Parashat Toldot — Fourth Aliyah

Torah with Onkelos · Bereshit 26:23 – 26:29 · פרשת תולדות, רביעי

Hashem’s promise to Yitzchok at Beer Sheva and Avimelech’s request for a covenant, read through Targum Onkelos

Contents

• Orientation
• How this page is laid out
• Unit 1 — Bereshit 26:23–29: Hashem appears at Beer Sheva, and Avimelech seeks a covenant
• Conclusion of the aliyah
• Aramaic word list for the aliyah
• Source note

Orientation

What happens in this aliyah. Yitzchok goes up to Beer Sheva. That night Hashem appears to him, identifies Himself as the God of his father Avraham, tells him not to fear, and promises to bless him and multiply his descendants for Avraham’s sake. Yitzchok builds an altar there, calls in the Name of Hashem and pitches his tent, and his servants dig a well. Avimelech then comes from Gerar with a group of friends and Pichol, his general. Yitzchok asks why they have come, since they hated him and sent him away. They answer that they have seen that Hashem is with him, and they ask for a sworn covenant: he is to do them no harm, as they did him none, sent him away in peace, and he is now the blessed one of Hashem.

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.

• Hashem “was revealed”. In 26:24 Hebrew va-yera, “appeared”, becomes וְאִתְגְּלִי (ve-itgeli), “was revealed”; the note suggests this may avoid a visual expression for God.
• The Memra “in your support”. Twice “Hashem is with you” is recast: in Hashem’s own promise, בְסַעְדָּךְ מֵימְרִי, “My Memra is in your support” (26:24), and in the words of Avimelech’s party, מֵימְרָא דַּה׳ בִּסַעְדָּךְ (26:28).
• Calling as prayer. Yitzchok’s va-yikra be-shem Hashem is rendered וְצַלִּי (ve-tzalli), “and prayed”, in the Name of Hashem (26:25), an interpretation of an ambiguous Hebrew phrase.
• An oath from the past. The doubled “between us” of 26:28 is read as two parties, so the Philistines ask for מוֹמָתָא דִּהֲוָה בֵין אֲבָהָתָנָא, “the oath that was between our fathers”, to be upheld.
• Sense rather than image. “Seed” becomes “children”, בְּנָיךְ (26:24), and “touch” becomes “injure”, אַנְזִיקְנָךְ (26:29).
• A close rendering elsewhere. Much of the dialogue is translated almost word for word, and several notes mark renderings as literal.
• Textual notes. Differences in the Yemenite text are marked where they occur; most leave the meaning unchanged, but in 26:29 only the Yemenite form expresses the past sense directly.

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 26:23–29: Hashem appears at Beer Sheva, and Avimelech seeks a covenant

Yitzchok goes up to Beer Sheva, where Hashem appears to him at night and renews the promise made to Avraham; Yitzchok builds an altar, pitches his tent and his servants dig a well. Avimelech then comes from Gerar with his companions and his general, and asks Yitzchok, whom he had sent away, for a sworn covenant.

Bereshit 26:23

Torah

Translation

From there he went to Beer Sheva.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

From there he went to Beer Sheva.

What Onkelos tells us

• “He went”. A literal rendering. Hebrew va-ya’al, literally “went up”, is rendered וְאִסְתַּלַּק (ve-istallak), from the root סלק, “go up”. Onkelos adds the preposition ל to the place name, לִבְּאֵר (li-Be’er), where the Hebrew uses the bare name to mark direction; the English “to” covers both.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads וּסְלֵיק (u-seleik), the simple form of the same root סלק, in place of the printed reflexive form. The meaning is the same.

