Targum Jonathan

Just these verses.

Are there any rabbinic traditions that say these verses, verses 13, 14, 15, refer to the Messiah? Or specifically, verse 13 identified as Messianic? Let's start with Targum Jonathan.

Targum Jonathan.

And here, for those that read Aramaic, we've got the Aramaic on the screen as well, beginning with the words Hayat Slach.

Look at it.

He shall be exalted and increase and be exceedingly strong.

So the ancient Targum, which was read in the synagogues, identifies this subject here, the one who will be highly exalted as being the Messiah.

Targum Jonathan.

agree.

Just to add to that, Targum Jonathan thinks the servant in these passages is the Messiah.

Yeah.

So it's not like this is just a Christian thing.

It's that generation.

It's that group of Jews who would turn against the text to stop that kind of an interpretation.

But like you said, Targum Jonathan...

Right there, has it? It has it, talking about the servant of Messiah.

It's a beita sho'eva.

And this actually says, works very nicely with the Targum Yonatan, who says that when we finally finish the holiday of Sukkot, we go back with great simcha into our bayit on Shemini Atzeret.

When we leave the dirat arai, that sukkah on the outside, which we tried to make as keva as possible, but it wasn't there yet.

But now after we've accomplished the full seven days of Sukkot, we're ready on Shemini Atzeret to go back into our personal bayit as a symbol, saying that ultimately we want to get to this level of a real bayit.

There are other ones.

The Targum Yonatan as well, but the Targum Anklios became the main one.

He was a student of Rabbi Gamaliel that we read about in the book of Acts, chapter 5.

But Gamaliel had two other students.

But the most ancient rabbinic tradition saw the servant as the Messiah.

And we have, you know, the Targum Yonatan, the

translation to Aramaic

from the 3rd or 4th century.

...

Targum Jonathan.

It's an early, uh, Aramaic interpretive translation of the Hebrew Bible.

It's used in synagogues, um, and it paraphrases scripture to make it understandable, okay? This is, this is ancient.

I have appointed you today over the nations and kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to eradicate and destroy, to build and to plant.

Many of the commentators follow in the footsteps of the Targum Yonatan, the Aramaic translation of the Sefer, who interpolates interpretation alongside his translation.

Yonatan translates here, I have appointed you as a prophet to foretell the downfall of the nations and the success of the people of Israel.

Radak suggests that both forms of prophecy apply to both the nations and to Israel, and there are four terms of destruction and two of rebuilding since Yirmiyahu's prophecies of destruction outnumber those of comfort.

or an assumed name by the writer.

And I won't weary you with all the scholastic arguments, including, by the way, the Septuagint and also the Targum of Jonathan, Jerome, and Rabbi Rashi.

These are very venerated rabbinical sources, have various views on this.

But I side with the most modern scholars that believe it was his proper name.

It's not a big issue, but I mention that.

You should be aware, though, there are some experts that think it was really a title.

In fact, the Targum of Jonathan, Jerome, and Rabbi Rashi understood Malachi to be a title for Ezra the scribe.

There are other church fathers that linked Malachi with the town of Sopha or Sapphira in Zebulun.

And we're asking Hashem as a prayer, just as you made miracles like that happen in the past, so too we want Hashem to continue to do that for us in the future.

Targum Jonathan says the fire and water here is talking about Eliyahu Hanavi.

If you recall from Melachim on Har Carmel, Hashem-- Eliyahu makes a miracle.

That fire comes down from heaven and fizzles up and eats up all the water which has been poured around Har Carmel.

The name itself, Malachi, translates into my messenger, and there are many, uh, scholastic conjectures, uh, that, uh, this might have been a title or an assumed name by the writer.

And, and I won't weary you with all the scholastic arguments, including, by the way, the Septuagint and also the Targum of Jonathan and Jerome and Rabbi Rashi.

These are very venerated rabbinical sources.

Uh, have various views on this.

It's not a big issue, but I mention that.

You should be aware, though, there are some experts that think it was really a title.

In fact, um, the Targum of Jonathan, Jerome, and Rabbi Rashi understood Malachi to be a title for Ezra the scribe.

There are other church fathers that, uh, linked Malachi with the town of Sopar or Sephira in Zebulun, and there's all kinds of traditions.