Texts in Conversation
Numbers 19 requires the red heifer to be whole and unblemished, without stating an age. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan translates "whole" as the same word rabbinic tradition defines as two years old.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Numbers 19:2
Hebrew Bible
1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without blemish, which has no defect and has never carried a yoke. 3 You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him.
Pseudo Jonathan Numbers 19:2
Targum
AND the Lord spake with Mosheh and Aharon, saying: This is the decree, the publication of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying; Speak to the sons of Israel, that they bring to thee from the separation of the fold a red heifer, two years old, in which there is neither spot nor white hair, on which no male hath come, nor the burden of any work been imposed, neither hurt by the thong, nor grieved by the goad or prick, nor collar (band) or any like yoke.
Notes and References
“... Having added to the Hebrew a necessary note about the source of the red heifer, PJ proceeds to interpret the next Hebrew word, which is tmymh, 'complete, whole', as meaning 'two years old'. This interpretation is possible first, because the targumim normally translate tmym as šlym, 'perfect, entire;' and second, because of the opening statement of tos. Parah 1:1 which defines a šlm beast as two years old ...”
Hayward, Robert
Targums and the Transmission of Scripture into Judaism and Christianity
(pp. 235-236) Brill, 2010
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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