# Torah with Onkelos
## Parashat Bereshit — Third Aliyah
### Bereshit 2:20 – 3:21
*The woman built from the rib, the serpent and the eating, and Hashem's questions and sentences, read through Targum Onkelos*
---
## Contents
- [Orientation](#orientation)
- [How this booklet is laid out](#layout)
- [Unit 1 — Bereshit 2:20–3:1: The woman is built, and the serpent appears](#unit-1)
- [Unit 2 — Bereshit 3:2–8: The serpent's argument, the eating, and the hiding](#unit-2)
- [Unit 3 — Bereshit 3:9–16: Hashem questions the man and the woman, and pronounces the curses](#unit-3)
- [Unit 4 — Bereshit 3:17–21: The man's sentence, Chavah's name, and the garments](#unit-4)
- [Conclusion of the aliyah](#conclusion)
- [Aramaic word list for the aliyah](#glossary)
- [Source note](#source-note)
---
## Orientation
**What happens in this aliyah.** The aliyah runs from the naming of the animals to the clothing of the first couple. The man names every animal but finds no counterpart; Hashem God casts sleep upon him, builds a woman from his rib and brings her to him, and the narrator adds that the two were naked and unashamed. The serpent questions the woman about the trees of the Garden and denies that eating will bring death; she eats and gives to her husband, their eyes are opened, they cover themselves, and they hide when they hear the voice in the Garden. Hashem God questions the man and the woman, each of whom passes the blame on, and then pronounces the curse of the serpent, the woman's pains and her relation to her husband, and the man's sentence of toil and return to the dust. The man names his wife Chavah, and Hashem God makes garments for the couple and clothes them.
**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 booklet 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.**
- **Language about God.** Where the Hebrew says God knows, Onkelos writes 'it is revealed before Hashem' (גַּלֵּי קֳדָם ה׳, 3:5); the voice the couple hear is the voice of the Memra (קַל מֵימְרָא, 3:8; קַל מֵימְרָךְ, 3:10); and 'from the presence of' becomes 'from before' (מִן קֳדָם, 3:8).
- **One spelling, two renderings.** *Elokim* standing alone as speaker or knower becomes the Name (3:1, 3:3, 3:5), while *ke-Elokim*, 'as gods', becomes כְּרַבְרְבִין, 'like great ones'. The double Name ה׳ אֱלֹקִים is kept each time the Hebrew has it.
- **Wordplay that cannot cross into Aramaic.** The pun of *ishah* and *ish* (2:23), the echo of *arummim*, 'naked', and *arum*, 'cunning' (2:25, 3:1), and the link between the name Chavah and 'living' (3:20) are all lost in the Aramaic.
- **Images rendered by their sense.** The tree is 'healing to the eyes' (אַסֵּי) and appealing 'to gaze upon it' (3:6); the striking of head and heel becomes remembering 'at first' and keeping 'at the end' (3:15); the coats of skin become garments of honor upon the skin of their flesh (3:21).
- **Small additions that interpret.** The man leaves 'the house of the beds' (בֵּית מִשְׁכְּבֵי) of his parents (2:24); the man 'accepted the word' of his wife (3:17); he was 'created' from the ground rather than 'taken' (3:19); and Chavah is the mother of 'all the children of men' (3:20).
- **Close following elsewhere.** Much of the aliyah is literal: the threefold 'this' of 2:23, the doubled verb of the serpent's denial, לָא מוּת תְּמוּתוּן (3:4), and the repeated roots of 'give' (3:12) and 'sorrow' (3:16) are all kept.
---
## How this booklet 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 booklet 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 2:20–3:1: The woman is built, and the serpent appears
The man names the animals but finds no counterpart; Hashem God builds a woman from his rib, the man names her, and the narrator adds that man and wife were naked and unashamed. The next scene opens with the serpent's question to the woman.
---
### Bereshit 2:20
**Torah**
וַיִּקְרָ֨א הָֽאָדָ֜ם שֵׁמ֗וֹת לְכׇל־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּלְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּלְכֹ֖ל חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה וּלְאָדָ֕ם לֹֽא־מָצָ֥א עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ׃
**Translation**
The man gave names to every animal, to the birds of the heaven, and to every beast of the field, but the man did not find a helper for himself.
**Onkelos**
וּקְרָא אָדָם שְׁמָהָן לְכָל בְּעִירָא וּלְעוֹפָא דִּשְׁמַיָּא וּלְכָל חֵוַת בְּרָא וּלְאָדָם לָא אַשְׁכַּח סָמֵךְ לְקִבְלֵהּ
**Onkelos in English**
The man gave names to every animal, to the birds of the heaven, and to every beast of the field, but the man did not find a support corresponding to him.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"A support corresponding to him".** For the Hebrew *ezer kenegdo* (עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדּוֹ) Onkelos writes *samekh le-kivleh* (סָמֵךְ לְקִבְלֵהּ). *Samekh*, from סמך, is "one who supports" rather than simply "a helper", which may suggest that the companion is pictured as someone to lean on. *Le-kivleh*, from קבל, "opposite him, corresponding to him", keeps the Hebrew image of a counterpart who stands facing the man.
- **"The beast of the field".** The Hebrew *hayyat ha-sadeh* becomes *hevat bera* (חֵוַת בְּרָא); *bera* is the open country outside settled land. Otherwise a literal rendering: *be'ira* (בְּעִירָא) for "animal" and *shemahan* (שְׁמָהָן) for "names".
- **Textual note.** For printed לְקִבְלֵהּ *le-kivleh* the Yemenite text reads כְּקִבְלֵיהּ *ke-kivleih*, with the comparative prefix ke- ("like, as"), which matches the ke- of the Hebrew *kenegdo*. The sense, "corresponding to him", is much the same.
**Words to note:** שְׁמָהָן *shemahan* — names (שֵׁמוֹת) · בְּעִירָא *be'ira* — animal (הַבְּהֵמָה) · בְּרָא *bera* — the field (הַשָּׂדֶה) · סָמֵךְ *samekh* — a support (עֵזֶר) · לְקִבְלֵהּ *le-kivleh* — corresponding to him (כְּנֶגְדּוֹ)
---
### Bereshit 2:21
**Torah**
וַיַּפֵּל֩ ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֧ים ׀ תַּרְדֵּמָ֛ה עַל־הָאָדָ֖ם וַיִּישָׁ֑ן וַיִּקַּ֗ח אַחַת֙ מִצַּלְעֹתָ֔יו וַיִּסְגֹּ֥ר בָּשָׂ֖ר תַּחְתֶּֽנָּה׃
**Translation**
Hashem God caused unconsciousness to fall upon the man and he slept. He took one of his ribs and closed over flesh in its place.
**Onkelos**
וּרְמָא ה׳ אֱלֹקִים שִׁינְתָא עַל אָדָם וּדְמֵךְ וּנְסִיב חֲדָא מֵעִלְעוֹהִי וּמְלֵי בִשְׂרָא תְּחוֹתַהּ
**Onkelos in English**
Hashem God cast sleep upon the man and he slept. He took one of his ribs and filled flesh in its place.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Cast sleep".** The Hebrew causative *va-yappel*, "caused to fall", becomes the simple verb *u-rema* (וּרְמָא), "and He cast". For *tardemah*, which the Hebrew uses for an unusually deep sleep, Onkelos has *shinta* (שִׁינְתָא), the ordinary Aramaic word for sleep, so the Aramaic does not mark the sleep as anything special. "And he slept" is *u-demekh* (וּדְמֵךְ), from the Aramaic root דמך.
- **"Filled flesh".** Where the Hebrew says God "closed" flesh in its place (*va-yisgor*), Onkelos says He "filled" it (*u-melei*, וּמְלֵי). This perhaps reflects a reading of the verse as describing the space left by the rib being filled with flesh, rather than an opening being closed.
- **"One of his ribs".** *Me-ilohi* (מֵעִלְעוֹהִי) uses the Aramaic word for rib (עלע) for the Hebrew *tzela*; the noun recurs as *ila* in the next verse.
**Words to note:** וּרְמָא *u-rema* — and He cast (וַיַּפֵּל) · שִׁינְתָא *shinta* — sleep (תַּרְדֵּמָה) · וּדְמֵךְ *u-demekh* — and he slept (וַיִּישָׁן) · מֵעִלְעוֹהִי *me-ilohi* — of his ribs (מִצַּלְעֹתָיו) · וּמְלֵי *u-melei* — and He filled (וַיִּסְגֹּר)
---
### Bereshit 2:22
**Torah**
וַיִּ֩בֶן֩ ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֧ים ׀ אֶֽת־הַצֵּלָ֛ע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַ֥ח מִן־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְאִשָּׁ֑ה וַיְבִאֶ֖הָ אֶל־הָֽאָדָֽם׃
**Translation**
Hashem God built the rib that He took from the man into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
**Onkelos**
וּבְנָא ה׳ אֱלֹקִים יָת עִלְעָא דִּנְסִיב מִן אָדָם לְאִתְּתָא וְאַיְתַהּ לְוַת אָדָם
**Onkelos in English**
Hashem God built the rib that He took from the man into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Built ... that He took".** A literal rendering. *U-vena* (וּבְנָא) is the same root as the Hebrew *va-yiven*, "built". "Took" is *di-nesiv* (דִּנְסִיב): Onkelos renders the Hebrew לקח with the same Aramaic verb in 2:21 (*u-nesiv*), here, and again in 2:23 (*nesiva*), so the thread of "taking" from the man is kept in the Aramaic.
