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THE TARGUMS 
 
 OP 
 
 ONKELOS AND JONATHAN BEN UZZIEL 
 ON THE PENTATEUCH; 
 
 WITH THE FRAGMENTS OF THE 
 
 JERUSALEM TARGUM: 
 
 PROM THE CHALDEE. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. W. ETHERIDGE, M.A., 
 
 TRANSLATOR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM THE PESCHITO SYRIAC. 
 
 GENESIS AND EXODUS. 
 
 For tills Law is our Inheritance, not only as a lesson of memory, but as 
 a means of knowing the Commandment which the Lord our God hath 
 commanded us, to learn and to teach, to keep and to perform: for 
 this will be our life, and the prolongment of our days.” 
 
 Mendelssohn. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LONGMAN, GEEEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS. 
 
 1862. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM NICHOLS, 
 46, HOXTON SQUARE. 
 
2 * 2.1 
 e/fftoE 
 
 J |8feU- 
 
 <S 
 
 t> 
 
 crV 
 
 f* 
 
 .1 
 
 PATRONS MEJ5 ET UXORI, 
 
 ELIS/E, 
 
 PULCHR.2B, PL2E, SEMPER CARISSIM.E; 
 COMPLORATAS, 
 
 YERUNTAMEN NON SINE SPE CONSTANTI ET CERTA; 
 
 EVANESCE, 
 
 ; TANTUM DONEC ASPIEET DlES, ET DIFFUGIANT UMBRAE. 
 
 1 
 
 A 2 
 
 639910 
 

INTRODUCTION. 
 
 23 
 
 The Son of God.— De Agric. Mark i. 1. The (Seure- 
 po? 0eo?) Second God, the Word.—John i. ]. The 
 Image of God.— De Mund. Ojgif. Col. i. 15 ; Heb. i. 
 2. The intellectual sun, the light of the world.— De 
 Somn. John i. 4-9; John viii. 12. The fountain of 
 wisdom.— De Prof. John iv. 14; vii. 38; 1 Cor. i. 
 24. He is nearest to God.— De Prof. John i. 1, 18; 
 xvii. 11. He is sent from God.— Quis Per. Div. John 
 v. 37; viii. 29, 42. He is the Mediator standing 
 between the living and the dead.— Quis Per. Div. 1 
 Tim. ii. 5; Heb. viii. 1-6. The High Priest [Archi¬ 
 ereus). — De Somn. Heb. iv. 14. The Healer of evils. 
 — De Alleg. Luke iv. 18; 1 Peter ii. 24. The Advocate 
 of mortal man.— Quis Per. Rom. viii. 21; 1 John ii. 1. 
 The Shepherd of God’s flock.— De Agric. John x. 14 ; 
 1 Peter ii. 25. He is possessed of regal power.— De 
 Prof. 1 Cor. xv. 25; Eph. i. 21, 22; Rev. xvii. 14. 
 He liberates men from corruption, and entitles them to 
 immortality.— De Congregat. Erudit. Rom. viii. 21; 
 1 Cor. xv. 52, 53 ; 1 Peter i. 3, 4. Imparts spiritual 
 freedom.— Ibid. John viii. 36. He is the sure refuge 
 of those who seek Him.— De Prof. Matt. xi. 28 ; 1 Peter 
 ii. 25. He is the heavenly bread of the soul.— Fragm. 
 John vi. 32, 35, It was He who called to Adam in 
 the garden,— De Somn. ; spake to Hagar,— De Cherub. ; 
 wrestled with Jacob,— De Norn, mutand. ; and spoke 
 to Moses from the bush.— De Somn. 
 
 Now when we consider that these statements were 
 written by the Alexandrian theologue some years before 
 an evangelist or apostle had set pen to parchment, and, 
 in fact, before our Saviour had begun His public ministry, 
 we are shut up to the conclusion that the Divine 
 personality of the Word was a doctrine already believed 
 among the Jews. In philosophy, indeed, Philo was a 
 Platonist; and many of his speculations are strongly 
 
24 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tinged with the colours of that school; but the Platonic 
 learning never taught him the wonders which lie has 
 recounted of the Eternal Word. Philo was not merely 
 a Platonist, he was a Jew; and in the theologisms we 
 have cited he gives expression to the traditional dogmas 
 of his own people. 
 
 We have given these quotations from Philo and the 
 Targums to prove an historic and incontrovertible fact, 
 
 —that the Jews of the ante-apostolic age believed in a 
 Divine Personality in the Godhead, w r hom they distin¬ 
 guished from another therein by the appellation of the 
 Word. On the question whether they were warranted 
 in such a belief by the teachings of Divine Revelation, 1 
 I need not now enter. The appeal here would be not 
 to the Targums, as such, but to the text of the canonical 
 Hebrew Scriptures; and he who searches them wdtli 
 intelligence, and with freedom from prejudice, will be 
 sure to find that they were right. 
 
 It was this Divine Person who, with the names' of 
 the Word and the Angel, appeared, as Jehovah, to the 
 patriarchs: Gen. iii. 8-21; xii. 7. Compare xvii. 1; 
 xv. 1; xviii. 1-16, 33; xix. 17-24; xxii. 11,12; 
 xxvi. 2, 24; xxviii. 11, 20; xxxi. 11-13; xxxii. 24- 
 30, with Hosea xii. 4, 5 ; Gen. xlviii. 15, 16. 
 
 It was He who delivered Israel from Egypt, and 
 became their Guardian and Guide to the promised land. 
 Exod. iii. 1-14, with John viii. 58; Exod. xiv. 19, 20; 
 xix. 3-11, 16-18; Acts vii. 38; Exod. xxiii. 20-25 ; 
 Isai. lxiii. 9; Exod. xxiv. 9-15; xxxii. 33, 34; 
 xxxiii. 2-4, 14; xxxiv. 5-7, 10-14; Joshua v. 14, 
 
 15; Judges ii. 1-4. Compare this last important 
 passage with Exod. xxxiv. 10-14; Judges vi. 
 
 And it was He who w T as so often manifested in glory 
 and grace to the prophetic seers. Ezek. i, 28, with 
 ix. 3 ; xliii. 3, seq. Dan. xii. 1, with x. 5, 6. Jer. i. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 • 
 
 4, 11, 13, with xxiv. 1; Amos vii. 7; ix. 1; Zech. i. 
 1-13; ii. 6-13; iii. 1-4; Mai. iii. 1-3. 
 
 In the study of these texts good help may be 
 obtained from Dr. Pye Smith's “ Scripture Testimony 
 to the Messiah;" and a more compact Dissertation of 
 J. J. Gurney, in his “ Biblical Notes on the Deity 
 of Christ," No. 14. It may be acceptable to the 
 student to subjoin here a compendium of the biblio¬ 
 graphy on the Targums at large. 
 
 I. Principal Editions. —Onkelos : in the Polyglots. 
 Bononia, with the Commentary of Jarchi, folio, 1482. 
 Soria, 1490. Constantinople, 4to., 1505. Wilna, 8vo., 
 1852. 
 
 Jonathan, on the Pentateuch (Palestinian Targum): 
 in the Polyglots. Venice, 4to., 1591. Prague, 1646. 
 Basil, folio, 1607. Hanau, 8vo., 1614. Berlin, 4to., 
 1705. Amsterdam, 1760. Ostroh, 8vo., 1826. 
 
 -, on the Prophets: Polyglots and Rabbinical 
 
 Bibles of Venice and Basil. Separate books of the 
 Prophets have been published in numerous editions, 
 with and without Latin translations. 
 
 -, on the Ketuvim or Hagiographa : in the 
 
 Polyglots and Rabbinical Bibles, and in separate books; 
 as, Job, FraneJcer., 1663. Canticles, Basil., 1553. 
 Esther, Prague, 1601, &c. The Chaldee Paraphrase 
 on Chronicles was edited by Beck at Augsburg, 
 1680. 
 
 II. Literature. — Be OnJceloso ejusque Paraphrasi 
 Dissertatio, Georg. Benedict Winer. Lips., 4to., 1820. 
 
 Ben Zion Jehuda Berkowitz,— Eteh Or: a Treatise on 
 the hermeneutical Rules of the Targum of Onkelos. 
 Wilna, 8vo., 1843. 
 
 Isaiah Berlin,— Minee Targuma: a Glossary and 
 Commentation on the Targum of Onkelos. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 .20 
 
 Geor. Ben. Winer,— Be Jonathans in Pentateuchum 
 Paraphrasi Chaldaicd. Erlangen, 1823. 
 
 J. H. Petermann,— Be Buabus Pentateuchi Para - 
 phrasibus Clialdaicis . Berlin, 1829. 
 
 Walton's twelfth Prolegomenon to the Polyglot, and 
 the extensive disquisition of Wolf in the second volume 
 of his Bibliotheca Hebma . To those who read Arabic 
 it may be worth mentioning, that the Abbe Barges and 
 Dr. Goldberg have recently edited the epistolary treatise 
 of Rabbi Jehuda Ben Koreisch on the Utility of the 
 Study of the Targums : printed in Hebrew characters. 
 Paris : Duprat. This work contains a valuable glossary 
 of words and terms. In the latter department the 
 work of Phibel Ben David—an Exposition of difficult 
 Words in the Targums: Hanover, 1614—also deserves 
 attention. The fifth chapter of the Gottesdienstlichen 
 Vortrdge der Juden of Dr. Zunz is a masterly exposi¬ 
 tion ; and in an excursus in the work of Geiger, already 
 referred to, the TJrschrift und TJebersetzungen der Bib el, 
 there will be found an extensive collection of readings 
 from the Pentateuch Targums. In Schichard's Bechi - 
 nath lia-perusliim , and the Commentary of Rittangel on 
 the Sefer Jetsira , there are some curious researches, 
 which would reward a few hours' reading. And on the 
 important subject of the Memra, or Word of the Lord, 
 good collateral help is obtained in Jacob Bryant's 
 Treatise “ On the Sentiments of Philo Judaeus," Cam¬ 
 bridge, 1797. I refer also with pleasure to the "In¬ 
 quiry into the Doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," by the late Rev. Richard Treffry; 
 and to an excellent compendium by the Rev. F. Denham 
 in the “ Journal of Sacred Literature," for 1849. 
 
 As to the question whether the ancient Hebrew doc¬ 
 tors identified the Memra or personal Word of God with 
 the Messiah, I may not speak with such confidence. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 27 
 
 On the one hand there are passages in the Targums 
 which strongly imply that identity. Thus Onkelos, on 
 Num. xxiii. 21, reads, “The Memra of the Lord helpeth 
 them, and the Shekinah of their King is among them.” 
 The Jerusalem on the same passage has, “The Memra 
 of the Lord is with them, and a shout from the glory of 
 their King protecteth them; ” and the so-called Jona¬ 
 than Targum, “ The Memra of the Lord their God is a 
 helper to them, and the shout of the King Messiah is 
 heard among them.” (Compare also Onkelos on Judges 
 vi. 11, 13.) There is a text also in Jonathan on Isai. 
 xvi. 1, which brings to mind the saying of St. Ste¬ 
 phen in Acts vii., “This is He who was with the 
 church in the wilderness.” “ They shall bring gifts to 
 the Messiah of the Israelites who shall be strong, 
 because He Himself was in the wilderness, the Bock of 
 the church of Zion.” On the other hand, they some¬ 
 times make a distinction between the Memra and the 
 Messiah, which seems to forbid the idea of personal 
 identity. Thus, Jonathan on Isaiah xlii. 1: “ Behold 
 My Servant the Messiah: I will draw nigh to Him; 
 My Chosen, in whom My Memra hath delighted.” 
 But to the Messiah Himself, the Prince and Deli¬ 
 verer of Israel and the Bedeemer of the world, the Tar¬ 
 gums abound with solemn and affecting references. We 
 will offer a conspectus of the principal passages. 
 
 1. His Divine names. “ Said the prophet to the house 
 of David: Por to us a Son is born, to us a Son is 
 given: and He shall receive the Law upon Him to keep 
 it; and His name is called from of old. Wonderful, 
 Counsellor, Eloha the Mighty, Abiding to Eternity, the 
 Messiah, because peace shall be multiplied upon us in 
 His days.” (Isai. ix. 6.) 
 
 2. The Son of David. “And there shall go forth a 
 
 c 2 
 
28 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 King from the sons of Jesse, and the Messiah shall be 
 anointed from his children's children." (Isai. xi. 1.) 
 Descended from Ruth. “ And he said. Bring the cover¬ 
 ing that is over thee, and hold it; and she held it; and 
 he measured six measures of barley, and placed them 
 upon her. And strength to bear them came to her 
 from before the Lord : and forthwith it was spoken in 
 prophecy, that hereafter would proceed from her the six 
 righteous ones of the world, ( zedihey olma,) who should 
 each of them be destined to be blessed with six bless¬ 
 ings : David, Daniel and his companions, and the King 
 Messiah." (Ruth iii. 15.) 
 
 3. The Brother of Man. "And in that time shall 
 the King Messiah ( Malka Mashicha ) be revealed to the 
 congregation of Israel. Then shall the children of 
 Israel say, Come, be Thou with us for a Brother." (Song 
 viii. 1.) 
 
 4. The Healer of the original wound . " And I will 
 
 put enmity between thee and the woman, and between 
 the seed of thy sons and the seed of her sons. And it 
 shall be when the sons of the woman shall keep the 
 commandments of the law, they will turn and smite thee 
 upon thy head; but when they forsake the command¬ 
 ments of the law, thou wilt turn thyself and wound them 
 in their heel. Nevertheless for them there shall be 
 medicine, but for thee no medicine: and they shall 
 make a remedy for the heel* in the days of the King 
 Messiah." (Gen. iii. 15.) 
 
 5. The Lord our Righteousness . "Behold, the days 
 come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up to David the 
 Messiah who is righteous, ( tsadikaya, righteousness,) 
 and He shall reign a King, and shall prosper, and exe- 
 
 3 Some translate, “They will be able in the days of the King 
 Messiah to make a bruise with the heel.” htn VDU) i* variously ren¬ 
 dered in the lexicons, contritio, emplastrum , heilmittel. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 29 
 
 cute the judgment of truth and justice in the earth. In 
 His days they who are of the house of Jehudah shall be 
 saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : and this is His 
 name by which they will invoke Him, Eighteousness 
 shall be wrought for us from before the Lord.” (Jer. 
 xxiii. 5.) 
 
 6. The Servant of God. “ Behold my Servant, the 
 Messiah. I will bring Him near, my chosen One, in 
 whom my Word taketh delight. I will put the Spirit 
 of Holiness upon Him ; my judgments to the nations 
 shall He reveal.” (Isai. xlii. I.) 
 
 7. The Restorer of Israel. “ The children of Israel 
 shall abide many days without a King of the house of 
 David, and without one who exerciseth dominion over 
 Israel, or who offereth the sacrifices of pleasantness in 
 Jerusalem, and without ephod or annunciation. After¬ 
 ward shall the children of Israel return and seek the 
 service of the Lord their God, and be obedient to 
 Messiah, the Son of David their King: and He shall 
 teach them the worship of the Lord, and increase the 
 good that is to come to them at the end of the days.” 
 (Hosea iii. 4, 5.) 
 
 “ Their King shall arise from their children, and their 
 Redeemer from among themselves; He shall be among 
 them and gather them.” (Num. xxiv. 7.) 
 
 “ The fourth night will be when the world shall arrive 
 at its end to be dissolved: the cords of the wicked shall 
 be consumed, and the iron yoke be broken. Moses 
 will come forth from the desert, and Messiah from the 
 
 high place.This is the Passover Night before the 
 
 Lord.” (Exod. xii. 42.) 
 
 “ What art thou to be reckoned, O mighty kingdom, 
 before Zerubbabel ? Is it not as a plain? Eor He 
 shall reveal His Messiah whose name is declared from 
 of old, and He shall rule over all kingdoms.” (Zech. iv. 7.) 
 
30 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 “ Gog and Magog and their army will go up against 
 Jerusalem, but by the hand of the King Messiah they 
 shall fall.” (Num. xi. 26.) 
 
 “ I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, 
 but not near, when there shall reign a mighty King of 
 the house of Jacob, and Messiah be anointed, and a 
 strong sceptre be from Israel. And He shall kill the 
 princes of the Moabites, and all the children of Sheth, 
 the army of Gog who will set the ranks of war in array 
 against Israel; and all their bodies will fall before Him. 
 
 .The first of the nations who waged war with Israel 
 
 was Amalek; and their end in the days of the King 
 Messiah is to set in array the ranks of war, with all the 
 sons of the East, against the house of Israel; but the 
 end of the one and the other is, that they shall perish 
 for ever. Ships will be sent forth with instruments of 
 war, and they shall go out with many burden-bearers 
 from the land of Italia, and join themselves with the 
 
 legions who go out from Constantine:.but the end 
 
 of both of them is to fall by the hand of the King 
 Messiah and perish for ever.” (Num. xxiv. 20.) 
 
 “ If any there be of your dispersed ones in the ends of 
 the heavens, from thence will the Word of the Lord 
 your God gather you by the hand, of Elijah the high 
 priest, and from thence will He bring you by the hands 
 of the King Messiah.” (Deut. xxx. 4.) 
 
 8. The King of Israel. “ Now these are the words of 
 the prophecy of David which he prophesied concerning 
 the end of the world, concerning the days of consolation 
 which are hereafter to come: David the Son of Jesse 
 
 said,.The God of Israel spake by me, the Mighty 
 
 One of Israel who ruleth among the sons of men, judg¬ 
 ing truly, said that lie would set up to me a King who 
 is Messiah, that hereafter shall come and rule in the 
 fear of the Lord.” (2 Sam. xxiii. 1-3.) 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 31 
 
 “ Thou wilt prolong the days of the King Messiah, and 
 His years as the generations of the world, and the gene¬ 
 rations of the world to come. He shall abide before 
 
 the Lord for ever.So will I glorify thy name when 
 
 I shall perform my vows in the day of the redemption 
 of Israel, and in the day that the King Messiah is 
 anointed to rule.” (Psalm lxi. 7-9.) 
 
 9. The Gatherer of the Nations , and the King of the 
 World. “ There shall not cease kings from the house of 
 Jehudah, nor scribes teaching the Law from his chil¬ 
 dren's children, until the time when the King Messiah 
 shall come, whose is the kingdom, and to Him are all 
 the kingdoms of the earth to be subject. How beau¬ 
 teous is the King Messiah who shall arise from the 
 house of Jehudah ! ” (Gen. xlix. 10.) 
 
 ee My heart produceth a good thing: I will speak of 
 the work of the King; my tongue is like the pen of a 
 swift writer. Thy beauty, O King Messiah, is more than 
 that of the sons of men; the spirit of prophecy is 
 ingiven to Thy lips, because the Lord hath blessed Thee 
 
 for ever.The throne of Thy glory, 0 God, ( Yeya ,) 
 
 shall stand for ever and ever; a sceptre of grace is the 
 sceptre of Thy kingdom. Because Thou hast loved jus¬ 
 tice and hated wickedness, therefore the Lord Thy God 
 hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy 
 fellows.” (Psalm xlv. 1-8.) 
 
 Such, on the evidence of these venerable documents, 
 was the faith of Israel of olden ages in the majesty and 
 mediatorial glory of their Saviour and King; and such, 
 though with various drawbacks and darkening influ¬ 
 ences, is substantially the expectant faith of the pious in 
 Israel at the present time. Unhappily, however, too 
 many among the modern Jews have declined from the 
 hope of their fathers, and exchanged the heavenly light 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 32 
 
 of faith in the revealed promises of God for the ignis 
 fatuus of infidel rationalism, and the poor dreams of 
 secular aggrandizement with their Gentile neighbours. 
 Yet may we hope that this forlorn infidelity is not the 
 last reprobate condition of any of them; and most 
 ardently should we pray that the breath of God may 
 come upon them, to renew them to repentance. Tor 
 though the veil is indeed to this very day upon the 
 national heart, we read in the sure oracles of mercy that 
 when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken 
 away. Nor are there wanting among them many who 
 desire such a consummation more devoutly than we 
 ourselves do; many, in whose prayerful bosoms live 
 those solemn presentiments and spirit-stirring vows 
 which find expression from year to year in their old 
 Litany of the Hosannas. 
 
 “ Por Thy sake, 0 our God, save us. Por Thy sake, 
 O our Creator, save us. Por Thy sake, O our 
 Redeemer, save us. Por Thy sake, O Thou who wilt 
 seek for us, save us. 
 
 “ Por the sake of Thy truth; for the sake of Thy 
 covenant; for the sake of Thy greatness and Thy glory; 
 for the sake of Thy law, Thy institutions, and Thy 
 memorial; for the sake of Thy mercy and goodness. 
 Thy unity and Thy honour, Thy kingdom. Thy strength, 
 and Thy glory; for the sake of Thy holiness and the 
 sake of Thy praise; O save Thy people. 
 
 “As the eyes of servants look up to the master for 
 help, so we come before Thee for protection, we look up 
 to Thee for succour; for the contenders have striven 
 with us, and we are trodden under foot. Save us, O 
 God our Saviour ! 
 
 " O Everlasting, build in mercy. Save the founda¬ 
 tion stone, even the chosen house, the threshing-floor of 
 Arnon, the hidden oracle. Mount Moriah, and the mount 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 33 
 
 where it shall be seen; Thy glorious habitation in the 
 city where David dwelt, goodly Lebanon, the beautiful 
 clime, the joy of all the earth, the perfection of beauty, 
 the dwelling of righteousness, the tranquil habitation, 
 the tabernacle of peace; whither the tribes went up; 
 the precious corner-stone, resplendent Zion, the holy of 
 holies, paved with love. Thy glorious presence, for the 
 heap of sharp-pointed armour. Save us now. 
 
 “ The voice of him (Elijah) who bringeth glad tidings 
 and saith, Thy salvation will I confirm when He (the 
 Messiah) cometh. It is the voice of my beloved 
 coming: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice of Him who cometh with myriads of 
 saints, standing on the Mount of Olives: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice of Him (Messiah) when He cometh 
 at the sound of the great trumpet, when the mountain 
 will divide: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, and 
 shineth forth from Seir, and the mountains of the East 
 shall divide: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 u It is the voice of Elijah proclaiming redemption, 
 and the Messiah coming with all His holy ones with 
 Him : 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice of the Bathkol thundering from Zion, 
 proclaiming freedom to the whole world: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice of Salvation proclaiming the welcome 
 time of the earth's acknowledging the Oneness of His 
 Name: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 c 5 
 
34 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 “ It is the voice of the Mighty One of heaven and 
 earth, exclaiming, Can a nation be born at once ? 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice proclaiming the time of redemption, 
 when the people shall see light, and it shall come to 
 pass at eventide there shall be light: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice to make glad the Rose of Sharon; 
 for they shall rise who sleep in Hebron: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “It is the voice of the Man whose name is the 
 Branch : 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “It is the voice proclaiming, Arise from the dust, 
 awake, and sing, ye who dwell in the dust: 
 
 “ And I will declare the glad tidings. 
 
 “ It is the voice of granting salvation to His people 
 for ever, even to David, and to his children for ever¬ 
 more .”—Order of the Hosanna Rahha. 
 
 “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth 
 iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the rem¬ 
 nant of His heritage ? He retaineth not His anger for 
 ever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn 
 again; He will have compassion upon us; He will 
 subdue our iniquities, and Thou wilt cast all their sins 
 into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the 
 truth unto Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which 
 Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” 
 
 bt nto? yntf 
 
THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BOOK BERESHITH 
 
 OB 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 BERESHITH BARA ELOHIM. 
 
 I. In the first times 3 the Lord created the heavens 
 and the earth. And the earth was waste and empty, 
 and darkness was upon 4 the face of the abyss; and a 
 wind from before the Lord blew upon the face of the 
 waters. And the Lord said. Let there be light; and 
 there was light. And the Lord saw the light that it was 
 good. And the Lord distinguished between the light 
 and between the darkness. And the Lord called the 
 light the Day, and the darkness He called the Night. 
 And there was evening, and there was morning, Day 
 the Eirst. 
 
 And the Lord said, Let there be an expanse in the 
 midst of the waters, and let it distinguish between 
 waters and waters. And the Lord made the expanse, 
 and distinguished between the waters which were under 
 
 3 Be-kadmin, “ in antiquities.” This expression, when used, as here, 
 in the plural, is sometimes put for “eternity.” Compare Onkelos on 
 Deut. xxxiii. 27, JEloha de-milkadmin , “ the Eternal God,” or, “ God 
 
 who is from eternity,” with Jonathan on Micah v. 2, “Messiah,,. 
 
 whose name is called ( milkadmin) from eternity.” 
 
 4 Some copies, “ Darkness was outspread upon the face,” &c. 
 
36 TARGTJM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 the expanse, and between the waters which were above 
 the expanse: and it was so. And the Lord called the 
 expanse the Heavens. And it was evening, and it was 
 morning, the Second Day. 
 
 And the Lord said, The waters shall be collected 
 under the heavens into one region, and the dry land 
 shall appear. And it was so. And the Lord called the 
 dry land Earth, and the place of the collection of waters 
 He called Sea. And the Lord saw that it was good. 
 And the Lord said, The earth shall bring forth grass; 
 the plant whose germ-seed 5 is to be sown ; the fruit-tree 
 making fruit according to its kind, whose germ-seed* is 
 in it upon the earth ;—and it was so. And the earth 
 put forth grass ; the herb, whose germ-seed is sown after 
 its kind; and the tree making fruit, whose seed is in it 
 after its kind. And the Lord saw that it was good. 
 And it was evening, and it was morning, Day the Third. 
 
 And the Lord said. There shall be Lights in the 
 expanse of heaven, to distinguish between the day and 
 the night; and they shall be for signs and for times, 
 for the numbering of days and years. And they shall 
 be for luminaries in the expanse of heaven to shine 
 upon the earth ;—and it was so. And the Lord made 
 the two great luminaries: the greater luminary to rule 
 in the day; 0 and the smaller luminary to rule in the 
 night, and the stars. And the Lord set them in the 
 expanse of heaven to shine upon the earth, and to rule 
 in the day and in the night, and to distinguish 
 between light and darkness. And the Lord saw that 
 it was good. And there was evening, and there was 
 morning, Day the Fourth. 
 
 And the Lord said, Let the waters generate 7 the 
 
 5 Lit., “ Son-seed.” 
 
 * Samaritan Version, “ the plenitude of the greater light.” 
 
 7 “ Swarm with, produce abundantly.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 37 
 
 I*] 
 
 moving creature (having) life ; and the fowl which 
 flieth over the earth on the face of the expanse of 
 heaven. And the Lord created the great taninia and 
 every living animal which moveth, which the waters 
 generated according to their kind, and every fowl which 
 flieth according to his kind; and the Lord saw that it 
 was good. And the Lord blessed them, saying, Spread 
 abroad and become many, and fill the waters of the 
 seas; and let the fowl become many on the earth. And 
 it was evening, and it was morning, Day the Lifth. 
 
