Herein we begin considering Angels in the Targumim. The Targumim, plural of Targum (Strong’s H8638 meaning interpret as in Ezra 4:7), are Aramaic paraphrases of the Old Testament that began to be produced beginning at the time of the Second Temple period (530 BC and 70 AD). The fuller complete result consists of quotations of those sections within the text that refer to Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Devil, Satan, demons, serpent and dragon. The point is not to elucidate these references but to provide relevant partial quotations and citations. See my section on Angels here, Cherubim and Seraphim here, Satan here and Demons here.
Angels in the Targum of Palestine aka Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel
In the following quotations, the bracketed term “[JERUSALEM…” refers to fragments of the Jerusalem Targum from the Chaldee translated by J. W. Etheridge, M.A.
From the Genesis portion.
I And the Lord said to the Angels who ministered before Him, who had been created in the second day of the creation of the world, Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness.
III In that hour the serpent spake accusation against his Creator, and said to the woman, Dying you will not die; for every artificer hateth the son of his art: for it is manifest before the Lord, that in the day that you eat of it, you will be as the great Angels, who are wise to know between good and evil…And the woman beheld Sammael, the Angel of death, and was afraid; yet she knew that the tree was good to eat, and that it was medicine for the enlightenment of the eyes, and desirable tree by means of which to understand… And the Lord God said to the Angels who ministered before Him, Behold, Adam is sole on the Earth, as I am sole in the heavens above; and it will be that they will arise from him who will know to discern between good and evil.
IV And Adam knew Hava his wife, who had desired the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Kain; and she said, I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord.
VI Of the fowl after its kind, and of all cattle after its kind, and of every reptile of the Earth after its kind, two of every (sort) shall enter to thee by the hand of the Angel, who will take and cause them to enter to thee, to be preserved. And thou, take to thee of all food that is eaten, and let it be to thee and to them for food. And Noah did according to all that the Lord had instructed him.
XI And the Lord said to the seventy Angels which stand before Him, Come, we will descend and will there commingle their language, that a man shall not understand the speech of his neighbour. And the Word of the Lord was revealed against the city, and with Him seventy Angels, having reference to seventy nations, each having its own language, and thence the writing of its own hand: and He dispersed them from thence upon the face of all the Earth into seventy languages.
XVI And the Angel of the Lord found her at the fountain of waters in the desert; at the fountain of waters which is in the way to Chagra. [JERUSALEM. Chalitza.] And He said, Hagar, handmaid of Sara, whence comest thou, and whither does thou go? And she said, From before Sara my mistress I have escaped. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to thy mistress, and be subject under her hand. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Multiplying I will multiply thy sons, and they shall not be numbered for multitude. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and thou wilt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because thy affliction is revealed before the Lord.
XVIII AND the glory of the Lord was revealed to him in the valley of Mamre; and he, being ill from the pain of circumcision, sat at the door of the tabernacle in the fervour (or strength) of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, three Angels in the resemblance of men were standing before him; (Angels) who had been sent from the necessity of three things;–because it is not possible for a ministering Angel to be sent for more than one purpose at a time…[JERUSALEM. Three Angels were sent to our father Abraham; and the three were sent for three things;–because it is not possible that one of the high Angels should be sent for more things than one. The first Angel was sent to announce to our father Abraham, that, behold, Sarah would bear Izhak; the second Angel was sent to deliver Lot from the midst of the overthrow; the third Angel was sent to overthrow Sedom and Amorah, Admah and Zeboim]…Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
And Sarah was hearkening at the door of the tent, and Ishmael stood behind her, and marked what the Angel said…And the Angel said, Fear not: yet in truth thou didst laugh…And the Angels, who had the likeness of men, arose from thence, and the one who had made known the tidings to Sarah ascended to the high heavens; and two of them looked toward Sedom; and Abraham went with them…And the Lord said to the ministering Angels, The cry of Sedom and Amorah, because they oppress the poor, and decree that whosoever giveth a morsel to the needy shall be burned with fire, is therefore great, and their guilt exceedingly weighty…And the Angels who had the likeness of men, turned thence and went towards Sedom.
XIX Two Angels came to Sedom at the evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sedom…And at the time that the morning was about to uprise, the Angels were urgent upon Lot…And his wife looked after the Angel, to know what would be in the end of her father’s house, for she was of the daughters of the Sedomaee; and because she sinned by salt (bemilcha) she was manifestly punished; behold, she was made a statue of salt.
