Parashat Toldot — First Aliyah

Torah with Onkelos · Bereshit 25:19 – 26:5 · פרשת תולדות, ראשון

The birth of Eisov and Yaakov, the sale of the birthright and Hashem’s promise to Yitzchok, read through Targum Onkelos

Contents

• Orientation
• How this page is laid out
• Unit 1 — Bereshit 25:19–26: Yitzchok’s marriage and the birth of Eisov and Yaakov
• Unit 2 — Bereshit 25:27–34: Two brothers, and the sale of the birthright
• Unit 3 — Bereshit 26:1–5: Famine, and Hashem’s promise to Yitzchok
• Conclusion of the aliyah
• Aramaic word list for the aliyah
• Source note

Orientation

What happens in this aliyah. The aliyah opens the account of Yitzchok’s descendants. Yitzchok marries Rivkah at forty and prays for her when she proves barren. She conceives twins who struggle within her, and when she goes to inquire she is told that two nations are in her womb, and that the greater will serve the smaller. Eisov is born first, red and covered in hair, and Yaakov follows holding his heel. The brothers grow up along different paths, Eisov in the field and Yaakov in the tents, and the exhausted Eisov sells his birthright to Yaakov for bread and a pottage of lentils. A famine then brings Yitzchok to Avimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar. There Hashem appears to him, tells him not to go down to Egypt, and renews to him the promise of land, many descendants and blessing that He swore to Avraham, because Avraham kept His charge.

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.

• Speech to and from God. Yitzchok prays ‘before Hashem’ (קֳדָם ה׳) with the ordinary verb וְצַלִּי; Hashem ‘accepted his prayer’ (וְקַבֵּל צְלוֹתֵהּ ה׳); and Rivkah goes ‘to seek instruction from before Hashem’ (25:21-22).
• Revelation and the Memra. In Hashem’s words to Yitzchok, ‘appeared’ becomes ‘was revealed’ (וְאִתְגְּלִי), ‘I will be with you’ becomes ‘My Memra will be at your aid’, and Avraham ‘accepted My Memra’ (26:2-5).
• The oracle to Rivkah. The second pair of nations becomes ‘kingdoms’ (מַלְכְּוָן), and the grammar of the last clause leaves only one reading of who serves whom (25:23).
• The portrait of the brothers. Eisov is ‘a man going out to the field’ and Yaakov is ‘attending the house of study’ (25:27). This verse carries most of the interpretive work in the account of the brothers.
• Links kept by consistent vocabulary. One noun for the pottage, one participle for ‘exhausted’, one verb for selling and one phrase for ‘as of the day’ tie the verses of the sale together; in 26:3 a single root serves for ‘keep’, ‘oath’ and ‘swore’.
• Grammar opened up. Hebrew infinitives become clauses with כַּד, ‘when’ (25:20, 25:26), and Hebrew construct phrases are opened up with ד; these are marked where they occur.
• Printed text and Yemenite text. Some features hold for the printed text only, such as the exact doubling of ‘red, red’ (25:30) and the added word ‘many’ (26:4). The textual notes mark these.

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 25:19–26: Yitzchok’s marriage and the birth of Eisov and Yaakov

The account of Yitzchok’s descendants opens with his marriage to Rivkah at forty. He prays for his barren wife, she conceives twins who struggle within her, she is told that two nations are in her womb, and Eisov and Yaakov are born when Yitzchok is sixty.

Bereshit 25:19

Torah

Translation

And these are the descendants of Yitzchok son of Avraham. Avraham was the father of Yitzchok.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

And these are the descendants of Yitzchok son of Avraham. Avraham was the father of Yitzchok.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Avraham was the father of Yitzchok”. A literal rendering. תּוּלְדַת renders תּוֹלְדֹת from the same root ילד, and the causative אוֹלִיד matches the Hebrew causative הוֹלִיד; בַּר is the Aramaic for ‘son’.

Words to note: תּוּלְדַת tuldat — descendants (תּוֹלְדֹת) · בַּר bar — son (בֶּן) · אוֹלִיד olid — was the father of (הוֹלִיד)

Bereshit 25:20

Torah

Translation

Yitzchok was forty years old when he took Rivkah, the daughter of Besueil, the Aramite, of Padan Aram, sister of Lavan, the Aramite, for a wife.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yitzchok was forty years old when he took Rivkah, the daughter of Besueil, the Aramite, of Padan Aram, sister of Lavan, the Aramite, for a wife.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Forty years”. The Hebrew has the singular שָׁנָה after the number; Onkelos has the plural שְׁנִין. The idiom ‘son of forty years’ (בַּר אַרְבְּעִין שְׁנִין) is kept as in the Hebrew.
• “When he took”. The Hebrew infinitive with a suffix, בְּקַחְתּוֹ, literally ‘in his taking’, becomes a full clause: כַּד נְסֵיב, ‘when he took’. The verb is the Aramaic נסב, ‘take’.
• “The Aramite”. Twice the Hebrew הָאֲרַמִּי, with the article, is rendered by the Aramaic gentilic אֲרַמָּאָה, whose ending already makes it definite.
• “Sister of Lavan”. The Hebrew construct אֲחוֹת לָבָן is opened up as אֲחָתֵהּ דְלָבָן, literally ‘his sister, of Lavan’: a possessive suffix anticipating the noun that follows with ד. This is an Aramaic construction; the sense is unchanged.

