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Targum Pseudo Jonathan for:

B’ resheet (Genesis) 17:1-27

XVII. And Abram was the son of ninety and nine years, and the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am El Shadai; serve before Me and be perfect (shelim) in your flesh. And I will set My covenant between My Word and you, and will multiply you very greatly. And because Abram was not circumcised, he was not able to stand, but he bowed himself upon his face; and the Lord spoke with him, saying, Behold, I have confirmed (or divided) my convenant with you; and you shall be the father of many peoples. And your name shall be no more called Abram, but Abraham shall be your name, because to be the father of a great multitude of peoples have I appointed you. And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and will set you for congregations; and kings ruling over peoples shall come forth from you. And I have established My covenant between My Word and you, and your sons after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your sons after you. And I will give to you and to your sons after you the land of your habitation, all the land of Kenaan, for an everlasting possession: and I will be to them Eloha. And the Lord said to Abraham, And you will observe My covenant, you and your sons after you in their generations. This is My covenant, that you will observe between My Word and you, and your sons after you:--Every male of you will be circumcised, though he have not a father to circumcise him. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, as a sign of the covenant between My Word and you. And the son of eight days shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations; from him who is brought up in your house, or bought with your silver, unto every son of the peoples who is not of you. He who is circumcised shall circumcise him who is brought up among you, or bought with your silver; and it shall be My covenant in your flesh for a covenant for everlasting. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, unless he have some one to circumcise him, that man shall be cut off from his people; he has made My covenant to pass away. And the Lord said to Abraham, The name of Sara your wife shall be no more called Sara; for Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless in her body, and will also give from her a son to you, and I will bless, him, and he shall be for assemblies, and kings ruling over nations shall be from her.

And Abraham fell on his face, and wondered, and said in his heart, Shall the son of a hundred years have progeny, and Sarah, the daughter of ninety years, bear a child? [JERUSALEM. And Abraham bowed upon his face, and wondered.] And Abraham said before the Lord, May not Ishmael be established, and serve before You? And the Lord said, In truth Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you will call his name Izhak; and with him I will confirm My covenant for an everlasting covenant to his sons after him. And concerning Ishmael I have heard your prayer. Behold, I have blessed him; and I will spread him abroad, and multiply him very greatly. Twelve princes will he beget, and I will give him to be a great people. But My COVENANT will I establish with Izhak, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time in the year after. And He ceased speaking with him; and the Glory of the Lord ascended from Abraham.

And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all brought up in his house, and all bought with money, every male among the household people of Abraham, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day in which the Lord spoke with him. And Abraham was the son of ninety and nine years when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. In the same day, in the fourteenth year, was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. And every man of his house, the house-trained, and the purchased with money of the sons of the people, was circumcised with him.

Ashlamatah:

2 Kings 20:3-11 + 19

3 ‘Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept sore.

4 And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out of the inner court of the city, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying:

5 ‘Return, and say to Hezekiah the prince of My people: Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; on the third day you will go up unto the house of the LORD.

6 And I will add unto your days fifteen years; and I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’

7 And Isaiah said: ‘Take a cake of figs.’ And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah: ‘What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of the LORD the third day?’

9 And Isaiah said: ‘This shall be the sign unto you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

10 And Hezekiah answered: ‘It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten degrees; nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.’

11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD; and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.

12 ¶ At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.

14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him: ‘What said these men? And from whence came they unto you?’ And Hezekiah said: ‘They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.’

15 And he said: ‘What have they seen in your house?’ And Hezekiah answered: ‘All that is in my house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.’

16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah: ‘Hear the word of the LORD.

17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD.

18 And of your sons that will issue from you, whom you will beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.’

19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah: ‘Good is the word of the LORD which you have spoken.’ He said moreover: ‘Is it not so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?’

Targum

Psalm 12

1. For praise, on the lyre of eight strings. A hymn of David.

2. Redeem, O Lord, for the good are annihilated; for the faithful have ceased from the sons of men.

3. They speak lies, each to his fellow, lips are flattering; in their heart they deceive, and with a lying heart they speak.

4. The Lord will destroy from the world all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks arrogance.

5. Those who deny the essence, who say, “By our tongue we shall prevail, our lips are with us, who is our master?”

6. Because of the oppression of the poor, because of the cry of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord; I will give redemption to my people, but against the wicked I will give testimony of evil.

7. The words of the Lord are pure words, silver purified in the furnace on the ground, refined seven times.

8. You, O Lord, will keep the righteous; you will protect them from this evil generation forever.

9. All around the wicked walk, like a leech that sucks the blood of the sons of men.

Pirqe Abot

“All Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is stated: And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to glorify Me” (Isaiah 60:21).

