Targum Psalms

About this book

Psalm 6

1 For praise; with melodies on the harp of eight strings. A hymn of David. 2 O Lord, do not humble me in your anger; and do not punish me in your wrath. 3 Pity me, O Lord, for I am weak; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are terrified. 4 And my soul is greatly terrified; and you, O Lord, when will you give me relief? 5 Turn, O Lord, save my soul, redeem me for the sake of your goodness. 6 For there is no memory of you in death; in Sheol who will give you thanks? 7 I am wearied with my groaning; I will speak in my sorrow every night on my bed; I will drown my couch with my tears. 8 My eye is dark from my trouble; it is worn out by all my oppressors. 9 Leave me, all doers of falsehood; for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 10 My petition has been heard in the Lord’s presence;⁠ the Lord will accept my prayer. 11 All of my enemies will be ashamed and very afraid; they will turn and be ashamed in an instant.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 6:9 and Targum Psalm 6:10

Hebrew Bible · Targum

Summary

Psalm 6 says God “hears” the psalmist’s cry, using human language to describe God hearing. The Aramaic translation in the Targum changes this to God “accepting” the prayer to avoid describing God with physical imagery, a common practice in the Targums.

Passages

Psalm 6:9

Hebrew Bible

8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy; the Lord has accepted my prayer. 10 They will be humiliated and absolutely terrified. All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Targum Psalm 6:10

Targum

8 My eye is dark from my trouble; it is worn out by all my oppressors. 9 Leave me, all doers of falsehood; for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 10 My petition has been heard in the Lord’s presence; the Lord will accept my prayer.

200–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Targum Psalms

References

"... One striking characteristic of the Targums is their treatment of anthropomorphic language in speaking of God. It is important to note that this is simply part of the Targumic approach to figurative language in general. We are not sure whether the biblical writers believed their language about God to be figurative, but it is certain that the targumists thought it was. (Some anti-anthropomorphism is implicit in Israelite religion - Exodus 20:4 - but becomes programmatic only in the late Second Temple period) For instance, when the biblical text says that God “sees,” the targumists often substitute some form of the root “to reveal, be manifest” ... The targumists treat the hearing of God somewhat differently. Sometimes they cast the verb into the passive ... In other cases, the verb “receive, accept” is used as a substitute, especially when the idea of “listening to” someone is uppermost. The Targums are not uniform in the ways they avoid figurative speech about God, nor do they always agree on which instances call for paraphrase ..."

Edward M. Cook, “The Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in the Targums,” in A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism, ed. Matthias Henze (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 92–117.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Targum Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalm 6:9 and Targum Psalm 6:10

Summary

Passages

Psalm 6:9

Targum Psalm 6:10

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library