Parashat Noach — Third Aliyah

Torah with Onkelos · Bereshit 7:17 – 8:14 · פרשת נח, שלישי

The Flood at its height, the waters’ slow retreat, and the sending of the raven and the dove, read through Targum Onkelos

Contents

• Orientation
• How this page is laid out
• Unit 1 — Bereshit 7:17–24: The waters prevail and all flesh dies
• Unit 2 — Bereshit 8:1–8: The waters recede, and the raven and the dove
• Unit 3 — Bereshit 8:9–14: The dove’s flights and the drying of the earth
• Conclusion of the aliyah
• Aramaic word list for the aliyah
• Source note

Orientation

What happens in this aliyah. The Flood lasts forty days on the earth; the waters increase, lift the ark and rise until they cover the highest mountains by fifteen cubits. Every living thing on dry land dies, and only Noach and those with him in the ark are left, while the waters remain powerful for a hundred and fifty days. Then God remembers Noach and the creatures with him, a wind passes over the earth, the wellsprings of the deep and the windows of the heavens are closed, and the waters slowly fall. The ark rests on the mountains in the seventh month, and the mountaintops appear in the tenth. Noach opens the window of the ark and sends out the raven, and then the dove three times: first it finds no resting place and returns, then it brings back an olive leaf, and finally it does not return. In the first month of the six hundred and first year the waters are dried from the earth, and in the second month the earth is completely dry.

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, almost word-for-word rendering. Most of Onkelos’s departures in this aliyah are matters of Aramaic vocabulary and grammar rather than interpretation.
• Fixed verb pairings. The Hebrew ‘increased’ is rendered by sgi and every form of ‘were powerful’ in the first passage by tekifu.
• One Aramaic word for several Hebrew ones. ‘Ground’ and ‘earth’ both become ar’a; the two Hebrew roots for ‘creeping’ become one root; ‘perished’ and ‘died’ become the plain verb of dying; the ‘windows’ of the heavens and the ‘window’ of the ark share one word.
• Numbers and counting. Nouns after a count of days or cubits are plural in the Aramaic where the Hebrew has the singular, and compound numbers such as ‘fifty and a hundred’ put the larger number first.
• Passives and participles. Hebrew passives are kept as Aramaic passives, and the Hebrew infinitive absolutes of continuing movement are turned, wholly or in part, into participles.
• Hashem for Elokim. In 8:1 the printed Targum has the Name where the Hebrew has Elokim.
• The mountains of Kardu. The one geographical identification in the aliyah: Ararat is named Kardu.

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 7:17–24: The waters prevail and all flesh dies

The Flood lasts forty days, the waters rise until they cover the highest mountains by fifteen cubits, and every living thing on dry land dies; only Noach and those with him in the ark are left. The waters remain powerful for a hundred and fifty days.

Bereshit 7:17

Torah

Translation

There was a Flood on the earth for forty days. The waters increased and lifted the ark, and it rose [high] above the earth.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

There was a Flood on the earth [for] forty days. The waters increased and lifted the ark, and it was raised above the earth.

What Onkelos tells us

• “There was a Flood”. The Hebrew mabbul becomes tofana, the usual Aramaic word for the Flood; the Hebrew verb va-yehi becomes va-hava, both ‘there was’.
• “Forty days”. The Hebrew uses the singular yom after the number forty, as Hebrew does with numbers above ten. Onkelos puts the noun in the plural, yemamin, “days”. The same happens with “fifteen cubits” in 7:20 and “a hundred and fifty days” in 7:24, so with counts such as these it is a matter of Aramaic usage rather than interpretation. (In day-of-month dates, as in 8:4 and 8:14, the Aramaic keeps the singular yoma.)
• “The waters increased and lifted”. The Hebrew va-yirbu, from רבה, becomes u-sgi’u; va-yis’u, “lifted”, becomes u-netalu, from נטל. Both are the ordinary Aramaic equivalents.
• “And it was raised”. The Hebrew va-tarom is an active verb, “it rose”. Onkelos uses an Itpe’el form of the same root, ve-ittaramat, “and it was raised”. This may simply be the normal Aramaic way of expressing being lifted up; it also fits the preceding clause, in which the waters lifted the ark, so that the ark is the one acted upon.
• Textual note. For yemamin, “days”, the Yemenite text reads yomin, the plural form the printed text itself has in 7:24. Both are plurals of the same noun, so the point about the plural after a number holds in either text.

