Parashat Chayei Sarah — Fifth Aliyah
Torah with Onkelos · Bereshit 24:53 – 24:67 · פרשת חיי שרה, חמישי
Rivkah’s departure from her family and her meeting with Yitzchok, read through Targum Onkelos
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- Orientation
- How this page is laid out
- Unit 1 — Bereshit 24:53–60: Gifts, a night’s stay, and Rivkah’s consent
- Unit 2 — Bereshit 24:61–67: Rivkah meets Yitzchok
- Conclusion of the aliyah
- Aramaic word list for the aliyah
- Source note
Orientation
What happens in this aliyah. The servant gives Rivkah articles of silver and gold and garments, and gives precious fruits to her brother and mother. After a night’s stay he asks to be sent back to his master; her brother and mother ask that she stay for a time first, and when Rivkah herself is asked whether she will go with the man, she answers that she will. The family sends her off with her nurse and blesses her. Rivkah and her maidens ride behind the servant. Yitzchok, who has come from the well of Lachai Ro’i and lives in the Negev, goes out to the field toward evening and sees the camels approaching; Rivkah sees him, alights from the camel and covers herself with her veil. The servant tells Yitzchok all that he has done, and Yitzchok brings Rivkah into the tent, marries her, loves her, and is consoled after his mother.
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 close, word-for-word rendering. Most verses exchange Hebrew vocabulary for its Aramaic equivalent without change of sense: מָנִין for כְּלֵי, גַּבְרָא for הָאִישׁ, רִבּוֹנִי for ‘my master’, בְחַקְלָא for ‘in the field’.
- Elliptical Hebrew completed. Where the Hebrew leaves something unsaid, Onkelos sometimes supplies it: the bare ‘ten’ of the family’s request becomes ‘ten months’ (24:55), and ‘consoled after his mother’ becomes ‘after his mother died’ in the printed text (24:67).
- Idioms and figures given their plain sense. ‘Ask her mouth’ becomes ‘hear what she says’ (24:57), and ‘the gate of his foes’ becomes ‘the cities of their foes’ (24:60).
- A place-name explained, not transliterated. Be’er Lachai Ro’i becomes ‘the well at which the living angel appeared’, and the Negev becomes ‘the south’ (24:62).
- Interpretive choices of verb. Yitzchok goes out ‘to pray’ (לְצַלָּאָה, 24:63), Rivkah ‘bends down’ rather than ‘falls’ from the camel (24:64), and the Hebrew ‘take’ is divided between וּדְבַר for the servant leading Rivkah and וּנְסֵיבַת / וּנְסֵיב for taking the veil and taking a wife (24:61, 24:65, 24:67).
- A substantial addition in the last verse. The difficult phrase ‘into the tent, Sarah his mother’ becomes a statement that Rivkah’s deeds were proper, like the deeds of Sarah his mother (24:67).
- Textual notes. At two points the Yemenite text differs from the printed text on the very feature a note discusses (24:62, 24:67); the notes say which reading each point holds for.
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 24:53–60: Gifts, a night’s stay, and Rivkah’s consent
Avraham’s servant gives gifts to Rivkah and her family and asks to leave the next morning. Her brother and mother seek a delay, Rivkah herself agrees to go, and the family sends her off with a blessing.
Bereshit 24:53
Torah
Translation
The servant took out articles of silver, articles of gold and garments, and gave them to Rivkah. To her brother and mother, he gave precious fruits.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
The servant took out articles of silver, articles of gold and garments, and gave [them] to Rivkah. To her brother and mother, he gave precious fruits.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Took out”. The Hebrew va-yotze (causative of יצא) is matched by ve-appek, the corresponding causative of the Aramaic verb for “go out”. A literal rendering.
- “Articles of silver, articles of gold”. Where the Hebrew uses construct chains, kelei khesef and kelei zahav, Onkelos uses the noun manin followed by the particle di-: manin di-khsaf, manin di-dhav. The meaning is unchanged; this is the ordinary Aramaic way of expressing “of”.
- “Precious fruits”. The Hebrew migdanot reappears as migdanin, the same noun with an Aramaic masculine plural ending. Both Hebrew verbs of giving (va-yitten, natan) are rendered by the one Aramaic verb יהב (vihav, yehav).
