Psalm 118:22

Hebrew Bible

22 The stone that the builders discarded has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s work. We consider it amazing! 24 This is the day the Lord has brought about. We will be happy and rejoice in it. 25 Please, Lord, deliver! Please, Lord, grant us success! 26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord be blessed. We will pronounce blessings on you in the Lord’s temple. 27 The Lord is God, and he has delivered us. Tie the offering with ropes to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks.You are my God and I will praise you.

Targum Psalm 118:22

Targum

22 The child the builders abandoned was among the sons of Jesse; and he was worthy to be appointed king and ruler. 23 “This has come from the presence of the Lord,” said the builders; “it is wonderful before us,” said the sons of Jesse. 24 “This day the Lord has made,” said the builders; “let us rejoice and be glad in it,” said the sons of Jesse. 25 “If it please you, O Lord, redeem us now,” said the builders; “if it please you, O Lord, prosper us now,” said Jesse and his wife. 26 “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the word of the Lord,” said the builders; “they will bless you from the sanctuary of the Lord,” said David. 27 “God, the Lord, has given us light,” said the tribes of the house of Judah; “bind the child for a festal sacrifice with chains until you sacrifice him, and sprinkle his blood on the horns of the altar,” said Samuel the prophet. 28 “You are my God, and I will give thanks in your presence; my God, I will praise you,” said David.

 Notes and References

"... The wordplay between “stone” and “son” is well-known in Hebrew and is even attested in the Gospels. The wordplay is also found in the parable of the tenants in Matt 21:33–46 and parallels, where the synoptic authors record Jesus quoting from Psalm 118:22–23 in which the “stone that the builders rejected” is used to explain the murder of the landowner’s son ...) None of the options for stone in Aramaic would be confused with the Aramaic word for “son”. Also, the Aramaic words for “come” (feminine) and “come” (masculine) have different vowels and would not be as easily confused as in Hebrew where the masculine and feminine use the same vowel ..."

Buth, Randall and Chad Pierce "Hebraisti in Ancient Texts: Does Ἑβραϊστί Ever Mean 'Aramaic'?" in Buth, Randall, and R. Steven Notley (eds.) The Language Environment of First Century Judaea: Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels (pp. 66-109) Brill, 2014

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