Words to note: טוֹפָנָא tofana — the Flood (הַמַּבּוּל) · יְמָמִין yemamin — days (יוֹם) · וּסְגִיאוּ u-sgi’u — and increased (וַיִּרְבּוּ) · וּנְטָלוּ u-netalu — and lifted (וַיִּשְׂאוּ) · תֵּבוֹתָא tevota — the ark (הַתֵּבָה) · וְאִתָּרָמַת ve-ittaramat — and it was raised (וַתָּרׇם)

Bereshit 7:18

Torah

Translation

The waters were powerful and increased greatly over the earth, and the ark moved on the surface of the waters.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The waters were powerful and increased greatly over the earth, and the ark [was] moving on the surface of the waters.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Were powerful”. The Hebrew va-yigberu, from גבר, becomes u-tekifu, “were strong, powerful”. Onkelos uses tekifu for all four forms of this Hebrew verb in the passage (7:18, 7:19, 7:20, 7:24), just as he uses sgi’u for both forms of va-yirbu (7:17, 7:18).
• “Greatly”. The Hebrew adverb me’od becomes lahada, the standard Aramaic equivalent.
• “The ark [was] moving”. Where the Hebrew has a narrative past, va-telekh, “and it moved”, Onkelos has a participle, u-mehallekha, “and moving”. The participle presents the ark’s drifting as an ongoing state against the background of the rising waters, rather than as one further event in the sequence.
• “On the surface”. The Hebrew al penei, “on the face of”, becomes al appei, also literally “on the face of”.

Words to note: וּתְקִיפוּ u-tekifu — and were powerful (וַיִּגְבְּרוּ) · לַחֲדָא lahada — greatly (מְאֹד) · וּמְהַלְּכָא u-mehallekha — [was] moving (וַתֵּלֶךְ) · אַפֵּי appei — the surface of (פְּנֵי)

Bereshit 7:19

Torah

Translation

The waters were very powerful over the earth, and they covered all the high mountains which were under all the heavens.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The waters were very very powerful over the earth, and all the high mountains which were under all the heavens were covered.

What Onkelos tells us

• “The waters were very very powerful”. Onkelos keeps the Hebrew word order, with the subject first (u-mayya tekifu), and keeps the doubled adverb: me’od me’od becomes lahada lahada.
• “Were covered”. The Hebrew va-yekhussu is passive (Pual), and Onkelos keeps the passive with an Itpe’el, ve-ithafi’u. The mountains are the grammatical subject in both texts.
• “High”. The Hebrew ha-gevohim, from גבה, becomes ramayya, from the root Onkelos used for the ark being raised in 7:17. In the Hebrew, gaveru and ha-gevohim sound alike, though they come from different roots (גבר and גבה); in the Aramaic, tekifu and ramayya have no such echo, so the sound-play is lost.
• “Mountains”. The Hebrew he-harim becomes turayya, the Aramaic word for mountains.

Words to note: וְאִתְחֲפִיאוּ ve-ithafi’u — and were covered (וַיְכֻסּוּ) · טוּרַיָּא turayya — the mountains (הֶהָרִים) · רָמַיָּא ramayya — high (הַגְּבֹהִים) · תְחוֹת tehot — under (תַּחַת)

Bereshit 7:20

Torah

Translation

Fifteen amohs above them [the mountains] did the waters prevail and they covered the mountains.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Fifteen amohs above did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Fifteen amohs”. As with “forty days” in 7:17, the Hebrew singular ammah after the number becomes the Aramaic plural ammin.
• “Above”. The Hebrew mil-ma’lah becomes milella, the Aramaic adverb “above”. Neither text says what the waters were above; the mountains of the previous verse are implied in both.
• “Did the waters prevail”. The verb is again tekifu, the same word rendered “were powerful” in 7:18–19.
• “The mountains were covered”. As in 7:19, the Hebrew passive va-yekhussu is kept as the Itpe’el ve-ithafi’u.

Words to note: אַמִּין ammin — amohs (אַמָּה) · מִלְעֵלָּא milella — above (מִלְמַעְלָה) · תְּקִיפוּ tekifu — prevailed (גָּבְרוּ)

Bereshit 7:21

Torah

Translation

All flesh that moved on the earth perished; birds, animals, beasts, and all creeping creatures that creep on the earth and every man.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

All flesh that crept on the earth died; birds, animals, beasts, and all creeping creatures that creep on the earth and every man.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Died”. The Hebrew has va-yigva, “perished”, here and metu, “died”, in 7:22. Onkelos renders both with the plain verb of dying, u-mit and mitu, so the Hebrew’s two verbs become one in the Aramaic.
• “That crept” and “creeping creatures that creep”. The Hebrew uses two roots: ha-romes (רמש) for “all flesh that moved”, and ha-sherets ha-shorets (שרץ) for “the creeping creatures that creep”. Onkelos uses one Aramaic root, רחש, for all three words: de-rahesh … rihasha de-rahesh. The noun remes in 7:23 is also rihasha. The distinction between the two Hebrew roots is therefore not kept in the Aramaic.
• “Every man”. The Hebrew ha-adam becomes enasha, the Aramaic word for a human being; the list of birds, animals and beasts keeps the Hebrew’s prefix ב (be-ofa, u-vi-v’ira, u-ve-hayta).

Words to note: וּמִית u-mit — and died (וַיִּגְוַע) · בִּשְׂרָא bisra — flesh (בָּשָׂר) · דְּרָחֵשׁ de-rahesh — that crept (הָרֹמֵשׂ) · רִחֲשָׁא rihasha — creeping creatures (הַשֶּׁרֶץ) · וּבְחַיְתָא u-ve-hayta — and beasts (וּבַחַיָּה) · אֱנָשָׁא enasha — man (הָאָדָם)

Bereshit 7:22

Torah

Translation

All that has a breath of the spirit of life—everything on dry land—died.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

All that has a breath, a spirit of life, in its nostrils, of all that was on dry land, died.

