Parashat Bereshit — Second Aliyah

Torah with Onkelos · Bereshit 2:4 – 2:19 · פרשת בראשית, שני

The forming of man, the Garden in Eden and the first command, read through Targum Onkelos

Contents

• Orientation
• How this page is laid out
• Unit 1 — Bereshit 2:4–11: The forming of man and the garden in Eden
• Unit 2 — Bereshit 2:12–19: The rivers of Eden, the first command, and the naming of the animals
• Conclusion of the aliyah
• Aramaic word list for the aliyah
• Source note

Orientation

What happens in this aliyah. The aliyah returns to the beginning and tells the story of creation again, now centred on man. Before any plant has grown or rain has fallen, a mist rises from the earth and waters the ground. Hashem God forms the man from the dust of the ground and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life. He plants a garden in Eden, places the man there, and makes trees grow from the soil, among them the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. A river goes out of Eden and divides into four: Pishon, Gichon, Chidekel and P’ras, with a description of the land of gold and precious stones. Hashem God puts the man in the Garden to work it and preserve it, commands him that he may eat of every tree except the Tree of Knowledge, on pain of death, declares that it is not good for the man to be alone, and forms the beasts and birds and brings them to the man to name.

What Onkelos is. Targum Onkelos is the classical Aramaic translation of the Torah, read for centuries alongside the Hebrew; the Talmud speaks of reviewing the weekly portion “twice in the Hebrew and once in the Targum”. Because it is a translation, it rarely adds explanation in so many words. Its interpretation lies in its choices: which Aramaic word it uses, where it adds or omits a word, how it handles a difficult phrase, and where it departs from a word-for-word rendering.

How this page reads Onkelos. The notes compare the Aramaic with the Hebrew and nothing else. No later commentators are brought in. Where a note draws a conclusion about what Onkelos meant, it is stated as an inference from the text, not as established fact.

What to look out for in this aliyah.

• “A speaking spirit” (2:7). The most striking change in the aliyah: where the Hebrew says the man became “a living soul”, Onkelos says the breath became in man “a speaking spirit” (לְרוּחַ מְמַלְלָא), suggesting he understood the life breathed into man as the faculty of speech.
• One verb for two. The Hebrew verb of shaping, yatzar, “formed”, is rendered in this aliyah by bera, “created” (וּבְרָא), the verb Onkelos also uses for bara. The notes suggest this may reflect a reluctance to picture God physically shaping man and the animals.
• The Tree of Knowledge described, not named. In 2:9 and 2:17 Onkelos replaces “the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil” with a description of its effect: the tree whose fruit makes those who eat it wise between good and evil. The Tree of Life keeps its name.
• Softened wording around God and man. From 2:15 on, the man is “led” rather than “taken”, “settled” rather than set down, and his solitude is “not right” rather than “not good”.
• Ambiguous words resolved. Onkelos chooses one meaning where the Hebrew allows more: the mist becomes a “cloud”, mi-kedem is read as “from before” in time, and kidmat as “to the east”.
• Grammar made explicit. Hebrew infinitives become finite clauses, nouns become infinitives, and continuing past action is marked with “was” plus a participle.
• Ground and earth. The Hebrew distinguishes eretz, “earth”, from adamah, “ground”. The printed Onkelos keeps the distinction in some verses and not in others; watch for adamta and ar’a.

How this page is laid out

For each verse:

• Torah — the Hebrew verse, with vowels and cantillation, followed by an English Translation of the Hebrew (Metsudah Chumash).
• Onkelos — the Aramaic of Targum Onkelos, followed by Onkelos in English, a close translation of the Aramaic. It uses the same wording as the Torah translation wherever the Aramaic says the same thing, so that the differences from the Hebrew can be seen. Words in square brackets are added for sense.
• What Onkelos tells us — editorial notes comparing the Aramaic with the Hebrew: what is translated literally, what is changed or added, and what that suggests about how Onkelos read the verse. Selected Aramaic words are listed with their Hebrew equivalents.

Each unit ends with a short Unit summary. The page ends with a review of the aliyah and an Aramaic word list.

Divine Names in the Hebrew and Aramaic are printed as ה׳ and אלקים. In English, God’s proper Name is rendered Hashem, and Elokim is rendered God.

Unit 1 — Bereshit 2:4–11: The forming of man and the garden in Eden

The narrative returns to the beginning: before plants or rain, a mist waters the ground, Hashem God forms man from the dust and breathes life into him, plants a garden in Eden with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, and sends out a river that divides into four.

Bereshit 2:4

Torah

Translation

This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, on the day when Hashem God made earth and heaven.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, on the day when Hashem God made earth and heaven.