Words to note: וְאִסְתַּלַּק ve-istallak — went (וַיַּעַל) · מִתַּמָּן mi-tamman — from there (מִשָּׁם)

Bereshit 26:24

Torah

Translation

Hashem appeared to him that night and said, I am the God of your father, Avraham. Do not fear for I am with you. I will bless you and make your descendants numerous, because of My servant, Avraham.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Hashem was revealed to him that night and said, I am the God of your father, Avraham. Do not fear for My Memra is in your support. I will bless you and make your children numerous, because of My servant, Avraham.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Was revealed”. Hebrew va-yera, “appeared” (literally “was seen”), becomes וְאִתְגְּלִי (ve-itgeli), “was revealed”. The Aramaic speaks of Hashem disclosing Himself rather than of being seen, perhaps to avoid a visual expression for God.
• “The God of your father, Avraham”. The Hebrew construct Elokei Avraham is turned into a phrase with ד: literally “His God, of Avraham your father”, with an anticipatory suffix on the noun and the owner following as דְּאַבְרָהָם. The sense is unchanged.
• “Do not fear”. A literal rendering: Hebrew al tira is לָא תִדְחַל (la tidhal), with the Aramaic root דחל, “fear”.
• “For My Memra is in your support”. The Hebrew has Hashem say simply ki ittekha anokhi, “for I am with you”. Onkelos changes both parts of the clause. The pronoun “I” becomes מֵימְרִי (meimri), “My Memra”, and “with you” becomes בְסַעְדָּךְ (ve-sa’dakh), “in your support”, from סעד, “support, help”. The promise of presence is thus expressed as help given through the Memra, which may reflect a reluctance to place God physically beside a person.
• “Your children”. Hebrew zarakha, “your seed”, becomes בְּנָיךְ (benakh), “your children”. Onkelos gives the sense rather than the image of seed. The verbs are rendered exactly: וֶאֱבָרֵכִנָּךְ, “I will bless you”, and וְאַסְגֵּי (ve-asgei), “and make numerous”, while ba’avur, “because of”, is בְּדִיל (bedil).

Words to note: וְאִתְגְּלִי ve-itgeli — was revealed (וַיֵּרָא) · תִדְחַל tidhal — fear (תִּירָא) · בְסַעְדָּךְ ve-sa’dakh — in your support (אִתְּךָ) · מֵימְרִי meimri — My Memra (word) (אָנֹכִי) · בְּנָיךְ benakh — your children (זַרְעֲךָ) · בְּדִיל bedil — because of (בַּעֲבוּר)

Bereshit 26:25

Torah

Translation

He [Yitzchok] built an altar there, and proclaimed the Name of Hashem. He set up his tent there, and Yitzchok’s servants dug a well there.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

He built an altar there, and prayed in the Name of Hashem. He spread his tent there, and Yitzchok’s servants dug a well there.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Prayed in the Name of Hashem”. Hebrew va-yikra be-shem Hashem, “proclaimed the Name of Hashem” (literally “called in the Name”), becomes וְצַלִּי (ve-tzalli), “and prayed”, followed by בִּשְׁמָא דַּה׳, “in the Name of Hashem”. Onkelos thus reads the calling as prayer addressed to God rather than as an announcement to others; this is an interpretation of an ambiguous Hebrew phrase.
• “He spread his tent”. Hebrew va-yet, “stretched out, pitched”, is rendered וּפְרַס (u-feras), “and spread”, and ohalo, “his tent”, is מַשְׁכְּנֵהּ (mashkeneh). The image of stretching out a tent is kept with a different verb.
• “Dug a well”. A literal rendering: וּכְרוֹ (u-kheru), “dug”, and בֵּירָא (beira), “well”. Hebrew sham, “there”, which occurs three times in the verse, is rendered each time by תַּמָּן (tamman).
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads וּפַרְסֵיהּ תַּמָּן לְמַשְׁכְּנֵיהּ, “and spread it there, his tent”, with an object suffix on the verb anticipating the noun, which follows with ל. The meaning is the same.

Words to note: מַדְבְּחָא madbeha — altar (מִזְבֵּחַ) · וְצַלִּי ve-tzalli — and prayed (וַיִּקְרָא) · וּפְרַס u-feras — spread (וַיֶּט) · מַשְׁכְּנֵהּ mashkeneh — his tent (אׇהֳלוֹ) · וּכְרוֹ u-kheru — dug (וַיִּכְרוּ) · בֵּירָא beira — well (בְּאֵר)