Words to note: שְׁנִין shenin — years (שָׁנָה) · נְסֵיב nesev — took (בְּקַחְתּוֹ) · אֲרַמָּאָה aramma’a — the Aramite (הָאֲרַמִּי) · אֲחָתֵהּ ahateh — sister (lit. his sister) (אֲחוֹת) · לְאִנְתּוּ le-‘intu — for a wife (לְאִשָּׁה)

Bereshit 25:21

Torah

Translation

Yitzchok prayed to Hashem across from his wife, for she was barren. Hashem granted his prayer and his wife, Rivkah, conceived.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yitzchok prayed before Hashem across from his wife, for she was barren. Hashem accepted his prayer and his wife, Rivkah, conceived.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Prayed before Hashem”. The Hebrew uses the uncommon verb וַיֶּעְתַּר; Onkelos uses the ordinary verb for prayer, וְצַלִּי. The Hebrew לַה׳, ‘to Hashem’, becomes קֳדָם ה׳, ‘before Hashem’, which may reflect a wish not to speak of words directed straight ‘to’ God.
• “Hashem accepted his prayer”. The Hebrew uses the root עתר twice: Yitzchok וַיֶּעְתַּר, and Hashem וַיֵּעָתֶר לוֹ, a passive-reflexive form, ‘let Himself be entreated by him’. Onkelos turns the second into an active clause, וְקַבֵּל צְלוֹתֵהּ ה׳, ‘Hashem accepted his prayer’. The repeated root of the Hebrew is not reproduced, but the link survives: the noun צְלוֹתֵהּ comes from the same root as the verb וְצַלִּי at the start of the verse.
• “Across from his wife”. The spatial לְנֹכַח is matched by לָקֳבֵל, ‘opposite’. A literal rendering.
• “Barren”. The printed text has עֲקָרָה, the same form as the Hebrew word עֲקָרָה.
• Textual note. For עֲקָרָה the Yemenite text reads עַקְרָא, the Aramaic form of the word. The observation that Onkelos uses the Hebrew form holds for the printed text only; the meaning is the same.

Words to note: וְצַלִּי ve-tzalli — prayed (וַיֶּעְתַּר) · קֳדָם kodam — before (לַה׳) · לָקֳבֵל lakovel — across from (לְנֹכַח) · וְקַבֵּל ve-kabbel — accepted (וַיֵּעָתֶר) · צְלוֹתֵהּ tzeloteh — his prayer · וְעַדִּיאַת ve-‘addi’at — conceived (וַתַּהַר)

Bereshit 25:22

Torah

Translation

The children clashed inside her, and [when this happened] she said, If this is so, why did I desire this? She [then] went to inquire of Hashem.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The children were pushing in her womb, and she said, If this is so, why did I desire this? She went to seek instruction from before Hashem.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Were pushing”. The Hebrew וַיִּתְרֹצְצוּ is a reflexive form of רצץ, ‘crush’, describing a struggle among the children. Onkelos uses a participle of דחק, ‘press, push’, וְדַחֲקִין: an ongoing pushing, and perhaps a less violent image.
• “In her womb”. For the Hebrew בְּקִרְבָּהּ, ‘inside her’, Onkelos has בִּמְעָהָא, from the word for the innards or womb. The same Aramaic word renders three different Hebrew words in this passage: בְּקִרְבָּהּ here, בְּבִטְנֵךְ and מִמֵּעַיִךְ in 25:23, and בְּבִטְנָהּ in 25:24.
• “Why did I desire this?” Rivkah’s terse question is reproduced word for word: לְמָה דְּנַן אֲנָא, literally ‘why this, I?’. Onkelos leaves it as elliptical as the Hebrew.
• “To seek instruction from before Hashem”. The Hebrew לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת ה׳ is ‘to inquire of Hashem’. Onkelos adds the object אוּלְפַן, ‘instruction’, and the phrase מִן קֳדָם, ‘from before’. What Rivkah seeks is thus a teaching that comes from Hashem; this may be a way of avoiding the image of ‘seeking’ God Himself.

Words to note: וְדַחֲקִין ve-dahakin — were pushing (וַיִּתְרֹצְצוּ) · בִּמְעָהָא bim’aha — in her womb (בְּקִרְבָּהּ) · דְּנַן denan — this (זֶּה) · לְמִתְבַּע le-mitba’ — to seek (לִדְרֹשׁ) · אוּלְפַן ulfan — instruction

Bereshit 25:23

Torah

Translation

Hashem said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two Kingdoms will separate from within you. One government will be mightier than the other, but the greater one will serve the smaller one.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two Kingdoms will separate from within you. One kingdom will be mightier than the other, but the greater one will be subjugated to the smaller one.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Two nations”. The Hebrew word is written גיים but read goyim, ‘nations’; Onkelos’s עַמְמִין, ‘nations’, corresponds to the form that is read.
• “Two Kingdoms”. The second Hebrew term, לְאֻמִּים, ‘peoples’, is rendered מַלְכְּוָן, ‘kingdoms’, and its singular וּלְאֹם מִלְאֹם becomes וּמַלְכוּ מִמַלְכוּ, ‘kingdom than kingdom’. The choice perhaps reads the oracle as speaking of the political powers the two nations will become.
• “Will separate”. Onkelos uses a different root, פרש, for Hebrew פרד, and gives the verb יִתְפָּרְשָׁן a feminine plural form agreeing with the feminine מַלְכְּוָן.
• “The greater one will be subjugated to the smaller one”. In the Hebrew וְרַב יַעֲבֹד צָעִיר no word marks the object, so either noun could grammatically be the subject of ‘serve’. Onkelos uses a reflexive form, יִשְׁתַּעֲבֵּיד, ‘will be subjugated’, with the preposition ל before לִזְעֵירָא. This construction allows only one reading: the greater serves the smaller.
• Textual note. For יִתְקַף, ‘will be mightier’, the Yemenite text reads תִּתַּקַּף, a feminine form agreeing with וּמַלְכוּ, ‘kingdom’. The meaning is the same.

