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Jonathan Isaiah

About this book
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 Mark 4:11 and Jonathan Isaiah 6:9

New Testament · Targum

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Summary

In Mark, Jesus says some people hear parables but do not understand them, similar to the Aramaic translation of Isaiah in Targum Jonathan, which explains the act of not understanding. Mark was likely influenced by a similar Aramaic tradition.

Passages

Mark 4:11

New Testament
10 When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He said to them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, 12 “so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.” 13 He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any parable? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them. 16 These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.
60–75 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mark

Jonathan Isaiah 6:9

Targum
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.”
200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

"... Targumim may therefore enable us to find materials that are useful in comparison with the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. In a scholarly age when comparison based on social models has become common, the Targumim provide insights into the treatment of Scripture among ordinary Jews. Another example illustrates an instance in which Jesus appears to have cited a form of Scripture that is closer to the Targum than to any other extant source. In such cases, an awareness that he does so helps us to understand his preaching better than the general similarity between Luke and Pseudo-Jonathan illustrates. Targum of Isaiah 6:9, 10 is an especially famous instance, and it helps to explain Mark 4:11, 12. The statement in Mark could be taken to mean that Jesus told parables with the express purpose “that” (Greek: hina) people might see and not perceive, hear and not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven ..."
Paul V. M. Flesher and Bruce D. Chilton, The Targums: A Critical Introduction, SAIS 12 (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2011), 387–388.

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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Mark 4:11 and Jonathan Isaiah 6:9

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