Bereshit 26:26

Torah

Translation

Avimelech came to Yitzchok from Gerar along with a group of friends and Pichol, his general.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Avimelech came to Yitzchok from Gerar along with a group of friends and Pichol, his general.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Came to Yitzchok”. A literal rendering. The verb אֲזַל (azal) corresponds exactly to Hebrew halakh, and לְוָתֵהּ (levateh), “to him”, renders eilav.
• “A group of friends”. Hebrew ahuzzat, “a group”, becomes וְסִיעַת (ve-si’at), “and a band, company”, and me-re’ehu, “of his friends”, is מֵרַחֲמוֹהִי (me-rahamohi), literally “of those who love him”, from רחם.
• “His general”. Hebrew sar tzeva’o, “commander of his army”, is rendered רַב חֵילֵהּ (rav heileh), “chief of his host”, the same two-word structure in Aramaic vocabulary.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads אֲתָא לְוָתֵיהּ, “came to him”, with the verb אֲתָא (ata), “come”, where the printed text has אֲזַל, “go”, the direct equivalent of Hebrew halakh. The point in the first note holds for the printed text only; the sense of the verse is the same.

Words to note: אֲזַל azal — came (lit. went) (הָלַךְ) · וְסִיעַת ve-si’at — group, band (וַאֲחֻזַּת) · מֵרַחֲמוֹהִי me-rahamohi — of his friends (מֵרֵעֵהוּ) · רַב חֵילֵהּ rav heileh — his general (lit. chief of his host) (שַׂר־צְבָאוֹ)

Bereshit 26:27

Torah

Translation

Yitzchok said to them, Why have you come to me? You hate me and drove me away from you.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

Yitzchok said to them, Why have you come to me? You hate me and drove me away from you.

What Onkelos tells us

• “Why”. A literal rendering. Hebrew maddua, “why”, is rendered מָה דֵּין (ma dein), literally “what is this”. Hebrew elai, “to me”, and me-ittekhem, “from you”, become forms of the preposition levat: לְוָתִי (levati) and מִלְּוָתְכוֹן (mi-levatkhon). The verbs keep their person and tense: אֲתֵיתוּן, סְנֵיתוּן and וְשַׁלַּחְתּוּנִי are all perfects, as in the Hebrew.

Words to note: מָה דֵּין ma dein — why (lit. what is this) (מַדּוּעַ) · סְנֵיתוּן senetun — you hate (שְׂנֵאתֶם) · וְשַׁלַּחְתּוּנִי ve-shallahtuni — and drove me away (וַתְּשַׁלְּחוּנִי) · מִלְּוָתְכוֹן mi-levatkhon — from you (מֵאִתְּכֶם)

Bereshit 26:28

Torah

Translation

They said, We have indeed seen that Hashem is with you, and we said, Let there now be an oath between us, between ourselves and you, and let us make a covenant with you;

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

They said, We have indeed seen that the Memra of Hashem is in your support, and we said, Let the oath that was between our fathers now be upheld, between ourselves and you, and let us make a covenant with you;

What Onkelos tells us

• “We have indeed seen”. The Hebrew doubling ra’o ra’inu, infinitive and finite verb of the same root, is kept: מֶחֱזָא חֲזֵינָא (meheza hazeina).
• “The Memra of Hashem is in your support”. As in 26:24, Hebrew “Hashem is with you” becomes מֵימְרָא דַּה׳ בִּסַעְדָּךְ: the Memra is introduced before the Name, and “with you” becomes “in your support”. Here the words are spoken by Avimelech’s party, and the same rephrasing is used in their mouth.
• “Let the oath that was between our fathers now be upheld”. The Hebrew says tehi na alah beinoteinu beineinu u-veinekha, “let there now be an oath between us, between ourselves and you”, with two words for “between us”. Onkelos reads the first of them as referring to a different party: מוֹמָתָא דִּהֲוָה בֵין אֲבָהָתָנָא, “the oath that was between our fathers”. The verb tehi, “let there be”, correspondingly becomes תִּתְקַיַּם (titkayyam), “let it be upheld”. The Philistines thus ask, in the Aramaic, for an existing oath to be confirmed rather than for a new one. This may be Onkelos’s way of accounting for the doubled phrase. Na is rendered כְּעַן (ke’an), “now”.
• “Let us make a covenant”. Hebrew ve-nikhreta verit, literally “let us cut a covenant”, is וְנִגְזַר קְיָם (ve-nigzar keyam). The root גזר also means “cut”, so the idiom is kept.
• Textual note. The Yemenite text reads דַּהֲוָת, with the feminine verb agreeing with מוֹמָתָא, “the oath”, where the printed text has the masculine דִּהֲוָה. The meaning is the same.

