Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yohanan Goldman <Amirpatrick.Goldman AT unifr.ch>]

HI, Ian,
It's a well known word, if not the most famous among aramaists and
targumists.Several articles and books have been written on it
regarding the possible relationship with the Logos in the Gospel
of John.
Though it's a long time I am not swimming in these waters, I recall
clearly that it oftens aims at protecting the transcendance of God in
the Targumin. For example when God creates or says something, it
is the Word of God (The Memra of the Lord) who speaks in Targum.
(I would not be surprised if one would connect this personalisation of
the Word with the influence of stoician philosophy in the land of
Israel.)

Yohanan

> Hi. Just a quick question.
> I've been reading A. Edersheim lately and he refers,
> in a discussion of the hypostasation of the 'Word',
> 'Logos' of God, to 'Memra'.
> Can someone please enlighten me as to the meaning of
> this word? I can't find an appropriate hebrew match
> and am starting to feel it may be an LXX term.
> Apparently it is also mentioned in the targums
> Onkelos, Jerusalem and Pseudo Jonathan, but I haven't
> got the material to look through for these.
> I'm sure it's a simple question.
> Look forward to your help.
>
> Ian.
> =====
> Ian Goldsmith.
> England.


--

Yohanan A.P. Goldman
Department of Biblical Studies
Universite Misericorde
CH-1700 Fribourg
Switzerland

tel: 41-26 300 73 93
fax: 41-26 300 97 54
AmirPatrick.Goldman AT unifr.ch