Words to note: עַמְמִין amemin — nations (the Hebrew is read goyim) (גיים) · בִּמְעַיְכִי bim’aykhi — in your womb (בְּבִטְנֵךְ) · מַלְכְּוָן malkevan — kingdoms (לְאֻמִּים) · יִתְפָּרְשָׁן yitparshan — will separate (יִפָּרֵדוּ) · יִשְׁתַּעֲבֵּיד yishta’abbed — will be subjugated (יַעֲבֹד) · לִזְעֵירָא lize’eira — to the smaller one (צָעִיר)

Bereshit 25:24

Torah

Translation

When her days of pregnancy were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

When her days of pregnancy were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Were completed”. A literal rendering. The Hebrew וַיִּמְלְאוּ, ‘were filled’, is rendered by וּשְׁלִימוּ, from שלם, ‘be complete’; תְיוּמִין is the cognate of תוֹמִם, and בִּמְעָהָא is the same word for the womb used in 25:22.

Words to note: וּשְׁלִימוּ u-shelimu — were completed (וַיִּמְלְאוּ) · תְיוּמִין teyumin — twins (תוֹמִם) · בִּמְעָהָא bim’aha — in her womb (בְּבִטְנָהּ)

Bereshit 25:25

Torah

Translation

The first one came out with a reddish complexion, covered completely with what was like a hairy robe, and they named him Eisov.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The first one came out with a reddish complexion, covered completely with what was like a hairy robe (another version: kikhlan), and they named him Eisov.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Like a hairy robe”. The Hebrew construct כְּאַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר is opened up with ד: ‘like a robe’ (כִּגְלִים) ‘of hair’ (דִּשְׂעָר), with the Aramaic word כִּגְלִים for the garment. The sense is unchanged.
• An alternative reading. After כִּגְלִים the printed text adds in parentheses an alternative reading, כִּכְלָן, kikhlan, marked as another version. It is given inline above in transliteration; it stands in the place of the word for the garment, and its exact sense is uncertain.
• “With a reddish complexion”. The Hebrew אַדְמוֹנִי is rendered by סִמוֹק, from the Aramaic root for ‘red’. Otherwise a literal rendering; the plural ‘they named’ (וּקְרוֹ) follows the Hebrew וַיִּקְרְאוּ.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads כִּגְלוֹם for כִּגְלִים and has no alternative reading in parentheses. The word for the robe is the same; only its vocalization differs.

Words to note: וּנְפַק u-nefak — came out (וַיֵּצֵא) · קַדְמָאָה kadma’a — the first one (הָרִאשׁוֹן) · סִמוֹק simok — with a reddish complexion (אַדְמוֹנִי) · כִּגְלִים kiglim — like a robe (כְּאַדֶּרֶת) · דִּשְׂעָר di-s’ar — hairy (lit. of hair) (שֵׂעָר)

Bereshit 25:26

Torah

Translation

After that his brother came out, his hand grasping the heel of Eisov, and he [Yitzchok] named him Yaakov. Yitzchok was sixty years old when she [Rivkah] gave birth to them.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

After that his brother came out, his hand grasping the heel of Eisov, and he named him Yaakov. Yitzchok was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

What Onkelos tells us

• “The heel of Eisov”. The Hebrew בַּעֲקֵב עֵשָׂו is opened up with ד: בְּעִקְבָא דְעֵשָׂו. The Aramaic word for ‘heel’ keeps the letters עקב, so the link between the heel and the name יַעֲקֹב remains visible in the Aramaic as in the Hebrew.
• “When she gave birth”. The Hebrew infinitive בְּלֶדֶת, ‘in bearing’, has no expressed subject. Onkelos makes it a clause, כַּד יְלִידַת, with a feminine verb, so the subject ‘she’ is stated in the Aramaic. The same change from infinitive to a clause with כַּד occurs in 25:20.
• “Sixty years old”. As in 25:20, the Hebrew singular שָׁנָה becomes the plural שְׁנִין.

Words to note: וּבָתַר u-vatar — after (וְאַחֲרֵי) · אֲחוּהִי ahuhi — his brother (אָחִיו) · אֲחִידָא ahida — grasping (אֹחֶזֶת) · בְּעִקְבָא be-‘ikva — the heel (בַּעֲקֵב) · יְלִידַת yelidat — she gave birth (בְּלֶדֶת) · יָתְהוֹן yat-hon — them (אֹתָם)

Unit 1 summary

Onkelos follows the narrative closely, and his main changes cluster around speech to and from God. Yitzchok prays ‘before Hashem’ with the ordinary verb וְצַלִּי rather than the rare Hebrew root עתר, and Hashem’s response becomes ‘accepted his prayer’ (וְקַבֵּל צְלוֹתֵהּ), which keeps the link between the two halves of the verse through the noun ‘prayer’. Rivkah goes ‘to seek instruction from before Hashem’ (לְמִתְבַּע אוּלְפַן מִן קֳדָם ה׳), where the Hebrew has her ‘inquire of Hashem’. In the oracle the second pair of nations becomes ‘kingdoms’, and the closing clause is cast with a reflexive verb and the preposition ל, so that only one reading of ‘the greater will serve the smaller’ remains. Elsewhere the changes are grammatical: one Aramaic word, בִּמְעַיְכִי and its related forms, stands for three Hebrew words for the womb; the Hebrew infinitives ‘in his taking’ and ‘in bearing’ become clauses with כַּד, ‘when’; and the play between ‘heel’ and the name Yaakov survives in בְּעִקְבָא.

Unit 2 — Bereshit 25:27–34: Two brothers, and the sale of the birthright

The twins grow up along different paths: Eisov in the field, Yaakov at home. Eisov comes in exhausted, asks Yaakov for the red pottage, and sells him his birthright for bread and lentils.

Bereshit 25:27

Torah

Translation

The lads grew up. Eisov became a skilled trapper, a man of the field. Yaakov was a wholesome man, living in tents.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

The lads grew up. Eisov became a man [who was] a trapper, a man going out to the field. Yaakov was a wholesome man, attending the house of study.

