Type: Commentary

Targum "Onkelos" to the Torah:

Title
A "Targum" is a translation, but the term is usually used
specifically to designate Aramaic translations of the Bible. According to an
ancient Jewish tradition, the public reading of the Bible in the synagogue must
be accompanied by a translation into Aramaic, which was the spoken language of
most Jews in Israel and Babylonia during the Talmudic era. The normal practice
was that after each verse was read from the written scroll, an official known as
the "Turgeman" or "Meturgeman" would then recite orally an Aramaic rendering of
the previous verse.

As the use of Aramaic declined, the practice of reciting the Targum in the
synagogue fell into disuse in most Jewish communities.

Author

The name "Onkelos" was attached to the present work in early medieval times
on account of a mistaken identification with a translation by "Onkelos the
Proselyte" that is mentioned in the Talmud. It is clear that the Talmudic
reference is really to the Greek translation of the Torah by Aquila,
portions of which are cited in the Palestinian Talmud and in Christian sources.

The current Aramaic translation has no known author, and was evidently the
standard version that was in use in Babylonian synagogues during the Talmudic
era. Several quotations of the Targum in the Babylonian Talmud agree with our
"Targum Onkelos"; most of them are brought in the name of the third-century
Babylonian scholar Rav Joseph, indicating perhaps that he took an active part in
its compilation.

Dates

The Aramaic dialect of Targum Onkelos seems to be that of second-century
Israel, though many scholars believe that it underwent subsequent development in
Babylonia during the Talmudic era.

Place

Israel and Babylonia

Description
Targum Onkelos is for the most part a literal, word-for-word
translation of the Hebrew. There are however a number of conditions when it
departs fromthe plain sense of the Biblical text. These include:

Poetic passages

For Biblical sections such as the testaments of Jacob (end of Genesis) and
Moses (end of Deuteronomy), Targum Onkelos renders these with expansive
homiletical interpretations, analogous to the style of the Palestinian
Targums.

Passages that present theological difficulties.

Targum Onkelos was uncomfortable with Hebrew expressions that suggest
direct interaction between God and his creatures. In some cases it gets around
these difficulties through circumlocutions. Thus instead of speaking to
God, Moses usually speaks before God.

Similarly, Onkelos introduces the "word" (memra) of God as an
intermediary between God and the world, an approach which seems to echo the
use of the "logos" in the writings of the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher
Philo.

In order to conform to the accepted interpretations of the Jewish oral
tradition.

Return to the Mikra'ot Gedolot Page

Return to the Talmud Page Image Map