What Onkelos tells us

• “A breath, a spirit of life”. The Hebrew nishmat ruah hayyim is a single construct chain, “a breath of the spirit of life”. The printed Onkelos does not keep the chain: nishmeta and ruha are both in the emphatic state rather than the construct, and only the last link is joined with the particle de-: de-hayyin, “of life”. This reads most naturally as “a breath, a spirit of life”, with the two nouns side by side, though it may be no more than a looser Aramaic way of rendering the Hebrew phrase.
• “In its nostrils”. The Hebrew be-appav is rendered word for word, be-appohi.
• “Dry land”. The Hebrew ba-haravah, from חרב, becomes be-yabbeshta, from יבש, the ordinary Aramaic word for dry land.
• “Died”. Mitu renders metu exactly; on its use for va-yigva in 7:21, see there.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads de-nishmat ruah hayyin, keeping the Hebrew construct chain exactly (“that has a breath of the spirit of life”). The note above about the loosened chain holds for the printed text only.

Words to note: נִשְׁמְתָא nishmeta — a breath (נִשְׁמַת) · רוּחָא ruha — a spirit (רוּחַ) · דְּחַיִּין de-hayyin — of life (חַיִּים) · בְּאַפּוֹהִי be-appohi — in its nostrils (בְּאַפָּיו) · בְּיַבֶּשְׁתָּא be-yabbeshta — on dry land (בֶּחָרָבָה) · מִיתוּ mitu — died (מֵתוּ)

Bereshit 7:23

Torah

Translation

[He] obliterated every being that was on the surface of the ground; from man to animals, to creeping creatures, and to the birds of the heaven. They were obliterated from the earth. Only Noach and those with him in the ark survived.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

[He] obliterated every being that was on the surface of the earth; from man to animals, to creeping creatures, and to the birds of the heaven. They were obliterated from the earth. Only Noach and those with him in the ark survived.

What Onkelos tells us

• “[He] obliterated”. The Hebrew va-yimah has no expressed subject, and Onkelos’s u-meha has none either; the verb is active in both texts, and the Hebrew passive va-yimmahu, “they were obliterated”, is kept as the Itpe’el ve-itmehi’u from the same root.
• “The surface of the earth”. The Hebrew has ha-adamah, “the ground”, here, but ha-arets in the next clause. Onkelos renders both with ar’a, the word he uses for ha-arets throughout the passage, so the distinction between the two Hebrew words disappears.
• “Creeping creatures”. The Hebrew remes becomes rihasha, the same word that rendered ha-sherets in 7:21.
• “Only Noach … survived”. The Hebrew va-yisha’er, “was left”, becomes ve-ishta’ar, the Aramaic equivalent; the restrictive akh, “only”, becomes beram. “Those with him” (va-asher itto) becomes ve-di immeh.

Words to note: וּמְחָא u-meha — obliterated (וַיִּמַח) · יְקוּמָא yekuma — being (הַיְקוּם) · וְאִתְמְחִיאוּ ve-itmehi’u — they were obliterated (וַיִּמָּחוּ) · וְאִשְׁתָּאַר ve-ishta’ar — survived (וַיִּשָּׁאֶר) · בְּרַם beram — only (אַךְ) · עִמֵּהּ immeh — with him (אִתּוֹ)

Bereshit 7:24

Torah

Translation

The waters were powerful over the earth for one hundred and fifty days.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The waters were powerful over the earth [for] one hundred and fifty days.

What Onkelos tells us

• “One hundred and fifty days”. The Hebrew says “fifty and a hundred” (hamishim u-me’at); Onkelos reverses the order to me’a ve-hamshin, “a hundred and fifty”, the larger number first. As in 7:17 and 7:20, the singular yom after the number becomes the plural yomin.
• “Were powerful”. U-tekifu again renders va-yigberu, as in 7:18.

Words to note: מְאָה me’a — hundred (וּמְאַת) · וְחַמְשִׁין ve-hamshin — and fifty (חֲמִשִּׁים) · יוֹמִין yomin — days (יוֹם)

Unit 1 summary

Onkelos follows this passage closely, verse by verse and almost word by word. His changes are mostly matters of vocabulary and Aramaic grammar. He keeps a fixed pairing of verbs: every form of the Hebrew root of ‘increase’ becomes a form of sgi (u-sgi’u), and all four forms of the root of ‘were powerful’ become tekifu. In the other direction he narrows the Hebrew’s variety: ‘perished’ and ‘died’ are both rendered with the plain verb of dying, the ‘creeping’ of two Hebrew roots is rendered with one Aramaic root, and ‘ground’ and ‘earth’ both become ar’a. Nouns after a count of days or cubits, singular in the Hebrew (‘forty day’, ‘fifteen cubit’, ‘a hundred and fifty day’), are plural in the Aramaic, and the order ‘fifty and a hundred’ becomes ‘a hundred and fifty’. The passive verbs of the Hebrew (‘were covered’, ‘were obliterated’, ‘was left’) are kept as Itpe’el passives, while ‘it rose’ in 7:17 also becomes an Itpe’el, ‘it was raised’. In 7:22 the printed text loosens the Hebrew construct chain ‘a breath of the spirit of life’ into separate nouns linked by de-, which the Yemenite text does not do.

