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)
אֵינְכֶם מַאֲמִינִם בַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
You did not believe in the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
leitkhon mehemnin bemeimra deAdonai elahakhon
Targum Rendering
You did not believe in the Memra of the LORD your God.
PRE-NICENE TIER S: Memra-as-mediator passage. The Memra ('Word') functions as a quasi-hypostatic mediator — God acts on his behalf through his Word. This pattern across Onkelos's ~150 Memra passages forms the Jewish theological substrate from which John 1:1's Logos Christology emerges. After the post-Nicene 'Two Powers in Heaven' rabbinic polemic, Jewish theology suppressed these readings; the Targum preserves the older pre-Nicene substrate.
The faith-in-Memra formulation again (cf. Exod 14:31). Here it appears as a NEGATIVE — Israel's failure of faith is specifically failure of faith IN THE MEMRA. The hypostatic Memra is a fixed term of Jewish faith-vocabulary in pre-Nicene theology.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בֵּרַכְךָ
For the LORD your God has blessed you.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei Adonai elahakh berikhakh
Targum Rendering
For the LORD your God has blessed you.
The forty-year-wilderness blessing-recap. Foundational for biblical theology of providence in scarcity.
Hebrew (MT)
אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה אַתָּה הַחִלּוֹתָ לְהַרְאוֹת אֶת־עַבְדְּךָ אֶת־גָּדְלְךָ וְאֶת־יָדְךָ הַחֲזָקָה
O Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand.
Targum (Aramaic)
יְיָ אֱלֹהִים אַתְּ שָׁרֵיתָא לְאַחְזָאָה יָת עַבְדָּךְ יָת רְבוּתָךְ וְיָת גְּבוּרְתָּךְ
Targum Rendering
Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your might.
Moses' plea to enter the land. 'Strong hand' becomes 'might' (גְּבוּרְתָּךְ) — anti-anthropomorphism applied to divine attributes.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי הִיא חָכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם
For that will be your wisdom and your understanding.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei hi chukhmatkhon ubivantkhon
Targum Rendering
For this is your wisdom and your understanding.
The Torah-as-wisdom formula. Foundational for biblical wisdom-and-Torah identification (Sir 24, Bar 3:36-4:4).
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)
אַתָּה הָרְאֵתָ לָדַעַת כִּי יְהוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים אֵין עוֹד מִלְבַדּוֹ
To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.
Targum (Aramaic)
att itzlachta lemeida arei Adonai hu elaha leit od bar minneih
Targum Rendering
You have been shown to know that the LORD is God; there is none besides him.
The Deuteronomic strict-monotheism formula. Foundational for the Shema theology and for the Pauline 'one God' formula (1 Cor 8:6, Eph 4:6, 1 Tim 2:5). The Targum preserves the formula verbatim.
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)
שָׁמוֹר אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ
Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Targum (Aramaic)
ttar yat yoma deshabbeta leqaddashutei
Targum Rendering
Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
The fourth commandment in Deut's version. Notable: 4QDeutⁿ harmonizes with Exod 20:8's zakhor ('remember') by attesting both verbs. Targum preserves shamor ('observe') alone — matching MT.
Hebrew (MT)
וְלֹא תַחְמֹד אֵשֶׁת רֵעֶךָ
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
Targum (Aramaic)
vela techammed yat itat chavrakh
Targum Rendering
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
The tenth commandment. Cited verbatim at Romans 13:9 in Paul's love-fulfills-the-law argument. Foundational text for the rabbinic and Christian theology of inner-as-well-as-outer obedience (cf. Matt 5:28, Jesus' 'whoever looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery').
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)
אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד
It is the LORD your God you shall fear; him shall you serve.
Targum (Aramaic)
min qodam Adonai elahakh tidchal uqodamohi tifelach
Targum Rendering
The LORD your God shall you fear, and him shall you serve.
Cited verbatim by Jesus at Matt 4:10 / Luke 4:8 in his wilderness temptation, refusing Satan's offer of worship in exchange for kingdoms.
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)
לֹא מֵרֻבְּכֶם מִכָּל הָעַמִּים חָשַׁק יְהוָה בָּכֶם
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you.
Targum (Aramaic)
la mesuggehkhon mikkol amemmayya itre'i Adonai bekhon
Targum Rendering
Not because of your numerousness above all the peoples did the LORD delight in you.
The election-out-of-love (not merit) text. Cited at 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 ('not many were wise... but God chose the foolish things') as the structural pattern of divine election. The Targum's itre'i ('delighted in') captures the love-choice combination of the MT's chashaq.
