Chapter XIV: Citations from the Chaldee Paraphrases

The earliest Chaldee paraphrases which have been handed down are supposed to have been compiled or written about the time of the first advent, when the true worshippers may be supposed to have been anxious to revive and spread abroad the knowledge of them in such manner as to induce the Jews of that period to recognize the Messiah in the incarnate Word. The following testimonies from those writings of the sentiments of the Jewish Church concerning the Messiah as understood by them to be revealed in the ancient Scriptures, and his identity with the Messenger Jehovah, are, for the sake of his comments, taken from Faber's _Horæ Mosaicæ_:

"When the text reads, _They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden_, the Targums explain the passage to mean: _They heard the_ WORD _of the Lord God walking;_ or, somewhat more fully, _they heard the voice of the_ WORD _of the Lord God walking_. In point of grammatical construction, even the modern Jews allow that the participle _walking_ agrees with the voice, and not with _the Lord God_. But walking is the attribute of a person. Therefore the Targums rightly gave the sense of the original when they introduced the WORD as the judge of our first parents."

The exclamation of Eve, I have gotten a man from the Lord, they render, "_I have obtained the man, the angel of Jehovah!_ Now, since _Jehovah_ is the word used in the original, it is difficult to account for this paraphrastic exposition, unless we conclude that, at the time when it was written, the Jews believed the angel of Jehovah to be himself Jehovah, and expected him to be born incarnate."

"To this opinion we shall the rather incline, if we attend to another paraphrastic interpretation. The sacred text reads: _In that day shall Jehovah of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people_. But the Targum of Jonathan reads: _In that day shall the Messiah of Jehovah of hosts be for a crown of glory_. Jonathan, however, could never have thus explained the passage, unless he had believed that the future Messiah would be Jehovah incarnate; nor would he have hazarded so extraordinary an interpretation, unless he had been fully conscious of speaking the general sentiments of his contemporaries. It is well known that the Jews so highly venerate the Targum of this writer, as to deem it something divine; yet we see that Jonathan identifies the Messiah with Jehovah himself. The doctrine in question still prevailed among the Jews at the time when Justin Martyr flourished, as is manifest from his direct appeal to Trypho. _If we produce to them,_ says he, _those scriptures formerly rehearsed to you, which expressly show that the Messiah is both subject to suffering, and yet is the adorable God, they are under a necessity of acknowledging that these respect the Christ. So that while they assert that Jesus is not the Christ, they still confess that the Christ Himself shall come, and suffer, and reign, and be the adorable God: which conduct of theirs is truly most absurd and contradictory._ I need scarcely remark, that Justin could never have hazarded such language to a Hebrew antagonist, unless he knew that he had very good ground for what he said.

"But to return to the Targums, where the text reads: _Let not God speak with us, lest we die_, the interpretation of Onkelos runs, _Let not the Word from before the Lord speak with us_. So likewise where the text reads, _She called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her, Thou God seest me_, the Targum of Jonathan runs, _She confessed before the Lord Jehovah, whose Word had spoken unto her_. And the Targum of Jerusalem, _She confessed and prayed to the Word of the Lord who had appeared to her_. Now the person who appeared to Hagar was the angel of Jehovah. The paraphrasts therefore identify _the Word and the Angel_. Hence it is plain that by the Word of God they do not mean a speech uttered by God, but that they use the term to express a real person. By this personal Word they understood the Messiah; as is evident from Jonathan's interpretation of the text, _Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand_. He explains its purport to be, _Jehovah said unto his Word_. But it is manifest from our Saviour's conversation with the Pharisees relative to the nature and parentage of the Messiah, that they acknowledge this text to relate to him; and it appears from the Midrash Tillim that such an application is fully recognized by the Jewish Rabbins. Hence the inference is inevitable, that the Hebrew doctors confess the Messiah to be the Word of God or the angel of Jehovah. And hence we shall at once perceive why St. John so pointedly bestows the title upon his divine Master. He did but employ the usual phraseology of his countrymen respecting the promised Messiah; yet, by applying the name of Jesus of Nazareth, he at once declared him to be the Messiah, and that angel of Jehovah who was confessedly the God both of the Patriarchal and of the Levitical Church.