Words to note: מֶחֱזָא חֲזֵינָא meheza hazeina — we have indeed seen (רָאוֹ רָאִינוּ) · תִּתְקַיַּם titkayyam — let it be upheld (תְּהִי) · מוֹמָתָא momata — the oath (אָלָה) · אֲבָהָתָנָא avahatana — our fathers · וְנִגְזַר ve-nigzar — let us make (lit. cut) (וְנִכְרְתָה) · קְיָם keyam — covenant (בְרִית)

Bereshit 26:29

Torah

Translation

that you will do us no harm, just as we did not touch you. We did nothing but good to you, and sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed one of Hashem.

Onkelos

Onkelos in English

that you will do us no harm, just as we did not injure you. We did nothing but good to you, and sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed one of Hashem.

What Onkelos tells us

• “That you will do us no harm”. The Hebrew oath formula im, literally “if”, is kept as אִם, and ra’ah, “harm”, is בִּישָׁא (bisha).
• “Just as we did not injure you”. Hebrew nega’anukha, “we touched you”, is rendered אַנְזִיקְנָךְ (anzikenakh), “we injured you”, from נזק, “damage”. Onkelos gives the sense of “touch” in this context, harm done to a person, rather than the literal verb. Hebrew ka-asher, “as”, is כְּמָא דִּי, here and again later in the verse.
• “Nothing but good”. A literal rendering: rak tov is לְחוֹד טָב (lehod tav), “only good”.
• “You are now”. The Hebrew attah attah, “you, now”, sets two words of identical sound side by side. Onkelos renders them אַתְּ כְּעַן (at ke’an), and the sound-play is lost. The same כְּעַן rendered na in 26:28, so a single Aramaic word stands for two different Hebrew words in these verses.
• “The blessed one of Hashem”. Hebrew berukh Hashem is a construct form; Onkelos writes בְּרִיכָא דַּה׳ (berikha da-Hashem), with ד.
• Textual note. The printed וַנְשַׁלְּחִנָּךְ, “and sent you away”, has a prefixed נ, the form of an imperfect, matching the shape of the Hebrew וַנְּשַׁלֵּחֲךָ. The Yemenite text reads וְשַׁלַּחְנָךְ, a perfect, “and we sent you away”. The context requires the past sense, which only the Yemenite form expresses directly.

Words to note: תַּעְבֵּד tabed — you will do (תַּעֲשֵׂה) · בִּישָׁא bisha — harm (רָעָה) · אַנְזִיקְנָךְ anzikenakh — we injured you (נְגַעֲנוּךָ) · לְחוֹד lehod — only (רַק) · כְּעַן ke’an — now (עַתָּה) · בְּרִיכָא berikha — the blessed one (בְּרוּךְ)

Unit 1 summary

For most of this unit Onkelos is close and literal: the conversation between Yitzchok and Avimelech’s party is rendered almost word for word, with standard equivalents such as forms of levat for Hebrew el and et (26:26, 26:27), keyam for berit, and mashkena for ohel. His substantive changes cluster around language about God and around one difficult phrase. Hashem ‘was revealed’ rather than ‘appeared’; Yitzchok ‘prayed’ in the Name of Hashem rather than ‘proclaimed’ it; and twice, once in Hashem’s own promise and once in the mouth of Avimelech’s men, ‘with you’ becomes ‘the Memra … in your support’, perhaps reading divine presence as active help. The doubled ‘between us’ of the Philistines’ proposal is read as two different parties, so that the oath becomes ‘the oath that was between our fathers’, which they ask to see upheld. Smaller choices include ‘children’ for ‘seed’, ‘injure’ for ‘touch’, and a single word, ke’an, for both Hebrew na and atta, which drops the Hebrew sound-play of atta atta.

Conclusion of the aliyah

The movement of the aliyah

The aliyah moves from a divine encounter to a diplomatic one. It opens with Hashem revealing Himself to Yitzchok at night and renewing the promise made to Avraham, and with Yitzchok’s response: an altar, prayer, a tent and a well. It then turns to Avimelech’s delegation, Yitzchok’s challenge to men who had sent him away, and their proposal of a sworn covenant. Onkelos follows the narrative and the dialogue closely, and his main departures come where God is spoken of and where the Philistines’ phrasing is difficult. The same recasting of “Hashem is with you” appears first in Hashem’s promise and then in the mouth of Avimelech’s men, tying the two halves of the aliyah together in the Aramaic.