Hebrew (MT)
הָאֵל הַנֶּאֱמָן שֹׁמֵר הַבְּרִית
The faithful God who keeps covenant.
Targum (Aramaic)
elaha mehemana natar qeyama
Targum Rendering
The faithful God who keeps the covenant.
The 'faithful God who keeps covenant' formula. Echoed at 1 Cor 1:9, 10:13 ('God is faithful').
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי לֹא עַל הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם כִּי עַל כָּל מוֹצָא פִי יְהוָה
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei la al lachma balchodohi yechei enasha elahein al kol mappaq pum Adonai
Targum Rendering
For not by bread alone does a human live, but by everything that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
MARQUEE: cited verbatim by Jesus at Matthew 4:4 / Luke 4:4 in his wilderness temptation. The Targum's literal preservation confirms the Hebrew Vorlage of the Synoptic citation. The 'mouth of the LORD' as the source of life is a foundational logos-of-God theology.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי כַּאֲשֶׁר יְיַסֵּר אִישׁ אֶת בְּנוֹ
As a man disciplines his son.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei kema dimerdei gevar yat berei
Targum Rendering
As a man disciplines his son.
The fatherly-discipline formula. Cited at Hebrews 12:5-11 in the writer's discipline-as-fatherly-love theology.
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)
וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל מָה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ שֹׁאֵל מֵעִמָּךְ
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you?
Targum (Aramaic)
ukhe'an yisrael ma Adonai elahakh ta'ev minnakh
Targum Rendering
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you?
The 'what does the LORD require' formula. Pairs with Mic 6:8.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הוּא אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַאֲדֹנֵי הָאֲדֹנִים
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei Adonai elahakhon hu elaha de'elahayya umarei demaravvata
Targum Rendering
For the LORD your God — he is God of gods and Lord of lords.
The 'God of gods, Lord of lords' formula. Echoed at 1 Tim 6:15, Rev 17:14, 19:16 (Christologically applied to Jesus as 'King of kings and Lord of lords'). The Targum preserves the literal formula.
Hebrew (MT)
וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ
He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain.
Targum (Aramaic)
ve'eten mitra de'ar'akhon be'iddanei yoreh umalqosh
Targum Rendering
And I will give the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain.
The yoreh-and-malqosh formula. Echoed at James 5:7 ('the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and late rains') as the patience metaphor.
Hebrew (MT)
וְשַׂמְתֶּם אֶת דְּבָרַי אֵלֶּה עַל לְבַבְכֶם
You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart.
Targum (Aramaic)
uteshvun yat pitgamai illein al libbekhon
Targum Rendering
And you shall set these my words upon your heart.
The internalization-of-Torah command. Foundational for the Shema's heart-and-soul-and-might commitment (Deut 6:5).
Hebrew (MT)
לֹא תַעֲשׂוּן כֵּן לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way.
Targum (Aramaic)
la te'avdun kein qodam Adonai elahakhon
Targum Rendering
You shall not do so before the LORD your God.
The do-not-worship-like-the-nations command.
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)
אַחֲרֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם תֵּלֵכוּ
You shall walk after the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
batar pulchana deAdonai elahakhon tehakhun
Targum Rendering
You shall walk after the worship of the LORD your God.
The walking-after-the-LORD formula. The Targum's pulchana ('worship/service') interprets the metaphor concretely — walking after God means engaging in his worship. Echoes through Mark 1:17 ('come follow me') and the entire Christian discipleship vocabulary.
Hebrew (MT)
בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
You are the sons of the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
benin atton qodam Adonai elahakhon
Targum Rendering
You are children before the LORD your God.
The sonship-of-Israel formula. Foundational for biblical adoption theology — culminates in Pauline 'Spirit of adoption' (Rom 8:15, Gal 4:4-7).
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei amma qaddisha at qodam Adonai elahakh
Targum Rendering
For you are a holy people before the LORD your God.
The Israel-as-holy-people formula. Foundational for the Christian extension at 1 Pet 2:9.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי בִּגְלַל הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you.
Targum (Aramaic)
אֲרֵי בְּדִיל פִּתְגָּמָא הָדֵין יְבָרֵכִינָּךְ יְיָ אֱלָהָךְ
Targum Rendering
for because of this matter the LORD your God will bless you.
Sabbatical-year debt-release motivation. The blessing is causally tied to obedience — covenantal reward language preserved.
Hebrew (MT)
צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף
Justice, justice shall you pursue.
Targum (Aramaic)
qushta qushta tirdof
Targum Rendering
Justice, justice you shall pursue.
The doubled-justice command. Foundational for biblical social-ethics.