What Onkelos tells us

• “When they were created”. The Hebrew uses an infinitive with a suffix, be-hibbare’am (בְּהִבָּרְאָם), literally “in their being created”. Onkelos turns it into a clause with a finite verb, kad itberi’u (כַּד אִתְבְּרִיאוּ), “when they were created” — a grammatical smoothing that does not change the sense.
• “On the day when Hashem God made”. The same smoothing recurs: the Hebrew infinitive asot (עֲשׂוֹת) after “on the day” becomes a relative clause with a past-tense verb, be-yoma di avad (בְּיוֹמָא דִּי עֲבַד), “on the day that [He] made”.
• “Earth and heaven”. Onkelos keeps the Hebrew’s reversal of order between the two halves of the verse — “the heavens and the earth” at the start, “earth and heaven” at the end — rather than harmonizing them.

Words to note: אִלֵּין illein — this [is] (lit. these) (אֵלֶּה) · תּוּלְדַת tuldat — history (תוֹלְדוֹת) · כַּד kad — when · אִתְבְּרִיאוּ itberi’u — they were created (בְּהִבָּרְאָם) · עֲבַד avad — made (עֲשׂוֹת)

Bereshit 2:5

Torah

Translation

All the plants of the field were not yet on the earth, and all the herbal vegetation of the field had not yet sprouted, for Hashem God had not brought rain upon the earth, and there was [yet] no man to work the soil.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

All the trees of the field were not yet on the earth, and all the herbal vegetation of the field had not yet sprouted, for Hashem God had not brought down rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the soil.

What Onkelos tells us

• “The trees of the field”. The Hebrew si’ah (שִׂיחַ), a shrub or plant, is rendered ilanei (אִילָנֵי), “trees” — the same noun Onkelos uses for etz, “tree”, in 2:9. This may reflect a reading of si’ah as a general term for woody growth, as distinct from the “herbal vegetation” (isba, עִסְבָּא, matching Hebrew עֵשֶׂב) in the next clause.
• “Not yet”. Both occurrences of Hebrew terem (טֶרֶם) are rendered with the idiom ad la (עַד לָא), literally “until not”.
• “Brought down rain”. Hebrew himtir (הִמְטִיר) is a single verb built from the noun “rain”. Onkelos splits it into a verb and its object: ahit mitra (אָחִית מִטְרָא), “brought down rain”.
• “No man”. For the Hebrew adam here Onkelos uses the ordinary Aramaic word for a human being, enash (וְאֱנַשׁ). In 2:7 and 2:8, where the Hebrew speaks of the man who is formed, he keeps adam. The choice here may reflect that this verse speaks of a human being in general.
• “To work the soil”. Le-miflah (לְמִפְלַח) is the usual Aramaic verb for working the land, matching la’avod (לַעֲבֹד). Onkelos keeps the Hebrew pair eretz / adamah apart: ar’a (אַרְעָא) for “the earth” and adamta (אַדְמְתָא) for “the soil”.

Words to note: אִילָנֵי ilanei — trees (שִׂיחַ) · עִסְבָּא isba — herbal vegetation (עֵשֶׂב) · אָחִית ahit — brought down (הִמְטִיר) · מִטְרָא mitra — rain · וְאֱנַשׁ ve-enash — and man (וְאָדָם) · לְמִפְלַח le-miflah — to work (לַעֲבֹד)

Bereshit 2:6

Torah

Translation

A mist rose up from the earth, and it watered the entire surface of the soil.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

A cloud was rising up from the earth, and it watered the entire surface of the soil.

What Onkelos tells us

• “A cloud”. The rare Hebrew word ed (וְאֵד), “mist”, is rendered anana (וַעֲנָנָא), “cloud”. Onkelos thus identifies the source of the water with a familiar phenomenon; whether he understood ed as a cloud or simply chose the nearest common word cannot be determined from the text.
• “Was rising up”. The Hebrew imperfect ya’aleh (יַעֲלֶה) describes past action that recurred or continued. Onkelos expresses this with “was” plus a participle, hava salek (הֲוָה סָלֵיק), so that the ongoing sense is explicit. He then uses a simple past for the watering, ve-ashkei (וְאַשְׁקֵי), “and it watered”, from the same root as the Hebrew ve-hishkah (וְהִשְׁקָה).
• “The entire surface of the soil”. Otherwise literal: apei (אַפֵּי), “face”, for Hebrew penei, and adamta for adamah, as in 2:5.
• Textual note. Where the printed text has ve-ashkei (וְאַשְׁקֵי), “and it watered”, the Yemenite text reads u-mashkei (וּמַשְׁקֵי), a participle: “and [it was] watering”. In that reading the watering, like the rising of the cloud, is described as continuing action; the contrast of tenses noted above holds for the printed text only.

