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Targum Psalms

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Psalm 104

1 Bless, O my soul, the name of the Lord. O Lord my God, you are greatly exalted; you have put on praise and splendor. 2 Who wraps himself in light like a sheet, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain. 3 Who covers his chambers with water like a building with beams; who placed his chariot, as it were, upon swift clouds; who goes on the wings of an eagle. 4 Who made his messengers as swift as wind; his servants, as strong as burning fire. 5 Who lays the foundation of the earth upon its base, so that it will not shake for ages upon ages. 6 You have covered over the abyss as with a garment; and the waters split on the mountains, and endure. 7 At your rebuke, they will flee, flowing down; at the sound of your shout, they will be frightened, pouring themselves out. 8 They will go up from the abyss to the mountains, and descend to the valleys, to this place that you founded for them. 9 You have placed a boundary for the waves of the sea that they will not cross, lest they return to cover the earth. 10 Who releases springs into rivers; they flow between the mountains. 11 They water all the wild animals; the asses will break their thirst. 12 The birds of heaven will settle on them; they will give out a sound of singing from among the branches. 13 Who waters the mountains from his upper treasury; the earth will be satisfied with the fruit of your deeds. 14 Who makes grass grow for beasts, and herbs for the cultivation of the son of man, that bread may come forth from the earth; 15 And wine that gladdens the heart of the son of man, to make the face shine by oil; and bread will support the heart of the son of man. 16 The trees that the Lord created are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted: 17 Where the birds make nests; the stork’s dwelling is in the cypresses. 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are security for the conies. 19 He made the moon to calculate times by; the sun knows the time of his setting. 20 You will make darkness and it will be night; in it all the beasts of the forest creep about. 21 The offspring of lions roar to find food, and to seek their sustenance from God. 22 The sun will shine, they gather together; and they lay down in their dwelling place. 23 A son of man will go forth to his work and to his cultivation, until the sunset of evening. 24 How many are your works, O Lord! You have made all of them in wisdom; the earth is full of your possessions. 25 This sea is great and broad in extent; creeping things are there without number, both tiny creatures and large. 26 There the ships go about, [and] this Leviathan you created for the sport of the righteous at the supper of his dwelling place.⁠ 27 All of them rely on you to give their food in its time. 28 You will give it to them, and they gather it; you will open your hand, and they are satisfied with goodness. 29 You will remove your presence, they are dazed; you will gather their spirit and they expire, and return to their dust. 30 You will send out your holy spirit and they are created; and you will make new the surface of the earth. 31 May the glory of the Lord be eternal; the Lord will rejoice in his works. 32 Who looks at the earth, and it shakes; he draws near to the mountains, and they emit smoke. 33 I will sing praise in the presence of the Lord during my life; I will make music to my God while I exist. 34 May my talk be pleasing in his presence; I will rejoice in the word of the Lord. 35 The sinners will be destroyed from the earth, and wicked exist no longer. Bless, O my soul, the name of the Lord. Hallelujah!

Texts in conversation

Compare Targum Psalm 104:26 and Leviticus Rabbah 13:3

Targum · Rabbinic

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Summary

The Aramaic Targum of Psalm 104 incorporates Rabbinic tradition by portraying the mythological Leviathan as created for the sport of the righteous at a future banquet, a theme also found in the midrash of Leviticus Rabbah.

Passages

Targum Psalm 104:26

Targum
24 How many are your works, O Lord! You have made all of them in wisdom; the earth is full of your possessions. 25 This sea is great and broad in extent; creeping things are there without number, both tiny creatures and large. 26 There the ships go about, [and] this Leviathan you created for the sport of the righteous at the supper of his dwelling place. 27 All of them rely on you to give their food in its time. 28 You will give it to them, and they gather it; you will open your hand, and they are satisfied with goodness.
200–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Targum Psalms

Leviticus Rabbah 13:3

Rabbinic · Aggadah
Another matter, “this is the animal” – that is what is written: “Every saying of God is refined” (Proverbs 30:5). Rav said: The mitzvot were given to Israel only to refine mankind with them. Why to that extent? “He is a shield for all who rely on Him (Proverbs 30:5). Rabbi Yudan ben Rabbi Shimon said: The Behemoth and the Leviathan will engage in an animal fight before the righteous in the future. Anyone who was not a spectator at the animal fights of the nations of the world in this world, will merit to see it in the World to Come. How will they be slaughtered? The Behemoth will stab the Leviathan with its horns and tear it open, and the Leviathan will smash the Behemoth with its fins and stab it to death. The Sages say: Is this a valid ritual slaughter? But did we not learn: Everyone slaughters, and one may always slaughter, and one may slaughter with any item, except for the serrated side of the harvest sickle, a saw, the teeth of an animal, and a fingernail, because they strangle?
500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus Rabbah

References

“... The traces of this motif can be found in various rabbinic corpora, including targumim, midrashim, and piyyutim. Thus, Targum on Psalms 104:25-26 states that God created Leviathan in order to sport at the banquet of the righteous. It is possible that here the tradition about God’s “sporting” with Leviathan is interpreted through the spectacles of the monsters’ eschatological fight. [...] Lev. Rab. 13:3 also portrays the righteous as spectators of “a wild-beast contest”: R. Judan b. R. Simeon said: Behemoth and Leviathan are to engage in a wild-beast contest before the righteous in the Time to Come, and whoever has not been a spectator at the wild-beast contests of the heathen nations in this world will be accorded the boon of seeing one in the World to Come. How will they be slaughtered? Behemoth will, with its horns, pull Leviathan down and rend it, and Leviathan will, with its fins, pull Behemoth down and pierce it through. ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, “Eschatological Consumption of Leviathan and Behemoth as Revelation of the Messianic Torah,” in Watering the Garden: Studies in Honor of Deirdre Dempsey, ed. Andrei A. Orlov, Biblical Intersections 19 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2022), 262–263.

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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Targum Psalm 104:26 and Leviticus Rabbah 13:3

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