Pgs. 230-240

Ch. 26-28

SECTION XXXIII

BECHUKKOTHAI.

IF you will go forward in the statutes of My law, and keep the orders of My judgments, and perform them, then will I give you the rains for your lands in your seasons, the early and the late, and the land shall yield the fruits of increase, and the tree on the face of the field shall be prosperous in its fruit. And with you the threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage unto the springing of the seed, and you shall eat your bread and be satisfied, and dwell securely in your land. And I will give peace in the land of Israel, that you may repose, and there be none to disturb; and I will make the power of the wild beast to cease from the land of Israel, and the unsheather of the sword shall not pass through your land. And you shall chase your adversaries, and they will fall before you broken with the sword. And five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you put a myriad to flight, and your adversaries shall fall before you, broken with the sword. For I will turn from the wages of the Gentiles, to fulfil to you the recompense of your good works, and I will strengthen you, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. And you shall eat the old that is old without having the corn‑worm, and the old from before the new produce shall ye turn out of your barns. And I will set the Shekinah of My Glory among you, and my Word shall not abhor you, but the Glory of My Shekinah shall dwell among you, and My Word shall be to you for a redeeming God, and you shall be unto My Name for a holy people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out redeemed from the land of Mizraim, that you should not be bondmen to them, and brake the yoke of their bondage from off you, and brought you out from among them, the children of liberty, and led you forth with an erect stature.

But if you will be unwilling to hear the instructions of the doctrine of My law, and to perform all these precepts with your free choice; and if you despise My statutes, and hate in your soul the orders of My judgments, to do not all My precepts, but your purpose be to abolish My covenant; this also will I do to you: I will draw out against you the smiting pestilence, the flame and the fever, to consume your eyes, and to exhaust life; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for it shall not spring up, and that which groweth of itself shall your enemies devour. And I will appoint a reverse to your affairs, and you shall be broken before your foes, and they who hate you shall rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursueth you. And if after these chastisements ye be not willing to obey the doctrines of My law, I will add to punish you with seven plagues, for the seven transgressions with which ye have sinned before Me. And I will break down the glory of the strength of your sanctuary, and will make the heavens above you obdurate as iron, to yield no moisture, nor send you dew or rain, and the ground beneath you to be like brass to put forth (only) to destroy its fruit. And your strength shall be consumed in vain, for your land shall not yield what you bestow upon it, and the tree upon the face of the field shall drop its fruit. And if you still walk perversely with Me, and will not hearken to the doctrine of My law, I will add to bring upon you (yet) seven plagues, for the seven transgressions with which ye have sinned before Me; and I will send against you the strength of the wild beast, to make you childless, and to destroy your cattle without, and to diminish you within, and your highways shall be desolate.

And if by these chastisements ye will not be corrected before Me, but will walk before Me perversely, I will Myself also remember you adversely in the world, and will destroy you, even I, with seven plagues, for seven transgressions with which ye have sinned before Me. And I will bring against you a people unsheathing the sword to take vengenance upon you, for that you will have abolished My covenant; and when you are gathered together from the wilderness into your cities, I will send the pestilence among you, or deliver you to die by the hand of your adversaries. And when I shall have broken for you the staff of all the subsistence of food, then ten women may bake your bread in one oven on account of its scarcity, and measure and divide it to you diminished in weight, and you will eat and not be satisfied.

But if by no one correction ye will hearken to the instruction of My law, but will walk perversely before Me, I will also remember you adversely in the world, and will chastise you, even I, with seven plagues, for the seven transgressions with which ye have sinned before Me. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters. Mosheh the prophet hath said, How heavy will have been the guilt, and how bitter those sins, that caused our fathers to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, because they kept not the commandments of the law! [JERUSALEM. How evil that guilt, and bow bitter those sins, which caused our fathers in Jerusalem to eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters!] And I will destroy your high places, and overthrow your diviners and your enchanters, and your carcases will I cast away with the carcases of your idols, and My Word shall abhor you. And I will make your cities desert places, and desolate your sanctuary; nor will I receive with acceptance the odour of your oblations. And I, even I, will lay your country waste, that the spirit of quietness may not be upon it; so that your enemies who will dwell in it shall be confounded. And you will I disperse among the nations; for I will stir up against you a people who draw the sword, and your country shall be devastated, and your cities be solitary. Behold, then shall the land enjoy the years of its Sabbaths all the days that it is forsaken of you, and you are wanderers in the land of your enemies. All the days that it is forsaken by you it shall rest, because it was not at rest in the years of the times for repose when you were dwellers upon it.