Words to note: וַעֲנָנָא va-anana — a cloud (וְאֵד) · הֲוָה hava — was · סָלֵיק salek — rising up (יַעֲלֶה) · וְאַשְׁקֵי ve-ashkei — and it watered (וְהִשְׁקָה) · אַפֵּי apei — surface (פְּנֵי)

Bereshit 2:7

Torah

Translation

Hashem God then formed the man, dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life. And so man became a living soul.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem God then created man, dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life. And it became in man a speaking spirit.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Created”. The Hebrew va-yitzer (וַיִּיצֶר), “formed”, a verb of shaping, is rendered u-vera (וּבְרָא), “and [He] created” — the same verb Onkelos uses for be-hibbare’am in 2:4. He does the same with yatzar in 2:8, so in this unit one Aramaic verb stands for two Hebrew ones. This may reflect a reluctance to describe God as physically shaping man, though the text does not state a reason.
• “Man”. Hebrew ha-adam, “the man”, becomes adam (אָדָם) without a definite form, the Hebrew word kept rather than translated by enash as in 2:5.
• “Into his nostrils the breath of life”. A literal rendering: be-appohi (בְּאַפּוֹהִי), “in his nose”, and nishmeta de-hayyei (נִשְׁמְתָא דְחַיֵּי), “breath of life”, with the Aramaic genitive particle in place of the Hebrew construct.
• “And it became in man a speaking spirit”. Here Onkelos departs sharply from the Hebrew. The Hebrew says that “the man became a living soul” (va-yehi ha-adam le-nefesh hayyah). In the Aramaic the verb va-havat (וַהֲוַת) is feminine, so its subject is apparently the feminine nishmeta, the breath: the breath “became in man” (be-adam, בְּאָדָם) “a speaking spirit” (le-ruah memalela, לְרוּחַ מְמַלְלָא).
  • Nefesh (לְנֶפֶשׁ) is rendered ruah, “spirit”.
  • Hayyah (חַיָּה), “living”, is rendered memalela, “speaking”. The change suggests that Onkelos understood the life breathed into man as the faculty of speech, which may be taken as what distinguishes man from the other living creatures.
• Textual note. For “from the ground” the printed text has min adamta (מִן אַדְמְתָא), matching the Hebrew adamah; the Yemenite text reads min ar’a (מִן אַרְעָא), “from the earth”. The printed text thus keeps the distinction between eretz and adamah in this verse, while the Yemenite text does not.

Words to note: וּבְרָא u-vera — [He] then created (וַיִּיצֶר) · עַפְרָא afra — dust (עָפָר) · וּנְפַח u-nefah — and He blew (וַיִּפַּח) · נִשְׁמְתָא nishmeta — breath (נִשְׁמַת) · לְרוּחַ le-ruah — spirit (לְנֶפֶשׁ) · מְמַלְלָא memalela — speaking (חַיָּה)

Bereshit 2:8

Torah

Translation

Hashem God planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem God planted a garden in Eden, from before, and there He placed man whom He had created.

What Onkelos tells us

• “From before”. The Hebrew mi-kedem (מִקֶּדֶם) can mean “in the east” or “from earlier times”, since kedem bears both senses. Onkelos’s mi-lekadmin (מִלְּקַדְמִין) is temporal, “from before” or “from the beginning”. He thus reads the word in its temporal sense, which suggests he understood the garden as having been planted before the creation of man, rather than locating it geographically.
• “Whom He had created”. As in 2:7, Hebrew yatzar (יָצָר), “formed”, is rendered with bera, “created” (di vera, דִּי בְרָא).
• “Planted”, “placed”. U-netziv (וּנְצִיב) is the ordinary Aramaic verb for planting, and ve-ashvei (וְאַשְׁוֵי), “and [He] set”, renders va-yasem. The garden, ginta (גִּינְתָא), is the Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew gan.
• Textual note. For ve-ashvei (וְאַשְׁוֵי), “and [He] placed”, the Yemenite text reads ve-ashri (וְאַשְׁרִי), “and [He] caused to dwell” — a different verb, describing man as settled in the garden rather than simply put there.

Words to note: וּנְצִיב u-netziv — planted (וַיִּטַּע) · גִּינְתָא ginta — a garden (גַּן) · מִלְּקַדְמִין mi-lekadmin — from before (מִקֶּדֶם) · וְאַשְׁוֵי ve-ashvei — and [He] placed (וַיָּשֶׂם) · תַמָּן tamman — there (שָׁם) · בְרָא vera — [He] had created (יָצָר)

