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Pseudo Jonathan Exodus

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Chapter 24

And Michael, the Prince of Wisdom, said to Mosheh on the seventh day of the month, Come up before the Lord, thou and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance. And Mosheh alone shall approach before the Lord; but they shall not draw nigh, nor may the people come up with him. And Mosheh came and set before the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Mosheh wrote the words of the Lord, and arose in the morning and builded an altar at the lower part of the mountain; and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent the firstborn of the sons of Israel,-for until that hour had the firstborn had the (office of performing) worship, the tabernacle of ordinance not (as yet) being made, nor the priesthood given unto Aharon; and they offered burnt offerings and consecrated oblations of oxen before the Lord. And Mosheh took half of the blood of the offering, and put it in basins, and half of the blood of the offering he sprinkled upon the altar. And he took the Book of the Covenant of the Law and read before the people; and they said, All the words which the Lord hath spoken we will perform and obey. And Mosheh took half of the blood which was in the basins, and sprinkled upon the altar, to expiate the people, and said, Behold, this is the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you upon all these words. And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, went up. And Nadab and Abihu lifted up their eyes, and saw the glory of the God of Israel; and under the footstool of His feet which was placed beneath His throne, was like the work of sapphire stone a memorial of the servitude with which the Mizraee had made the children of Israel to serve in clay and bricks, (what time) there were women treading clay with their husbands; the delicate young woman with child was also there, and made abortive by being beaten down with the clay.⁠ And thereof did Gabriel, descending, make brick, and, going up to the heavens on high, set it, a footstool under the cathedra of the Lord of the world whose splendour was as the work of a precious stone, and as the power of the beauty of the heavens when they are clear from clouds. But upon Nadab and Abihu, the handsome young men, was the stroke not sent in that hour, but it awaited them on the eighth day for a retribution to destroy them; but they saw the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord, and rejoiced that their oblations were received with favour, and so did eat and drink. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Ascend before Me at the mount, and I will there give thee the tables of stone on which I have set forth the rest of the words of the Law, and the six hundred and thirteen precepts which I have written for their instruction. And Mosheh arose and Jehoshua his minister; and Mosheh went up to the mountain on which was revealed the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord. And to the sages he had said, Expect us here, at the time of our return to you; and, behold, Aharon and Hur are with you; if there be any matter of judgment, bring it to them. And Mosheh went up into the mount, and the Cloud of Glory covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord's Shekinah abode upon the mountain of Sinai, and the Cloud of Glory covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Mosheh from the midst of the Cloud. And the appearance of the splendour of the glory of the Lord was as burning fire with flashes of devouring fire; and the sons of Israel beheld and were awe-struck. And Mosheh entered into the midst of the Cloud, and ascended the mountain; and Mosheh was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights, learning the words of the Law from the mouth of the Holy One, whose Name be praised.

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Compare Exodus 24:10 and Pseudo Jonathan Exodus 24:10

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Exodus 24 says that Moses and the elders saw the God of Israel, using language that suggests a physical encounter. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan avoids this by specifying that they only saw the Glory of God, not God himself.

Passages

Exodus 24:10

Hebrew Bible
8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of blue sapphire, clear like the sky itself. 11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank. 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Pseudo Jonathan Exodus 24:10

Targum
And he took the Book of the Covenant of the Law and read before the people; and they said, All the words which the Lord hath spoken we will perform and obey. And Mosheh took half of the blood which was in the basins, and sprinkled upon the altar, to expiate the people, and said, Behold, this is the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you upon all these words. And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, went up. And Nadab and Abihu lifted up their eyes, and saw the glory of the God of Israel; and under the footstool of His feet which was placed beneath His throne, was like the work of sapphire stone a memorial of the servitude with which the Mizraee had made the children of Israel to serve in clay and bricks, (what time) there were women treading clay with their husbands; the delicate young woman with child was also there, and made abortive by being beaten down with the clay. And thereof did Gabriel, descending, make brick, and, going up to the heavens on high, set it, a footstool under the cathedra of the Lord of the world whose splendour was as the work of a precious stone, and as the power of the beauty of the heavens when they are clear from clouds.
300–1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pseudo Jonathan Exodus

References

"... Pseudo-Jonathan is the only Targum of this verse to specify that Nadab and Abihu (but not Moses) saw the Glory of God; see Exodus Rabbah 3:1; Leviticus Rabbah 20:10; PRK 26; Tanchuma A, Ahare Mot 6. See also Pseudo-Jonathan’s version of verse 11 ... According to Jerusalem Sukkot 4:54c and Leviticus Rabbah 23:8, the pavement, which was a reminder of the harsh slavery of Egypt, disappeared when Israel was redeemed ... Pirke Rabbi Eliezar identified the angel as Michael. Gabriel is mentioned by Pseudo-Jonathan Genesis 37:15; Deuteronomy 32:9; 34:6 ..."
Martin McNamara, Targum Neofiti 1 & Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Exodus, ArBib 2 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994), 231–232.

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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