Pirqe Abot I:12-13

MISHNA 12. He also used to say: "A name made great is a name destroyed; he who increases not, decreases; and he who will not learn from his master is not worthy to live; and he who uses his knowledge as a tiara perishes."

MISHNA 13. He also used to say: "If I do not look to myself, who will do so? But if I look only to myself, what am I? And if not now, when?"

Tosephtha--Aboth of R. Nathan.

"He used to say: 'If I do not look to myself, who will do so?'" (That is), if I cannot reach any reward while I am alive, who can reach it for me after my death?

"And if not now, when?" (That is), if I can do nothing for myself while I am alive, who can do it for me after my death? So also said Ecclesiastes [ix. 4]: "For a living dog fares better than a dead lion." By "a living dog" is meant a wicked person who exists in this world, and "than a dead lion" refers to all the righteous, who are highly received in the world to come, including even the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The living dog, that is, a wicked man who is still alive, fares better is accepted by the Holy One, blessed be He, when he repents and becomes virtuous and receives a share in the world to come, while a dead lion cannot add aught to his good deeds after he is dead. The same, used to say: "If you will come to my house," etc. (See Section Moed, Vol. vii.; Succah, pp. 83, 84.)

It happened that Hillel the First, while on a journey, met men carrying wheat. He inquired how much was a seah, and was told two dinars. Afterward he met others, who gave him the price of the same as three dinars. He said: "Did not the first men say it was only two dinars?" They rejoined: "You foolish Babylonian, do you not know that the reward is according to the trouble?" (They came from a farther distance.) But he said: "Is that your answer to my civil question?" Finally he succeeded in making them gentle and accommodating.

He also used to say four things in the Babylonian dialect:

"A name made great is a name destroyed." It means, a man shall not desire to have his name proclaimed to the government, for the reason stated above, p. 45.

"And he who does not desire to learn from his master." It was said that it happened to an inhabitant of Beth Ramah who adopted the customs of the pious, and Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai sent one of his disciples to examine him. He found him occupied in heating oil on a range and then pouring it into peeled grain. On being questioned what he was doing, he answered, I am careful with the heave-offering, to eat it in its purity, just as if I were a high-priest. Then he asked again: Is this range clean or unclean? He rejoined: Do we then find anywhere in the Torah that a range can be unclean? An oven only is mentioned, as it is written [Lev. xi. 33]: "Whatsoever is in it shall be unclean." Then the disciple again rejoined: The law of the oven applies also to the range, as it is written [ibid., ibid. 35]: "An oven or range shall be broken down, they are unclean." The same added: If such was your habit, you have never in your life eaten clean heave-offerings.

"He who increases not, decreases." How so? If one has learned one, two, or even three treatises, and has not added anything thereto, he will finally forget even that.

"And he who serves himself with the tiara perishes." Any one that uses the name of the Lord, as it is written, which is prohibited, has no share in the world to come.

Midrash of Matityahu

(Matthew) 2:16-18

16. ¶ Then Herod the Great saw that the Hakhamim had spurned him and was very displeased. Being grieved at heart, he commanded to eradicate all male children who were two years old and under who were in Bet Lekhem and its borders who had been born from the time when the Hakhamim spoke to him concerning the birth of the boy.

17. Then it was completed that which Jeremiah the Prophet spoke (Jeremiah 31:15):

18. “Thus says Adonai: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not.”

Commentary

King David the Messiah has read our sublime Torah portion whereby G-d changes the name of Abram into Abraham, and Sarai into Sarah and makes him (Abraham) and all the male members of his household to enter the eternal covenant of circumcision. He has also read that Ishmael will not inherit the Kingdom but a miraculous son will be born from his elderly wife, who will inherit the kingdom and the promises. But amongst such glorious things, there lurks the problem of a “falling away” – and “apostasy” which will try to destroy the true sons and daughters of Abraham as if such things would be possible. In Psalm 12, King David the Messiah deals with a number of problems. First and foremost is the problem of insincerity, as we read in v.3 in the Hebrew: “One speaks to another with falseness, smooth talk; they speak with a double heart.”

As we shall see in the Midrash Yelammedenu, circumcision is a package. It is not just the cutting of the foreskin, it first entails the circumcision of the ears, the heart, the tongue, and then when these three organs have been circumcised can we then proceed to the circumcision of the foreskin. We need to have these priorities in their right order, otherwise we just open ourselves to apostasy. Because Abraham was sincere – i.e. wholehearted (cf. Genesis 17:1) with G-d and fellowman G-d brought him to enter the glorious sign of the covenant!

The end of the Psalm is very moving. First the Psalmist goes on to explain that the Oral Torah, whom many despise and label as mere “words of men” is totally pure. E. G. King (Cambridge 1898, p.70) translates v.7 (v.6 in the Christian Bibles) as follows:

“The oracles of Ha-Shem are pure oracles, Silver smelted from dross in the crucible, seven times refined.”

