The Trinity in Neofiti Revisited
I quote from the English translation of Targum Neofiti 1: Genesis (The Aramaic Bible 1A), translated with Apparatus and Notes by Martin McNamara, M.S.C, and published by The Liturgical Press in 1992. All emphasis will be mine.
CHAPTER 1
1. From the beginning1 with wisdoma the Memra2 of the Lordb3 created and perfected the heavens and the earth.
2. And the earth was waste4 and unformedc desolate of mand5 and beast, empty of plant cultivation and of trees, and darkness was spread over the face of the abyss; and a spirit of mercy from before the Lord was blowing over the surface of the waters.
3. And the Memra of the Lord said: “Let there be light”; and there was light according to the decree of his Memra.e
4. And it was manifest before the Lord that the lightf was good;6 and the Memra of the Lord separated the light from the darkness.
5. And the Memra of the Lord called the light daytimeg7 and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning: (in) the orderh of the work of creation, 8 first day.
6. And the Memra of the Lord said: “Let there be the firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the lower waters from the upper waters.i7 1 And the LordJ created9 the firmamentk and separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament; and it was so according to his Memra.m
8. And the Memra of the Lord called the firmament heaven. And there was evening and there was morning: (in) the order of the work of creation, second day.
9. And the Memra of the Lord said: “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear.” And it was som according to his Memra.
10. And the Memra of the Lord called the dry land the earth, and the gathering-place of the waters he called the Seas.n And it was manifest before the Lord that it was beautiful0 and proper.10
11. And the Memra of the Lord said: “Let the earth put forthp herbage of grass which produces seed, a fruit tree which yields fruit according to its kind, whose shoots are from it and in it upon the earth.” And it was so according to his Memra.m
12. And the earth put forth herbage of grass which produces seed according to its9 kind, a fruit tree which yields fruit, whose shoots are from it and in it according to its kind. And it was manifest before the Lord that it was beautiful and proper.
13. And there was evening and there was morning: (in) the order of the work of creation, third day.
14. And the Lordr said: “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the daytime from the night, and let them act as signs and (sacred) seasons5 and so that the intercalation of moons (and) months11 may be consecrated by them.t
15. And let them shineu in the firmament of the heavens to shine upon the earth.” And it was so according to his Memra.m
16. And the Memra of the Lord created the two great lights: the greater light to rulew in the daytime and the lesser light to rulew in the night, and the arrangement of the stars.12
17. And the Glory of the Lordx set them13 in the firmament of the heavens to shine upon the earth,
18. and to ruleu in the daytime and in the night and to separate the light from the darkness. And it was manifest before the Lord that it was beautiful and proper.
19. And there was evening and there was morning: (in) the order of the work of creation, fourth day.
20. And the Memra of the Lord said: “Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living creatures, and birds that fly* above the earth, across the air of the firmament of the heavens.”
21. And the Lordz created the two great monsters and every living creature that creeps,aa which the waters swarmed forth according to their species, and every bird that fliesbb according to its species. And it was manifest before the Lord that it was beautiful and proper.
22. And the Memra of the Lord blessed them saying: “Be strong14 and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply upon the earth.”
23. And there was evening and there was morning: (in) the order of the work of creation, fifth day.
24. And the Memra of the Lord said: “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their species: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their species.” And it was so according to his Memra.d
25. And the Memra of the Lord created the wild beasts of the earth according to their species, ** and the cattle according to their species, ** and all the creeping things of the earth according to their species. And it was manifest before the Lord that it was beautifulff and proper.
26. And the Lordgg said: “Let us create manhh in our likeness, similar to ourselves,15 and let them rule over the fishes of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps” upon the earth.”
27. And the Memra of the Lord created the manJJ in his (own) likeness; in a likeness from before the Lord he created him;kk male and his partner16 he created them.
28. And the Glory of the Lordmm blessed them, and the Memra of the Lord said to them: “Be strong17 and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fishes of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every wild beast that creeps upon the earth.”
29. And the Glory of the Lordmm said: “Behold, I have given you all the herbs that produce seed that are on the face of all the earth and every tree”” that has fruit in it—seed-bearing tree—I have given them to you for food.
30. And to every wild beast of the earth, and to all the birds of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth that has the breath of life00 in it, (I have given) every herb as food.” And it was so according to his Memra.
31. And everything that he had made was manifest before the Lord, and behold it was very beautiful and proper. And there was evening and there was morning: (in) the order of the work of creation,pp sixth day.