 And the Lord said, Let the earth produce the living 
 animal after its kind, cattle, and reptile, and beast of 
 the earth, according to its kind ;—and it was so. And 
 the Lord made the beast of the earth after its kind, and 
 cattle after their kind, and every reptile of the earth 
 after its kind; and the Lord saw that it was good. 
 And the Lord said, Let ns make Man in Our image, as 
 Our likeness; and they shall have dominion over the 
 fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and 
 over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every 
 reptile which moveth upon the earth. And the Lord 
 created 8 the Adam in His image, in the image of the 
 Lord 9 He created him; male and female He created 
 them. And the Lord blessed them, and said to them. 
 Spread abroad, and become many, and fill the earth, and 
 be strong upon it; and have dominion over the fish of 
 the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over 
 every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And 
 the Lord said, Behold, I have given to you every plant 
 which seedetli germ-seed which is upon all the earth; 
 and every tree in which is the fruit of the tree which 
 seedeth germ-seed; unto you it shall be for food, and 
 unto every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., " fashioned.” 
 
 9 Some copies, “ in the image of Elohim.” 
 
38 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 the heavens, and to every reptile upon the earth in 
 which is the breath of life, every green herb to eat; and 
 it was so. And the Lord saw all that He had made, 
 and, behold, it was very steadfast. And it was evening, 
 and it was morning, Day the Sixth. 
 
 II. And the heavens and the earth and all their host 
 were completed. And the Lord finished in the Seventh 
 Day His work which He had wrought, and rested in the 
 Seventh Day from all His work which He had wrought. 
 And the Lord blessed the Seventh Day and made it 
 holy, because in it He rested from all His work which 
 the Lord had created to make. These are the 
 memorials 1 of the heavens and the earth, when they 
 were created in the day when the Lord God made the 
 earth and the heavens. And all trees of the field were 
 not yet in the earth, and every herb of the field had not 
 yet sprung up, because the Lord God had not caused 
 rain to come upon the earth, and there was no man to 
 cultivate the ground. And a mist 2 ascended from the 
 earth, and moistened all the face of the ground. And 
 the Lord God created Adam from dust of the ground, 
 and breathed upon his face the breath of lives, and it 
 became in Adam a Discoursing Spirit. And the Lord 
 God planted a garden in a region of pleasantness 8 in the 
 time of the beginning, and He made to dwell there the 
 man whom He had created. And the Lord God caused 
 to grow from the earth every tree desirable to look upon, 
 and good for food, and the Tree of Life (Lives) in the 
 midst of the garden, and the Tree of whose fruit they 
 who eat know between good and evil. And a river 
 went forth from Eden to water the garden, 4 and from 
 thence it was divided and became four heads of rivers 6 
 
 1 Toledath , “ recitals, history.” a Or, ** cloud.” 
 
 s Or, “ in Eden.” Distinguish between the region and the garden. 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., " Paradise.” 5 Sam. Vers., “ islands.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 39 
 
 U.] 
 
 (or four chief rivers). The name of the first is Pishon , 6 
 that which encompasseth all the land of Havilah, where 
 is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is 
 bedalcha and burilla-stones. And the name of the 
 second river is Gichon , 7 which encompasseth all the 
 land of Kush . 8 And the name of the third river is 
 Digelath , 9 which goeth to the east of Athur . 1 And the 
 fourth river is Pherat. And the Lord God took Adam 
 and placed him in the garden of Eden to culture it and 
 keep it. And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying. 
 Of every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat; but 
 of the tree of whose fruit they who eat know between 
 good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in the day that 
 thou eatest of it dying thou shalt die . 2 And the Lord 
 God said, It is not right that Adam should be solitary; 
 I will make for him a helper as for his sake (or, as 
 suited to him : Hebrew, kenegdo , as his counterpart). 
 And the Lord God created from the earth every beast 
 of the field and every fowl of the heavens, and brought 
 them to Adam to see what he would call him; and 
 every (name by) which Adam called the living animal, 
 that w r as its name. And Adam called the name of all 
 cattle, and of the fowl of the heaven, and of every 
 beast of the field; but to Adam was not found a 
 helper as for him. And the Lord God threw a sleep 
 upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his 
 ribs, and filled with flesh in place thereof; and the Lord 
 God builded the rib which He took from Adam into 
 Woman, and He brought her unto Adam. And Adam 
 said, This now (this time) is bone of my bone, and flesh 
 of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because from 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ Phison-kadoph.” 7 Sam. Vers., “Askoph.” 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., “ Chophin.” 9 Sam. Vers., “ Kephlosah.” 
 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ Kingdom of Hatsphu.” 
 
 2 Sam. Vers., “ Consuming thou shalt be consumed.” 
 
40 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 her husband this was taken. Therefore shall a man 
 forsake the couch (beth mishkeb f the sleeping-house) of 
 his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, 
 and they shall be of one flesh. And they were both 
 naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed. 
 
 III. And the serpent (cfrivja) was more crafty than 
 all the animals of the field which the Lord God had 
 made. And he said to the woman, Is it in truth (that) 
 the Lord said, You shall not eat of every tree of the 
 garden ? And the woman said to the serpent, Of the 
 fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the 
 fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,* 
 the Lord hath said. You shall not eat of it, nor 
 approach to it, lest you die . 4 And the serpent said to 
 the woman, Not to die will you die: for it is manifest 
 before the Lord, that in the day in which you eat of it 
 your eyes will be opened, and you will be ( ki-rabrebin ) 
 as the Great-ones, knowing good and evil. And the 
 woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and that it 
 was salutary to the eyes, and a tree desirable to con¬ 
 template ; and she took of its fruitage ( aiba ) and ate; 
 and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 
 And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they 
 knew that they were naked; and they sewed for them¬ 
 selves the leaves of the fig-tree, and made for them¬ 
 selves cinctures. And they heard the voice of the 
 Word of the Lord God walking in the garden in the 
 evening of the day ; 6 and Adam and his wife hid them¬ 
 selves from before the Lord God among the trees of 
 the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and 
 said to him, Where art thou ? And he said. The 
 voice of Thy Word heard I in the garden, and I was 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., ** Paradise.” 4 Sam. Vers., “ be consumed.” 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “calling them in Paradise in the breathing of the 
 day.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 41 
 
 111 .] 
 
 afraid, because I (was) naked, and I would hide. And 
 He said, Who showed thee that thou wast naked ? 
 Of the tree of which I commanded that eating of it 
 thou shouldst not eat, hast thou eaten ? And Adam 
 said. The woman whom Thou gavest (to be) with me, 
 she gave to me of the tree, and I did eat. And the 
 Lord God said to the woman. What is this that thou 
 hast done ? And the woman said, The serpent led me 
 astray, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the 
 serpent, Because thou hast done this, more accursed 
 art thou than all cattle, and than all the beasts of the 
 field ; upon thy belly slialt thou go, and the dust shalt 
 thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put 
 enmity between thee and between the woman, and 
 between thy son and her son. He will remember thee, 
 what thou didst to him (at) from the beginning, and 
 thou shalt be observant unto him at the end. 
 
 And to the woman He said. Multiplying, I will 
 multiply thy sorrows and thy pains. In sorrow shalt 
 thou bring forth children; and unto thy husband shall 
 be thy desire, and he shall rule over thee. And unto 
 Adam He said. Because thou hast obeyed the word of 
 thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree (about) which I 
 commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, 
 accursed is the ground on thy account. With labour 
 shalt thou eat from it all the days of thy life. Thorns 
 and thistles it shall put forth for thee, and thou shalt 
 eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face 
 shalt thou eat bread, until that thou return to the 
 earth, because from it thou wast created; for dust thou 
 art, and to dust thou wilt return. And Adam called 
 the name of his wife Hava, because she was the mother 
 of all the children of men. And the Lord God made 
 for Adam and for his wife vestments of honour upon 
 the skin of their flesh, and clothed them. And the 
 
42 
 
 TARGTJM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 Lord God said, Behold, man is become singular (or 
 alone/ yechid ) in the world by himself, knowing good 
 and evil; and now, lest he stretch forth his hand and 
 take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live for ever; 
 
 .and the Lord God sent him forth from the garden 
 
 of Eden to till the ground from whence he had been 
 created. And He drove out the man, and before the 
 garden of Eden he caused to dwell the kerubaya , and 
 the sharp sword which revolved to keep the way of the 
 Tree of Life. 
 
 IY. And Adam knew Hava his wife, and she con¬ 
 ceived, and gave birth to Kain; and she said, I have 
 acquired the man from before the Lord. And she 
 added to give birth to his brother, Habel. And Habel 
 was a shepherd of the flock, and Kain a man working 
 on the ground. And it was at the end (or comple¬ 
 ment) of days, that Kain brought of the product of the 
 earth an oblation before the Lord; and Habel he 
 brought also of the first-born of his sheep and of their 
 fatlings. And there was acceptableness before the 
 Lord in Habel and in his oblation; but in Kain and 
 his oblation there was not acceptableness. And it was 
 greatly displeasing to Kain, and his countenance was 
 downcast. And the Lord said to Kain, Why art thou 
 displeased, and why is thy countenance downcast ? If 
 thou doest thy work well, is it not remitted to thee ? 
 and if thou doest not thy work well, thy sin unto the 
 day of judgment is reserved, when it will be exacted of 
 thee, if thou convert not: but if thou convert, it is 
 remitted to thee. And Kain spake with Habel his 
 brother; and it was in their being in the field that 
 Kain arose against Habel his brother, and killed him. 
 And the Lord said to Kain, Where is Habel thy 
 brother ? And he said, I know not; am I the keeper 
 c Sam. Vers., “ as a branch.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 43 
 
 IV.] 
 
 of my brother ? And He said, What hast thou done ? 
 The voice of the blood of generations which were to 
 come from thy brother complaineth before Me from the 
 earth ! And now, accursed art thou from the earth, 
 which hath opened her mouth and received the blood 
 of thy brother from thy hand. When thou tillest the 
 earth, it shall not add to give its virtue to thee; a casta¬ 
 way and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth. And 
 Kain said before the Lord, Greater is my guilt than 
 may be forgiven. Behold, Thou hast rejected me this 
 day from the face of the earth, and from Thy presence 
 it is not possible to hide; and I shall be a castaway 
 and a wanderer in the earth, and any one who findeth 
 me will slay me. And the Lord said to him. There¬ 
 fore any one who killeth Kain,—unto seven generations 
 it shall be exacted of him. And the Lord set unto 
 Kain a sign, lest any one who found him should kill 
 him. And Kain went out from before the Lord, and 
 dwelt in the land of the wanderer and outcast , 7 which 
 was made for him in the beginnings in the garden of 
 Eden. And Kain knew his wife, and she conceived 
 and bare Hanoch, and he became the builder of a city, 
 and called the name of the city after the name of his 
 son Hanoch. And there was born to Hanoch Irad, 
 and Irad begat Mahujael ; 8 and Mahujael begat Methu- 
 sael, and Methusael begat Lemek. And Lemek took 
 unto him two wives, the name of the one Ada, and the 
 name of the second Zillah. And Ada bare Javal; he 
 was the master (rab) of all dwellers in tents and lords 
 of cattle. And the name of his brother was Juval. He 
 was the master 9 of all who play upon the mouth of the 
 pipe, who know the song of the harp and of the organ. 
 And Zillah also, she bare Tuval-kain, the master of 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “the Land of Keli.” 8 Sam. Vers., “Mihal.” 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ prince,” or “ chief.” 
 
44 
 
 TAKGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 all them who understand the working of brass and 
 iron . 1 And the sister of Tuval-kain was Naamah.* 
 And Lemek said to his wives Ada and Zillah, Hear my 
 voice, wives of Lemek, attend to my words: I have not 
 slain a man, that on his account I should bear the con¬ 
 demnation of death; or destroyed a young man, that on 
 his account my posterity should be consumed. If 
 seven generations are suspended unto Kain, will there 
 not be to Lemek his son seventy and seven ? And 
 Adam knew yet his wife, and she bare a son, and called 
 his name Sheth; Because, said she, the Lord hath given 
 me another son instead of Habel, whom Kain slew. 
 And to Sheth also was born a son, and he called his 
 name Enosh. Then in his days the sous of men de¬ 
 sisted (or forbore) from praying in the name of the Lord. 
 
 V. This is the book of the generations of Adam. 
 In the day that the Lord God created man, in the 
 resemblance of Elohim 3 He made him ; male and female 
 He created them; and He blessed them, and called their 
 name Man, in the day that they were created. And 
 Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat in 
 his resemblance (one) who was like to himself, and he 
 called his name Sheth. And the days of Adam after 
 he had begotten Sheth 4 were eight hundred years, and 
 he begat sons and daughters. And all the days of 
 Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty 
 years, and he died. 
 
 And Sheth lived a hundred and five years, and begat 
 Enosh. And Sheth lived after he had begotton Enosh 
 eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and 
 daughters. And all the days of Sheth were nine 
 hundred and twelve years, and he died. 
 
 1 Sam. Vers., “who melt and conjoin.” 3 Sam. Vers., “Zalkipha.” 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “of Angels.” 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “ after he had begotten his substitute ” ( chalipha ). 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 45 
 
 v.] 
 
 And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat Keinan. 
 And Enosh lived after he had begotten Keinan eight 
 hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 
 And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five 
 years, and he died. 
 
 And Keinan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalalel. 
 And Keinan lived after he had begotten Mahalalel 
 eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and 
 daughters. And all the days of Keinan were nine 
 hundred and ten years, and he died. 
 
 And Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begat 
 Jered. And Mahalalel lived after he had begotten 
 Jered eight hundred, and thirty years, and begat sons 
 and daughters. And all the days of Mahalalel were 
 eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he died. 
 
 And Jered lived an hundred and sixty and two years, 
 and begat Hanok. And Jered lived after he had 
 begotten Hanok eight hundred years, and begat sons 
 and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine 
 hundred and sixty and two years, and he died. 
 
 And Hanok lived sixty and five years, and begat 
 Methushelaeh. And Hanok walked in the fear of the 
 Lord , 5 after he had begotten Methushelaeh, three hun¬ 
 dred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all 
 the days of Hanok were three hundred and sixty and 
 five years. And Hanok walked in the fear of the 
 Lord; and he was not; for the Lord had not made 
 him to die* 
 
 And Methushelaeh lived an hundred and eighty and 
 seven years, and begat Lemek. And Methushelaeh 
 lived after he had begotten Lemek seven hundred and 
 eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters. 
 
 * Peshito Syriac: “ and Henok pleased God, after,” &c. 
 
 * Peshito, cf Aloha took him.” Samaritan Version, “the Angel 
 
 took him.” 
 
46 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 And all the days of Methushelach were nine hundred 
 and sixty and nine years, and he died. 
 
 And Lemek lived a hundred and eighty and two 
 years, and begat a son. And he called his name 
 Noach, saying, This shall console us from the works 
 and from the labour of our hands from the earth which 
 the Lord hath cursed. And Lemek lived, after he had 
 begotten Noach, five hundred and ninety and five years, 
 and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of 
 Lemek were seven hundred and seventy and seven 
 years, and he died. 
 
 VI. And Noach was a son of five hundred years, 
 and Noach begat Shem, Cham, and Japheth. And 
 it was when the sons of men had begun to multiply 
 upon the earth, and daughters were born to them, that 
 the sons of the mighty 7 saw the daughters of men that 
 they were beautiful, and took to them wives of all 
 whom they pleased . 8 And the Lord said, This evil 
 generation shall not stand before me for ever, because 
 they are flesh, and their works are evil. A term (or 
 length) will I give them, an hundred and twenty years, 
 if they may be converted. Giants were in the earth in 
 those days; and also when, after that the sons of the 
 mighty had gone in unto the daughters of men, there 
 were born from them giants who from of old were men 
 of name. 
 
 And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man had 
 multiplied in the earth, and that every formation (or 
 image) of the thought of his heart was only evil every 
 day. And it repented the Lord in His Word that 
 He had made men upon the earth. And He said, (in 
 His Word ,) 9 that He would break their strength accord¬ 
 ing to His pleasure. And the Lord said, Man whom 
 
 7 Bnei rabrebaia. The Sam. Vers, reads, ** sons of the rulers.” 
 
 8 Other copies, “ that they chose.” 9 ^6ome copies omit this. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 47 
 
 VI.] 
 
 I have made will I blot out 1 from the face of the 
 earth;—from man to the beast, to the reptile, and to 
 the fowls of heaven; because it repenteth Me in My 
 Word that I have made them. But Noach found 
 mercy before the Lord. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 ELEH TOLEDOTH NOACH. 
 
 These are the memorials of Noach. Noach was a 
 man righteous and perfect in his generation; in the 
 fear of the Lord walked Noach. And Noach begat 
 three sons, Shem, Cham, and Yapeth. And the earth 
 was corrupted before the Lord; and the earth was filled 
 with violences . 2 And the Lord saw the earth, and, 
 behold, it was corrupt, because all flesh had corrupted, 
 each one, his way upon the earth. 
 
 And the Lord said to Noach, The end of all flesh 
 cometh before Me, because the earth is filled with 
 violences from the face of their wicked works; and, 
 behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make 
 thee an ark with the wood of cedar; dwellings shalt 
 thou make in the ark, and overlay it within and without 
 with pitch. And thus shalt thou make it: three hun¬ 
 dred cubits shall be the length of the ark, fifty cubits 
 its breadth, and thirty cubits its height. A light shalt 
 thou make to the ark, and at a cubit shalt thou com- 
 
 1 Some copies read, “ And He said, I have created (them) good, that 
 they might be perfect on the earth ; but they have not been perfect in 
 (their) outspreading; and the Lord said, I will blot out,* 5 &c. 
 
 2 Or, “rapines.” Sam. Vers., “oppressions.” 
 
48 TARGITM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 plete it above, and the door of the ark thou shalt place 
 in its side. Lower dwellings, second and third, shalt 
 thou make in it. And I, behold, I do bring the deluge 
 of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is 
 the breath of life from under the heavens. Every 
 thing that is on the earth shall die. And I will estab¬ 
 lish My covenant with thee; and thou shalt enter into 
 the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives 
 of thy sons with thee. And of all that liveth of all 
 flesh two and two of all that enter into the ark to abide 
 with thee, male and female shall they be. Of fowl 
 according to its kind, and of cattle according to her 
 kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after his 
 kind, two of all shall enter with thee to abide. And 
 thou, take with thee of all food which is eaten, and 1 
 gather to be with thee; and it shall be for thee and for 
 them to eat. And Noach did according to all which 
 the Lord had commanded him, so did he. 
 
 VII. And the Lord said to Noach, Enter thou and all 
 the men of thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen 
 righteous before Me in this generation. Of all clean 
 animals take thou seven and seven, male and female; 
 and of animals not clean, two and two, male and 
 female. Also of the fowls of heaven, seven and seven, 
 male and female, to continue the seed upon the face of 
 all the earth. Because yet a time of seven days and I 
 will cause rain to descend upon the earth forty days and 
 forty nights, and I will blot out every subsistence 8 which 
 I have made upon all the face of the earth. And Noach 
 did according to all that the Lord had instructed him. 
 And Noach was a son of six hundred years ; and the 
 deluge 4 of waters was upon the earth. And Noach 
 entered, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his 
 sons with him, into the ark from before the water of the 
 
 3 Yekuma. * Tuphana. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 49 
 
 VII.] 
 
 deluge. Of animals clean, and of animals not clean, 
 and of birds, and of all which creepeth upon the earth, 
 two and two, they entered with Noach into the ark, male 
 and female, as the Lord had instructed Noach. And it 
 was at the time of seven days, and the waters of the 
 |deluge were upon the earth. In the six-hundredth year 
 jof the life of Noach, in the second month, in the seven¬ 
 teenth day of the month, in that day were all the 
 springs of the great abyss upbroken, and the windows 
 of heaven opened, and the rain came down upon the 
 earth forty days and forty nights. In that very day 
 entered Noach, and Shem, Cham, and Yapheth, sons of 
 Noach, and the wife of Noach, and the three wives of his 
 sons with them, into the ark; they, and every animal 
 after his kind, and all cattle after its kind, and every 
 reptile which creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and 
 every fowl after its kind, every bird, every one that 
 flieth: and they entered with Noach into the ark, two and 
 two of all flesh in which is the breath of life; and they, 
 entering, male and female of all flesh, entered, as the 
 Lord had commanded him, and the Lord protected 
 them by His Word . 5 And there was a deluge forty 
 days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and took 
 up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. And 
 the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the 
 earth, and the ark went upon the faces of the waters. 
 And the waters prevailed most mightily over the earth, 
 and all the high hills were covered which were under 
 all the heavens. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters 
 prevail, and the mountains were covered; and all flesh 
 died which moved upon the earth, of fowl, and of cattle, 
 and of the wild beast, and of every reptile which 
 creepeth upon the earth, and every man. Everything in 
 
 5 Or, “ The Lord overshadowed them by His Word.” The Sama¬ 
 ritan has, “ And the Lord sealed them over.” 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of life, of all 
 which was upon the dry ground, died. And every sub¬ 
 sistence was blotted out that was upon the faces of the 
 earth, from man to the beast, to the reptile, and to the 
 fowl of heaven, it was blotted out from the earth, and 
 Noach was left alone, and they who were with him in 
 the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an 
 hundred and fifty days. 
 
 VIII. And the Lord remembered Noach, and every 
 living thing, and all the cattle which were with him in 
 the ark; and the Lord caused a wind to pass over the 
 earth, and the waters rested, and the springs of the 
 abyss were shut, and the windows of the heavens, and 
 the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters 
 turned from on the earth, going and returning; and the 
 waters diminished from the end of a hundred and fifty 
 days. And the ark rested on the seventh month, on the 
 seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of 
 Kardu . 6 And the waters went and diminished until the 
 tenth month: in the tenth, on the first of the month, the 
 heads of the mountains appeared. And it was at the 
 end of forty days, and Noach opened the windows of the 
 ark which he had made. And he sent forth a raven, 
 and going he went out, and returned until the waters 
 were dried upon the earth. And he sent forth a dove 
 from (being) with him, to see whether the waters 
 were lightened (or consumed) from the surface of the 
 earth. But the dove found no rest for the dividing of 
 her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, 
 because the waters were upon all the earth; and he 
 stretched forth his hand, and took her, and brought her 
 to be with him in the ark. And he prolonged 7 yet 
 
 Y 6 Sam. Vers., Al teborah Samedib," Upon the mountains Sarnedib.’* ■ 
 The Peschito Syriac, “ Upon the mountains of Kardu ” (Armenia). 
 
 7 Veorik: the Samaritan text has, Vajichel , “And he expected; ’* j 
 the Samaritan Version, Veamen, "And he bettered, or confided yet,” &c. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 51 
 
 VIII.] 
 
 seven days, and afterward added to send forth the dove 
 from the ark. And the dove came to him at the time 
 of evening, and, behold, a leaf of olive broken off w r as 
 in her mouth; and Noach knew that the waters were 
 lightened from upon the earth. And he prolonged yet 
 other seven days, and sent forth the dove, and she added 
 not to return to be with him again. And it was in the 
 six-hundredth and first year, in the beginning of the 
 first month, the waters were dried from off the earth; 
 and Noach removed the covering of the ark, and looked, 
 and, behold, the faces of the ground were dry. And in 
 the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, 
 the earth was fully dry. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Noach, saying: Go forth 
 from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and the 
 wives of thy sons with thee* Every living thing which 
 is with thee of all flesh, of fowl, and of cattle, and every 
 creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, bring forth 
 with thee, and they shall generate in the earth, and 
 spread abroad and multiply upon the earth. And Noach 
 went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of 
 his sons with him; every animal, every reptile and 
 bird, everything which moveth upon the earth after their 
 kind, went forth from the ark. 
 
 And Noach builded au altar before the Lord, and took 
 of every clean beast and of every clean bird, and uplifted 
 an offering upon the altar. And the Lord received with 
 approval his oblation; and the Lord said in His Word , 8 
 I will not add to curse again the earth on account of the 
 guilt of man, because the creations of the heart of man 9 
 are evil from his infancy ; 1 and I will not add again to 
 smite every living thing as I have done. Yet all the days of 
 
 • " UDto (rozch) his mystery.”—Sam. Vers. 
 
 9 “ The secret of the heart of man.”— Ibid. 
 
 1 “ His smallness,” xeireia. 
 
 D 2 
 
 
52 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and 
 summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. 
 
 IX. And the Lord blessed Noach and his sons, and 
 said to them. Spread abroad, and multiply, and fill the 
 earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall 
 be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl 
 of the heavens, in all which creepeth upon the earth, and 
 in all fish of the sea; into your hands shall they be 
 delivered. Every moving thing that liveth, for you it 
 shall be to eat; as the green herb I have given you the 
 whole. But the flesh with its life-blood you shall not 
 eat. And also your blood of your lives will I require, 
 from every beast will I require it, and from the hand of 
 man. From the hand of the man who sheddeth the 
 blood of his brother will I require the life of man. 
 Whoso sheddeth the blood of man, by witnesses, upon 
 the sentence of the judges, his blood shall be shed; 
 because in the image of the Lord 2 made He man. And 
 you, spread abroad and multiply; bring forth in the 
 earth and multiply therein. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Noach, and to his sons with 
 him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with 
 you and with your children after you, and with every liv¬ 
 ing thing which is with you, of fowl, of cattle, and of every 
 beast of the field that is with you, of all going forth from 
 the ark of every animal of the earth. And I will establish 
 My covenant with you, and all flesh shall not again be 
 consumed by the waters of a deluge, nor shall there be 
 again a deluge to destroy the earth. And the Lord 
 said, This is the sign of the covenant which I appoint 
 (give) between My Word, and between you, and between 
 every living soul that is with you unto perpetual gene¬ 
 rations. I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall 
 be for a sign of the covenant between My Word and 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “ of angels.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 53 
 
 IX.] 
 
 between the earth. And it shall be that when clouding 
 I becloud the earth, the bow shall be seen in the cloud, 
 and I will remember the covenant which is between My 
 Word, and between you, and between every living soul 
 of all flesh; and there shall not be again the waters of a 
 deluge to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in 
 the cloud, and I will look upon it, to remember the 
 everlasting covenant between the Word of the Lord and 
 between every living soul of all flesh that is upon the 
 earth. And the Lord said, This is the sign of the 
 covenant which I have established between My Word 
 and between all flesh which is upon the earth. 
 
 And the sons of Noach who went forth from the ark 
 were Shem and Cham and Yapheth : and Cham is the 
 father of Kenaan. These three are the sons of Noach, 
 and from them was the whole earth overspread. And 
 Noach began to be a man working on the earth; 3 and 
 he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine, 4 and 
 was drunk; and he was uncovered in the midst of his 
 tent. And Cham the father of Kenaan saw the naked¬ 
 ness of his father, and he showed to his two brethren 
 without. And Shem and Yapheth took a mantle, and 
 laid it upon the shoulders of both, and went backward, 
 and covered the nakedness of their father; and their 
 faces were averted, and the nakedness of their father 
 they saw not. And Noach awoke from his wine, and 
 knew that which his youngest son had done unto him ; 
 and he said :— 
 
 Accursed be Kenaan, 
 
 A working servant shall he be to his brethren. 
 