He notes that:

“There is nothing in English which answers to the Hebrew “IMRAH.” We cannot use “WORD,” for that is required for the Hebrew word “DABAR;” “SAYING” is feeble. Perhaps we might naturalize the Greek “LOGIA,” meanwhile “ORACLES” seem least objectionable.”

This is most interesting since in Romans 3:1-2, we read:

“1 What advantage then has the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2 Much every way! Chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles (Greek: LOGIA) of G-d.”

Note, that the Oral Torah was never committed by G-d for safe-keeping, teaching and practice to any Gentile, but rather to the Jewish people whose males bear the sign of the covenant – CIRCUMCISION of the ears, the heart, the tongue, and the foreskin.

The Hebrew word “IMRAH” (Oracles) generally signifies speech of a more solemn nature than the more common term “DABAR,” and it is worthy of note that the term “MEMRA” of our Sages akin to “LOGOS” in the Greek is derived from the same word. These “ORACLES” or teachings of our Sages are often coupled with the thought of “purity out of a fiery trial.”

Proverbs 30:5 – “Every ORACLE of G-d is purified” (i.e. as by fire).

Psalm 119:140 – “Your ORACLE is purified exceedingly and your servant loves it.”

Psalm 12: 7 (6) – “The ORACLES of Ha-Shem are pure ORACLES, silver purified … etc.”

Psalm 18:31 (30) – “The ORACLE of Ha-Shem is purified”

Psalm 119:103 – “How sweet are Your ORACLES unto my taste – more so than honey to my mouth.”

Proverbs 16:24 – “Sweet ORACLES are like dripping honey, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

Now contrast v.7 which speaks about the Oral Torah:

“The oracles of Ha-Shem are pure oracles, Silver smelted from dross in the crucible, seven times refined.”

with the words of the Lawless (i.e. those who reject the validity and inspiration of the Oral Torah – that is, “the ORACLES of G-d) in v. 5:

“Who said, “With our tongue we will overpower; our lips are with us, Who is lord over us?”

Finally the Psalmist concludes with a most wonderful promise in v.8 and a sobering thought in v.9. I have found no better translation for these verses in the English language but that of the late Rev. Dr. E. G. King:

“8. You Ha-Shem will preserve us; You will keep us from this generation, for ever. 9. The wicked (Torah-less) go their round, as the rising of the scum of the sons of men.”

As with the refinement of metals, what is vile and worthless always rises to the top by its very levity. The wicked (Torah-less) rise only as dross, and as dross they will be rejected.

Our Midrash Tanchuma Yelammedenu aproches our Seder from a different perspective and reaches also a similar conclusion. In Homily # 16, we read:

“May it please our master to teach us whether a man is permitted to heal a wound on the Sabbath? Thus did our master teach us: Whenever live is endangered, the Sabbath is superseded. For example, circumcision and its healing supersede the Sabbath (cf. Yoma 73a & Tanchuma Lekh Lekha 21).

R. Yose stated: See how beloved is the precept concerning circumcision, that it supersedes even the Sabbath, as it is written: “And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:3), even on the Sabbath. Since circumcision endangers life, one is permitted to heal on the Sabbath.

When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Abraham: “Walk before Me, and you be wholehearted” (Genesis 17:1), Abraham began to wonder. He said to himself: “Surely until now I have been whole in body, but if I circumcise myself I shall be incomplete. There are five prepuces, four on a man and one on a tree. The prepuce of the ear, as it is written: “Behold their ear is uncircumcised” (Jeremiah 6:10); the prepuce of the heart, as it is written: “Remove the obduracy of your heart” (Deuteronomy 10:16); the prepuce of the tongue, as it is said: “Of uncircumcised lips” (Exodus 6:12); the prepuce of the flesh, as it is written in this verse: “You will be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin” (Genesis 17:1). If I should circumcise any of these prepuces, my organs will be incomplete.” The Holy One, blessed be He, asked him: “Why do you believe that you are whole? In fact you lack five limbs. Before you were circumcised, your name was ABRAM: the letter “Alef” in your name is one, the letter “Bet” is two, the letter “Resh” two-hundred, and the letter “Mem” forty, and that totals two-hundred-and-forty-three. However, Man’s limbs total two-hundred and forty-eight. Circumcise yourself and you will be whole.” After he was circumcised, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “No longer is your name Abram; henceforth it will be Abraham” (ibid. v.5). He (G-d) added a letter “Heh,” which has the numerical value of five, to his name, making a total now of two hundred and forty-eight, corresponding to the number of limbs in the human body. Hence Scripture says: “Be you whole.”