- **"To the man".** The Hebrew *el* is rendered *levat* (לְוַת), "to, towards" a person.
**Words to note:** וּבְנָא *u-vena* — built (וַיִּבֶן) · עִלְעָא *ila* — the rib (הַצֵּלָע) · דִּנְסִיב *di-nesiv* — that He took (לָקַח) · לְאִתְּתָא *le-itteta* — into a woman (לְאִשָּׁה) · וְאַיְתַהּ *ve-aitah* — and He brought her (וַיְבִאֶהָ)
---
### Bereshit 2:23
**Torah**
וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ הָֽאָדָם֒ זֹ֣את הַפַּ֗עַם עֶ֚צֶם מֵֽעֲצָמַ֔י וּבָשָׂ֖ר מִבְּשָׂרִ֑י לְזֹאת֙ יִקָּרֵ֣א אִשָּׁ֔ה כִּ֥י מֵאִ֖ישׁ לֻֽקְחָה־זֹּֽאת׃
**Translation**
The man said: This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This shall be called Woman, for from Man was she taken.
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמַר הָאָדָם הֲדָא זִמְנָא גַּרְמָא מִגַּרְמַי וּבִסְרָא מִבִּסְרִי לְדָא יִתְקְרֵי אִתְּתָא אֲרֵי מִבַּעְלָא נְסִיבָא דָא
**Onkelos in English**
The man said: This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This shall be called Woman, for from the husband was she taken.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"From the husband".** The Hebrew explains the name *ishah* by *ish*, a wordplay that cannot survive in Aramaic: the woman is *itteta* (אִתְּתָא), but the one she was taken from is *ba'la* (מִבַּעְלָא), "the husband" or "master". In the next verse the same Hebrew *ish* is rendered *gevar*, "a man"; the choice of *ba'la* here perhaps indicates that Onkelos read *ish* in this verse as the man in his role as husband.
- **"This ... This ... she".** The Hebrew uses *zot* three times: *zot ha-pa'am*, *le-zot*, *lukkeha zot*. Onkelos keeps all three with forms of the Aramaic demonstrative: הֲדָא, לְדָא and דָא. *Hada zimna* (הֲדָא זִמְנָא) is literally "this time".
- **"Was she taken".** *Nesiva* (נְסִיבָא) is from the same verb Onkelos used for "took" in 2:21 and 2:22, and *yitkerei* (יִתְקְרֵי) is passive, like the Hebrew *yikkare*. Otherwise a literal rendering: *garma* for "bone" and *bisra* for "flesh".
- **Textual note.** The Yemenite text reads מִבַּעְלַהּ *mi-ba'lah*, "from her husband", for printed מִבַּעְלָא *mi-ba'la*, "from the husband". It also has plain אָדָם for printed הָאָדָם, which carries the Hebrew definite article; the printed text has the article here and in 3:12, and the plain form elsewhere in these verses.
**Words to note:** הֲדָא זִמְנָא *hada zimna* — this at last (זֹאת הַפַּעַם) · גַּרְמָא *garma* — bone (עֶצֶם) · וּבִסְרָא *u-visra* — and flesh (וּבָשָׂר) · אִתְּתָא *itteta* — Woman (אִשָּׁה) · מִבַּעְלָא *mi-ba'la* — from the husband (מֵאִישׁ) · נְסִיבָא *nesiva* — was taken (לֻקְחָה)
---
### Bereshit 2:24
**Torah**
עַל־כֵּן֙ יַֽעֲזׇב־אִ֔ישׁ אֶת־אָבִ֖יו וְאֶת־אִמּ֑וֹ וְדָבַ֣ק בְּאִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וְהָי֖וּ לְבָשָׂ֥ר אֶחָֽד׃
**Translation**
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
**Onkelos**
עַל כֵּן יִשְׁבּוֹק גְּבַר בֵּית מִשְׁכְּבֵי אַבוּהִי וְאִמֵּהּ וְיִדְבַּק בְּאִתְּתֵהּ וִיהוֹן לְבִסְרָא חָדּ
**Onkelos in English**
Therefore, a man shall leave the house of the beds of his father and his mother, and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"The house of the beds of his father and his mother".** The main change in the verse. The Hebrew says a man leaves "his father and his mother"; Onkelos adds *beit mishkevei* (בֵּית מִשְׁכְּבֵי), so that what the man leaves is his parents' sleeping quarters, their household. This may suggest that Onkelos understood the verse as describing a change of household on marriage rather than a severing of the bond with father and mother. The Hebrew repeats *et* before each parent; in the Aramaic both depend on the one phrase.
- **"A man ... shall leave".** *Gevar* (גְּבַר) renders *ish*, and *yishbok* (יִשְׁבּוֹק), the Aramaic verb for leaving or letting go, renders *ya'azov*.
- **"Cling ... one flesh".** A literal rendering: *ve-yidbak* (וְיִדְבַּק) shares the root דבק with the Hebrew *ve-davak*, and *le-visra had* (לְבִסְרָא חָדּ) is "one flesh".
**Words to note:** יִשְׁבּוֹק *yishbok* — shall leave (יַעֲזׇב) · גְּבַר *gevar* — a man (אִישׁ) · בֵּית מִשְׁכְּבֵי *beit mishkevei* — the house of the beds of · וְיִדְבַּק *ve-yidbak* — and cling (וְדָבַק)
---
### Bereshit 2:25
**Torah**
וַיִּֽהְי֤וּ שְׁנֵיהֶם֙ עֲרוּמִּ֔ים הָֽאָדָ֖ם וְאִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וְלֹ֖א יִתְבֹּשָֽׁשׁוּ׃
**Translation**
The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.
**Onkelos**
וַהֲווֹ תַרְוֵיהוֹן עַרְטִילָאִין אָדָם וְאִתְּתֵהּ וְלָא מִתְכַּלְמִין
**Onkelos in English**
The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Naked".** Onkelos uses *artila'in* (עַרְטִילָאִין), the Aramaic word for "naked". The Hebrew *arummim* sounds like *arum*, "cunning", used of the serpent in the very next verse; since Onkelos renders that word quite differently (*hakkim*, 3:1), the echo between the two verses does not exist in the Aramaic.
- **"They were not ashamed".** *Mitkalmin* (מִתְכַּלְמִין) is a participle, "were not being ashamed", where the Hebrew has the imperfect *yitboshashu*; the participle presents the absence of shame as an ongoing state. The Aramaic verb is from a different root from the Hebrew.
**Words to note:** תַרְוֵיהוֹן *tarveihon* — the two of them (שְׁנֵיהֶם) · עַרְטִילָאִין *artila'in* — naked (עֲרוּמִּים) · מִתְכַּלְמִין *mitkalmin* — ashamed (יִתְבֹּשָׁשׁוּ)
---
### Bereshit 3:1
**Torah**
וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִכֹּל֙ חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹקִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃
**Translation**
The serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Hashem God made; and it said to the woman, Did God even say that you should not eat from all the trees of the Garden?
**Onkelos**
וְחִוְיָא הֲוָה חַכִּים מִכֹּל חֵוַת בְּרָא דִּי עֲבַד ה׳ אֱלֹקִים וַאֲמַר לְאִתְּתָא בְּקוּשְׁטָא אֲרֵי אֲמַר ה׳ לָא תֵיכְלוּן מִכֹּל אִילַן גִּינְתָא
**Onkelos in English**
The serpent was wiser than any beast of the field which Hashem God made; and it said to the woman, [Is it] in truth that Hashem said, you should not eat from all the trees of the Garden?
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Wiser".** For *arum* Onkelos writes *hakkim* (חַכִּים), the ordinary Aramaic word for "wise". The Aramaic thus describes the serpent's intelligence with a word that has no link to *artila'in*, "naked", in 2:25, so the Hebrew play between the two verses disappears.
- **"[Is it] in truth".** The Hebrew *af ki*, literally "even though" or "even if", becomes *be-kushta* (בְּקוּשְׁטָא), "in truth", followed by *arei*, "that". The serpent's words become a plain question about whether the prohibition was really said.
- **"Hashem said".** In the narrative the Hebrew has *Hashem Elokim*, and Onkelos keeps both (ה׳ אֱלֹקִים). But in the serpent's words the Hebrew has *Elokim* alone (אֱלֹקִים), and Onkelos renders it with the Name (ה׳). The Hebrew distinction between the narrator's name for God and the serpent's is therefore not kept in the printed Aramaic.
- **"From all the trees of the Garden".** *Ilan* (אִילַן) is the Aramaic for "tree" and *ginta* (גִּינְתָא) for "garden"; both are singular, as in the Hebrew.
- **Textual note.** The Yemenite text lacks אֲרֵי, "that", after *be-kushta*, giving "In truth has Hashem said ...?" The question form and the point about the Name are the same in both texts.
**Words to note:** וְחִוְיָא *ve-hivya* — the serpent (וְהַנָּחָשׁ) · חַכִּים *hakkim* — wise (עָרוּם) · בְּקוּשְׁטָא *be-kushta* — in truth · תֵיכְלוּן *teikhlun* — you should eat (תֹאכְלוּ) · אִילַן *ilan* — tree (עֵץ) · גִּינְתָא *ginta* — the Garden (הַגָּן)
---
### Unit 1 summary
Onkelos follows the Hebrew closely through most of this unit, keeping the threefold "this" of the man's exclamation and using one Aramaic verb, nesiv, wherever the Hebrew says the rib or the woman was "taken". His changes cluster at the points where the Hebrew relies on wordplay or is open to more than one reading. The pun of ishah and ish cannot survive, since the Aramaic says itteta "woman" and ba'la "husband"; the echo between the couple's being 'arummim, "naked", and the serpent's being 'arum, "cunning", is also lost, as the Aramaic has artila'in and hakkim. In 2:24 an added phrase makes the man leave "the house of the beds" of his parents rather than his parents themselves, and in 3:1 the serpent's bare Elokim becomes the Name, and its abrupt af ki becomes a plain question, "in truth".