XXI …the Angel of the Lord called to Hagar from heaven.
XXII (Now) the eyes of Abraham looked on the eyes of Izhak; but the eyes of Izhak looked towards the Angels on high, (and) Izhak beheld them, but Abrahm saw them not. And the Angels answered on high, Come, behold how these solitary ones who are in the world kill the one the other; he who slayeth delays not; he who is to be slain reacheth forth his neck…[JERUSALEM…(Now) the eyes of Abraham reached unto the eyes of Izhak; but the eyes of Izhak reaching to the Angels on high. And Izhak beheld them, but Abraham saw them not. In that hour came forth the Angels on high, and said, these to these, Come, behold two righteous ones alone in the midst of the world: the one slayeth, the other is slain…]…And the Angel of the Lord called to him from the heavens, and said to him, Abraham! Abraham!…And the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham the second time from the heavens…And the Angels on high took Izhak and brought him into the school (medresha) of Shem the Great; and he was there three years.
XXIII He will seasonably send His Angel, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence.
XXVI The Lord before whom I worship will appoint His Angel to be with thee, and will prosper thy way.
XXVII …an Angel prepared it for him, from the wine which had been kept in its grapes from the days of the beginning of the world.
[XXVIII.] And, behold, the two Angels who went unto Sedom, and who had been expelled from the midst of them, because they had revealed the secrets of the Lord of the world; and being cast forth they had walked till the time that Jakob went out from the house of his father, and had accompanied him with kindliness unto Bethel, in that day had ascended to the high heavens, and said, Come, see Jakob the pious, whose likeness is inlaid in the throne of glory, and whom you have so greatly desired to behold. Then the rest of the Angels of the holy Lord descended to look upon him…[12…And, behold, the Angels who had accompanied him from the house of his father, ascended to make known to the Angels on high, saying, Come, see Jakob the pious, whose likeness is in the throne of glory, and whom you have been desirous to see! And, behold, the holy Angels from before the Lord ascended and descended, and looked upon him.]
XXX [JERUSALEM. Four keys are held in the hand of the Lord of all the world, even the Lord, and He will not deliver them either to Angel or to saraph; the key of the rain, the key of the provender, the key of the sepulchre, the key of barrenness…]
XXXI And the Angel of the Lord said to me, in a dream, Jakob. And I said, Behold me…And there came an Angel with a word from before the Lord.
XXXII And Jakob went on his way, and the Angels of the Lord met him. And Jakob said when he saw them, These are not the host of Esau who are coming to meet me, nor the host of Laban, who have returned from pursuing me; but they are the host of the holy Angels who are sent from before the Lord…And Jakob remained alone beyond the Jubeka; and an Angel contended with him in the likeness of a man…And he said, Let me go, for the column of the morning ascendeth; and the hour cometh when the Angels on high offer praise to the Lord of the world: and I am one of the Angels of praise, but from the day that the world was created my time to praise hath not come until now…And he said, What is thy name? He answered, Jakob. And he said, Thy name shall be no more called Jakob but Israel, because thou art magnified with the Angels of the Lord and with the mighty, and thou hast prevailed with them…And Jakob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, I have seen the Angels of the Lord face to face, and my soul is saved…the Angel touched and laid hold of the hollow of the right thigh of Jakob, in the place of the sinew which shrank.
XXXIII And Jakob said, Say not so, I beseech thee. If now I have found favor in thy eyes, accept my present from my hand; because I have seen the look of thy face, and it is to me as the vision of the face of thy Angel; for, lo, thou art propitious to me.
XXXV And he builded there an altar, and named that place, To God, who made His Shekinah to dwell in Bethel, because there had been revealed to him the Angels of the Lord, in his flight from before Esau his brother.
XLVIII The Lord, before whom my fathers Abraham and Izhak, did serve; the Lord who hath fed me since I have been unto this day, be pleased that the Angel whom thou didst ordain for me, to redeem me from all evil, may bless the children; and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abrabam and Izhak.
From the Exodus portion.
III And Zagnugael, the Angel of the Lord, appeared to him in a fame of fire in the midst of the bush.
