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In Numbers 24, Balaam says a ruler from Jacob will destroy the remains of an unnamed city. The Aramaic Targum Pseudo-Jonathan names it "Constantina the guilty city," which is Constantinople, a name the city only took in 330 CE.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Numbers 24:19
Hebrew Bible
17 ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemy, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly. 19 A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city.’” 20 Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.”
Pseudo Jonathan Numbers 24:24
Targum
And the Edomaee will be utterly driven out, even the sons of Gabela from before Israel their foes, and Israel will be strengthened with their riches and possess them. And a prince of the house of Jakob will arise and destroy and consume the remnant that have escaped from Constantina the guilty city, and will lay waste and ruin the rebellious city, even Kaiserin the strong city of the Gentiles. And he looked on the house of Amalek, and took up the parable of his prophecy, and said: The first of the nations who made war with the house of Israel were those of the house of Amalek; and they at last, in the days of the King Meshiha, with all the children of the east, will make war against Israel; but all of them together will have eternal destruction in their end.
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Notes and References
“... Whereas some targums foretell the fall of Rome in a prophetic style, others refer to Constantinople by that name. [...] Another similar passage is found in the Fragment Targums of Num. 24:19, [...] “A King shall arise from the house of Jacob and he will destroy the remnants of the guilty city, which is Rome.” Interestingly enough, both of these passages are censored in the Neofiti Targum, which was last copied in Rome, in 1504. Pseudo-Jonathan Targum of the same verse. Num. 24:19, [...] “A ruler shall arise from the House of Jacob, and he will ruin and destroy the surviving remnant of Constantinople, the guilty city.…” As it is well known, the name of this city was Byzantium until the year 330 C.E., when Emperor Constantine I established it as his new capital. ...”
Klein, Michael L.
"Palestinian Targum and Synagogue Mosaics" in Shinan, Avigdor, and Rimon Kasher (eds.) Michael Klein on the Targums: Collected Essays 1972–2002
(p. 52) Brill, 2011
* 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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