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Jonathan Isaiah

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Chapter 6

1 In the year that King Uzziah was struck with leprosy, the prophet said, I saw the glory of the LORD sitting on His throne,⁠ high and lifted up to the highest heavens, and the temple was filled with the brightness of His glory.⁠ 2 Holy ministers on high stood before Him; each one had six wings.⁠ With two he covered his face, so that it could not see; with two he covered his body, so that it could not be seen; and with two he was ministering. 3 One cried to another, and they were saying, “Holy in the highest and exalted heavens is the house of His Shekinah; holy on the earth is the work of His might; holy forever and ever is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of the brightness of His glory.”⁠ 4 The posts of the threshold of the temple shook at the voice of the one who cried, and the house of the sanctuary was filled with cloudy darkness. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I have sinned! For I am a guilty man, deserving rebuke, and I dwell in the midst of a people polluted with sin; for my eyes have seen the glory of the Shekinah of the King of the worlds, the LORD of hosts.” 6 Then one of the ministers flew to me, and in his mouth was a word that he had received from the Shekinah of Him who sat on the throne of glory in the highest heavens, above the altar. 7 He placed it in my mouth and said, “I have put the words of my prophecies in your mouth; your iniquities are taken away, and your sins are atoned for.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Memra of the LORD, which said, “Whom shall I send to prophesy, and who will go to teach?” Then I said, “Here I am; send me.” 9 And He said, “Go and tell this people, who hear diligently but do not understand, and see diligently but do not know.⁠ 10 Make the heart of this people fat, make their ears heavy, and darken their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and repent, and it would be forgiven them.” 11 Then I said, “LORD, how long?” And He answered, “Until the cities are laid waste with no inhabitant, and the houses without people, and the land is left desolate and wasted.” 12 And the LORD has removed the children of men far away, and the desolation is great in the midst of the land. 13 And there will be left in it righteous men, one out of ten; they will return, and they will be brought to poverty. Like the terebinth and the oak when their leaves fall, they are like dry trees; nevertheless they are still moist enough to raise up seed from them. So the captivity of Israel will be gathered and will return to their land, for the holy seed is their planting.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 6:13 and Jonathan Isaiah 6:13

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Isaiah 6 describes a sacred Asherah tree being cut down to indicate the destruction of the land, with a surviving remnant compared to a seed. The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan explains that this is a reference to the sufferings of the people.

Passages

Isaiah 6:13

Hebrew Bible
12 and the Lord has sent the people off to a distant place, and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned. 13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.”
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Jonathan Isaiah 6:13

Targum
12 And the LORD has removed the children of men far away, and the desolation is great in the midst of the land. 13 And there will be left in it righteous men, one out of ten; they will return, and they will be brought to poverty. Like the terebinth and the oak when their leaves fall, they are like dry trees; nevertheless they are still moist enough to raise up seed from them. So the captivity of Israel will be gathered and will return to their land, for the holy seed is their planting.
200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

"... The Isaiah targumist explains many metaphors in the text, sometimes completely rewriting the passage, as in Isaiah 6:13, and identifies the positions of many of the people that are mentioned. The targumist removes some but not all anthropomorphisms by adding 'before,' 'glory,' Shekhinah and memra (word or wisdom). It is significant to note that the targumist's language of 6:3, Isaiah's vision of the words he heard the attendants (not Seraphim, as in the Hebrew) of God say, are repeated by Jewish worshipers in the daily services. Of special significance is the targumist's interpretation of verses 9:5 and 9:6, verses that many Christians assumed referred to Jesus. Just like Rashi and later Jewish commentators, the Isaiah targumist understood the passage to speak of the son of King Achaz, who did not follow God's commands. He would have a son whom God, the 'wonderful counselor,' will call 'Messiah,' meaning the 'anointed one,' and signifying that he will rule after Achaz. This child will keep the laws of the Torah and bring peace to the land ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2006), 294.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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