Bereshit 2:9

Torah

Translation

Hashem God made grow out of the soil every tree that is pleasant to look at, and good for [producing] food; the Tree of Life in the middle of the Garden, and the Tree (of) Knowledge [of what is] good and evil.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem God made grow out of the earth every tree that is pleasant to look at, and good to eat; and the Tree of Life in the middle of the Garden, and the tree that those who eat its fruits [become] wise between good and evil.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Out of the earth”. Here Hebrew ha-adamah (הָאֲדָמָה) is rendered ar’a (אַרְעָא), “the earth”, although in 2:5 and 2:6 (and, in the printed text, 2:7) Onkelos renders the same Hebrew word with adamta; he uses ar’a for it again in 2:19. The distinction between the two Hebrew words is not kept consistently.
• “To look at”, “to eat”. The Hebrew uses two nouns, le-mar’eh (לְמַרְאֶה), “for sight”, and le-ma’akhal (לְמַאֲכָל), “for food”. Onkelos uses two infinitives, le-mehezei (לְמֶחֱזֵי), “to look at”, and le-meikhal (לְמֵיכַל), “to eat”.
• “Pleasant”. Di-meraggeg (דִּמְרַגֵּג), “that is pleasant” or “desirable”, is a relative clause with a participle, for the Hebrew passive participle nehmad.
• “The tree that those who eat its fruits [become] wise between good and evil”. The Hebrew name etz ha-da’at tov va-ra, “the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil”, is replaced by a description of what the tree does: ve-ilan de-akhlin peirohi hakkimin bein tav le-vish (וְאִילַן דְּאָכְלִין פֵּירוֹהִי חַכִּימִין בֵּין טַב לְבִישׁ).
  • The abstract noun da’at (הַדַּעַת), “knowledge”, becomes the adjective hakkimin (חַכִּימִין), “wise”, applied to those who eat the fruit.
  • Bein (בֵּין), “between”, is added, framing the knowledge as the ability to tell good from evil. By contrast the Tree of Life keeps its Hebrew form as a name, ve-ilan hayya (וְאִילַן חַיָּא). The rephrasing may indicate that Onkelos did not wish to describe the tree itself as possessing knowledge, but it may also simply explain an unusual phrase.
• Textual note. For hakkimin (חַכִּימִין), “wise”, the Yemenite text reads hakhmin (חָכְמִין), apparently a participle, “knowing”: “those who eat its fruits know [the difference] between good and evil”. The contrast drawn above between the Hebrew noun and an adjective holds for the printed text only.

Words to note: דִּמְרַגֵּג di-meraggeg — that is pleasant (נֶחְמָד) · לְמֵיכַל le-meikhal — to eat (לְמַאֲכָל) · בִּמְצִיעוּת bi-metzi’ut — in the middle (בְּתוֹךְ) · דְּאָכְלִין de-akhlin — that those who eat · פֵּירוֹהִי peirohi — its fruits · חַכִּימִין hakkimin — wise (הַדַּעַת)

Bereshit 2:10

Torah

Translation

A river went out of Eden to water the Garden, and from there it separated and became four headwaters.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

A river was going out of Eden to water the Garden, and from there it separated and became four heads of rivers.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Was going out”. The Hebrew participle yotze (יֹצֵא) is rendered with “was” plus a participle, hava nafik (הֲוָה נָפִיק), placing the river’s flow explicitly in the past as a continuing state, as with the cloud in 2:6.
• “To water”. Le-ashka’ah (לְאַשְׁקָאָה) is from the same root as ve-ashkei in 2:6, just as the Hebrew le-hashkot (לְהַשְׁקוֹת) shares a root with ve-hishkah there; the verbal link between the two verses is kept.
• “Four heads of rivers”. The Hebrew says only “four heads” (rashim, רָאשִׁים). Onkelos adds naharin (נַהֲרִין), “rivers”: reishei naharin (רֵישֵׁי נַהֲרִין), “heads of rivers”, spelling out that the four branches are themselves rivers.
• Textual note. For yitparish (יִתְפָּרִשׁ), an imperfect matching the Hebrew yippared, the Yemenite text reads mitparash (מִתְפָּרַשׁ), a participle, “[it] separates” or “was separating”, continuing the participial description of the river.

Words to note: נָפִיק nafik — going out (יֹצֵא) · לְאַשְׁקָאָה le-ashka’ah — to water (לְהַשְׁקוֹת) · יִתְפָּרִשׁ yitparish — it separated (יִפָּרֵד) · רֵישֵׁי reishei — heads (רָאשִׁים) · נַהֲרִין naharin — rivers

Bereshit 2:11

Torah

Translation

The name of the first is Pishon which surrounds all the land of Chavilah, where there is gold.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The name of the first is Pishon; it surrounds all the land of Chavilah, where there is gold.

What Onkelos tells us

• A literal rendering. The names Pishon and Chavilah are kept. Makkif (מַקִּיף), “surrounds”, is the usual Aramaic equivalent of ha-sovev; Onkelos drops the Hebrew article on the participle, so that “it is the one that surrounds” becomes simply “it surrounds”. Had (חָד), “one”, renders ha-ehad, “the first”.

Words to note: שׁוּם shum — the name (שֵׁם) · חָד had — the first (הָאֶחָד) · מַקִּיף makkif — surrounds (הַסֹּבֵב) · אֲרַע ara — the land (אֶרֶץ) · דַּהֲבָא dahava — gold (הַזָּהָב)

Unit 1 summary

Onkelos follows the Hebrew closely in most of this unit, but at several points he turns compact or ambiguous Hebrew into explicit statements. Hebrew infinitives become finite clauses or are kept as infinitives where the Hebrew has nouns; repeated or ongoing action is marked with the periphrastic “was” plus participle. Two verbs of making, ברא and יצר, are both rendered with ברא. The rare word for “mist” becomes “cloud”, and the ambiguous mi-kedem is read in its temporal sense, “from before”. The largest interpretive moves concern man and the tree: the “living soul” becomes a “speaking spirit” placed in man, and the “Tree of Knowledge of good and evil” is described by its effect on those who eat its fruit. The Hebrew distinction between eretz and adamah is kept in 2:5, 2:6 and 2:7 of the printed text, but not in 2:9.

