Thursday, October 6, 2022

The use of לוּחַ in the text of Ezekiel 37:16 of Targum Jonathan

Unlike many Latter-day Saints, I do not believe that Ezek 37 is a direct prophecy of the Book of Mormon (see the links under “Further Reading” for more on this). However, one argument that I do not think holds up against the standard LDS interpretation is that the Hebrew word translated as “stick” (עֵץ) cannot refer to a written text. Note the following from Ron Rhodes and Marian Bodine:


[In] ancient times, when parchments were wrapped around sticks, they were called scrolls, not sticks. The Hebrew word for “sticks” (`es) is typically used to refer simply to wood tree, or timber, not scrolls (Numbers 15:12; see also 1 Kings 17:10; 2 Kings 6:6; Lamentations 4:8). If Ezekiel had meant to talk about two scrolls in Ezekiel 37, there was a perfectly good word he could have used (Hebrew: saipher). But he chose a different word, and for a reason: He wasn’t talking about scrolls or books. (Ron Rhodes and Marian Bodine, Reasoning From the Scriptures with the Mormons [Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House Publishers, 1995], 102)

Let us examine this by examining the reception of this text in Targum Jonathan to the Prophets. For an article discussing the dating of this work, see Samson H. Levey, "The Date of Targum Jonathan to the Prophets," Vetus Testamentum 21, no. 2 (April 1971): 186-96. On p. 190, he writes that "We have no reservations in asserting that the termius a quo of the official Targumim can be assigned to the period between 200 and 150 BCE, comparable to the time of the emergence of the LXX." The terminus ad quem, it is noted, is more difficult to pinpoint; on p. 193, Levey argues that the terminus ad quem was "some time subsequent to the Arab conquest of Babylonia, that is, after 640-41."

Ezek 37:16 in Targum Jonathan on Ezekiel reads the following in Aramaic:

 

וְאַתְּ בַּר אָדָם סַב לָךְ לוּחָא חֲדָא וּכְתוֹב עֲלוֹהִי לְשִׁבְטָא דִיהוּדָה וְלִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֵיהוֹן וְסַב לוּחָא חֲדָא וּכְתוֹב עֲלוֹהִי לְשִׁבְטָא דְיוֹסֵף דִי הוּא שִׁבְטָא דְאֶפְרַיִם וְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲחֵיהוֹן:

 

The Aramaic term translating Hebrew עֵץ is לוּחַ. It can refer to a tablet one writes a text on. Consider the following entries from lexicons:

 

4590  לוּחַ

 

לוּחַ: MHeb.; Ug. lhÌ )Gordon Textbook §19:1358(; ? EgArm. )Jean-H. Dictionnaire 136(; JArm. Syr. לוּחָא, Mnd. )Drower-M. Dictionary 232bלוחא (; Arb., Soq. lohÌ, Eth. lauhÌ, Tigr. )Littmann-H. Wb. 44b( luhÌ; Akk. leÒÀu )AHw. 546b; Driver Sem. Writing 7912(, wooden, stone or metal tablet: לוּחֹ(וֹ)ת, )MHeb. (לְוָחִין du. ) לוּחֹתָֽיִםBauer-L. Heb. 516q(; masc. Ex 3215 3118 )EgArm. Syr. fem.(:

 

—1. tablet (of stone) Ex 2412 3118 341.4 Dt 413 522 99-11 101.3 1K 89, also Ex 3215f.19 341.28 Dt 917 102-4 2C 510; הָעֵדֻת לֻחֹת Ex 3118 3215 3429, לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית Dt 99.11.15, cj. 1K 89 )ins. with Sept., Montgomery-G. 186; Noth Könige 171, 180; Rudolph Chr. 211(; Hab 22; סֵפֶר parallel with לוּחַ Is 308; metaph. לִבָּם ל׳ Jr 171, לִבּוֹ ל׳ Pr 33 73;

 

—2. board, plank: altar נְבוּב לֻחֹת hollow out of boards Ex 278 387; ship Ezk 275; אֶרֶז ל׳ in the door Song 89; of נְחֹשֶׁת 1K 736; ï לוּחִית. † (The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament [HALOT], ed. Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, Bibleworks)

 

[4283] לוּחַ lûaḥ 43× tablets (of stone); board, panel (of wood); plate (metal) [3871] (William D. Mounce, Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2006], 963)

 

 

לוח noun לוחא

1 Palestinian,Syr tablet

2 Palestinian board

LS2 361

LS2 v: ܠܽܘܚܳܐ

abs. voc: לוּח (Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon, Targum Lexicon [Hebrew Union College, 2004], Logos)

