 |  |
The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel is of value in deciding the text of the Prophets.
The Jerusalem Targum agrees generally with the Pseudo Jonathan, and is in the dialect of
Palestine. The other Targums are not, from the critical point of view, of such importance.
The Targums are followed by the Talmud, both in time and purpose. The word
Talmud is equivalent to our word "doctrine", and the object of the book was to embody
all that had previously been written in a series of rules, laws and institutions governing
the civil and religious life of Israel.
The Talmud consists of the Mishna and the Gemara. These divisions are explained by
the fact that the Jews believed that, in addition to the written law, Moses received an oral
or spoken law, which they venerate as of equal authority. In the time of Christ, this
tradition of the elders had taken a place higher than the law itself. Dr. Lightfoot writes:--
"Whoso nameth the Talmud nameth all Judaism, and whoso nameth Mishna and
Gemara, he nameth all the Talmud . . . . . The Talmud is divided into two parts . . . . . this
is the Jews' Council of Trent, the foundation and groundwork of their religion . . . . . The
son of Hamlai saith, `Let a man always part this life in three parts: a third part for the
Scriptures, a third part for Mishna, and a third part for Gemara'. The Mishna is the `text',
the Gemara the `completion', and together they are considered final."
It is not our present purpose to enlarge upon this work or to show its bearing upon the
doctrine of the N.T.; this can be done later. For the moment we are only passing in
review those works of antiquity that provide means for checking the text of the Hebrew
Bible, and in spite of all the fables and complicated reasonings that make the reading of
the Talmud a weariness to the flesh, we must gratefully include this monumental work
among our valued witnesses.
We must now go back to an earlier time and review the labours of the Sopherim,
whose work dates back to the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. The Talmudic interpretation
of Neh. 8: 8 clearly explains the nature of their labours. The Sopherim were "The
Scribes", a name given to Ezra in Neh. 8: 4. The reader should read the whole of
Neh. 8:; space will only permit a short quotation here:--
"And Ezra opened the book . . . . . so they read in the book of the law of God
distinctly, and gave them the sense, and caused them to understand the reading"
(Neh. 8: 5-8).
The Gemarists in the Jerusalem Talmud, referring to Neh. 8: 8, writes: "Whence
came the custom of having an interpreter? Rabbi Zeora in the name of Rabbi Hananeel
saith":--
"From that place `They read in the book of the law'--that meaneth the reading (in the
original tongue); `distinctly'--that meaneth the interpreting (the Chaldee paraphrase);
`and gave the sense'--that meaneth the exposition (and the division of words, &100:); `and
caused them to understand the reading'--that meaneth the Massoreth, or points and
accents (originally Hebrew was without vowel points)."