Unit 2 — Bereshit 2:12–19: The rivers of Eden, the first command, and the naming of the animals

The description of the four rivers flowing from Eden ends with the land of gold and precious stones. Hashem God places the man in the Garden, commands him not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, resolves that it is not good for him to be alone, and brings him the animals to name.

Bereshit 2:12

Torah

Translation

The gold of that land is good. Also found there is bdellium and onyx stones.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The gold of that land is good. There is bdellium and beryl stones.

What Onkelos tells us

• “The gold of that land is good”. A literal rendering. Dahava, “gold”, and tav, “good”, are the ordinary Aramaic equivalents of zehav and tov; the Hebrew construct “gold of the land” becomes the Aramaic linking particle de- (de-ar’a, “of the land”).
• “Beryl stones”. The Hebrew names the stone shoham and has the singular even, “stone”. Onkelos uses the plural avnei, “stones of”, and replaces the name with vurla, perhaps beryl or crystal. The identification of these gems is uncertain in both languages; what is clear is that Onkelos substitutes a stone name current in Aramaic for the Hebrew one.
• “Bdellium”. Bedalha is the Hebrew bedolah in Aramaic form, with the Aramaic definite ending in place of the Hebrew article ha-.

Words to note: וְדַהֲבָא ve-dahava — the gold (וּזְהַב) · תַּמָן taman — there (שָׁם) · בְּדָלְחָא bedalha — bdellium (הַבְּדֹלַח) · וְאַבְנֵי ve-avnei — and stones of (וְאֶבֶן) · בוּרְלָא vurla — beryl (perhaps) (הַשֹּׁהַם)

Bereshit 2:13

Torah

Translation

The name of the second river is Gichon. It surrounds all the land of Kush.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The name of the second river is Gichon. It surrounds all the land of Kush.

What Onkelos tells us

• “It surrounds”. A literal rendering. The Hebrew has a participle with the article, hu ha-sovev, “it is the one that surrounds”; Onkelos has the bare participle makkif, “surrounds”, from a different root from the Hebrew. The sense is unchanged.
• “The land of Kush”. The Hebrew construct eretz Kush is rendered with the linking particle, ar’a de-Khush, “the land of Kush”.

Words to note: נַהֲרָא nahara — river (הַנָּהָר) · תִנְיָנָא tinyana — second (הַשֵּׁנִי) · מַקִּיף makkif — surrounds (הַסּוֹבֵב)

Bereshit 2:14

Torah

Translation

The name of the third river is Chidekel, which flows to the east of Ashur. The fourth river is P’ras.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The name of the third river is Diglat, which flows to the east of Atur. The fourth river is P’ras.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Diglat” and “Atur”. Onkelos gives two of the names in their Aramaic forms: the Hebrew Hiddekel becomes Diglat, and Ashur becomes Atur. P’ras is left as it is in the Hebrew.
• “To the east of”. The Hebrew kidmat can mean “in front of” as well as “east of”. Onkelos’s le-maddinha, “to the east”, takes it in the second sense, removing the ambiguity.
• “It flows”. As in 2:13, the Hebrew participle with the article, hu ha-holekh, “it is the one that goes”, becomes a bare participle, mehallekh, “flows”, here from the same root as the Hebrew (הלך).

Words to note: תְּלִיתָאָה telita’ah — third (הַשְּׁלִישִׁי) · דִּיגְלַת Diglat — Diglat (חִדֶּקֶל) · מְהַלֵּךְ mehallekh — flows (הַהֹלֵךְ) · לְמַדִּינְחָא le-maddinha — to the east (קִדְמַת) · דְאַתּוּר de-Atur — of Atur (אַשּׁוּר) · רְבִיעָאָה revi’a’ah — fourth (הָרְבִיעִי)

Bereshit 2:15

Torah

Translation

Hashem God took the man, and put him in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to preserve it.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem God led the man, and settled him in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to preserve it.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Led”. The Hebrew va-yikkah, “took”, becomes u-devar, “led” or “brought along”, a verb used for conducting a person rather than physically taking hold of something. This may reflect a wish to avoid picturing God picking the man up.
• “Settled him”. The Hebrew va-yanniheihu, literally “he rested him” or “he set him down”, becomes ve-ashreih, “and he settled him” or “made him dwell”. The Aramaic presents the man’s placement in the Garden as a place of residence.
• “To work it and to preserve it”. Each Hebrew verb has its usual Aramaic counterpart: le-miflehah (root פלח) for le-ovdah, and u-le-mitrah for u-le-shomrah. The feminine suffix referring to the garden is kept in both.
• “The man”. Where the Hebrew has ha-adam, “the man”, with the article, Onkelos writes adam in its bare form here and throughout this passage (2:15, 2:16, 2:18 and twice in 2:19). Since Aramaic marks definiteness by an ending, not a prefix, the Aramaic does not show the definiteness of the Hebrew, and the word could also be read as the name Adam.