Unit 2 — Bereshit 8:1–8: The waters recede, and the raven and the dove

God remembers Noach and the creatures in the ark, the sources of the flood are shut, and the waters slowly fall until the ark rests on the mountains and the peaks appear. Noach opens the window and sends out first the raven, then the dove.

Bereshit 8:1

Torah

Translation

God remembered Noach, and all the beasts and all the animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the water subsided.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem remembered Noach, and all the beasts and all the animals that were with him in the ark. Hashem caused a wind to blow over the earth and the water rested.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Hashem remembered”. Where the Hebrew has Elokim, here twice, the printed Targum has the Name, ה׳. The verb dekhir (וּדְכִיר) is the ordinary Aramaic for “remembered”, matching Hebrew זכר.
• “Caused a wind to blow”. Ve-a’bar (וְאַעְבַּר) is the causative (Af’el) of עבר, matching the Hebrew causative וַיַּעֲבֵר form for form.
• “The water rested”. For Hebrew וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ, “subsided”, Onkelos writes ve-nahu (וְנָחוּ), from the root נוח, “rest, become still”. The same root serves for the ark that “rested” in 8:4 (Hebrew וַתָּנַח, Aramaic וְנָחַת), so where the Hebrew uses two roots for the calming water and the resting ark, the Aramaic uses one.

Words to note: וּדְכִיר u-dekhir — remembered (וַיִּזְכֹּר) · חַיְתָא hayta — beasts (הַחַיָּה) · בְּעִירָא be’ira — animals (הַבְּהֵמָה) · בְּתֵבוֹתָא be-tevota — in the ark (בַּתֵּבָה) · וְאַעְבַּר ve-a’bar — caused to blow (וַיַּעֲבֵר) · וְנָחוּ ve-nahu — rested (וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ)

Bereshit 8:2

Torah

Translation

The wellsprings of the deep were closed, and [so were] the windows of the heavens, and the downpour from the heavens was withheld.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The wellsprings of the deep were closed, and [so were] the windows of the heavens, and the downpour from the heavens was withheld.

What Onkelos tells us

• A literal rendering. Both Hebrew passives (Nif’al) become Aramaic passives (Itpe’el): ve-istekharu, “were closed”, and ve-itkeli, “was withheld”. Mabbu’ei (מַבּוּעֵי) is the Aramaic word for “wellsprings”.
• “The windows of the heavens”. For Hebrew וַאֲרֻבֹּת Onkelos writes ve-khavvei (וְכַוֵּי), “windows”. The same word appears in 8:6 for the “window” of the ark (kavvat, for Hebrew חַלּוֹן), so two different Hebrew nouns share one Aramaic word.

Words to note: וְאִסְתְּכָרוּ ve-istekharu — were closed (וַיִּסָּכְרוּ) · מַבּוּעֵי mabbu’ei — wellsprings of (מַעְיְנֹת) · וְכַוֵּי ve-khavvei — and the windows of (וַאֲרֻבֹּת) · וְאִתְכְּלִי ve-itkeli — was withheld (וַיִּכָּלֵא) · מִטְרָא mitra — the downpour (הַגֶּשֶׁם)

Bereshit 8:3

Torah

Translation

The water receded from the earth continually, and the waters diminished at the end of one hundred and fifty days.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The water receded from the earth, going and returning, and the waters diminished at the end of one hundred and fifty days.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Going and returning”. The Hebrew uses two infinitive absolutes, הָלוֹךְ וָשׁוֹב, to describe a gradual, continuing movement. Onkelos turns them into participles, azlin ve-tayvin (אָזְלִין וְתָיְבִין), “going and returning”. The repetition of the root is kept: Hebrew וַיָּשֻׁבוּ and וָשׁוֹב both come from שוב, and Aramaic ve-tavu and ve-tayvin both come from its Aramaic counterpart תוב.
• “One hundred and fifty”. The Hebrew counts “fifty and a hundred” (חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת); the Aramaic gives the larger number first, me’a ve-hamshin, “a hundred and fifty”. The meaning is the same.
• “At the end”. Mi-sof (מִסּוֹף) renders Hebrew מִקְצֵה; the plural yomin, “days”, stands for the Hebrew singular יוֹם after the number.

Words to note: וְתָבוּ ve-tavu — receded (וַיָּשֻׁבוּ) · אָזְלִין azlin — going (הָלוֹךְ) · וְתָיְבִין ve-tayvin — and returning (וָשׁוֹב) · וַחֲסָרוּ va-hasaru — diminished (וַיַּחְסְרוּ) · מִסּוֹף mi-sof — at the end of (מִקְצֵה)

Bereshit 8:4

Torah

Translation

The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Kardu.

What Onkelos tells us

• “The mountains of Kardu”. For the Hebrew place-name אֲרָרָט Onkelos gives turei Kardu (טוּרֵי קַרְדּוּ). This is an identification of the biblical name with a region known by another name, not a translation of the word.
• Otherwise literal. Ve-nahat (וְנָחַת) has the same root as Hebrew וַתָּנַח, “rested” (see 8:1). The month is yarha (בְּיַרְחָא), the usual Aramaic for Hebrew בַּחֹדֶשׁ, and “mountains” is turei, from tura.