"Agreeably to this obvious conclusion, the Targums exhibit the Word with all the characteristics of the expected Messiah.

"They describe him as the Mediator between God and man.

"Thus, in paraphrasing a text from Deuteronomy iv. 7, Jonathan writes: _God is near in the name of the Word of Jehovah_; in paraphrasing a text of Hosea iv. 9, _God will receive the prayer of Israel by his Word, and have mercy upon them, and will make them by his Word like a beautiful fig tree_. And in paraphrasing a text of Jeremiah xxix. 14: _I will be sought by you in my Word, and I will be inquired of by you through my Word._ Thus likewise where Abraham is said by Moses to have _called on the name of Jehovah the everlasting God_, he is described by the Targum of Jerusalem as _praying in the name of the Word of Jehovah, the God of the world_.

"They speak of him as making atonement for sin.

"Thus, in paraphrasing a text of Deuteronomy, (xxxii. 43,) Jonathan writes: _God will atone by his Word for his land and for his people, even a people saved by the Word of Jehovah._

"They exhibit him as a Redeemer.

"Thus the text from Genesis xlix. 18, _I have waited for thy salvation, O Jehovah_, is paraphrased as follows in the Jerusalem Targum: _Our father Jacob said thus: My soul expects not the redemption of Gideon the son of Joash, which is a temporal salvation; nor the redemption of Samson, which is a transitory salvation; but the redemption which thou didst promise should come through thy Word to thy people. This salvation my soul waits for._ Thus the same text is paraphrased by Jonathan with a direct application to the Messiah; whence again we find it to be the established doctrine of the ancient Hebrew Church, that the Messiah and the Word were the same person. Our father Jacob said: _I do not expect the deliverance of Gideon the son of Joash, which is a temporal salvation; nor that of Samson the son of Manoah, which is a transient salvation; but I expect the redemption of Messiah the son of David, who shall come to gather to himself the children of Israel._

"The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan were written immediately before the time of Christ, and among the Jews they are in such high esteem, that they hold them to be of the same authority with the original text. Of this extravagant honor the ground is, that those two interpreters committed to writing the ancient oral traditions, which [they supposed] had come down in regular descent from their first communication to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai.

"Such an opinion proves at least the high antiquity of the sentiments contained in those Targums; and, as the Targums themselves were composed before the Christian era, they must clearly be viewed as exhibiting the doctrine of the Levitical Church ere an inveterate hatred of the gospel led to a suppression or concealment of the ancient faith.

"The later Targums were written subsequent to the time of our Lord; but so far as regards the present argument, their importance is not the less on that account. Those of Onkelos and Jonathan show the tenets of the Hebrew Church _before_ Christ; those which are later prove, by their accordance with their predecessors, that the same doctrine continued in full force during the first centuries _after_ the Christian era. Thus, notwithstanding Jesus of Nazareth was denied to be the Messiah, the Jews," [meaning of course the old school, orthodox party,] "it is plain from the written evidence of the later Targums, did not immediately depart from the sentiments of their forefathers relative to _the character_ of the Messiah."

After quoting testimonies from different Jewish Rabbins, he observes: "The reason why the Rabbins pronounced the Messiah to be Jehovah, was this: Following the ancient Targums, which spoke the universally received doctrines of the _Hebrew_ Church, they perceived, like the authors of those Targums, that the Messiah was the same person as the anthropomorphic Word, or Angel of Jehovah. But they knew that the Angel of Jehovah was the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And they were assured that their pious forefathers did not idolatrously worship a creature, but that they venerated the self-existent God, Jehovah. Hence they rightly determined that _Jehovah_ was _the name of the Messiah_. This will appear very distinctly, if we attend to their doctrine respecting the great angel whom they cabalistically denominated Metraton." (Vol. 2, sec. 1, chap. iii.)

