Monday, March 17, 2014

Targums of Isaiah 50.4

As I was preparing my sermon for Chapel based on the assigned text of Isaiah 50.4, I had a look at how the Targums of Isaiah had translated Isa 50.4. In the Targums, the text reads as follows: "The Lord God has given me a tongue to teach, to give knowledge, to instruct the righteous with wisdom, those who weary themselves with the Law..."
According to the Targums, those who are taught wisdom and knowledge are those who weary themselves with the Law. I would imagine these to be disciples of the law, like in Psalm 1, those who meditate on the law day and night. It is to those who are serious about learning God's Word, those who take the trouble to search out the subtleties of God's law, even poring over every word in its original languages. All this takes time and effort and nowadays fewer and fewer students (and pastors) are prepared to weary themselves with God's law.

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