Words to note: וְנָחַת ve-nahat — rested (וַתָּנַח) · בְּיַרְחָא be-yarha — in the month (בַּחֹדֶשׁ) · שְׁבִיעָאָה shevi’a’a — seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי) · טוּרֵי turei — mountains of (הָרֵי) · קַרְדּוּ Kardu — Kardu (אֲרָרָט)

Bereshit 8:5

Torah

Translation

The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month. In the tenth [month], on the first of the month, the mountaintops became visible.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The waters were going and diminishing until the tenth month. In the tenth [month], on the first of the month, the mountaintops became visible.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Were going and diminishing”. As in 8:3, the Hebrew infinitive absolutes הָלוֹךְ וְחָסוֹר become participles, azlin ve-hasrin (אָזְלִין וְחָסְרִין), here with havo, “were”, for Hebrew הָיוּ: a continuous past.
• “Became visible”. Ithaziu (אִתְחֲזִיאוּ), a passive (Itpe’el) of חזי, “see”, matches the Hebrew passive נִרְאוּ. “The mountaintops” is reishei turayya, with the same tur as in 8:4.

Words to note: הֲווֹ havo — were (הָיוּ) · וְחָסְרִין ve-hasrin — and diminishing (וְחָסוֹר) · בְּחַד be-had — on the first (בְּאֶחָד) · אִתְחֲזִיאוּ ithaziu — became visible (נִרְאוּ) · רֵישֵׁי reishei — tops of (רָאשֵׁי) · טוּרַיָּא turayya — the mountains (הֶהָרִים)

Bereshit 8:6

Torah

Translation

At the end of forty days, Noach opened the window of the ark which he had made.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

At the end of forty days, Noach opened the window of the ark which he had made.

What Onkelos tells us

• A literal rendering. “The window” is kavvat (כַּוַּת), the same word Onkelos used in 8:2 for the “windows” of the heavens, though the Hebrew there is different (וַאֲרֻבֹּת, here חַלּוֹן). “At the end” is again mi-sof, as in 8:3.

Words to note: מִסּוֹף mi-sof — at the end of (מִקֵּץ) · וּפְתַח u-fetah — opened (וַיִּפְתַּח) · כַּוַּת kavvat — the window of (חַלּוֹן) · עֲבָד avad — he had made (עָשָׂה)

Bereshit 8:7

Torah

Translation

He sent out the raven, and it went out, going to and fro until the water on the land dried up.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

He sent out the raven, and it went out, going out and returning, until the water on the land dried up.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Going out and returning”. The Hebrew pairs the verb with two infinitive absolutes, וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב. Onkelos keeps an infinitive for the first, mippak (מִפַּק), echoing u-nefak, but renders the second with a participle, ve-tayyiv (וְתַיִּב), “and returning”, as he did with the same Hebrew word in 8:3.
• “Until the water dried up”. The Hebrew uses a noun, עַד יְבֹשֶׁת, “until the drying of”. Onkelos turns it into a verbal clause, ad de-yabbishu (עַד דְּיַבִּישׁוּ), “until [the water] dried up”: a grammatical smoothing that does not change the sense.

Words to note: וְשַׁלַּח ve-shallah — he sent out (וַיְשַׁלַּח) · עוֹרְבָא orva — the raven (הָעֹרֵב) · וּנְפַק u-nefak — it went out (וַיֵּצֵא) · מִפַּק mippak — going out (יָצוֹא) · וְתַיִּב ve-tayyiv — and returning (וָשׁוֹב) · דְּיַבִּישׁוּ de-yabbishu — dried up (יְבֹשֶׁת)

Bereshit 8:8

Torah

Translation

He [then] sent the dove to see if the water had subsided from the surface of the ground.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

He sent the dove from him to see if the water had subsided from the surface of the land.

What Onkelos tells us

• “From him”. Millevateh (מִלְּוָתֵהּ), literally “from beside him”, renders Hebrew מֵאִתּוֹ.
• “If the water had subsided”. Ha-kalli’u (הֲקַלִּיאוּ) keeps the Hebrew interrogative prefix ה of הֲקַלּוּ and uses the same root as the Hebrew verb.
• “The surface of the land”. The Hebrew changes here from הָאָרֶץ (8:7, and 8:1, 8:3) to הָאֲדָמָה. Onkelos has ar’a (אַרְעָא) in all these verses, so the distinction between the two Hebrew words is not visible in the Aramaic. “Surface” is appei, “face”, the usual equivalent of Hebrew פְּנֵי.
• Textual note. For the printed הֲקַלִּיאוּ the Yemenite text reads אִם קַלּוּ, “if [the water] had subsided”, with the particle im in place of the interrogative ה. The remark that Onkelos keeps the Hebrew interrogative prefix holds for the printed text only.