---
## Unit 2 — Bereshit 3:2–8: The serpent's argument, the eating, and the hiding
The woman tells the serpent what they may and may not eat; the serpent denies that they will die, and she and her husband eat from the tree. Their eyes are opened, they cover themselves, and they hide from Hashem God among the trees of the Garden.
---
### Bereshit 3:2
**Torah**
וַתֹּ֥אמֶר הָֽאִשָּׁ֖ה אֶל־הַנָּחָ֑שׁ מִפְּרִ֥י עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן נֹאכֵֽל׃
**Translation**
The woman said to the serpent, From the fruit of the trees of the Garden we may eat.
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמָרַת אִתְּתָא לְחִוְיָא מִפֵּירֵי אִילַן גִּינְתָא נֵיכוּל
**Onkelos in English**
The woman said to the serpent, From the fruits of the trees of the Garden we may eat.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"From the fruits".** The Hebrew has the singular collective *peri*, "fruit"; Onkelos has the plural *pere* (מִפֵּירֵי). The sense is the same; the Aramaic simply makes the collective plural explicit.
- **"The serpent".** The Hebrew *nahash* is rendered by the ordinary Aramaic word for a snake, *hivya* (לְחִוְיָא). Otherwise a literal rendering.
**Words to note:** לְחִוְיָא *le-hivya* — to the serpent (הַנָּחָשׁ) · מִפֵּירֵי *mi-pere* — from the fruits (מִפְּרִי) · אִילַן *ilan* — tree (עֵץ) · גִּינְתָא *ginta* — the Garden (הַגָּן) · נֵיכוּל *nekhul* — we may eat (נֹאכֵל)
---
### Bereshit 3:3
**Torah**
וּמִפְּרִ֣י הָעֵץ֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּתוֹךְ־הַגָּן֒ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹקִ֗ים לֹ֤א תֹֽאכְלוּ֙ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְלֹ֥א תִגְּע֖וּ בּ֑וֹ פֶּן־תְּמֻתֽוּן׃
**Translation**
But of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the Garden, God said, You shall not eat from it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
**Onkelos**
וּמִפֵּירֵי אִילָנָא דִּי בִמְצִיעוּת גִּינְתָא אֲמַר ה׳ לָא תֵיכְלוּן מִנֵּהּ וְלָא תְקַרְבוּן בֵּהּ דִּילְמָא תְּמוּתוּן
**Onkelos in English**
But of the fruits of the tree that is in the middle of the Garden, Hashem said, You shall not eat from it, neither shall you come near it, lest you die.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Hashem said".** The Hebrew speaker is *Elokim*; Onkelos renders the word with the Name, ה׳. The same happens in 3:5, where *Elokim* is the one who knows.
- **"Neither shall you come near it".** For Hebrew *tigge'u*, "touch", Onkelos uses *tekarvun* (תְקַרְבוּן), from the root קרב, whose basic sense is "come near". With the preposition *beh*, "it", the verb may well mean contact rather than mere approach, so the prohibition is perhaps not widened; but the English shows the different verb.
- **"In the middle".** Hebrew *be-tokh* is rendered *vi-mtzi'ut* (בִמְצִיעוּת), "in the middle". In 3:8 the same Hebrew word becomes *be-go*, "among", so Onkelos uses two Aramaic words for one Hebrew word, perhaps by context.
- **"The fruits".** As in 3:2, the singular *peri* is rendered by the plural *pere*.
- **Textual note.** The printed text vocalizes the verb as a pa'el, תְקַרְבוּן (*tekarvun*); the Yemenite text has the simple pe'al, תִּקְרְבוּן (*tikrevun*), the usual form for "come near". The root and the sense of the note above are the same in both.
**Words to note:** וּמִפֵּירֵי *u-mi-pere* — and of the fruits (וּמִפְּרִי) · בִמְצִיעוּת *vi-mtzi'ut* — in the middle (בְּתוֹךְ) · תְקַרְבוּן *tekarvun* — you shall come near (תִגְּעוּ) · דִּילְמָא *dilma* — lest (פֶּן) · תְּמוּתוּן *temutun* — you die (תְּמֻתוּן)
---
### Bereshit 3:4
**Torah**
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַנָּחָ֖שׁ אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁ֑ה לֹֽא־מ֖וֹת תְּמֻתֽוּן׃
**Translation**
The serpent said to the woman, You certainly will not die.
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמַר חִוְיָא לְאִיתְּתָא לָא מוּת תְּמוּתוּן
**Onkelos in English**
The serpent said to the woman, You certainly will not die.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"You certainly will not die".** The Hebrew strengthens the verb with an infinitive, *lo mot temutun*. Onkelos keeps the construction word for word: *la mut temutun* (לָא מוּת תְּמוּתוּן). A literal rendering.
- **Textual note.** For the infinitive the printed text has מוּת (*mut*), which matches the Hebrew form *mot*; the Yemenite text has מְמָת (*memat*), the regular Aramaic infinitive. The construction and meaning are the same.
**Words to note:** חִוְיָא *hivya* — the serpent (הַנָּחָשׁ) · לְאִיתְּתָא *le-itteta* — to the woman (הָאִשָּׁה) · מוּת *mut* — certainly (lit. dying) (מוֹת) · תְּמוּתוּן *temutun* — you will die (תְּמֻתוּן)
---
### Bereshit 3:5
**Torah**
כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹקִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכׇלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹקִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃
**Translation**
For God (knows) that on the day you will eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will become as gods, knowing what is good and what is evil.
**Onkelos**
אֲרֵי גַּלֵּי קֳדָם ה׳ אֲרֵי בְּיוֹמָא דְּתֵיכְלוּן מִנֵּהּ וְיִתְפַּתְּחַן עֵינֵיכוֹן וּתְהוֹן כְּרַבְרְבִין חַכִּימִין בֵּין טַב לְבִישׁ
**Onkelos in English**
For it is revealed before Hashem that on the day that you will eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will become like great ones, wise [to know] between good and evil.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"It is revealed before Hashem".** The Hebrew says *Elokim* "knows". Onkelos does not make God the subject of a verb of knowing but writes *gallei kodam* ה׳, "it is revealed before Hashem" — a rephrasing of language about God.
- **"Like great ones".** The Hebrew uses the same spelling twice: *Elokim* as the one who knows, and *ke-Elokim*, "as gods". Onkelos separates the two: the first becomes the Name, the second *ke-ravrevin* (כְּרַבְרְבִין), "like great ones". He thus treats them as two different words (a homograph), perhaps so that the serpent's comparison is not to God himself.
- **"Wise between good and evil".** For Hebrew *yode'ei*, "knowing", the printed Onkelos has *hakkimin* (חַכִּימִין), "wise", followed by *bein tav le-vish*, "between good and evil", where the Hebrew has "good and evil" with no "between". The Hebrew root ידע appears twice in this verse and once in 3:7; Onkelos keeps it only in 3:7 (*vi-da'u*).
- **"On the day that you will eat".** The Hebrew infinitive with a suffix, *akhalkhem*, becomes a finite clause, *de-tekhlun*, "that you will eat" — grammatical smoothing.
- **"Will be opened".** Hebrew *ve-nifkehu* (root פקח) is rendered *ve-yitpattehan* (וְיִתְפַּתְּחַן), from the Aramaic root פתח; Onkelos uses the same root for the fulfilment in 3:7.
- **Textual note.** Where the printed text has חַכִּימִין (*hakkimin*, "wise"), the Yemenite text reads חָכְמִין (*hakhmin*), which can be read as a participle, "knowing", closer to the Hebrew *yode'ei*. The point above about "wise" holds for the printed text only.
**Words to note:** גַּלֵּי *gallei* — revealed (יֹדֵעַ) · קֳדָם *kodam* — before · וְיִתְפַּתְּחַן *ve-yitpattehan* — will be opened (וְנִפְקְחוּ) · כְּרַבְרְבִין *ke-ravrevin* — like great ones (כֵּאלֹקִים) · חַכִּימִין *hakkimin* — wise (יֹדְעֵי) · לְבִישׁ *le-vish* — evil (וָרָע)
---
### Bereshit 3:6
**Torah**
וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָֽאִשָּׁ֡ה כִּ֣י טוֹב֩ הָעֵ֨ץ לְמַאֲכָ֜ל וְכִ֧י תַֽאֲוָה־ה֣וּא לָעֵינַ֗יִם וְנֶחְמָ֤ד הָעֵץ֙ לְהַשְׂכִּ֔יל וַתִּקַּ֥ח מִפִּרְי֖וֹ וַתֹּאכַ֑ל וַתִּתֵּ֧ן גַּם־לְאִישָׁ֛הּ עִמָּ֖הּ וַיֹּאכַֽל׃
**Translation**
The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was tempting to the eyes, and that the tree was appealing as a means of [obtaining] wisdom. She took of its fruit and she ate, and she also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate.