CHAPTER 2
1. And THEY completeda the creationb of the heavens1 and the earth2 and all their hosts.
2. And on the seventh day the Memra of the Lord completedc his work which he had createdd and there was sabbath and repose before him 3 on the seventh day from all his work which he had created.4d
3. And the Glorye of the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it because/ on it there was a great sabbath and repose before him 3 from all his work which the Glory5 of the Lordg had done in creation.
4. This is the genealogical pedigree6 of the heavens and of the earth7 when they were created. (Pp. 52-56)
1“From the beginning with wisdom”: double translation of HT br’syt, as “beginning” and “wisdom.” For creation of the world by/in wisdom, cf. Prov 8:22; 3:19; Wis 9:9; Ps 104:24. Rabbinic tradition, identifying wisdom and the Torah, speaks of God creating the world by the Torah; “beginning” = torah, Gen. R. 1, 1.4: “In the beginning by means of the Torah God created___” See also Levine, 1974, 4. For commentary on Nf Gen 1:1-2, 4a, see Munoz Leon, 1974A, 164-167.
2“the Memra of the Lord”; text of Nf has: “the son of the Lord,” br’dYYY, (See Apparatus, note b) which is due most probably to a late, even sixteenth-century, correction. However, in Christian tradition from earliest times the opening word of Genesis was understood to mean “in the Son” (= Jesus, the Word); see Jerome, Hebr. quaest., in Gen 1:1 (CCL 72, 3, citing Altercation of Jason and Papiscus; Tertullian and Hilary. The original Palestinian Targum probably read: “From the beginning in wisdom the Memra of the Lord created”; see also 2 Ezra 6:38,43: “In the beginning (Latin trans.: From the beginning) of creation you spoke the word. . . and your word perfected (i.e., carried out, completed) the work.” On the possible relationship of 2 Ezra to Pal. Tg., see D. Munoz Leon, 1974B, 1975, esp. 1975,52-61; idem, 1974A (Dios Palabra ), 162-164. On Memra and creation, D. Munoz Leon, ibid. (1974A) 607-611; R. Hayward, 1974, 1981. On the use of Nf of Memra dYYY as a rendering of the HT ’Ihym and YHWH, and on the possibility of a development in this usage, see B. Barry Levy, Targum Neophyti 1. A Textual Study 1: Introduction, Genesis, Exodus, 1986, 41-43. (P. 52)
To sum up the data, God, the Memra/Word of the Lord, the Glory of the Lord, a Spirit of mercy from the Lord are all involved in creating and giving life to all creation.
Gen. 2:1 even begins by referring to “They” having created the heavens and the earth and all things in them. This obvious use of the plural shows that the Jews were fully aware that the one true God who created all things was not a singular Person. These Jews could see from their reading of the Hebrew Bible that YHWH their God is a multi-personal Being.
What makes this Aramaic paraphrase interesting is that it also acknowledges that it was God’s Memra, or Word, who appeared in the Garden shortly after Adam and Eve had sinned:
8. And they heard the sound of the Memra of the Lord God walking withinm the garden at the breeze8 of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from before the Lord Godn within the trees of the garden.
9. And the Lord Godo called Adam and said to him: “Behold, the whole world which I created is manifest before me; darkness and light are manifest before me. And do you reckon that the place within which you are is not manifest before me? Where is the precept9 that I commanded you?”p
nP: “the Memra of the Lord”; Nfmg: “from the Memra of the Lord within the middle of the garden.”
oNfmg, P: “the Memra of the Lord”; VNL: “the Memra of the Lord God.” (P. 60)
It even mentions the King Messiah in reference to the seed of the Woman being at war with the serpent and his seed:
15. And I will put enmity11 between youv and the woman and between your sonsw12and her sons.xl2 And it will come about that when her sonsy observe the Law and do the commandments they will aim at you and smite you on your head and kill you. But when they forsake the commandments of the Law you will aim and bite him on his heel and make him ill.13 For her sons,z however, there will be a remedy,14 but for you, O serpent, there will not be a remedy,aa since they are to make appeasement in the end, in the day of King Messiah. (P. 61)
Further Reading
THE TRINITY IN THE ARAMAIC TARGUMS
GOD’S SON IN TARGUM NEOFITI REVISITED
THE WORD, MESSIAH & TARGUM OF ISAIAH
JEWISH SOURCES ON THE WORD AS A DIVINE PERSON
JUDAISMS’ VIEWS ON THE MESSIAH’S PREHUMAN EXISTENCE