Words to note: יוֹנָה yonah — the dove (הַיּוֹנָה) · מִלְּוָתֵהּ millevateh — from him (מֵאִתּוֹ) · לְמֵחֲזֵי le-mehezei — to see (לִרְאוֹת) · הֲקַלִּיאוּ ha-kalli’u — had subsided? (הֲקַלּוּ) · אַפֵּי appei — the surface of (פְּנֵי) · אַרְעָא ar’a — the land (הָאֲדָמָה)

Unit 2 summary

Onkelos follows this passage closely, almost word for word, and most of his departures are matters of vocabulary and grammar. Where the Hebrew has Elokim he has the Name. He uses one word, kavvei / kavvat, for both the Hebrew “windows” of the heavens and the “window” of the ark, one root, נוח, for the water that subsides and the ark that rests, and one word, ar’a, for both Hebrew eretz and adamah. The Hebrew infinitive absolutes that describe the gradual retreat of the water (“going and returning”, “going and diminishing”) become participles in 8:3 and 8:5; in the raven’s flight in 8:7 the second becomes a participle while the first stays an infinitive, and “until the drying of the water” becomes a verbal clause. The one interpretive step is geographical: the mountains of Ararat are named the mountains of Kardu.

Unit 3 — Bereshit 8:9–14: The dove’s flights and the drying of the earth

Noach sends the dove out three times: first it finds no resting place and returns, then it comes back with an olive leaf, and finally it does not return. In the following months the water dries and the earth becomes completely dry.

Bereshit 8:9

Torah

Translation

The dove found no [place to] rest her foot. She returned to him into the ark, for the water was upon the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand and took her and brought her to him, into the ark.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot. She returned to him into the ark, for the water was upon the surface of the whole earth. He stretched out his hand and took her and brought her in to him, into the ark.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Rest for the sole of her foot”. The Hebrew manoah le-khaf raglah uses kaf, the hollow of the hand or foot. Onkelos keeps the noun for ‘rest’ (מְנַח, menah) but renders kaf by parsat, the usual Aramaic word for the sole: le-farsat raglah.
• “He stretched out his hand”. The Hebrew says va-yishlah yado, using the same verb (שלח) that describes sending the dove in 8:10 and 8:12. Onkelos uses a different verb here, ve-oshit yedeh, ‘he stretched out his hand’, and keeps shallah for the sending of the dove. One Hebrew root is thus split between two Aramaic verbs according to the sense.
• “Brought her in”. For the Hebrew va-yavei, ‘he brought’, Onkelos writes ve-a’eil, ‘and he brought in’, a causative verb of entering. Since the next words are ‘to him, into the ark’, the Aramaic verb suits the movement into the ark described by the Hebrew.
• “To him, into the ark”. The double phrase of the Hebrew, elav el ha-tevah, appears twice in the verse; Onkelos renders it the same way both times, levateh le-tevota.

Words to note: אַשְׁכַּחַת ashkahat — found (מָצְאָה) · מְנַח menah — rest (מָנוֹחַ) · לְפַרְסַת le-farsat — for the sole [of] (לְכַף) · וְאוֹשִׁיט ve-oshit — and he stretched out (וַיִּשְׁלַח) · וְנָסְבַהּ ve-nasvah — and he took her (וַיִּקָּחֶהָ) · וְאָעֵיל ve-a’eil — and he brought in (וַיָּבֵא)

Bereshit 8:10

Torah

Translation

He waited another seven days, and once again sent the dove out of the ark.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

He waited another seven days, and once again sent the dove out of the ark.

What Onkelos tells us

• “He waited”. Onkelos renders the Hebrew va-yahel by ve-orikh, literally ‘he lengthened [the time]’, a common Aramaic way of saying ‘he waited’. The same word returns in 8:12 for the slightly different Hebrew form va-yiyyahel; Onkelos does not reproduce the difference between the two Hebrew forms.
• “Once again sent”. Otherwise a literal rendering. The Hebrew idiom va-yosef shallah, ‘he added to send’, is kept word for word as ve-osef shallah.

Words to note: וְאוֹרִיךְ ve-orikh — he waited (lit. he lengthened) (וַיָּחֶל) · אָחֳרָנִין ohoranin — other, another (אֲחֵרִים) · וְאוֹסֵיף ve-osef — and once again (lit. and he added) (וַיֹּסֶף) · שַׁלַּח shallah — sent (שַׁלַּח)

Bereshit 8:11

Torah

Translation

The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her mouth was a torn off olive leaf. Noach knew then that the water had subsided from the earth.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, an olive leaf, broken off, resting in her mouth. Noach knew that the water had subsided from upon the earth.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Toward evening”. The phrase is matched word for word: le-‘et erev becomes le-‘iddan ramsha, ‘at the time of evening’.
• “An olive leaf, broken off”. The Hebrew aleh zayit taraf means ‘an olive leaf, torn off’. In Aramaic the ordinary word for ‘leaf’ is טְּרַף (teraf), so Onkelos writes teraf zeita for ‘olive leaf’, and renders the Hebrew participle taraf, ‘torn’, by a different word, tevir, ‘broken’. The letters טרף therefore stand in both texts, but for different words: in the Hebrew for ‘torn’, in the Aramaic for ‘leaf’. Perhaps Onkelos chose tevir precisely to avoid the ambiguity this homograph would create.
• “Resting in her mouth”. The printed Onkelos adds a word with no Hebrew counterpart, nahit, apparently ‘coming down’ or ‘resting’, so that the leaf is described as lying in the dove’s mouth. The Hebrew has only ‘in her mouth’. This is a small addition for sense.
• “Had subsided”. The Aramaic kalli’u is a close equivalent of the Hebrew kallu.
• Textual note. Where the printed text reads נָחִית (nahit), the Yemenite text reads מַחַת (mahat), perhaps ‘placed’. The leaf is described as set in the dove’s mouth in both, but the note on nahit, ‘resting’, holds for the printed text only. For kalli’u the Yemenite text has קַלּוּ, the same letters as the Hebrew kallu.