Hebrew (MT)
וְכָתַב לוֹ אֶת־מִשְׁנֵה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת עַל־סֵפֶר
he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll.
Targum (Aramaic)
וְיִכְתּוֹב לֵיהּ יָת פַּרְשְׁגֵן אוֹרָיְתָא הָדָא עַל סִפְרָא
Targum Rendering
he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah on a scroll.
The king's Torah scroll instruction. אוֹרָיְתָא ('Torah') preserved literally — the Davidic king is a Torah-keeper above all.
Hebrew (MT)
תָּמִים תִּהְיֶה עִם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
shelim tehei be'irchata deAdonai elahakh
Targum Rendering
You shall be perfect in the way of the LORD your God.
Cited (in spirit) at Matthew 5:48 ('be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect'). The Hebrew tamim ('whole, blameless, perfect') is the same root as the noun characterizing Job, Noah, and the sacrificial animal. The Targum's shelim parallels the LXX teleios.
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)
לְאַהֲבָה אֶת־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְלָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו כָּל־הַיָּמִים
to love the LORD your God and to walk in his ways always.
Targum (Aramaic)
לְמִרְחַם יָת יְיָ אֱלָהָךְ וּלְהַלָּכָא בְּאוֹרְחָן דְּתַקְנָן קֳדָמוֹהִי כָּל יוֹמַיָּא
Targum Rendering
to love the LORD your God and to walk in the ways that are right before him all the days.
Cities-of-refuge expansion clause. 'His ways' becomes 'ways that are right before him' — anti-anthropomorphism: God's ways are not humanlike paths but right conduct in his presence.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם
for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you.
Targum (Aramaic)
אֲרֵי יְיָ אֱלָהֲכוֹן מֵימְרֵיהּ מְהַלֵּךְ קֳדָמֵיכוֹן לְאַגָּחָא לְכוֹן קְרָבָא
Targum Rendering
for the Memra of the LORD your God walks before you to fight your battles for you.
War-priest's exhortation. Divine accompaniment-in-war recast: 'YHWH walks with you' becomes 'Memra walks before you.' Pre-Nicene mediation: the divine warrior-figure is the Memra.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יִהְיֶה לְאִישׁ בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei yehei legevra bera sarvan mardan
Targum Rendering
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son.
The rebellious-son law. Read by rabbinic tradition (b. Sanhedrin 71a) as never literally applied — 'it never happened and never will happen.' The Targum preserves the literal form.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי קִלְלַת אֱלֹהִים תָּלוּי
For a hanged man is cursed by God.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei al de-cheb qodam Adonai itzlav
Targum Rendering
For he that has been hanged is one who has sinned before the LORD.
MARQUEE: cited at Galatians 3:13 by Paul ('Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'). The Targum euphemizes 'cursed by God' to 'one who has sinned before the LORD,' avoiding the apparent imputation of curse-status to God's name; Paul's citation follows the MT/LXX vocabulary directly.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי תוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כָּל־עֹשֵׂה אֵלֶּה
for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
אֲרֵי מְרַחֲקָא קֳדָם יְיָ אֱלָהָךְ כָּל דְּעָבֵיד אִלֵּין
Targum Rendering
for everyone who does these things is an abomination before the LORD your God.
Cross-dressing prohibition. 'Abomination to YHWH' becomes 'abomination before the LORD' (קֳדָם — anti-anthropomorphism). Standard Targum handling of moral-disgust language.
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)
וְכָתַב לָהּ סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת
he writes her a certificate of divorce.
Targum (Aramaic)
וְיִכְתּוֹב לַהּ גֵּט פִּטּוּרִין
Targum Rendering
he shall write her a bill of divorce.
Divorce instruction. Targum uses גֵּט (the technical Aramaic/Hebrew term for divorce-document) — cited in NT divorce-debate (Matt 5:31, 19:7; Mark 10:4). Foundation of Jewish divorce-law.
Hebrew (MT)
לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ בְּכִיסְךָ אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן
You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights.
Targum (Aramaic)
la yehei lakh bekhisakh tiqla vetiqla
Targum Rendering
You shall not have in your bag a stone and a stone.
The honest-weights command. Echoes Lev 19:36 and Prov 11:1, 16:11. Foundational for biblical commercial-ethics.
Hebrew (MT)
אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי
A wandering Aramean was my father.
Targum (Aramaic)
laval beqasha ba avi yeyaved levan le'avada
Targum Rendering
Laban the Aramean sought to destroy my father.
The historical-credo opening — recited at the first-fruits offering. The Targum's interpretive expansion identifies the 'wandering Aramean' as Laban (who tried to destroy Jacob), embedding rabbinic-Aggadic history into the credo. The Passover Haggadah preserves the same expanded reading: 'arami oved avi — Laban the Aramean sought to uproot my father.'