IV But it was on the way, in the place of lodging that the Angel of the Lord met him, and sought to kill him, because Gershom his son had not been circumcised, inasmuch as Jethro his father-in-law had not permitted him to circumcise him…the Angel, the Destroyer…And the destroying Angel desisted from him, so that Zipporah gave thanks, and said, How lovely is the blood of this circumcision that bath delivered my husband from the Angel of destruction! [JERUSALEM. And when the Destroyer had ceased from him, Zipporah gave thanks and said, How lovely is the blood of this circumcision which hath saved my husband from the hand of the Angel of death !]
V I have not found written in the Book of the Angels the name of the Lord.
XII And I will be revealed in the land of Mizraim in the majesty of My glory this night, and with Me ninety thousand myriads of destroying Angels… the Angel of death, to whom is given the power to destroy, shall have no dominion over you in the slaughter of the Mizraee…the Word of the Lord will spread His protection over the door, and the destroying Angel will not be permitted to enter your houses to smite…This is that Night of preservation from the destroying Angel for all the sons of Israel who were in Mizraim, and of redemption of their generations from their captivity.
XIV And the Angel of the Lord who led the way before the hosts of Israel went and came behind them; and the column of the Cloud went from before and stood behind them.
XV …our mothers went forth upon the face of the field to give us birth, and leave us there; and He sent an Angel who washed us and enwrapped us.
XXII But the anger of the Lord was provoked, because he would go (that he might) curse them; and the Angel of the Lord stood in the way to be an adversary to him. But he sat upon his ass, and his two young men, Jannes and Jambres, were with him. And the ass discerned the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with a drawn sword in his hand, and the ass turned aside out of the road, to go into the field. And Bileam smote the ass to make her return unto the way. And the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path that was in the midst between vineyards, [JERUSALEM. And the Angel of the Lord stood between the vineyards, a hedge (being) on this and on that side,] in the place where Jacob and Laban raised the mound, the pillar on this side and the observatory on that side, which they raised, that neither should pass that limit to do evil (to the other).
And the ass discerned the Angel of the Lord, and thrust herself against the hedge, and bruised Bileam’s foot by the hedge, and he smote her again; for the Angel was invisible to him. And the Angel of the Lord yet passed on, and stood in a distant place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or left. And the ass saw the Angel of the Lord, and fell under Bileam; and Bileam’s wrath was strong, so that he smote the ass with his staff…And the Lord unveiled the eyes of Bileam, and he beheld the Angel of the Lord standing in the way, his sword unsheathed in his hand; and he bowed, and worshipped on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, why hast thou smitten thine ass these three times?…And Bileam said to the Angel of the Lord, I have sinned, because I knew not that thou wast standing against me in the way…But the Angel of the Lord said to Bileam, Go with these men; but the word that I will tell thee that thou shalt speak. And Bileam went with the princes of Balak.
XXIII Behold, I will send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee in to the place of My habitation which I have prepared…For My Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee to the Amoraee, and Pherizaee, and Kenaanaee, Hivaee, and Jebusaee; and I will destroy them.
XXIV …the Angel stood over against him: he hath said who heard the Word from before the living God.
XXV An Angel came and made bare their corpses in sight of the people.
XXVI And the middle bar in the midst of the boards passing from end to end shall be from the tree which Abraham planted in Beara of Sheba: for when Israel had crossed the sea, the Angels cut down the tree and cast it into the sea, and it floated on the face of the waters. And an Angel proclaimed, and said, This is the tree which Abraham planted in Beara of Sheba, and prayed there in the name of the Word of the Lord.
XXXIII My Angel shall proceed before thee; but in the day of My visitation I will visit upon them their sin…And I will appoint before thee an Angel, and by his hand will cast out…And I will make the host of Angels who stand and minister before Me to pass by, and thou shalt see the handborder of the tephilla of My glorious Shekinah; but the face of the glory of My Shekinah thou canst not be able to see. [JERUSALEM. And I will cause the hosts of Angels who stand and minister before Me to pass by, and will make known the oracle; for the glory of My Shekinah thou art not able to behold.
From the Numbers portion.
XXV Swearing by My Name, I say to him, Behold, I decree to him My covenant of peace, and will make him an Angel of the covenant, that he may ever live, to announce the Redemption at the end of the days.
XXVI The name of the daughter of Asher was Sarach, who was conducted by six myriads of Angels, and taken into the Garden of Eden alive, because she bad made known to Jacob that Joseph was living.
In the next segment, we will consider Angels in Targum Of Onkelos.
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