**Onkelos**
וַחֲזַת אִתְּתָא אֲרֵי טַב אִילַן לְמֵיכָל וַאֲרֵי אַסֵּי הוּא לְעַיְנִין וּמְרַגֵּג אִילָנָא לְאִסְתַּכָּלָא בֵהּ וּנְסֵיבַת מֵאִבֵּהּ וַאֲכָלַת וִיהָבַת אַף לְבַעְלַהּ עִמַּהּ וַאֲכָל
**Onkelos in English**
The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was healing to the eyes, and the tree was appealing to gaze upon it. She took of its fruit and she ate, and she also gave [it] to her husband with her, and he ate.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Healing to the eyes".** The Hebrew *ta'avah*, "a desire, tempting", is rendered *assei* (אַסֵּי), from the root אסי, "heal". The Aramaic thus describes the tree as a remedy for the eyes rather than an object of craving — a real change of sense, whose reason the text does not state.
- **"To gaze upon it".** The Hebrew *le-haskil*, "to make wise", becomes *le-istakkala beh* (לְאִסְתַּכָּלָא בֵהּ), "to look at it". The Aramaic verb has the same consonants as the Hebrew root (with ס for שׂ), but in Aramaic the root means "look, contemplate". Onkelos may be reading the Hebrew word through its Aramaic cognate.
- **"Appealing".** Hebrew *nehmad* is rendered *u-meraggeg* (וּמְרַגֵּג), "desirable". Note that Onkelos does not use this word of desire for *ta'avah* earlier in the verse.
- **"Its fruit".** Here the Hebrew *piryo* is rendered *me-ibbeh* (מֵאִבֵּהּ), from *ibba*, "fruit", whereas in 3:2 and 3:3 the Hebrew *peri* became *pere*. Two Aramaic words thus render one Hebrew word within a few verses.
- **"To her husband".** The Hebrew *le-ishah*, literally "to her man", becomes *le-va'lah* (לְבַעְלַהּ), "to her husband", the specific Aramaic term.
- **Textual note.** For *assei* the Yemenite text has אָסוּ (*asu*), another form from the same root אסי, "healing"; the note above holds for both texts.
**Words to note:** אַסֵּי *assei* — healing (תַאֲוָה) · וּמְרַגֵּג *u-meraggeg* — appealing (וְנֶחְמָד) · לְאִסְתַּכָּלָא *le-istakkala* — to gaze (לְהַשְׂכִּיל) · וּנְסֵיבַת *u-nseivat* — she took (וַתִּקַּח) · מֵאִבֵּהּ *me-ibbeh* — of its fruit (מִפִּרְיוֹ) · לְבַעְלַהּ *le-va'lah* — to her husband (לְאִישָׁהּ)
---
### Bereshit 3:7
**Torah**
וַתִּפָּקַ֙חְנָה֙ עֵינֵ֣י שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּ֣דְע֔וּ כִּ֥י עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם הֵ֑ם וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙ עֲלֵ֣ה תְאֵנָ֔ה וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם חֲגֹרֹֽת׃
**Translation**
The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. They sewed together fig leaves, and made for themselves loincloths.
**Onkelos**
וְאִתְפַּתָּחָא עֵינֵי תַרְוֵיהוֹן וִידָעוּ אֲרֵי עַרְטִילָאִין אִינוּן וְחַטִּיטוּ לְהוֹן טַרְפֵי תְאֵנִין וַעֲבָדוּ לְהוֹן זְרָזִין
**Onkelos in English**
The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. They sewed together for themselves leaves of figs, and made for themselves loincloths.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Were opened".** Hebrew *va-tippakahnah* is rendered *ve-itpattaha* (וְאִתְפַּתָּחָא), from the same Aramaic root פתח used for the serpent's promise in 3:5, so the fulfilment echoes the promise in Aramaic as in Hebrew.
- **"For themselves".** Onkelos has *lehon*, "for themselves", twice: once with "made", as in the Hebrew *lahem*, and once with "sewed together", where the Hebrew has no such word. The addition balances the two clauses.
- **"Leaves of figs".** The Hebrew singular collectives *aleh te'enah*, "fig leaf", become plurals: *tarfei te'enin* (טַרְפֵי תְאֵנִין), "leaves of figs".
- **"They realized".** Here, unlike in 3:5, Hebrew ידע is rendered with the same root: *vi-da'u* (וִידָעוּ).
**Words to note:** וְאִתְפַּתָּחָא *ve-itpattaha* — were opened (וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה) · תַרְוֵיהוֹן *tarveihon* — both of them (שְׁנֵיהֶם) · עַרְטִילָאִין *artila'in* — naked (עֵירֻמִּם) · וְחַטִּיטוּ *ve-hattitu* — they sewed together (וַיִּתְפְּרוּ) · טַרְפֵי *tarfei* — leaves (עֲלֵה) · זְרָזִין *zerazin* — loincloths (חֲגֹרֹת)
---
### Bereshit 3:8
**Torah**
וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֞וּ אֶת־ק֨וֹל ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֛ים מִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ בַּגָּ֖ן לְר֣וּחַ הַיּ֑וֹם וַיִּתְחַבֵּ֨א הָֽאָדָ֜ם וְאִשְׁתּ֗וֹ מִפְּנֵי֙ ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֔ים בְּת֖וֹךְ עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃
**Translation**
They heard the voice of Hashem God moving in the Garden at the breeze of the day. The man and his wife hid themselves from [the Presence of] Hashem God among the trees of the Garden.
**Onkelos**
וּשְׁמָעוּ יָת קַל מֵימְרָא דַּה׳ אֱלֹקִים מְהַלֵּךְ בְּגִינְתָא לִמְנַח יוֹמָא וְאִיטַמַּר אָדָם וְאִתְּתֵהּ מִן קֳדָם ה׳ אֱלֹקִים בְּגוֹ אִילַן גִּינְתָא
**Onkelos in English**
They heard the voice of the Memra of Hashem God moving in the Garden at the resting of the day. Adam and his wife hid themselves from before Hashem God among the trees of the Garden.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"The voice of the Memra of Hashem God".** The Hebrew "the voice of Hashem God" becomes *kal meimra* (מֵימְרָא) *de-Hashem Elokim*, "the voice of the Memra (Word) of Hashem God". The added *Memra* perhaps places a mediating term between God and the heard voice — a rephrasing of language about God.
- **"Hashem God".** Here the double Name is kept as in the Hebrew, ה׳ אֱלֹקִים, both times in the verse, whereas *Elokim* alone in 3:3 and 3:5 was rendered ה׳.
- **"At the resting of the day".** The Hebrew *le-ruah ha-yom*, "at the breeze of the day", becomes *li-mnah yoma* (לִמְנַח יוֹמָא). The Aramaic noun is related to the verb for "rest" and may refer to the day's decline toward evening; the wind of the Hebrew is not translated.
- **"From before".** Hebrew *mi-penei*, "from the presence of", becomes *min kodam*, "from before", as with *kodam* in 3:5.
- **"Adam".** Hebrew *ha-adam*, "the man", is kept as the Hebrew word without an article, אָדָם; this may suggest that Onkelos treats it as a name here.
- **"Among".** Hebrew *be-tokh* is rendered *be-go* (בְּגוֹ), "among"; compare *vi-mtzi'ut*, "in the middle", for the same Hebrew word in 3:3.
**Words to note:** מֵימְרָא *meimra* — Memra (Word) · מְהַלֵּךְ *mehallekh* — moving (מִתְהַלֵּךְ) · לִמְנַח *li-mnah* — at the resting (לְרוּחַ) · וְאִיטַמַּר *ve-itammar* — hid themselves (וַיִּתְחַבֵּא) · אָדָם *adam* — Adam (הָאָדָם) · בְּגוֹ *be-go* — among (בְּתוֹךְ)
---
### Unit 2 summary
Onkelos follows this unit closely, keeping even the emphatic doubled verb of the serpent's denial (la mut temutun). His larger changes cluster around language about God and about knowledge. Elokim as the speaker or knower is rendered Hashem (3:3, 3:5), while the same Hebrew spelling in 'as Elokim' becomes ke-ravrevin, 'like great ones', so that the homograph is resolved in translation; in 3:8 the double Name Hashem Elokim is kept as it stands. God's knowing becomes 'it is revealed before Hashem', the heard voice becomes the voice of the Memra of Hashem, and 'from the presence of' becomes 'from before'. The Hebrew root ידע, used three times, is kept only for the couple's realization in 3:7; elsewhere it becomes 'revealed' and 'wise'. In 3:6 the tree's appeal is recast: 'a desire to the eyes' becomes 'healing to the eyes', and 'to make wise' becomes 'to gaze upon it', perhaps reading the Hebrew להשכיל through its Aramaic cognate. Smaller adjustments include plural 'fruits' and 'leaves of figs', 'her husband' for 'her man', and the added 'for themselves' with the sewing.
---
## Unit 3 — Bereshit 3:9–16: Hashem questions the man and the woman, and pronounces the curses
Hashem calls to the man, who explains that he hid because he was naked; the man blames the woman and the woman blames the serpent. Hashem then curses the serpent and declares the woman's pains and her relationship with her husband.
---
### Bereshit 3:9
**Torah**
וַיִּקְרָ֛א ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֖ים אֶל־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ אַיֶּֽכָּה׃
**Translation**
Hashem God called to the man, and He said, Where are you?
**Onkelos**
וּקְרָא ה׳ אֱלֹקִים לְאָדָם וַאֲמַר לֵהּ אָן אָתְּ
**Onkelos in English**
Hashem God called to Adam, and He said to him, Where are you?