Words to note: וְאַפֵּק ve-appek — and [he] took out (וַיּוֹצֵא) · מָנִין manin — articles (כְּלֵי) · וּלְבוּשִׁין u-levushin — and garments (וּבְגָדִים) · יְהַב yehav — he gave (נָתַן) · וּמִגְדָּנִין u-migdanin — and precious fruits (וּמִגְדָּנֹת)
Bereshit 24:54
Torah
Translation
They [then] ate and drank, he and the men that were with him, and they stayed over night. They got up in the morning and he said, Send me off to my master.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
They ate and drank, he and the men that [were] with him, and they stayed over night. They got up in the morning and he said, Send me off to my master.
What Onkelos tells us
- “They stayed over night”. The Hebrew va-yalinu is rendered by u-vatu, from the Aramaic verb for spending the night. A literal rendering.
- “To my master”. The Hebrew prefixes a simple lamed, la-adoni. Onkelos writes levat ribboni, using the preposition levat, “to, toward”, before a person, and the Aramaic ribbon, “master”, for the Hebrew adon. The same phrase recurs in 24:56.
Words to note: וְגוּבְרַיָּא ve-guvrayya — and the men (וְהָאֲנָשִׁים) · וּבָתוּ u-vatu — and they stayed over night (וַיָּלִינוּ) · בְצַפְרָא ve-tzafra — in the morning (בַבֹּקֶר) · לְוַת levat — to · רִבּוֹנִי ribboni — my master (לַאדֹנִי)
Bereshit 24:55
Torah
Translation
Her brother and mother said, Let the girl abide with us a year or ten months, then she can go.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
Her brother and mother said, Let the girl abide with us a time in a time, or ten months; after that she can go.
What Onkelos tells us
- “A time in a time”. The Hebrew gives only yamim, “days”, as the first option. Onkelos does not write “days” but iddan be-iddan, a phrase built from iddan, “time, season”. This may indicate that he took yamim as a fixed span rather than a few days, perhaps a full round of seasons, that is, a year.
- “Or ten months”. The Hebrew asor says only “ten” (or “a tenth”) without naming the unit. Onkelos supplies it: asra yarhin, “ten months”. This is an interpretive addition that resolves the elliptical Hebrew.
- “After that she can go”. The Hebrew adverb ahar, “afterward”, is rendered batar ken, “after that”, the usual Aramaic idiom; no change of sense.
- “The girl”. The Hebrew na’ara is rendered ulemta, “young woman, girl”.
Words to note: תָּתֵיב tateiv — [let her] abide (תֵּשֵׁב) · עוּלֶמְתָּא ulemta — the girl (הַנַּעֲרָ) · עִדַּן בְּעִדַּן iddan be-iddan — a time in a time (יָמִים) · עַשְׂרָא asra — ten (עָשׂוֹר) · יַרְחִין yarhin — months · בָּתַר כֵּן batar ken — after that (אַחַר)
Bereshit 24:56
Torah
Translation
He said to them, Do not detain me, for Hashem has made my journey successful. Send me off, so that I can go to my master.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
He said to them, Do not detain me, for Hashem has made my journey successful. Send me off, so that I can go to my master.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Has made my journey successful”. The Hebrew hitzliah and the Aramaic atzlah are corresponding causative forms of the same root, צלח. The Hebrew darki, “my way”, is rendered arhi, from the Aramaic word for “road, way”. A literal rendering.
- “To my master”. As in 24:54, la-adoni becomes levat ribboni.
Words to note: תְאַחֲרוּן te’aharun — detain (תְּאַחֲרוּ) · אַצְלַח atzlah — has made successful (הִצְלִיחַ) · אָרְחִי arhi — my journey (דַּרְכִּי) · וְאֵיהַךְ ve-eihakh — [so that] I can go (וְאֵלְכָה)
Bereshit 24:57
Torah
Translation
They said, Let us call the girl and ask her.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
They said, Let us call the girl and hear what she says.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Hear what she says”. The Hebrew reads literally “and let us ask her mouth” (ve-nish’alah et piha). Onkelos drops the bodily idiom and gives its sense: ve-nishma mah de-hi amrah, “and let us hear what she says”. The verb also changes, from “ask” to “hear”; perhaps the effect is to place the weight on Rivkah’s own answer rather than on the family’s question.
- “The girl”. As in 24:55, na’ara is rendered ulemta.
Words to note: נִקְרֵי nikrei — let us call (נִקְרָא) · וְנִשְׁמָע ve-nishma — and [let us] hear (וְנִשְׁאֲלָה) · מַה דְּהִיא אָמְרָה mah de-hi amrah — what she says
Bereshit 24:58
Torah
Translation
They called Rivkah and said to her, Will you go with this man? She said, I will go.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
They called Rivkah and said to her, Will you go with this man? She said, I will go.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Will you go with this man?” A literal rendering. The Hebrew verb “go” is rendered by one Aramaic verb of going in both the question (hateizli) and the answer (eizil), so the echo between them is kept; ha-ish ha-zeh becomes gavra hadein.
