Overview
Summary
Targum Onkelos on Numbers navigates the wilderness narrative with characteristic theological care. The Aaronic Blessing (6:24-26) receives significant Memra and Shekinah treatment. Balaam's oracles contain the most important Messianic readings in the Pentateuch outside Genesis 49. The narrative of God's anger, the rebellion accounts, and the bronze serpent all receive anti-anthropomorphic adjustment.
Notable Renderings
Numbers 24:17 ('a star shall come out of Jacob') is rendered as a Messianic prophecy of a conquering king. The Aaronic Blessing introduces Shekinah language for God's shining face. The Cloud and Glory narratives are rendered as Shekinah presence. Balaam's four oracles contain the richest Messianic material in the Torah targum tradition.
Theological Themes
Messianic expectation reaches its Torah climax in Balaam's oracles; Shekinah accompaniment through the wilderness; anti-anthropomorphism in rebellion narratives (God's anger, God's fire); the priestly blessing as mediated divine presence.
Hebrew (MT)
יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
The LORD bless you and keep you.
Targum (Aramaic)
yevarkhinnakh Adonai veyittrinnakh
Targum Rendering
The LORD bless you and keep you.
The first line of the Aaronic Blessing is rendered literally. Onkelos treats the priestly blessing as fixed liturgical language.
Hebrew (MT)
יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ
The LORD make his face shine upon you.
Targum (Aramaic)
yanhir Adonai anpoi lakh
Targum Rendering
The LORD make his face shine upon you.
Remarkably, Onkelos preserves 'his face' (anpoi) in the priestly blessing rather than substituting Shekinah. The liturgical fixity of the blessing overrides the anti-anthropomorphic tendency.
Hebrew (MT)
יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם
The LORD lift up his face upon you and give you peace.
Targum (Aramaic)
yisbbi Adonai anpoi lakh viyesavvei lakh shelam
Targum Rendering
The LORD lift up his face toward you and grant you peace.
The priestly blessing is preserved intact. This is one of the few places where Onkelos allows three consecutive anthropomorphisms (face shining, face lifting) because the blessing is too sacred and liturgically embedded to paraphrase.
Hebrew (MT)
וַיִּשְׁמַע אֶת־הַקּוֹל מִדַּבֵּר אֵלָיו מֵעַל הַכַּפֹּרֶת
And he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat.
Targum (Aramaic)
ushema yat qala demishtamal immeih me'el kappureta
Targum Rendering
And he heard the voice speaking with him from above the mercy seat.
The reflexive form 'speaking with him' (mishtamal, a hitpa'el-like form) softens the directness of God's address, suggesting a voice that extends itself rather than God speaking as a physical being.
Hebrew (MT)
קוּמָה יְהוָה וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ
Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered.
Targum (Aramaic)
qum ke'an Adonai veyitbadderun saneikhah
Targum Rendering
Arise now, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered.
Onkelos preserves Moses' battle cry including the anthropomorphic 'arise' (qum). As with the priestly blessing, fixed liturgical/battle formulas are treated as sacrosanct.
Hebrew (MT)
שׁוּבָה יְהוָה רִבְבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
Return, O LORD, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.
Targum (Aramaic)
tuv ke'an Adonai ve'ashrei Shekhinetakh beineihon deribbevan alfei Yisrael
Targum Rendering
Return now, O LORD, and cause your Shekinah to dwell among the tens of thousands of Israel.
When the ark rests, God's 'returning' is interpreted as the Shekinah dwelling among Israel. The military cry becomes a prayer for renewed Shekinah presence among the myriads of Israel.
Hebrew (MT)
וַיִּשְׁמַע יְהוָה וַיִּחַר אַפּוֹ
And the LORD heard, and his anger was kindled.
Targum (Aramaic)
ushtamia' qodam Adonai vetqif rug'zeih
Targum Rendering
And it was heard before the LORD, and his anger was strong.