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"To Adam".** The Hebrew has the article, הָאָדָם, "the man". Onkelos writes לְאָדָם with no article; the form may be read as the name Adam.
- **"Where are you?"** The single Hebrew word אַיֶּכָּה (ayekah) becomes two plain Aramaic words, אָן אָתְּ, "where [are] you". Otherwise a literal rendering, including "to him" (*leh*) for Hebrew לוֹ.
**Words to note:** וּקְרָא *u-kera* — called (וַיִּקְרָא) · לְאָדָם *le-adam* — to Adam (הָאָדָם) · אָן *an* — where · אָתְּ *at* — you
---
### Bereshit 3:10
**Torah**
וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֶת־קֹלְךָ֥ שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי בַּגָּ֑ן וָאִירָ֛א כִּֽי־עֵירֹ֥ם אָנֹ֖כִי וָאֵחָבֵֽא׃
**Translation**
He said, I heard Your voice in the Garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמַר יָת קַל מֵימְרָךְ שַׁמְעִית בְּגִינְתָא וּדְחֵילִית אֲרֵי עַרְטִילַאי אֲנָא וְאִיטַמָּרִית
**Onkelos in English**
He said, I heard the voice of Your Memra in the Garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"The voice of Your Memra".** The Hebrew says simply קֹלְךָ, "Your voice". Onkelos has קַל מֵימְרָךְ, "the voice of Your Memra (word)". Placing the Memra between God and what is heard may indicate a wish to avoid ascribing a voice to God directly.
- **"I was afraid... I hid myself".** The verbs are rendered with their Aramaic equivalents: וּדְחֵילִית (root דחל, "fear") for וָאִירָא, and the reflexive וְאִיטַמָּרִית, "I hid myself", for וָאֵחָבֵא. "Because" is אֲרֵי for Hebrew כִּי, and "naked" is עַרְטִילַאי.
**Words to note:** מֵימְרָךְ *meimrakh* — Your Memra (word) · שַׁמְעִית *shamit* — I heard (שָׁמַעְתִּי) · בְּגִינְתָא *be-ginta* — in the Garden (בַּגָּן) · וּדְחֵילִית *u-dehelit* — and I was afraid (וָאִירָא) · עַרְטִילַאי *artilai* — naked (עֵירֹם) · וְאִיטַמָּרִית *ve-itammarit* — so I hid myself (וָאֵחָבֵא)
---
### Bereshit 3:11
**Torah**
וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מִ֚י הִגִּ֣יד לְךָ֔ כִּ֥י עֵירֹ֖ם אָ֑תָּה הֲמִן־הָעֵ֗ץ אֲשֶׁ֧ר צִוִּיתִ֛יךָ לְבִלְתִּ֥י אֲכׇל־מִמֶּ֖נּוּ אָכָֽלְתָּ׃
**Translation**
And He said, Who told you that you were naked? From the tree whereof I commanded you not to eat of it, have you eaten?
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמַר מָן חַוֵי לָךְ אֲרֵי עַרְטִילַאי אָתְּ הֲמִן אִילָנָא דִּפַקֶּדְתָּךְ בְּדִיל דְּלָא לְמֵיכַל מִנֵּהּ אֲכָלְתְּ
**Onkelos in English**
And He said, Who told you that you were naked? From the tree whereof I commanded you in order not to eat of it, have you eaten?
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Who told you".** הִגִּיד ("told") is rendered by חַוֵי, from the Aramaic root חוי, "to show, declare". "Who" is מָן.
- **"In order not to eat".** The Hebrew לְבִלְתִּי "not to" is rendered with a purpose phrase, בְּדִיל דְּלָא, literally "in order that not". The sense is unchanged; the Aramaic simply spells out the negative purpose of the command.
- **"Have you eaten?"** The interrogative particle is kept exactly: Hebrew הֲמִן and Aramaic הֲמִן both open the question. The tree is אִילָנָא, Onkelos's word for הָעֵץ, and "I commanded you" is דִּפַקֶּדְתָּךְ, root פקד.
**Words to note:** מָן *man* — who (מִי) · חַוֵי *havei* — told (הִגִּיד) · אִילָנָא *ilana* — the tree (הָעֵץ) · דִּפַקֶּדְתָּךְ *di-fakkedtakh* — whereof I commanded you (צִוִּיתִיךָ) · בְּדִיל *bedil* — in order · לְמֵיכַל *le-meikhal* — to eat (אֲכׇל)
---
### Bereshit 3:12
**Torah**
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הָֽאָדָ֑ם הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָתַ֣תָּה עִמָּדִ֔י הִ֛וא נָֽתְנָה־לִּ֥י מִן־הָעֵ֖ץ וָאֹכֵֽל׃
**Translation**
The man said, The woman that You gave to be with me—she gave me of the tree and I ate.
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמַר הָאָדָם אִתְּתָא דִּיהַבְתָּ עִמִּי הִיא יַהֲבַת לִי מִן אִילָנָא וַאֲכָלִית
**Onkelos in English**
The man said, The woman that You gave [to be] with me—she gave me of the tree and I ate.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"You gave... she gave".** The Hebrew uses the root נתן twice, נָתַתָּה and נָתְנָה. Onkelos keeps the repetition with one Aramaic root, יהב: דִּיהַבְתָּ and יַהֲבַת. The man's point, that the giving began with God, stays as visible in the Aramaic as in the Hebrew.
- **"With me".** Hebrew עִמָּדִי becomes the plain עִמִּי. Otherwise a literal rendering.
- **Textual note.** The printed text has הָאָדָם, the Hebrew form with the article, as in the Torah text. The Yemenite text reads אָדָם without it, matching לְאָדָם in 3:9.
**Words to note:** אִתְּתָא *itteta* — the woman (הָאִשָּׁה) · דִּיהַבְתָּ *di-yehavta* — that You gave (נָתַתָּה) · עִמִּי *immi* — with me (עִמָּדִי) · יַהֲבַת *yahavat* — she gave (נָתְנָה) · וַאֲכָלִית *va-akhalit* — and I ate (וָאֹכֵל)
---
### Bereshit 3:13
**Torah**
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֛ים לָאִשָּׁ֖ה מַה־זֹּ֣את עָשִׂ֑ית וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה הַנָּחָ֥שׁ הִשִּׁיאַ֖נִי וָאֹכֵֽל׃
**Translation**
Hashem God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? She said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמַר ה׳ אֱלֹקִים לְאִתְּתָא מַה דָּא עַבְדָת וַאֲמָרַת אִתְּתָא חִוְיָא אַטְעַיָנִי וַאֲכָלִית
**Onkelos in English**
Hashem God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? The woman said, The serpent misled me, and I ate.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"The serpent misled me".** Hebrew הִשִּׁיאַנִי is rendered by אַטְעַיָנִי, a causative form of the root טעי, "to go astray, err": literally "caused me to err". The Aramaic thus describes the serpent's act as leading her into error.
- **"The serpent".** Onkelos's word is חִוְיָא (hivya) for הַנָּחָשׁ. Otherwise a literal rendering; the Aramaic, like the Hebrew, names "the woman" (*itteta*) as the speaker.
**Words to note:** דָּא *da* — this (זֹּאת) · עַבְדָת *avdat* — you have done (עָשִׂית) · חִוְיָא *hivya* — the serpent (הַנָּחָשׁ) · אַטְעַיָנִי *atayani* — misled me (הִשִּׁיאַנִי)
---
### Bereshit 3:14
**Torah**
וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֥ים ׀ אֶֽל־הַנָּחָשׁ֮ כִּ֣י עָשִׂ֣יתָ זֹּאת֒ אָר֤וּר אַתָּה֙ מִכׇּל־הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה וּמִכֹּ֖ל חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה עַל־גְּחֹנְךָ֣ תֵלֵ֔ךְ וְעָפָ֥ר תֹּאכַ֖ל כׇּל־יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
**Translation**
Hashem God said to the serpent, Because you did this, cursed are you from among all animals and beasts of the field. On your belly you shall crawl. And dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
**Onkelos**
וַאֲמַר ה׳ אֱלֹקִים לְחִוְיָא אֲרֵי עֲבַדְתָּ דָּא לִיט אַתְּ מִכָּל בְּעִירָא וּמִכֹּל חֵוַת בָּרָא עַל מְעָךְ תֵּיזִילּ וְעַפְרָא תֵיכוּל כָּל יוֹמֵי חַיָּיךְ
**Onkelos in English**
Hashem God said to the serpent, Because you did this, cursed are you from among all animals and from all beasts of the field. On your belly you shall crawl. And dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Cursed are you".** אָרוּר is rendered by לִיט, from the Aramaic root לוט, "to curse".
- **"Beasts of the field".** הַשָּׂדֶה becomes בָּרָא, "the open country"; "animals" is בְּעִירָא for הַבְּהֵמָה.
- **"On your belly you shall crawl".** Hebrew גְּחֹנְךָ is rendered מְעָךְ, "your belly"; the verb תֵּיזִילּ means "go", as does the Hebrew תֵלֵךְ. Otherwise a literal rendering.