 


לוּחַ

 

lûaḥ, n.c., tablet; board, plank. 43×

Root: לוּחַ. Cognates: לוּחִית

 

Bible Senses

 

tablet n., a slab of stone or wood suitable for bearing an inscription: Ex 24:12; 31:18; 32:15–16, 19; 34:1, 4, 28–29; Dt 4:13; 5:22; 9:9–11, 15, 17; 10:1–5; 1 Ki 8:9; Is 30:8; Je 17:1; Hab 2:2; Pr 3:3; 7:3; 2 Ch 5:10 (38×)

 

board n., a stout length of sawn timber; made in a wide variety of sizes and used for many purposes: Ex 27:8; 38:7; Eze 27:5; So 8:9 (4×)

 

plate (segment) n., a segment of a surface of something: 1 Ki 7:36 (1×)

 

(The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible [Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2017])

 

 

לוּחַ S3871 TWOT1091a GK4283 n.m. tablet, board or plank, plate (NH id., Aramaic לוּחָא, ܠܘܽܚܳܐ (luḥo); Arabic لَوْحٌ (lawḥun) (mod. pron. lûḥ, lôḥ, cf. e.g. SpiroArabic-Eng. Vocab. Buhl), Ethiopic ለውሕ (lawḥ), but Assyrian lêʾu (as if from לחה in Dl 366; see, however, lêjum (lêyum) Jäger i, 486);—ל׳ abs. Is 30:8; cstr. Pr 3:3 + 4 times; du. לֻחֹתָ֑יִם Ez 27:5; pl. לוּחֹת (לֻחוֹת), לֻחֹת) abs. Ex 32:16 + 17 times; cstr. Dt 4:13 + 16 times;— 1. chiefly of stone tablets on which ten words were written Ex 24:12; 31:18b; 32:16(), 19 (all E), 34:1(), 4(), 28 (all J), Dt 4:13; 5:19; 9:9, 10, 11, 17; 10:1, 2(), 3(), 4, 5 1 K 8:9 2 Ch 5:10; ל׳ הָעֵדֻת Ex 31:18a; 32:15 cf. v 15, 34:29 (all P); ל׳ הַבְּרִית Dt 9:9, 11, 15; tablet for writing prophecy Is 30:8 (|| סֵפֶר), Hb 2:2, and fig., לוּחַ לִבְּךָ Pr 3:3; 7:3 (for writing wise counsel), cf. Je 17:1 (inscribing sin of Judah); (vb. mostly כָּתַב Ex 31:18b; 32:15; Dt 9:10; כ׳ עַל Ex 34:1, 28; Dt 4:13; 5:19; 10:2, 4 Pr 3:3; 7:3; Is 30:8; חָרַשׁ עַל Je 17:1; כָּרַת sq. acc. Dt 9:9 cf. 1 K 8:9 = 2 Ch 5:10; חָרַת עַל Ex 32:16; בֵּאֵר עַל Hb 2:2). 2. wooden boards, composing altar of tabern. Ex 27:8; 38:7; planks composing ship (fig. of Tyre) Ez 27:5; cf. נָצוּר עָלֶיהָ לוּחַ אָ֑רֶז Ct 8:9, of door. 3. (metal) plates on bases of lavers in Solomon’s temple 1 K 7:36. (Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977], 531–532)

 


The following comes from Arnulf Baumann, “לוּחַ,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, 16 vols. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1995), 7:480–481, 481-82, 482-83:

 

2. Meaning and Occurrences. In all the Semitic languages, lûaḥ is a technical term for flat objects (boards, planks, plates) of various materials (wood, metal, or stone), especially writing tablets.

 

The noun occurs 43 times in the OT (45 if we accept the LXX reading in 1 K. 8:9 par. 2 Ch. 5:10; but Prov. 3:3 is probably an addition from Prov. 7:3). The occurrences are clearly concentrated in certain books: 17 in Exodus and 16 in Deuteronomy, referring to the tables of the law; 1 K. 8:9 par. 2 Ch. 5:10 belong to the same context, as do 4 other occurrences. The other 8 are distributed among the prophets (Isa. 30:8; Jer. 17:1; Ezk. 27:5; Hab. 2:2), Proverbs (Prov. 3:3; 7:3), Kings (1 K. 7:36), and the Song of Songs (Cant. 8:9). This distribution shows clearly how the meaning “tables of the law” dominates in the OT, an emphasis that probably does not reflect normal usage.