Double adjustment: 'the LORD heard' becomes the passive 'it was heard before the LORD,' and 'his anger was kindled' (fire metaphor) becomes 'his anger was strong' (strength metaphor), removing both the anthropomorphic hearing and the fire imagery.
Hebrew (MT)
וְאָצַלְתִּי מִן־הָרוּחַ אֲשֶׁר עָלֶיךָ וְשַׂמְתִּי עֲלֵיהֶם
And I will take some of the spirit that is upon you and put it upon them.
Targum (Aramaic)
ve'atzel min rucha di alakh ve'ashavvei aleihon
Targum Rendering
And I will set apart from the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them.
Onkelos renders the distribution of Moses' spirit to the seventy elders literally. The spirit (rucha) is treated as a divine gift that can be shared without diminishment.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי מְאַסְתֶּם אֶת־יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבְּכֶם
Because you have rejected the LORD who is among you.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei rechaiqton min qodam Adonai di Shekhinteih beinekhon
Targum Rendering
Because you have distanced yourselves from before the LORD whose Shekinah is among you.
God's being 'in your midst' is rendered as 'whose Shekinah is among you.' Israel's rejection is described as distancing from the Shekinah-presence, making sin a relational separation from divine indwelling.
Hebrew (MT)
וּתְמֻנַת יְהוָה יַבִּיט
And the form of the LORD he beholds.
Targum (Aramaic)
vetzelem yeqara daAdonai mistakkal
Targum Rendering
And the likeness of the glory of the LORD he beholds.
Moses does not behold 'the form of the LORD' but 'the likeness of the glory of the LORD.' A double buffer — both 'likeness' (tzelem) and 'glory' (yeqar) — separates Moses from direct vision of God.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי יְהוָה אִתָּנוּ
For the LORD is with us.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei Memra daAdonai besiyyanan
Targum Rendering
For the Memra of the LORD is in our help.
Caleb's and Joshua's declaration of confidence is expressed through the Memra. God's presence with Israel in military contexts is consistently mediated through the Word.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי אַתָּה יְהוָה בְּקֶרֶב הָעָם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר־עַיִן בְּעַיִן נִרְאָה אַתָּה יְהוָה
For you, O LORD, are among this people, for you, O LORD, are seen eye to eye.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei att Adonai di Shekhinetakh sharyah bego amma hadein di ein be'ein itchazi yeqarakh Adonai
Targum Rendering
For you, O LORD, whose Shekinah dwells among this people, whose glory is seen eye to eye, O LORD.
Three adjustments: (1) God among the people becomes Shekinah dwelling among them, (2) God being seen becomes his glory being seen, (3) the direct address is preserved. Moses argues that the nations know of God's Shekinah-presence — divine indwelling is publicly visible.
Hebrew (MT)
יְהוָה אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד
The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Targum (Aramaic)
Adonai rachiq min rug'za vesaggi le'me'bad chisda
Targum Rendering
The LORD is far from anger and great in doing mercy.
'Slow to anger' (lit. 'long of nostrils') becomes 'far from anger' (rachiq min rug'za), removing the body-part metaphor entirely. 'Abounding in chesed' becomes 'great in doing mercy,' emphasizing active beneficence.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי אֵין יְהוָה בְּקִרְבְּכֶם
For the LORD is not among you.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei leit Shekhinteih daAdonai beineikhon
Targum Rendering
For the Shekinah of the LORD is not among you.
The warning against going up without God is expressed as the absence of the Shekinah. Military defeat follows from Shekinah withdrawal — the inverse of Numbers 10:36.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי כָל־הָעֵדָה כֻּלָּם קְדֹשִׁים וּבְתוֹכָם יְהוָה
For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei khol kenishta kullehon qaddishin uveinehon Shekhinteih daAdonai
Targum Rendering
For all the congregation, all of them are holy, and among them is the Shekinah of the LORD.
Even Korah's rebellious claim uses Shekinah language. The theological grammar of divine presence is consistent regardless of speaker — the Shekinah is among Israel whether the claim is legitimate or presumptuous.
