2:14 A: Wiping out the chirograph against us.
The certificate of debt was called שְׁטָר
= “a piece of writing, register,” or more precisely שטר חוֹב or גֵּט חוֹב; מָחַק,
Aram. מְחִק served as a verb for “wiping out.”
See m. ʾAbot 3.16 at § Matt 10:29 B, #3 toward the beginning. ‖ Tanḥuma
צו (140B): Rabbi († 217?) said, “When a
person sins, God records death for him; if he repents, the writ is annulled הכתב מתבטל (declared invalid); if he does not repent,
what has been recorded remains a true (valid) writ (cf. Dan 10:21).” ‖ On
eliminating certificates of debt שְׁטָרִין,
שְׁטָרוֹת that God has in his hand against human
beings, see y. Peʾah 1.16B.37 at § Rom 2:6. The parallel to this in b. Pesiq.
167A calls the certificate that God snatches away from the weighing pan of
transgressions שטר
חוב של עוונות
“debt certificate of sins.” — See another parallel in b. Roš Haš. 17A. ‖ In the
prayer Avinu Malkeinu there is a plea that reads as follows: Our father, our
king, by your great mercy wipe out מְחוֹק
all our certificates of debt כָּל־שִׁטְרֵי חוֹבוֹתֵינוּ! — Burning certificates of debt is also mentioned; see Exod.
Rab. 15 (77A). — To speak of exacting payment for a certificate of debt, the
verb גָּנָה was used; see Gen. Rab. 23 (15C). (Hermann
L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the
Talmud and Midrash, ed. Jacob N. Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and
Joseph Longarino; Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2021], 3:728-29)
