Overview
Summary
Targum Onkelos on Deuteronomy addresses Moses' farewell speeches with the full range of its theological toolkit. The Shema (6:4) is rendered with minimal adjustment, while the Song of Moses (ch. 32) and the Blessing of Moses (ch. 33) receive rich Messianic and Shekinah treatment. Deuteronomy's repeated call to love, fear, and obey God is rendered through Memra and Shekinah language. The centralization of worship ('the place which the LORD will choose') reinforces Shekinah theology.
Notable Renderings
The Shema is preserved with only divine-name adjustment. Deuteronomy 18:15-18 (the prophet like Moses) is rendered without explicit Messianic identification but sets the stage for later interpretation. The Song of Moses contains dense anti-anthropomorphic and theological rendering. The Blessing of Moses in chapter 33 features Shekinah language for God's dwelling with Benjamin and the divine warrior imagery.
Theological Themes
Covenant loyalty expressed through Memra-mediated relationship; Shekinah theology in the 'chosen place' formula; anti-anthropomorphism in the Song of Moses; the Torah as Memra-mediated revelation; eschatological hope in the blessings.
Hebrew (MT)
יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם הוּא יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם
The LORD your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you.
Targum (Aramaic)
Adonai Elahakhon deMeimreih madbar qodameikhon hu yiqrav keraveikhon
Targum Rendering
The LORD your God, whose Memra leads before you, he will fight your battles.
God does not 'go before' Israel physically; his Memra leads. The divine warrior who fights Israel's battles acts through the Word.
Hebrew (MT)
אֲשֶׁר נְשָׂאֲךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִשָּׂא־אִישׁ אֶת־בְּנוֹ
How the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son.
Targum (Aramaic)
di tarakhinakh Adonai Elahakh kema ditareikh gavra yat bereih
Targum Rendering
How the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son.
Onkelos preserves the paternal metaphor: God carrying Israel as a father carries his son. The simile is allowed because the comparison is explicit — 'as a man carries' — making clear this is metaphorical language.
Hebrew (MT)
אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ אֱלֹהִים קְרֹבִים אֵלָיו כַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּכָל־קָרְאֵנוּ אֵלָיו
That has a god so near to it as the LORD our God whenever we call upon him.
Targum (Aramaic)
di leih elah daqarivin leih keiAdonai Elahana bekol de'anan metzallin qodamoi
Targum Rendering
That has gods so near to it as the LORD our God whenever we pray before him.
'Call upon' becomes 'pray before' (metzallin qodamoi), interpreting Israel's access to God as liturgical prayer, consistent with Onkelos' synagogue-oriented reading.
Hebrew (MT)
קוֹל דְּבָרִים אַתֶּם שֹׁמְעִים וּתְמוּנָה אֵינְכֶם רֹאִים
The sound of words you heard, but a form you did not see.
Targum (Aramaic)
qal pitgamin atton sham'in vedimya leiton chazin
Targum Rendering
The voice of words you heard, but a form you did not see.
This is Deuteronomy's own anti-anthropomorphic statement: Israel heard words but saw no form at Sinai. Onkelos renders it literally because the Hebrew itself articulates the theology Onkelos champions.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה הוּא אֵל קַנָּא
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei Adonai Elahakh esha akhleta pitgameih El qanna
Targum Rendering
For the LORD your God — a consuming fire is his word, a jealous God.
God himself is not 'a consuming fire' — his word (pitgam) is. Onkelos cannot identify God's essence with a physical element, so the fire is attributed to God's word/decree.
Hebrew (MT)
וַיּוֹצִאֲךָ בְּפָנָיו בְּכֹחוֹ הַגָּדֹל
And he brought you out with his presence by his great power.
Targum (Aramaic)
ve'appeiqakh biShekhinteih becheilei rabba
Targum Rendering
And he brought you out by his Shekinah with his great power.
'His presence/face' (panav) becomes 'his Shekinah.' The Exodus was accomplished through the Shekinah — God's active, indwelling presence in the world.
Hebrew (MT)
פָּנִים בְּפָנִים דִּבֶּר יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם בָּהָר
Face to face the LORD spoke with you on the mountain.
Targum (Aramaic)
Memra im Memra malil Adonai immakhon betura
Targum Rendering
Word to word the LORD spoke with you on the mountain.
'Face to face' becomes 'word to word' (Memra im Memra) — one of the most theologically creative renderings in all of Onkelos. The directness of Sinai communication is preserved but the anthropomorphic idiom is replaced with Memra language, suggesting unmediated verbal communication rather than physical proximity.
Hebrew (MT)
אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה דִּבֶּר יְהוָה אֶל־כָּל־קְהַלְכֶם בָּהָר מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ
These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly on the mountain from the midst of the fire.