 And he said :— 
 
 Blessed be the Lord4he God of Shem, 
 
 And Kenaan shall be servant unto them. 
 
 3 Sam., “ A man of husbandry.” 
 
 4 Chamra, “ red wine ; ” Heb., Hayayin ; Sam., Amrah. 
 
54 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. ! 
 
 The Lord shall enlarge Yapheth, 6 
 
 And he shall make his Shekinah to dwell in the j 
 tabernacles of Shem : 
 
 And Kenaan shall be servant unto them. 
 
 And Noach lived after the deluge three hundred and 
 fifty years. And all the days of Noach were nine hun- | 
 drcd and fifty years; and he died. 
 
 X. And these are the generations of the sons of i 
 Noach, Shem, Cham, and Yapheth ; and sons were born 
 to them after the deluge. The sons of Yepheth, Gomer, 
 and Magog, and Madai, and Yavan, and Thuval, and Me¬ 
 sh ek, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, and 
 Rephath, andThogarmah. And the sous of Yavan, Elishah 
 and Tharshish, Kittim and Dodanim. From these were 1 
 the isles ( nagvath ) of the peoples divided in their lands, 
 each according to his language, according to their fami- , 
 lies in their nations. And the sons of Cham, Kush, and 
 Mizraim, and Phut, and Kenaan. And the sons of 
 Kush, Seba, and Chavilah, and Sabetha, and Raamah, ■ 
 and Sabtekah. And the sons of Raamah, Sheba and 
 Dedan. And Kush begat Nimrod: he began to be a 
 powerful man in the earth. He was a powerful man 
 before the Lord: therefore it is said. Like Nimrod 
 the man of might before the Lord. And the head 
 (beginning) of his kingdom was Bavel, and Erek, and 
 Akad, and Kalneh in the land of Bavel.® From that land 
 he went forth to Athura, 7 and built Nineveh, and the city 
 of Rechov, 8 and Ivalach, 9 and Resell, 1 between Nineveh 
 and Kalach, which was a great city. xVnd Mizraim 
 begat the Ludaee, and Anamaee, and Lehabaee,* and 
 Naphtuhaee, and Pathrusaee, and Kasluchaee, from 
 whom came forth the Pelishtaee and Kaputkaee. 
 
 5 Yaphti leia V Yepheth. Yapheth signifies “ enlargement.” 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ Zopha.” 7 “ Astun.” 8 “ Satkan.” 
 
 9 “Lakisa.” 1 “Aspa.” 2 “Enamim.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 55 
 
 XI.] 
 
 And Kenaan begat Zidon bis firstborn, and Cheth, and 
 the Jebusaee, and Amoraee, and Girgashee, and Hivaaee, 
 and Arkaee, and Antasaee, and Arvadaee, and Zemaraee, 
 and Chamathaee: and afterwards the seed of the 
 Kenaanaee were scattered abroad. And the frontier of 
 Kenaanaah was from Zidon, coming to Gerar and to 
 Azza, coming unto Sedom, and Amorah, and Admah, 
 and Zeboim, unto Lasha. These are the sons of Cham, 
 according to their progenies, to their languages, in their 
 lands, in their peoples. 
 
 And of Shem was born : (also he is the father of all 
 the sons of Eber, and the brother of Yapheth the 
 Great:) the sons of Shem, Elim, and Asshur, and 
 Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram, 
 Uz, and Chul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad 
 begat Shelach; and Shelach begat Eber. And to Eber 
 were born two sons : the name of the one was Peleg: 
 because in his day the earth was divided. And the 
 name of his brother was Yoktan. And Yoktan begat 
 Almodad, and Shaleph, and Chatsarmaveth, and Yarech, 
 and Chadoram, and Uzal, and Dikelah, and Obal, and 
 Avimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, and Chavilah, and 
 Yobab : all these are the sons of Yoktan. And their 
 dwelling was from Mesha, 3 coming to Sephar, an 
 eastern mountain. These are the sons of Shem,* 
 according to their progenies, according to their lan¬ 
 guages, in their lands, in their peoples. These are the 
 progenies of the sons of Noach, by their generations, in 
 their peoples: and by them were the peoples outspread 
 in the earth after the deluge. 
 
 XI. And all the earth was of one language and 
 one speech. And it was in their migrations 5 at the 
 
 3 “Misbal.”—Sam. 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “ This is the portion of the sons.” 
 
 5 Heb., “ their removal from the east.” Syriac, " It was while 
 
 they ascended from the east.” 
 
56 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 beginning, that they found a plain in the land of 
 Babel, and dwelt there.—And they said, a man to his 
 companion, Come, let us cast bricks and bake them 
 in the fire. And they had brick for stone, and bitu¬ 
 men for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build a 
 city, and a tower, the head of it coming to the pinnacle 
 of the heavens. And we will make to us a name, lest 
 we be dispersed upon the face of all the earth. And 
 the Lord was revealed to punish the work of the city 
 and the tower which the sons of men had builded. 
 And the Lord said. Behold, the people is one and the 
 language one with all of them: and this is what they 
 begin to do. And now nothing will be restrained from 
 them of what they imagine to do. Come, We will be 
 manifest, and will confuse their language there, that a 
 man shall not hear the language of his companion. 
 And the Lord dispersed them from thence upon the 
 face of all the earth, and they were restrained from 
 building the city. Therefore the name of it is called 
 Confusion, 6 because the Lord there confused the tongue 
 of all the earth, and from thence the Lord dispersed 
 them upon the face of all the earth. 
 
 These are the generations of Sliem. Shem was a son 
 of a hundred years, and he begat Arphaxad, two years 
 after the deluge. And Shem lived after he had be¬ 
 gotten Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons 
 and daughters. And Arphaxad lived thirty and five 
 years, and begat Shelach. And Arphaxad lived after 
 he had begotten Shelach four hundred and thirty years, 
 and begat sons and daughters. 
 
 And Shelach lived thirty years, and begat Eber. 
 And Shelach lived after he had begotten Eber four 
 hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 
 
 And Eber lived thirty and four years, and begat 
 6 “ Babel.” Sam. Vera., “ Lilaq.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 57 
 
 XI.] 
 
 Peleg. And Eber lived after he had begotten Peleg 
 four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and 
 daughters. 
 
 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu. And 
 Peleg lived after he had begotten Reu two hundred and 
 nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 
 
 And Reu lived thirty and two years, and begat Serug. 
 And Reu lived after he had begotten Serug two 
 hundred and seven years, and begat sons and 
 daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat 
 Nachor. And Serug lived after he had begotten 
 Nachor two hundred years, and begat sons- and 
 daughters. 
 
 And Nachor lived twenty and nine years, and begat 
 Terach. And Nachor lived after he had begotten Terach 
 a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and 
 daughters. 
 
 And Terach lived seventy years, and begat Abram, 
 Nachor, and Haran. And these are the generations of 
 Terach. Terach begat Abram, Nachor, and Haran; 
 and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before Terach 
 his father in the land of his nativity, in Ura of the 
 Kasdaee. And Abram and Nachor took to them 
 wives : the name of the wife of Abram, Sara; and the 
 name of the wife of Nachor, Milcha, daughter of 
 Haran the father of Milcha and the father of Yiska. 
 And Sara was barren, she had no child. And Terach 
 took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, the son 
 of his son, and Sara his daughter-in-law, wife of Abram 
 his son, and went forth with them from Ura of the 
 Kasdaee to go to the land of Kenaan. And they came 
 to Charan, and dwelt there. And the days of Terach 
 were two hundred and five years, and Terach died in 
 Charan. 
 
58 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 LECH LECHA. 
 
 XII. And the Lord said to Abram, Go thou away 
 from thy country, and from the house of thy father, to 
 the land which I will show thee. And I will make 
 thee to (be) a great people, and will bless thee, and 
 magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. And I 
 will bless him who blesseth thee, and him who curseth 
 thee I will curse; and through thee all the progenies 
 of the earth shall be blessed. And Abram went away, 
 according as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot 
 went with him. And Abram was a son of seventy and 
 five years in his forthgoing from Charan. And Abram 
 took Sara his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all 
 the possessions which they possessed, and the souls whom 
 they had made subject to the law in Charan, and went 
 forth to go into the land of Kenaan; and they came 
 unto the land of Kenaan. And Abram traversed 
 through the land unto the place of Shekim 7 unto the 
 plain of Moreh ; 8 and the Kena&nah was then in the land. 
 And the Lord revealed Himself unto Abram, and said, 
 To thy sons will I give this land. And he builded 
 there an altar before the Lord who had been revealed 
 to him. And he ascended from thence to the mountain 
 east of Beth El, and spread out his tabernacle, having 
 Beth El on the west and Ai on the east; and he builded 
 there an altar before the Lord, and prayed in the 
 name of the Lord. And Abram migrated, going and 
 migrating to the south. 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ unto the city of Shekam. 
 
 Sam. Vers., " the plain or valley of vision.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 59 
 
 XIII.] 
 
 And there was a famine in the land, and Abram 
 went down to Mizraim, to sojourn there, because the 
 famine was strong in the land. And it was that as he 
 drew nigh to enter Mizraim he said to Sara his wife. 
 Behold, now I know that thou art a woman beautiful 
 in sight; and it will be that when the Mizraee see thee 
 they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, 
 and thee will they reserve. „ Say now, thou art my sis¬ 
 ter, that it may be well with me through thee, and my 
 life may be preserved through thy words. And it was 
 that when Abram had entered into Mizraim, the Miz¬ 
 raee saw the woman that she was singularly fair; and 
 the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and extolled her to 
 Pharaoh ; and the woman was taken to the house of 
 Pharaoh. And Abram was well treated on account 
 of her. And he had sheep, and oxen, and asses, and 
 servants, and maidens, and camels. And the Lord 
 brought upon Pharaoh great plagues, and upon the 
 men of his house, for the affair of Sara the wife of 
 Abram. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What 
 is this that thou hast done to me ? Why didst thou not 
 show me that she is thy wife ? Why saidst thou, She is 
 my sister,—so that I would have taken her to me to 
 wife ? And now, behold thy wife: take, and go. And 
 Pharaoh instructed the men concerning him, and they 
 conducted him away, and his wife, and all that he had. 
 
 XIII. And Abram went up from Mizraim, he and 
 his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, unto 
 the south. And Abram was exceeding strong in cattle, 
 in silver, and in gold; and he proceeded according to 
 his encampments from the south, and unto Bethel, unto 
 the place where he had spread his tabernacle at the 
 first, between Bethel 9 and Ai; to the place of the altar 
 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ between Beth-chaila and Kaphrah . 1 
 
60 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 which he had there made at the first: and Abram 
 prayed there in the Name of the Lord. And Lot also, 
 who went with Abram, had sheep and oxen and tents. 
 And the land could not support them, that they might 
 dwell together. And there was contention between the 
 shepherds of the flock of Abram and the shepherds of 
 the flock of Lot; and the Kenaanah and the Pherizaah 
 then dwelt in the land. And Abram said to Lot, Let 
 there not now be contention between me and thee, and 
 between my shepherds and thy shepherds; for men, 
 brethren, are we. Is not all the land before thee? 
 Separate now from me: if thou to the north, I to the 
 south ; and if thou to the south, I to the north. And 
 Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of Yardena 
 that it was altogether a watered place,—before the 
 Lord had destroyed Sedom and Amorah,—as the gar¬ 
 den of the Lord, as the land of Mizraim coming unto 
 Zoar. And Lot chose to him all the plain of Yardena; 
 and Lot went forth before, and they were separated 
 each man from his brother. Abram dwelt in the land 
 of Kenaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and 
 extended unto Sedom. And the men of Sedom were 
 wicked in their riches, and guilty in their bodies before 
 the Lord greatly. And the Lord said to Abram, after 
 Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes 
 and see, from the place where thou art, thence to the 
 north and to the south, and to the east and to the 
 west; for all this land that thou seest, to thee will I 
 give it, and to thy children for ever. And I will place 
 thy children numerous as the dust of the earth; so that 
 as it is not possible for a man to number the dust of 
 the earth, so also thy sons shall not be numbered. 
 Arise, go through the land, in its length and in its 
 breadth; for unto thee will I give it. And Abram 
 spread (his tent), and came aud dwelt in the plain of 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 XIV.] 
 
 61 
 
 Mamre which is near Hebron, 1 and builded there an 
 altar before the Lord. 
 
 XIY. And it was in the days of Amraphel, king of 
 Babel, Ariok, king of Elasar, Kedar-laomer, king of Elam, 
 and Thidal, king of peoples, (that) they made war with 
 Bera, king of Sedom, and with Birsha, king of Amora, 
 Shenab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboim, and 
 the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were 
 assembled at the plain of the field, which is (now) the 
 place of the sea of salt. Twelve years they had served 
 Kedar-laomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 
 And in the fourteenth year came Kedar-laomer, and 
 the kings who were with him, and smote the giants who 
 were in Ashtaroth Karnaim, and the mighty who were 
 in Chemta, and the terrible ones who were in Shaveh 
 Kiryathaim, and the Horaee who were in the 
 mountain of Seir, unto the plain of Paran which lieth 
 upon the desert. And they turned, and came to the 
 plain of the division of judgment, which is Rekam, and 
 smote all the fields of the Amalkaah, and also the 
 Amoraah who dwelt in Ein-gadey. 2 And the king of 
 Sedom, and the king of Amoraah, and the king of 
 Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, 
 which is Zoar, went forth and set the battle in array 
 against them in the plain of the field, with Kedar- 
 laomer, king of Elam, and Thidal, 3 king of peoples, and 
 Amraphel, king of Babel, and Ariok, king of Elasar; 
 four kings against five. And the plain of the field had 
 many pits, from which they raised asphalta; and the 
 kings of Sedom and Amorah fled, and they fell there; 
 and they who remained fled to the mountain. And 
 
 1 Peschito Syr., “ And Abraham dwelt among the oak groves of 
 Mamre Amnroyo, which is by Hebron.” 
 
 a Sam. Vers., “ Haphinith.” 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “ Thidal, king-shultan of the Chamai.” 
 
62 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 they took all the possession of Sedom and Amorah, and 
 all their food, and went. And they captured Lot and his 
 substance, son of the brother of Abram, and went. 
 And he had dwelt in Sedom. And (one) came from 
 those escaped, and showed to Abram the Ivraah ; and he 
 had remained in the plain of Moreh Amoraah, the 
 brother of Eshkol and brother of Aner; and they were 
 Abram's men of covenant. And Abram heard that his 
 brother had been captured; and he armed the young 
 men born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and 
 pursued unto Dan. And he divided against them by 
 night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued 
 them unto Iloba , 4 which was northward of Damasek. 
 And he recovered all the substance, and Lot also, the 
 son of his brother; and his substance he recovered, the 
 women also, and the people. And the king of Sedom 
 came out to meet him after returning from the smiting 
 of Kedar-laomer and the kings who were with him, at 
 the plain of Mephana, which was the king's place of 
 racing. And Malki-zedek, king of Yerushelem , 6 brought 
 forth bread and wine ( chemar ), and he was minister 
 ( 5 meshamesh ) before El Illaah , 6 and he blessed him, 
 and said:— 
 
 “ Blessed be Abram before El IUaali, 
 
 Whose possession is heaven and earth; 
 
 And blessed be El Illaah , 7 
 
 Who hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand.” 
 
 And he gave him one in ten of the whole. And the 
 king of Sedom said to Abram, Give me the souls, and 
 the substance take thou. And Abram said to the king 
 of Sedom, I have uplifted my hands in prayer before 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “ Phoga.” • Sam. Vers., Maleic Shalem. 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ And he was Kohen of the Most Mighty.” 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., "the Most Mighty, who, a shield, hath delivered,” &c. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 63 
 
 XV.] 
 
 the Lord God most high, whose possession is heaven 
 and earth: if from a thread unto the sole of a sandal I 
 take of all that is thine, (and not that thou shouldst 
 say, I have enriched Abram,) except of the food for the 
 young men, and the share of the men who went with me, 
 Amer, Eshkol, and Mamre, these will receive their shares. 
 
 XY. After these things the word ( pithgama ) of the 
 Lord came to Abram in prophecy, 8 saying, Lear not, 
 Abram : My Word [Memra] shall be thy strength, and thy 
 exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, 
 what wilt Thou give me, and I go without a child : and 
 this son of business ( bar phargama ) who is in My house 
 is the Damasekah Elieser ? And Abram said, Behold, 
 Thou hast not given me a child, and, behold, the son of 
 my house is my heir. And, lo, the word {pithgama) of 
 the Lord was with him, saying, This shall not be thy 
 heir, but a son whom thou shalt beget will be thine 
 heir. And He led him without, and said, Behold now 
 the heavens, and number the stars, if thou art able to 
 number them; and He said to him, So will be thy sons. 9 
 And he believed in the Word of the Lord, ( Memra da 
 Yeya,) and He reckoned it to him unto justification. 
 And He said to him, I am the Lord, who brought thee 
 forth from Ura of the Kasdaee, to give thee this land to 
 “inherit it. And he said, Lord God, by what may I 
 know that I shall inherit it ? And He said to him. 
 Bring Me three calves, and three goats, and three rams, 
 and a turtle dove, and the young of a pigeon. And he 
 brought before Him all these. And he divided them 
 equally, and set the divisions a division against his 
 fellow; but the birds he did not divide. And the fowl 
 descended upon the divisions, and Abram drave them 
 
 8 The Sam. has also benabia, “ in prophecy.” 
 
 * Sam. Vers., chalipik, “thy successors.” 
 
64 
 
 TARGUM OP ONKELOS 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 away. And it was sunset, and sleep fell upon Abram : 
 and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And 
 He said unto Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that 
 thy sons will be sojourners (or aliens) in a land not 
 theirs, and they will serve among them; and they will 
 afflict them four hundred years. And the people whom 
 they will serve I will judge, and afterwards they shall 
 go forth with much substance. And thou shalt be 
 gathered to thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried 1 in 
 good old age. And in the fourth age (or generation) j 
 they will return hither; because not (yet) complete is 
 the guilt of the Amoraah. And it was at the going 
 away of the sun, and there was darkness. And behold 
 a furnace that burned, and a flame of fire which passed 
 between those divisions. In that day the Lord com- j 
 pacted with Abram a covenant, saying. To thy sons will 
 I give this land; from the river of Mizraim unto the 
 great river, the river of Pherat, 8 the Shalmaee, and the 
 Kenizaee, and the Kadmonaee, and the Hittaee, and the 
 Pherizaee, and the Gibbaraee, and the Amoraee, and 
 the Kenaanaee, and the Girgashaee, and the Yebusaee. 
 
 XVI. And Sara wife of Abram had no child; and 
 she had an handmaid, a Mizretha, and her name was 
 Hagar. And Sara said to Abram, Behold now, the 
 Lord hath restrained me from childbearing; go in now • 
 to my handmaid, if, perhaps, I may have sons from her. 
 And Abram received the word of Sara. And Sara wife 
 of Abram took Hagar her handmaid, the Mizretha, at 
 the end of ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land of 
 Kenaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his 
 wife; and he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived, 
 and she saw that she had conceived, and her mistress 
 was despised in her eyes. And Sara said to Abram, 
 
 1 Sam. Vers., “gathered.” 2 Sam. Vers., “the river of Shalmah.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 65 
 
 XVI.] 
 
 I have (a cause of) judgment 8 against thee. I have given 
 mj handmaid to thee, and she seeth that she hath con¬ 
 ceived, and I am despised in her eyes: the Lord judge 
 between me and thee. And Abram said to Sar^, Behold, 
 thy handmaid is in thy hand, do to her as is pleasing 
 in thine eyes: and Sara afflicted her, and she fled from 
 before her. And the Angel of the Lord found her 
 at the fountain of water in the wilderness, at the 
 fountain in the way of Hagra. And he said, Hagar, 
 handmaid of Sara, whence comest thou, and whither 
 art thou going ? And she said, From before Sara my 
 mistress do I escape. And the Angel of the Lord 
 said to her, Beturn to thy mistress and be subject 4 
 under her hand. And the Angel of the Lord said to 
 her: Multiplying I will multiply thy sons, and they 
 shall not be numbered for multitude. And the Angel 
 of the Lord said to her, Behold, thou hast conceived, 
 and shalt give birth to a son, and thou shalt call his 
 name Yishmael, because the Lord hath heard thy 
 prayer. And he will be untameable by man, and he 
 will be needy to every one, and also all men will be 
 needy to him, and before the face of all his brethren 
 will he dwell. And she prayed in the Name of the 
 Lord who had spoken with her; and she said: Thou 
 art Eloha, seeing all : 5 for she said, I also have begun to 
 see after that He hath been revealed to me. Therefore she 
 called the name of the well, The well at which appeared 
 the Angel of the Covenant: behold, it is between Bekam 
 and Hagra. And Hagar bare to Abram a son, and 
 Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bare 
 Yishmael. And Abram was son of eighty and six years 
 when Hagar bare Yishmael unto Abram. 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “ oppression.” 4 Sam. Vers., “ humble thyself.” 
 
 s Sam. Vers., Ath chiulak chezuah , “ Thou the Mighty seest.” The 
 Syriac has, " Thou art Aloha in vision.” 
 
G6 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 XVII. And Abram was son of ninety and nine years : 
 and the Lord was revealed to Abram, and said to him, 
 I am El-shadai ; 6 serve before Me, and be perfect ; 7 
 and I will set a covenant between My Word and thee, 
 and I will multiply thee exceedingly much. And Abram 
 fell on his face : and the Lord spake with him, saying. 
 Behold, I have dedicated My covenant with thee, and 
 thou shalt be the father of many peoples, and thy name 
 shall no more be called Abram; but thy name shall be 
 Abraham, because the father of many peoples have I 
 appointed (given) thee. And I will spread thee abroad 
 very greatly, and I will appoint to thee that assemblies 
 and kings, who shall rule the peoples, from thee shall 
 come forth. And I will establish My covenant between 
 My Word and thee, and thy sons after thee unto 
 perpetual generations, to be unto thee a God, and to 
 thy sons after thee. And I will give to thee and to 
 thy sons after thee the land of thy habitation, all the 
 land of Ivenaan, for an everlasting possession; and I 
 will be unto them Eloha. And the Lord said to 
 Abraham, And thou My covenant shalt keep, thou and 
 thy sons after thee in their generations. This is My 
 covenant which you shall keep between My Word and 
 you and thy sons after thee, to circumcise every male 
 that is among you. And you shall circumcise the flesh 
 of your foreskin, and it shall be for the sign of the 
 covenant between My Word and you. And the son of 
 eight days shall be circumcised among you ; every male 
 in your generations, born in the house, or bought with 
 money, of every son of the peoples, who is not of thy 
 sons, circumcising you shall circumcise the one born in 
 the house, and him bought with money; and it shall 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., Anah Chiulah Sapukah, “I am the Mighty, the 
 Sufficient.” Syr., El Shadai Aloha. 
 
 7 S/telim. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 67 
 
 XVII.] 
 
 be My covenant in your flesh for a covenant for ever. 
 And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his 
 foreskin, that man shall perish from the people (because) 
 he hath made void My covenant. 
 
 And the Lord said to Abraham, The name of Sara thy 
 wife shall not be called Sara, for Sarah shall be her 
 name: and I will bless her, and I will also give thee a 
 son from her; and I will bless her, and assemblies and 
 kings which have dominion over peoples from her shall 
 be. And Abraham fell upon his face and rejoiced, and 
 said in his heart, Will the son of a hundred years 
 have a child, and Sarah the daughter of ninety years 
 bring forth ? And Abraham said before the Lord, O 
 that Yislimael may be established before thee ! And the 
 Lord said. In verity Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a 
 son, and thou shalt call his name Izhak; and I will 
 establish My covenant with him for an everlasting 
 covenant to his sons after him. And concerning 
 Yishmael I have accepted thy prayer. Behold, I have 
 blessed him, and I will spread him abroad very greatly. 
 Twelve princes will he beget, and I will set him (as) a 
 great people. But My covenant I will establish with 
 Izhak, whom Sarah shall bear to thee, at this time, in the 
 year following. And when He had ended to speak with 
 him, the Glory of the Lord 8 ascended up from Abraham. 
 And Abraham took Yishmael his son, and every one 
 born in his house, and every one bought with his money, 
 every male, the men of the house of Abraham, and 
 circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in that very same 
 day when the Lord had spoken with him. And 
 Abraham was son of ninety and nine years, when he 
 circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. And Yishmael 
 his son was son of thirteen years, when the flesh of 
 his foreskin was circumcised. In that same day 
 8 Sam. Vers., “the Angel of the Lord.” 
 
68 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 Abraham was circumcised, and Yishmael his son, and all 
 the men of his house, (whether) born in his house, 
 or bought with money from the sons of the Gentiles, 
 were circumcised with him. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 VAIYERA. 
 
 XVIII. And the Lord was revealed to him in the 
 Vale of Mamre; and he sat in the door of the tent 
 while the day was hot. And he lifted up his eyes and 
 looked, and, behold, three men stood towards him ; and 
 he saw, and ran from the door of the tent to meet them, 
 and worshipped upon the earth. And he said. Lord, 
 if now I have found favour in Thine eyes, pass not, I 
 pray, from Thy servant. Accept now a little water, and 
 wash your feet, and recline under the tree, and take a 
 mouthful of bread, and strengthen your hearts, after¬ 
 ward you shall pass on; because for this you have come 
 over unto your servant. And He said, So do as thou 
 hast spoken. And Abraham hastened to the tent to 
 Sarah, and said. Make haste with three seyin of the 
 flour of meal, mix and make cakes. And to the herd 
 ran Abraham, and took a calf, tender and good, and 
 gave to a young man, and he hastened to dress him. 
 And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he 
 had prepared, and set before them, and he waited upon 
 them under the tree, and they ate. And He said to 
 him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said. Behold, 
 in the tent. And He said, Returning I will return to 
 thee, according to the time that you shall revive, and, 
 behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah 
 
XVIII.] ON GENESIS. 69 
 
 heard in the door of the tent, and it was behind Him. 
 And Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced in 
 days, and with Sarah had ceased to be the way of 
 women. And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 
 After that I am old shall I have a child, and my lord 
 (being also) old? And the Lord said to Abraham, 
 Wherefore laughed Sarah, saying, Can it be in truth 
 that I shall bring forth, and I being old ? What word 
 is hidden from before the Lord ? At the time I will 
 return to thee, according to the time that you shall 
 revive, and Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah denied, 
 saying, I laughed not: for she was afraid. And He 
 
 said, No, but thou didst laugh.And the men arose 
 
 thence, and looked towards the face of Sedom; and 
 Abraham went with them to accompany them. And 
 the Lord said, Shall I conceal from Abraham what I 
 am doing ? And Abraham shall be indeed a people 
 many and strong, and in him shall all the peoples of 
 the earth be blessed; because it is manifest before me 
 that he will instruct his children, and the men of his 
 house after him, to keep the ways which are right before 
 the Lord, to do righteousness and judgment; that the 
 Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath 
 spoken concerning him. And the Lord said, The 
 cry 9 of Sedom and Amorah [is heard before Me] be¬ 
 cause it is great, and the guilt of them is very mighty : 
 I will now see, and will judge, whether they do accord¬ 
 ing to the report of them which hath ascended before 
 me. I will deal with them thoroughly unless they 
 convert; but if they convert, I will not punish. And 
 the men turned away from thence, and went toward 
 Sedom. And Abraham yet ministered in prayer before 
 the Lord. And Abraham approached, and said, Wilt 
 Thou, in anger, destroy the righteous with the guilty ? 
 
