The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

392 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
The usage of the Septuagint, and particularly of 2 Maccabees and
4 Maccabees, militates against the complete identification of the
iA,cxaTT|piov of Rom. 3.25 with the mss of Leviticus 16, as, of
course, does the absence of the definite article in Paul's usage. There
is a relationship between the two, because the iXaaif|piov of
Leviticus 16 (vv. 2,13, 14,15) is where the high priest makes appeasement
(e^iXdaetai, v. 16, cf. vv. 17, 18, 20); that connection is
achieved in both the Masoretic Text and Neophyti by means of the
root ISD. Taken together, Neophyti and the Septuagint demonstrate
that the rnsD/iA,acrrf|piov was understood to be the place where God
was appeased, 41 the occasion of efficacious sacrifice. That also explains
why the Greek term appears for rrutf at Ezek. 43.14, 17, 20.
Jesus for Paul is a iA,aarf|piov because he provides the occasion on
which God may be appeased, an opportunity for the correct offering
of sacrifice in Jerusalem. This rectitude lies behind the emphasis upon
God's righteousness. 'The righteous', after all, are held within the
Targum of Isaiah to be the recipients of that joy whose epicenter is the
sanctuary (cf. 24.16; 38.11, and 5.17; 66.24). 42 More particularly, the
establishment of correct worship in the Temple is signalled in
Dan. 8.14 with the use of the verb pljsjj. Other usages of the root
follow (9.7, 14, 16, 18), perhaps most notably with the verb ns? in
9.24. God within this section of Daniel is literally both righteous and
making righteous.
The association of those two ideas is by no means innovative.
Righteousness and purity are paradigmatically associated in Pss. 18.21
(v. 20 in English versions); 24.3-6; 26.4-7; 51.4,8,9,12 (English
vv. 2,6,7,10); 119.9. The reference in Ps. 24.5 to the person who is
just receiving righteousness (together with blessing) from God is
especially apposite. But the usages of Daniel are striking in that they
formally present God as both righteous (cf. 9.7,14,16) and making
righteous (9.24, and cf. 12.3) an unrighteous nation (9.7,16,18).
The link to the establishment of correct worship in the Temple in
Dan. 8.14 is striking, but such is the tendency to isolate the cult from
ethics within Western interpretation that critics have suggested
accepting the emendation of the versions to 'cleanse' here. Andre
41. Cf. also '115? n'3 at Lev. 16.2 in Onqelos, and the use of psso in respect of
the altar in 2QJN 8.5.
42. Cf. The Glory of Israel, 'II. B "The Righteous" («'pns)', pp. 18-24. For an
earlier usage, cf. 4QTestuz.