Jonathan Isaiah 55:1

Targum

1 Ho, every one that is willing to learn, let him come and learn, and he that hath no silver, come, hear and learn; come, hear and learn, without price and money, doctrine that is better than wine and milk. 2 Wherefore do ye weigh out your silver for that which is not food? and your wealth for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently to my Word, and ye shall eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear and receive instruction of my law, obey my Word and your soul shall be quickened, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the mercies of David, which are sure. 4 Behold, I have appointed him a prince, a king, and a ruler over all the kingdoms. 5 Behold, a people which thou knowest not shall serve thee, and a people which hath not known thee shall run to offer tribute unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified thee.

John 6:45

New Testament

43 Jesus replied, “Do not complain about me to one another. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God—he has seen the Father.) 47 I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life.

 Notes and References

"... In the first part of John 6:45, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 54:13, ‘they shall all be taught of God,’ virtually identical to the Masoretic text, whereas Targum Isaiah has, ‘All your sons shall be taught in the law of the LORD.’ Let us assume for the sake of argument that this was also the Targum reading at the time of Jesus’ ministry, which would mean that Jesus did not quote the Targum addition as part of what ‘is written in the prophets.’ Yet, Jesus apparently does go on to utilize targumic terminology from just a few verses later, where the verbs ‘come, buy, and eat’’ from the divine invitation of Isaiah 55:1 are rendered with ‘come, hear, and learn’ in the Targum ... Is this coincidence, or is Jesus purposely using Targum terminology here, though not quoting it as Scripture? There are a number of reasons for saying that the ‘come(s) to me’ language of this verse and the chapter as a whole (verses 35, 37, 44, 65) depends on Isaiah 55:1-3, a fact which would make it more likely that there is a deliberate use of the Targum terminology in John 6:45 ..."

Ronning, John L. The Targum of Isaiah and the Johannine Literature (pp. 247-278) Westminster Theological Journal No. 69, 2007

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