Words to note: וּדְבַר u-devar — led (וַיִּקַּח) · וְאַשְׁרֵיהּ ve-ashreih — and settled him (וַיַּנִּחֵהוּ) · בְּגִינְתָא be-ginta — in the Garden (בְגַן) · לְמִפְלְחַהּ le-miflehah — to work it (לְעׇבְדָהּ) · וּלְמִטְרַהּ u-le-mitrah — and to preserve it (וּלְשׇׁמְרָהּ)

Bereshit 2:16

Torah

Translation

Hashem God commanded the man, saying, You may certainly eat from every tree in the Garden.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem God commanded the man, saying, You may certainly eat from every tree in the Garden.

What Onkelos tells us

• “You may certainly eat”. A literal rendering. Onkelos keeps the Hebrew emphatic construction of infinitive plus finite verb (akhol tokhel) as meikhal teikhul, so the emphasis “certainly” is present in the Aramaic as well.
• “Commanded”. The Hebrew va-yetzav is rendered by u-fakkid, the regular Aramaic verb for commanding; ilan, “tree”, stands for the Hebrew etz, here and in 2:17.

Words to note: וּפַקִּיד u-fakkid — commanded (וַיְצַו) · לְמֵימָר le-meimar — saying (לֵאמֹר) · אִילַן ilan — tree (עֵץ) · גִּינְתָא ginta — the Garden (הַגָּן) · מֵיכַל meikhal — eat (infinitive) (אָכֹל) · תֵּיכוּל teikhul — you may eat (תֹּאכֵל)

Bereshit 2:17

Torah

Translation

But from the Tree (of) Knowledge of what is good and evil, you shall not eat from it, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

But from the tree that those who eat its fruits [become] wise [to discern] between good and evil, you shall not eat from it, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.

What Onkelos tells us

• “The tree that those who eat its fruits [become] wise”. The Hebrew name etz ha-da’at tov va-ra, “the Tree (of) Knowledge of good and evil”, is not translated word for word. Onkelos has no word for “knowledge”; instead he describes what the tree does: those who eat its fruits (de-akhlin peirohi) are wise (hakkimin) between good and evil. This turns a name into a description, perhaps to explain how a tree could be connected with knowledge at all: the knowledge comes from eating its fruit.
• “Between good and evil”. The Hebrew pair tov va-ra, “good and evil”, becomes bein tav le-vish, “between good and evil”. The added bein fits the Aramaic description: one becomes wise to distinguish between the two.
• “You will certainly die”. As in 2:16, the Hebrew emphatic construction (mot tamut) is kept: meimat temut.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads de-akhlei, a construct form (“the eaters of its fruits”), for the printed de-akhlin, and hakhmin, a participle (“know” or “are wise”), for the printed adjective hakkimin, “wise”. The participle would give “those who eat its fruits know [the difference] between good and evil”; the description of the tree by its effect is the same in both texts.

Words to note: דְּאָכְלִין de-akhlin — that those who eat · פֵּירוֹהִי peirohi — its fruits · חַכִּימִין hakkimin — wise (הַדַּעַת) · לְבִישׁ le-vish — and evil (וָרָע) · מֵימַת meimat — die (infinitive) (מוֹת) · תְּמוּת temut — you will die (תָּמוּת)

Bereshit 2:18

Torah

Translation

Hashem God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper for him.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem God said, It is not right for the man to be alone. I will make for him a support corresponding to him.

What Onkelos tells us

• “It is not right”. For the Hebrew lo tov, “not good”, Onkelos does not use tav, the word that renders tov in 2:12 and 2:17, but takkin, “right” or “proper”. This narrows the sense: the man’s being alone is not fitting, rather than not good. It may be an attempt to avoid implying that something in God’s creation was not good.
• “A support corresponding to him”. The Hebrew ezer, “helper”, becomes semakh, “support”, and ke-negdo, “corresponding to him”, becomes le-kivleh, “opposite him” or “corresponding to him”.
• “Alone”. Bi-lhodohi, “by himself”, is the usual Aramaic for the Hebrew levaddo; le-mehevei, “to be”, renders the infinitive heyot.
• Textual note. For the printed le-kivleh the Yemenite text reads ke-kivleih, with the prefix ke-, “as”, which matches the ke- of the Hebrew ke-negdo more closely. It also reads di-hei, “that he be”, for the printed infinitive le-mehevei, “to be”, without a change of meaning.