 9 Kebelath. 
 
70 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 If perhaps there be fifty righteous within the city, wilt 
 Thou in anger destroy and not forgive the place for the 
 fifty righteous who are within it ? More true are Thy 
 judgments than that Thou shouldst do a thing like that, 
 to destroy the just with the guilty, and that the just 
 should be as the guilty! Thy judgments are true ! 
 Can the Judge of all the earth but do justice ? And 
 the Lord said, If I find in Sedom fifty righteous in the 
 midst of the city, I will spare all the place for their 
 sake . 1 And Abraham answered and said, Behold, I 
 have done a great thing, to speak before the Lord, and 
 I dust and ashes ! Perhaps of the fifty righteous there 
 may be wanting five: shall all the city perish through 
 five ? And He said, I will not destroy, if I find there 
 forty and five. And he added yet to speak before Him, 
 and said. Perhaps forty may be found there. And He 
 said, I will not make the end on account of the forty. 
 And he said, Let not the anger of the Lord now kindle, 
 and I will speak. Perhaps thirty shall be found there. 
 And He said, I will not make the end if I find there 
 thirty. And he said, Behold, I have done a great thing 
 to speak before the Lord: perhaps twenty shall be found 
 there. And He said, I will not destroy for the sake of 
 twenty. And he said. Let not now the anger of the 
 Lord kindle, and I will speak only this time: perhaps 
 ten may be found there. And He said, I will not 
 destroy for the sake of the ten! And the Glory of the 
 Lord ascended when He had ceased to speak with 
 Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. 
 
 XIX. And two angels entered into Sedom in the 
 evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sedom. And Lot 
 saw, and arose to present himself before them, and he 
 bowed with his face to the earth. And he said, I pray 
 my lords (ribboni) to turn aside unto the house of your 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ I will tolerate all the place.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 71 
 
 XIX.] 
 
 servant and lodge, and wash your feet; and rising early 
 you shall go on your way. And they said, Not so, but 
 in the wide place will we lodge. And he was greatly 
 in earnest with them, and they turned aside with him, 
 and entered into his house: and he made them a supper, 
 and dressed unleavened cakes for them, and they ate. 
 As yet they had not slept; and the men of the city, 
 the men of Sedom, gathered against the house, from the 
 youth unto the old man, all the people from the ex¬ 
 tremes ; and they cried to Lot, and said to him, Where 
 are the men who came to thee to-night ? Bring them 
 forth to us, and we will know them. And Lot went 
 out to them to the gate, and the door he shut after him. 
 And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not (so) 
 wickedly. Behold, now, I have two daughters, who have 
 not known man, I would bring them to you, and you 
 should do to them what pleases in your eyes; only to 
 these men do nothing, because they have entered under 
 the shadow of my dwelling . 2 And they said, Go in, 
 however! And they said, One came to sojourn, and, 
 behold, he judgeth judgment! Now will we do worse 
 to thee than to them; and they prevailed against the 
 man, against Lot, greatly, and came nigh to shatter the 
 door. And the men put forth their hands, and brought 
 in Lot to be with them in the house, and shut the 
 door. And the men who were at the gate of the house 
 they smote with blindness , 3 from the little to the great, 
 and they were wearied to find the gate. And the men 
 said to Lot, Whomsoever thou hast yet here, thy son- 
 in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and all that 
 thou hast in the city, lead out from the place : for we 
 will destroy this place, because their cry is great before 
 
 a “Under the shadow of my family.”—Sam. Vera. 
 
 3 Or, “ with dizziness of the eyes.” Shabriria, which Castel defines, 
 “ Scotomata , subitoe oculorum tenebrce cum vertigines 
 
72 TAUGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. And 
 Lot went forth, and spake with his sons-in-law, the 
 takers of his daughters, and said, Arise, come forth from 
 this place ; for the Lord will destroy the city. And he 
 was as a trifler in the eyes of his sons-in-law. And it 
 was as the morning rose that the angels were urgent 
 upon Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy two 
 daughters who are found faithful with thee, lest thou be 
 smitten with the punishment of the city. But he 
 delayed ; and the men laid hold of his hands, and of the 
 hand of his wife, and of the hand of his two daughters; 
 for the Lord had mercy upon him ; and they brought 
 him forth, and set him without the city. And it was, 
 when he had brought them without, he said, Be merciful 
 on thy life, look not behind thee, and stand not in all 
 the plain, escape to the mountain for deliverance, lest 
 thou perish. And Lot said to them, Be entreated, O 
 Lord ; behold now, Thy servant hath found mercy before 
 Thee, and Thou hast magnified Thy goodness which 
 Thou hast shown me in saving my life, and I cannot 
 take refuge in the mountain, lest evil befall me, and I 
 die. Behold now, this city is nigh, to flee there ; and 
 it is (but) small; let me now escape thither. Is it not 
 small ? and my life shall be sustained. And He said 
 to him. Behold, I have accepted thee 4 in this thing 
 also, in that I will not overthrow the city for which 
 thou hast prayed. Haste, escape thither ; for I cannot 
 do anything until thou be come thither. Therefore he 
 called the name of the city Zoar . 5 The sun had come 
 forth upon the earth, and Lot entered Zoar. And the 
 Lord rained upon Sedom and upon Amorah sulphur and 
 fire from before the Lord from the heavens, and destroyed 
 those cities and all the plain, and all the dwellers in the 
 cities and the herbage of the earth. And his wife 
 4 “ Accepted thy face.” * Little. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 73 
 
 XIX.] 
 
 looked behind her, and she became a statue of salt. 
 And Abraham ascended in the morning 6 to the place 
 where he had ministered in prayer before the Lord; and 
 he looked toward Sedom and Amorah, and upon all the 
 place of the plain land, and saw, and, behold, the smoke 
 of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it 
 was when the Lord destroyed the cities of the plain, 
 that the Lord remembered Abraham, and sent Lot from 
 the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the 
 cities in which Lot dwelt. And Lot went up from 
 Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters 
 with him: for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt 
 in a cavern, he and his two daughters. And the elder 
 said to the younger, Our father is aged, and there is no 
 man in the earth to go in unto us according to the way 
 of all the earth. Come, we will pour father wine, and 
 will lie with him, and raise up sons 7 from our father. 
 And they poured their father wine in that night; and 
 the elder went in and lay with her father; and he knew 
 not, in her lying down nor in her rising up. And it 
 was in the day which followed that the elder said to 
 the younger. Behold, I lay yesterday with the father: 
 let us give wine also in the night, and go thou in, lie 
 with him, and we will raise up sons from our father. 
 And they gave that night also wine to their father, and 
 the younger arose and lay with him ; and he knew not, 
 in her lying down nor in her rising up. And the two 
 daughters of Lot conceived from their father; and the 
 elder brought forth a son, and called his name Moab : 
 he is the father of the Moabaee unto this day. And 
 the younger also brought forth a son, and she called his 
 name Bar Ammi: he is the father of the B'ni Ammon 
 unto this day. 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., beshelu shoJcer, “ in the stillness of the morning.” 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ and we shall live in the sons of our father.” 
 
 E 
 
74 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP.' 
 
 XX. And Abraham migrated from thence to the 
 southern land, and dwelt between Eekam and Ha- 
 gra ; 8 and he sojourned in Gerar . 9 And Abraham said 
 of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelek, 
 king of Gerar , 1 sent and took Sarah. And the word 
 came from the presence of the Lord to Abimelek in a 
 dream of the night, and said to him. Behold, thou 
 diest, on account of the woman whom thou hast taken, 
 and she a mau's wife. But Abimelek had not come 
 nigh her. And he said, Lord, wilt Thou also kill the 
 innocent people ? Did he not say to me, She is my 
 sister ? And she also said, He is my brother. In the 
 rectitude of my heart, and the cleanness of my hands, 
 have I done this. And the Lord said to him in a 
 dream. It is also manifest to Me that in the integrity 
 of thy heart thou hast done this, and I have also 
 restrained thee from sinning before Me ; 2 therefore I 
 have not permitted thee to approach to her. And now 
 return the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will 
 pray for thee, and thou shalt live. But if thou wilt 
 not return (her), know that dying thou shalt die , 3 thou, 
 and ail who are thine. And Abimelek arose in the 
 morning, and called all his servants, and spake all these 
 words before them; and the men feared greatly. And 
 Abimelek called Abraham, and said to him, What hast 
 thou done to us, and in what have I sinned against 
 thee, that thou shouldst have brought upon me and 
 upon my kingdom a great sin ? 4 Works which are 
 not worthy to be done hast thou done with me. And 
 Abimelek said to Abraham, What sawest thou, that 
 
 8 Heb., “between Kadesb and Shur.” 9 Sam. Vers., “ Askelon.” 
 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ Shultan of Askelon.” 
 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ from becoming unclean before Me.” 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., "perishing thou shalt perish.” 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “a great pollution.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 75 
 
 XXI.] 
 
 thou didst this thing? And Abraham spake, Because 
 I said, Perhaps the fear of the Lord is not in this place, 
 and they will kill me on account of my wife. Never¬ 
 theless, in truth she is my sister, the daughter of my 
 father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she 
 became my wife. And it was, when the people erred 
 after the works of their hands, the Lord did bring me 
 near to the fear of Himself, from (among) the house s of 
 my father. And I said to her, This is thy favour which 
 thou canst do for me ; in every place through which we 
 pass, say of me, He is my brother. And Abimelek 
 took sheep, and oxen, and servants, and handmaidens, 
 and gave to Abraham, and returned to him Sarah his 
 wife. And Abimelek said, Behold, my land is before 
 thee: where it is pleasant in thine eyes, dwell. And to 
 Sarah he said, Behold, I have given a thousand seleen 
 of silver to thy brother; behold, that is to thee a veil 6 of 
 honour, for my having sent to take thee, and to see 
 thee, and all that is with thee; and concerning all 
 whatever thou hast spoken thou art reproved. And 
 Abraham prayed before the Lord, and the Lord healed 
 Abimelek, and his wife, and his handmaids, and they 
 were revived : for the Lord had shut all the wombs of 
 the house of Abimelek, on account of Sarah, the wife 
 of Abraham. 
 
 XXI. And the Lord remembered Sarah as He had 
 said ; and the Lord did unto Sarah according as He had 
 spoken. And Sarah conceived and bare unto Abraham 
 a son in his old age, in the time of which the Lord had 
 told him. And Abraham called the name of his son 
 who was bom to him, whom Sarah bare to him, Izhak. 
 And Abraham circumcised Izhak his son (when) the son 
 of eight days, as the Lord had commanded him. And 
 
 6 Or, “ covering of the eyes.” 
 
 E 2 
 
 5 Sam. Vers.,“tabernacle . 3 
 
76 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Abraham was the son of a hundred years when Izhak 
 his son was born to him. And Sarah said, The Lord 
 hath made me to have gladness; every one who heareth 
 will give me joy. And she said, Faithful is He who 
 spake unto Abraham, and certified that Sarah should 
 suckle children ; for she hath born a son in his old age. 
 And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham 
 made a great feast in the day when Izhak w T as 
 weaned . 7 And Sarah observed the son of Hagar the 
 Mizritha, whom she bare to Abraham, deriding. And 
 she said, Cast out this handmaid and her son ; for the 
 son of the handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with 
 Izhak. And the word was evil exceedingly in the eyes 
 of Abraham, on account of his son. And the Lord 
 said to Abraham, Let it not be evil in thine eyes con¬ 
 cerning the youth and concerning thine handmaid. All 
 that Sarah saith to thee receive from her, because in 
 Izhak shall thy sons be called to thee. And also the 
 son of the handmaid will I set for a people, because he 
 is thy son. And Abraham rose up in the morning, and 
 took bread and a skin of w 7 ater, and gave to Hagar, 
 setting upon her shoulder, and the youth , 8 and dis¬ 
 missed her. And she went, and wandered in the desert 
 of the well of Shava (Beara de Shava). And the water 
 was finished from the skin; and she laid the youth 
 under one of the trees, and went and sat over against, 
 as far off as a bow flight: for she said, I cannot see 
 
 the death of the child.And she sat over against, and 
 
 lifted up her voice and wept. And the voice of the 
 youth was heard before the Lord ; and the Angel of the 
 Lord called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, 
 What to thee, Hagar ? Fear not, for the voice of the 
 youth is heard before the Lord in the place where he is. 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ in the day of the (pelututh) liberation of his son.” 
 
 8 Rabia , “ a growing child.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 77 
 
 XXI.] 
 
 Arise, take up the youth and strengthen thine hand in 
 him , 1 because for a great people have I appointed him. 
 And the Lord opened 2 her eyes, and she saw the well of 
 waters, and went and filled the skin with water, and 
 gave the youth to drink. And the Word of the Lord 
 was the Helper of the youth, and he grew and dwelt 
 in the wilderness, and became a master of the bow. 
 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his 
 mother took for him a wife from the land of Mizraim. 
 
 And it was in that time that Abimelek and Phikol, 
 chief of his host, spake to Abraham, saying, The Word 
 of the Lord is thy Helper in everything thou doest; 
 and now swear to me here, by the Word of the Lord, 
 that thou wilt not be false with me, nor with my son, 
 nor with my son's son; and that according to the 
 good which I have done to thee thou wilt do with me 
 and with the land in which thou art a sojourner. And 
 Abraham said, I will swear. And Abraham reproved 
 Abimelek, on account of the well of waters which the 
 servants of Abimelek had taken by force . 3 And 
 Abimelek said, I knew not if this thing had been done, 
 and thou also hadst not shown me, nor have I heard, but 
 this day. And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave 
 to Abimelek, and they struck both of them a covenant. 
 And Abraham made seven lambs stand apart; and 
 Abimelek said to Abraham, What are these seven lambs 
 which thou hast made to stand apart ? And he said. 
 That thou mayest take the seven lambs from my hand, 
 to testify for me that I have digged that well. There¬ 
 fore he called that place Beer Shava, because there they 
 sware together. And they struck a covenant at Beer 
 
 1 Or, “on him;” “ hold him firmly.” So the Latin, Apprehende manu 
 tud eum. The Samaritan Version ha9, “ Take the youth, and fortify thy 
 
 hand in him.” 
 
 1 Or, “ illuminated.” 3 Sam. Vers., “ had taken fraudulently.” 
 
78 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Sliava. And Abimelek and Phikol , 4 the chief of his 
 host, arose, and returned to the land of the Phelishtaee. 
 And he planted a tree 5 in Beer Sliava, and prayed there 
 in the name of the Lord, the Most High God . 6 And 
 Abraham sojourned in the land of the Phelishtaee many 
 days. 
 
 XXII. And it was after these things that the Lord 
 tempted Abraham ; and He said to him, Abraham ! 
 And he said. Behold, I am. And He said. Take now 
 thy son, thy only, whom thou lovest, Izhak, and go into 
 the land of worship , 7 and offer him before Me there, a 
 burnt offering, upon one of the mountains which I will 
 tell thee. And Abraham arose in the morning, and 
 saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with 
 him, and Izhak his son, and clave the wood for the 
 burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which 
 the Lord had spoken to him. And in the third day 
 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place from afar. 
 And Abraham said to his young men, Wait you here 
 with the ass, and I and the young man will ascend 
 yonder and worship, and return to you. And Abraham 
 took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid on Izhak 
 his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, 
 and they went both of them as one. And Izhak spake 
 to Abraham his father, and said, Pather ! And he said, 
 Behold, I am, my son. And he said, Behold the fire 
 and the wood; but where is the lamb for the burnt 
 offering ? And Abraham said, The lamb for the burnt 
 offering is revealed before the Lord, my son. And they 
 went, both of them, as one. And they came to the 
 place of which the Lord had told him. And Abraham 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “ Pumkol,” a name with the same meaning as the 
 Hebrew form. 
 
 5 Sam. Vers., “a paradise.” 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ the Mighty, the Most High.” 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ vision.” 
 
XXII.] ON GENESIS. 79 
 
 builded there the altar, and set in order the woods, and 
 bound Izhak his son, and laid him upon the altar above 
 the woods. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and 
 took the knife to cut off his son. And the Angel of 
 the Lord called to him from the heavens, and said, 
 Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Behold, I am. 
 And he said to him, Stretch not out thy hand upon the 
 youth, neither do any thing to him : for now I know that 
 thou fearest the Lord, and that thou hast not spared 
 thy only son 8 for Me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes 
 after these (words), and saw, and behold, one ram, 
 holden in the bush by his horns. And Abraham went 
 and took the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering 
 instead of his son. And Abraham worshipped and 
 prayed there in that place, and said before the Lord, 
 Here shall generations worship: wherefore it shall be 
 said in that day. In this mountain Abraham worshipped 
 before the Lord . 9 And the Angel of the Lord called to 
 Abraham the second time from the heavens, and said, 
 By my Word have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou 
 hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only son, 
 therefore, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I 
 will multiply thy sons as the stars of heaven and as the 
 sand which is on the sea shore; and thy sons shall 
 inherit the cities of their enemies. And all the peoples 
 of the earth shall be blessed through thy son : forasmuch 
 as thou hast received My word. And Abraham 
 returned to his young men, and they arose and went 
 together unto Beer Shava, and Abraham dwelt in 
 Beer Shava. 
 
 And it was after these things it was shown to 
 Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcha, also, hath born sons 
 to Nachor, # thy brother: Uts his first-born, and Booz 
 
 0 Sam. Vers., “ the son of thy heart.” 
 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ In the mountain the Lord will see, will multiply.” 
 
80 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Kesed, 
 and Chazu, and Phildash, and Yedlaph, and Bethuel. 
 And Bethuel begat Revekah. These eight bare Milcha 
 to Nahor, brother of Abraham. And his concubine, 
 whose name was Reiima, she also bare Tebach, and 
 Gacham, and Tachash, and Maaka. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 CHAIYEY SARAH. 
 
 XXIII. And the life of Sarah was a hundred and 
 twenty and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah. 
 And Sarah died in Kiryath-arba, which is Hebron, in 
 the land of Kenaan. And Abraham came to mourn for 
 Sarah, and to lament her. And Abraham rose up from 
 the presence of his dead, and spake with the sons of 
 Hittah, saying, I am a guest and a sojourner with you: 
 give me the possession of a sepulchre with you, that I 
 may bury my dead from before me. And the sons of 
 Hittah answered Abraham, saying to him. Receive from 
 us Ribbona; a prince before the Lord art thou among 
 us; in the best of our sepulchres bury thy dead. No 
 man of us will refuse his sepulchre to thee for the burial 
 of thy dead. And Abraham rose and bowed to the 
 people of the land, the sons of Hittah. And he spake 
 with them, saying, If you are willing in your minds that 
 I should bury my dead from before me, receive from 
 me, and request 1 for me of Ephron bar Zochar that he 
 will give me the Double Cavern,* which is in the side of 
 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ consult with.” 
 
 3 Mearath Kaphelta. Hebrew, Mearath Itamakphela, “ the double 
 cave ; ” root, kaphal, “ to couple.” LXX., rb <riniK<uov to SnrAovv. 
 
XXIII.] ON GENESIS. 81 
 
 his field: for the full amount (skelim) of silver he shall 
 give it to me among you for the possession of a 
 sepulchre. But Ephron was sitting in the midst of the 
 sons of Hittah; and Ephron the Hittite answered 
 Abraham before the sons of Hittah, of all entering the 
 gate of the city, saying, No, my lord; receive of me; I 
 will present to thee the field and the cavern which is in 
 it; to thee will I present it ; in sight of the sons of 
 my people will I present it to thee. Bury thy dead. 
 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. 
 And he spake with Ephron before the people of the 
 land, saying, Nevertheless, if thou wilt do me a grace, 
 receive from me ; I will give money for the field; take 
 of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron 
 answered Abraham, saying to him, My lord, receive of 
 me: the land is worth four hundred sileen of silver; 
 between me and thee what is it ? Bury thy dead. And 
 Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed to 
 Ephron the silver of which he had spoken before the 
 sons of Hittah, four hundred sileen of silver, which is 
 received in merchandise in every city . 8 And Ephron 
 confirmed the field in which is the double cavern which 
 is before Mamre; the field, and the cavern that is 
 therein, and all the trees which were in the field, in all 
 its boundaries round about, to Abraham, for a pur¬ 
 chase, in the sight 4 of the sons of Hitah, of all entering 
 the gate of the city. And after this Abraham buried 
 Sarah his wife in the double cavern of the field which 
 is before Mamre, that is Hebron, in the land of Kenaan. 
 And the field and the cavern which is in it were con¬ 
 firmed to Abraham for the possession of a sepulchre 
 from the sons of Hittah. 
 
 XXIV. And Abraham was old, (and) advanced in 
 
 3 Or, “province/ 
 
 4 “ By the testimony of.” 
 
82 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 
 And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his 
 house, who had authority over all which was his, Put 
 now thy hand under my thigh, and I will adjure thee 
 by the Word of the Lord, the God of heaven and the 
 God of the earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my 
 son from the daughters of the Kenaanaee among whom 
 I dwell. But to my country and to my kindred thou 
 wilt go, and take a wife for my son Izhak. And the 
 servant said to him. Perhaps the woman will not be 
 willing to come after me to this land,—returning am I 
 to return thy son to the land from which thou hast 
 gone forth ? And Abraham said to him. Take care 
 that thou return not my son thither; the Lord, the 
 God of heaven, who took me from the house of my 
 father and from the land of my birth, and who spake to 
 me, and sware to me, saying, I will give thee this land, 
 will send His angel before thee, and thou wilt take a 
 wife for my son from thence. And if the woman be 
 not willing to come after thee, thou shalt be absolved 
 from this my oath; only cause not my son to return 
 thither. And the servant put his hand under the thigh 
 of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning 
 that matter. And the servant took ten camels of the 
 camels of his lord and went. And all the goods of his 
 master were in his hand. And he arose and went to 
 Aram, which is upon Phrath, the river, to the city of 
 Nachor. And he made the camels rest without the city 
 at a well of waters in the evening time, at the time when 
 they came forth to fill. And he said. Lord God of my 
 master Abraham, let it, I pray, be opportune with me 
 this day, and deal thou graciously with my master 
 Abraham. Behold, I stand by the fountain of waters, 
 and the daughters of the men of the city will come forth 
 to draw water. Let the maiden to whom I shall say, 
 
XXIY.] ON GENESIS. 83 
 
 Reach thy waterpot, I pray, that I may drink; and she 
 say, Drink, and I will also give thy camels drink,—be 
 she whom Thou hast prepared for Thy servant, for Izhak: 
 and in this I shall know that Thou hast dealt graciously 
 with my master. And it was while he had not ceased 
 to speak that, behold, Revekah came forth, (she) who 
 was born to Bethuel the son of Milcha, wife of Nachor, 
 brother of Abraham, and her pitcher upon her shoulder. 
 And the maiden was very fair to behold ; a virgin, and 
 man had not known her; and she descended to the 
 fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the 
 servant hasted to her presence, and said, Let me taste, I 
 pray, a little water from thy pitcher. And she said. 
 Drink, Ribboni; and she made haste, and held her pitcher 
 upon her hand, and gave him to drink. And when she had 
 ended giving him drink, she said, Bor thy camels also 
 I will draw, until they shall have enough to drink. And 
 she hastened and poured out her pitcher into the place 
 of watering, and ran again to the well to fill, and she 
 filled for all his camels. And the man wondered at her, 
 gazing silently, to know whether the Lord had prospered 
 his way or not. And it was when the camels had drunk 
 enough, the man took a ring {qadasha) of gold weighing 
 a shekel, and two bracelets ( sherin ) for the hand 
 weighing ten sileen of gold. And he said, Whose 
 daughter art thou ? Tell me, I pray, whether there be 
 room in thy father's house sufficient for us to lodge ? 
 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the 
 son of Milcha, whom she bare to Nachor. And she said 
 to him, There is much straw and provender with us, 
 also room enough to lodge. And the man kneeled, and 
 worshipped before the Lord, and said, Blessed be the 
 Lord the God of my master Abraham, who hath not 
 withheld His grace and His truth from my master; 
 and me hath the Lord led in a right way to the 
 
84 TAHGTJM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 house of my master’s brother. And the maiden ran 
 and showed these things to her mother's house. And 
 Revekah had a brother whose name was Laban; 
 and Laban ran to the man without at the fountain. 
 And it was when he saw the ring and the bracelets 
 upon the hands of his sister, and heard the words of 
 Revekah his sister, saying, As this spake the man with 
 me, that he came to the man, and, behold, he stood by 
 the camels at the fountain; and he said, Enter, blessed 
 of the Lord; s why standest thou without ? and I have a 
 prepared house and a proper place for the camels. 
 And the man entered the house, and he loosed the 
 camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, 
 and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who 
 were with him. And they set before him to eat. And 
 he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my words. 
 And he said, Speak. And he said, I am a servant of 
 Abraham; and the Lord hath blessed my master 
 much, and increased, and hath given to him sheep 
 and oxen, silver and gold, servants and handmaidens, 
 camels and asses. And Sarah the wife of my master 
 bare a son to my master after she was old, and he 
 hath given to him all that he hath. And my mas¬ 
 ter adjured me, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife 
 for my son from the daughters of Kenaan in whose 
 land I dwell; but thou shalt go to my father's 
 house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son. 
 And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not 
 come after me. And he said to me, The Lord before 
 whom T worship will send His angel with thee, and will 
 prosper thy way, and thou shalt take a wife for my son 
 from my kindred and from my father's house. Then 
 shalt thou be absolved from my oath, when thou hast 
 
 5 Sana. Vers., “blessed of the Lord who comest. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 85 
 
 XXIV.] 
 
 gone to my kindred: and if they will not give unto 
 thee, thou shalt be absolved from my oath. And I came 
 this day to the fountain, and I said, Lord God of my 
 master Abraham, if now it is pleasing before thee to 
 prosper the way in which I go, behold, I stand at the 
 fountain of waters, and a damsel may come forth to 
 fill; and I will say to her. Give me to drink, I entreat, 
 a little water from thy pitcher ; and she shall say to me. 
 Both for thee and thy camels also I will fill,—let her 
 be the wife whom the Lord hath ordained for my 
 master's son. And I had not left speaking in my heart, 
 when, behold, Revekah came forth, with her pitcher 
 upon her shoulder, and went down to the fountain and 
 filled. And I said to her, Let me now drink. And 
 she hastened and let down her pitcher, and said, Drink, 
 and I will give thy camels also drink. And I drank, 
 and the camels also she watered. And I asked her 
 and said, Whose daughter art thou ? and she said, I 
 am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nachor, whom 
 Milcha bare to him. And I set an ornament on her 
 face, and bracelets upon her hand, and bowed down 
 and worshipped before the Lord, and blessed the Lord 
 God of my master Abraham who had led me in a true 
 way, to take the daughter of my master's brother for 
 his son. And now, if you will act with goodness 
 and truth with my master, show me; and if not, I will 
 turn to the right or to the left. And Laban answered, 
 and Bethuel, and said. Prom before the Lord the word 
 hath come forth : we have no power to say to thee 
 either evil or good. Behold, Revekah is before thee; 
 take (her) and go; and let her be the wife of thy 
 master's son, as the Lord hath spoken. And it was, 
 when the servant of Abraham heard these words, he 
 worshipped on the earth before the Lord. And the 
 servant brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold 
 
86 
 
 TARGUM O Y ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 and vestments, and gave to Revekah, and presents gave 
 he to her brother and to her mother. And they ate 
 and drank, he and the men who were with him, and 
 they lodged and arose in the morning. And he said. 
 Send me to my master. And her brother said, and her 
 mother, Let the maiden abide with us a season of time, 
 or ten months; after that she shall go. And he said 
 to them, Keep me not back : the Lord will direct my 
 way, and I will proceed to my master. And they said, 
 We will call the maiden, and hear what she will say. 
 And they called Revekah, and said to her, Wilt thou go 
 with this man ? and she said, I will go. And they 
 dismissed Revekah their sister, and her nurse, and the 
 servant of Abraham, and his men. And they blessed 
 Revekah, and said to her. Thou art our sister; be thou 
 (multiplied) unto thousands and myriads, and may thy 
 children inherit the cities of those who hate them. 
 And Revekah arose, and her maidens; and they rode 
 upon camels, and went after the man. And the 
 servant took Revekah and went. And Izhak ascended 
 in coming from the well over which the Angel of Life 
 (;malak qayama, “ the Eternal Angel ”) had appeared ; 
 and he dwelt in the land of the south. And Izhak 
 w r ent forth to pray in the field, at the presence of the 
 evening; and he lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, 
 behold, the camels came. And Revekah lifted up her 
 eyes, and saw Izhak; and she bowed herself on the 
 camel. And she said to the servant. Who is the man 
 who is walking in the field to meet us ? And the 
 servant said, He is my master. And she took a mantle 
 and covered herself. And the servant recounted to 
 Izhak all the things which he had done. And Izhak 
 brought her to the tabernacle : and he saw, and, behold, 
 her works were right as the works of Sarah his mother. 
 And he took Revekah, and she became his wife, and 
 
XXV.] ON GENESIS. 87 
 
 he loved her. And Izhak was comforted after his 
 mother. 
 
