acted promptly, because their cases were property cases. And in these he said, “I have not heard,” to teach the judges who were to arise after Moses to be deliberate in capital cases and prompt in property cases, so that they would not be ashamed to say, “We have not heard,” since Moses our master said, “I have not heard.” And they put him in custody until it should be made clear to them from before the Lord by which of these judgments it should be done to him.
Compensation for Bodily Injury
20 A fracture, compensation for a fracture, an eye, and a tooth, compensation for a tooth. As he caused a blemish in a man, so it shall be caused in him.
The Levites’ Open Land
34 And the field of the open land around their cities shall not be sold, for it is a possession.
Interest on Loans of Money and Food
37 You shall not give your money at interest, and you shall not lend your food at interest.
1 Nor a stone of idolatry.
The Sins That Brought Suffering on Jerusalem
29 How evil are those sins, and how bitter are those transgressions, that caused our fathers in Jerusalem to eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters!
Remembering the Covenants During Exile
42 “And I will remember in mercy the covenant that I made with Jacob at Bethel, and the covenant that I made with Isaac on Mount Moriah, and the covenant that I made with Abraham between the pieces I will remember in mercy, and the land of Israel I will remember in mercy. 43 And the land shall be abandoned by them, and shall enjoy its sabbaths of release all the days that it lies desolate without them. And they shall make amends for their sins, measure for measure, and orders for orders, because they spurned the order of My judgments. 44 And yet for all this, when you were dwelling in the land of your enemies, I did not reject them in the kingdom of Babylon, nor distance Myself from them in the kingdom of Greece, breaking My covenant with them in the kingdom of Edom, for I am the Lord your God in the days of Gog.”
Consecrating and Valuing Offerings
10 And he shall not exchange it, good for bad or bad for good. And if he does exchange animal for animal, both it and its exchange shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal from which they do not offer an offering to the Name of the Lord. 12 And the priest shall assess it, whether good or bad. As the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 And he shall add a fifth of its price to its valuation.
14 A holy thing to the Name of the Lord. And the priest shall assess it, just as he assesses it. 15 And if the one who consecrated it. A fifth of the money of its valuation is added to it, and it shall be his.
The Valuation and Redemption of Fields
16 And if a man sets apart part of the field of his inheritance to the Name of the Lord, its valuation shall be according to its seed, the seed of a homer of barley. 17 And if he sets apart his field from the year of Jubilee, it shall stand at its valuation.
19 And if the one who consecrated it will indeed redeem this field, he shall add a fifth in silver shekels of its valuation to it, and it shall be his.
21 A holy thing to the Name of the Lord, like a field that is set apart. 22 And if he consecrates to the Name of the Lord a field that he bought. 23 Then the priest shall calculate for him the sum set apart by its valuation up to the year of Jubilee, and he shall give the sum set apart by its valuation on this day, a holy thing to the Name of the Lord. 24 In the year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to the one who has the inheritance of the land. 25 And every valuation shall be in the shekels of the sanctuary.
The Firstborn and the Redemption of Unclean Animals
26 But the firstborn that he sets apart before the Lord among the cattle, whether ox or lamb, belongs to the Name of the Lord. 27 But if it is an unclean animal, he shall redeem it at its valuation and add a fifth of its price to it. And if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at its valuation.
People and Possessions Set Apart to the Lord
28 But every thing set apart that a man sets apart to the Name of the Lord, of all that he has, of human beings and of cattle, every thing set apart is most holy to the Name of the Lord. 29 Every person set apart who is set apart from among human beings shall not be redeemed. He shall surely be put to death.
Tithes and Their Redemption
30 It belongs to the Name of the Lord, a holy thing to the Name of the Lord. 31 And if a man will indeed redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth of its price to it. 32 And every tithe of oxen and of sheep, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to the Name of the Lord. 33 He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, and he shall not exchange it. And if he does exchange it, both it and its exchange shall be holy, and it shall not be exchanged.
34 These are the commandments.
An Introduction to Fragment Targum Leviticus
3 min read
The Fragment Targums refer to collections of passages selected from other Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible.1 These selections range from a single word to extended passages, and their fragmentary form reflects deliberate selection rather than damage to any manuscript. Fragment Targum Leviticus preserves selections from Palestinian Jewish translations of Leviticus, with explanations and additions from that tradition of biblical interpretation.2 These collections are also known as the Jerusalem Targum, or Targum Yerushalmi, though medieval references to that name do not always distinguish them from other targums, including Pseudo-Jonathan and Neofiti.3
The compilers are anonymous, and there is no securely established date for the collection as a whole. One scholarly reconstruction places the beginnings of the Palestinian targums around the late second or early third century CE, although their dating remains disputed.4 The surviving Fragment Targums were copied in the Middle Ages, and the age of an interpretation must be distinguished from the date when a compiler selected it for a collection.5
The collections may have helped preserve Palestinian interpretations as the Aramaic Targum Onkelos became more widely used, allowing the community to supplement its comparatively brief translation.6 Other proposed uses include notes for preachers and aids for translators, while some manuscript collections are especially connected with festival worship.7 The Aramaic Targum Neofiti and the Palestinian manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah preserve many of the same translations and additions. Their differences in language and contents prevent any surviving version from simply being identified as the original of all the others.8
The selections in Leviticus explain commandments about offerings and worship as well as the consequences of disobedience, and a brief clarification can stand beside an extended story. In Fragment Targum Leviticus 23:29, the requirement to afflict oneself on the Day of Atonement is explained as fasting, with an explicit qualification for someone who can fast. This interpretation is also preserved in Neofiti, Pseudo-Jonathan, and a Palestinian manuscript from the Cairo Genizah.9 At Leviticus 23:40, the festival plants are identified more precisely as citrons and lulabs, or palm branches, in language shared with other targums and rabbinic discussions of the celebration.10
A much longer interpretation at Fragment Targum Leviticus 22:27 connects the sacrificial animals with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The ox recalls Abraham’s calf prepared for his visitors in Genesis 18, the lamb recalls Isaac’s willingness to be offered in Genesis 22, and the goat recalls Jacob’s meal and goatskins in Genesis 27. The opening refers to offerings that the community can no longer bring, and the patriarchs’ deeds are recalled in the setting of prayer and atonement.11 Versions of this interpretation also occur in Neofiti, Pseudo-Jonathan, Leviticus Rabbah 27:9, and other rabbinic collections, connecting the instructions about sacrifice with stories from Genesis.12
The promises after the curses are explained through particular events and places. At Fragment Targum Leviticus 26:42, the covenants with the patriarchs are associated with Jacob at Bethel, Isaac on Mount Moriah, and Abraham between the divided pieces, connecting the promise with Genesis 28, Genesis 22, and Genesis 15.13 At Leviticus 26:44, the assurance that God will not reject Israel is extended through a sequence of kingdoms and into the days of Gog. The Paris collection names Babylon and Persia, while the Vatican tradition preserves a fuller sequence that includes Greece and Edom; comparable interpretations occur in Pseudo-Jonathan and Megillah 11a of the Babylonian Talmud.14
Notes