What Onkelos tells us

• “A man [who was] a trapper”. The Hebrew yode’a tzayid, “knowing game”, is rendered by a single agent noun, nahshirkhan, “a trapper” or “hunter”. The idea of skill carried by “knowing” is absorbed into a word for the occupation.
• “A man going out to the field”. The Hebrew ish sadeh, “a man of the field”, is a bare construct phrase. Onkelos adds the participle nafek, “going out”, and the preposition: gevar nafek le-hakla. The field becomes the place Eisov goes to rather than a description of what he is, perhaps to give the phrase a plain, concrete sense.
• “Attending the house of study”. The largest change in the verse. The Hebrew yoshev ohalim, “dwelling in tents”, becomes meshamesh beit ulfana, “attending (literally, serving) the house of study”. The plural “tents” becomes a single institution, and “dwelling” becomes an activity. Set beside “going out to the field”, this suggests that Onkelos read the verse as a contrast between the brothers’ pursuits, and understood Yaakov’s “tents” as places of learning.
• “A wholesome man”. The Hebrew tam is rendered shelim, “whole, complete”, a close equivalent. The Hebrew uses ish three times in the verse, and Onkelos keeps all three as gevar.
• Textual note. For nahshirkhan, “a trapper”, the Yemenite text divides the word in two: נְחַשׁ יִרְכָן.
• Textual note. For nafek le-hakla, “going out to the field”, the Yemenite text reads נָפֵיק חֲקַל, without the preposition “to”. The added verb “going out” is present in both texts; the preposition belongs to the printed text only.

Words to note: עוּלֵמַיָּא ulemayya — the lads (הַנְּעָרִים) · נַחְשִׁירְכָן nahshirkhan — a trapper (יֹדֵעַ צַיִד) · נָפֵק לְחַקְלָא nafek le-hakla — going out to the field (שָׂדֶה) · שְׁלִים shelim — wholesome (תָּם) · מְשַׁמֵשׁ meshamesh — attending (יֹשֵׁב) · בֵּית אוּלְפָנָא beit ulfana — the house of study (אֹהָלִים)

Bereshit 25:28

Torah

Translation

Yitzchok loved Eisov because he ate of his trappings, but Rivkah loved Yaakov.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yitzchok loved Eisov because he used to eat of his trappings, but Rivkah loved Yaakov.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Because he used to eat of his trappings”. The Hebrew idiom ki tzayid be-fiv, literally “for game was in his mouth”, leaves open whose mouth is meant. Onkelos replaces the idiom with a plain statement, mi-tzedeh hava akhil, “of his trappings he used to eat”. In the Aramaic the natural subject of “used to eat” is Yitzchok, and “his trappings” are Eisov’s. The construction hava akhil (“was” with a participle) marks a habitual past.
• “Loved”. The Hebrew root אהב is rendered by the Aramaic root רחם in both halves of the verse: u-rehem for Yitzchok, rehimat for Rivkah. As in the Hebrew, Rivkah’s love is a participle (rehimat for ohevet), a continuing state, set against a simple past verb for Yitzchok.

Words to note: וּרְחֵם u-rehem — loved (וַיֶּאֱהַב) · מִצֵידֵהּ mi-tzedeh — of his trappings (צַיִד) · הֲוָה אָכִיל hava akhil — he used to eat (בְּפִיו) · רְחִימַת rehimat — loved (אֹהֶבֶת)

Bereshit 25:29

Torah

Translation

Yaakov was simmering a pottage when Eisov came in from the field, exhausted.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yaakov cooked a cooked dish, and Eisov came (another version: and entered) from the field, and he was exhausted.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Cooked a cooked dish”. The Hebrew va-yazed ya’akov nazid pairs a verb with a noun from the same root. Onkelos does the same with the root בשל: u-vashil ya’akov tavshila, “Yaakov cooked a cooked dish”. The same noun returns for the Hebrew nazid in 25:34.
• A double reading in the printed text. For the Hebrew va-yavo, the printed Onkelos gives va-ata, “came”, and then, in parentheses marked as another version, ve-al, “and entered”. Both are translated above. The Hebrew verb can mean either.
• “Exhausted”. The Hebrew adjective ayef is rendered by the participle meshalhei, “weary, spent”. The same word renders ayef again in 25:30.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads only וְעָאל, ve-al, “and entered”, the reading given as another version in the printed text.

Words to note: וּבַשִּׁיל u-vashil — cooked (וַיָּזֶד) · תַּבְשִׁילָא tavshila — a cooked dish (נָזִיד) · וַאֲתָא va-ata — came (וַיָּבֹא) · וְעַל ve-al — and entered (וַיָּבֹא) · מְשַׁלְהֵי meshalhei — exhausted (עָיֵף)

Bereshit 25:30

Torah

Translation

Eisov said to Yaakov, Please give me a swallow of this red [pottage], for I am exhausted. He was therefore named Edom [Red].

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Eisov said to Yaakov, Give me a taste now of this red, red [pottage], for I am exhausted. Therefore he called his name Edom.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Give me a taste”. The Hebrew haliteni, a rare verb for gulping or being fed, is rendered atemni, the causative of the common verb טעם, “to taste”: “make me taste”. The Aramaic perhaps uses a more ordinary, measured word than the Hebrew.
• “Now”. The Hebrew particle na is rendered khe’an, “now”.
• “This red, red [pottage]”. The Hebrew doubles the word: min ha-adom ha-adom ha-zeh. Onkelos keeps the doubling exactly: min simmoka simmoka haden. Neither text names the food.
• “Therefore he called his name Edom”. The Hebrew explains the name Edom by its sound: adom, “red”, and Edom share the same letters. Onkelos keeps the name Edom unchanged but renders “red” by the Aramaic simmoka, so the link in sound on which “therefore” rests is not heard in the Aramaic.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads סִמּוֹקָא סָמְקָא, simmoka samka, with two different forms for “red”. The exact repetition of the Hebrew’s doubled word holds for the printed text only.