Words to note: תַקִּין takkin — right, proper (טוֹב) · לְמֶהֱוֵי le-mehevei — to be (הֱיוֹת) · בִּלְחוֹדוֹהִי bi-lhodohi — alone (לְבַדּוֹ) · סְמַךְ semakh — support (עֵזֶר) · לְקִבְלֵהּ le-kivleh — corresponding to him (כְּנֶגְדּוֹ)

Bereshit 2:19

Torah

Translation

Hashem God formed from the ground, every beast of the field, and every bird of the heaven, and brought them to the man, to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called [each] living creature, that is its name.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem God created from the ground, every beast of the field, and every bird of the heaven, and brought it to the man, to see what he would call it. Whatever the man was calling it, the living creature, that is its name.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Created”. The Hebrew va-yitzer, “formed”, becomes u-vera, “created”. The Hebrew verb suggests shaping like a potter; the Aramaic uses the general verb of creation, perhaps to avoid this physical image of God.
• A homograph: u-vera and bera. The same letters ברא occur twice in the verse with different meanings: u-vera, “and he created”, and bera, “the field” or “the open country”, in hevat bera, “beast of the field”, for the Hebrew hayyat ha-sadeh.
• “From the ground”. Onkelos renders ha-adamah by ar’a, the same word he uses for ha-aretz in 2:12 and eretz in 2:13. The Hebrew distinction between “ground” and “land” is not kept in the Aramaic.
• “And brought it”. The Hebrew va-yavei, “and brought”, has no object. The printed Onkelos adds a singular object suffix, ve-ayteh, “and brought it”, matching the singular leh, “it”, in “what he would call it” (Hebrew lo).
• “Was calling”. The Hebrew uses the same imperfect, yikra, twice. Onkelos keeps the first as yikrei, “he would call”, but renders the second with a past continuous, hava karei, “was calling”. This places the naming in the past as an ongoing act and may indicate that he read the second yikra as describing what Adam did, while the first expresses God’s wish to see what he would do.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads ve-ayti, “and brought”, without the object suffix, as in the Hebrew, and lehon, “them”, for the printed leh, “it”, in “what he would call it”. The point above about the added singular object holds for the printed text only.
• Textual note. For the printed hevat, “beast of”, the Yemenite text reads hayyat, the same form as the Hebrew hayyat, and closer to hayta, “living”, later in the verse.

Words to note: וּבְרָא u-vera — created (וַיִּצֶר) · חֵוַת hevat — beast of (חַיַּת) · בְּרָא bera — the field (הַשָּׂדֶה) · וְאַיְתֵהּ ve-ayteh — and brought it (וַיָּבֵא) · לְוַת levat — to (אֶל) · קָרֵי karei — calling (יִקְרָא)

Unit 2 summary

Onkelos is literal through the geography, but gives some names in their Aramaic forms (Diglat for Hiddekel, Atur for Ashur, burla for shoham) and resolves the ambiguous kidmat as “to the east”. From 2:15 on, the changes are more marked. Several renderings are softened or generalised: the man is “led” rather than “taken”, the animals are “created” rather than “formed”, and the man’s solitude is “not right” rather than “not good”. The Tree of Knowledge is not named but described by its effect, as the tree whose fruit makes those who eat it wise to distinguish between good and evil. The emphatic Hebrew constructions of the command (“you may certainly eat”, “you will certainly die”) are kept exactly, and in 2:19 ar’a renders adamah, the word it uses for eretz in 2:12 and 2:13, so the Hebrew distinction between the two is not kept here.

Conclusion of the aliyah

The movement of the aliyah

The aliyah moves from a world without plants, rain or man to a garden in which man lives, works, receives a command and names the creatures. Onkelos follows the narrative closely, keeping the order of events, the geography of the rivers and the emphatic wording of the command. His departures cluster at the points where the story touches on man’s nature and on God’s dealings with him: the breath that becomes a speaking spirit, the verbs of forming, taking and setting down, the tree that gives knowledge, and the judgement that man’s solitude is not good. In the description of the rivers he is literal, giving some names and terms in their Aramaic forms. Throughout, he also smooths the Hebrew grammar into a clearer Aramaic, making tense and continuing action explicit.

