Saturday, May 30, 2020

The Targumim Interpreting Genesis 40:19 to be a Reference to Crucifixion

 

Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee. (Gen 40:19)

 

Commenting on this text, we read the following from the Targumim a reference to crucifixion (albeit, posthumous crucifixion):

 

(Tg. Onq.) At the end of three days Pharaoh will remove your head from you, and he will suspend you on the cross, and the birds will eat your flesh from you

 

(Tg. Neof.) Toward the end of three days Pharaoh will lift your head from upon you, and will suspend you on a cross, and the birds will eat your flesh from upon your head.

 

(Tg. Ps.-J.) At the end of tree days Pharaoh will remove by the sword your head from upon your body, and he will suspend you on the three, and the birds will eat your flesh from you.

 

Commenting on how these Aramaic paraphrases understood Hebrew תלה as a reference to crucifixion, Chapman and Schnabel note that:

 

Although Aramaic תלא was available as the equivalent of Hebrew תלה the targumim commonly employed צלב in translating OT passages that mention human suspension. The terminology of צלב (and cognates) is much more exclusively focused on human bodily suspension, including crucifixion, and thus it represents a shift toward more technical terms. This is true throughout targumim on other biblical books as well as here in Genesis . . .this sample from Genesis will serve to illustrate some key trends in the targumic traditions. First, one does observe the shift toward more technical suspension vocabulary with צלב and צליבה. These terms also served as standard Aramaic vocabulary for the kinds of crucifixions that the Romans performed. And thus by using this language, the original readers and hearers of the targumim may have felt some increased resonance between the biblical text and the suspension practices of their day. Second, in two of these targumic texts the meturgeman also clarifies the Hebrew for “lift up your head” here means to “remove your head by the sword.” Thus the suspension is even more clearly post mortem in Onqelos and Pseudo-Jonathan. Note how similar trends were observed above concerning targumic renderings of Deut 21:22-23 (the language becomes more technical concerning bodily suspension, but the rabbinic desire to emphasize post mortem suspension is also evident). (David W. Chapman and Eckhard J. Schnabel, The Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus: Texts and Commentary [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2019], 696-97)