01_AzuelosVoltaggio_161_178_copia_161_178 10/07/15 11:33 Pagina 174 174 YAACOV AZUELOS – FRANCESCO GIOSUÈ VOLTAGGIO 174 “And it came about when Joshua approached [the battlefield] in Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and saw [behold, the angel of heaven] Ariel: his length was like from the e[arth to] heaven and his width like from Egypt to Jericho”. The Geniza Tosefta depicts the angel as a gigantic mythical fig- ure, stretching in length from the earth up to heaven, with shoulders as wide as the distance between Egypt and Jericho. This depiction stands in stark contrast to the Targums of the Pentateuch, where, at most, we find expressions such as rbg twmdb akalm (“an angel in the form of a man”) 44. Nonetheless, it is interesting that, although the Geniza Tosefta translation names the angel and portrays him as a colossus, it does not ascribe much importance to the angel’s role as the in- termediary between man and God and, as such, diminishes his status. This is clear in the translation of Joshua’s question in v. 14: “Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him: ‘What do you command your servant, my lord (ynda)?’”. In Targum Jonathan, this sentence is translated literally, indicating that ynda is taken to refer to the figure of the angel be- fore him. The Geniza Tosefta, in contrast, translates: “Joshua fell on his face saying: ‘I beseech yo[u, fo]rgive now the sins of your servant for his work (yhdbw[ lydb $db[ ybwx !a[k qwb[X w][bb)’, and said to h[im: ‘A]ll that was spoken from before the Lord Most High we will accomplish it and do it’” (~dq !m rmatdm l[k] hdb[mlw hmlXal anyl[ yy) 45. Here it appears that Joshua’s words are not a question but rather an expression of subjugation to God, indicating that ynda (“my lord”) refers to God rather than to the angel. Joshua, in fact, is addressing God directly and ignoring the angel in his plea for forgiveness 46. He concludes with the declaration: “All that was spoken from before the Lord Most High we will accomplish it and do it”. In the dialogue between Joshua and the angel of the Lord in the Geniza Tosefta (ms. Cambridge T-S B 13.12) to v. 14, it 44 Tg. Ps.-J. Gen 32,25. 45 KASHER, Targumic Toseftot, also reports on the versions in ms. Paris 75: yy ~dq !m xylX $alm (“the angel sent from before the Lord”); and in ms. Montefiori 192: yy ~dq !m xylXd akalm (“the angel that was sent from before the Lord”). 46 Cf. KASHER, “Angelology”, 170.