Neofiti Exodus

Targum · 300-1000 C.E.

Targum Neofiti is the largest Western Targum (interpretation) of the Torah. More than a mere Aramaic translation of the Hebrew text, Neofiti offers lengthy expansions on the biblical text at several places. It is often more expansive than Targum Onkelos, but less so than Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This Targum family contains material that may be dated just after the New Testament but most scholars see its origins in the 4th century C.E.

1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak with the children of Israel that they may set separated offerings aside for my name, you shall receive separated offerings from everyone whose heart prompts them. 3 And this is the offering of separation which you shall receiveb from them: gold and silver and bronze, 4 blue and purple and precious crimson material and byssus and goats’ hair, 5 reddened“ rams’ skins, and sasgonac skins, and acacia wood; 6 oil for the il lumination, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 precious stonesd and stones for setting, for insertinge in the ephod and in the breastpiece. 8 And they shall build a sanctuary to my name that I may make the Glory of my Shekinah dwell among them. 9 (According to) whatever I will show you con cerning the design of the tabernacle and concerning the design of all its utensils, thus you shall do. 10 And they shall make the ark of acacia wood; its length shall be two cubits and a half, and its breadth shall be a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half shall be the measure of its height, 11 and you shall overlay it with pure gold; inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make it a molding round about. 12 And you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and you shall place them on the four corners: two rings on one side and two rings on the second side. 13 And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and you shall overlay them with gold, 14 and you shall introduce the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not move from it. 16 And you shall place within the ark the testimony which I shall give you. 17 And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two chérubin' of gold; hammered you shall make them, at the two sides of the mercy seat, 19 and you shall make one cherub at this side—one here—and another cherub at the other side—there; you shall make the chérubin of one piece with the mercy seat, at its sides, its two sides. [1] 20 And the chérubin shall spread their wings upward, over shadowing the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces turned one toward an other; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the chérubin be. 21 And you shall place the mercy seat upon the ark 22 I shall appoint my Memra to meet you there, and I shall speak with you from above the mercy seat which is upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubin, all whatsoever I shall command you concerning the children of Israel. 23 And you shall make a tabie of acacia wood: two cubits its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half the measure of its height. 24 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and you shall make for it a molding of gold round about. 25 And you shall make a border of a hand’s- breadthp round about, and you shall make a molding of gold for its border round about. 26 And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and you shall place the rings on the four corners of its four legs. 27 The rings will be opposite its border as places for the poles to carry the table. 28 And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, q them with gold, to carryr the table with them. 29 And you shall make its bowls and its dishes' and its flagons and its libation jars, with which service shall be made; of pure gold you shall make them. 30 And you shall place the arrangement of the bread w of the Presence upon the table before himx always. 31 And you shall make a lampstand of pure gold; tfre lampstand shall be made of hammered work, and its basey and its shaft; its cups, its applesz and its liliesaa shall be of one piece with it. 32 And there shall be six branches going out of its side: three branches of the lampstand from one side bb and three branches of the lampstand from the second side; 33 three decorated cupscc on one branch, apple and lily;dd thus on the six branches which come out of the lampstand; 34 and on the lampstand four decorated cups, its apples and its lilies, 35 and an apple of one piece with it under two branches, and an apple of one piece with it under the (other) two branches, for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. 36 Their apples and their branches shall be one piece with it, all of it one hammered piece of pure gold. 37 And you shall make the seven lamps; and you shall arrange the lamps to give light over against it. 38 And its snuffers and its trays you shall make of pure gold. 39 Of a centenariumffls of pure gold you shall make it, with all these utensils. 40 And see that you make (them) according to their designs which you see on the mountain.

2These are the names of the children of Israel that entered Egypt with Jacob: every man and the men of his house entered: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 And all the persons who came forth from the loins of Jacob were seventy persons, and Joseph who was in Egypt. 6 And Joseph died and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel grew strong and begot children and multiplied. 8 And a new* king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph and did not walk in his customs. 9 And he said to his people: “Behold, the people/ the children of Israel, have multiplied and have become stronger than us. 10 Come, let us takee evil counsels against them;* let us pass laws (by which) we will reduce them before they multiply, and should it come to pass that battle lines^ are drawn they also join our enemies and wage war against us and set over them selves a king and go up from the land.” 11 And they set taskmasters over them so that they might oppress them with their (forced) labor.s And they built fortified cities for Pharaoh: Tanis and Pelusium.h 12 But the more they oppressed them, the more did they multiply, and the more did they grow strong. And the Egyptians6 (were) afflicted before the people, the children of Israel. 13 And the Egyptians en slaved the children of Israel with rigor. 14 And they made bitter their lives by harsh work in clay and in bricks and in every work in the open field—every work in which one works with rigor. 15 And the king of Egypt' said to the Hebrew midwives—the name of one of them was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah— 16 and he said: “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women, you shall see (them) upon the birthstools; if it is a male son you shall kill him, and if it is a female daughter she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared beforej the Lord, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken with them but let the children live. 18 And the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them: “For what reason have you done this thing, that you have let the children live?” 19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh: “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous. Before the midwife comes to them, they pray before their Father in the heavens, and he answers them and they give birth.” 20 And the Lord dealt favorably with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew strong. 21 And it came to pass that because the midwives feared before the Lord, they acquired a good name for themselves in the midst of the house of Israel, and he made houses for them, the house of kingship and the house of the high priesthood. Miriam took the crown of kingship, and Jochabed took the crown of the high priesthood. 22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying: “Every male son that is born to the Jews, throw him into the river but keep alive every fe male daughter.”