**Words to note:** לְחִוְיָא *le-hivya* — to the serpent (הַנָּחָשׁ) · לִיט *lit* — cursed (אָרוּר) · בְּעִירָא *be'ira* — animals (הַבְּהֵמָה) · בָּרָא *bara* — the field (הַשָּׂדֶה) · מְעָךְ *me'akh* — your belly (גְּחֹנְךָ) · תֵּיזִילּ *tezil* — you shall crawl (literally: go) (תֵלֵךְ)
---
### Bereshit 3:15
**Torah**
וְאֵיבָ֣ה ׀ אָשִׁ֗ית בֵּֽינְךָ֙ וּבֵ֣ין הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וּבֵ֥ין זַרְעֲךָ֖ וּבֵ֣ין זַרְעָ֑הּ ה֚וּא יְשׁוּפְךָ֣ רֹ֔אשׁ וְאַתָּ֖ה תְּשׁוּפֶ֥נּוּ עָקֵֽב׃ {ס}
**Translation**
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall strike you on the head, and you shall strike him on the heel..
**Onkelos**
וּדְבָבוּ אֱשַׁוֵּי בֵּינָךְ וּבֵין אִתְּתָא וּבֵין בְּנָךְ וּבֵין בְּנָהַהּ הוּא יְהֵי דְּכִיר לָךְ מַה דִּעֲבַדְתָּ לֵהּ מִלְּקַדְמִין וְאַתְּ תְּהֵא נָטִיר לֵהּ לְסוֹפָא
**Onkelos in English**
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your sons and her sons. He will be remembering against you what you did to him at first, and you will be keeping [it] against him at the end.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Hostility".** וְאֵיבָה is rendered וּדְבָבוּ, "enmity".
- **"Your sons and her sons".** For the Hebrew זַרְעֲךָ and זַרְעָהּ ("your offspring", "her offspring"), Onkelos writes בְּנָךְ and בְּנָהַהּ, "your sons", "her sons". This suggests he read "seed" as meaning descendants.
- **"Remembering... keeping".** The Hebrew image is physical: "he shall strike you on the head, and you shall strike him on the heel", with the same verb (root שוף) in both halves, יְשׁוּפְךָ and תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ. Onkelos replaces it with two different verbs of memory and grudge:
- יְהֵי דְּכִיר, "he will be remembering" what the serpent did to him;
- תְּהֵא נָטִיר, "you will be keeping [it]" against him.
The physical blows disappear, and nothing in the Aramaic corresponds to "head" or "heel" as body parts.
- **"At first... at the end".** In their place stand מִלְּקַדְמִין, "at first", and לְסוֹפָא, "at the end". The pairing may indicate that Onkelos read רֹאשׁ (head) as "beginning" and עָקֵב (heel) as "end", turning a picture of a fight into one of hostility lasting from beginning to end.
- **Textual note.** The Yemenite text lacks לָךְ ("against you") and reads מָא where the printed text has מַה: "he will be remembering what you did to him". It also reads נָטַר for printed נָטִיר, a different vocalized form of the same verb. The rendering "against you" holds for the printed text only.
**Words to note:** וּדְבָבוּ *u-devavu* — hostility (וְאֵיבָה) · בְּנָךְ *benakh* — your sons (זַרְעֲךָ) · דְּכִיר *dekhir* — remembering · מִלְּקַדְמִין *mi-le-kadmin* — at first · נָטִיר *natir* — keeping · לְסוֹפָא *le-sofa* — at the end
---
### Bereshit 3:16
**Torah**
אֶֽל־הָאִשָּׁ֣ה אָמַ֗ר הַרְבָּ֤ה אַרְבֶּה֙ עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְ וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ בְּעֶ֖צֶב תֵּֽלְדִ֣י בָנִ֑ים וְאֶל־אִישֵׁךְ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ וְה֖וּא יִמְשׇׁל־בָּֽךְ׃ {ס}
**Translation**
To the woman He said, I will greatly increase your sorrow and your pregnancy. You will give birth to children with pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.
**Onkelos**
לְאִתְּתָא אֲמַר אַסְגָּאָה אַסְגֵּי צַעֲרַיְכִי וְעִדּוּיַיְכִי בְּצְעַר תֵּלְדִי בְנִין וּלְוַת בַּעְלִךְ תְּהֵא תִּאוּבְתִּיךְ וְהוּא יִשְׁלַט בִּךְ
**Onkelos in English**
To the woman He said, I will greatly increase your sorrow and your pregnancy. With pain you will give birth to children. And to your husband will be your desire, and he will dominate you.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"I will greatly increase".** The Hebrew doubling הַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה is kept with the same construction in Aramaic: אַסְגָּאָה אַסְגֵּי.
- **"Sorrow... pain".** The Hebrew uses the root עצב twice, עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ and בְּעֶצֶב. Onkelos also uses one root for both, צער: צַעֲרַיְכִי and בְּצְעַר. "Your pregnancy" is וְעִדּוּיַיְכִי for וְהֵרֹנֵךְ.
- **"To your husband".** Hebrew אִישֵׁךְ is rendered בַּעְלִךְ, from the root בעל, "husband, master". The Hebrew nominal clause "to your husband your desire" gains a verb, תְּהֵא, "will be"; "your desire" is תִּאוּבְתִּיךְ.
- **"He will dominate you".** Hebrew יִמְשׇׁל (root משל) becomes יִשְׁלַט (root שלט); both mean "rule".
- **Textual note.** For printed תֵּלְדִי, identical to the Hebrew form, the Yemenite text has תְּלִידִין, "you will give birth" with the Aramaic feminine ending; the meaning is the same.
**Words to note:** אַסְגָּאָה *asga'ah* — greatly (הַרְבָּה) · צַעֲרַיְכִי *tza'araikhi* — your sorrow (עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ) · וְעִדּוּיַיְכִי *ve-idduyaikhi* — and your pregnancy (וְהֵרֹנֵךְ) · בַּעְלִךְ *ba'likh* — your husband (אִישֵׁךְ) · תִּאוּבְתִּיךְ *ti'uvtikh* — your desire (תְּשׁוּקָתֵךְ) · יִשְׁלַט *yishlat* — he will dominate (יִמְשׇׁל)
---
### Unit 3 summary
Through most of this unit Onkelos follows the Hebrew closely, often keeping its links of vocabulary: one Aramaic verb for the man's two uses of 'give' in 3:12, and one root for the woman's 'sorrow' and 'pain' in 3:16. The main departures are few but significant. In 3:10 the man hears 'the voice of Your Memra' rather than 'Your voice', perhaps to avoid speaking of God's own voice directly. In 3:15 'seed' becomes 'sons', and the physical image of striking head and heel is replaced by remembering and keeping, 'at first' and 'at the end'; this suggests he read the verse as speaking of lasting hostility, with 'head' and 'heel' perhaps understood as beginning and end. Smaller points include the name-like 'Adam' without the article in 3:9, a purpose phrase for 'not to' in 3:11, and different but equivalent verbs for 'deceived' and 'dominate'.
---
## Unit 4 — Bereshit 3:17–21: The man's sentence, Chavah's name, and the garments
Hashem pronounces the man's sentence: the soil is cursed, he will eat by toil and sweat, and he will return to the dust. The man names his wife Chavah, and Hashem God makes garments for the couple and clothes them.
---
### Bereshit 3:17
**Torah**
וּלְאָדָ֣ם אָמַ֗ר כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֘עְתָּ֮ לְק֣וֹל אִשְׁתֶּ֒ךָ֒ וַתֹּ֙אכַל֙ מִן־הָעֵ֔ץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר צִוִּיתִ֙יךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ אֲרוּרָ֤ה הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּֽעֲבוּרֶ֔ךָ בְּעִצָּבוֹן֙ תֹּֽאכְלֶ֔נָּה כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
**Translation**
To the man He said, Because you listened to your wife, and ate from the tree which I commanded you, saying, Do not eat from it; the soil will be cursed because of you. In sorrow you shall eat from it all the days of your life.
**Onkelos**
וּלְאָדָם אֲמַר אֲרֵי קַבֵּילְתָּ לְמֵימַר אִתְּתָךְ וַאֲכַלְתָּ מִן אִילָנָא דִּי פַקֵּידְתָּךְ לְמֵימַר לָא תֵיכוּל מִנֵּהּ לִיטָא אַרְעָא בְּדִילָךְ בַּעֲמַל תִּיכְלִינַהּ כָּל יוֹמֵי חַיָּיךְ
**Onkelos in English**
To the man He said, Because you accepted the word of your wife, and ate from the tree which I commanded you, saying, Do not eat from it; the soil will be cursed because of you. In toil you shall eat from it all the days of your life.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Accepted the word of your wife".** The Hebrew reads literally "you listened to the voice of your wife" (שָׁמַעְתָּ לְקוֹל). Onkelos has קַבֵּילְתָּ, "you accepted", and לְמֵימַר, "the word" (literally "saying"), in place of "voice". The Aramaic thus speaks of accepting what she said rather than hearing her voice; this may indicate that the fault is understood as agreeing to her proposal, not merely listening to it.
- **"Saying" twice.** The same Aramaic word לְמֵימַר appears twice in the verse: once for לְקוֹל, "voice", and again for לֵאמֹר, "saying", before the command. In the Aramaic the wife's word and the divine command are expressed with the same term.
- **"In toil".** The Hebrew בְּעִצָּבוֹן is "in sorrow" or "in pain". Onkelos has בַּעֲמַל, "in toil", a word for labor and effort. The sentence thus focuses on the hard work of producing food, perhaps reading the Hebrew in light of the next two verses about thorns and sweat.
- **"Cursed".** Otherwise the verse is literal: אֲרוּרָה is לִיטָא, "cursed", and הָאֲדָמָה is אַרְעָא, an Aramaic word for land or earth, which here renders "the soil".