Words to note: אַטְעֵמְנִי atemni — give me a taste (הַלְעִיטֵנִי) · כְעַן khe’an — now (נָא) · סִמּוֹקָא simmoka — red (הָאָדֹם) · מְשַׁלְהֵי meshalhei — exhausted (עָיֵף) · שְׁמֵהּ shemeh — his name (שְׁמוֹ)

Bereshit 25:31

Torah

Translation

Yaakov said, As of this day, sell your birthright to me.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yaakov said, As of the day of now, sell your birthright to me.

What Onkelos tells us

• “As of the day of now”. The Hebrew kha-yom, “as the day”, is terse. Onkelos adds dilhen, “of now”: ke-yom dilhen, “as the day that is now”, tying the sale to the present day. The same phrase renders ka-yom again in 25:33.
• “Sell”. The Hebrew imperative mikhrah is rendered zabbin, from the root זבן. The same verb renders the Hebrew va-yimkor, “and he sold”, in 25:33.
• “Your birthright”. The Hebrew bekhorah is rendered by the abstract noun bekherut, from the same root בכר.

Words to note: זַבִּין zabbin — sell (מִכְרָה) · כְּיוֹם דִּלְהֵן ke-yom dilhen — as of the day of now (כַיּוֹם) · בְּכֵרוּתָךְ bekherutakh — your birthright (בְּכֹרָתְךָ)

Bereshit 25:32

Torah

Translation

Eisov said, Here I am going to die, what [good] is this birthright to me.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Eisov said, Here I am going to die, what [good] is this birthright to me.

What Onkelos tells us

• A literal rendering. Onkelos follows the Hebrew word for word: ha ana azel li-memat, “here I am going to die”, with azel, “going”, for holekh, and denan, “this”, for zeh. The birthright is again bekheruta, as in 25:31.

Words to note: אָזֵל azel — going (הוֹלֵךְ) · לִמְמָת li-memat — to die (לָמוּת) · דְּנָן denan — this (זֶּה) · בְּכֵרוּתָא bekheruta — birthright (בְּכֹרָה)

Bereshit 25:33

Torah

Translation

Yaakov said, Swear to me as of this day. He swore to him, and sold his birthright to Yaakov.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yaakov said, Swear to me as of the day of now. He swore to him, and sold his birthright to Yaakov.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Swear”. The Hebrew root שבע (hishave’ah, va-yishava) is rendered by a different Aramaic verb, in the intensive form: kayyem, “swear” (literally “confirm”), and ve-kayyim, “he swore”. As in the Hebrew, request and fulfilment use one verb.
• “As of the day of now”. Onkelos repeats ke-yom dilhen from 25:31, again adding dilhen, “of now”, to the Hebrew ka-yom.
• “And sold”. The Hebrew va-yimkor is rendered ve-zabbin, the same verb as Yaakov’s request in 25:31, so the Aramaic keeps the Hebrew’s echo between the demand and the sale.

Words to note: קַיֵּם kayyem — swear (הִשָּׁבְעָה) · וְקַיִּים ve-kayyim — he swore (וַיִּשָּׁבַע) · וְזַבִּין ve-zabbin — and sold (וַיִּמְכֹּר) · בְּכֵרוּתֵהּ bekheruteh — his birthright (בְּכֹרָתוֹ)

Bereshit 25:34

Torah

Translation

Yaakov then gave Eisov bread and a pottage of lentils. He [Eisov] ate and drank, got up and left. [Thus] Eisov scorned the birthright.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yaakov gave Eisov bread and a cooked dish of lentils. He [Eisov] ate and drank, got up and left. Eisov scorned the birthright.

What Onkelos tells us

• “A cooked dish of lentils”. The Hebrew nezid adashim is rendered tavshil di-tlofhin, with the same noun used for nazid in 25:29, and tlofhin, “lentils”.
• “He ate and drank, got up and left”. The four Hebrew verbs are rendered one for one: va-akhal, u-shti, ve-kam, va-azal.
• “Scorned”. The Hebrew va-yivez is rendered ve-shat, “and he scorned”. Onkelos keeps the verse’s closing judgement on Eisov without softening it.

Words to note: יְהַב yehav — gave (נָתַן) · וְתַבְשִׁיל ve-tavshil — and a cooked dish (וּנְזִיד) · דִּטְלוֹפְחִין di-tlofhin — of lentils (עֲדָשִׁים) · וְשָׁט ve-shat — scorned (וַיִּבֶז)

Unit 2 summary

Most of this unit, above all the dialogue of the sale (25:31-34), is rendered word for word. The interpretive work is concentrated in the portrait of the brothers in 25:27. Eisov’s “man of the field” becomes “a man going out to the field”, and Yaakov’s “dwelling in tents” becomes “attending the house of study”. Both brothers are now described by what they do, which may suggest that Onkelos read the verse as a contrast of occupations. Elsewhere Onkelos keeps the Hebrew’s links between verses with consistent vocabulary: one noun, tavshil, for both occurrences of the Hebrew nazid; one participle, meshalhei, for both occurrences of “exhausted”; one verb, zabbin, for the request to sell and the sale itself; and the same added phrase, ke-yom dilhen, “as of the day of now”, for both occurrences of ka-yom. He keeps the doubled “red, red” of Eisov’s demand, but because the Aramaic word for red, simmoka, has no link in sound to the name Edom, the wordplay behind the naming of Edom is not audible in the Aramaic.

Unit 3 — Bereshit 26:1–5: Famine, and Hashem’s promise to Yitzchok

A famine drives Yitzchok to Avimelech in Gerar. Hashem appears to him, tells him not to go down to Egypt, and renews to him the promise of land, many descendants and blessing that He swore to Avraham, because Avraham kept His charge.

