As I have noted numerous times within various articles, when someone engaged in discussion stops replying or outright tells me that they will no longer engage me in the discussion I never thump my chest in victory. I empathize that there are many reasons for no longer replying or simply wanting the discussion to end.
Well, this happened with Zen Garcia as he wrote the following to me:
I won’t waste any more time discussing this with you, there’s no point. You see it your way, I see it mine. Those that choose to open themselves to this study will have to decide for themselves. People should disbelieve everything that anybody says until testing all things themselves. As far as the Targums you would think that you would at least do little research on them before sharing your professional opinion. If you’re wrong on this, why should anybody trust you on anything. Wiki:
The targumim (singular: "targum", Hebrew: תרגום) were spoken paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Jewish scriptures (also called the Tanakh) that a Rabbi would give in the common language of the listeners, which was then often Aramaic. That had become necessary near the end of the 1st century BCE, as the common language was in transition and Hebrew was used for little more than schooling and worship. Writing down the targum was prohibited; nevertheless, some targumatic writings appeared as early as the middle of the first century CE. They were then not recognized as authoritative by the religious leaders, however. Some subsequent Jewish traditions (beginning with the Babylonian Jews) accepted the written targumim as authoritative, and eventually, it became a matter of debate. Jewish Encyclopedia: As an intepretation of the Hebrew text of the Bible the Targum had its place both in the synagogal liturgy and in Biblical instruction, while the reading of the Bible text combined with the Targum in the presence of the congregation assembled for public worship was an ancient institution which dated from the time of the Second Temple, and was traced back to Ezra by Rab when he interpreted the word "meforash" (Neh. viii. 8) as referring to the Targum (Meg. 3a; Ned. 37b; comp. Yer. Meg. 74d, line 48, Gen. R. xxxvi., end). The rules for reading the Targum are formulated in the Halakah (see Meg. iii. and the Talmud ad loc.; Tosef., Meg. iv.). The Targum was to be read after every verse of the parashiyyot of the Pentateuch, and after every third verse of the lesson from the Prophets.
Here was my reply:
Well friend, I can see why you no longer want to sharpen iron with me anymore as your claims are clearly in error and I have proved that time and time again, based on the Bible. What bothers me is how you are spreading misinformation and sadly, many people do not seem to “open themselves to this study” but take your word for many things.
For example, I have had to clean up after you every time you mislead people in claiming that the Palestinian Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is the original text. This is simply false. Your quotation from an unnamed “Wiki” does not help you as it makes generic statements about the Targumim in general and their original purpose.
The fact is that the Targum that you decided, without evidence, is the original is, in fact, a very, very, very late dated one: it dates to more than half a millennia after Jesus’s time. Please quote to these good people information specifically about the Palestinian Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and they will instantly see that there is simply no way whatsoever that it is anywhere even remotely near being the original text.
This Targum came along almost a full millennia after the original Targumim which date to “near the end of the 1st century BCE [BC]”: the Targum you quote has no relation to the unsourced “Wiki” you quoted and even if it did, it is in error because the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts that we have on the Old Testament which predate it make it clear that Eve was praising the LORD for Cain’s birth.
And that is the end of it……..or, is it?
For my whole Serpent Seed of Satan series including my discussions with Zen Garcia, see see here.
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