Targum (Aramaic)
yat pitgamayya ha'ilein malil Adonai im kol kehalkkhon betura migo esha
Targum Rendering
These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly on the mountain from the midst of the fire.
The Decalogue's delivery is rendered literally. Onkelos treats the Sinai speech itself as an established narrative that requires no further anti-anthropomorphic adjustment once the theophany framework has been set.
Hebrew (MT)
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Targum (Aramaic)
shema Yisrael Adonai Elahana Adonai chad
Targum Rendering
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
The Shema is rendered with absolute literalism. The most important confession in Judaism requires no interpretation — it is the theological foundation upon which all of Onkelos' anti-anthropomorphism rests.
Hebrew (MT)
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart.
Targum (Aramaic)
utircham yat Adonai Elahakh bekhol libakh
Targum Rendering
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart.
The command to love God is rendered literally. Human love for God is not mediated through the Memra — it is direct, personal, and whole-hearted.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי אֵל קַנָּא יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּקִרְבֶּךָ
For the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei El qanna Adonai Elahakh di Shekhinteih sharyah beineikh
Targum Rendering
For the LORD your God, whose Shekinah dwells among you, is a jealous God.
God 'in your midst' is rendered as God 'whose Shekinah dwells among you.' The Shekinah is the mode of divine indwelling that makes idolatry dangerous — unfaithfulness occurs in the very presence of the Shekinah.
Hebrew (MT)
יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ הוּא עֹבֵר לְפָנֶיךָ אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה
The LORD your God, he passes over before you as a consuming fire.
Targum (Aramaic)
Adonai Elahakh Memreih avar qodamakh esha akhleta
Targum Rendering
The LORD your God — his Memra passes before you, a consuming fire.
God does not 'pass before' Israel — the Memra does. The consuming fire is associated with the Memra's advance, combining the Memra as agent of conquest with the fire theophany.
Hebrew (MT)
אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם... לְשַׁכְנוֹ שָׁם
To the place that the LORD your God will choose... to put his name there.
Targum (Aramaic)
le'atra di yitrei Adonai Elahakhon... le'ashraah Shekhinteih tamman
Targum Rendering
To the place that the LORD your God will choose... to cause his Shekinah to dwell there.
The centralization formula is rendered as Shekinah indwelling. The 'chosen place' is where God causes his Shekinah to dwell — this is the theological foundation for the Temple as Shekinah's earthly habitation.
Hebrew (MT)
הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בּוֹ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם
The place that the LORD your God will choose to make his name dwell there.
Targum (Aramaic)
atra di yitrei Adonai Elahakhon beih le'ashraah Shekhinteih tamman
Targum Rendering
The place that the LORD your God will choose to cause his Shekinah to dwell there.
'His name' dwelling is rendered as 'his Shekinah' dwelling. Onkelos equates God's Name with the Shekinah — both are modes of divine presence that do not require God's essence to be localized.
Hebrew (MT)
נָבִיא מִקִּרְבְּךָ מֵאַחֶיךָ כָּמֹנִי יָקִים לְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
A prophet from your midst, from your brothers, like me, the LORD your God will raise up for you.
Targum (Aramaic)
neviya mibeineikh me'achakh kevatei yaqim lakh Adonai Elahakh
Targum Rendering
A prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me, the LORD your God will raise up for you.
Onkelos renders this literally without explicit Messianic identification, unlike its treatment of Genesis 49:10 and Numbers 24:17. Yet this passage became central to Jewish and Christian Messianic interpretation (cf. Acts 3:22, 7:37). The restraint suggests Onkelos may have distinguished between clear royal prophecies and prophetic-office predictions.
Hebrew (MT)
נָבִיא אָקִים לָהֶם מִקֶּרֶב אֲחֵיהֶם כָּמוֹךָ וְנָתַתִּי דְבָרַי בְּפִיו
A prophet I will raise up for them from among their brothers like you, and I will put my words in his mouth.
Targum (Aramaic)
neviya aqim lehon mibeinei achohon kevatakh ve'eittein pitgam nvu'ati befummeih
Targum Rendering
A prophet I will raise up for them from among their brothers, like you, and I will put the word of my prophecy in his mouth.
'My words' becomes 'the word of my prophecy' (pitgam nvu'ati), specifying the nature of the communication. The prophet will not merely speak words but convey prophetic revelation.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִתְהַלֵּךְ בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶךָ
For the LORD your God walks about in the midst of your camp.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei Adonai Elahakh Shekhinteih mehalkha bego mashreitakh
Targum Rendering
For the LORD your God — his Shekinah walks about in the midst of your camp.
God does not walk in the camp — the Shekinah does. The military camp must be kept pure because the Shekinah traverses it, paralleling the Tabernacle's holiness requirements.