**Words to note:** קַבֵּילְתָּ *kabbelta* — you accepted (שָׁמַעְתָּ) · לְמֵימַר *le-meimar* — the word (literally "saying") (לְקוֹל) · אִילָנָא *ilana* — the tree (הָעֵץ) · לִיטָא *lita* — cursed (אֲרוּרָה) · בְּדִילָךְ *be-dilakh* — because of you (בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ) · בַּעֲמַל *ba'amal* — in toil (בְּעִצָּבוֹן)
---
### Bereshit 3:18
**Torah**
וְק֥וֹץ וְדַרְדַּ֖ר תַּצְמִ֣יחַֽ לָ֑ךְ וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ אֶת־עֵ֥שֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃
**Translation**
It will grow thorns and thistles for you; and you will eat the herbs of the field.
**Onkelos**
וְכוּבִין וְאַטְדִּין תַּצְמַח לָךְ וְתֵיכוּל יָת עִסְבָּא דְחַקְלָא
**Onkelos in English**
It will grow thorns and thistles for you; and you will eat the herbs of the field.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Thorns and thistles".** A literal rendering. The two Hebrew plants וְקוֹץ וְדַרְדַּר become the Aramaic וְכוּבִין וְאַטְדִּין, two words for thorny plants. The causative verb (תַּצְמִיחַ, "it will grow") is kept as תַּצְמַח.
- **"Of the field".** Here הַשָּׂדֶה is rendered *de-hakla* (דְחַקְלָא), "of the field", rather than *bera* (בְּרָא), "the open country", which renders "the field" in 2:20, 3:1 and 3:14.
**Words to note:** וְכוּבִין *ve-khuvin* — and thorns (וְקוֹץ) · וְאַטְדִּין *ve-atdin* — and thistles (וְדַרְדַּר) · עִסְבָּא *isba* — the herbs (עֵשֶׂב) · דְחַקְלָא *de-hakla* — of the field (הַשָּׂדֶה)
---
### Bereshit 3:19
**Torah**
בְּזֵעַ֤ת אַפֶּ֙יךָ֙ תֹּ֣אכַל לֶ֔חֶם עַ֤ד שֽׁוּבְךָ֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה כִּ֥י מִמֶּ֖נָּה לֻקָּ֑חְתָּ כִּֽי־עָפָ֣ר אַ֔תָּה וְאֶל־עָפָ֖ר תָּשֽׁוּב׃
**Translation**
By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground for from it [the ground] were you taken. For you are dust and to dust you shall return.
**Onkelos**
בְּזִעֲתָא דְאַפָּךְ תֵּיכוּל לַחְמָא עַד דְּתִיתוּב לְאַרְעָא דְּמִנַּהּ אִתְבְּרֵיתָא אֲרֵי עַפְרָא אַתְּ וּלְעַפְרָא תְּתוּב
**Onkelos in English**
By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you were created. For you are dust and to dust you shall return.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"The sweat of your face".** The Hebrew construct בְּזֵעַת אַפֶּיךָ becomes בְּזִעֲתָא דְאַפָּךְ, with the linking particle "of" (ד) between the two nouns. The meaning is unchanged; this is ordinary Aramaic grammar.
- **"Until you return".** The Hebrew uses an infinitive with a suffix, שׁוּבְךָ, literally "until your returning". Onkelos turns it into a finite verb, דְּתִיתוּב, "until you return". The verse's closing verb תָּשׁוּב becomes תְּתוּב, so both Aramaic verbs share a root, as both Hebrew verbs do, and the repetition of "return" is kept.
- **"You were created".** Where the Hebrew says לֻקָּחְתָּ, "you were taken", Onkelos writes אִתְבְּרֵיתָא, "you were created". Perhaps Onkelos preferred to name the act as creation rather than to speak of being physically taken from the ground.
- **"For".** The verse has כִּי twice. Onkelos renders the first with the prefixed particle in דְּמִנַּהּ, "for from it", and the second with אֲרֵי, "for".
- **Textual note.** For דְּתִיתוּב, "until you return", the Yemenite text reads דְּתִתָּתַב, a passive or reflexive form, "until you are returned". The point that both verbs of returning are active and share a root holds for the printed text only; in the Yemenite text the root is shared but the first verb is not active.
**Words to note:** בְּזִעֲתָא *be-zi'ata* — by the sweat (בְּזֵעַת) · דְאַפָּךְ *de-apakh* — of your face (אַפֶּיךָ) · דְּתִיתוּב *de-tituv* — until you return (שׁוּבְךָ) · אִתְבְּרֵיתָא *itbereita* — you were created (לֻקָּחְתָּ) · עַפְרָא *afra* — dust (עָפָר)
---
### Bereshit 3:20
**Torah**
וַיִּקְרָ֧א הָֽאָדָ֛ם שֵׁ֥ם אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ חַוָּ֑ה כִּ֛י הִ֥וא הָֽיְתָ֖ה אֵ֥ם כׇּל־חָֽי׃
**Translation**
The man called his wife's name Chavah, [Eve] because she had become the mother of all living.
**Onkelos**
וּקְרָא אָדָם שׁוּם אִתְּתֵהּ חַוָּה אֲרֵי הִיא הֲוַת אִמָּא דְכָל בְּנֵי אֱנָשָׁא
**Onkelos in English**
Adam called his wife's name Chavah, because she had become the mother of all the children of men.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Adam".** The Hebrew has the article, הָאָדָם, "the man". Onkelos writes אָדָם with no mark of definiteness, which reads naturally as the name Adam.
- **"The mother of all the children of men".** The Hebrew calls her אֵם כׇּל חָי, "the mother of all living". Onkelos has אִמָּא דְכָל בְּנֵי אֱנָשָׁא, "the mother of all the children of men". This narrows "all living" to human beings, perhaps so that she is not read as the mother of every living creature.
- **The name.** In the Hebrew the name חַוָּה echoes חָי, "living", and the verse explains the name by that link. Onkelos keeps the name חַוָּה but, having replaced "living", loses the wordplay.
**Words to note:** שׁוּם *shum* — name (שֵׁם) · אִתְּתֵהּ *itteteh* — his wife (אִשְׁתּוֹ) · אִמָּא *imma* — the mother (אֵם) · בְּנֵי *benei* — the children of · אֱנָשָׁא *enasha* — men (חָי)
---
### Bereshit 3:21
**Torah**
וַיַּ֩עַשׂ֩ ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֜ים לְאָדָ֧ם וּלְאִשְׁתּ֛וֹ כׇּתְנ֥וֹת ע֖וֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵֽׁם׃ {פ}
**Translation**
And Hashem God made for Adam and his wife leather coats and He clothed them.
**Onkelos**
וַעֲבַד ה׳ אֱלֹקִים לְאָדָם וּלְאִתְּתֵהּ לְבוּשִׁין דִּיקָר עַל מְשַׁךְ בִּשְׂרֵיהוֹן וְאַלְבִּישִׁינוּן
**Onkelos in English**
And Hashem God made for Adam and his wife garments of honor upon the skin of their flesh, and He clothed them.
**What Onkelos tells us**
- **"Garments of honor upon the skin of their flesh".** The Hebrew says כׇּתְנוֹת עוֹר, "coats of skin" or "leather coats". Onkelos writes לְבוּשִׁין דִּיקָר עַל מְשַׁךְ בִּשְׂרֵיהוֹן, "garments of honor upon the skin of their flesh". Two changes are involved:
- He seems to read עוֹר not as the material of the garments but as the place they were worn, the skin of their bodies.
- He adds that the garments were "of honor" (דִּיקָר), which may indicate a wish to present Hashem's act of clothing them as one of dignity.
- **"And He clothed them".** The Hebrew noun כׇּתְנוֹת and verb וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם come from different roots. In the Aramaic the noun לְבוּשִׁין and the verb וְאַלְבִּישִׁינוּן share a root, so the garments and the clothing are linked in the wording.
- **"Made".** וַיַּעַשׂ is rendered וַעֲבַד, "made", and the Divine Names stand as in the Hebrew.
**Words to note:** וַעֲבַד *va'avad* — made (וַיַּעַשׂ) · לְבוּשִׁין *levushin* — garments (כׇּתְנוֹת) · דִּיקָר *dikar* — of honor · מְשַׁךְ *meshakh* — the skin of (עוֹר) · בִּשְׂרֵיהוֹן *bisreihon* — their flesh · וְאַלְבִּישִׁינוּן *ve-albishinun* — and He clothed them (וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם)
---
### Unit 4 summary
For most of the man's sentence Onkelos stays close to the Hebrew, but at several points he shifts the wording. Listening to the voice of the wife becomes accepting her word (קַבֵּילְתָּ לְמֵימַר), and the eating in sorrow becomes eating in toil (בַּעֲמַל). Where the Hebrew says the man was taken from the ground, the Aramaic says he was created from it (אִתְבְּרֵיתָא). Chavah becomes the mother not of all living but of all the children of men, which narrows the phrase and drops the sound-link between her name and the word for living. Most strikingly, the coats of skin become garments of honor worn upon the skin of their flesh, and noun and verb in that clause now share one Aramaic root. Smaller adjustments, such as the analytic construction with ד for the sweat of your face and finite verbs in place of the Hebrew infinitive, are ordinary Aramaic idiom.
