Targum readings of Genesis 49:10
koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)
Kyungbook National University
Sangju Campus
conjoint lecturer of Avondale College
21 April 2010
Genesis 49:10 is Messianic and this prophecy or promise is given and Jacob was presenting it to his sons. What then happened to the Messianic expectation is a quiet period of over 400 years of which we do not have data and with Moses, who was educated by his mother until 12 in Hebrew traditions and scriptures, penned it down in Genesis which he wrote in Midian ca. 1460 BCE. Moses knew the Messianic prophecy. It should come as no surprise since the book of Hebrews 11 explains that Moses knew Christ.
What we will do is to look at various forms of this Messianic text in Genesis 49. One can see how the original, represented in the Masoretic Text line, is deviated from, added, subtracted or modified to fit their own times or understandings later. Sometimes they understood it correctly, as did the Targumim when they said that it refers to the coming of the Messiah. We must remember that in Targumim we find evidence for both continuity of previous understanding and contextuality of their own time explanations.
Masoretic Text
The staff from Judah
Vulgate
The staff from Judah
4QBP (Qumran cave four)
The prince of the tribe of Judah
Targum Onkelos
The keeper of the power of the house of Judah
Targum Neophyti
The king between the house of Judah
Socalled LXX or Septuagint
The ruler from Judah
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Masoretic Text
will not leave nor the chieftain
Vulgate
will not leave nor the leader
4QBP (Qumran cave four)
will be present not even David's
Targum Onkelos
will not cease nor the scribe
Targum Neophyti
will not cease nor the scribes
Socalled LXX or Septuagint
will not leave nor the leader
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Masoretic Text
from his offspring
Vulgate
4QBP (Qumran cave four)
whom will be sitting on the throne
Targum Onkelos
between the sons of his sons
Targum Neophyti
who teach the law among the sons of his sons
Socalled LXX or Septuagint
will not leave nor the leader from his offspring
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Masoretic Text
until will come He who is send and to Him is given the nations
Vulgate
until He come that is to be sent and he shall be the expectation of the nations
4QBP (Qumran cave four)
Targum Onkelos
until the Messiah comes
Targum Neophyti
until the Messiah comes
Socalled LXX or Septuagint
until may come that which is laid in store and he, the expectations of nations
van wyk notes:
1. The original in the consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition preserved the ANE nomadic power category. The word is a nomadic object, staff.
2. The 4QBP from Qumran, 1440 years later, paraphrased it as "keeper of power". It is now in the fragment from Qumran a non-nomadic term amidst Roman domination. The word is translated with Aramaic in mind, namely "tribe" and "prince" was added.
3. The Targumim translated it to fit their own time of synagogical hierarchy between 140-290 CE. The targumim extended it to "keeper of power" and "king".
4. The socalled LXX and Vulgate of 396 CE interpreted it with Byzantine Greek concepts of argontes and hegemon. The object is a Byzantine object, namely a sceptre.
What is surprising about the Targumim is that they make explicit what is implicit in the original. The Messianic reference that one find implicit in the consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition, is made explicitly to refer to the Messiah. This is a correct understanding of the message of the text.