Hebrew (MT)
אֶת־יְהוָה הֶאֱמַרְתָּ הַיּוֹם לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים
You have declared today that the LORD is your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
yat Adonai itreveita yoma den lemehevei lakh l'Elah
Targum Rendering
The LORD you have acclaimed today to be your God.
The covenant declaration formula is rendered literally. The mutual declaration between God and Israel is preserved without mediation.
Hebrew (MT)
אִם־שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
If you will surely obey the voice of the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
im miqbal tekabbeil leMemra daAdonai Elahakh
Targum Rendering
If you will surely receive the Memra of the LORD your God.
'Obeying the voice' becomes 'receiving the Memra.' Covenant obedience is directed toward the Memra — the Word of God is the content of obedience and the object of reception.
Hebrew (MT)
וְאִם־לֹא תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
ve'im la tekabbeil leMemra daAdonai Elahakh
Targum Rendering
But if you will not receive the Memra of the LORD your God.
The curses' introduction mirrors the blessings' Memra formulation. Covenant breaking is failure to receive the Memra — rejection of the Word.
Hebrew (MT)
וְשָׁב יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ וְרִחֲמֶךָ
Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion upon you.
Targum (Aramaic)
vittuv Adonai Elahakh yat galvatakh virachem alakh
Targum Rendering
Then the LORD your God will turn your captivity and have compassion upon you.
The promise of restoration is rendered literally. Shevut (captivity/fortunes) is translated as galvat (exile/captivity), giving the promise concrete eschatological content: God will reverse the exile.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי הוּא חַיֶּיךָ וְאֹרֶךְ יָמֶיךָ
For he is your life and the length of your days.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei hu chayyaikh ve'orkh yomakh
Targum Rendering
For he is your life and the length of your days.
The identification of God as Israel's life is preserved literally. This is relational language, not anthropomorphic — God as the source of life requires no targum adjustment.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּךְ
For the LORD your God, he it is who goes with you.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei Adonai Elahakh Memreih madbar immakh
Targum Rendering
For the LORD your God — his Memra leads with you.
In Moses' final encouragement, God's accompaniment is Memra-mediated. The Memra leads (madbar) — the same word used for shepherding and guiding.
Hebrew (MT)
הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וַאֲדַבֵּרָה
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak.
Targum (Aramaic)
atzitu shemayya va'amallil
Targum Rendering
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak.
The Song of Moses opens with Moses' own words rendered literally. The cosmic witnesses (heavens and earth) are addressed without theological adjustment.
Hebrew (MT)
הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּעֳלוֹ
The Rock — perfect is his work.
Targum (Aramaic)
taqifa shlemim ovadeih
Targum Rendering
The Mighty One — perfect is his work.
'The Rock' (ha-Tzur) becomes 'the Mighty One' (taqifa). Onkelos avoids applying a physical-object metaphor to God, even one as established as 'Rock.' Throughout the Song, every occurrence of Tzur for God is rendered 'the Mighty One.'
Hebrew (MT)
הֲלֹא־הוּא אָבִיךָ קָּנֶךָ
Is he not your father who created you?
Targum (Aramaic)
hala hu avukhon di qanakh
Targum Rendering
Is he not your father who acquired you?
Onkelos preserves the father metaphor for God, treating it as relational language. 'Created' (qanekha) is rendered 'acquired' (qanakh), which can also mean 'created' in Aramaic, maintaining the ambiguity.
Hebrew (MT)
יִמְצָאֵהוּ בְּאֶרֶץ מִדְבָּר... יִצְּרֶנְהוּ כְּאִישׁוֹן עֵינוֹ
He found him in a desert land... he guarded him as the apple of his eye.
Targum (Aramaic)
sappiq tzorkhon bemadbar... natar yathon kevavat eineih
Targum Rendering
He supplied their needs in the wilderness... he guarded them as the pupil of his eye.
'He found him' becomes 'he supplied their needs,' removing the implication that God discovered Israel unexpectedly. The 'apple of his eye' is preserved as an established poetic metaphor.
Hebrew (MT)
צוּר יְלָדְךָ תֶּשִׁי
The Rock who bore you, you were unmindful of.
Targum (Aramaic)
taqifa di verakha ashteit
Targum Rendering
The Mighty One who begot you, you neglected.
'The Rock' becomes 'the Mighty One,' and the maternal 'bore you' (yelad) becomes the more neutral 'begot you' (verakh), maintaining the parent metaphor while avoiding the feminine birth imagery for God.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יָדִין יְהוָה עַמּוֹ
For the LORD will vindicate his people.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei yedun Adonai din ammeih
Targum Rendering
For the LORD will judge the cause of his people.