And unto those of you who remain will I bring brokenness of their hearts in the land of their enemies; and the sound of a leaf falling from the tree shall put them to flight; and they shall flee as those who flee from the sword, and fall, while no man pursueth. And they shall thrust each man his brother, as before them who draw the sword, though none pursue; and you shall have no power of resistance to stand before your adversaries. And you shall perish among the nations, and be consumed with pestilence in the land of your enemies, And those who remain of you shall fail (melt away) for their sins in the land of your enemies, and also for the evil sin of your fathers which they held fast in their hands: like them shall they melt away.

But (when) in the hour of their need they shall confess their sins, and the sins of their fathers, with their falseness with which they have acted falsely against My Word; and that they have acted frowardly also with Me, so that I have remembered them adversely in the world, and brought them into captivity in the land of their enemies; behold, then will their proud heart have been broken, and they will make confession of their sins, and I will remember in mercy the covenant which I confirmed with Jakob at Bethel, and the covenant which I covenanted with Izhak at Mount Moriah, and the covenant which I covenanted with Abraham, between the divided portions, I will remember, and the land of Israel will I remember in mercy. But the land shall (first) be relinquished and forsaken you; and enjoy the repose of her remissions all the days that it shall be deserted by you. And they will receive retribution for their sins: curses instead of blessings will come upon them, measure for measure: because they shunned the orders of judgments, and their souls revolted from the covenant of My law.

Yet for all this I will have mercy upon them by My Word, when they are captives in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them away in the kingdom of Babel; nor shall My Word abhor them. in the kingdom of Madai, to destroy them in the kingdom of Javan, or to abolish My covenant with them in the kingdom of Edom;[1] for I am the Lord in the days of Gog.[2] [JERUSALEM. And I will remember in mercy the covenant which I established with Jakob at Bethel; and the covenant which I confirmed with Izhak at Mount Moriah, and the covenant I confirmed with Abraham between the divided parts I will remember in mercy; and the land of Israel will I remember in mercy. Yet the land shall be forsaken by you, and shall enjoy the repose of her remission (times) all the days that she is deserted of you. And they shall be broken for their sins; with measure for measure, and orders for orders, because they spurned the order of My judgments. Yet for this, when dwellers in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them away in the kingdom of Babel, nor abhor them in the kingdom of Madai, nor destroy them in the kingdom of Javan, (Greece,) to abolish My covenant with them in the kingdom of Edom; for He (will be) the Lord your God in the days of Gog.] And I will remember with them the covenant which I confirmed before Me with their fathers in the time that I brought them out redeemed from the land of Mizraim; when all the nations beheld all the mighty acts which I wrought for them, that I might be their God; I, the Lord.

These are the statutes and the orders of the judgments and decrees of the law, which the Lord appointed between His Word and the sons of Israel, in the mountain of Sinai, by the hand of Mosheh.

XXVII. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: Speak with the children of Israel, and say to them: When a man willeth to set apart the separation of a vow, in the valuing of the life unto the name of the Lord, then his valuation for a male from twenty years old unto sixty years, fifty shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary, shall be his valuation: but if for a female, his valuation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be a child from five years until twenty years, his estimation for a male shall be twenty shekels; and for a female, ten shekels. But for a child of a month old until five years, his estimation for a male shall be five silver shekels; and for a female, three silver shekels. Moreover, for a man of sixty years and upwards, his estimation shall be fifteen shekels; and for a female, ten shekels. But if he be too poor for (such) a rate of his estimation, he shall stand before the priest; and the priest shall make an estimation for him, according to the ability of his hand, so shall the priest estimate for him.

And if it be an animal, of such as are offered as an oblation before the Lord, whatever he giveth of it before the Lord shall be sacred. He shall not alter it nor change it, that which is perfect for that which hath blemish, or that in which there is blemish for the perfect: but if by changing he will exchange animal for animal, both that and the one that is changed shall be consecrate. [JERUSALEM. And he shall not change it, good for bad, or bad for good: but if changing he will exchange animal for animal, both that and his changed one shall be sacred.] But if it be an unclean animal, of such as are not offered as an oblation before the Lord, he shall make the animal stand before the priest. And the priest shall value it, whether good or bad; as the priest shall value, so shall it be. But if he would redeem it, let him add a fifth of its price upon that of its valuation. [JERUSALEM. And if it be some unclean animal of such as are not offered as an oblation to the name of the Lord, let the priest order it, whether good or bad; according to the priest's valuation shall it be....And let him add a fifth of its price above its valuation.]

When a man would consecrate his house, as a consecrated thing before the Lord; the priest shall value it, whether good or bad; according as the priest shall estimate, so shall it stand. [JERUSALEM. A sanctified thing unto the name of the Lord: then the priest shall order: as the priest hath ordered it shall be.] And if he who hath consecrated would redeem his house, let him add a fifth of the price of its valuation thereunto, and it shall be his. [JERUSALEM. And if he who hath made sacred....a fifth of the price of its valuation upon it, and it shall be his.]