Bereshit 26:1

Torah

Translation

There was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that was in the days of Avraham. Yitzchok went to Avimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

There was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that was in the days of Avraham. Yitzchok went to Avimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

What Onkelos tells us

• “A famine”. Onkelos uses the ordinary Aramaic word for famine, כַפְנָא, for the Hebrew רָעָב, both times it occurs here (כַפְנָא and מִכַּפְנָא). הָרִאשׁוֹן, ‘the first’, becomes קַדְמָאָה. The verse is otherwise a literal rendering.
• “Aside from”. The Hebrew מִלְּבַד is matched by the Aramaic idiom בַּר מִכַּפְנָא, ‘aside from (the famine)’.
• “King of the Philistines”. The Hebrew construct מֶלֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּים is opened up with the particle ד: מַלְכָּא דִּפְלִשְׁתָּאֵי, literally ‘the king of the Philistines’. The Hebrew preposition אֶל, ‘to’, becomes לְוַת.
• “To Gerar”. The Hebrew גְּרָרָה uses the directional ending ־ָה; Onkelos expresses the same direction with the prefix ל: לִגְרָר.

Words to note: כַפְנָא khafna — famine (רָעָב) · בַּר bar — aside from (מִלְּבַד) · קַדְמָאָה kadma’a — first (הָרִאשׁוֹן) · לְוַת levat — to (אֶל)

Bereshit 26:2

Torah

Translation

Hashem appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land that I will make known to you.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem was revealed to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land that I will tell you.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Hashem was revealed”. The Hebrew וַיֵּרָא, ‘appeared’, is a passive form of the verb ‘see’. Onkelos renders it with וְאִתְגְּלִי, ‘was revealed’, an Ithpeel of גלי. Speaking of Hashem being revealed rather than seen may reflect a reluctance to describe God as visible.
• “Do not go down”. תֵּרֵד becomes תֵחוֹת, the ordinary Aramaic verb for ‘descend’. The Hebrew directional מִצְרָיְמָה again becomes the prefix ל: לְמִצְרָיִם.
• “Settle in the land that I will tell you”. שְׁכֹן is rendered שְׁרֵי, ‘settle, dwell’, and the relative אֲשֶׁר becomes דִּי. אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ, literally ‘I will say to you’, is matched word for word by אֵימַר לָךְ: a literal rendering.

Words to note: וְאִתְגְּלִי ve-itgeli — was revealed (וַיֵּרָא) · תֵחוֹת tehot — go down (תֵּרֵד) · שְׁרֵי sherei — settle (שְׁכֹן) · אֵימַר eimar — I will tell (אֹמַר)

Bereshit 26:3

Torah

Translation

Stay temporarily in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands. I will [thus] keep the oath that I swore to Avraham, your father.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Dwell in this land, and My Memra will be at your aid, and I will bless you, for to you and to your children I will give all these lands, and I will keep the oath that I swore to Avraham, your father.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Dwell”. The Hebrew גּוּר means to live somewhere as a newcomer or temporary resident. Onkelos renders it דּוּר, ‘dwell’, a more general word; the sense of temporary residence is perhaps not expressed in the Aramaic.
• “My Memra will be at your aid”. The Hebrew וְאֶהְיֶה עִמְּךָ, ‘I will be with you’, becomes וִיהֵי מֵימְרִי בְסַעְדָךְ, ‘My Memra (word) will be at your aid’. Two things change. The subject is no longer ‘I’ but ‘My Memra’, so the verb is third person (וִיהֵי); and the preposition ‘with’ becomes ‘at your aid’ (בְסַעְדָךְ). Both changes may reflect a wish to avoid describing God’s direct presence beside a person. The next verb, וְאֵבָרְכִנָךְ, ‘and I will bless you’, returns to the first person, as in the Hebrew.
• “To your children”. וּלְזַרְעֲךָ, ‘and to your seed’, becomes וְלִבְנָיךְ, ‘and to your children’. Onkelos renders all four occurrences of ‘your seed’ in 26:3–4 with the word for ‘children’ (וְלִבְנָיךְ, בְּנָיךְ, לִבְנָיךְ, בְּנָךְ).
• “I will keep the oath that I swore”. The Hebrew uses two roots: one for וַהֲקִמֹתִי, ‘I will establish’, and another, שבע, for הַשְּׁבֻעָה and נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי, ‘the oath’ and ‘I swore’. Onkelos uses a single root, the root of ‘establish’, for all three: וְאָקֵם, קְיָמָא, קַיֵּמִית. The Hebrew echo between ‘oath’ and ‘swore’ is kept, and is extended to the verb ‘keep’ as well.
• “These lands”. הָאֲרָצֹת הָאֵל becomes אַרְעָתָא הָאִלֵּין, with the ordinary Aramaic demonstrative. A literal rendering.
• Textual note. For printed וְאָקֵם, ‘and I will keep’, an Aphel form, the Yemenite text has וַאֲקַיֵּם, the Pael of the same root. The meaning is the same; in the Yemenite text the verb has the same stem as קַיֵּמִית, ‘I swore’, so the link noted above is if anything closer there.