3“And this is what you shall do to them to sanctify them to minister before him a in the high priesthood: Take one young ox and two rams, perfect without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes saturated with oil. With fine wheaten flour you shall make them. 3 And you shall put them 4 And you shall bring Aaron and his two sons near to the door of the tent of meeting, and you shall sanctify them with water. 5 And you shall take the gar ments and you shall put the cloak on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and you shall gird him with the girdle of the ephod. 6 And you shall put the turban on his head, and you shall put the crown of the sanctuary on the turban. 7 And you shall take the anointing oil, and you shall pour it on his head, and you shall anoint him. 8 And you shall make his sons draw near, and you shall clothe them with cloaks. 9 And you shall gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and you shall put on them, and the priesthood for an eternal statute. ' And you shall complete the of fering of the hands of Aaron and the offering of the hands of his sons. 10 And you shall bring the ox before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands upon the head of the ox. 11 And you shall slaughter the ox before the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting. 12 And you shall take some of the blood, and you shall put it on the horn of the altar with your finger, and you shall pour all the (remaining) blood at the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and whatever remains of the lobes of the liver and the two kid neys, and the fat that is on them, and you shall arrange (it) upon the altar. 14 And the flesh of the ox, the skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering. 15 And you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram. 16 And you shall slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it upon the altar round about. 17 And you shall divide the ram into pieces and wash its entrails and its legs-' and put them upon its pieces and upon its head. 18 And you shall arrange the whole ram upon the altar; it is a holocaust to the name of the Lord for a pleasing odor; it is an offering before the Lord. 19 And you shall take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head (of the ram). 20 And you shall slaughter the ram, and you shall take some of its blood, and you shall put it on the tip of Aaron’s ear and upon the tip of the ears of his sons—of the right one— and upon the thumb of their hands—of the right onep—and upon the great toe of their feet—of the right one—and you shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 21 And you shall take some of the blood that isr upon the altar and some of the anointing oil and asperse Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his son’s garments with him; and he shall be sanctified, he and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 22 And from the ram you shall take the fat, and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails, and what remains of the lobes of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat which is on them, and the right thigh; for it is a ram of initiation. 23 And one loaf of bread and one cake of bread saturated with oil, and one roll from the basket of unleavened bread which is before the Lord. 24 And you shall put all these on the palms of the hands of Aaron and on the palms> of the hands of his sons, and you shall wave them for a wave offering-be fore the Lord. 25 And you shall receive them from their hands, and you shall arrange them upon the altar, upon the holocaust, as a pleasing odor before the Lord; it is an offering before the Lord. 26 And you shall take the breast (from) the ram of initiation of Aaron, and you shall wave (it) for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 And you shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the separated offering—which had been waved or which has been separated from the ram of initiation from^ that of Aaron and from that of his sons. 28 And it shall beg for Aaron and for his sons as an eternal statute from the sons of Israel, for it is a separated offering (for the priests); and there will be a separated offering from the sons of Israel from yourhh sacrifices of holy things.“ It shall be your separated offering to the name of the Lord. 29 And the holy garments which are Aaron’s shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them and to be ordained in them. 30 The priest who shall arise after him shall wear them seven days, when he goes into the tent of meeting to minister within the sanctuary. 31 And you shall take the ram of initiation, and you shall boil the flesh in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the door of the tent of meeting. 33 And they shall eat those things with which atonement has been made to ordain them, to sanctify them; but a profane person shall not eat them because they are a holy thing. 34 But if any of the flesh of initiation or any of the bread is left over until the morning, you shall burn whatever is left over in fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is a holy thing. 35 And thus you shall do to Aaron, to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; for seven days you shall ordain them. 36 And you shall offer an ox every day as a sin offering for atone ment; and you shall anoint the altar when you make atonement upon it; and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement upon the altar, and you shall sanctify it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy. 38 According to this order you shall make offerings upond the altar: two lambs a year old every day continually 39 One of the lambs you shall offerf in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer at twilight 40 According to this order you shall offer:h with one lamb a measure of fine flour saturated with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a libation of a fourth of him of wine. 41 And you shall offer the second lamb at twilight; you shall offer it as the cereal offering of the morning lamb and as its libation. It shall be received as a pleasing odor, an offering before the Lord. 42 It shall be a continual holo caust throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting, before the Lord, where I will meet you, to speak with you there. 43 And I—my Memra—will meet the children of Israel there, and it will be sanctified within my Glory. 44 And I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar, and Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to minister before mer in the high priesthood. 45 And I will make my Shekinahs dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and my Memra will be for them a redeeming God. 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt so that the Glory of my Shekinah might dwell among them. I the Lord, their God.