 

The dual of lûaḥ appears in Ezk. 27:5, unless we accept the reading lûḥôṯāyiḵ.

 

The LXX regularly uses pláx to translate lûaḥ in the sense of “table of the law,” except in Ex. 24:12, which uses pyxíon; the latter appears also in Isa. 30:8; Hab. 2:2. Proverbs uses plátos, Cant. 8:9; Ezk. 27:5 sanís, and Ex. 27:8 sanidōtós, a hapax legomenon.

 

3. Archaeology. Stone was used as a writing material from an early date (inscriptions on rock, statues, and stelae). Distinctly different are portable writing tablets, sometimes meant expressly for writing practice or official scribes. The most familiar example from Israel is the agricultural calendar from Gezer (10th century b.c.), of which probably only the top half is extant (6.7–11.1 cm. [2.6–4.4 in.] high, 7.2 cm. [2.8 in.] wide). The writing is incised on the soft limestone. The conjunction of a writing tablet with a calendar is interesting, since “calendar” is a common meaning for lûaḥ in Postbiblical Hebrew.

 

Plates of lead or precious metal were commonly used for writing in the ancient Near East, but not in Syria-Palestine. The same is true of clay tablets, the preferred material for cuneiform.

 

Wooden tablets, however, were convenient for both cuneiform (covered with a layer of wax) and for cursive scripts like Hebrew (for which they were often covered with lime or whitewash). A diptych comprising two tablets hinged together was the notebook preferred by scribes. Many illustrations from the eighth century onward depict one scribe sitting behind another recording lists (of booty, for example); the first uses a tablet of clay or waxed wood for cuneiform, the second a piece of leather or papyrus (or a wooden tablet) for cursive Aramaic. Such a tool had to be compact; several tablets could be joined together (cf. the folding book of twenty-three ivory and wood tablets measuring 33.8 × 15.6 cm. [13.3 × 6.1 in.] found at Nimrud). The two leaves of a diptych joined by hinges worked like the leaves of a door (cf. Jer. 36:23, where → דלת deleṯ, “wing of a door,” is used for the “columns” of a papyrus scroll).

 

. . .

III. Writing Tablets. OT usage provides some information about writing tablets: clay tablets are never mentioned. When lûaḥ appears without qualification, wooden tablets, especially diptychs, are probably meant. Isa. 30:8, for example, may well refer to a diptych covered with wax, so that the writing could be inscribed. Hab. 2:2, also, probably has a diptych in mind. In Cant. 8:9, the LXX pictures a writing tablet, as the translation shows.

 

Tablets of stone had to be specifically identified as such (Ex. 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; etc.). Such tablets were probably rare in later periods. The frequent emphasis on the two tables of the law (Ex. 31:18; 34:1; Dt. 4:13; 9:11; 10:1; 1 K. 8:9; etc.) may indicate that they were thought of after the analogy of (rectangular!) wooden diptychs. The depiction of the tables of the law with rounded tops, normal in Jewish and Christian iconography, may be due to the analogy of (mortuary?) stelae. Ex. 34:1, 4 presupposes that the tablets were carved out of larger blocks, so that the surface was as flat as possible. Writing on both sides (Ex. 32:15) is attested elsewhere in the ancient Near East; it makes it possible to keep the dimensions as small as possible. Furthermore, the Decalog probably did not require much space. Moses could easily have carried such tablets of stone down from the mountain of God. The inscribed texts cited in Isa. 30:8; Hab. 2:2 are even shorter (Isa. 30:9–14; Hab. 2:3f.).

 

Writing implements included pens of iron with diamond points (Jer. 17:1; cf. Job 19:24). Writing with ink is denoted by ktb (Exodus and Deuteronomy; also Hab. 2:2; Prov. 3:3; 7:3), more rarely by ḥqq (Isa. 30:8; cf. Job 19:23f.) or ḥrš (Jer. 17:1). Furthermore, only Ex. 32:16 uses ḥrt, “incise,” to describe the writing on tables of the law; other texts use ktb, “write upon,” which probably presupposes that the stone was first whitened with lime (cf. Dt. 27:8).

 

The purpose of writing is always to record a spoken utterance for later ages (Isa. 30:8; cf. Job 19:23f.), so that it can be read once more at any time (Hab. 2:2).

 

. . .