Words to note: הֲתֵיזְלִי hateizli — will you go (הֲתֵלְכִי) · גַּבְרָא gavra — man (הָאִישׁ) · אֵיזִיל eizil — I will go (אֵלֵךְ)
Bereshit 24:59
Torah
Translation
They sent off Rivkah their sister, along with her nurse, and with Avraham’s servant and his men.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
They sent off Rivkah their sister, along with her nurse, and with Avraham’s servant and his men.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Avraham’s servant and his men”. A literal rendering. The construct eved Avraham becomes avda de-Avraham, and anashav, “his men”, becomes gavrohi. The Hebrew meniktah, “her nurse”, is kept as meniktah.
Words to note: וְשַׁלָּחוּ ve-shallahu — they sent off (וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ) · מֵנִקְתַּהּ meniktah — her nurse (מֵנִקְתָּהּ) · גַּבְרוֹהִי gavrohi — his men (אֲנָשָׁיו)
Bereshit 24:60
Torah
Translation
They blessed Rivkah and said to her, Our sister, may you become thousands of myriads, and may your descendants inherit the gate of his foes.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
They blessed Rivkah and said to her, Our sister, may you become thousands and myriads, and may your children inherit the cities of their foes.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Thousands and myriads”. The Hebrew is a construct phrase, le-alfei revavah, “thousands of myriads”. Onkelos writes two nouns joined by “and”: le-alfin u-le-rivan. The blessing becomes a pairing of two large numbers rather than a multiplication of one by the other.
- “Your children … their foes”. The Hebrew uses the singular collective zar’ekh, “your seed”, with a singular verb (ve-yirash) and a singular suffix on “his foes” (sone’av). Onkelos puts all three in the plural: ve-yirtun benaikhi … saneihon, “may your children inherit … their foes”. This suggests a wish to make clear that the collective “seed” means many descendants.
- “The cities”. The Hebrew sha’ar, “gate”, is rendered kirvei, “cities”. The gate, as the point of control, stands in the Hebrew for the city itself; Onkelos gives the plain sense rather than the figure.
Words to note: אֲחָתָנָא ahatana — our sister (אֲחֹתֵנוּ) · לְאַלְפִין וּלְרִבְוָן le-alfin u-le-rivan — thousands and myriads (לְאַלְפֵי רְבָבָה) · וְיִרְתוּן ve-yirtun — and may [they] inherit (וְיִירַשׁ) · בְּנַיְכִי benaikhi — your children (זַרְעֵךְ) · קִרְוֵי kirvei — the cities of (שַׁעַר) · סַנְאֵיהוֹן saneihon — their foes (שֹׂנְאָיו)
Unit 1 summary
For most of this unit Onkelos follows the Hebrew word for word, exchanging Hebrew vocabulary for its Aramaic equivalents (manin for kelei, gavra for ish, ribboni for adoni) and turning Hebrew construct chains into phrases with the particle di-. His real departures come where the Hebrew is terse or figurative. The family’s request for ‘days or ten’ becomes iddan be-iddan or ‘ten months’, with the unit of the second term supplied; the idiom ‘ask her mouth’ becomes ‘hear what she says’; and in the blessing ‘thousands of myriads’ becomes ‘thousands and myriads’, the singular ‘your seed’ and ‘his foes’ become the plural ‘your children’ and ‘their foes’, and ‘the gate’ becomes ‘the cities’. Each change suggests a concern to give the plain sense of a compressed or figurative Hebrew expression.
Unit 2 — Bereshit 24:61–67: Rivkah meets Yitzchok
Rivkah and her maidens ride off behind the servant. Yitzchok, back from the well of Lachai Ro’i, goes out to the field at evening and sees the camels; Rivkah alights, veils herself, and Yitzchok brings her into the tent, marries her and is consoled for his mother.
Bereshit 24:61
Torah
Translation
Rivkah and her maidens set off. They rode on the camels and followed the man. The servant took Rivkah and left.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
Rivkah and her maidens set off. They rode on the camels and followed the man. The servant led Rivkah and left.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Her maidens”. וְעוּלֶמְתָּהָא (ve-ulemtaha) renders וְנַעֲרֹתֶיהָ, an Aramaic word for young women. As in the Hebrew, the first verb, וְקָמַת (‘set off’, literally ‘arose’), is singular, agreeing with Rivkah alone.