---
## Conclusion of the aliyah
### The movement of the aliyah
The aliyah moves from a scene of making and naming, through the serpent's conversation and the eating, to questioning and judgment, and it ends with an act of care as Hashem God clothes the couple. Onkelos follows this movement closely, and his departures are spread along it rather than gathered in one place. In the opening scene they fall on wordplay that Aramaic cannot keep and on the added 'house of the beds'; in the serpent's scene, on language about God and about knowledge; in the curses, on the image of head and heel; and at the close, on Chavah's title and on the garments, which the Aramaic presents as garments of honor.
### What Onkelos tells us in this aliyah
1. **'A support corresponding to him' (2:20).** For *ezer kenegdo* Onkelos writes סָמֵךְ לְקִבְלֵהּ; *samekh*, 'one who supports', may suggest a companion pictured as someone to lean on, while *le-kivleh* keeps the image of a counterpart facing the man.
2. **'From the husband' (2:23).** The woman is אִתְּתָא, but the one she was taken from is מִבַּעְלָא, so the Hebrew pun of *ishah* and *ish* cannot survive; the choice of *ba'la* perhaps indicates that *ish* is read here as the man in his role as husband.
3. **'The house of the beds' (2:24).** The added בֵּית מִשְׁכְּבֵי makes the man leave his parents' household, which may suggest a change of household on marriage rather than a severing of the bond with father and mother.
4. **'In truth' (3:1).** The serpent's abrupt *af ki* becomes בְּקוּשְׁטָא, a plain question whether the prohibition was really said, and its bare *Elokim* becomes the Name.
5. **'Like great ones' (3:5).** Onkelos separates *Elokim* the knower, rendered with the Name, from *ke-Elokim*, rendered כְּרַבְרְבִין, treating the two as a homograph, perhaps so that the serpent's comparison is not to God himself.
6. **'Healing to the eyes' (3:6).** *Ta'avah*, 'desire', becomes אַסֵּי, 'healing', a real change of sense whose reason the text does not state; *le-haskil*, 'to make wise', becomes 'to gaze upon it', perhaps reading the Hebrew through its Aramaic cognate.
7. **'The voice of the Memra' (3:8).** The couple hear קַל מֵימְרָא of Hashem God; the added term perhaps places a mediating term between God and the heard voice, and the man speaks the same way in 3:10.
8. **'At first ... at the end' (3:15).** The blows to head and heel give way to remembering and keeping, מִלְּקַדְמִין and לְסוֹפָא; the pairing may indicate that 'head' and 'heel' were read as beginning and end, a hostility lasting throughout.
9. **'Accepted the word of your wife' (3:17).** קַבֵּילְתָּ לְמֵימַר for 'listened to the voice' may indicate that the fault is agreeing to her proposal, not merely listening; and the eating is 'in toil', בַּעֲמַל, rather than in sorrow.
10. **'You were created' (3:19).** For 'you were taken' Onkelos writes אִתְבְּרֵיתָא, perhaps preferring to name the act as creation.
11. **'All the children of men' (3:20).** 'The mother of all living' becomes אִמָּא דְכָל בְּנֵי אֱנָשָׁא, narrowing the phrase to human beings and losing the link between the name חַוָּה and 'living'.
12. **'Garments of honor' (3:21).** The coats of skin become לְבוּשִׁין דִּיקָר worn upon the skin of their flesh; the added 'of honor' may present Hashem's act of clothing them as one of dignity, and noun and verb now share one Aramaic root.
### Recurring features
- **Elokim alone becomes the Name.** The bare *Elokim* that speaks or knows is rendered ה׳ (3:1, 3:3, 3:5), while the double Name ה׳ אֱלֹקִים stands as in the Hebrew each time it occurs.
- **Rephrasing of language about God.** Knowing becomes being revealed before Hashem (3:5), the voice becomes the voice of the Memra (3:8, 3:10), and 'from the presence of' becomes 'from before' (3:8).
- **Lost wordplay.** Where the Hebrew links words by sound, *ishah* and *ish*, *arummim* and *arum*, Chavah and 'living', the Aramaic words differ and the play disappears.
- **Threads of vocabulary kept.** One Aramaic verb, *nesiv*, renders the 'taking' of 2:21, 2:22 and 2:23; one root links the promise and fulfilment of opened eyes (3:5, 3:7); one root renders both 'give' verbs in 3:12 and both words of 'sorrow' in 3:16; and in the printed text the two verbs of returning in 3:19 share a root.
- **Collective singulars made plural.** 'Fruit' becomes 'fruits' (3:2, 3:3) and 'fig leaf' becomes 'leaves of figs' (3:7), with no change of sense.
- **Adam without the article.** Hebrew *ha-adam* often appears as plain אָדָם, which may be read as the name Adam; the notes mark this where it occurs.
### Aliyah takeaway
Read beside the Hebrew, Onkelos in this aliyah is a close translator who keeps the story's structure, its repetitions and most of its links of vocabulary, but who interprets at particular points: in how he speaks about God, in how he resolves words open to more than one reading, and in a few images, the tree, head and heel, and the garments, which he renders by their sense rather than their surface. Where the Hebrew depends on puns, the Aramaic cannot follow, and the notes mark the loss.
---
## Aramaic word list for the aliyah
| Aramaic | Transliteration | Meaning | Hebrew in the verse |
|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁמָהָן | *shemahan* | names | שֵׁמוֹת |
| בְּעִירָא | *be'ira* | animal | הַבְּהֵמָה |
| בְּרָא | *bera* | the field | הַשָּׂדֶה |
| סָמֵךְ | *samekh* | a support | עֵזֶר |
| לְקִבְלֵהּ | *le-kivleh* | corresponding to him | כְּנֶגְדּוֹ |
| וּרְמָא | *u-rema* | and He cast | וַיַּפֵּל |
| שִׁינְתָא | *shinta* | sleep | תַּרְדֵּמָה |
| וּדְמֵךְ | *u-demekh* | and he slept | וַיִּישָׁן |
| מֵעִלְעוֹהִי | *me-ilohi* | of his ribs | מִצַּלְעֹתָיו |
| וּמְלֵי | *u-melei* | and He filled | וַיִּסְגֹּר |
| וּבְנָא | *u-vena* | built | וַיִּבֶן |
| דִּנְסִיב | *di-nesiv* | that He took | לָקַח |
| הֲדָא זִמְנָא | *hada zimna* | this at last | זֹאת הַפַּעַם |
| גַּרְמָא | *garma* | bone | עֶצֶם |
| אִתְּתָא | *itteta* | Woman | אִשָּׁה |
| מִבַּעְלָא | *mi-ba'la* | from the husband | מֵאִישׁ |
| נְסִיבָא | *nesiva* | was taken | לֻקְחָה |
| יִשְׁבּוֹק | *yishbok* | shall leave | יַעֲזׇב |
| גְּבַר | *gevar* | a man | אִישׁ |
| בֵּית מִשְׁכְּבֵי | *beit mishkevei* | the house of the beds of | — |
| וְיִדְבַּק | *ve-yidbak* | and cling | וְדָבַק |
| עַרְטִילָאִין | *artila'in* | naked | עֲרוּמִּים |
| מִתְכַּלְמִין | *mitkalmin* | ashamed | יִתְבֹּשָׁשׁוּ |
| חַכִּים | *hakkim* | wise | עָרוּם |
| בְּקוּשְׁטָא | *be-kushta* | in truth | — |
| אִילַן | *ilan* | tree | עֵץ |
| גִּינְתָא | *ginta* | the Garden | הַגָּן |
| לְחִוְיָא | *le-hivya* | to the serpent | הַנָּחָשׁ |
| מִפֵּירֵי | *mi-pere* | from the fruits | מִפְּרִי |
| בִמְצִיעוּת | *vi-mtzi'ut* | in the middle | בְּתוֹךְ |
| תְקַרְבוּן | *tekarvun* | you shall come near | תִגְּעוּ |
| מוּת | *mut* | certainly (lit. dying) | מוֹת |
| גַּלֵּי | *gallei* | revealed | יֹדֵעַ |
| קֳדָם | *kodam* | before | — |
| וְיִתְפַּתְּחַן | *ve-yitpattehan* | will be opened | וְנִפְקְחוּ |
| כְּרַבְרְבִין | *ke-ravrevin* | like great ones | כֵּאלֹקִים |
| חַכִּימִין | *hakkimin* | wise | יֹדְעֵי |
| לְבִישׁ | *le-vish* | evil | וָרָע |
| אַסֵּי | *assei* | healing | תַאֲוָה |
| וּמְרַגֵּג | *u-meraggeg* | appealing | וְנֶחְמָד |
| לְאִסְתַּכָּלָא | *le-istakkala* | to gaze | לְהַשְׂכִּיל |
| מֵאִבֵּהּ | *me-ibbeh* | of its fruit | מִפִּרְיוֹ |
| לְבַעְלַהּ | *le-va'lah* | to her husband | לְאִישָׁהּ |
| וְאִתְפַּתָּחָא | *ve-itpattaha* | were opened | וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה |
| טַרְפֵי | *tarfei* | leaves | עֲלֵה |
---
## Source note
**Aliyah boundary.** Bereshit 2:20 – 3:21, following the aliyah divisions in Sefaria's index of Bereshit (the next aliyah begins at Bereshit 3:22).
**Torah text.** *Miqra according to the Masorah* (CC-BY-SA), the Masoretic text based on the Aleppo Codex, from Wikisource via [Sefaria](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis?lang=he).
**Targum Onkelos.** The Aramaic is the commonly printed text, from the Torat Emet edition (Public Domain), via [Sefaria](https://www.sefaria.org/Onkelos_Genesis?lang=he).
**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 booklet. 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.