As a Jewish clergyman, and as a conservative Bible scholar, the Rev. Dr.
Jastrow is honored on both sides of the Atlantic for his special
attainments in Talmudic and Rabbinical lore. His great work, “A
Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the
Midrashic Literature,” is a monument of his learning and ability in
these fields. He writes:
“I have read your interesting work, ‘The Threshold Covenant,’ with great
attention, and derived from it more information than I can possibly
thank you for.
“As I am unable to form an independent opinion on the bearing of your
evidences on the thesis of your work, I can refer only to those parts of
it which treat of Jewish customs and ideas, and, here, I feel it a
privilege to be permitted to say that I admire your ingenious conception
of the passover covenant in Egypt. Especially interesting, and
undoubtedly correct, is your interpretation of Exodus 12 : 23, according
to which the Lord passes over the threshold in order to visit the
Israelitish house, and will not allow the destroyer to enter.
“It may not be out of place here to direct your attention to a passage
in Talmud Yerushalmi, Aboda Zara III, 42 d, where it is said about the
Philistines: ‘They revered the threshold (_miftan_) more than the
Dagon,’ to which is added, ‘All other nations made (worshiped) only one
_miftan_, but the Israelites made many _miftanoth_,’ which explains the
verse, ‘And I will visit punishment on him who leaps, and on the
_miftan_’ (Zeph. 1 : 9). You will observe that the Talmud quotes the
verse different from the Massoretic text, which reads, ‘on every one who
leaps over the _miftan_.’ I am unable to decide whether the deviation
from the Massoretic text is owing to a different text before the
Talmudic authority under consideration, or merely to a slip of memory,
such as often occurs with those who quote from memory.
“In Talmud Babli, referring to the Philistines in relation to the Dagon,
it is said: ‘They let alone the Dagon and worshiped the _miftan_, for
they said, His prince (genius) has abandoned the Dagon and has come to
sit on the _miftan_.’ All of which proves that there lingered yet in the
memory of the Talmudists the traditional recollection of _miftan_
worship.”