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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.

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Compare Psalm 50:10 and Targum Psalm 50:10

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Psalm 50 presents God's universal ownership of animals to describe his rule. The Aramaic translation in the Targum expands this into an Eden scene where these beasts are reserved for the righteous as an eschatological reward.

Passages

Psalm 50:10

Hebrew Bible
8 I am not condemning you because of your sacrifices, or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me. 9 I do not need to take a bull from your household or goats from your sheepfolds. 10 For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me, as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills. 11 I keep track of every bird in the hills, and the insects of the field are mine. 12 Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all it contains belong to me.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

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

“... Despite the fact that some rabbinic passages postulate that Behemoth is a “clean beast” and Leviathan is a “clean fish,” a frequent labelling of the monsters’ eschatological consumption as a “recompense” for the prohibition of certain fish once again points to their problematic nature in relation to the Jewish dietary laws. [...] Targum on Psalms 50:10 states that “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 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), 273.

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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Psalm 50:10 and Targum Psalm 50:10

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