Hebrew (MT)
וַיְשַׁלַּח יְהוָה בָּעָם אֵת הַנְּחָשִׁים הַשְּׂרָפִים
And the LORD sent among the people fiery serpents.
Targum (Aramaic)
veshaddar Adonai be'amma yat chivvayya qattolayya
Targum Rendering
And the LORD sent among the people the killing serpents.
'Fiery serpents' (seraphim) becomes 'killing serpents' (qattolayya), interpreting the adjective by its effect rather than its appearance. Onkelos focuses on the deadly function.
Hebrew (MT)
עֲשֵׂה לְךָ שָׂרָף... וְהָיָה כָּל־הַנָּשׁוּךְ וְרָאָה אֹתוֹ וָחָי
Make for yourself a fiery serpent... and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.
Targum (Aramaic)
avid lakh chivya... vihavei kol de'nikhteih chivya veyistakkal beih viyeqayyam
Targum Rendering
Make for yourself a serpent... and it shall be that everyone bitten by a serpent who looks at it shall live.
Onkelos renders this literally. The bronze serpent passage, which Jesus cites in John 3:14, receives no interpretive adjustment — the act of looking and living is preserved without rationalization.
Hebrew (MT)
וַיָּבֹא אֱלֹהִים אֶל־בִּלְעָם
And God came to Balaam.
Targum (Aramaic)
va'ata pitgama min qodam Adonai levat Bil'am
Targum Rendering
And a word came from before the LORD to Balaam.
God does not 'come to' Balaam. A word (pitgama) comes from before the LORD, consistent with the treatment of Abimelech's dream in Genesis 20:3. Divine communication replaces divine movement.
Hebrew (MT)
מָה אֶקֹּב לֹא קַבֹּה אֵל
How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
Targum (Aramaic)
mah elut di la lateih min qodam Adonai
Targum Rendering
How shall I curse whom the LORD has not cursed?
Balaam's first oracle acknowledges that cursing requires divine sanction. Onkelos adds 'from before the LORD,' applying the standard reverential formula.
Hebrew (MT)
לֹא אִישׁ אֵל וִיכַזֵּב וּבֶן־אָדָם וְיִתְנֶחָם
God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent.
Targum (Aramaic)
la kevarnash pithgamoi de'El vichaddav ubar enash veyitnecheminnei
Targum Rendering
Not like the words of a man are the words of God that he should lie, nor like a son of man that he should repent.
Onkelos shifts from direct comparison ('God is not a man') to comparing God's words with human words, further distancing God from any human likeness while preserving the theological point about divine faithfulness.
Hebrew (MT)
יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו עִמּוֹ וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ
The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
Targum (Aramaic)
Memra daAdonai Elahehon besiyyehon veShekhinat malkhon beinehon
Targum Rendering
The Memra of the LORD their God is in their help, and the Shekinah of their King is among them.
Both Memra and Shekinah appear in the same verse — a rare double occurrence. God's presence with Israel is Memra-help; the King's presence is Shekinah-indwelling. The 'shout of a king' is interpreted as the Shekinah of their King, a royal-divine presence.
Hebrew (MT)
מַחֲזֵה שַׁדַּי יֶחֱזֶה
The vision of the Almighty he sees.
Targum (Aramaic)
dechezvan min qodam Shadday chaza
Targum Rendering
Visions from before the Almighty he has seen.
Balaam's vision is 'from before' (min qodam) the Almighty, adding the standard reverential distance. The prophet sees visions that originate from God's presence, not God himself.
Hebrew (MT)
כַּאֲהָלִים נָטַע יְהוָה
As aloes which the LORD has planted.
Targum (Aramaic)
kemishkenayya di natav Adonai
Targum Rendering
As tabernacles which the LORD has planted.
'Aloes' (ahalim) is read as 'tabernacles/tents' (mishkenayya), creating a wordplay connecting Israel's encampments to the divine Tabernacle. The botanical becomes architectural and theological.