What Onkelos tells us in this aliyah

1. “Was revealed” (26:24). וְאִתְגְּלִי speaks of Hashem disclosing Himself rather than being seen.
2. “My Memra is in your support” (26:24). Both parts of ki ittekha anokhi change: “I” becomes מֵימְרִי, “My Memra”, and “with you” becomes בְסַעְדָּךְ, “in your support”, from the root סעד.
3. “The God of your father, Avraham” (26:24). The construct is turned into a phrase with ד, אֱלָהֵהּ דְּאַבְרָהָם, with no change in sense.
4. “Your children” (26:24). Hebrew zarakha, “your seed”, is בְּנָיךְ: the sense rather than the image.
5. “Prayed in the Name of Hashem” (26:25). וְצַלִּי reads the calling as prayer addressed to God rather than as an announcement to others.
6. “Of his friends” (26:26). Me-re’ehu is מֵרַחֲמוֹהִי, literally “of those who love him”.
7. “The Memra of Hashem is in your support” (26:28). The rephrasing of 26:24 is used again, now spoken by Avimelech’s party.
8. “The oath that was between our fathers” (26:28). The first of the two words for “between us” is read as a different party, and tehi, “let there be”, becomes תִּתְקַיַּם, “let it be upheld”: an existing oath is to be confirmed rather than a new one made.
9. “Let us make a covenant” (26:28). וְנִגְזַר קְיָם keeps the idiom of cutting a covenant, since the root גזר also means “cut”.
10. “We did not injure you” (26:29). Nega’anukha, “we touched you”, becomes אַנְזִיקְנָךְ, from נזק, “damage”, giving the sense of harm done to a person.
11. “You are now” (26:29). Attah attah becomes אַתְּ כְּעַן, so the sound-play is lost, and כְּעַן here renders the word that rendered na in 26:28.

Recurring features

• Language about God reworded. Hashem is “revealed” rather than “seen” (26:24), calling in His Name becomes prayer (26:25), and His presence “with” Yitzchok is expressed as the Memra “in your support” (26:24, 26:28).
• The Memra as help. Both times the Hebrew says Hashem is “with” Yitzchok, the Aramaic speaks of the Memra and of support (בְסַעְדָּךְ), perhaps reading divine presence as active help.
• Doubled Hebrew handled in different ways. The doubled verb ra’o ra’inu is kept as מֶחֱזָא חֲזֵינָא (26:28); the doubled “between us” is read as two parties (26:28); and the sound-play of attah attah is lost (26:29).
• Sense over image. “Seed” becomes “children” (26:24) and “touch” becomes “injure” (26:29).
• Standard equivalents. Familiar Aramaic words carry the narrative: קְיָם for berit, מַשְׁכְּנֵהּ for ohel, and forms of levat, such as לְוָתֵהּ and לְוָתִי, for Hebrew prepositions meaning “to” and “from” (26:26, 26:27).
• Phrases with ד for Hebrew constructs. The notes point to אֱלָהֵהּ דְּאַבְרָהָם (26:24) and בְּרִיכָא דַּה׳ (26:29) as constructs turned into phrases with ד, without change of sense.

Aliyah takeaway

This short aliyah shows Onkelos as a close translator who departs from the Hebrew at particular points. Where the subject is the narrative or the conversation between Yitzchok and the Philistines, the Aramaic follows the Hebrew nearly word for word. Where the Hebrew speaks of God appearing, being called upon or being “with” a person, Onkelos rephrases: revelation, prayer and the supporting Memra. And where the Hebrew is difficult, as with the doubled “between us”, he chooses a reading that, in the notes’ words, may account for it, turning the Philistines’ request into a call to uphold the oath of the fathers.

Aramaic word list for the aliyah

Source note

Aliyah boundary. Bereshit 26:23 – 26:29, following the aliyah divisions in Sefaria’s index of Bereshit (the next aliyah begins at Bereshit 26:30).

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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