Words to note: לְעִדַּן le-‘iddan — toward (lit. at the time of) (לְעֵת) · רַמְשָׁא ramsha — evening (עֶרֶב) · טְּרַף teraf — leaf (עֲלֵה) · תְּבִיר tevir — broken off (טָרָף) · נָחִית nahit — resting · קַלִּיאוּ kalli’u — had subsided (קַלּוּ)

Bereshit 8:12

Torah

Translation

He waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove; it did not return to him again.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

He waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove; it did not again return to him any more.

What Onkelos tells us

• “He waited”. As in 8:10, Onkelos writes ve-orikh, although the Hebrew form here is va-yiyyahel rather than va-yahel. The repeated wording ‘yet another seven days’ is matched exactly.
• “It did not again return”. The Hebrew ve-lo yasfah shuv, ‘it did not add to return’, is kept with the same verb (osifat), but the bare Hebrew infinitive shuv receives the Aramaic infinitive with a prefixed le-: le-mittuv, ‘to return’. This is ordinary grammatical smoothing.

Words to note: וְאוֹרִיךְ ve-orikh — he waited (lit. he lengthened) (וַיִּיָּחֶל) · אוֹסֵיפַת osifat — it [did not] again (lit. it added) (יָסְפָה) · לְמִתּוּב le-mittuv — to return (שׁוּב)

Bereshit 8:13

Torah

Translation

It was in the six hundredth and first year, in the first [month], on the first of the month, that the water on earth [began] to dry. Noach removed the covering of the ark. He looked and behold the surface of the ground had dried.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

It was in six hundred and one years, in the first [month], on the first of the month, the water dried from upon the earth. Noach removed the covering of the ark. He looked, and behold, the surface of the earth had dried.

What Onkelos tells us

• “In six hundred and one years”. The Hebrew gives the number with the smaller part first, ‘in one and six hundred year’ (be-ahat ve-shesh me’ot shanah). Onkelos puts the larger number first, be-shitt me’ah ve-had, uses the singular me’ah, ‘hundred’, after ‘six’, and the plural shenin, ‘years’, where the Hebrew has the singular shanah. These are features of Aramaic counting rather than changes of meaning.
• “Dried”. The Hebrew verb harvu appears twice in the verse; Onkelos renders both by neguvu. In the next verse, where the Hebrew changes to the verb יבש, Onkelos changes too (yabbishat), so the distinction between the two Hebrew verbs is kept.
• “The surface of the earth”. The Hebrew moves from ha-aretz, ‘the earth’, to ha-adamah, ‘the ground’. Onkelos uses ar’a for both, so the Aramaic does not reflect the change of word.
• “The covering of the ark”. The Hebrew construct mikhseh ha-tevah becomes hofa’a de-tevota, with the Aramaic particle de-, ‘of’. Ve-a’di, ‘he removed’, renders va-yasar.
• Textual note. For ‘and one’ the printed text has the masculine וְחַד, while the Yemenite text reads וּחְדַּא, apparently a feminine form, in agreement with the feminine Hebrew be-ahat.

Words to note: בְּשִׁתְּ be-shitt — in six (וְשֵׁשׁ) · שְׁנִין shenin — years (שָׁנָה) · נְגוּבוּ neguvu — dried (חָרְבוּ) · וְאַעְדִּי ve-a’di — removed (וַיָּסַר) · חוֹפָאָה hofa’a — covering (מִכְסֵה) · דְּתֵבוֹתָא de-tevota — of the ark (הַתֵּבָה)

Bereshit 8:14

Torah

Translation

In the second month, on the twenty seventh day of the month, the earth was [completely] dry.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

In the second month, on the twenty and seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

What Onkelos tells us

• “On the twenty and seventh day”. The Hebrew says ‘on the seven and twentieth day’ (be-shiv’ah ve-esrim). As in the year of 8:13, Onkelos puts the larger number first: be-‘asrin ve-shav’a.
• “Was dry”. A literal rendering: yavshah is rendered by yabbishat, from the same root יבש, distinct from the neguvu used for the Hebrew harvu in 8:13.

