Subject: Ezekiel 20:25-26

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 19:59:56 -0500

This text has caused no little discussion over the centuries, not so much for
its grammar as for its theology.
The Targum has a quite different rendering.  Is it possible that the Targum
contains the oldest reading and that the MT has somehow been corrupted by a
scribal error (i.e., the omission of "the enemies I turned you over to gave
you bad laws", etc.)?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Jim West

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From: "James R. Adair" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 01:21:43 -0500 (EST)

> scribal error (i.e., the omission of "the enemies I turned you over to gave

Jim,

It is doubtful that the Vorlage of T here differs from the MT.  At least, 
if it did, it can't be recovered, since T is clearly an attempt to deal 
with a difficult theological topic, namely, the idea that God's laws were 
bad and intended to lead Israel astray.  It is not uncommon for T to 
abandon a literal rendering in order to make a theological (or halakhic) 
point, or in order to avoid a troublesome Vorlage.  A similar example of 
shielding God from the charge of inciting evil is the change from 2 Sam 
24:1, "And God moved David to take a census," to 1 Chron 21:1, "And Satan 
moved David to take a census."

Jimmy Adair
Manager of Information Technology Services, Scholars Press
    and
Managing Editor of TELA, the Scholars Press World Wide Web Site
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