The reader will observe that this author construes the formulas Melach Jehovah, Memra Jehovah, &c., in the same way as our translation, Angel _of_ the Lord, Word _of_ the Lord, &c.; and while correctly holding that the Angel or Messenger, and the Logos, Memra, or Word, are personally identical with Jehovah, still indicates a distinction, as though the former persons were sent by the latter. This is undoubtedly inconsistent and unauthorized. Had he in his construction left out the preposition _of_, as the original does, all would have been clear.

The following extracts are corrected from Dr. J. P. Smith's work, The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah.

Onkelos renders Jacob's prediction of Shiloh, Gen. xlix., "_The Messiah whose is the kingdom_." The Jerusalem Targum, "_The King Messiah whose is the kingdom_." Jonathan on Sam. xxiii. 1-7: "The God of Israel spoke with respect to me; the Rock of Israel, the Sovereign of the sons of men, the true Judge, hath spoken to appoint me King; for _He is the Messiah_ that shall be, who shall arise and rule in the fear of the Lord." The Chaldee and other Targums generally refer the 2d Psalm to the Messiah. Also the 45th Psalm, v. 2: "Thy beauty, O King Messiah, is preëminent above the sons of men." Jonathan renders Isaiah xxiii. 5: "Behold, the days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will raise up to David the Messiah of the Righteous, and he shall reign," &c. And xxxiii. 15: "In those days and in that time, I will raise up to David the Messiah of righteousness," &c. And Micah v. 1: "And thou, Bethlehem, out of thee shall proceed in my presence the Messiah to exercise sovereignty over Israel, whose name has been called from eternity, from the days of the everlasting period." Zech. iii. 8: "Behold, I bring forth my servant the Messiah, and he shall be revealed." And vi. 12: "Behold a man, Messiah is his name, ready that he may be revealed and may spring forth, and may build the temple of Jah."

The Jerusalem Targum, referring to Abraham when Jehovah appeared to him as a man, says: "The Word of Jehovah [Memra Jehovah] appeared to him in the Valley of Vision." Jonathan on Isaiah xlviii. 12: "Obey my Word;" and 13: "Even by my Word I have founded the earth;" xlix. 16: "My Word will not reject thee." Jer. xxix. 23: "Before me it is unveiled, and my Word is witness;" xxxi. 4: "For my Word is to Israel as a Father;" xxxii. 40: "My Word shall not turn away from following them to do them good, and my Word shall rejoice over them to do them good." Ezek. xx. 12: "I gave them my Sabbath days, to be for a sign between my Word and them, that they may know that I am Jah who sanctify them." The Targumists generally substitute the word Jah for Jehovah. Jonathan on Gen. v. 26: "That was the generation in whose days they began to apostatize, and made to themselves falsehoods, [or idols,] and named their falsehoods by the name of the Word of Jah." Jer. Tar. on Exodus vi. 2: "And Jah was revealed by his Word to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Var. Tar. Isaiah xliii. 2: "In ancient time, when ye passed through the Red Sea, my Word was for your help;" xlv. 17: "Israel shall be delivered by the Word of Jah, with an everlasting deliverance;" v. 25: "By the Word of Jah shall all the seed of Israel be declared righteous, and shall glory;" lxiii. 8: "My people are they, sons who will not deal falsely; and his Word was their Redeemer;" v. 13: "He led them through the deep: the Word of Jah led them." Jer. vi. 8: "Be admonished, O Jerusalem, lest my Word cast thee off." Hosea xiv. 9: "I by my Word will accept the prayer of Israel." Zach. vi. 7: "Not by force, nor by power, but by my Word, saith Jah of hosts. And he will reveal the Messiah whose name is spoken from eternity, and he shall reign over all kingdoms."