Words to note: תִּנְיָנָא tinyana — second (הַשֵּׁנִי) · בְּעַשְׂרִין be-‘asrin — on the twenty (וְעֶשְׂרִים) · יַבִּישַׁת yabbishat — was dry (יָבְשָׁה)

Unit 3 summary

Onkelos follows this passage closely, but with a number of small, telling choices. He supplies an Aramaic body-part word for the dove’s foot (parsat), uses a different verb for Noach putting out his hand (oshit) from the one he uses for sending the dove (shallah), and renders both Hebrew forms of ‘he waited’ by the same orikh. In the olive-leaf verse the Hebrew taraf, ‘torn off’, becomes tevir, while the Aramaic word for ‘leaf’ is teraf, so the letters of the Hebrew participle reappear in a different word; the printed text also adds a word describing the leaf resting in the dove’s mouth. In the dates Onkelos puts the larger number first, and he keeps the Hebrew distinction between the two verbs of drying, rendering one by neguvu and the other by yabbishat, while merging the Hebrew ‘earth’ and ‘ground’ into the single word ar’a.

Conclusion of the aliyah

The movement of the aliyah

The aliyah moves from destruction to the first signs of renewal. Its first part piles up verbs of rising and prevailing until every creature on dry land has died and only the ark remains; its second turns on God’s remembering Noach, after which the sources of the flood are shut and the waters go back step by step; its third follows the dove’s three flights and the dating of the drying of the earth. Onkelos follows this movement closely, verse by verse, and keeps the Hebrew’s repetitions of ‘were powerful’, ‘going and returning’ and ‘yet another seven days’, so that the pace of the narrative is preserved in the Aramaic.

What Onkelos tells us in this aliyah

1. “There was a Flood” (7:17). The Hebrew mabbul becomes tofana, the usual Aramaic word for the Flood.
2. “And it was raised” (7:17). The active Hebrew ‘it rose’ becomes the Itpe’el ve-ittaramat, which may simply be the normal Aramaic for being lifted, and which fits the waters lifting the ark in the preceding clause.
3. “Were powerful” (7:18). Tekifu renders all four forms of the Hebrew verb in the first passage, just as sgi’u renders both forms of ‘increased’.
4. “The ark [was] moving” (7:18). A participle replaces the Hebrew narrative past, presenting the ark’s drifting as an ongoing state.
5. “That crept” (7:21). One Aramaic root, rahesh, covers both Hebrew roots of creeping, so their distinction is not kept.
6. “A breath, a spirit of life” (7:22). The printed text loosens the Hebrew construct chain into nouns side by side; the Yemenite text keeps the chain exactly.
7. “Hashem remembered” (8:1). Where the Hebrew has Elokim, twice in the verse, the printed Targum has the Name.
8. “The water rested” (8:1). The root of ve-nahu is the same one used for the ark that rested in 8:4, where the Hebrew uses two roots.
9. “The mountains of Kardu” (8:4). An identification of the biblical place-name with a region known by another name, not a translation of the word.
10. “He stretched out his hand” (8:9). Onkelos uses oshit for the hand and keeps shallah for sending the dove, splitting one Hebrew root between two Aramaic verbs according to the sense.
11. “An olive leaf, broken off” (8:11). The Aramaic word for ‘leaf’ is teraf, so the Hebrew participle taraf is rendered by tevir; the printed text also adds nahit, so that the leaf is described as resting in the dove’s mouth.
12. “Dried” (8:13-14). Neguvu renders Hebrew harvu and yabbishat renders yavshah, keeping the distinction between the two Hebrew verbs of drying.

Recurring features

• Hebrew distinctions merged. ‘Ground’ and ‘earth’ both become ar’a wherever the Hebrew alternates between them; so too ‘perished’ and ‘died’, the two roots of creeping, and the two Hebrew words for window.
• Consistent verb choices. Tekifu for ‘were powerful’, sgi’u for ‘increased’, orikh for both forms of ‘he waited’, mi-sof for ‘at the end’.
• Aramaic counting. Plural nouns after a count of days or cubits (dates keep the singular yoma), and the larger number first in compound numbers such as ‘a hundred and fifty’, ‘six hundred and one’ and ‘twenty and seven’.
• Passives kept as passives. The Hebrew passives of covering, obliterating, closing, withholding and appearing become Aramaic Itpe’el forms, marked where they occur.
• Participles for continuing action. The ark ‘moving’ in 7:18 and the Hebrew infinitive absolutes of the waters’ retreat and the raven’s flight are rendered, wholly or in part, by participles.
• Printed and Yemenite texts. Several notes depend on the printed text only, as in the loosened construct chain of 7:22, the interrogative prefix of 8:8 and the added nahit of 8:11; these are marked where they occur.

Aliyah takeaway

In this aliyah Onkelos is above all a faithful translator: he follows the Hebrew verse by verse and almost word by word, and his changes are mostly those that Aramaic vocabulary and grammar require. The interest lies in the small decisions. He sometimes merges words the Hebrew keeps apart, such as earth and ground or the two roots of creeping, and sometimes separates what the Hebrew joins, as with the hand that is stretched out and the dove that is sent. Beside these stand the few steps that go beyond the words: the Name where the Hebrew has Elokim, and the naming of Ararat as Kardu.

Aramaic word list for the aliyah

Source note

Aliyah boundary. Bereshit 7:17 – 8:14, following the aliyah divisions in Sefaria’s index of Bereshit (the next aliyah begins at Bereshit 8:15).

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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