 XXV. And Abraham added, and took a wife, and 
 her name was Keturah; and she bare to him Zimran, 
 and Yokshan, and Medan, and Midyan, and Yeshbach, 
 and Shuvach. And Yokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan; 
 and the sons of Dedan have been in camps and taber¬ 
 nacles and islands . 6 And the sons of Midyan, Eipha, 
 and Epher, and Hanok, and Abidah, and Eldaah: all 
 these the sons of Keturah. And Abraham gave all 
 that he had unto Izhak. But to the sons of the con¬ 
 cubine of Abraham gave Abraham portions, and sent 
 them from his son Izhak, while he yet lived, eastward 
 in the land of the sunrise. And these are the days of 
 the years of the life of Abraham that he lived, an hun¬ 
 dred and seventy and five years. And Abraham expired, 
 and died in a good old age, aged, and full of days; and 
 he was gathered unto his people. And Izhak and 
 Ishmael his sons buried him in the twofold cave in the 
 field of Ephron bar Zochar, the Hittah, which is before 
 Mamre; the field which Abraham bought from the 
 sons of Hittah: there they buried Abraham and Sarah 
 his wife. And it was after the death of Abraham that 
 the Lord blessed Izhak his son, and Izhak dwelt at the 
 well over which the Eternal Angel had appeared. And 
 these are the generations of Ishmael bar Abraham, 
 whom Hagar the Mizretha, the handmaid of Sarah, bare 
 to Abraham. And these are the names of the sons of 
 Ishmael by their names in their generations. The 
 firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, 
 and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Duma, and Massa; Hadad, 
 and Thema, Yetoor, Naphish, and Kedemah. These 
 are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in 
 their villages and their towns, twelve chiefs of their 
 8 Sam. Vers., “ were Ritorim and Amshakim and Amanim.” 
 
88 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 peoples . 7 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, 
 a hundred and thirty and seven years. And he expired 
 and died, and was gathered to his people. And they 
 have dwelt from Havilah unto Hagra, which looketh 
 toward Mizraim, reaching unto Athoor. In the pre¬ 
 sence of all his brethren he dwelt. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 TOLEDOTH. 
 
 And these are the generations of Izhak bar Abraham. 
 Abraham begat Izhak; and Izhak was a son of forty 
 years when he took Revekah, the daughter of Bethuel 
 the Aramite of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the 
 Aramite, to be his wife. And Izhak prayed before the 
 Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord 
 hearkened to his prayer, and Revekah his wife con¬ 
 ceived. And the children struggled in her womb ; and 
 she said, If thus, why have I conceived ? And she 
 went to seek instruction before the Lord : and the Lord 
 said to her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two 
 kingdoms from thy womb shall be divided, and (one) 
 kingdom (shall be) stronger than (the other) kingdom, 
 and the greater shall be subject to the less. And her 
 days were fulfilled to give birth. And, behold, twins 
 were in her womb. And the first came forth red, all 
 of him as a garment (covering) of hair; and they called 
 his name Esau. And afterwards came forth his brother, 
 and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, and they called 
 his name Jakob . 8 And Izhak was sixty years old when 
 he begat them. And the youths grew; and Esau was a 
 man of idleness, a man going out into the field; and 
 
 7 Sara. Vers., “ according to their elevations.” 
 
 Ya-a-kov. 
 
89 
 
 XXVI.] ON GENESIS. 
 
 Jakob was a man of peace, a minister of the house of 
 instruction. And Izhak loved Esau, because he ate of 
 his hunting, and Rivekah loved Jakob. And Jakob 
 dressed pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he 
 was faint. And Esau said to Jakob, Let me taste now 
 of that red, that red! for I am faint: (therefore he 
 called his name Edom i 1 ) and Jakob said, Sell this day 
 thy birthright to me. And Esau said, Behold, I am 
 going to die, and what is this birthright to me ? 2 And 
 Jakob said. Swear to me to-day; and he sware to him 
 and he sold his birthright to Jakob. And Jakob gave 
 to Esau bread and pottage of lentiles. And he ate and 
 drank, and arose, and went: and Esau despised the 
 birthright. 
 
 XXYI. And there was a famine in the land, besides 
 the former famine that was in the days of Abraham ; 
 and Izhak went to Abimelek, king of the Philistaee, to 
 Gerar . 3 And the Lord appeared to him and said. Go 
 not down into Mizraim , 4 remain in the land as I have 
 told thee; dwell in this land, and My Word shall be to 
 thee for a helper; and I will bless thee. Eor to thee 
 and to thy son will I give all these lands; and I will 
 confirm the oath that I have sworn to Abraham thy 
 father; and I will multiply thy son as the stars of 
 heaven, and will give thy son all these lands, and 
 through thy son shall all the peoples of the earth be 
 blessed, because Abraham obeyed My word, and kept 
 the keeping of My word. My commandments, My cove¬ 
 nant, and My law. And Izhak dwelt at Gerar; and the 
 men of the place asked respecting his wife. And he said, 
 She is my sister; for he feared to say. My wife, lest 
 the men of the place should kill him on account of 
 
 1 "Red.” 
 
 a Sam. Vers., " and what is my business with the birthright ? ” 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “at Askelou.” 4 Sam. Vers., “Nopliig.” 
 
90 TAEGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Revekah; for she was of beautiful aspect. And it was 
 when he had been there many days that Abimelek the 
 king of the Philistaee looked from a window, and, be¬ 
 hold, Izhak was sporting with Revekah his wife. And 
 Abimelek called Izhak and said. Nevertheless, behold, 
 she is thy wife: why then hast thou said, She is my 
 sister ? And Izhak said to him, Because I said. Lest 
 I be killed on account of her. And Abimelek said, 
 "What is this that thou hast done to us ? It might 
 have been that some one of the people had lain with 
 thy wife, and thou wouldst have brought upon us the 
 guilt. And Abimelek commanded all the people saying, 
 Whoever injureth this man shall surely be put to death. 
 And Izhak sowed in the land, and found in that year a 
 hundred fold on that which he had expended, (or esti¬ 
 mated,) and the Lord blessed him; and the man in¬ 
 creased, and went on multiplying and increasing, until 
 he had increased greatly. And he had flocks of sheep, 
 and herds of cattle, and many servants; and the Philis¬ 
 taee were envious of him. And all the wells that the 
 servants of his father had digged in the days of Abra¬ 
 ham the Philistaee stopped up, and filled with dust. 
 And Abimelek said to Izhak, Go from us; for thou art 
 much stronger than we. And Izhak went thence, and 
 sojourned in the vale of Gerar, and dwelt there. And 
 Izhak returned, and digged the well of water which 
 they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and 
 which the Philistaee had stopped after the death of 
 Abraham; and he called their names after the names 
 by which his father had called them. And the servants 
 of Izhak digged in the valley, and found there a well 
 of flowing 0 waters. And the shepherds of Gerar strove 
 with the shepherds of Izhak, saying, The water is ours; 
 and he called the name of the well Contention, because 
 5 Sam. Vers., “ sweet.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 91 
 
 XXVI.] 
 
 they had contended with him. And they digged ano¬ 
 ther well, and they strove also on account of it, and he 
 called the name of it Hatred. And he went up from 
 thence, and digged another well; and for that they 
 strove not: and he called the name of it Spaciousness. 
 For he said, Because now hath the Lord enlarged us, 
 and we shall spread abroad in the land. And he went 
 up from thence to Beershava; and the Lord appeared 
 to him in the night, and said, I am the God of Abra¬ 
 ham thy father; fear not: for in thy help is My Word; 
 and I will bless thee, and will multiply thy sons for the 
 sake of Abraham My servant. And he builded there 
 an altar, and prayed in the name of the Lord. And 
 he spread there his tabernacle; and the servants of 
 Izhak digged there a well. And Abimelek came to 
 him from Gerar, and a company of his friends, and 
 Phikol 6 the chief of his host. And Izhak said to him. 
 Why have you come to me, when you have hated me, 
 and sent me from you? And they said, Seeing we 
 have seen that the Word of the Lord is for thy help; and 
 we have said, Let the oath which was between our 
 fathers be now confirmed between us and thee, and let 
 us enter into a covenant with thee, that thou do us no 
 evil, as we have not injured thee, and as we have done 
 thee only good, and we will leave thee in peace; thou 
 art now blessed of the Lord. And he made them a 
 feast, and they ate and drank. And they arose in the 
 morning and covenanted, each man with his brother; 
 and Izhak dismissed them, and they went from him in 
 peace. And it was in that day that the servants of 
 Izhak came and showed him concerning the well that 
 they had digged. And they said to him, We have found 
 water. And he called it Sheva, (the swearing). 
 
 8 Here the Sam. Vers, metaphrases the name into “ Mimarkol,” with 
 the same import as “ Pumkol ” in chap. xxi. 
 
92 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 1 
 
 Wherefore the name of the city is Beer-sheva unto 
 this day. 
 
 And Esau was the son of forty years, and he took to ) 
 wife Jehudith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Base- 3 
 math, daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they w T ere ] 
 rebels and irritators against the word of Izhak and 3 
 Revekah. 
 
 XXVII. And it was, when Izhak was old, and his j 
 eyes were darkened from seeing, that he called Esau, i 
 his eldest son, and said to him, My son. And he said 
 to him, Behold, I am. And he said, Behold now, I 
 am old, I know not the day that I shall die : and now 
 take thy weapons, thy knife and thy bow, and go out 
 into the field, and hunt me venison, and make me food 7 i 
 such as I like, and bring it to me, and I will eat, and \ 
 my soul shall bless thee before I die. And Revekah ] 
 listened as Izhak was speaking with his son Esau. 1 
 And Esau went into the field to hunt venison to briug 
 it. And Revekah spake to Jakob, her son, saying, i 
 Behold, I have heard thy father speaking with Esau ] 
 thy brother, saying, Bring me now venison, and make J 
 me food, and 1 will eat and bless thee in the presence 1 
 of the Lord before I die. And now, my son, obey me 
 in what I command thee. Go now to the flock, and « 
 take thee from thence two good goat-kids, and make j 
 them into food for thy father such as he loves, aud 1 
 carry in to thy father, that he may eat, aud bless thee j 
 before he die. And Jakob said to Revekah his mother, J 
 Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a ] 
 smooth man. It may be that my father will feel me, j 
 and I shall be in his eyes as a deceiver, and shall bring l 
 upon me curses, and not blessings. And his mother j 
 said to him, Unto me it hath been said in prophecy, j 
 that there shall be no curses upon thee, my son; only j 
 7 Tavshelin, " stewed meats.” 
 
93 
 
 XXVII.] ON GENESIS. 
 
 obey me, and go, and take for me. And he went, and 
 took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made 
 food such as his father loved. And Eevekah took the 
 vestments of Esau her elder son, (which were) clean, 
 and were with her in the house, and clothed Jakob her 
 younger son. And with the skins of the kids she 
 covered his hands, and upon the smoothness of his 
 neck. And she gave the food and the bread that she 
 had made into the hand of Jakob her son. And he 
 went in to his father, and said. Father ! And he said. 
 Behold me. Who art thou, my son? And Jakob 
 said to his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn: I have done 
 as thou hast told me. Arise now, turn thyself, and 
 eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And 
 Izhak said to his son, What is this, thou hast so 
 quickly found, my son ? And he said, Because the 
 Lord thy God prepared it before me. And Izhak said 
 to Jakob, Draw near now, and I will feel thee, my son, 
 whether thou be my son Esau or not. And Jakob 
 drew near to Izhak his father, and he felt him, and 
 said, The voice is the voice of Jakob; but the hands 
 are the hands of Esau. And he could not be known, 
 because his hands were hairy, like the hands of Esau 
 his brother; and he blessed him. And he said, But art 
 thou my son Esau ? And he said, I am! And he 
 said. Bring before me, and I will eat of my son's 
 venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he offered 
 to him, and he did eat; and he brought him wine, and 
 he drank. And Izhak his father said to him, Approach 
 now, and kiss me, my son. And he approached, and 
 kissed him, and he smelled the fragrance of his vest¬ 
 ments, and blessed him, and said, Lo, the smell of my 
 son is as the fragrance of a field which the Lord hath 
 blessed. And the Lord shall give thee of the dew of 
 heaven, and of the goodness of the earth, and abund- 
 
94 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 ance of corn and of wine. Let the peoples serve thee, and 
 kingdoms be subservient to thee: be thou chief of thy 
 brethren, and let the sons of thy mother worship thee: 
 cursed shall they be who curse thee, and blessed shall 
 they be who bless thee ! 
 
 And it was when Izhak had completed to bless Jakob, 
 and Jakob had, going, only gone out from Izhak his 
 father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunt¬ 
 ing. And he had also made food, and he brought it 
 to his father, and said to his father. Arise, my father, 
 and eat of thy son's venison, that thy soul may bless 
 me. And Izhak his father said to him, Who art 
 thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, 
 Esau. And Izhak was wonderstruck with exceeding great 
 wonder, and said, Who was he who prepared venison, 
 and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before 
 thou earnest, and I have blessed him ? and blessed 
 shall he be. When Esau heard the words of his father, 
 he cried a cry, great and bitter exceedingly. And 
 he said to his father, Bless me, also, me, father ! And 
 he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath 
 received thy blessing. And he said. Rightly is his name 
 called Jakob, he hath dealt subtilly with me these two 
 times; my birthright he took, and, behold, now he hath 
 received my blessing. And he said. Hast thou not 
 left me a blessing? And Izhak answered, and said 
 to Esau, Behold, I have set him a chief over thee, 
 and all his brethren I have given to him for servants, 
 and with corn and wine have I sustained him : and 
 for thee now what can I do, my son ? And Esau 
 said to his father, Hast thou but one blessing, father ? 
 Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his 
 voice and wept. And Izhak his father answered and 
 said to him. Behold, thy habitation shall be of the best 
 of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. 
 
XXVIII.] ON GENESIS. 95 
 
 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thy brother obey; 
 and it will be that when his sons shall have trans¬ 
 gressed the words of the law, thou wilt cast his yoke 
 from off thy neck. And Esau kept enmity towards 
 Jakob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed 
 him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourn¬ 
 ing for father draw near, and I will kill Jakob my 
 brother. And the words of Esau her eldest son were 
 shown to Eevekah, and she sent and called Jakob her 
 younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau thy 
 brother plotteth against thee to kill thee. And now, 
 my son, receive from me, and arise and go to Laban my 
 brother at Haran, and dwell with him a few days, until 
 thy brother’s wrath turn away, until the anger of thy 
 brother turn from thee, and what thou hast done to 
 him be forgotten; and I will send and bring thee 
 thence. Why should I be bereaved of both of you in 
 one day ? And Eevekah said to Izhak, I am grieved in 
 my life at the sight of the daughters of Hittah. If 
 Jakob take a wife of the daughters of Hittah, like 
 these of the daughters of the land, what to me is life? 
 
 XXVIII. And Izhak called Jakob and blessed him. 
 And he commanded him, and said to him, Thou shalt 
 not take a wife from the daughters of Kenaan; arise, 
 go to Padan Aram to the house of Bethuel the father 
 of thy mother, and take to thee from thence a wife of 
 the daughters of Laban, the brother of thy mother. 
 And the All-sufficient God bless thee, and make thee 
 to increase and multiply, and become an assemblage of 
 tribes; and give the blessing of Abraham to thee and 
 thy sons with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land 
 of thy habitation which the Lord gave to Abraham. 
 And Izhak sent Jakob away, and he went to Padan 
 Aram to Laban bar Bethuel, the Aramite, the brother 
 of Eevekah, the mother of Jakob and Esau. And 
 
96 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Esau, when he saw that Izhak had blessed Jakob, 
 and sent him to Padan Aram to take from thence a 
 wife, and, as he blessed him, commanded him, saying, 
 Thou shalt not take a wife from the daughters of 
 Kenaan, and that Jakob had obeyed his father and his 
 mother, and had gone to Padan Aram, Esau, consider¬ 
 ing that the daughters of Kenaan were evil in the eyes 
 of Izhak his father, went to Ishmael, and took Maha- 
 lath, daughter of Ishmael bar Abraham, the sister of 
 Nebaioth, over his wives, unto him to wife. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 VAYETSE YAAKOV. 
 
 And Jakob went forth from Beersheva, and went to 
 Haran; and he arrived at a place, and lodged there, 
 because the sun had gone. And he took of the stones 
 of the place, and set his pillow, and lay down in that 
 place. And he dreamed: and, behold, a ladder was 
 planted in the earth, and the head of it reached unto 
 the height of heaven; and, behold, the angels of the 
 Lord ascended and descended upon it; and, behold, 
 the Glory of the Lord stood above it, and He 
 said, I am the God of Abraham thy father, and 
 the God of Izhak. The land where thou sleepest, 
 unto thee will I give it, and unto thy sons. And 
 thy sons shall be many as the dust of the earth, 
 and shall prevail to the west and to the east, and 
 to the north and to the south; and through thee shall 
 all the kindreds of the earth be blessed, and through 
 thy sons. And, behold, My Word shall be for thy help, 
 
XXIX.] ON GENESIS. 97 
 
 and I will keep thee in every place whither thou goest, 
 and I will bring thee again to this land; for I will not 
 leave thee until I have done what I say to thee. And 
 Jakob awoke from his sleep, and said, Yerily the Glory 
 of the Lord dwelleth in this place, and I knew it not. 
 And he feared and said, How awful is this place! This 
 place is not common (ground), but a place where there 
 is pleasantness before the Lord; and this is nigh the 
 gate of heaven. And Jakob rose up early in the morn¬ 
 ing, and took the stone which he had set for his pillow, 
 and set it up, a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of 
 it. And he called the name of that place The House 
 of God (Beth-el). But Luz was the name of the city 
 at the first. And Jakob vowed a vow, saying, If the 
 Word of the Lord will be my help, and will keep me in 
 that way in which I go, and will give me bread to eat, 
 and raiment to wear, and bring me again in peace to 
 my father's house, the Word of the Lord shall be my 
 God. And at this stone which I have set up (as) a 
 pillar, will I worship before the Lord; and of all that 
 Thou shalt give me, the tenth will I separate before 
 Thee. 
 
 XXIX. And Jakob lifted up his feet, and came to 
 the land of the children of the East. And he looked, 
 and saw a well in a field; and, behold, three flocks of 
 sheep lying near it, because from that well they watered 
 the flocks; and a great stone was upon the mouth of 
 the well. And thither all the flocks were gathered 
 together; and they withdrew the stone from the mouth 
 of the well, and watered the flock, and returned the 
 stone upon the mouth of the well unto its place. And 
 Jakob said to them, My brethren, whence are you? 
 And they said, We are from Haran. And Jakob said 
 to them, Know you Laban bar Nachor ? And they 
 said, We know. And he said. Hath he peace? And 
 
 F 
 
98 TARGTTM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 they said. Peace; and, behold, Kahel his daughter 
 cometh with the flock. And he said. Behold, the day is 
 yet great, it is not time to gather the cattle; water the 
 sheep, and go to the pasture. And they said, We cannot 
 till all the flocks are gathered, and we remove the stone 
 from the mouth of the well, and water the flock. 
 While he spake with them, Rahel came, with the flock 
 of her father; for she was a shepherdess. And it was, 
 when Jakob saw Rahel the daughter of Laban, the 
 brother of his mother, and the flock of Laban the bro¬ 
 ther of his mother, that Jakob went near, and withdrew 
 the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock 
 of Laban, his mother's brother. And Jakob kissed 
 Rahel, and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jakob 
 showed Rahel that he was the son of her father's sister, 
 and that he was the son of Revekah. And she ran and 
 showed to her father. And it was when Laban heard 
 the hearing of Jakob the son of his sister, that he ran 
 to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and 
 brought him into his house; and he narrated to Laban 
 all these words. And Laban said to him, Thou art, 
 however, my near (kinsman), and thou art my flesh. 
 And he abode with him a month of days. And Laban 
 said to Jakob, Because thou art my brother, shalt thou 
 serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall be thy 
 wages ? And Laban had two daughters, the name of 
 the elder Leah, and the name of the younger Rahel. 
 And the eyes of Leah were beautiful; 8 but Rahel was 
 admirable in form, and beautiful in aspect. And Jakob 
 loved Rahel, and he said, I will serve thee seven years 
 for Rahel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It 
 is better that I give her to thee than give her to another 
 man; reside with me. And Jakob served for Rahel 
 seven years ; and they were in his eyes as a few days, 
 
 8 Comp. Song i. 15. 
 
XXIX.] ON GENESIS. 99 
 
 inasmuch as he loved her. And Jakob said to Laban, 
 Give me my wife; for the days of my service are fulfilled, 
 and I will go to her. And Laban assembled all the 
 men of the place, and made a feast. And it was in the 
 evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and intro¬ 
 duced her to him, and he entered to her. And Laban 
 gave her Zilpha his handmaid unto Leah his daughter, 
 to attend on her. And it was in the morning, and, 
 behold, she was Leah! And he said to Laban, What 
 is this that thou hast done to me ? Was it not for 
 Eahel that I served thee ? and why hast thou been false 
 with me ? And Laban said, It is not so done in our 
 place, to give the younger before the elder. Fulfil this 
 week, and I will give thee also that, for the service that 
 thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And 
 Jakob did so, and fulfilled the week of this; and he gave 
 him Eahel his daughter to be his wife. And Laban 
 gave to Eahel his daughter Bilhah her handmaid to wait 
 upon her. And he went in also to Eahel, and he loved 
 Eahel more than Leah. And he served yet with him 
 seven other years. And the Lord saw that Leah was 
 hated, and He gave her to conceive, but Eahel was bar¬ 
 ren. And Leah conceived and bare a son, and she 
 called his name Eeuben ; 9 for she said, Because my afflic¬ 
 tion was manifest before the Lord; for now will my 
 husband love me. And she conceived again and bare a 
 son, and she said, Because it was heard before the Lord 
 that I had hatred, and He gave me this also; and she 
 called his name Shemeon. 1 And she conceived again 
 and bare a son: and she said, This time will my hus¬ 
 band adhere to me; for I have born him three sons : 
 therefore she called his name Levi. 2 And she con¬ 
 ceived again and bare a son; and she said, This time 
 will I give praise before the Lord: therefore she called 
 
 * “Manifestation.” 1 “Hearing.” * “Union.” 
 
 F 2 
 
TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 100 
 
 [chap. 
 
 his name Jehudah.* And she ceased (stood) from 
 bearing. 
 
 XXX. And Rahel saw that she did not bear unto 
 Jakob; and Rahel envied her sister, and she said to 
 Jakob, Give me children; and if not, I die. And the 
 anger of Jakob was incensed against Rahel, and he said. 
 Why ask of me ? Is it not before the Lord that thou 
 shouldest ask, who hath denied thee the generation of 
 the womb ? And she said, Behold my handmaid Bil- 
 hah, go in unto her, and she shall bear, and I also shall 
 nourish (children), and be builded up from her. And 
 she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife; and Jakob 
 went in unto her, and Bilhah conceived, and bare to 
 Jakob a son. And Rahel said. The Lord hath judged 
 me, and hath also received my prayer, and given me a 
 son: therefore she called his name Dan. 4 And Bilhah 
 the handmaid of Rahel conceived again, and bare a 
 second son to Jakob. And Rahel said. The Lord hath 
 received my request: when I entreated in my prayer, I 
 desired that I might have offspring as my sister, and 
 also it is given me. And she called his name Naphtali.® 
 And Leah saw that she had ceased from bearing, and 
 she took Zilpha her handmaid, and gave her to Jakob 
 to wife. And Zilpha the handmaid of Leah bare a son 
 to Jakob, and Leah said, There cometh prosperity; and 
 she called his name Gad. 6 And Zilpha the handmaid 
 of Leah bare a second son to Jakob; and Leah said, 
 Praise shall be mine; now will women praise me; and 
 she called his name Asher. 7 And Reuben went in the 
 days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes 8 in the 
 
 3 “Praise.” 4 “Judgment.” * “ Wrestled for.” 
 
 6 “ Fortune, prosperity.” In Chaldee, “ a fortunate star.” 
 
 7 " Happiness.” 
 