The author quotes the following from Dr. Ryland and the Prolegomena to Walton's Polyglot: "There are many passages of the Chaldee Paraphrasts which could have been derived only from the remains of the expositions and doctrines delivered by the prophets. They have many things concerning the Word of God, by whom the universe was created, &c., and which admirably confirm the declarations of St. John upon the Logos, and prove that in so designating the Messiah or Son of God, the Evangelist employed a name already in familiar use among the Jews, as received from their ancestors, though not perfectly understood by all among them. To this Word the Jerusalem Targum on Gen. i. 27 attributes _creation_: 'The Word of the Lord created man.' And xxxii. 22: 'And the Word of the Lord said, Behold Adam whom I have created.' Jonathan on Deut. xxxii. 39, says: 'When will the Word of the Lord be manifested to redeem his people?' The same Targum on Gen. xix. 24, ascribes to the Word of the Lord the sending down of sulphur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah: 'Sulphur and fire were sent down upon it from the Word of the Lord out of heaven.' So likewise Onkelos: 'And the Word of the Lord returned.' And on Gen. v. 24: 'Enoch was taken away by the Word before the Lord.' So the Jerusalem, Deut. xviii. 19: 'My Word will take vengeance upon him.' So Onkelos and Jonathan. The passages are innumerable in which actions and properties are attributed to the Word of God, as a distinct Person."

Again, quoting Owen as referred to by Ryland: "The Chaldee Paraphrast, observing that some especial presence of God is expressed in the words, Gen. iii. 8, renders them, 'And they heard the voice of the Word of the Lord God walking in the garden.' So all the Targums. And that of Jerusalem begins the next verse accordingly: 'And the Word of the Lord God called unto Adam.' And this expression they afterwards make use of in places innumerable; and that in such a way as plainly to denote a distinct Person in the Deity. That this was their intention in it, is hence manifest; because about the time of the writing of the first of those Targums which gave the rule of speaking unto them that followed, it was usual amongst them to express their conceptions of the Son of God by the name of the Logos, or Word of God." (_Owen on Epist. Heb. Vol. 1._)

"At this time, there was nothing more common among the Hebrews than to denote the second subsistence of the Deity by the name of the Word of God. They were now divided into two great parts: first the inhabitants of Canaan, with the regions adjoining, and many old remnants in the East, who used the Syro-Chaldean language, being but one dialect of the Hebrew; and secondly, the dispersions under the Greek empire, who are commonly called Hellenists, and also used the Greek tongue. And both these sorts did usually, in their several languages, describe the second Person in the Trinity by the name of the _Word of God_. For the former sort, or those who used the Syro-Chaldean dialect, we have an eminent proof of it in the translation of the Scripture which, at least some part of it, was made about this time amongst them, commonly called the Chaldee Paraphrase; in the whole whereof the second Person is mentioned under the name of Memra dejeja, or the Word of God. Hereunto are all personal properties and all divine works in that translation assigned; with an illustrious testimony to the faith of the old Church concerning the distinct subsistence of a plurality of Persons in the Divine nature. And for the Hellenists who wrote and expressed themselves in the Greek tongue, they used the name _Logos, the Word_ of God, to the same purpose: as I have elsewhere manifested out of the writings of Philo, who lived about this time, between the death of our Saviour and the destruction of Jerusalem." (_Owen, Vol. 2._)

It will be observed that in all the translations of the Targums, and in the comments of Ryland and Owen, the same usage is exhibited as in our translation, of making the _Jehovah_ the genitive of the official appellative which precedes it. Hence the mystery and confusion which have so generally been thought to attend the official designations of the Old Testament. But if it be considered that in the use of the terms Logos, Dabar, and Memra, where a personal reference is intended, the abstract is put for the concrete, as _Word_ for _Revealer_, so that where these words are coupled with _Jehovah_ the reading should be _The Revealer_, or _The Revealing Jehovah_,--as in the case of _Melach Jehovah_, the reading should be, _The Messenger_, or _The Sent_ or _delegated Jehovah_, or the Messenger _who is_ Jehovah,--the use of those terms as personal designations will suggest no difficulty.