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)
הַסְכֵּת וּשְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִהְיֵיתָ לְעָם לַיהוָה
Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the LORD your God.
Targum (Aramaic)
atzitu shema yisrael yoma haden hava'ta le'amma qodam Adonai
Targum Rendering
Listen and hear, O Israel: today you have become a people before the LORD.
The covenant-renewal at Ebal-Gerizim. Foundational for biblical covenant-formation theology.
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)
הַנִּסְתָּרֹת לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְהַנִּגְלֹת לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ עַד־עוֹלָם
the secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever.
Targum (Aramaic)
מְכַסְּיָתָא קֳדָם יְיָ אֱלָהָנָא וּגְלֵיתָא לָנָא וְלִבְנָנָא עַד עָלְמָא
Targum Rendering
what is hidden is before the LORD our God; what is revealed is for us and our children forever.
Closing exhortation of Moses. Foundational epistemology of biblical revelation: God's hiddenness and revelation are distinct. Targum: 'hidden things are before the LORD' (קֳדָם) — preserves divine transcendence.
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 הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת... לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא...
For this commandment... is not in heaven...
Targum (Aramaic)
arei tafsata hada... la bashemayya hi...
Targum Rendering
For this commandment... is not in the heavens...
Onkelos preserves the famous 'word is near you' passage literally. Paul cites this passage Christologically at Romans 10:6-8, applying the descent-of-the-word to Christ's incarnation.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד
But the word is very near you.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei qariv lakh pitgama lachada
Targum Rendering
For the word is very near you.
[may already be partially covered] — The word-is-very-near formula cited at Romans 10:6-8 by Paul applying to Christ's incarnation. Pre-Nicene Tier S adjacent.
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)
וַיהוָה הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ לְפָנֶיךָ הוּא יִהְיֶה עִמָּךְ
It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you.
Targum (Aramaic)
meimra deAdonai hu dimedabber qodamakh meimreih yehei besaadakh
Targum Rendering
The Memra of the LORD — he is the one who goes before you, his Memra shall be at your side.
PRE-NICENE TIER S: Memra-as-mediator passage. The Memra ('Word') functions as a quasi-hypostatic mediator — God acts on his behalf through his Word. This pattern across Onkelos's ~150 Memra passages forms the Jewish theological substrate from which John 1:1's Logos Christology emerges. After the post-Nicene 'Two Powers in Heaven' rabbinic polemic, Jewish theology suppressed these readings; the Targum preserves the older pre-Nicene substrate.
Joshua's commissioning. Notice the recursive doubling: 'the Memra of the LORD goes before you, his Memra shall be at your side' — the Memra has both a transcendent (going before) and an immanent (at-your-side) dimension. Pre-Nicene Jewish theology already had structural language for divine transcendence-and-immanence mediated through one hypostatic category.
Hebrew (MT)
חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ
Be strong and courageous.
Targum (Aramaic)
tqof ve'attzem
Targum Rendering
Be strong and courageous.
Joshua's commissioning. The Targum preserves the formula. Echoed at 1 Cor 16:13 ('be strong').
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)
וַאֲנִי אַקְנִיאֵם בְּלֹא עָם בְּגוֹי נָבָל אַכְעִיסֵם
I will make them jealous with what is no people; with a foolish nation I will provoke them to anger.
Targum (Aramaic)
va'ana atneinun bedela ammin be'amin tippeshin argizinnun
Targum Rendering
And I will provoke them by what is not a people; by foolish nations I will anger them.
MARQUEE: cited at Romans 10:19 by Paul as the OT prophecy of gentile-jealousy that provokes Israel to seek God again. Foundational to Paul's theology of Israel's eschatological salvation in Romans 9-11.
Hebrew (MT)
לִי נָקָם וְשִׁלֵּם
Vengeance is mine, and recompense.
Targum (Aramaic)
qodami puranta ve'ana ashallem
Targum Rendering
Vengeance is before me, and I will repay.
Cited at Romans 12:19 and Hebrews 10:30 as the basis of the Christian non-retaliation ethic. The Targum's qodami ('before me') softens the direct first-person 'mine' of MT into the standard Targumic deictic — but Paul's Greek ekdikēsis emoi ('vengeance is mine') tracks MT directly.
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)
אַשְׁרֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל
Happy are you, O Israel!
Targum (Aramaic)
tuvach yisrael
Targum Rendering
Blessed are you, Israel.
Moses' final blessing climax. Foundational for biblical theology of Israel-as-blessed-people.
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.