The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

356 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
palace of an earthly king has been transformed into a prayer of supplication
by which Esther's piety and trust in God are portrayed and
the meaning of prayer emphasized.
Especially in Targum Sheni this method of interpretation plays an
important role: Esth. 6.1 (-pen rats rma ronn rfr'ja—'In that very night
sleep fled from the king') is interpreted—as already in b. Meg.
15b 6 —as referring not only to the insomnia of King Ahasverosh, but
also to the insomnia of the heavenly King, which is caused by the
threat and danger to his people. This expression with its inherent outrages
and daring anthropomorphism—which the Meturgeman clearly
recognizes 7 —shows that God suffers on account of what happens to
Israel on earth. The God of Israel is—to use an expression by
Abraham Heschel—a God of pathos, one who is directly affected by
the fate of his people. 8 The plight of his people is his plight.
That also the saving of the Jews and the honour which comes to
Mordecai is nothing else but God's work is apparent in the interpretation
of Esth. 6.11. During Mordecai's triumphal procession thousands
of young men of the royal household of King Ahasverosh cry out:
'Thus should be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor'.
This same formulation appears in the literal translation of the Hebrew
text, but a further explanation of the cry follows when Israel joins in
the rejoicing. The text of Targum Sheni reads: 'Thus should be done
to the man whom the king, who created heaven and earth, wishes to
honor'.
6. 'In that very night sleep fled from the king'. R. Tanhum said: 'The sleep of
the king of the universe fled... Raba said: It means literally "the sleep of the king
Ahasverosh"'.
7. The Meturgeman continues by inserting a midrash based on Ps. 44.24 and
Ps. 121.4: 'In that very night the sleep of the Holy One, Blessed be He, was restless
in the height of heavens, and if this verse were not written, it would not have been
possible to say it, since it is written (Ps. 44.24), "wake, why do you sleep, O Lord",
God forbid, since sleep does not exist for Him. Rather, when Israel sinned, He made
himself to appear to be sleeping; however, when they do his will, he neither
slumbers or sleeps, as it is written (Ps. 121.4), "the Keeper of Israel neither
slumbers nor sleeps'"; cf. Esth. R. 10.1; 2 Panim Aherim 37a. On the topic of
anthropomorphism in targumic literature in general see M. Klein, Anthropomorphism
and Anthropopathism in the Targums of the Pentateuch. With parallel citations from
the Septuagint (Hebrew) (Jerusalem, 1982); Levine, Aramaic Version, pp. 47ff, 51-
52, 55ff.
8. See A. Heschel, The Prophets (New York, 1962), pp. 221ff.