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Targum Psalms

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Psalm 50

1 A hymn composed by Asaph. Mighty is God; the Lord spoke at the Creation a song; and he carved out the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 The perfection and the beginning of the eternal creation is from Zion; and from there its beauty is complete, God will be revealed. 3 The righteous will say on the great day of judgment, “Our God will come, and he will not neglect to vindicate his people”; fire will blaze before him, and around him a storm will rage mightily. 4 He will call to the angels of the height above, and to the righteous of the earth below, to extend judgment to his people. 5 Gather to me, my pious ones, who have made my covenant, and fulfilled my Torah, and have engaged in prayer, which is likened to a sacrifice. 6 And the angels of the height will recount his righteousness, for God is the judge forever. 7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel; and I will testify to you; I am God, your God. 8 I am not rebuking you on account of your sacrifices that you did not offer before me in exile, for your holocausts that your fathers offered are in front of me always. 9 From the day that my sanctuary was laid waste, I have not accepted a bull from your hands, or rams from your flock. 10 For mine are all the animals of the forest, and I have prepared for the righteous in the Garden of Eden clean beasts and a wild bull who grazes every day on a thousand mountains.⁠ 11 Manifest before me are all the kinds of birds who fly in the air of heaven; and the rooster whose legs rest on the earth, while his head reaches to heaven, rejoicing before me. 12 If the time of the continual morning sacrifice should arrive, I would not tell you; for mine is the earth and its fullness. 13 From the day my sanctuary was laid waste, I have not accepted the flesh of the sacrifice of fatlings, and the priests have not sprinkled the blood of rams before me. 14 Subdue the evil impulse and it will be reckoned before the Lord as a sacrifice of thanksgiving; and pay to the Most High your vows. 15 And pray in my presence in the day of trouble; I will save you, for you will glorify me. 16 But to the wicked who has not repented, and prays in impiety, the Lord says, “Why do you recite my covenant, and swear by my name, and invoke my covenant with your mouth?” 17 But you hate the rebuke of the wise, and you have cast my words behind you. 18 If you saw a thief, you ran after him; and you have placed your portion with adulterers. 19 You have loosened your mouth to utter evil speech; and your tongue adheres to speaking deceit. 20 You will sit with your brother, you will speak lies against your mother’s son, you will cast aspersions. 21 These bad deeds you did and I waited for you to repent; you thought you would be at peace forever; you said in your heart, “I will be strong like you”; I will rebuke you in this world, and I will prepare the judgment of Gehenna before you in the world to come. 22 Now understand this, you wicked who have forgotten God, lest I break your might, with no one to save. 23 He who sacrifices the evil impulse, it will be reckoned to him like a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and he honors me; and whoever will remove the evil way, I will show him the redemption of the Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare Job 40:15 and Targum Psalm 50:10

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Job 40 describes the creature Behemoth like an ox and as a grazing animal, and the Targum of Psalm 50 develops this by describing a wild ox reserved in Eden for the righteous. Together, these reinforce the association of Behemoth with an ox.

Passages

Job 40:15

Hebrew Bible
13 Hide them in the dust together; imprison them in the grave. 14 Then I myself will acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. 15 “Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you; it eats grass like the ox. 16 Look at its strength in its loins and its power in the muscles of its belly. 17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Job

Targum Psalm 50:10

Targum
8 I am not rebuking you on account of your sacrifices that you did not offer before me in exile, for your holocausts that your fathers offered are in front of me always. 9 From the day that my sanctuary was laid waste, I have not accepted a bull from your hands, or rams from your flock. 10 For mine are all the animals of the forest, and I have prepared for the righteous in the Garden of Eden clean beasts and a wild bull who grazes every day on a thousand mountains. 11 Manifest before me are all the kinds of birds who fly in the air of heaven; and the rooster whose legs rest on the earth, while his head reaches to heaven, rejoicing before me. 12 If the time of the continual morning sacrifice should arrive, I would not tell you; for mine is the earth and its fullness.
200–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Targum Psalms

References

“... In this respect, it is noteworthy that Behemoth is often understood as an ox in various Jewish materials, while Leviathan is often portrayed as a lion. Thus, Alexander Kulik notes that Behemoth appears as the Wild Ox, shor ha-bar [...] in some Jewish sources. Such an identification is found already in Job 40:15: “Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox.” Targumic sources further elaborate on this symbolism. From Targum on Psalms 50:10, for instance, one learns: “For every animal of the forest is mine, and in the Garden of Eden I designated for the righteous the clean beasts and the wild ox that grazes all day long (on) a thousand mountains.” ...”
Andrei Orlov, Supernal Serpent: Mysteries of Leviathan in Judaism and Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023), 143–144.

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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Job 40:15 and Targum Psalm 50:10

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