The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

386 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
programmatically concerns the establishment of restored worship in
the Temple, especially at the feast of Sukkoth (14.16-19). 'All the
nations' are to go up to Jerusalem annually for worship (v. 16), and
the transformation of which that worship is part involves the
provision of 'living waters' from the city (v. 8, cf. Jn 4.10, 14). That
image is related to an earlier 'fountain opened for the house of David
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in view of sin and uncleanness'
(13.1). Here is the association of forgiveness and purity which is a
feature of Jesus' program, as well as the notion of an immediate
release, without any mention of sacrifice, from what keeps Israel from
God. (There is, incidentally, also an indication of how the issue of
Davidic ancestry might have featured in Jesus' ministry, aside from
any messianic claim.) 28 God is held to arrange the purity required, so
that the desired sacrifice might take place.
Zechariah features the commissioning of a priest (3, cf. Mt. 16.18,
19), an oracle against swearing (5.3, 4, cf. Mt. 5.33-37), a vision of a
king humbly riding an ass (9.9, cf. Mt. 21.1-9; Mk. 11.1-10; Lk.
19.28-40; Jn 12.12-19), the prophetic receipt of thirty shekels of
silver in witness against the owners of sheep (11.4-17, cf. Mt. 26.14-
16; 27.3-10; Mk 14.10, 11; Lk. 22.3-6). It is obvious that the connections
between Jesus' ministry and Zechariah do not amount to a common
agenda, and Matthew reflects a tendency to increase the fit
between the two. But the similarities may suggest Jesus' appropriation
of Zechariah's prophecy of eschatological purity, as a final, more fundamental
connection would indicate. The climactic vision of Zechariah
insists that every vessel in Jerusalem will belong to the LORD, and
become a fit vessel for sacrifice. As part of that insistence, the text
asserts that no trader will be allowed in the Temple (14.20, 21). In the
light of Zechariah, Jesus' occupation of the Temple appears to be an
enactment of prophetic purity in the face of a commercial innovation,
a vigorous insistence that God would prepare his own people and
vessels for eschatological worship.
Notably, the Targum of Zechariah specifically includes reference to
IV.334-44), but the identification with the prophet, the son of Barachiah, is
unambiguous in Matthew (and some witnesses to Luke). That the figure in mind is a
product of haggadic embellishment, however, appears evident, and may draw upon
the recollection of several people named 'Zechariah'.
28. Cf. B.D. Chilton, 'Jesus ben David: Reflections on the Davidssohnfrage\
JSNT 14 (1982), pp. 88-112.