- “They rode … and followed”. The Hebrew verbs וַתִּרְכַּבְנָה and וַתֵּלַכְנָה are feminine plural; Onkelos’s וּרְכִיבָא (u-rekhiva) and וְאָזְלָּא (ve-azla) are feminine plural as well. ‘Followed’ is literally ‘went after’, וְאָזְלָּא בָּתַר, matching the Hebrew וַתֵּלַכְנָה אַחֲרֵי.
- “The servant led Rivkah”. For the Hebrew וַיִּקַּח, ‘took’, Onkelos uses וּדְבַר (u-devar), from דבר, ‘lead, take along’. Later in this passage the same Hebrew verb is rendered with another verb: Rivkah ‘took’ the veil (וּנְסֵיבַת, 24:65) and Yitzchok ‘took’ Rivkah as his wife (וּנְסֵיב, 24:67). The choice of דבר here may reflect that the servant was escorting a person on a journey rather than taking hold of an object or taking a wife.
Words to note: וְעוּלֶמְתָּהָא ve-ulemtaha — and her maidens (וְנַעֲרֹתֶיהָ) · וּרְכִיבָא u-rekhiva — they rode (וַתִּרְכַּבְנָה) · בָּתַר batar — after (with the verb, ‘followed’) (אַחֲרֵי) · וּדְבַר u-devar — led (וַיִּקַּח)
Bereshit 24:62
Torah
Translation
Yitzchok had just come from the well [called] Lachai Ro’i, for he lived in the land of the Negev.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
Yitzchok came from his coming (another version: entered, in his coming) from the well at which the living angel appeared, for he lived in the land of the south.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Came from his coming”. The Hebrew repeats its verb of coming: בָּא מִבּוֹא, ‘came from coming [to]’. The printed Onkelos keeps the repetition with its own verb: אָתָא מִמֵּתוֹהִי, ‘came from his coming’. The alternative it records in parentheses, עַל בְּמֵיתוֹהִי, uses a different verb, ‘entered, in his coming’, and does not repeat the root.
- “The well at which the living angel appeared”. The Hebrew names the well בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, ‘Be’er Lachai Ro’i’. Onkelos does not transliterate the name but explains it as a clause: מִבֵּירָא דְמַלְאָךְ קַיָּמָא אִתְחֲזֵי עֲלַהּ, ‘from the well at which the living angel appeared’. לַחַי is represented by קַיָּמָא (kayama), ‘living, enduring’, and רֹאִי by אִתְחֲזֵי (it’hazei), a passive-reflexive verb, ‘was seen, appeared’. The angel is not mentioned in the Hebrew of this verse; Onkelos perhaps supplies him as the one whose appearance gave the well its name.
- “The land of the south”. The Hebrew הַנֶּגֶב, ‘the Negev’, is rendered דָּרוֹמָא (daroma), ‘the south’: the region is named by its direction. ‘He lived’ is the participle יָתֵב (yatev), as in the Hebrew יוֹשֵׁב.
- Textual note. The Yemenite text reads עָאל בְּמֵיתוֹהִי, ‘entered, in his coming’, which is the alternative the printed text gives in parentheses. In that reading the Hebrew repetition of the verb of coming is not kept; the point about ‘came from his coming’ holds for the main printed reading only.
Words to note: מִמֵּתוֹהִי mi-metohi — from his coming (מִבּוֹא) · מִבֵּירָא mi-beira — from the well (בְּאֵר) · קַיָּמָא kayama — living (לַחַי) · אִתְחֲזֵי it’hazei — appeared (רֹאִי) · דָּרוֹמָא daroma — the south (הַנֶּגֶב)
Bereshit 24:63
Torah
Translation
Yitzchok went out to meditate in the field towards evening. He raised his eyes and suddenly saw camels approaching.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
Yitzchok went out to pray in the field towards evening. He raised his eyes and suddenly saw camels approaching.
What Onkelos tells us
- “To pray”. The Hebrew לָשׂוּחַ is an uncommon verb, usually understood as ‘to meditate’ or ‘to speak’. Onkelos renders it לְצַלָּאָה (le-tzala’a), ‘to pray’, giving Yitzchok’s activity in the field a definite meaning. This suggests he understood the Hebrew as speech addressed to God.