 8 Yavruchin. Hebrew, dudaim. Septuagint, /u7?Xa pavhpayopQv, 
 “ apples of mandrakes ” (“ atropa mandragora ,” Linnaeus). The Samari¬ 
 tan expression is as the Hebrew, and fhe Peschito as the Targum. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 101 
 
 XXX.] 
 
 field, and he brought them to Leah his mother. And 
 Eahel said to Leah, Give me now of thy son's man¬ 
 drakes. And she said to her, Is it a little that thou 
 hast taken my husband, and thou wilt take also my 
 son's mandrakes ? And Eahel said, Therefore shall he 
 lie with thee at night for thy son's mandrakes. And 
 Jakob came in from the field at evening, and Leah went 
 out to anticipate him, and said, With me thou wilt go 
 in, because with hire have I hired thee, with the man¬ 
 drakes of my son; and he lay with her that night. 
 And the Lord received the prayer of Leah, and she 
 conceived, and bare to Jakob a fifth son. And Leah 
 said, The Lord hath given me my reward, because I 
 gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called 
 his name Issakar. 9 And Leah conceived again, and 
 bare a sixth son to Jakob. And Leah said, The Lord 
 hath given me a good portion. 1 This time will the 
 habitation of my husband be with me, because I have 
 born him six sons: therefore she called his name Zebu- 
 Ion. 3 And afterward she bare a daughter, and called, 
 her name Dinah. 3 And the remembrance of Eahel 
 came before the Lord, and the Lord received her 
 
 prayer, and gave her to conceive. And she conceived 
 
 and bare a son, and she said, The Lord hath taken up 4 
 my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, 5 saying, 
 The Lord shall add to me another son. 
 
 And it was when Eahel had born Joseph, that 
 
 Jakob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may 
 
 go to my place, and to my land. Give me my 
 wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, 
 that I may go : for thou knowest the service with 
 which I have served thee. And Laban said to him. If 
 
 9 “Wages.” 1 Sam. Vers., “God hath helped me with good help.” 
 
 2 “Habitation.” • “Judgment.” 
 
 4 Or, “ cleansed away.” See Castel, voce Kenash. 
 
 5 u Addition.” 
 
102 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 now I have found grace in thine eyes, I have proved 
 that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. And he 
 said, Certify 6 thy wages with me, and I will give. And 
 he said to him, Thou k no west how I have served thee, 
 and what thy flocks have been with me; for thou hadst 
 few before me, and they have increased into a multi¬ 
 tude : and the Lord hath blessed thee for my sake. 7 
 But now, what shall I do also for my (own) house ? And 
 he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, 
 Thou shalt not give me anything; but if thou wilt do 
 with me this matter, I will return, and, pasturing thy 
 flocks, will keep (them). I will pass through all thy 
 flocks to-day, and set apart from them every lamb streaked 
 and speckled, and every black lamb among the lambs, 
 and the streaked and speckled among the goats, and 
 they shall be my wages. And my righteousness shall 
 be testified in the day following, when thou wilt come 
 upon my reward that shall be before thee : every one 
 which is not streaked or speckled among the goats, and 
 black among the lambs, that shall be (as if) stolen by 
 me. And Laban said, Let it be according to thy word. 
 And he set apart that day the he-goats of various colour, 
 and all the goats which were speckled or spotted, every 
 one which had (some) white in him, and all that were 
 black among the lambs: and he gave them into the 
 hand of his sons. And he set a walk of three days 
 between them and Jakob; and Jakob pastured the flock 
 of Laban which remained. And Jakob took to him 
 rods of white poplars, and of almond, (or hazel,) and of 
 plane tree, and peeled in them white peelings, (so that, 
 where) peeled, the white which was in the rods 
 appeared. And he fixed the rods that he had peeled in 
 the canals, in the place of the watering of waters, the 
 place to which they brought the flocks to drink, to be 
 6 Or, “distinguish.” 7 Sara. Vers., “through my help.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 103 
 
 XXXE.] 
 
 over against the flocks, that they might be incited when 
 they came to drink. And the sheep were incited before 
 the rods, and the sheep brought forth with chequered 
 feet and streaked. And Jakob separated the lambs, and 
 set before the sheep all which were various-coloured and 
 all that were black among the sheep of Laban; and 
 placed them for himself a flock apart, not mixing them 
 with the sheep of Laban. And it was that whenever 
 the early (prime) sheep conceived, Jakob placed the 
 rods before the eyes of the sheep in the canals, that they 
 might conceive before the rods : but before the late 
 sheep he did not place them. And (so) the late ones 
 were Laban's, and the prime ones Jacob's. And the 
 man increased very greatly, and had a multitude of 
 flocks, and handmaids, and servants, and camels, and 
 asses. 
 
 XXXI. And he heard the words of Laban's sons, 
 saying, Jacob hath taken all that was our father's; 
 and of that which was our father's he hath gotten all 
 these possessions. And Jakob saw the looks of Laban, 8 
 and, behold, they were not with him as yesterday, and 
 the time before. And the Lord said to Jacob, Return 
 to thy country and to thy native (place) : and My Word 
 shall be for thy help. And Jacob sent and called 
 Rahel and Leah to the field with his flocks : and he 
 said to them, I see the looks of your father, that they 
 are not with me as yesterday and the time before; and 
 the God of my father hath been to my help. And you 
 know that with all my strength I have served your 
 father; but your father hath lied to me, and hath changed 
 my wages ten times; but the Lord hath not permitted 
 him to hurt me. If now he said. The streaked shall be 
 thy wages; then all the flock bare streaked: and if 
 now he said, The chequered shall be thy wages; all the 
 9 Or, “ the aspect of the looks of Laban.” 
 
104 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 flock bare chequered. And the Lord hath separated 
 them from the cattle of your father, and hath given 
 (them) to me. And it was at the time when the 
 flocks conceived, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a 
 dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the 
 flock were chequered, streaked, and speckled. And 
 the angel of the Lord said to me in a dream, Jacob. 
 And I said, Behold, I am. And he said, Lift up now 
 thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the 
 flock are chequered, streaked, and speckled: because 
 all that Laban hath done to thee is manifest before Me. 
 I am Eloha, 9 who appeared to thee at Bethel, where 
 thou didst anoint the pillar, and where before Me thou 
 didst swear the oath : arise now, go from this land, and 
 return to the land of thy birth. And Bah el and Leah 
 answered and said to him, Have we yet a portion or 
 inheritance in our father’s house ? Are we not 
 accounted as strangers by him ? for he hath sold us, 
 and hath devoured our money also. Therefore, all the 
 wealth that the Lord hath separated from our father is 
 ours and our children’s : and now all that the Lord hath 
 said to thee, do. And Jakob arose, and lifted up his 
 sons and his wives upon camels; and led all his herds 
 and all his substance which he had obtained, his herds 
 and his substance which he had obtained in Padan- 
 Aram, to go unto Izhak his father in the land of 
 Kenaan. And Laban had gone to shear his flock : and 
 Bahel took the images 1 that were her father’s. And 
 Jakob concealed from Laban the Aramite, and showed 
 him not that he went. And he went, he and all that 
 were his; and he arose and passed the Phrat, and set 
 his face toward the mountain of Gilead. And it was 
 
 9 Sam. Vers,, “ I am the Most Mighty.” 
 
 1 Tsilmanaia. The word in the Hebrew text ( teraphim) is probably 
 from the Aramaic teraph, “ to inquire.’ 1 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 105 
 
 xxxr.] 
 
 shown to Laban on the third day that Jakob had gone. 
 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after 
 him, going seven days; and he overtook him in the 
 mountain of Gilead. And a word came from before the 
 Lord to Laban the Aramite in a dream of the night, and 
 He said to him, Beware, lest thou speak with Jakob 
 from good to evil. And Laban overtook Jakob; and 
 Jakob had spread his tent in the mountain; and Laban 
 made his brethren abide in the mountain of Gilead. 
 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that 
 thou hast hidden from me, and taken away my 
 daughters, as captives of the sword ? Why didst thou 
 conceal thy going, (or conceal thyself to go,) and didst 
 hide it from me, and not show me, that I might then 
 have sent thee away with mirth, and with hymns, 3 and 
 with tambourines, and with harps ? Nor didst thou 
 suffer me 3 to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now hast 
 thou done foolishly. It is in the power of my hands to 
 do evil with thee : but the God of thy father spake to 
 me in the evening, saying, Beware lest thou speak to 
 Jakob from good to evil. And now, (though) going 
 thou wouldest go, because desiring thou hast desired 
 the house of thy father, why hast thou taken my reli¬ 
 gion ? 4 And Jakob answered and said to Laban, Because 
 I feared; for I said, Lest thou shouldst take away thy 
 daughters from me. The place where thou shalt find 
 thy religious things shall not abide: before our 
 brethren ascertain thou what of thine is with me, and 
 take to thee. But Jakob knew not that Rahel had 
 carried them away. And Laban entered into the tent 
 of Leah, 5 and into the tent of the two concubines, but 
 found not; and he went forth from the tent of Leah, 
 
 3 Sam. Ver3., “with chief or great things ” ( rabbonim ). 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “nor didst thou expect (or wait) that I might kiss.” 
 
 4 Dachalti. 5 Sam. Vers., “and diligently searched,” 
 
 F 5 
 
106 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 and entered the tent of Rahel. But Rahel had taken 
 the images, and laid them in the panniers 6 of the camels, 
 and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, 
 but found not. And she said to her father, Let it not 
 be displeasing in the eyes of my lord, that I am not able 
 to rise before thee; for the way of women is upon me. 
 And he scrutinized, but found not the images. And 
 Jakob was angry, and contended with Laban. And 
 Jakob answered and said to Laban, What is my guilt, 
 what is my crime, that thou hast pursued after me ? 
 Now that thou hast searched all my things/ what hast 
 thou found, of all the things of thy house ? Set it here 
 before my brethren and thy brethren, and they shall 
 decide between us both. These twenty years have I 
 been with thee; thy ewes and thy goats have not failed, 
 and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. The 
 wounded I have not brought to thee; what was defi¬ 
 cient iu number, from my hand hast thou required it. 
 I have watched by day, and I have watched by night. 
 (Thus) have I been ; in the day the heat devoured me, and 
 the frost came down upon me at night, and sleep passed 
 away from my eyes. These twenty years have I served 
 in thy house; fourteen years for thy two daughters; and 
 six years for thy sheep; and thou hast changed my 
 wages ten times. Unless the God of my fathers, the 
 God of Abraham, and He whom Izhak hath feared, 8 had 
 been my helper, even now thou hadst sent me away 
 empty : but my labour, and the travail of my hands, 
 have been manifest before the Lord, and He rebuked 
 thee in the evening. And Laban answered and said to 
 Jakob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons 
 my sons, and the sheep are my sheep, and all whatso- 
 
 6 The Hebrew Tear answers to the Arabic kuron, “ a pannier, cradle, 
 or chair, placed on each side the camel.” 
 
 7 Or, “ vessels.” 8 Sam. Vers., " the Redeemer of Izhak.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 107 
 
 XXXI.] 
 
 ever thou seest is mine; and to these, my daughters, 
 what can I do this day, or unto their children which 
 they have born ? And now come, let us enter into a 
 covenant, I and thou, and it shall be for a witness 
 between me and thee. And Jakob took a stone, and 
 set it up as a pillar. And Jakob said to his brethren, 
 Collect stones; and they took stones, and made a 
 mound, 9 and ate there upon the mound. And Laban 
 called it Yegar Sahadutha, 1 but Jakob called it Gal- 
 Ed. 2 And Laban said. This mound testifieth between 
 me and thee to-day. Therefore he called the name of it 
 The Heap of Witness, and The Observatory; 3 for he 
 said, The Word of the Lord will observe between me 
 and thee, when we are hidden (each) man from his 
 neighbour. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if 
 thou shalt take wives over my daughters, no man is 
 with us; see, the Word of the Lord is witness between 
 me and thee. And Laban said to Jakob, Behold this 
 mound and this pillar, which thou hast erected between 
 me and thee. This mound and pillar are a witness, that I 
 will not pass over this mound to thee; and that thou shalt 
 not pass over this mound and this pillar, to do me evil. 
 The God of Abraham and the God of Nachor shall 
 judge between us, the God of their fathers. 4 And 
 Jakob sware by Him whom Izhak his father feared. 5 
 And Jakob sacrificed victims in the mountain, and 
 called his brethren to eat bread; and they ate bread, 
 and tabernacled in the mountain. And Laban arose 
 
 • Degura, " a cumulus or mound; ” from deger, Heb., dagar, “ to 
 collect, pile up.” 
 
 1 “ The Heap of Witness.” The oldest specimen of Aramaic extant. 
 
 3 Hebrew, “ The Heap of Witness.” 
 
 3 Sakutha. Chald., from Seka, aspexit, contemplatus est. The 
 Hebrew Mizpeh. 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “the God of Abraham.” 
 
 5 Sam. Vers., “ by the Redeemer of his father Izhak.” 
 
3 08 
 
 TAUGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters, 
 and blessed them, and went; and Laban returned to his 
 place. And Jakob went on his way, and the angels of 
 the Lord met him. And when Jakob saw them, he 
 said. This is a host 8 from before the Lord; and he 
 called the name of the place Mahanaim. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 YAYISHLACH. 
 
 And Jakob sent messengers before him to Esau his 
 brother to the land of Seir, 7 in the region of Edom; 
 and he instructed them, saying, So shall you tell to my 
 lord, to Esau : Thus saith thy servant Jakob, With 
 Laban I have dwelt, and have tarried, until now. And 
 I have oxen, and asses, sheep, and servants, and hand¬ 
 maids, and have sent to show my lord, to find grace in 
 thine eyes. And the messengers returned to Jakob, 
 saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau; and he 
 cometh also to meet thee, and four hundred men with 
 him. And Jakob feared greatly, and it distressed him. 
 And he divided the people that were with him, and the 
 sheep, and oxen, and camels, into two hosts, and said. 
 If Esau come to the one host and smite it, the host 
 that is left may escape. And Jakob said, God of my 
 father Abraham, and God of my father Izhak, the Lord, 
 who didst say to me, Return to thy country and to thy 
 native place, and I will do thee good ; less are my right¬ 
 eousnesses than all the mercies and all the benefits 
 which Thou hast performed unto Thy servant: for 
 alone I passed this Yardena, and now I have become 
 two bands. Deliver me now from the hand of my 
 brother, from the hand of Esau ; for I am afraid of him, 
 6 Or, “camp.” 7 Sam. Vers gabla, {gebel,) “the mountain.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 109 
 
 XXXII.] 
 
 lest he come and smite me, and the mother with the 
 children. And Thou hast said, In doing good I will do 
 good with thee, and will make thy sons many as the 
 sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for number. 
 And he housed there that night, and took of that which 
 came to his hand, an offering for Esau his brother; 
 goats two hundred, rams twenty, ewes two hundred, and 
 rams twenty, camels giving milk and their young ones 
 thirty, cows forty, and bulls ten, she-asses twenty, and 
 colts ten. And he gave them into the hand of his 
 servants, herd by herd separately, and said to his ser¬ 
 vants, Pass over before me^ and put a space between 
 herd and herd. And he commanded the foremost, say¬ 
 ing, If Esau my brother meet thee, and ask thee, say¬ 
 ing, Whose art thou ? and, Whither goest thou ? and. 
 Whose are these that are before thee ? thou shalt say. 
 They are an offering of thy servant Jakob, which he 
 hath sent to my lord, to Esau; and, behold, he also 
 cometh after us. And he instructed also the second 
 and the third, and all of them who followed the herds, 
 saying, According to this word you shall speak with 
 Esau, when you find him ; and say also. Behold, thy 
 servant Jakob cometh after. Eor he said, I will quiet 
 his anger by the offering that goeth before me, and 
 afterward I will see his face ; perhaps he will accept me. 
 And the offering went over before his face, and he 
 himself lodged that night in the camp. And he arose 
 in the night, and took his two wives, and his two con¬ 
 cubines, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford 
 Jubeka; and he took them and made them pass over 
 the torrent, and made what was his to pass over. 
 
 And Jakob remained alone; and a Man wrestled with 
 him till the morning ascended. And he saw that he pre¬ 
 vailed not with him, and he touched the hollow 8 of his 
 
 8 Or, “ the palm.” 
 
110 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was dislocated 9 
 in wrestling with him. And he said, Let me go; 1 for 
 the morning ascendeth. And he said, I will not let 
 Thee go, unless Thou bless me. And He said to him, 
 What is thy name ? And he said, Jakob. And He 
 said, Thy name shall be no longer Jakob, but Israel; 
 for a prince art thou before the Lord, and with men, 
 and thou hast prevailed. And Jakob asked Him, and 
 said, Show me now Thy Name ! And He said. Why dost 
 thou ask My Name ? And He blessed him there. And 
 Jakob called the name of the place Peniel: because I 
 have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face, and my 
 soul hath been saved ! And the sun arose upon him as 
 he passed over Penuel, and he went lame upon his 
 thigh. Therefore the sons of Israel do not eat the 
 sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the 
 thigh, unto this day, because He touched the hollow 
 of Jakob's thigh in the sinew that shrank. 
 
 XXXIII. And Jakob lifted up his eyes, and saw, 
 and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred 
 men; and he divided the children with Leah, and with 
 Rahel, and with the two concubines. And he set the 
 concubines and their children first, and Leah and her 
 children after, and Rahel and Joseph after them. And 
 he passed over before them, and bowed to the earth 
 seven times, until he came nigh to his brother. And Esau 
 ran to meet him, 2 and embraced him, and fell upon his 
 neck, and kissed him; and they wept. And he lifted 
 up his eyes, and saw the women and the children, and 
 said, What are these to thee ? And he said, The 
 children whom the Lord hath given to thy servant. 
 And the concubines approached, they and their children, 
 and bowed. And Leah also approached and her children, 
 
 * Or, “ moved.” 1 “ Send me away.” 
 
 * Or, “ to prevent him.” 
 
XXXIII.] ON GENESIS. I'll 
 
 and bowed; and afterward Joseph and Rahel approached, 
 and bowed. And he said. What to thee is all this 
 troop which I have met ? And he said. To find mercy 
 in the eyes of my lord. And Esau said, I have much, 
 my brother; let what is thine own profit thee. 3 And 
 Jakob said, I pray thee, if I have now found mercy in 
 thine eyes, that thou wouldst accept the present from 
 my hand, because I have now seen thy face as the vision 
 of the face of the Great, and thou art pleased with me. 
 Receive, I pray, my offering which is brought to thee, 
 because the Lord hath been merciful to me, and because 
 I have all. And he was urgent on him, and he took it. 
 And he said, Let us journey and go, and I will go 
 along with thee. And he said. My lord knoweth that 
 the little ones are tender, and the sheep and kine giving 
 milk are with me; and if they overdrive them one day, 
 all the flock may die. Let my lord pass on before his 
 servant, and I will lead on quietly, according to the foot 
 of the little ones, according to the foot of the work that 
 is before me, and according to the foot of the sucklings, 
 until I come to my lord at Seir. 4 And Esau said, Let me 
 leave with thee of the people who are with me. And he 
 said, Why should this be ? Let me find grace in the eyes 
 of my lord. And Esau returned that day on his way to 
 Seir. 4 And Jakob journeyed to Succoth, and builded him 
 an house, and made tabernacles for his cattle; therefore 
 he called the name of the place Succoth. 5 
 
 And Jakob came in peace to the city of Shekem, 
 which is in the land of Kenaan, in his coming from 
 Padan Aram, and he abode near the face of the city. 
 And he bought the possession of the field where he had 
 spread his tent, of the hand of the sons of Hamor, the 
 father of Shekem, for a hundred lambs. And he raised 
 
 3 Or, “ prosper with thine own.” 4 Sam. Vera., “ Gabla.” 
 
 5 “Tabernacles.” 
 
TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 112 
 
 [chap. 
 
 there an altar, and offered service upon it before God, 
 the God of Israel. 
 
 XXXIV. And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom 
 she bare to Jakob, went forth to see the daughters of 
 the land. And Shekem bar Hamor the Hivite, the 
 prince of the land, saw her, and took her, and lay with 
 her, and humbled her. And his soul took pleasure in 
 Dinah the daughter of Jakob, and he loved the damsel, 
 and spake to the heart of the damsel. And Shekem 
 spake to Hamor his father, saying, Take to me this 
 damsel for a wife. And Jakob heard that he had pol¬ 
 luted Dinah his daughter. And his sons were with his 
 flocks in the field; and Jakob was silent until they were 
 come. And Hamor the father of Shekem came forth to 
 Jakob to speak with him. And the sons of Jakob came 
 up from the field when they heard. And the men were 
 indignant and very angry, because shame had been 
 wrought in Israel by his lying with the daughter of 
 Jacob; for so it should not have been done. And 
 Hamor spake with them, saying, The soul of Shekem my 
 son hath pleasure in your daughter; give her now to 
 him to wife. And marry with us, and take our 
 daughters to you; and the land shall be before you; 
 inhabit and do business in it, and possess it. And 
 Shekem said to her father and to her brethren. Let me 
 find favour in your eyes, and what you shall tell me I 
 will give. Multiply upon me dowry and present, and I 
 will give as you may tell me; but give me the damsel to 
 wife. And the sons of Jakob answered Shekem and 
 Hamor his father, and with subtlety they spake, because 
 he had defiled Dinah their sister. And they said to 
 them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a 
 man uncircumcised; for that (would be) a reproach to 
 us. Nevertheless in this we will agree with you, if you 
 will be as we are, by circumcising every male among 
 
XXXIV.] ON GENESIS. ]13 
 
 you, and we will give our daughters to you, and your 
 daughters will we take to us, and will dwell with you 
 and be one people. But if you will not consent to us 
 to be circumcised, we will take our daughter and go. 
 And their words were pleasing in the eyes of Hamor, 
 and in the eyes of Shekem the son of Hamor. And the 
 young man delayed not to do the thing, because he 
 delighted in the daughter of Jakob, and he was more 
 honourable than all his father's house. And Hamor 
 came, and Shekem his son, to the gate of the city, and 
 spake to the men of the city, saying, These men are 
 friendly 6 with us, and they may dwell in the land, and 
 do business in it, 7 and the land, behold, it is wide (on 
 both) hands before them; their daughters we will take 
 to us for wives, and our daughters we will give to them. 
 Only in this will the men agree with us to dwell with 
 us, to be one people, in every male of us being circum¬ 
 cised, as they are circumcised. Their flocks, and their 
 possessions, and all their cattle, will they not be ours ? 
 Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with 
 us. And every one who went out of the gate of his 
 city received of Hamor and of Shekem his son, and they 
 were circumcised, every male, every one who went out 
 of the gate of his city. And it was on the third day, 
 when their pains were strong upon them, 8 that the two 
 sons of Jakob, Shemeon and Levi, the brothers of 
 Dinah, took each man his sword, and came upon the 
 city, which dwelt in security, and slew every male, and 
 Hamor and Shekem his son they killed with the edge 
 of the sword. And they brought Dinah out of the 
 house of Shekem, and went. And the sons of Jakob 
 came up to the spoil of the slain, and sacked the town, 
 because they had defiled their sister. Their sheep, and 
 
 6 Shalemin. 7 Yabedun ba sechorta. 
 
 • Sam, Vers., “ when they were wounded,” 
 
114 TAB-GUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 their oxen, and their asses, and all that was in the city 
 and the field, they took. And all their substance, and all 
 their little ones, and their wives, they captured and 
 spoiled, and all which was in the house. And Jakob 
 said to Shemeon and Levi, You have troubled me, in 
 putting strife between me and the inhabitants of the 
 land, the Kenaanites and the Perrezites, and I a people 
 (few) for number; and they will gather against me, 
 and smite me, and I shall perish, I and the men of my 
 house. And they said, As with an outcast should he 
 deal with our sister ? 
 
 XXXY. And the Lord said to Jakob, Arise, go up 
 to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar 
 unto Eloha , 9 who appeared to thee when in thy flight from 
 before Esau thy brother. And Jakob said to the men 
 of his house, and to all who were with him, Put away 
 the gentile idols 1 that are among you, and purify; and 
 change your raiment; and we will arise and go up to 
 Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto Eloha , 9 who 
 heard my prayer in the day of my distress, and whose 
 Word was my helper in the way that I went. And 
 they gave Jakob all the gentile idols that were in their 
 hands, and the jewels that were in their ears, and Jakob 
 hid them under the terebinth which was near Shekem. 
 And they journeyed; and fear from before the Lord 
 was upon the peoples in the cities surrounding them; 
 and they followed not after the sons of Jakob. And 
 Jakob came to Luz, which is in the land of Kenaan, 
 which is Bethel, he and all the people who were with 
 him. And he builded there an altar, and called the 
 place El Bethel, because the Angel of the Lord had 
 appeared to him there when he fled from before his 
 brother. And Deborah, the nurse of Bevekah, died, 
 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ the Most Mighty One.” 
 
 1 “ The idols of the peoples.” 
 
XXXV.] ON GENESIS. 115 
 
 and was buried below Bethel, in the declivity of the 
 vale ; 2 and he called the name of it, The vale of 
 weeping . 8 
 
 And the Lord appeared unto Jakob again when he 
 had come from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And 
 the Lord said to Jakob, Thy name shall be no more 
 Jakob, but Israel shall be thy name; and he called his 
 name Israel. And the Lord said to him, I am El 
 Shadai; increase and multiply; a people and an 
 assemblage of tribes shall be from thee, and kings who 
 shall reign over the peoples shall come forth from thee. 
 And the land that I gave to Abraham and to Izhak I 
 will give unto thee, and to thy sons after thee, will I give 
 the land. And the glory of the Lord ascended above 
 him, in the place where He had spoken with him. And 
 Jakob erected a pillar in the place where He had spoken 
 with him, a pillar of stone, and outpoured libations upon 
 it, and poured oil thereon. And Jakob called the name 
 of the place where the Lord had spoken with him 
 Bethel. And they journeyed from Bethel, and there 
 was yet a space of land 4 to come unto Ephrath; and 
 Rahel travailed, and had hard (pain) in her frirtli- 
 labour. And as she travailed in her labour, the mid¬ 
 wife said to her, Pear not, for also this to thee is a 
 son. And it was in the going forth of her soul, for she 
 died, that she called his name The son of my woe ; 5 but 
 his father called him Benjamin . 6 And Rahel died, and 
 was buried in the way of Ephrath, which is Beth- 
 Lechem. And Jakob erected a pillar upon her grave: 
 that is the pillar of the tomb of Rahel unto this day. 
 And Israel proceeded and spread his tabernacle 
 
 2 Shephuli misera. 3 Misar bekitha. 
 
 4 Literally, kerub araah , “ an acre of ground.” Some think that Icerub 
 araah means as much land as can be ploughed in a day; a tract of ground. 
 
 5 Bar de-wai, 6 “ Son of the right hand.” 
 
116 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 beyond the tower of Adar. And it was while Israel 
 dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay 
 with Bilhah, the concubine of his father. And Israel 
 heard it. 
 
 And the sons of Jakob were twelve. The sons of 
 Leah, the firstborn of Jakob, Reuben, and Shemeon, 
 and Levi, and Jehudah, and Issakar, and Zebulon. The 
 sons of Rahel, Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of 
 Bilhah, the handmaid of Rahel, Dan and Naphtali; and 
 the sons of Zilpha, the handmaid of Leah, Gad and 
 Asher. These are the sons of Jakob, who were born to 
 him in Padan Aram. And Jakob came unto Tzhak his 
 father, unto Mamre, the city of Arba, which is Hebron; 
 for Abraham and Izhak had dwelt there. And the 
 days of Izhak were an hundred and eighty years. And 
 Izhak expired and died, and was gathered unto his 
 people, old and content with days; and Esau and Jakob 
 his sons buried him. 
 
 XXXVI. And these are the generations of Esau, who 
 is Edom. Esau took his wives from the daughters of 
 Kenaan : Ada, daughter of Helon the Hittite, and 
 Ahalivama, the daughter of Ana, the daughter of 
 Sibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, the daughter of 
 Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth. And Ada bare to 
 Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bare Rebel; and Ahalivama 
 bare Jehus, and Jaalam, and Korach. These are the 
 sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of 
 Kenaan. And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and 
 his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his 
 flocks, and all his cattle, and all his substance which he 
 had gotten in the land of Kenaan, and went into 
 another land from before J akob his brother; because 
 their substance was too great for them to dwell together, 
 and the land of their habitation could not sustain them 
 with regard to their cattle. And Esau dwelt in the 
 
117 
 
 XXXVI.] ON GENESIS. 
 
 mountain of Seir . 7 Esau is Edom. And these are the 
 generations of Esau, the father of the Edomai, in the 
 mountain of Seir , 7 these are the names of the sons of 
 Esau : Eliphaz, the son of Ada, the wife of Esau; Reiiel, 
 son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. And the sons of 
 Eliphaz were Theman, Omar, Zepho, and Gaetam, and 
 Kenaz. And Thimna was the concubine of Eliphaz 
 bar Esau, and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek. These are 
 the sons of Ada, the wife of Esau. And these are the 
 sons of Reiiel, Nahath and Zara, Shamma and Meza. 
 These are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 
 And these are the sons of Ahalivama, the daughter of 
 Ana, the daughter of Zebeon, the wife of Esau; and she 
 bare unto Esau Jehus, and Jaalam, andKorach. These 
 are the chiefs 8 of the sons of Esau. Of the sons of 
 Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, Rabba Theman, Rabba 
 Omar, Rabba Zepho, Rabba Kenaz, Rabba Korach, 
 Rabba Gaetam, Rabba Amalek. These are the chiefs of 
 Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of 
 Ada. And these are the sons of Reiiel bar Esau: Rabba 
 Nachath, Rabba Zarach, Rabba Shamma, Rabba Meza. 
 These are the chiefs 8 of Reiiel in the land of Edom; 
 these are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. And 
 these are the sons of Ahalivama, the wife of Esau : 
 Rabba Jehus, Rabba Jaalam, Rabba Korach. These 
 are the chiefs of Ahalivama, the daughter of Ana the 
 wife of Esau. These are the sons of Esau, and these 
 are their chieftains. He is Edom. 
 
 These are the sons of Seir, the Chorites , 9 the in¬ 
 habitants of the land, Lothan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, 
 and Ana, and Disbon, and Etser, and Dishan. These 
 are the chieftains of the Choraai, the sons of Seir, in 
 the land of Edom. And the sons of Loti were Hori and 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., " Gabla.” 
 
 9 Chor, “ a cavern in a mountain.” 
 
 Ravrevee. 
 
118 TAKGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Ilemaim, and the sister of Lotan was Tirana. And these 
 are the Beni Shobal, Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, 
 Shephi, and Onam. And these are the sons of Zebeon, 
 Aya and Ana; he is Ana who found the giants 1 * 3 in the 
 desert while he tended the asses of his father Zibeon. 
 And these are the children of Ana, Dishon, and Ahali- 
 vama the daughter of Ana. And these are the sons of 
 Dishan: Hemdan, and Esliban, and Jethran, and 
 Keran. These are the sons of Etser: Bilan, and Zaavan, 
 and Akan. These are the sons of Dishan : Huts and 
 Aran. These are the chieftains of the Choraai: Rabba 
 Lotan, Rabba Shobal, Rabba Zebeon, Rabba Ana, Rabba 
 Dishon, Rabba Etser, Rabba Dishan. These are the 
 chieftains of the Choraai, according to their principalities 
 in the land of Seir. 
 
 And these are the kings who reigned in the land of 
 Edom, before that kings reigned among the sons of 
 Israel: Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the 
 name of his city was Dinhava. And Bela died, and 
 instead of him reigned Yobab the son of Zerah of 
 Botsra. And Yobab died, and instead of him reigned 
 Husham, of the land of the south. And Husham 
 died, and instead of him reigned Hadad, the son of 
 Bedad, who slew the Median® in the fields of Moab; 
 and the name of his city was Avith. And Hadad died, 
 and in his stead reigned Simlah of Masereka. And 
 Simlah died, and in his stead reigned Shaul of Recho- 
 voth, a which is on the Ph'rat. And Shaul died, and in 
 his stead reigned Baal-Chanan bar Akbor. And Baal- 
 Chanan bar Akbor died, and in his stead reigned Hadar, 
 and the name of his city was Pau; and the name of 
 his wife Mehetavel, the daughter of Matered, the 
 
 1 Ith gibbaraia. Hebrew, ha yemim , “the mules.” The Sam. Vers, 
 
 has, am aimai, “ the Emim people.” 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “ Pathe.” 
 
XXXVII.] ON GENESIS. 119 
 
 daughter of a changer of gold . 3 And these are the 
 names of the chieftains of Esau, after their kindreds, by 
 their places, with their names : Eabba Timna, Eabba 
 Alvah, Eabba Jetheth, Eabba Ahalivama, Eabba Elah, 
 Eabba Phinon, Eabba Kenez, Eabba Teman, Eabba 
 Mabzar, Eabba Magdiel, Eabba Iram : these are the 
 chieftains of Edom, after their habitations in the land 
 of their possessions. He is Esau, the father of the 
 Edomites. 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 VAYESHEV. 
 
 XXXVII. And Jakob dwelt in the land of the 
 habitation of his father, in the land of Kenaan. These 
 are the generations of Jakob. Joseph was a son of 
 seventeen years; he kept the flock with his brothers; 
 and he had been brought up with the sons of Bilhah, 
 and with the sons of Zilpha, the wives of his father; 
 and Joseph brought their evil report to his father. 
 But Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because 
 he had in him a wise son, and he made him a varie¬ 
 gated robe . 4 And his brothers saw that their father 
 
 3 Bath Metsareph dahaha. 
 
 4 Or, ( Kitona da-passei ,) “ a robe of pieces,” i.e., coloured ones. 
 Hebrew, Ketonath passim. In the treatise Negaim xi. 7, we have 
 pispesin, “ small pieces.” Castel defines the Chaldee root pesa, “ to 
 expand,” and the Hebrew noun pisyona, “ extension.” Hence, some 
 would render Kitona da-passei, “ a long robe ; ” or, as Gesenius does 
 the Hebrew, “ a garment reaching down to the extremities.” Compare 
 Jonathan and the Jerusalem Targum on the verse. The Samaritan reads 
 as the Hebrew. The Peschito has Kutino da pedyotha , “ a fringed 
 garment; ” the LXX., “ a various robe.” 
 
120 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 loved him better than all his brethren, ancl they hated 
 him, and were not willing to speak with him peaceably. 
 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and showed it to his 
 brothers, and they hated him the more . 5 Aud he said 
 to them. Hear now this dream which I have dreamed : 
 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the 
 field, and lo! my sheaf arose and became upright, and, 
 behold, your sheaves stood around and worshipped my 
 sheaf. And his brothers said to him, Is it thy fancy 
 reigning to reign over us ? or a shultan, dost thou think 
 to govern us ? And they added yet to hate him for 
 his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet 
 another dream, and described it to his brothers, saying, 
 Behold, I have dreamed a dream again; and lo, the sun, 
 and the moon, and eleven stars worshipped me. And he 
 described it to his father and to his brethren; and his 
 father rebuked him 6 and said to him, What dream is 
 this that thou hast dreamed ? Am I and thy mother 
 and thy brothers to come and worship thee on the 
 earth ? And his brothers envied him; but his father 
 kept the word. And his brothers went to tend the flock 
 of their father in Shekem. And Israel said to Joseph, 
 Do not thy brothers tend the flock in Shekem ? Come, 
 I will send thee to them. And he said. Behold me. 
 And he said to him, Go now, and see the welfare of 
 your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and return 
 me word. And he sent him from the vale of Hebron, 
 and he came to Shekem. And a man found him, and, 
 behold, he wandered in the field. And the man 
 inquired of him, saying, Whom seekest thou ? And he 
 said, I look for my brothers : show me, I beseech thee, 
 where they feed. And the man said, They have gone 
 hence; for I heard them say, We will go to Dothan. 
 And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them 
 6 Sam. Vers., c< was angry with him.” 
 
 6 “ Added to hate him.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 121 
 
 XXXVII.] 
 
 in Dothan. And they saw him from afar; and before 
 he came nigh, they devised against him to kill him. 
 And they said, a man to his brother, Behold, this master 
 of dreams cometh. And now, come, we will kill him, 
 and cast him into one of the pits; and will say an evil 
 beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will 
 be the end of his dreams. And Reuben heard, and 
 delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not 
 slay his life. And Reuben said, Do not shed blood; 
 cast him into this pit in the wilderness, but stretch not 
 forth a hand against him,—that he might deliver him 
 from their hands to bring him back to his father. 
 And it was when Joseph had come to his brethren that 
 they took off his robe, the variegated robe which was 
 upon him, and they took him and cast him into the 
 pit; but the pit was empty, no water was in it. And 
 they reclined to eat bread. And they lifted up their 
 eyes and looked, and, behold, a band of Arabaee 7 were 
 coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices , 8 
 and resin , 9 and myrrh , 1 to go down to Mizraim. And 
 Jehuda said to his brethren. What gain 2 should we 
 have by killing our brother and covering his blood ? 
 Come, and we will sell him to the Arabaee, and our 
 hand shall not be upon him; for he is our brother, 
 our flesh. And his brethren hearkened to him. And 
 there passed by Midianite men, (gabree Mid-ya-naee,) 
 merchants, and they drew and lifted up Joseph from 
 the pit, and sold Joseph to the Arabaee for twenty of 
 silver; and they brought Joseph into Mizraim. And 
 Reuben returned to the pit, and, behold, Joseph was not 
 
 7 Heb. and Sam., “ Ishmaelites.” 
 
 8 Sheaph, “balsam.” Heb. and Sam., nelcoth, “spicery.” LXX., 
 
 “ perfumery.” Aquila, storax. 
 
 9 Quetapk, “gum.” Heb., tsere, probably opobalsamum. 
 
 1 Letom. Heb., lot, “ the gum of the cistus.” LXX., stacte. 
 
 3 Lit., “ "What mammon ? ” 
 
 G 
 
122 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 in the pit. And he rent his clothes, and returned to 
 his brethren, and said, The youth is not; and I, whither 
 shall I go ? But they took Joseph's robe, and killed 
 a kid of the goats, and dabbled the robe in the blood. 
 And they sent the variegated robe, and they brought to 
 their father, and said, This have we found; know now 
 whether it is the robe of thy son, or not. And he 
 knew it, and said, It is my son's robe; an evil beast 
 hath devoured him : slain, slain is Joseph ! And Jakob 
 rent his clothes, and wrapped sackcloth upon his loins, 
 and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons, 
 and all his house, arose to comfort him; but he refused 
 to take comfort, and said, Bor I will go down unto my 
 son, mourning into Sheol. And his father wept for 
 him. And the Midianites sold him in Mizraim to 
 Potiphar, a prince of Pharoh, chief of the killers. 
 
 XXXVIII. And it was at that time that Jehuda went 
 down from his brethren, and turned aside to an Adulamite 
 man whose name was Hira. And Jehuda saw there 
 the daughter of a merchant man whose name was Shuva, 
 and he took her and went in with her; and she conceived 
 and bare a son, and he called his name Her; and she 
 conceived again, and bare a son, and called his name 
 Onan. And she added again, and bare a son, and 
 called his name Shelah; and he was in Kezib when she 
 bare him. And Jehuda took a wife for Her his first¬ 
 born, and her name was Tamar. And Her the first¬ 
 born of Jehuda was evil before the Lord, and the Lord 
 caused him to die. And Jehuda said to Onan, Go in 
 with the wife of thy brother, and associate with her, 
 and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew 
 that after his name the seed would not be called ; 
 and it was that when he went in with the wife of his 
 brother, he corrupted his way upon the earth that he 
 might not raise up seed unto his brother; and what he 
 
XXXVIII.] ON GENESIS. 123 
 
 did was evil before the Lord, and he caused him also to 
 die. And Jehuda said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, 
 Remain a widow in thy father's house until Shelah my 
 son be grown up. For he said, Lest he also die like 
 his brothers : and Tamar went and dwelt in her father's 
 house. And after many days the daughter of Shuva, 
 Jehuda's wife, died: and Jehuda was comforted; and 
 he went up to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hira 
 the Adulamite his friend unto Timnath. And it was 
 shown to Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law 
 cometh to Timnath to shear his sheep. And she laid 
 aside the dress of her widowhood, and covered herself 
 with a mantle (or a large veil), and adorned herself , 3 and 
 sat in the dividing of Avnin 4 5 which is in the way to 
 Timnath. For she saw that Shelah had grown up, and 
 she had not been given to him for a wife. And Jehuda 
 saw her, and thought that she was an outcast, because 
 she had covered her face. And he declined to her by 
 the way, and said, Give me now to go in unto thee; for 
 he did not know T that she was his daughter-in-law. 
 And she said. What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest 
 come to me ? And he said, I will send thee a kid of 
 the goats from the flock. And she said, If thou wilt 
 give me a pledge until thou send. And he said, 
 What is the pledge that I shall give thee ? And she said, 
 Thy seal-ring, and thy scarf , 6 and thy staff that is in thy 
 hand. And he gave to her, and w r ent in to her, and 
 she conceived by him. And she arose, and went, and 
 put off the veil from her, and dressed herself in the dress 
 of her widowhood. And Jehuda sent the kid of the 
 goats, by the hand of his friend the Adulamite, to receive 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “changed herself.” 
 
 4 B\pharashoth Aynin, “ in a conspicuous (?) branching of the road.” 
 The Sam. Vers, has, “ in the gate of Chasbim.” 
 
 5 Shoshejphy “ a handkerchief,” sudarium. 
 
 G 2 
 
124 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 the pledge from the hand of the woman; but he could 
 not find her. And he inquired of the men of the place, 
 saying, Where is the harlot who was in Aynin upon the 
 way ? And they said to him, There is no harlot here. 
 And he returned to Jehuda, and said, I could not find 
 her; the men of the place also said there is no harlot 
 there. And Jehuda said, Let her take it to her, lest we 
 be in contempt: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast 
 not found her. And it was three months, and it was 
 showed to Jehuda, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law 
 hath committed fornication, and, behold, she is with 
 child by fornication. And Jehuda said, Bring her out, 
 and let her be burned. And she was brought out. 
 And she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man 
 to whom these belong I am with child. And she 
 said, Acknowledge now, whose are these, the seal, the 
 scarf, and the staff? And Jehuda acknowledged and 
 said, She is justified in having conceived from me, 
 because I have not given her Shelah my son. And he 
 added not again to know her. And it was the time of 
 her giving birth, and, behold, twins were in her womb. 
 And it was in giving birth that one of them put forth a 
 hand; and the midwife took and tied scarlet upon his 
 hand, saying, This came the first. And it was when he 
 had drawn back his hand that his brother came forth : 
 and she said, How much greater strength is with thee, 
 that thou hast prevailed! And she called his name 
 Pharets. And afterwards came forth his brother who 
 had the crimson on his hand, and she called his name 
 Zarah. 
 
 XXXIX. But Joseph was brought down into Mizraim, 
 and Potiphar, a chief of Pharoh, a chief of the killers, a 
 Mizraite man, bought him from the hand of the Arabaee 
 who had brought him down thither. And the Word of 
 the Lord was the helper of Joseph, and he became a 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 125 
 
 XXXIX.] 
 
 prosperous man, and was in tlie house of his Mizraite 
 master. And his master saw that the Word of the Lord 
 was his helper, and that all that he did the Lord prospered 
 in his hand. And Joseph found favour in his eyes, 
 and he served him. And he appointed him over his 
 house, and all that he had he delivered into his hand. 
 And it was from the time that he appointed him over 
 his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord 
 blessed the house of the Mizraite for Joseph's sake, and 
 the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in 
 the house and in the field. And he left all that 
 belonged to him in the hand of Joseph; and he knew 
 of nothing that was with him, except the bread which 
 he ate. Now Joseph was of goodly appearance, 
 beautiful in aspect. And it was after these things 
 that the wife of his master lifted up her eyes to Joseph, 
 and said. Lie with me. But he refused, and said to his 
 master's wife. Behold, my master knoweth not what is 
 with me in the house, and all that he hath he hath 
 delivered unto my hand; there is no one in this house 
 greater than I, and he hath not prohibited anything 
 from me but thyself, because thou art his wife : and how 
 can I do this great wickedness and become guilty before 
 the Lord ? And it was when she spake with Joseph daily 
 that he would not hearken to her to lie with her, or be 
 with her. And it was about this day that he came into 
 the house to examine the writings of his affairs, and no 
 man of the men of the house was there in the house. 
 And she laid hold of his garments, saying, Lie with me. 
 But he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and went 
 forth into the street. And she called to the men of her 
 house, and spake to them, saying, See, he brought us a 
 Hebrew man to mock at us. He came in to me to lie 
 with me; and I cried with a high voice. And it w'as 
 w'hen he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, h 
 
126 TARGUM OP ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 left his robe with me, and fled and went forth into the 
 street. And she let his robe remain with her until his 
 master came into his house. And she spake with him 
 these words, saying, The Hebrew servant whom thou 
 broughtest us came in to me to mock at me. And it was 
 when I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his robe 
 with me and fled into the street. And when his master 
 heard the words of his wife which she spake with him, 
 saying, According to these things hath thy servant done 
 to me, his anger waxed strong, and his master took 
 Joseph, and delivered him to the house of the bound, 
 where the prisoners of the king were bound; and he 
 was there in the house of the bound. But the Word 
 of the Lord was the helper of Joseph, and showed him 
 mercy, and gave him favour in the eyes of the captain 
 of the prison. And the captain of the prison gave into 
 the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the 
 house of the bound, and all that they did there was done 
 according to his word. The captain of the prison saw 
 no fault in his hand, because the Word of the Lord 
 was his helper, and that which he did the Lord made to 
 prosper. 
 
 XL. And after these things the cup-bearer and the 
 baker of the king of Mizraim offended their master, 
 the king of Mizraim. And Pharoh was angry with 
 two of his chiefs, with the chief of the cupbearers and 
 with the chief of the bakers. And he gave them into 
 ward in the house of the cnptain of the executioners 
 (killers) in the house of the prison, the place where 
 Joseph was confined. And the captain of the exe¬ 
 cutioners appointed Joseph with them, and he minis¬ 
 tered to them, and they were certain days in ward. 
 And they dreamed a dream, both of them, each man his 
 dream in one night, each man according to the interpre¬ 
 tation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 127 
 
 XL.] 
 
 king of Mizraim, who were confined in the house of the 
 bound. And Joseph came to them in the morning, and 
 saw them, and, behold, they were melancholy. And he 
 asked the chiefs of Pliaroh who were with him in ward, 
 in his master's house, saying, Why are your faces evil 
 to-day ? And they said to him, We have dreamed a 
 dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph 
 said to them, Are not interpretations from before the 
 Lord ? Relate it now to me. And the chief of the 
 cupbearers related his dream to Joseph, and said to 
 him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me, and in 
 the vine were three branches : and it was, as it sprouted, 
 it produced buds, and, having flowered, ripened clusters 
 of grapes. And the cup of Pharoh was in my hand; 
 and I took grapes and expressed them into Pharoh's 
 cup, and gave the cup into Pharoh's hand. And Joseph 
 said to him, This is the interpretation : the three 
 branches are three days. At the end of three days, 
 Pharoh will remember thee 6 and restore thee to thy 
 service, and thou wilt give the cup into Pharoh's hand, 
 according to thy former custom when thou wast cup¬ 
 bearer to him. But let remembrance of me be with 
 thee when it shall be well with thee, and do me favour, 
 I beseech thee, and remember me before Pharoh, and 
 deliver me from this prison. Por I was verily taken by 
 fraud from the land of the Hivraee, and here have I done 
 nothing evil that I should be imprisoned. And when 
 the master of the bakers saw that he had interpreted 
 pleasantly, he said to Joseph, I also (was) in my dream, 
 and, behold, three baskets of confectionery 7 were upon 
 my head, and in the upper basket were all (sorts of) 
 food for Pharoh, the work of the baker; and the birds 
 ate them from the basket that was on my head. And 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ will take up thy reckoning, or account.” 
 
 7 Cheiru, (Heb., chori ,) “ white bread.” 
 
128 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Joseph answered and said. This is the interpretation of 
 it: The three baskets are three days; at the end of 
 three days will Pharoh remove thy head from off thee, 
 and will hang thee upon a gibbet, and the birds will eat 
 thy flesh from off thee. And it was on the third day, 
 the day of the nativity of Pharoh, that he made a feast 
 for all his servants, and he took the head 8 of the chief 
 cupbearer and the head 8 of the chief of the bakers in 
 the midst of his servants. And he restored the chief 
 cupbearer to his office, and he gave the cup into 
 Pharoh's hand. And the chief of the bakers he 
 hanged, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the 
 chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgat 
 him. 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Y A YE HI MEKETS. 
 
 And it was at the end of two years that Pharoh 
 dreamed, and, behold, he stood by the River. And, 
 behold, there came up from the River seven oxen, goodly 
 in appearance, and fat-fleshed; and they grazed in the 
 meadow . 9 And, behold, seven other oxen came up 
 from the river after them, evil in appearance, and lean- 
 fleshed ; and they stood beside them by the bank of the 
 river. And the evil-looking and lean-fleshed oxen ate 
 up the seven well-looking and fat ones: and Pharoh 
 awoke. And he slept, and dreamed a second (time); 
 and, behold, seven ears rose up from one stalk, large 
 and good, and, behold, seven ears, thin, and blighted 
 8 Sara. Vers., ** the account.” 9 Or, “ sedge.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 129 
 
 XLI.] 
 
 (with the) east (wind), sprang up after them. And the 
 seven wasted ears devoured the seven large and full 
 ears. And Pharoli awoke, and, behold, a dream. And 
 when it was morning his spirit was troubled, and he 
 sent and called all the magicians 1 of Mizraim, and all 
 the wise men ; 3 and Pharoh related the dreams to them, 
 but they could not interpret them to Pharoh. And the 
 chief of the cupbearers spake to Pharoh, saying, My 
 faults I do remember this day. Pharoh was displeased 
 with his servants, and gave me into custody at the 
 house of the chief executioner, and the chief baker with 
 me. And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, 
 each man according to the interpretation of his dream, 
 we dreamed. And with us there was a Hebrew youth, 
 a servant of the chief executioner; and we recounted to 
 him, and he explained to us our dreams, to each man 
 according to his dream he explained ; and according as 
 he had explained to us, so it was: me he restored to 
 my service, and him he hanged. And Pharoh sent, and 
 called Joseph, and made him hasten from the prison; 
 and he dressed his hair , 3 and changed his garments, and 
 came unto Pharoh. And Pharoh said to Joseph, I 
 have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret 
 it. And I have heard of thee, saying, that thou hearest 
 a dream, and dost interpret it. And Joseph answered 
 Pharoh, saying, Not from my wisdom, but from before 
 the Lord, will there be an answer of peace unto Pharoh. 
 And Pharoh spake with Joseph, saying. In my dream, 
 behold, I stood upon the bank of the River; and, 
 behold, from the River rose up seven oxen, fat-fleshed 
 and goodly in appearance, and they grazed in the mea¬ 
 dow . 4 And, behold, seven other oxen came up after 
 them, lean and most evil in appearance, so wanting in 
 
 1 Harashee. 2 HaJcimaha. 3 Yesafir — attonsus est . 
 
 4 Or, “ sedge.” 
 
130 TAUGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 flesh, that their like I have not seen in all the land of 
 Mizraim for badness. And the lean oxen and evil ones 
 ate up the seven first fat oxen. And they entered into 
 their stomachs ; but it could not be known that they had 
 entered into their stomachs, for their appearance was 
 bad as before; and I awoke. I saw in my dream, and, 
 behold, seven ears of corn arose on one stalk, full and 
 good. And, behold, seven (other) ears, hard, thin, and 
 blasted (with the) east (wind), sprang up after them. 
 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And 
 I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who 
 could show it to me. And Joseph answered Pharoh, 
 The dream of Pharoh is one. That which the Lord is 
 about to do He hath showed to Pharoh. The seven 
 good oxen are seven years; and the seven good ears of 
 corn are seven years; the dream is one. And the seven 
 lean and evil oxen which came up after them are seven 
 years; and the seven ears, thin, and blasted with the east 
 wind, are seven years of famine. This is the word 
 which I have spoken to Pharoh. What the Lord is 
 about to do, He hath showed to Pharoh. Behold, there 
 come seven years of great plenty in all the land of Miz¬ 
 raim. And after them will arise seven years of famine, 
 and all the plenty in the land of Mizraim will be for¬ 
 gotten, and the famine will consume the people of the 
 land. And plenty will not be known in the land for 
 that famine which will be afterward; for it will be very 
 mighty. And forasmuch as the dream was repeated to 
 Pharoh twice, it is a confirmed thing before the Lord, 
 and the Lord will hasten to do it. And now let Pharoh 
 look out a prudent and wise man, and appoint him over 
 the land of Mizraim. Let Pharoh do this, and appoint 
 officers (lit., faithful men) over the land, and let them 
 sow the land of Mizraim in the seven years of plenty, 
 and collect all the produce of those good years that 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 131 
 
 XLI.] 
 
 come, and lay up provision under the hand of Pharoh's 
 officers, and preserve it in the cities: and it will be 
 provision for the people of the land in the seven years 
 of famine that are coming in the land of Mizraim, that 
 the people of the land may not be consumed by the 
 famine. And the thing was good in the eyes of 
 Pharoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And 
 Pharoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like 
 this, in whom is the spirit of prophecy from the Lord ? 
 And Pharoh said to Joseph, Since the Lord hath made 
 all this known to thee, there is none more prudent or 
 wise than thou; thou shalt be appointed over my house, 
 and by thy word shall all my people be governed ; 5 only 
 in the throne of this kingdom will I be more honourable 
 than thou. And Pharoh said to Joseph, See, I have 
 appointed thee over all the land of Mizraim. And 
 Pharoh took off his ring from his hand, and set it upon 
 Joseph's hand, and clothed him in a robe of lawn , 6 and 
 put a chain of gold upon his neck. And he made him 
 ride in his own second chariot/ and they proclaimed 
 before him, This is the father of the king ; 8 and he 
 appointed him over all the land of Mizraim. And 
 Pharoh said to Joseph, I am Pharoh; and without thy 
 word shall no man lift np his hand to hold a weapon, 
 nor his foot to mount a horse, in all the land of Miz¬ 
 raim. And Pharoh called the name of Joseph, The 
 man to whom mysteries are revealed . 9 And he gave 
 him Asenath, the daughter of Poti Phera , 1 prince of 
 On, to be his wife; and Joseph went forth ruling 
 over the land of Mizraim. And Joseph was a son 
 of thirty years when he stood before Pharoh, king 
 
 5 Sam. Vers., “ be fed.” 6 Butz, byssus. 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ double chariot.” 8 Been aba lemalka, 
 
 9 Sam. Vers., Temirthi gala , “ The Revealer of mysteries.” 
 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ the daughter of the Koheu Potiphera.” 
 
