Tetzaveh (Part 2) - Exodus 27:20-30:10

Anthropomorphisms

The Book of Exodus is replete with descriptions of YHVH and verb-forms associated with Him that make Him quite human. And as is the custom with such things that contradict ideology ("God has no form"), apologetics need to address such things. In the case of the Torah, we have Targum Onkelos, an Aramaic re-imagining of Scripture, who made more than 10,000 changes to the text to have it align with Rabbinical Judaism. These interpretations (not translations) were considered so important, that it was taught that one should not study Torah without them.(BT Berachot 8a). "Shnayim mikra v'echad targum".

The Targumist would remove any problems that the Rabbis had with the text, and so, I thought that it would be fun to point a few of these out.

After going through a long an (literally) bloody description of the process to ready the priesthood for their service, the last 11 verses have promises of YHVH dwelling with, hanging out with, being counted among, and leading the Children of Israel. YHVH is their King and the priesthood is His leadership body.

Keep in mind that the person speaking in these verses is YHVH, even though He speaks in the third person at one point.

29:42 - As a continuous burnt offering for your generations, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting (ohel mo'ed), before YHVH where I will meet-with you, speak to you there.

This is where the aron, the golden cupboard, the ark, will be kept, and from there where YHVH dwells or sits, He will speak from between the golden cherubs from the inside of the tent, to Moses, who is the subject of the "I will meet/speak". The Hebrew word, אועד, indicates a meeting where two or more people are gathered together for a common purpose. It contains the same root as that for "witnessing". The Targumist changes this to:

29:42 - A regular burnt offering throughout your generations, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, before YHVH where I will have My memra meet with you, to speak to you there.

The use of "memra" is the typical way to try to make it all better, by saying that God made a supernatural entity who will represent Him in person, in His place.

It actually doesn't make it better.

29:43 - And I will meet-with the Children of Israel there, and it will be sanctified through My Glory.

The "it" in the verse speaks of the tent and all of it's contents, because YHVH dwells within, and so all of it is made holy by the presence of His glory. Now, to use the memra here, we need some additional tweaking:

29:43 - My memra will meet with the Children of Israel there, and I will be sanctified by My glory.

Of course, this doesn't make as much sense as the original text. And if you read verse 30:6, we see the same use of memra and "meet-with" being used there. You can look for yourself.

I want to end with just one more verse, a sort of double-memra, if you will::

29:45 - And I will reside among the Children of Israel, and I will be their Elohim.

The Hebrew word (שכן) means to dwell, reside, be located or housed. Some translations will use "rest" to lessen the human-like quality, albeit unsuccessfully.

29:45 - And my Shechinah  will reside among the Children of Israel, and I will be their Eloah.

Whenever possible, the Targumist will try to eliminate the term "Elohim" and replace it with "YHVH". For example, the first chapter of Genesis will use YHVH in his version, as opposed to Elohim in the original version. Since that can't be done here, the Targumist chose to use the singular form rather than the form that could be read in the plural.

And, of course, the "Shechinah" is a variant of the memra, God's "dwelling presence", since, as all modern people with a sophisticated view of God, He has no form, right?

Conclusion

The dictum to study the Targum with the text, or to prohibit learning the text on its own merit, is a classical view from Rabbinical Judaism which was promoting monotheism toward a formless God, while using a text that didn't support that narrative so well.

As we saw in last week's parashah, YHVH want a golden seat, table, plates, lamp, and other amenities that were exceptionally human. And this week, He confirms that he was going to live among them, but only Moses could come close until the priesthood cult was initiated with blood.

That's not the narrative that traditionalists are comfortable with.

And hence the need for apologetics and Targums.