 

V. Tables of the Law. The OT uses lûaḥ in a special sense to refer to the tables Moses brought down from the mountain of God. While the noun always serves to denote these particular tablets with the writing upon them, their significance is defined by various explanatory qualifications. The original expression probably referred only to the “two tables” (Ex. 31:18; 34:1, 4, 29; Dt. 4:13; 5:22; 9:11, 15, 17; 10:1, 3; 1 K. 8:9 par. 2 Ch. 5:10) or the (two) “stone tables” (Ex. 24:12; 31:18; 34:1, 4; Dt. 4:13; 5:22; 9:9, 10, 11; 10:1; 1 K. 8:9) or simply “the tables” (Ex. 32:19; 34:1, 28; Dt. 10:2, 4). They are important because God gave them to Moses (Ex. 24:12) and also because the writing upon them was the work of God (Ex. 32:16) or God’s own writing (Dt. 10:2, 4) or was even done by God’s own finger (Ex. 31:18; Dt. 9:10). In this context, the substance of what was written on the tables is stated more precisely: not simply words of God in general but very specific words, the “ten words” of the Decalog (Ex. 34:28; Dt. 4:13; 10:4).

 

Two traditions must be noted that associate the tables of the law very closely with the ark: the Deuteronomic and Deuteronomistic tradition calls the tables “tables of the covenant”19 (Dt. 9:9, 11; cf. Ex. 34:28; Dt. 4:13; 1 K. 8:9 conj. par. 2 Ch. 5:10 conj.). In this tradition, the ark appears as the receptacle for the tables (Dt. 10:1, 3, 5; 1 K. 8:9 par. 2 Ch. 5:10). The Priestly tradition refers to them as “tables of the testimony” (Ex. 31:18; 32:15; 34:29), a phrase intended to express the relationship between the ark, the Decalog, and the ensuing covenant commitment.

 

It is important that the tradition of the tables speaks of their being broken and restored. More is involved than just a physical process. The restoration of the tables (and their preservation in the ark) is visible testimony that it is God’s will to maintain his covenant. Clearly, in ancient times, the symbolism of a written text was especially pregnant: the writing represented something binding and enduring. We see this already in Job 19:23f.; Isa. 30:8; Hab. 2:2; Jer. 36:27ff. makes it clear that human attempts to destroy what has been written cannot deflect the will of God: the burned scroll declaring imminent judgment is rewritten. Through the ages, however, the two tables of the law have been the most powerful symbol of God’s unchanging demands on his people as well as God’s unchanging love for his people.

 

As Leivy Smolar and Moses Aberbach noted in their Studes in Targum Jonathan to the Prophets:


One of the basic equipment items in the Talmudic age, namely the writing tablet (לוח) is presumed by TJ to have existed in Biblical times. Hence TJ’s translation of עץ (“stick”) in Ezek. 37:16 f. and v. 20a is consistently לוחא (“writing tablet”), though this rendering is hardly suitable in this context (It is true that Ezekiel is told to write on the עץ [v. 16]. But the context indicates that this was no writing tablet, but a wooden stick). (Leivy Smolar and Moses Aberbach, Studies in Targum Jonathan to the Prophets [The Library of Biblical Studies; New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1983], 103)


Some scholars think עֵץ alludes to “sceptre” in line with the LXX rendering ραβδος (“stick”) which can refer to a sceptre (e.g., Allen 2:193; cf. Zimmerli 2:273). The Hebrew word however also allows for the Targum interpretation as “tablet” (לוחא) The allusion would also be more obvious had a different word been used, such as מַטֶּה as in 7:10, 11; 19:11, 12, 14 (2x) (cf. Num. 17:17ff), or שֵׁבֶט as in 19:11, 14; 20:37 and 21:15, 18 (cf. Gen 49:10) which would make a nice play of words with “tribes of Israel” in 37:19, or מַקֵּל as in 39:9 (cf. Zech. 11:7). Furthermore, the sign act is easier to picture with two tablets rather than two sticks (cf. Maarsingh 3:88). J.W. Mazurel argues that עֵץ in 37:15ff was chosen in view of עֲצָמוֹ in 37:1-14, see “Het Woord עֵץ in Ezechiel 37:16-20,” Amserdamse Cahiers voor Exegese en Bijbelse Theologie 12 (1993): 116-21. (Thomas Renz, The Rhetorical Function of the Book of Ezekiel [Leiden: Brill: 1999], 114 n. 138)


The common “response” to the traditional LDS reading that “stick” can not be understood as referring to a written document, not simply a scepter with “for <tribe name>” is weak; there are better responses to the LDS reading.

 

Further Reading: