TARGUM
206
TARGUM
which is also held by Zunz {GoUesd. Vortrage, p. G2). This being true, Onkelos and Akilas ( or A(iuila ) are vot one and the same person — a view also expressed by JVankel {Zn dem Tuiyjum der Propheien [ iJreslau, 1872]. p. 6) ; and the Talmtidic notices concerning Oidvclos, the disciple of (lainalicl I (or elder), the teacher of the apostle Panl, are ccirroborated by our arg\iment, minus tlie notice tliat Onkelos was a proselyte, as we have al- ready stated above. For with tlie identity of Onkelos with Akilas (or Aquila), it is hardly conceivable that a man like Aquila, who, from a Christian, became a Jew, and such a zealous one that he prepared another Greek version for polemical purposes against the Christians, shoulil have spent so much money at the death of Gamaliel I, whose liberal and friendly attitude towards Christianity was known, and who is even said to have become a Christian, as a tombstone covering his re- mains in a church at I'isa indicates :
" Hoc in saicophago requiescunt corpora sacra Srtnctoi-nm. . . . Sanctu:< Gamaliel . . . Gamaliel divi Pniili dida^rahis olira, Doctor et excellens Israelita I'uit, Concilii niagui lideique per omnia ciiltor."
We now come to the work itself.
2. Style, etc. — The language of Onkelos greatly ap- proaches the Biblical Chaldee, i. e. it has still much of Hebrew coloring, though in a less degree than the other. It also avoids many Aramaisms ( such as the contraction of nouns) which at a later period became prevalent, and comprises a comparatively small num- ber of Greek words, and of Latin words none what- ever. Of Greek words we mention, Exod. xxviii, 25, S<b-a=/3/jpi)XXoc; vcr. 11, qba=yXi;*;j; Gen. xxviii, 17, ISl^nn— Kuwr?;c; Lev. xi, 30, 8<r.::^n= KU)\is)Tr}Q ; Exod. xxviii, 19, X'p"!^ =5j0aK(ae (Pliny, xxxvii, 68); xxxix, 11, X3in3lD=Kapj^r;56vioi; Dent. XX, 20, D'1313=i^apaKa)jua ; Exod. xxviii, 20, D1"1D = X|Ow/ia ; Numb, xv, 38, Dent, xxii, 12, NT3C1"iD = KpadTTiCov; Exod. XXX, 34. nr3=K('(T/ot'; Gen. xxxvii, 28, C'li;b=\ry(?oi'; Exod. xxiv, 16, XO"13=0n|O(To(:; xxvi,6, N3"Tl3=7ropn-//; Gen. vi, 14, D1"np=Kf^(0oc; Exod. xxviii, 19, """^rjp = KJyi^poc (Pliny, xxxvii, 14). There are, besides, some obscure expressions which were partly unintelligible to the Talmudists, as XJI^OC for -rnn, etc., in Exod. xxxv, 23; xxviii, 4, Xri-lTa
for "i*::-":!; ver. 17, ip"ii for m::s; ver. 18, ^n^rsp for nrb; Lev. xxii, 20, n-'^m "fp^n for bbnr
T^rra, etc.
The translation of Onkelos is, on the whole, very simple and exact. It is obvious from the character of the work that the author was in possession of a rich exegetical tradition ; hence we never find him omitting anj' passage of the original. His elucidations of diffi- cult and obscure passages and expressions, perhaps less satisfactory, are commonly those most accredited by in- ternal evidence, and in this particular he is worthy of a more careful regard and assent than have usually fallen to his lot. Gen. iii, 15 he translates "i"'~"l '•t\'' XTI
nib '::rnn nxi 'i^cnpbia n-^b rns'n n^ -jb
NE1C3, i.e. "he shall remember thee what thou hast done to him from the beginning, and thou shalt watch him unto the end;" iv, 7 he translates Sli^ri CX X5n
Di-ib -na's' 2-j-n xb rxi -b '^•:^r-c'^ y^'^^^ bi -3-Q NrnsDNb T^r^Ti ni:;: -;x-jn xrn,
"shall not pardon be given to thee if thou doest well; but if thou doest not well, thy sin shall be preserved till the day of judgment, when it will be exacted of thee," etc. Here rS'IJ is taken from XITS. in the sense of tollere peccata.if.e. " taking-away of sin." and not in the sense of "liftiug-np of the countenance." Onkelos did
not understand the meaning of the verse, but (says Winer) "sensum hujus loci prudentissimos etiam inter- pretes mirifice vexavit." Gen. vi, 3, Onkelos, like the Sept., Syr., Saad.. and many recent commentators, gives
xnrn -iDXT b-'nn -pnn xr-^n x"n c-^pn"! xb
(D5w" = C5 "ITX3), i. e. "this evil generation shall not stand before me forever, because they are flesh ;" xiv, 14, "^nTCSl" n"^ T'^"iT1, i.e. "he armed his j'oung men," but xv, 2, pT'2~*|3 = S<03"iS~"3, "governor," is contrary to the true sense of the words; xx, 16, he did not rightly understand P.nziJI, for he translates
rnrirx nn^sT rna b: bsi "and with respect to
all she said she was reproved;" xxiv, 55, "^X C'^i "iTyT", which the Sept. correctly translates r}jiipa<; wad c'tKa, Vulg. saltern decern dies, Onkelos, in accord- ance with all Jewish interpreters, explains bj' "iTj? "|TI"l"' X"iil,'> IS "p"3, i. e. " a season of times, or ten months;" xxiv, 63, JT^'iTb is translated by nxbltb, "to pray;" xxvii, 42, Cn5n2 is translated, by way of explanation, ~b Z^p'zb ~b '"22, " plotteth against thee, to kill thee." The difficult "j"12X, in xli, 43, is ex- plained by X2b*2b X-X, "a father to the king," and
n:rs ros:: by ir^b •fbs ■iniT:::n xi^j, "the man
to whom mysteries are revealed." The D-w3 ~b T^r.i ~nx, in xlviii, 22, is correctly given by "jb n'^Sn'^ ^n pbin, " and I give thee one part :" and C w3 tflS, in xlix, 4, by ~SX DHpb nblX, "thou hast been car- ried away by thine anger."
Explanatory additions, which evidently belong to Onkelos, are found in Gen. vi, 3 ("jiairi DX, "if.4hey may be converted," at the end of the verse); ix, 5 (■^ninxn XTST ni mui-l, "who sheddeth the blood of his brother"); xiv, 22 (where ibuH, "in prayer," is added to iTi TnT3i")n); xliii, 32 (where we have