What Onkelos tells us in this aliyah

1. “When they were created” (2:4). The Hebrew infinitive be-hibbare’am becomes a finite clause, kad itberi’u, a grammatical smoothing that does not change the sense.
2. “Trees of the field” (2:5). The Hebrew si’ah, a shrub or plant, is rendered ilanei, “trees”, the noun Onkelos also uses for etz.
3. “A cloud was rising” (2:6). The rare ed, “mist”, becomes anana (וַעֲנָנָא), “cloud”, and the recurring action is marked with “was” plus a participle.
4. “A speaking spirit” (2:7). The “living soul” becomes a “speaking spirit” placed in man, suggesting that Onkelos understood the life breathed into man as the faculty of speech.
5. “From before” (2:8). Mi-kedem is read in its temporal sense, mi-lekadmin (מִלְּקַדְמִין), which suggests the garden was understood as planted before man was created.
6. The tree that makes wise (2:9). The Tree of Knowledge is described by its effect: דְּאָכְלִין פֵּירוֹהִי חַכִּימִין בֵּין טַב לְבִישׁ, “the tree that those who eat its fruits [become] wise between good and evil”.
7. “Four heads of rivers” (2:10). Onkelos adds naharin, “rivers”, spelling out that the four branches are themselves rivers.
8. Aramaic names (2:12, 2:14). Shoham becomes burla, Hiddekel becomes Diglat and Ashur becomes Atur, while P’ras is left as in the Hebrew; kidmat is resolved as “to the east”.
9. “Led” (2:15). Va-yikkah, “took”, becomes u-devar (וּדְבַר), a verb used for conducting a person, and the man is “settled” in the Garden rather than set down there.
10. “You may certainly eat” (2:16-17). The emphatic Hebrew constructions akhol tokhel and mot tamut are kept exactly as meikhal teikhul and meimat temut.
11. “Not right” (2:18). Lo tov becomes לָא תַקִּין, “not right”, which may be an attempt to avoid implying that something in God’s creation was not good; the “helper” becomes a “support”.
12. “Was calling” (2:19). The Hebrew uses yikra twice; Onkelos keeps the first as “he would call” but renders the second as “was calling”, which may indicate that he read the second as describing what the man did and the first as God’s wish to see what he would do.

Recurring features

• Yatzar rendered by bera. All three occurrences of the Hebrew verb yatzar in this aliyah (2:7, 2:8, 2:19) are rendered with bera, “created”, the verb that also renders the Hebrew root of be-hibbare’am in 2:4.
• “Was” plus participle. Continuing action in the past is made explicit with hava and a participle: the rising cloud (2:6), the river going out of Eden (2:10) and the man’s naming of the animals (2:19).
• Descriptions in place of names. The Tree of Knowledge is twice described by what its fruit does to those who eat it, with an added bein, “between”, framing the knowledge as the ability to tell good from evil.
• Bare adam. Where the Hebrew has ha-adam, “the man”, Onkelos writes adam without a definite form, so the word could also be read as the name Adam; in 2:5, where the notes suggest a human being in general is meant, he uses enash.
• Ground and earth. Of the five verses where the Hebrew has adamah, the printed Onkelos renders it adamta in 2:5, 2:6 and 2:7, but ar’a in 2:9 and 2:19, so the Hebrew distinction is kept only in part (the Yemenite text has ar’a in 2:7 as well).
• Smoothing of Hebrew grammar. An infinitive becomes a finite clause (2:4), nouns of purpose become infinitives (2:9), and participles with the article become bare participles (2:11, 2:13, 2:14).
• Aramaic forms of names and terms. In the geography some names and terms appear in Aramaic forms (Diglat, Atur, burla, bedalha), while others, such as Pishon, Gichon and P’ras, are kept.

Aliyah takeaway

In this aliyah Onkelos is largely a careful, literal translator, keeping even the emphatic doubled verbs of the command. Where he departs from the Hebrew, the departures fall at the same sensitive points: how God forms, takes and places man, what the breath of life makes man, what the forbidden tree is, and whether anything in creation could be called “not good”. The notes are careful to say that his reasons are not stated; what the text shows is a translation that chooses one meaning where the Hebrew offers two and explains in plain terms what the Hebrew leaves compact.

Aramaic word list for the aliyah

Source note

Aliyah boundary. Bereshit 2:4 – 2:19, following the aliyah divisions in Sefaria’s index of Bereshit (the next aliyah begins at Bereshit 2:20).

Torah text. Miqra according to the Masorah (CC-BY-SA), the Masoretic text based on the Aleppo Codex, from Wikisource via Sefaria .

Targum Onkelos. The Aramaic is the commonly printed text, from the Torat Emet edition (Public Domain), via Sefaria .

Comparison text. “Targum Onkelos, vocalized according to the Yemenite Taj” (CC-BY-SA), from Wikisource via Sefaria. Its readings were compared with the printed text word by word; only differences that change a word or the meaning are noted.

Translation of the Torah. Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 (CC-BY), via Sefaria, with the Divine Names rendered Hashem and God.

Translation of Onkelos, notes and summaries. New, prepared for this page. The Onkelos translation follows the wording of the Torah translation wherever the Aramaic agrees with the Hebrew, so that the differences stand out.

Divine Names. In the Hebrew and Aramaic, the Tetragrammaton and the Aramaic abbreviation of the Name are printed as ה׳, and Elokim as אלקים.

Notes. The notes compare the Aramaic with the Hebrew only. No later commentaries on Onkelos have been used. Where a note suggests why Onkelos translated as he did, this is presented as an inference from the text.

Licence. The Hebrew and Aramaic texts are shared under their own licences as stated above; CC-BY-SA material remains under CC-BY-SA.

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