And if a man would dedicate (a portion) of the field of his inheritance before the Lord, the valuation of it shall be according to the measure of its seed: a space on which may be sown a kor (seventy‑five and a half pints) of barley (shall be considered) worth fifty shekels of silver. If he will dedicate the ground from the year of Jubela, it shall stand according to its valuation. But if he will dedicate his field after the year of Jubela, the priest shall compute with him the sum of the money according to the proportion of years that remain unto the next Jubela year, and shall abate it from the valuation. [JERUSALEM. And if a man would separate (a portion) of a field of his inheritance unto the Name of the Lord, its valuation shall be according to its sowing, a chomer of barley seed.... And if he separate his field from the year of Jubela, according to its value it shall stand.] And if he would redeem the field that he had consecrated, let him add one fifth of the money upon its valued price, and it shall be confirmed to him. [JERUSALEM. And if he would redeem that field which had been consecrated, let him add a fifth of the silver shekels above its estimation, and it shall be his.] But if he will not redeem the field, but sell it to another man, it shall not be redeemed again: the field, when it goeth out at the Jubela, shall be sacred before the Lord; as a field separated for the priest it shall be his inheritance. [JERUSALEM. It shall be a sanctified thing unto the Lord, as a field of separation.] And if he would consecrate before the Lord a field which he hath bought, and which is not of the land of his inheritance, then the priest shall compute with him the amount of the price of its valuation until the year of Jubela; and he shall give its value on that day, as a consecrated thing before the Lord. In the year of Jubela the field shall return to him from whom he bought it, to him who had the inheritance of the land. And every valuation shall be in shekels of the sanctuary twenty mahin are a shekel. [JERUSALEM. And if he would consecrate a purchased field unto the Name of the Lord, then the priest shall compute with him the value of the separation unto the year of Jubela, and he shall give the separation of the value on that day, a holy thing unto the Name of the Lord. At the year of Jubela the field shall revert to him from whom he had bought it, to him who had the inheritance of the land. And every estimation shall be according to the shekels of the sanctuary.]

Moreover, the firstling among cattle which is separated to the Name of the Lord, whether ox or lamb, a man cannot separate (as a votive gift), because it (already belongeth) to the Name of the Lord. And if it be an unclean animal, then he shall redeem it according to its valuation, and add a fifth of the price to it; but if he will not redeem it, then it shall be sold at the price of its valuation. [JERUSALEM. But the firstling among cattle, whether ox or lamb, which is separated before the Lord, belongeth (already) to the Name of the Lord. But if it be of an unclean animal, then let him redeem it according to its valuation, and add a fifth of its price unto it. And if it be not redeemed, it shall be sold according to its value.

Nevertheless, no devoted thing which a man shall separate before the Lord of anything that is his, of man, or beast, or of his inheritance, shall be sold or redeemed; every (devoted) separation is most sacred before the Lord. [JERUSALEM. Only no devoted thing that a man shall separate to the Name of the Lord of anything, that he hath of child or cattle; every separation is most sacred to the Name of the Lord.] Every separation which shall be separated of man[3] shall not be redeemed with money, but with burnt offerings, and with sanctified victims, and with supplication for mercy before the Lord, because such are to be put to death. [JERUSALEM. Every one of the children of men set apart (or devoted) shall not be redeemed; dying, he shall be put to death.]

And all the tythe of the land, of the seed of the ground, or the fruits of the tree, is the Lord's, and is most sacred before the Lord. But if a man will redeem any (part) of his tythes, he shall add a fifth part of its value thereunto. And every tythe of oxen and sheep, whatever passeth under the (tything) rod, the tenth shall be consecrated before the Lord. He shall not scrutinize between the good and the bad, nor exchange it; but if changing he will exchange it, both it and that for which it is changed shall be sacred, and not be redeemed.

These are the precepts which the Lord prescribed unto Mosheh, and of which not one must be trifled with (or, innovated upon); and He prescribed them to be shown Unto the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. [JERUSALEM. Verse 30 : It pertaineth to the Name of the Lord; it is holy unto the Name of the Lord. 31: But if a man will redeem any portion of his tythe, let him add upon, it a fifth part of its price; and every tythe of ox and sheep, whatever passeth under the rod, a tenth shall be holy Unto the Name of the Lord. He shall not scrutinize between good and bad, nor exchange it; but if he will change it, then shall both it and that for which it is changed be sacred, and not be redeemed. These are the Commandments.]

END OF THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM OF VAIYIKRA,



[1] Rome.

[2] Ezek. xxxix.; Zech. xiv.

[3] Every man who is devoted to death; the criminal guilty of murder; the Canaanites, also, at the taking of Jericho, &c.