- “Towards evening”. לְמִפְנֵי (le-mifnei) is from the same root as the Hebrew לִפְנוֹת, ‘the turning [of]’, and רַמְשָׁא (ramsha) is the Aramaic for ‘evening’. A literal rendering; the field is בְחַקְלָא, Onkelos’s usual word for the Hebrew בַּשָּׂדֶה (it recurs in 24:65).
- “He raised his eyes”. וּזְקַף (u-zekaf), ‘raised’, renders וַיִּשָּׂא, and וַחֲזָא וְהָא (‘saw, and behold’) renders וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה. A literal rendering.
Words to note: וּנְפַק u-nefak — went out (וַיֵּצֵא) · לְצַלָּאָה le-tzala’a — to pray (לָשׂוּחַ) · לְמִפְנֵי le-mifnei — towards (לִפְנוֹת) · רַמְשָׁא ramsha — evening (עָרֶב) · וּזְקַף u-zekaf — he raised (וַיִּשָּׂא)
Bereshit 24:64
Torah
Translation
Rivkah raised her eyes and saw Yitzchok. She let herself down from the camel.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
Rivkah raised her eyes and saw Yitzchok. She bent down from the camel.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Raised her eyes”. As with Yitzchok in 24:63, the Hebrew verb of lifting (here וַתִּשָּׂא) is rendered with זקף: וּזְקָפַת (u-zekafat). Both characters ‘raise their eyes’ with the same verb in Aramaic as in Hebrew.
- “She bent down”. The Hebrew וַתִּפֹּל means literally ‘she fell’. Onkelos does not use a verb of falling but וְאִתְרְכִינַת (ve-itrekhinat), a reflexive form of רכן, ‘she bent, inclined herself’. The change may be meant to present a deliberate movement, leaning down from the camel, rather than a fall.
Words to note: וּזְקָפַת u-zekafat — raised (וַתִּשָּׂא) · וַחֲזַת va-hazat — and she saw (וַתֵּרֶא) · וְאִתְרְכִינַת ve-itrekhinat — she bent down (וַתִּפֹּל) · גַּמְלָא gamla — the camel (הַגָּמָל)
Bereshit 24:65
Torah
Translation
She said to the servant, Who is that man walking through the field towards us? The servant said, He is my master. She then took the veil and covered herself.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
She said to the servant, Who is that man walking through the field towards us? The servant said, He is my master. She then took the veil and covered herself.
What Onkelos tells us
- “That man walking”. מָן (‘who’) and the demonstrative דֵיכִי (deikhi), ‘that one’, render מִי and הַלָּזֶה. The Hebrew participle with the article, הַהֹלֵךְ, becomes a participle with the relative particle, דִּמְהַלֵּךְ (di-mhallekh), ‘who is walking’. A literal rendering.
- “Towards us”. לְקַדָּמוּתָנָא (le-kadamutana), literally ‘to meet us’, renders לִקְרָאתֵנוּ. ‘My master’ is רִבּוֹנִי (ribboni), the Aramaic for אֲדֹנִי.
- “Took the veil and covered herself”. וּנְסֵיבַת (u-nesivat) renders וַתִּקַּח, עֵיפָא (eifa) is ‘the veil’, and the reflexive וְאִתְכַּסִּיאַת (ve-itkassi’at) matches the reflexive Hebrew וַתִּתְכָּס. A literal rendering.
Words to note: דֵיכִי deikhi — that (הַלָּזֶה) · דִּמְהַלֵּךְ di-mhallekh — walking (הַהֹלֵךְ) · לְקַדָּמוּתָנָא le-kadamutana — towards us (לִקְרָאתֵנוּ) · רִבּוֹנִי ribboni — my master (אֲדֹנִי) · עֵיפָא eifa — the veil (הַצָּעִיף) · וְאִתְכַּסִּיאַת ve-itkassi’at — and covered herself (וַתִּתְכָּס)
Bereshit 24:66
Torah
Translation
The servant told Yitzchok all the things he had done.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
The servant told Yitzchok all the things he had done.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Told … all the things”. A literal rendering. וְאִשְׁתָּעֵי (ve-ishta’ei), ‘told, related’, renders וַיְסַפֵּר, and פִּתְגָּמַיָּא (pitgamaya), ‘words, matters’, renders הַדְּבָרִים, a word which in Hebrew too can mean both ‘words’ and ‘things’.
