The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
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The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

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CHILTON Aramaic and Targumic Antecedents of 'Justification' 389 It is evident that, within hellenistic Judaism, the consolation of Jerusalem and the sacrificial recognition of God as king by the nations were motifs which could be and were associated. The significance of the prominence of a similar theme in the Targum of Zechariah shows that the association was not merely hellenistic, and that it survived through the first century. In Sinaiticus, an alteration is introduced into the reading of v. 11. Instead of Wvr\ rcoXXa uxxicp66ev ii^ei rcpog TO ovo^ia K^ipun) 10$ 9eo$, we find eOvii rcoA,A,a ^laicpoGev T^EI aoi Kai KOCTOIKOI TtdvTcov TOW eaxdicov tfji; yf\

390 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context The emphatic inclusion of the Gentiles ('all the inhabitants of the earth') within the eschatological worship of the Temple is therefore not only attested in the Targum, as in Sinaiticus's version of Tobit, it is attested as a characteristic motif. And the same phrase is associated with the kingdom of God in Targum Jonathan, notably—and in an innovative fashion—at Zech. 14.9. 35 The sanctuary, the kingdom, and all the inhabitants of the earth are therefore associated within the Targum as the climax of God's revelation; Sinaiticus's Tobit demonstrates that the first and third elements could be linked by the first century, while Mt. 8.11, 12 shows that the second and the third were also paired by that time. More generally, Jub. 4.26 establishes that the global range of the sanctuary was an expectation within early Judaism. 36 Targum Jonathan, together with Tobit and Jubilees, establishes that an expectation of global worship in the Temple was a feature of early Judaism, so that it is feasible that Paul aimed to promote a literal offering of the nations by means of his collection for the needs of the church in Jerusalem. The book of Acts is at pains to exculpate Paul from the charge that he introduced Gentiles into the precincts of the Temple (21.27-30). But that accusation, mounted by Jews from Asia who were in a position to know what Paul intended (v. 27), is what in Acts produces the attempt to kill Paul, and his subsequent (as it turned out, definitive) arrest (vv. 31-40). Acts may not be consulted as a straightforward historical source, but the confused picture it conveys at this point may be consistent with the finding from Paul's own letters that he intended that Gentiles should be joined within the sacrificial worship of Israel. 37 Paul's assertion in Rom. 3.25, that God appointed Jesus a iXaatTipiov 8ia Tuatecog ev TCO a\)io$ aiu,cm, 38 is not, therefore, 35. Cf. 'Regnum Dei Deus Est', 101 (as published in Targumic Approaches). 36. Cf. The Glory of Israel, '"Sanctuary" («ehpa)', pp. 18-24, and 130 n. 9. 37. Particularly, the hypothesis explains why Paul, in Romans 9-11, insists upon including all believers within the ambit of Israel at a moment of historic weakness in the Jewish community in Rome, cf. B.D. Chilton, 'Romans 9-11 as Scriptural Interpretation and Dialogue with Judaism', ExAuditu 4 (1988), pp. 27-37. 38. Cranfield (Romans, p. 210) rightly asserts that it is only natural to read the phrase concerning blood with the noun iXacrr|piov. Campbell's attempt to separate them on the grounds that the proposition 5id is the structural key of the sentence, relies on a mechanical understanding of Paul's rhetoric which is not shown to be Paul's own.

CHILTON <strong>Aramaic</strong> and Targumic Antecedents of 'Justification' 389<br />

It is evident that, with<strong>in</strong> hellenistic Judaism, the consolation of<br />

Jerusalem and the sacrificial recognition of God as k<strong>in</strong>g by the nations<br />

were motifs which could be and were associated. <strong>The</strong> significance of<br />

the prom<strong>in</strong>ence of a similar theme <strong>in</strong> the Targum of Zechariah shows<br />

that the association was not merely hellenistic, and that it survived<br />

through the first century.<br />

In S<strong>in</strong>aiticus, an alteration is <strong>in</strong>troduced <strong>in</strong>to the read<strong>in</strong>g of v. 11.<br />

Instead of Wvr\ rcoXXa uxxicp66ev ii^ei rcpog TO ovo^ia K^ipun) 10$<br />

9eo$, we f<strong>in</strong>d eOvii rcoA,A,a ^laicpoGev T^EI aoi Kai KOCTOIKOI<br />

TtdvTcov TOW eaxdicov tfji; yf\

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