Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

> From: Yigal Levin Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 6:24 PM
> To: 'Dewayne Dulaney'; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Christian Use of Targums (Was "cognate alphabet");
> Targums Online
> 
> Interesting. Targums asside, I've never really understood that passage. I 
> agree that
> Qecep must be divine wrath, and that it's aimed at the Israelites. But why 
> should
> God be angry at Israel because the king of Moab sacrificed his son? 
> Conversely,
> could it be that the Moabite god (Chemosh) is angrey? That would be strange 
> for
> the Bible as well.

[Steve Miller] Yigal, it is not that strange. Satan is real and his underling 
princes are also real (Dan 10:12-13). Their wrath against Israel should not 
have deterred Israel, but due to the apostasy of Israel at that time, they 
were weak and turned back by this.
> 
> Yigal Levin
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dewayne Dulaney [mailto:dewayne.dulaney AT gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 10:40 PM
> To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org; leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il; 
> transcriber AT tanach.us
> Subject: Re: Christian Use of Targums (Was "cognate alphabet"); Targums 
> Online
> 
> שלום עלכלכם
> 
> Hi Chris and Yigal,
> 
> While the average Christian is unaware of the Targums, Bible translations 
> made by
> Christians do take into account their readings for textual criticism, and 
> for some
> exegetical decisions bearing on translation. This is stated in the preface 
> to the New
> International Version, the most widely used Christian Bible in English (1984
> edition; no doubt the later TNIV and the 2011 NIV do also), for example. No 
> doubt
> other such Bibles consult the Targums also, as well as the Syriac Peshitta.
> 
> Christians like myself who use Hebrew and Aramaic also sometimes consult
> Targums. I am teaching an adult Bible class about the non-writing prophets 
> such as
> Elijah and Elisha in the books of Kings and Chronicles. Recently I was 
> studying 2
> Kgs. 3, concerning the revolt of Moab against Israel (referred to on the 
> famed
> Mesha Stele) and trying to understand why most English versions had "wrath" 
> or
> "fury" against/upon Israel (Hebrew: ויהי קצף־גדול על־ישראל Vayehi qetzef 
> gadol al
> Yisrael) when King Mesha of Moab sacrificed his son as a burnt offering 
> (3:27), as
> the reason why the Israelite forces withdrew from attacking Moab.
> After consulting Jastrow (Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud and Midrashic
> Literature, online at
> http://www.TyndaleArchive.com/TABS/Jastrow/index.htm) and the Targums at
> the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon, or CAL (online at
> http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/searching/targumsearch.html), as well as several 
> alternate
> renderings of the Hebrew phrase in other English versions, I concluded 
> that, while
> the idea of divine anger (of Yahweh) fit the uses of "qetzef" in other 
> contexts,
> probably the idea in 2 Kgs. 3:27 is that the Israelite forces were 
> horrified,
> saddened/terrified and thus demoralized enough to break off the attack and 
> go
> home. The Targum uses "regaz", which can mean "anger", but can also mean
> "quaking"—with fear or some other emotion, I gather. 

[Steve Miller] Dewayne, the Hebrew cannot possibly mean that.  Looking at all 
the usages of qetzef in the Tanach, I only see it meaning wrath, not any of 
the emotions you are trying.  Also there is the preposition "al", meaning 
that Israel is the object of the wrath, not the one who is angry. 

> I wrote up my conclusions in
> a brief note for myself and used it when teaching the class; I have it as a 
> Word
> document. If anyone would like a copy, email me off-list and I will gladly 
> send it to
> you. Comments are welcome.
> 
> Someone also asked if there were some online sites with the texts of 
> Targums. The
> CAL site mentioned above is one; another good one is the Melchon Mamre site 
> at
> http://www.mechon-mamre.org/. It has Targum Onqelos on the Torah
> (Pentateuch), including a parallel Hebrew-Aramaic Torah. (Note: there is an
> English introduction, and some of the Bible texts are in English; site 
> navigation
> once you select a Hebrew or Aramaic text, however, is in Hebrew.) The site 
> also has
> Rashi's commentary and the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds.
> 
> Hope these help.
> 
> ברכך יהוה וישמרך׃ (Num. 6:24)
> 
> דוין דולני Dewayne Dulaney
> 
> --
> "From the world you will have trouble. But, be brave! I have defeated the 
> world!"—
> John 16:33, DDV (Dewayne Dulaney Version)
> 
> My Bible blogs: http://my.opera.com/Loquor/blog/ and
> http://hasopher.preachersfiles.com/

[Steve Miller] 
Sincerely,
-Steve Miller
Detroit
www.voiceInWilderness.info
Blessed is the man who walks not in 
the world's counsel of sin, 
nor standeth in the sinners' way, 
nor with the scornful stays,
because he delights in the law
of the Lord, and in awe
he meditates both day and night.
His mind is being made right. (Psalm 1:1-2)