Hebrew (MT)
יִזַּל־מַיִם מִדָּלְיָו... וְיָרֹם מֵאֲגַג מַלְכּוֹ
Water shall flow from his buckets... and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
Targum (Aramaic)
yitrab malka minehon... veyitrom al Agag malkhon veyitnesei malkhutehon
Targum Rendering
A king shall arise from them... and he shall be exalted above Agag, their king, and his kingdom shall be lifted up.
Onkelos reads the agricultural imagery as Messianic royal prophecy: water from buckets becomes a king arising. The reference to Agag is preserved as a concrete historical reference — the Messiah-king will surpass even the greatest Gentile rulers.
Hebrew (MT)
דָּרַךְ כּוֹכָב מִיַּעֲקֹב וְקָם שֵׁבֶט מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל
A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.
Targum (Aramaic)
yiqum malka miYa'aqov veyitrebbei meshicha miYisrael
Targum Rendering
A king shall arise from Jacob and the Messiah shall be anointed from Israel.
This is the most important Messianic passage in the Torah targum. The star becomes a king; the scepter becomes the Messiah. Onkelos explicitly identifies the figure as 'the Messiah' (meshicha), making this the clearest proof that pre-Christian Judaism read Numbers 24:17 as a Messianic prophecy. Bar Kokhba ('Son of the Star') later claimed this verse.
Hebrew (MT)
וְהָיָה אֱדוֹם יְרֵשָׁה
And Edom shall be a possession.
Targum (Aramaic)
viyehei Edom yeritat
Targum Rendering
And Edom shall be a possession.
In context with 24:17, the Messiah's conquest of Edom is rendered literally. Edom was later identified with Rome in rabbinic literature, giving this Messianic conquest an eschatological dimension.
Hebrew (MT)
רֵאשִׁית גּוֹיִם עֲמָלֵק
Amalek was the first among the nations.
Targum (Aramaic)
reishit qeravayya da'avad im Yisrael Amaleq
Targum Rendering
The first of the nations that waged war with Israel was Amalek.
Onkelos clarifies: Amalek's primacy is not in greatness but in being the first to attack Israel (Exodus 17), reading the oracle as historical interpretation.
Hebrew (MT)
וְצִים מִיַּד כִּתִּים
And ships from the coast of Kittim.
Targum (Aramaic)
veliggeyonin min yad Kittayei
Targum Rendering
And legions from the coast of Kittim.
'Ships' becomes 'legions,' and Kittim (originally Cyprus) represents Rome in the targum's eschatological reading. Balaam's final oracle encompasses world-historical scope — Rome will rise but ultimately fall.
Hebrew (MT)
יִפְקֹד יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר
Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint.
Targum (Aramaic)
yemanni Adonai Elaha druchata lekhol bisra
Targum Rendering
Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint.
Moses' prayer for a successor is rendered literally. The title 'God of the spirits of all flesh' requires no anti-anthropomorphic adjustment — it is already abstract and theological.
Hebrew (MT)
וּבֵאלֹהֵיהֶם עָשָׂה יְהוָה שְׁפָטִים
And upon their gods the LORD executed judgments.
Targum (Aramaic)
uveta'avathon avad Adonai dinin
Targum Rendering
And upon their idols the LORD executed judgments.
'Their gods' (elohehem) is rendered 'their idols' (ta'avathon, literally 'abominations'), making clear that Egyptian deities are not gods but objects of false worship.
Hebrew (MT)
כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה שֹׁכֵן בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
For I am the LORD who dwells among the children of Israel.
Targum (Aramaic)
arei ana Adonai di Shekhineti sharyah bego benei Yisrael
Targum Rendering
For I am the LORD whose Shekinah dwells among the children of Israel.
The closing theological statement of Numbers: God does not dwell among Israel directly but through the Shekinah. The land must be kept pure because the Shekinah is present within it.