Onkelos renders God's vindication of Israel literally. The promise of divine justice at the Song's climax requires no adjustment.
Hebrew (MT)
רְאוּ עַתָּה כִּי אֲנִי אֲנִי הוּא וְאֵין אֱלֹהִים עִמָּדִי אֲנִי אָמִית וַאֲחַיֶּה
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive.
Targum (Aramaic)
chazu ke'an arei ana ana hu veleit Elah bar minni ana mamit umachei
Targum Rendering
See now that I, I am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive.
The supreme monotheistic declaration in the Song of Moses is rendered with total literalism. 'I, I am he' (ana ana hu) echoes the Shema's radical monotheism. God's sovereignty over life and death is stated without qualification.
Hebrew (MT)
יְהוָה מִסִּינַי בָּא וְזָרַח מִשֵּׂעִיר לָמוֹ
The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon them.
Targum (Aramaic)
Adonai miSinai itgeli unehar yeqareih alan miSe'ir
Targum Rendering
The LORD revealed himself from Sinai, and the radiance of his glory shone upon us from Seir.
God does not 'come from' Sinai — he 'revealed himself from' Sinai. The sunrise imagery ('dawned') becomes the radiance of God's glory (yeqar), keeping the light metaphor but directing it through the glory concept.
Hebrew (MT)
אַף חֹבֵב עַמִּים
Indeed he loves the peoples.
Targum (Aramaic)
af rachem ammayya
Targum Rendering
Indeed he loves the peoples.
God's love for his people is rendered literally. Divine love is a relational attribute, not an anthropomorphism.
Hebrew (MT)
יְדִיד יְהוָה יִשְׁכֹּן לָבֶטַח עָלָיו חֹפֵף עָלָיו כָּל־הַיּוֹם
The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety; he covers him all the day long.
Targum (Aramaic)
rachimaih daAdonai yishrei larechatzan Shekhinteih sharyah aloi kol yomayya
Targum Rendering
The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in security; his Shekinah rests upon him all the days.
The blessing of Benjamin introduces the Shekinah resting upon the tribe — traditionally connected to the Temple being built in Benjamin's territory. The 'covering' becomes Shekinah indwelling, linking territorial blessing to divine presence.
Hebrew (MT)
וּרְצוֹן שֹׁכְנִי סְנֶה
And the favor of him who dwelt in the bush.
Targum (Aramaic)
ure'avta de'ashri Shekhinteih be'asna
Targum Rendering
And the favor of him who caused his Shekinah to dwell in the bush.
God's dwelling in the burning bush is rendered as Shekinah indwelling. The Shekinah theology extends backward to the Exodus theophany — God's Shekinah was in the bush, establishing the pattern that culminated in the Tabernacle and Temple.
Hebrew (MT)
מְעֹנָה אֱלֹהֵי קֶדֶם
The eternal God is a dwelling place.
Targum (Aramaic)
me'onta Elaha dimin qadmin
Targum Rendering
A refuge is the God of old.
Onkelos renders the divine epithet 'God of old/eternity' (Elaha dimin qadmin) literally, treating divine eternality as a non-anthropomorphic attribute.
Hebrew (MT)
וַיָּמָת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד־יְהוָה... עַל־פִּי יְהוָה
And Moses the servant of the LORD died there... according to the word of the LORD.
Targum (Aramaic)
umit tamman Mosheh avda daAdonai... al meimart Adonai
Targum Rendering
And Moses the servant of the LORD died there... by the Memra of the LORD.
Moses dies 'by the Memra of the LORD' rather than 'by the mouth of the LORD' (the Hebrew al-pi means literally 'by the mouth of'). The anthropomorphic 'mouth' is replaced with the theological 'Memra.' Rabbinic tradition interpreted this as death by a divine kiss.
Hebrew (MT)
וַיִּקְבֹּר אֹתוֹ בַגַּי
And he buried him in the valley.
Targum (Aramaic)
uqvar yateih bechiltza
Targum Rendering
And he buried him in the valley.
The subject of 'he buried' is ambiguous in Hebrew — either God or an unnamed agent. Onkelos preserves the ambiguity without specifying, allowing the tradition that God himself buried Moses to stand.
Hebrew (MT)
וְלֹא־קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר יְדָעוֹ יְהוָה פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים
And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.
Targum (Aramaic)
vela qam neviya tub beYisrael keMosheh di haveih yade'inneih Adonai Memra im Memra
Targum Rendering
And there did not arise again a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew word to word.
The closing eulogy uses the same 'Memra to Memra' formula as Deuteronomy 5:4, forming an inclusio. Moses' unique relationship with God was not facial proximity but Memra-to-Memra communication — direct, unmediated prophetic revelation through the Word. This is the final word of the Torah in Onkelos.