Words to note: דּוּר dur — dwell (גּוּר) · מֵימְרִי meimri — My Memra (word) · בְסַעְדָךְ ve-sadakh — at your aid (עִמְּךָ) · וְלִבְנָיךְ ve-livnakh — and to your children (וּלְזַרְעֲךָ) · קְיָמָא keyama — oath (הַשְּׁבֻעָה) · קַיֵּמִית kayyemit — I swore (נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי)

Bereshit 26:4

Torah

Translation

I will make your descendants [as numerous] as the stars of the heavens, and I will give your descendants all these lands. Through your descendants shall be blessed all the nations of the world.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

I will multiply your children, [to be] many as the stars of the heavens, and I will give your children all these lands. And for the sake of your children shall be blessed all the nations of the world.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Many as the stars”. The Hebrew says only ‘I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens’. The printed Onkelos adds סַגִּיאִין, ‘many’, after וְאַסְגֵּי יָת בְּנָיךְ. This spells out the point of the comparison: the children will be like the stars in number. The verb וְאַסְגֵּי and the added adjective סַגִּיאִין share a root (סגי).
• “Your children”. As in 26:3, זַרְעֲךָ, לְזַרְעֲךָ and בְזַרְעֲךָ all become forms of the word for ‘children’: בְּנָיךְ, לִבְנָיךְ, בְּנָךְ.
• “For the sake of your children”. The Hebrew וְהִתְבָּרְכוּ בְזַרְעֲךָ, ‘shall be blessed through your seed’, uses the preposition ב. Onkelos writes וְיִתְבָּרְכוּן בְּדִיל בְּנָךְ, ‘shall be blessed for the sake of your children’. The children are thus presented as the reason for the nations’ blessing rather than its means. The verb keeps the Hebrew reflexive-passive form: Hithpael וְהִתְבָּרְכוּ becomes Ithpael וְיִתְבָּרְכוּן.
• “All the nations”. גּוֹיֵי becomes עַמְמֵי, literally ‘peoples’, Onkelos’s ordinary equivalent for ‘nations’.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text lacks סַגִּיאִין, reading simply וְאַסְגֵּי יָת בְּנָךְ כְּכוֹכְבֵי שְׁמַיָּא. The added word ‘many’ noted above belongs to the printed text only.

Words to note: וְאַסְגֵּי ve-asgei — I will multiply (וְהִרְבֵּיתִי) · סַגִּיאִין saggi’in — many · בְּדִיל bedil — for the sake of · וְיִתְבָּרְכוּן ve-yitbarkhun — shall be blessed (וְהִתְבָּרְכוּ) · עַמְמֵי amemei — nations (גּוֹיֵי)

Bereshit 26:5

Torah

Translation

[All this is] because Avraham listened to My voice, and minded My mandate, My commandments, My decrees and My teachings.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Because Avraham accepted My Memra, and minded the mandate of My Memra, My commandments, My decrees and My teachings.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Because”. עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר is rendered חֳלַף דִּי; חֳלַף literally means ‘in return for’, which suits the sense of consequence in the Hebrew.
• “Accepted My Memra”. The Hebrew שָׁמַע אַבְרָהָם בְּקֹלִי, ‘Avraham listened to My voice’, becomes קַבִּיל אַבְרָהָם בְּמֵימְרִי, ‘Avraham accepted My Memra’. Two changes are made: ‘listened’ becomes ‘accepted’ (קַבִּיל), stressing obedience rather than hearing; and ‘My voice’ becomes ‘My Memra’, perhaps avoiding the physical image of God’s voice.
• “The mandate of My Memra”. וַיִּשְׁמֹר מִשְׁמַרְתִּי, ‘he minded My mandate’, is rendered וּנְטַר מַטְּרַת מֵימְרִי. Onkelos keeps the Hebrew pairing of verb and noun from one root: וַיִּשְׁמֹר/מִשְׁמַרְתִּי (שמר) become וּנְטַר/מַטְּרַת (נטר). The possessive ‘My’ is moved to an added מֵימְרִי, ‘of My Memra’, so the charge is that of God’s Memra.
• “My commandments, My decrees and My teachings”. The three nouns are rendered by Onkelos’s usual equivalents: מִצְוֺתַי by פִּקּוֹדַי, חֻקּוֹתַי by קְיָמַי, and וְתוֹרֹתָי by וְאוֹרָיָתָי. קְיָמַי is the plural of the same word as קְיָמָא, ‘oath’, in 26:3; here it means established ordinances.

Words to note: חֳלַף holaf — because (lit. in return for) (עֵקֶב) · קַבִּיל kabbil — accepted (שָׁמַע) · מַטְּרַת matterat — mandate (מִשְׁמַרְתִּי) · פִּקּוֹדַי pikkudai — My commandments (מִצְוֺתַי) · קְיָמַי keyamai — My decrees (חֻקּוֹתַי) · וְאוֹרָיָתָי ve-orayatai — and My teachings (וְתוֹרֹתָי)

Unit 3 summary

Onkelos follows the narrative and the promise closely, and most of his changes are his regular ones. Hashem ‘appearing’ becomes Hashem being ‘revealed’ (וְאִתְגְּלִי); the Hebrew ‘I will be with you’ becomes ‘My Memra will be at your aid’; Avraham ‘listening to My voice’ becomes ‘accepting My Memra’, and the charge he kept is ‘the charge of My Memra’. All four occurrences of ‘your seed’ become ‘your children’ (וְלִבְנָיךְ, בְּנָיךְ, לִבְנָיךְ, בְּנָךְ), and the instrumental ‘through your seed’ becomes ‘for the sake of your children’ (בְּדִיל). The printed text also adds סַגִּיאִין, ‘many’, spelling out the point of comparison with the stars, though the Yemenite text lacks it. In two places Onkelos sets up links of his own: in 26:3 the ‘establishing’ of the oath and the swearing of it become three words of one root (וְאָקֵם, קְיָמָא, קַיֵּמִית), and in 26:5 he keeps the Hebrew pairing of verb and noun with וּנְטַר מַטְּרַת.

Conclusion of the aliyah

The movement of the aliyah

The aliyah moves from birth to rivalry to promise. It opens with a prayer and an oracle that sets two nations against each other before they are born, narrows to the two brothers and the sale of the birthright, and ends with Hashem renewing to Yitzchok the oath He swore to Avraham. Onkelos’s changes follow the same shape. In the first and last units they gather around speech between people and God: prayer, inquiry, revelation, presence and obedience. In the middle unit most of the text, above all the dialogue of the sale, is rendered word for word, and the interpretive work is concentrated in the one verse that describes the brothers.