Words to note: וְאִשְׁתָּעֵי ve-ishta’ei — told (וַיְסַפֵּר) · פִּתְגָּמַיָּא pitgamaya — the things (הַדְּבָרִים) · עֲבָד avad — he had done (עָשָׂה)
Bereshit 24:67
Torah
Translation
Yitzchok brought her into the tent of his mother, Sarah. He married Rivkah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. Yitzchok was then consoled for the loss of his mother.
Onkelos
Onkelos in English
Yitzchok brought her into the tent, and he saw, and behold, her deeds were proper, like the deeds of his mother, Sarah. He married Rivkah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. Yitzchok was then consoled after his mother died.
What Onkelos tells us
- “Into the tent, and he saw”. The Hebrew הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ is an unusual phrase: ‘the tent’, with the article and the directional ending, is followed directly by ‘Sarah his mother’, as though it were ‘the tent of Sarah’. Onkelos renders ‘into the tent’ alone, לְמַשְׁכְּנָא (le-mashkena), and then adds a whole clause: וַחֲזָא וְהָא תַקְּנִין עוֹבָדָהָא כְּעוֹבָדֵי שָׂרָה אִמֵּהּ, ‘and he saw, and behold, her deeds were proper, like the deeds of Sarah his mother’. The words ‘Sarah his mother’ remain, but now as the standard by which Rivkah is measured. This is a substantial interpretive addition; it may be Onkelos’s way of giving the difficult Hebrew phrase a meaning.
- “Brought her”. וְאַעֲלַהּ (ve-a’alah), ‘brought her in’, is a causative form of the verb ‘enter’, rendering וַיְבִאֶהָ.
- “He married Rivkah … and he loved her”. וּנְסֵיב (u-nesiv), ‘took’, renders וַיִּקַּח; ‘she became his wife’ is וַהֲוַת לֵהּ לְאִנְּתּוּ, as the Hebrew וַתְּהִי־לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה; וּרְחִימַהּ (u-rehimah) renders וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ. A literal rendering.
- “After his mother died”. The Hebrew ends tersely: וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ, ‘Yitzchok was consoled after his mother’. Onkelos completes the phrase with the added verb דְּמִיתַת (de-mitat), ‘that [she] died’: בָּתַר דְּמִיתַת אִמֵּהּ, ‘after his mother died’. The addition spells out what the Hebrew leaves implied. וְאִתְנְחֵם (ve-itnehem), ‘was consoled’, is reflexive, as is the Hebrew וַיִּנָּחֵם.
- Textual note. The Yemenite text has no דְּמִיתַת and reads בָּתַר אִמֵּיהּ, ‘after his mother’, exactly as the Hebrew. The added ‘died’ holds for the printed text only.
Words to note: וְאַעֲלַהּ ve-a’alah — brought her in (וַיְבִאֶהָ) · תַקְּנִין takkenin — proper · עוֹבָדָהָא ovadaha — her deeds · וּנְסֵיב u-nesiv — married (literally ‘took’) (וַיִּקַּח) · וּרְחִימַהּ u-rehimah — and he loved her (וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ) · דְּמִיתַת de-mitat — that [she] died
Unit 2 summary
Most of this closing scene is rendered word for word, with Onkelos’s ordinary vocabulary: חַקְלָא for the field, רַמְשָׁא for evening, זקף for lifting the eyes (of Yitzchok and of Rivkah alike), מַשְׁכְּנָא for the tent. The changes come at a few marked points. The name Be’er Lachai Ro’i is not transliterated but explained as the well ‘at which the living angel appeared’, and the Negev becomes ‘the south’. Yitzchok’s unusual activity in the field, לָשׂוּחַ, becomes plain prayer, and Rivkah’s ‘falling’ from the camel becomes a deliberate bending down. The Hebrew verb ‘take’ is divided between two Aramaic verbs: the servant ‘leads’ Rivkah (דבר), while she ‘takes’ the veil and Yitzchok ‘takes’ her as wife (וּנְסֵיבַת, וּנְסֵיב). The largest change is in the last verse, where the puzzling ‘into the tent, Sarah his mother’ becomes a statement that Rivkah’s deeds were proper like Sarah’s, and the terse ‘after his mother’ is completed as ‘after his mother died’ (in the printed text only).