4If a thief is found breaking in and is struck and dies, there shall be no sin of shedding innocent blood for him. 2 If the sun has risen upon him, there is for him the sin o f shedding innocent blood.d He shall surely make restitution. If he has nothing, he shall be sold for his theft. 3 If the stolen (thing) is found alive in his hand,e whether it is an ox or an ass or a lamb, he shall pay double. 4 If a man sets fire to a field or a vineyard and leaves the fire to spread, and (thus) causes fire in the field of another, he shall give in restitution the best of his field and the best of (his) vineyard. 5 When fire breaks out and catches thorns and consumes the stacked grain or the standing grain on the field, whoever caused the fire shall make full restitution. 6 If a man gives to his neighbor money or utensils to keep and they are stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is found he shall pay double. 7 If the thief is not found, the master of the house shall come to the judges (to swear) that he has not put out his hand on the acquisitions of his neighbor. 8 In every sinful affair, whether for an ox, an ass, a lamb, clothes, or any lost thing of which one says: ‘This is it,’ the words of both parties shall come to the judges: he whom the judges declare guilty shall pay double to his neighbor. 9 And when a man gives his neighbor an ass or an ox or a lamb or any beast to take care of, and it dies or is hurt or driven away without anyone seeing it, 10 let there be an oathr of the Lord between them both (to the effect) that he has not put out his hand on the acquisitions of his neighbor, and his master shall accept (the oath), and he shall not make recompense. 11 But if it be truly stolen from him, he shall pay its owner.“ 12 If it is torn to pieces, they shall bring witnesses;w he shall not make recompense for that which was killed. 13 If a man borrows (a beast) from his neighbor and it is hurt or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely make recompense. 14 If its owner was with it, he shall not make recompense; if it was hired it is received for hire. 15 And when a man seduces a virgin who is not be trothed and lies with her, he shall surely take her as wife by payment of the bridal pre[s]entaa for her. 16 If her father resolutely refuses to give her to him (for wife), he must (still) weigh out money for her according to the law of the bridal present of a virgin. 17 My people, children o f Israel, you shall not allow a sor cerer or a sorceress to live. 18 Whoever lies with a beastee shall be put to death. 19 Whoever sacrifices before other idols—except before the Lord alone—shall be blotted out. 20 You shall not ill-treat the sojourner, and you shall not oppress them, because you were dwellers in the land of Egypt. 21 My people, children of Israel, do not afflict any widow or orphans. 22 If you afflict them and he cry out before me against you, I shall hear the voice of his prayer, for I am graciousmm and merciful, 23 lest my anger grow strong and I kill you with the sword, lest your wives become widows, and your sons orphans. 24 If you lend money to my people, to a poor man who is among you, you shall not be for him an exacting creditor, and you shall not impose on him interest or usury. 25 If you take your neighbor’s garment in pledge,pp you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 26 for it is his only covering, the mantleqq of the skin of his flesh. In what shall he sleep? And if he cries out before me against you, I will hear the voice o f his prayer, for I am gracious and merciful. 27 My people, children of Israel: do not despise your judges and do not curse the lord who is in your people. 28 Do not delay in collecting your tithes and your priestly share. You shall consecrateuu to my name the first-born of your male sons. 29 You shall do likewise with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days ww it shall be reared behind its mother, and on the eighth day they shall separate it to my name. 30 And you shall be a people of consecrated ones to my name. You shall not eat flesh torn from a wild beast, killed in the field; you shall throw it to the dog, or you shall throw it to the gentile stranger, who is comparable to the dog.

5 For Aharon had seen Hur slain before him, and was afraid; and he builded an altar before him, and Aharon cried with a doleful voice, and said, Let there be a feast before the Lord tomorrow, of the sacrifice of the slain of these adversaries who have denied their Lord, and have changed the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord for this calf. And on the day following, they arose, and sacrificed burnt-offerings; and the people sat around to eat and to drink, and rose up to disport themselves with strange service. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, Go, descend, for thy people whom thou broughtest up from the land of Mizraim have corrupted themselves

6And the Lord spoke all these words, saying: 2 The first word, as it came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, whose Name be blessed, was like storms, and lightnings, and flames of fire, with a burning light on His right hand and on His left. It winged its way through the air of the heavens, and was made manifest unto the camp of Israel, and returned, and was engraven on the tables of the covenant that were given by the hand of Mosheh, and were turned in them from side to side: and then called He, and said: Sons of Israel My people, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out free from the land of Mizraim, from the house of the bondage of slaves. 3 The second word which came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, whose name be blessed, was like storms, and lightnings, and flames of fire. A burning light was on His right hand and on His left and was borne through the air of the heavens, returned, and was made manifest unto the camp of Israel; it returned, and was engraven on the tables of the covenant, and was turned in them from side to side. Then called He, and said, House of Israel, My people, Thou shalt have no other God beside Me. 4 You shall not make to yourselves image or figure, or any similitude of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them, or worship before them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God and an avenger, punishing with vengeance, recording the guilt of wicked fathers upon rebellious children unto the third and unto the fourth generation of them who hate Me; 6 but keeping mercy and goodness for thousands of generations of the righteous who love Me, and who keep My commandments and My laws.