Midrash Tanchuma Yelammedenu in the next Homily # 17, returns then back to the idea of the Oracles of G-d tried by fire as per our Psalm. Here we read:

“Walk before Me, and you be wholehearted” (Gen. 17:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: As for G-d, His way is whole (Psalm 18:31). What is the meaning of “His way is whole”? It signifies that the Holy One, blessed be He, cherished the precept of circumcision. R. Ishmael stated: The rite of circumcision is so important that thirteen covenants were issued because of it. They are stated explicitly in the verses of this section of the Torah.

Abraham sat and wondered where he was to be circumcised, after the Holy One blessed be Him, informed him: I will establish My covenant between Me and you (Genesis 17:2). What follows this verse? And Abraham fell on his face (ibid., v. 3). Once he fell on his face, the Holy One, blessed be He, indicated that place, and a scorpion bit him there. Forthwith, Abraham found himself circumcised. Whence do we know this? We know it from the verse And G-d spoke unto him, saying: As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you (Genesis 17, vv. 3 and 4); that is, behold, you are circumcised. Furthermore, it is written: In the self-same day was Abraham circumcised (Genesis 17:26). Scripture does not say “he circumcised himself” but that he was circumcised.

What may this episode be compared to? It may be compared to a situation wherein a king’s friend is eager to marry the king’s daughter. Because he is extremely bashful, he does not know how to declare his love for her, whether to do so himself or through another. The king realized what was in the young man’s heart and so he said to him: “I know what you desire; my daughter is already in your house.” Abraham was likewise bewildered when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: I will make My covenant between Me and you, and so he fell upon his face. While he was prostrate, he discovered that he was already circumcised. Forthwith, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: My covenant is made between Me and you. Scripture says elsewhere in reference to the preceding verse: The word of the Lord is tried (Psalm 18:31). This implies that He tested Abraham’s offspring by bestowing upon them the precept of circumcision. Therefore, He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in Him (ibid.), to Israel who trist in Him.

Whay was Abraham not circumcised until his ninety-ninth year? To teach us that a man who desires to be converted must not say: “I am old, how can I become a convert?” Let him learn from Abraham, who was circumcised in his ninety-ninth year. That is why Abraham was not circumcised until he attained that age.

Surely, there are many today that teach that the covenant of circumcision was done away by the Master of Nazareth. However, this is utterly far from the truth! The covenant of circumcision, G-d states clearly is ETERNAL, as we read:

“He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” Genesis 17:13

If G-d said that this was an EVERLASTING covenant between G-d and Israel, how can Christian come and say that G-d now had abolished this covenant which He had declared previously as an “Everlasting covenant”? Obviously, these Torah-less teachers need to do some re-thinking about their logic for according to their babbling something is surely not adding up. G-d’s Torah os Eternal and King David the Messiah of Israel has said:

“Forever, O Adonai, Your Word stands firm in the heavens.” Psalm 119:89

So, if the Torah declares something to be forever, to be everlasting, no Christian Theologian can disannul the Torah since it stand firm (i.e. is immutable) in the heavens. The simple reason being as the Psalmist indicates:

“Your righteousness is an eternal righteousness, and Your Law is the truth.” (Psalm 119:142)

Another interesting facet about circumcision and integral to such a concept is the idea of separation or as some call it “holiness.” You see circumcision as the word indicates is a cutting around and the membrum becomes totally a separate entity from the foreskin. And so is the person that is wholehearted before G-d and who has received the four forms of circumcision, such a person become totally separated from the world and totally consecrated to the Written and Oral Word of G-d. Such a person brethes, eats, lives, and thinks on nothing else but one Torah!

May this thought become a total and complete reality in all of us and in all the house of Yisrael, amen ve amen!

Shalom Shabbat!

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Shabbat:	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
ויהי אברם
“VaY’hi Avram”	Reader 1 – B’resheet 17:1-6	Reader 1 – B’resheet 18:1-3
“And it was Abram being”	Reader 2 – B’resheet 17:7-9	Reader 2 – B’resheet 18:4-6
“Y cuando Abram (era)”	Reader 3 – B’resheet 17:10-14	Reader 3 – B’resheet 18:7-9
B’ resheet (Genesis) 17:1-27	Reader 4 – B’resheet 17:15-17
2 Kings 20:3-11 + 19	Reader 5 – B’resheet 17:18-20
	Reader 6 – B’resheet 17:21-23	Reader 1 – B’resheet 18:10-12
Psalm 12:1-9	Reader 7 – B’resheet 17:24-27	Reader 2 – B’resheet 18:13-15
Pirke Abot I:12	Maftir – B’resheet 17:24-27	Reader 3 – B’resheet 18:16-19
N.C.: Matityahu 2:16-18	2 Kings 20:3-11 + 19