Conclusion of the aliyah
The movement of the aliyah
The aliyah moves from the household of Rivkah’s family to the field where she meets Yitzchok, and Onkelos’s handling follows the same pattern in both halves: close, literal rendering of the narrative, with departures where the Hebrew is terse, figurative or unusual. In the first unit these departures cluster in speech: the family’s request for ‘days or ten’, the idiom of asking Rivkah’s ‘mouth’, and the blessing with its ‘thousands of myriads’, its collective ‘seed’ and its ‘gate’. In the second unit they fall on the points where the Hebrew is puzzling: the name of the well, Yitzchok’s activity in the field, Rivkah’s ‘falling’ from the camel, and finally the closing verse, where ‘the tent, Sarah his mother’ becomes a comparison between Rivkah’s deeds and Sarah’s, and the terse ‘after his mother’ is completed in the printed text as ‘after his mother died’.
What Onkelos tells us in this aliyah
- “A time in a time” (24:55). For the Hebrew ‘days’, Onkelos writes עִדַּן בְּעִדַּן, which may indicate a fixed span, perhaps a year, rather than a few days.
- “Ten months” (24:55). The Hebrew עָשׂוֹר names no unit; Onkelos supplies it: עַשְׂרָא יַרְחִין.
- “Hear what she says” (24:57). The bodily idiom ‘ask her mouth’ becomes וְנִשְׁמָע מַה דְּהִיא אָמְרָה; the change of verb perhaps places the weight on Rivkah’s own answer.
- “Thousands and myriads” (24:60). The construct ‘thousands of myriads’ becomes two nouns joined by ‘and’, לְאַלְפִין וּלְרִבְוָן: a pairing of two large numbers rather than a multiplication.
- “Your children … their foes” (24:60). The singular collective ‘seed’, its singular verb and the singular ‘his foes’ all become plural, suggesting a wish to make clear that ‘seed’ means many descendants.
- “The cities” (24:60). קִרְוֵי for ‘gate’ gives the plain sense of the figure, the gate standing for the city.
- “The servant led Rivkah” (24:61). וּדְבַר for ‘took’ may reflect that the servant was escorting a person on a journey.
- “The well at which the living angel appeared” (24:62). The name is explained as a clause; the angel, absent from the Hebrew of the verse, is perhaps supplied as the one whose appearance gave the well its name.
- “To pray” (24:63). לְצַלָּאָה gives the uncommon לָשׂוּחַ a definite meaning, suggesting it was understood as speech addressed to God.
- “She bent down” (24:64). וְאִתְרְכִינַת in place of a verb of falling may be meant to present a deliberate movement rather than a fall.
- “Her deeds were proper, like the deeds of Sarah” (24:67). The added clause וַחֲזָא וְהָא תַקְּנִין עוֹבָדָהָא כְּעוֹבָדֵי שָׂרָה אִמֵּהּ turns ‘Sarah his mother’ into the standard by which Rivkah is measured; it may be Onkelos’s way of giving the difficult Hebrew phrase a meaning.
- “After his mother died” (24:67). The added דְּמִיתַת spells out what the Hebrew leaves implied; the Yemenite text lacks it, so it holds for the printed text only.
Recurring features
- Construct phrases expressed with di-. Hebrew construct chains become a noun followed by the particle di-, as in מָנִין דִּכְסַף (24:53) and עַבְדָּא דְאַבְרָהָם (24:59), with no change of meaning.
- Standing Aramaic equivalents. רִבּוֹנִי renders ‘my master’ in 24:54, 24:56 and 24:65; the girl and her maidens are עוּלֶמְתָּא and its plural (24:55, 24:57, 24:61); ‘the man’ is גַּבְרָא.
- Matching verb forms. Hebrew causatives are matched by Aramaic causatives (‘took out’, 24:53; ‘made successful’, 24:56; ‘brought her in’, 24:67) and Hebrew reflexives by Aramaic reflexives (‘covered herself’, 24:65; ‘was consoled’, 24:67).
- Word choice that does not mirror the Hebrew one-to-one. Two Hebrew verbs of giving share the one Aramaic verb יהב (24:53), while the one Hebrew verb ‘take’ is divided between וּדְבַר and וּנְסֵיבַת / וּנְסֵיב according to what is taken (24:61, 24:65, 24:67).
- Plain sense for compressed or figurative Hebrew. The unstated unit of ‘ten’, the idiom ‘ask her mouth’, the collective ‘seed’, the ‘gate’, and the terse ‘after his mother’ are each rendered so that the meaning is stated outright.
- Readings limited to the printed text. The notes on 24:62 and 24:67 point out that the Yemenite text does not share the printed reading on which the observation rests.
