Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Deuteronomy

The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a mostly literal translation of the Bible into Aramaic, into which have been inserted midrashic elaborations of the biblical text. This lengthy expansion on the death of Moses picks up a number of themes found in other midrashim, especially the Palestinian collection Deuteronomy Rabbah. The divine eulogy of Moses presents several mystical and ethical lessons that are obvious embellishments to the text in Deuteronomy 34. Memra, an Aramaic term that means “word,” is used in some Targums to denote the divine presence (commonly referred to by the Hebrew term shekhinah), or celestial intermediary, probably to avoid any hint of anthropomorphism. Italicized words indicate where the Aramaic reflects the literal translation of the original Hebrew; the rest is interpolation by the author.