What Onkelos tells us in this aliyah

1. “Prayed before Hashem” (25:21). The ordinary verb וְצַלִּי replaces the uncommon Hebrew root עתר, and Hashem’s response becomes ‘accepted his prayer’. The repeated Hebrew root is lost, but the noun צְלוֹתֵהּ keeps the link with the verb at the start of the verse.
2. “To seek instruction from before Hashem” (25:22). With the added אוּלְפַן and מִן קֳדָם, what Rivkah seeks is a teaching that comes from Hashem. This may be a way of avoiding the image of ‘seeking’ God Himself.
3. “Two Kingdoms” (25:23). The Hebrew ‘peoples’ becomes מַלְכְּוָן, and ‘people than people’ becomes ‘kingdom than kingdom’, perhaps reading the oracle as speaking of the political powers the two nations will become.
4. “The greater one will be subjugated to the smaller one” (25:23). The Hebrew could be read either way. The reflexive יִשְׁתַּעֲבֵּיד with ל before לִזְעֵירָא allows only one reading: the greater serves the smaller.
5. “The heel of Eisov” (25:26). The Aramaic בְּעִקְבָא keeps the letters עקב, so the link between the heel and the name Yaakov remains visible.
6. “Attending the house of study” (25:27). ‘Dwelling in tents’ becomes an activity in a single institution. Set beside Eisov ‘going out to the field’, this suggests that Onkelos read the verse as a contrast between the brothers’ pursuits.
7. “Because he used to eat of his trappings” (25:28). The idiom ‘game was in his mouth’ becomes a plain statement whose natural subject is Yitzchok, with אֲרֵי מִצֵידֵהּ marking a habitual past.
8. “This red, red [pottage]” (25:30). The printed text keeps the doubling, but סִמּוֹקָא has no link in sound to the name Edom, so the wordplay behind the name is not heard in the Aramaic.
9. “As of the day of now” (25:31). The added word in כְּיוֹם דִּלְהֵן ties the sale to the present day, and the same phrase returns in 25:33.
10. “My Memra will be at your aid” (26:3). In וִיהֵי מֵימְרִי בְסַעְדָךְ the subject becomes ‘My Memra’ and ‘with you’ becomes ‘at your aid’. Both changes may reflect a wish to avoid describing God’s direct presence beside a person.
11. “For the sake of your children” (26:4). All four occurrences of ‘your seed’ in 26:3-4 become ‘your children’, and בְּדִיל presents the children as the reason for the nations’ blessing rather than its means.
12. “Accepted My Memra” (26:5). ‘Listened’ becomes קַבִּיל, ‘accepted’, stressing obedience rather than hearing, and ‘My voice’ becomes ‘My Memra’. In וּנְטַר מַטְּרַת the Hebrew pairing of verb and noun from one root is kept.

Recurring features

• Distance in speech about God. Prayer is offered קֳדָם ה׳, ‘before Hashem’, and instruction is sought מִן קֳדָם ה׳; Hashem is ‘revealed’, His Memra is ‘at your aid’, and Avraham accepts His Memra and keeps the charge of His Memra. The notes present these as possibly avoiding words directed straight ‘to’ God, or an image of God seen, present or heard.
• Links kept, and sometimes made, by consistent vocabulary. The pottage (25:29, 25:34), ‘exhausted’ (25:29-30), ‘sell’ (25:31, 25:33) and ‘as of the day’ (25:31, 25:33) each keep one Aramaic word. In 26:3 one root serves for ‘keep’, ‘oath’ and ‘swore’ (וְאָקֵם, קְיָמָא, קַיֵּמִית), extending the Hebrew echo between ‘oath’ and ‘swore’ to the verb ‘keep’.
• Idioms turned into plain statements. ‘Knowing game’ becomes a single word for a trapper and ‘a man of the field’ becomes ‘a man going out to the field’ (25:27); ‘game was in his mouth’ becomes ‘of his trappings he used to eat’ (25:28); and ‘your seed’ becomes ‘your children’ (26:3-4).
• Grammar made explicit. Hebrew infinitives become clauses with כַּד (25:20, 25:26), the singular ‘year’ after a number becomes plural (25:20, 25:26), the Hebrew directional ending becomes the prefix ל (26:1, 26:2), and construct phrases are opened up with ד where they occur.
• Close, literal rendering. Much of the aliyah follows the Hebrew word for word, above all the dialogue of the sale (25:31-34). Literal renderings are marked where they occur, so the departures stand out against them.
• Printed text and Yemenite text. Several observations hold for the printed text only, among them the Hebrew form of ‘barren’ (25:21), the preposition in ‘going out to the field’ (25:27), the exact doubling of ‘red’ (25:30) and the added ‘many’ (26:4).

Aliyah takeaway

In this aliyah Onkelos is for the most part a close translator, and the places where he departs from the Hebrew stand out. They gather around two subjects. The first is speech between people and God: prayer offered ‘before’ Hashem, instruction sought ‘from before’ Him, Hashem ‘revealed’, and His Memra at Yitzchok’s aid and accepted by Avraham. The second is the meaning of the oracle and of the twins: the nations become kingdoms, the oracle’s last clause is fixed to one reading, and the brothers are set apart by what they do, the field against the house of study. Elsewhere his consistent vocabulary keeps the Hebrew’s own links audible, from the cooked dish and the sale to the oath sworn to Avraham, and where a Hebrew wordplay cannot survive in Aramaic, as with the name Edom, the notes say so.

Aramaic word list for the aliyah

Source note

Aliyah boundary. Bereshit 25:19 – 26:5, following the aliyah divisions in Sefaria’s index of Bereshit (the next aliyah begins at Bereshit 26:6).

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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