Aliyah takeaway
In this aliyah Onkelos is for the most part a close, literal translation, and its changes are concentrated where the Hebrew is elliptical, idiomatic or unusual. Those changes tend in one direction: they state outright what the Hebrew leaves to the reader, whether the length of the delay, the plurality of Rivkah’s descendants, the meaning of the well’s name, the nature of Yitzchok’s activity in the field, or the sense of the phrase that links Rivkah to Sarah. The textual notes are a reminder that some of these readings, notably ‘after his mother died’, belong to the printed text and not to every witness.
Aramaic word list for the aliyah
| Aramaic | Transliteration | Meaning | Hebrew in the verse |
|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַפֵּק | ve-appek | and [he] took out | וַיּוֹצֵא |
| מָנִין | manin | articles | כְּלֵי |
| יְהַב | yehav | he gave | נָתַן |
| וּבָתוּ | u-vatu | and they stayed over night | וַיָּלִינוּ |
| לְוַת | levat | to | — |
| רִבּוֹנִי | ribboni | my master | לַאדֹנִי |
| עוּלֶמְתָּא | ulemta | the girl | הַנַּעֲרָ |
| עִדַּן בְּעִדַּן | iddan be-iddan | a time in a time | יָמִים |
| עַשְׂרָא | asra | ten | עָשׂוֹר |
| יַרְחִין | yarhin | months | — |
| בָּתַר כֵּן | batar ken | after that | אַחַר |
| אַצְלַח | atzlah | has made successful | הִצְלִיחַ |
| אָרְחִי | arhi | my journey | דַּרְכִּי |
| וְנִשְׁמָע | ve-nishma | and [let us] hear | וְנִשְׁאֲלָה |
| מַה דְּהִיא אָמְרָה | mah de-hi amrah | what she says | — |
| הֲתֵיזְלִי | hateizli | will you go | הֲתֵלְכִי |
| גַּבְרָא | gavra | man | הָאִישׁ |
| אֵיזִיל | eizil | I will go | אֵלֵךְ |
| מֵנִקְתַּהּ | meniktah | her nurse | מֵנִקְתָּהּ |
| גַּבְרוֹהִי | gavrohi | his men | אֲנָשָׁיו |
| לְאַלְפִין וּלְרִבְוָן | le-alfin u-le-rivan | thousands and myriads | לְאַלְפֵי רְבָבָה |
| וְיִרְתוּן | ve-yirtun | and may [they] inherit | וְיִירַשׁ |
| בְּנַיְכִי | benaikhi | your children | זַרְעֵךְ |
| קִרְוֵי | kirvei | the cities of | שַׁעַר |
| סַנְאֵיהוֹן | saneihon | their foes | שֹׂנְאָיו |
| וְעוּלֶמְתָּהָא | ve-ulemtaha | and her maidens | וְנַעֲרֹתֶיהָ |
| וּרְכִיבָא | u-rekhiva | they rode | וַתִּרְכַּבְנָה |
| וּדְבַר | u-devar | led | וַיִּקַּח |
| קַיָּמָא | kayama | living | לַחַי |
| אִתְחֲזֵי | it’hazei | appeared | רֹאִי |
| דָּרוֹמָא | daroma | the south | הַנֶּגֶב |
| לְצַלָּאָה | le-tzala’a | to pray | לָשׂוּחַ |
| לְמִפְנֵי | le-mifnei | towards | לִפְנוֹת |
| רַמְשָׁא | ramsha | evening | עָרֶב |
| וּזְקַף | u-zekaf | he raised | וַיִּשָּׂא |
| וּזְקָפַת | u-zekafat | raised | וַתִּשָּׂא |
| וְאִתְרְכִינַת | ve-itrekhinat | she bent down | וַתִּפֹּל |
| דֵיכִי | deikhi | that | הַלָּזֶה |
| דִּמְהַלֵּךְ | di-mhallekh | walking | הַהֹלֵךְ |
| לְקַדָּמוּתָנָא | le-kadamutana | towards us | לִקְרָאתֵנוּ |
| עֵיפָא | eifa | the veil | הַצָּעִיף |
| וְאִתְכַּסִּיאַת | ve-itkassi’at | and covered herself | וַתִּתְכָּס |
| וְאִשְׁתָּעֵי | ve-ishta’ei | told | וַיְסַפֵּר |
| פִּתְגָּמַיָּא | pitgamaya | the things | הַדְּבָרִים |
| וְאַעֲלַהּ | ve-a’alah | brought her in | וַיְבִאֶהָ |
Source note
Aliyah boundary. Bereshit 24:53 – 24:67, following the aliyah divisions in Sefaria’s index of Bereshit (the next aliyah begins at Bereshit 25:1).
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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