132 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 of Mizraim. And Joseph went out from before 
 Pharoh, and passed through all the land of Mizraim. 
 
 And the inhabitants of the land collected in the 
 seven years of plenty the provision into granaries. 
 And he collected all the provision of the seven years 
 which was in the land of Mizraim, and laid up the pro¬ 
 vision in cities, in the midst of each city the provision 
 of the land surrounding it. And Joseph gathered pro¬ 
 vision as the sand of the sea, exceeding much, until he 
 ceased to number, for it was without number. And 
 unto Joseph were born two sons, (before the year of 
 famine came,) which Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, 
 prince of On, bare to him. And Joseph called the 
 name of the firstborn Menasheh ; 2 because the Lord 
 hath made me to forget all my labour and all my 
 father’s house. And the name of the second he called 
 Eph-ra-im ; 3 because the Lord hath made me to increase 
 in the land of my servitude. And the seven years of 
 plenty which were in the land of Mizraim were com¬ 
 pleted. And the seven years of famine began to come, 
 as Joseph had said; and the famine was in all the 
 lands, but in all the land of Mizraim there was bread. 
 Yet all the land of Mizraim was famished, and the 
 people cried before Pharoh for bread : and Pharoh said 
 to all the Mizraee, Go unto Joseph, and what he shall 
 say to you, do. And the famine was over all the face 
 of the land; and Joseph opened all the granaries in 
 which was the corn, and sold to the Mizraee, and the 
 famine became mighty in the land of Mizraim. And all the 
 inhabitants of the earth came into Mizraim to buy corn of 
 Joseph, because the famine was mighty in all the earth. 
 
 XLII. And Jakob saw that corn was sold in Mizraim, 
 and Jakob said to his sons, Why look you (on each other )? 4 
 
 3 From nashah, “to forget.” 3 Yrom pharah, "to be fruitful.” 
 
 4 Lama tithchazun. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 133 
 
 XLII.] 
 
 And he said, Behold, I have heard that corn is sold in 
 Mizraim : go down thither, and buy us from thence, 
 and we shall live, and not die. And the ten brothers 
 of Joseph went down to buy corn from Mizraim; but 
 Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jakob sent not with 
 his brethren ; for he said, Lest death should befall him. 
 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among them 
 who came; for the famine was in the land of Kenaau. 
 And Joseph, who was ruler over the land, was he who 
 sold the corn to all the people of the earth. And the 
 brothers of Joseph came, and bowed before him with 
 their faces upon the ground. And Joseph saw his 
 brothers, and knew them, and considered what he 
 should say to them. And he spake with them severely, 
 and said to them. Whence come you ? And they said. 
 From the land of Kenaan, to buy corn. And Joseph 
 knew his brothers, but they did not know him. And 
 Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed 
 of them; and he said to them, You are spies; to see 
 the ruin 5 of the land are you come. And they said, 
 No, my lord, (: ribboni ,) thy servants are come to buy corn. 
 We are all the sons of one man. Right (men) are we; 
 thy servants are not spies. But he said to them. No, but 
 you are come to see the ruin of the land. And they 
 said, Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one 
 man, in the land of Kenaan; and, behold, the youngest 
 is with our father to-day, and one is not! And Joseph 
 said to them. That is what I have told you, saying, You 
 are spies; by this you shall be proved : by the life of 
 Pharoh you shall not go hence, until your youngest 
 brother be come hither. Send one of you, and bring 
 your brother; but you shall be bound, and your words 
 shall be proved, whether you have spoken the truth; if 
 not, by the life of Pharoh, you are spies. And he put 
 5 Sam. Vers., “ the shame of the land.” 
 
134 TARGUM or ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 them in the house of custody three days. And Joseph 
 said to them the third day. This do, and live; for I 
 fear before the Lord. If you be true, let one of your 
 brethren be bound in the prison ; and go you, carry the 
 provision which is needed in your house, and bring 
 your youngest brother to me, and your words will be 
 verified, and you shall not die. And they did so. And 
 they said, a man to his brother, We are verily guilty 
 concerning our brother ; that we saw the anguish of his 
 soul, when he implored us, and we would not hearken 
 to him : therefore is this distress come upon us. And 
 Reuben answered them, saying, Did not I tell you, 
 saying. Do not sin against the youth? but you would 
 not hearken. Thus, behold, his blood is required. 
 But they knew not that Joseph heard ; for there was 
 an interpreter between them. And he turned himself 
 away from them, and wept. And he returned and 
 spake to them, and took Shemeon from them, and 
 bound him before their eyes. And Joseph commanded 
 to fill their vessels with corn, and return their money 
 (that of each) man in his sack, and give them food in 
 the way. And he did so by them. And they laid 
 their corn upon their asses, and went thence. And one 
 opened his sack to give provender to his ass at the 
 house of lodging , 6 and saw his money, and, behold, it 
 was in the mouth of his package; and he said to his 
 brothers, My money is returned, and, behold, it is in 
 my package. And the knowledge of their hearts failed, 
 and they were each of them confounded, saying. What 
 is this which the Lord hath done to us ? And they 
 came to Jakob their father in the land of Kenaan, and 
 showed him all that had happened to them, saying, The 
 man, the lord of the country, spoke hardly with us, and 
 dealt with us as spies of the land. And we told him, 
 8 Beth mebatha. 
 
XL1II.] ON GENESIS. 135 
 
 We are true men, not spies: we are twelve brothers, 
 sons of one father : one is not, and the youngest is to¬ 
 day with our father in the land of Kenaan. And the 
 man, the lord of the country, said to us, By this I shall 
 know that you are true men. Leave one of your breth¬ 
 ren with me, and take the corn which is needed in 
 your house, and go, and bring your youngest brother 
 to me, and I shall know that you are not spies : and 
 when you (will be proved to) be true men, I will give 
 up your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land. 
 And it was, as they emptied their sacks, behold, each 
 man's money was bound up in his sack; and when they 
 and their father saw the envelopes of their money, they 
 were afraid. And Jakob their father said to them, Me 
 have you made desolate; Joseph is not, and Shemeon 
 is not (here), and Benjamin you would take away; 
 upon me are all these ! And Beuben spake with his 
 father, saying, Thou shalt put my two children to death 
 if I do not bring him back to thee. Deliver him into 
 my hand, and I will return him to thee. But he said, 
 My son shall not go down with you ; for his brother is 
 dead, and he alone remains; and if death should befall 
 him in the way in which you will go, you will bring 
 down my grey hairs with mourning unto Sheol. 
 
 XLIII. But the famine prevailed in the land. And 
 it was when they had ended to eat the corn which they 
 had brought from Mizraim, that their father said to 
 them, Eeturn, and buy for us a little corn. And Jehuda 
 spake to him, saying, The man attesting attested to us, 
 saying, You shall not see my face unless your brother 
 be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, 
 we will go down and buy thee corn; but if thou wilt 
 not send, we will not go down: for the man told us, 
 You shall not see my face unless your brother be with 
 you. And Israel said, Why did you do me this evil, 
 
136 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 in showing the man that you have a brother ? And 
 they said, The man asking asked us concerning our 
 family , 7 saying, Is your father yet alive? Have you a 
 brother ? And we showed him according to the word 
 of these things: knowing could we know that he 
 would say, Bring your brother to me ? And Jehuda 
 said to Israel his father, Send the youth with me, and 
 let us arise and go, that we may live and not die, we, 
 and thou, and our little ones. I will be the pledge for 
 him; of my hand shalt thou require him ; if I do not 
 bring him back to thee, and set him before thee, let 
 mine be the sin with thee all the days. Bor except we 
 had delayed in this, we might now have returned twice. 
 And Israel their father said to them, If then it is to be, 
 do this : take of what is praiseworthy 8 in the land in 
 your vessels, and carry down to the man an offering; a 
 little gum, and a little honey, storax and ladanum, 
 nuts and almonds; and silver, two for one take in your 
 hands, even the silver which was returned in the mouth 
 of your bags take back in your hands; perhaps it was 
 an oversight. And take your brother, and arise, return 
 to the man ; and God the Almighty give you favour 
 before the man, that he may release to you your other 
 brother and Benjamin. And I, when desolated, shall be 
 desolate ! And the men took that offering, and the 
 money two for one took they in their hands; and they 
 took Benjamin, and arose, and went down into Mizraim, 
 and stood before Joseph. And Joseph saw Benjamin 
 with them ; and he said to him who was appointed over 
 his house, Bring the men into the house, and kill a 
 killing 9 and prepare; for the men shall eat with me at 
 dinner. And the man did as Joseph had said; and the 
 man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the 
 
 7 “ Our generation.” 8 Medimsliabach. Sam. Vers., “ celebrated.” 
 
 9 Or, “a victim,” niksatha. 
 
XLIII.] ON GENESIS. 137 
 
 men were afraid because they were brought into the 
 house of Joseph; and said, It is on account of the 
 money that was returned in our baggage at first, that 
 we are brought in, that he might domineer over us , 10 
 and find occasion against us, and take possession of us 
 as slaves, and seize upon our asses. And they drew 
 near the man who was set over Joseph’s house, and 
 spake with him at the gate of the house, and said. We 
 entreat my lord (to hear us). Descending we came 
 down at first to buy corn. And it was while we were 
 at the resting-place, we opened our baggage, and, 
 behold, a man's silver was in the mouth of the bag; the 
 silver in its weight. But we have returned it in our 
 hand. And other silver have we brought in our hand 
 to buy corn. We knew not who put the silver in our 
 baggage. And he said, Peace be to you: fear not; 
 your God, and the God of your father, gave you trea¬ 
 sure in your bags; your money came to me. And he 
 brought out Shemeon to them. And the man brought 
 the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they 
 washed their feet, and he gave provender for their asses. 
 And they made ready the offering against the entrance 
 of Joseph to dinner : for they had heard that there they 
 were to eat bread. And Joseph entered the house, 
 and they brought to him the offering which was in their 
 hands into the house; and they bowed to him upon the 
 ground. And he saluted them , 11 and said. Is your father 
 well, the old man you spake of ? Is he yet alive ? And 
 they said. It is well with thy servant our father, he is 
 yet alive; and they bowed and worshipped. And he 
 lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, the 
 son of his mother; and he said, Is this your youngest 
 brother of whom you spake to me ? And he said, 
 
 10 Sam. Vers., “lord it over us.” 
 
 11 Lit., “ asked for their peace.” 
 
138 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Mercy from the Lord be upon thee, my son. 1 And 
 Joseph made haste, for his bowels were commoved over 
 his brother, and he sought (where) to weep; and he 
 entered into the chamber, the place of sleeping, and 
 wept there. And he washed his face, and came out, 
 and was comforted, and said, Put on bread; and they 
 set for him alone, and for them alone, and for the 
 Mizraee who ate with him, alone. Por the Mizraee 
 might not eat bread with the Hivraee, because the ani¬ 
 mals that the Mizraee worshipped the Hivraee did eat. 
 And they reclined before him, the chief according to 
 his chiefship, and the less according to his minority; 
 and the men wondered, each man at his companion. 
 And portions were brought from him, and set before 
 them, and greater was Benjamin's portion than the por¬ 
 tions of them all, five portions. And they drank and 
 were merry with him. 2 
 
 XL1Y. And Joseph commanded the steward of his 
 house, saying, Fill the men's bags with corn as much 
 as they can carry, and put each man's money in the 
 mouth of his baggage. And put my cup, the silver 
 cup, in the mouth of the youngest one's baggage, and 
 his purchase-money. And he did according to Joseph's 
 word which he spake. The morning lightened, and the 
 men were sent away, they and their asses. They had 
 not gone far from the city, when Joseph said to him 
 who was set over his house, Arise, follow after the men, 
 and overtake them, and say to them, Why have you 
 rendered evil for good ? Is it not this from which my 
 lord drinketh, and, behold, by which inquiring he 
 inquireth ? 3 You have done the thing that is evil. 
 And he overtook them, and spake with them these 
 
 1 Sain. Vers., “ Elohim be propitious to thee, my son.” 
 
 2 Lit., “ were drunken.” Sam. Vers., “ were heavy.” 
 
 3 Budaqa mebadiq. 
 
XLIY.] ON GENESIS. 139 
 
 words. And they said, Why does my lord speak these 
 words ? Be it far from thy servants to do according to 
 this thing ! Behold, the money which we found in the 
 mouth of our baggages we brought to thee again from 
 the land of Kenaan; how then should we steal from the 
 house of thy lord vessels of silver, or vessels of gold ? 
 With whomsoever of thy servants it is found, let him 
 die; and we also will be servants to my lord. And he 
 said, According to your words, so let it be. With 
 whomsoever it is found, he shall be my servant, but you 
 will be acquitted. And they made haste, and brought 
 down every man his baggage to the ground; and every 
 man opened his baggage. And he searched, beginning 
 with the greatest and finishing with the least; and the 
 chalice was found in the baggage of Benjamin. And 
 they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, 
 and returned to the city. And Jehuda entered and 
 his brothers into Joseph's house, for he was still there; 
 and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph 
 said to them, What work is this which you have done ? 
 Did you not know that a man like me divining can 
 divine? And Jehuda said to him. What shall we say 
 to my lord ? What shall we speak ? How shall we be 
 justified? Before the lord there is sin found in thy 
 servants. Behold, we are the servants of my lord; 
 we also and he in whose hand the chalice hath been 
 found. But he said, Bar be it from me to do so : the 
 man in whose hand the chalice has been found shall be 
 my servant; but go you up in peace to your father. 
 
140 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 YAYIGGASH ALAIF YEHUDAH. 
 
 And Jehuda came near to him and said, We beseech 
 my lord, let thy servant speak a word before my lord, 
 and let not thine anger be great with thy servant; for 
 as Pharoh so art thou. My lord asked his servants, 
 saying, Have you a father or a brother ? And we told 
 my lord. We have an aged father, and the youngest 
 (son) is the son of his old age; his brother is dead; 
 and he only remains of his mother, and his father loves 
 him. And thou saidst to thy servants, Bring him 
 down to me, and let me set mine eyes upon him. And 
 we told my lord, His father cannot part with the youth; 
 for if our father should part with him, he would die. 
 And thou saidst to thy servants, If your youngest 
 brother come not down with you, you shall not see my 
 face again. And it was when we had gone up to our 
 father, we told him these words of my lord. And our 
 father said to us, Return, and buy us a little corn. And 
 we said, We cannot go down : if our youngest brother go 
 down with us, we will go down; for we shall not be 
 able to see the man’s face unless our youngest brother 
 go down with us. And thy servant our father said to 
 us. You know that my wife bare me two (sons). One 
 went forth from me, and I have said, Dying he is dead; 
 and I have not beheld him since. And if you take 
 this one also from me, and deatli happen to him, you 
 will bring down my age with evil unto sheol. And 
 now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the 
 youth be not with us, and his soul loveth him as his 
 (own) soul; when he seeth that the youth is not with 
 us, he will die; and thy servant will have brought down 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 141 
 
 XLV.] 
 
 the age of thy servant our father with mourning unto 
 Sheol. For thy servant was surety for the youth with our 
 father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, let my father 
 hold me guilty all the days. And now let thy servant 
 remain instead of the youth, as the servant of my lord, 
 and let the youth go up with- his brothers. For how 
 can I go up to my father, and the youth be not with 
 me ?—lest I should see the evil that will come upon my 
 father! 
 
 XLY. And Joseph was not able to sustain all that 
 was being upon him; and he cried, Let every man go 
 out from me ; and no man stood with him, while Joseph 
 made himself known to his brethren. And he gave 
 forth his voice with weeping ; and the Mizraee heard, 
 and a man of PharolFs house heard. And Joseph said 
 to his brothers, I am Joseph! Is my father yet living? 
 And his brethren were not able to answer him a word, 
 for they were confounded before him. And Joseph said 
 to his brothers, Come near now to me. And they 
 came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, 
 whom you sold into Mizraim. And now do not be 
 troubled , 4 and let it not be afflictive in your eyes that 
 you sold me hither; for to sustain life did the Lord 
 send me before you. For these two years hath famine 
 been in the land, and there are yet five years in which 
 there will be neither seed nor harvest. And the Lord 
 sent me before you to set a remnant in the earth, and 
 to keep you alive by a great deliverance. And now, it 
 was not you who sent me hither, but (it was) from 
 before the Lord, who hath set me to be a father 5 unto 
 Pharoh, and to rule all the men of his house, holding 
 power over all the land of Mizraim. Hasten, (then,) 
 and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus saith thy 
 son Joseph, The Lord hath set me ruler over the 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “be not afflicted.” 5 Sam. Vers., “a friend.” 
 
142 TAItGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Mizraim : come clown to me, delay 6 not, and thous halt 
 dwell in the land of Goshen, and be near me, thou, and 
 thy sons, and thy sons' children, and thy sheep and thy 
 oxen, and all that thou hast. And I will nourish thee 7 
 there; for there are yet five years of famine, lest thou, 
 and the men of thy house, and all that thou hast, be 
 wasted away. And, behold, your eyes see, and the 
 eyes of my brother Benjamin, that in your language I 
 speak with you. And you will show my father all my 
 glory in Mizraim, and all that you see; and make 
 haste, and bring down my father hither. And he fell 
 upon the neck of Benjamin his brother, and wept; and 
 Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his 
 brothers, and wept over them; and afterward his bro¬ 
 thers discoursed with him. And a voice was heard in 
 the house of Pharoh, saying. The brothers of Joseph 
 are come. And it was pleasing in the eyes of Pharoh, 
 and in the eyes of his servants. And Pharoh said to 
 Joseph, Tell my brethren, Do this; lade your beasts 
 and go; carry into the land of Kenaan; and take 
 your father and the men of your house and come to 
 me, and I will give you the good of the land of Miz¬ 
 raim, and you shall eat the good of the land. And 
 (now) thou art commanded, this do. Take to you out 
 of the land of Mizraim waggons for your children, and 
 your wives; and bring your father, and come. And let 
 not your eye look wistfully upon your furniture; for the 
 good of all the land of Mizraim is your own. And the 
 sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them waggons, 
 according to the word of Pharoh, and he gave them 
 provisions for the way. And he gave to every one of 
 them vestments for wearing; and to Benjamin gave he 
 three hundred shekels of silver, and five vestments for 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ stand not.” 
 
 7 Sain. Vers., “ I will give thee sufficiency.” 
 
XLVI.] ON GENESIS. 143 
 
 wearing. And to his father he sent ten asses laden 
 with the good things of Mizraim, and ten she-asses 
 laden with corn, and bread and provisions for the way. 
 And he dismissed his brethren, and they went, and he 
 said to them, Do not contend by the way. And they 
 went up from Mizraim and came into the land of 
 Kenaan, unto Jakob their father. And they showed 
 him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he ruleth over all 
 the land of Mizraim! And these words were uncertain 8 
 upon his heart, because he did not believe them. And 
 they told him all the words of Joseph which he had 
 spoken with them; and he saw the waggons that 
 Joseph had sent to fetch him; and the Holy Spirit 
 rested upon Jakob their father. And Israel said. Great 
 to me is the joy ! Joseph my son is yet alive ; I will 
 go, and behold him before I die. 
 
 XLVI. And Israel journeyed, and all that he had, 
 and came to Beershava; and he offered sacrifices to the 
 God of his father Izhak. And the Lord spake to Israel 
 in a vision of the night, and said, Jakob, Jakob. And 
 he said, Behold, I am. And He said, I am God, the 
 God of thy father : fear not to go down into Mizraim; 
 for a great people will I make thee there. I will go 
 down with thee into Mizraim, and will surely bring 
 thee up; but Joseph shall lay his hand upon thine eyes. 
 And Jakob arose from Beershava. And the sons of 
 Israel carried Jakob their father, and their children, 
 and their wives, in the waggons which Pharoh had sent 
 to fetch them. And they took their flocks and their 
 substance which they had gotten in the land of Kenaan, 
 and came to Mizraim, Jakob and all his sons with him. 
 His sons, and his son's sons with him, his daughters, 
 and the daughters of his sons, and all his seed, he 
 brought with him into Mizraim. 
 
 * Or, “faint.” 
 
144 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 And these are the names of the sons of Israel which 
 came into Mizraim, Jakob and his sons. The firstborn 
 of Jakob, Reuben. And the sons of Reuben, IJanuk 
 and Phallu, Hesron and Karmi. And the sons of 
 Sheemon, Jemuel, and Janin, and Ahad, and Jakin, and 
 Zochar, and Shaul, the son of a Kenaanitha. And the 
 sons of Levi, Gershon, Kehath, and Merari. And the 
 sons of Jehuda, Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharets, 
 and Zarach. But Er and Onan had died in the land 
 of Kenaan. And the sons of Pharets, Heshron and 
 Chamul. And the sons of Issakar, Tola, and Pheua, 
 and Job, and Semeron. And the sons of Zabulon, 
 Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. These are the sons of 
 Leah, which she bare to Jakob in Padan Aram, and 
 Dinah his daughter; all the souls, his sons and his 
 daughters, thirty and three. And the children of Gad, 
 Sephyon and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, 
 and Areli. And the sons of Asher, Jemna, and Jesva, 
 and Jesvi, and Beriah, and Serach, their sister. And 
 the sons of Beriah, Heber and Malchiel. These are the 
 sons of Zilpha, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; 
 and she bare these unto Jakob, sixteen souls. The 
 sons of Rahel, the wife of Jakob, Joseph and Benjamin. 
 And to Joseph were born in the land of Mizraim 
 Menashe and Ephraim, whom Asenath, daughter of 
 Potiphera, prince of On, bare unto him. And the sons 
 of Benjamin, Bela, and Bek or, and Ashbel, Gera, and 
 Naaman, Achi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huphim, and 
 Arede. These are the sons of Rahel which were born 
 to Jakob; all the souls fourteen. And the sons of 
 Dan, Hushim: and the sons of Naphtali, Jahziel, 
 and Guni, and Jezer, and Shilem. These are the 
 children of Billah, whom Laban gave to Rahel his 
 daughter, and she bare them to Jakob; all the souls 
 seven. All the souls which went with Jakob into 
 
XLVII.] ON GENESIS. 145 
 
 Mizraim, which came forth from his loins, besides the 
 wives of Jakob's sons, all the souls, sixty and six. And 
 the sons of Joseph, which were born to him in Mizraim, 
 two souls. All the souls of the house of Jakob which 
 went into Mizraim were seventy. 
 
 And he sent Jehuda before him to Joseph, to make 
 the way clear before him at Goshen, and he came to 
 the land of Goshen. And Joseph arrayed his chariot, 
 and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. And 
 he saw him, and fell upon his neck, and wept. And he 
 wept still upon his neck ! And Israel said to Joseph, I 
 could die at this time ! I have consolation now that I 
 have seen thy face; for thou art yet alive. And Joseph 
 said to his brothers, and to the house of his father, I 
 will go up and show Pharoh, and will tell him. My 
 brethren and. the house of my father, who were in the 
 land of Kenaan, have come to me. But the men are 
 shepherds of sheep : for the men are masters of flocks, 
 and their sheep and oxen and all that they have they 
 have brought. And it shall be when Pharoh calleth 
 you, and shall ask you, What is your employment ? you 
 will say, Thy servants have been men, the masters of 
 flocks from our youth until now; both we and our 
 fathers: that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; 
 because the Mizraee keep at a distance all shepherds of 
 flocks. 
 
 XLVII. And Joseph came and showed Pharoh, and 
 said. My father and my brethren, and their sheep and 
 their oxen, and all that they have, are come from the 
 land of Kenaan, and, behold, they are in the land of 
 Goshen. And of the extreme 9 of his brethren he took 
 five men, and made them stand before Pharoh. And 
 Pharoh said to his brethren. What are your employ¬ 
 ments ? And they said to Pharoh, Thy servants are 
 
 9 Of the entire number comprised between the first and last ? 
 
 H 
 
146 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 shepherds ; both we and our fathers. And they said to 
 Pharoh, To dwell in the land are we come, for there is 
 no pasture for thy servants' flocks ; for the famine pre¬ 
 vails in the land of Kenaan, and we pray thee let thy 
 servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharoh 
 spake to Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren 
 are come to thee; the land of Mizraim is before thee, 
 in the best of it let thy father and thy brethren dwell, 
 (even) in the land of Goshen: and if thou know any 
 of them to be men of ability, appoint them to be chiefs 
 over my flocks. And Joseph brought Jakob his father, 
 and presented him before Pharoh : and Jakob blessed 
 Pharoh. And Pharoh said to Jakob, How many are 
 the days of the years of thy life ? And Jakob said to 
 Pharoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a 
 hundred and thirty years. Pew and evil have been the 
 days of the years of my life, and I have not attained to 
 the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the 
 days of their pilgrimage. And Jakob blessed Pharoh, 
 and went out from before Pharoh. And Joseph made 
 his father and his brethren to dwell, and gave them a 
 possession in the land of Mizraim, in the best of the 
 land, in the land of Ramesis, as Pharoh had com¬ 
 manded. And Joseph sustained 1 his father and his 
 brethren, and all the house of his father, with bread, 
 according to the mouth of the family (of each). And 
 there was no bread in all the land; for the famine pre¬ 
 vailed greatly, and the people of the land of Mizraim 
 and the people of the land of Kenaan failed before the 
 famine. And Joseph collected all the money which was 
 found in the land of Mizraim and in the land of 
 Kenaan, for the corn which they bought. And Joseph 
 brought the money into the house of Pharoh. And 
 the money w r as finished from the land of Mizraim and 
 1 Sam. Vers., "sufficiently fed.” 
 
XLYII.] ON GENESIS. 147 
 
 from the land of TCenaan ; and all the Mizraee came to 
 Joseph, saying, Give us bread: for why should we die 
 before thee? for the money is finished. And Joseph 
 said, Bring your cattle, and I will give you provision, 
 if your money is finished. And they brought their 
 cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread for their 
 horses, and for their flocks of sheep, and for their herds 
 of oxen, and for their asses, and for all their cattle; he 
 fed 3 them with bread for that year. And that year was 
 completed; and they came to him in the second year, 
 and said to him, We will not conceal it from our lord, 
 but the money is ended, and (we have delivered up) our 
 cattle to our lord, and there is nothing left before our 
 lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we 
 perish before thee, both we and our land ? Buy us and 
 our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants 
 to Pharoh, and give us seed corn, that we may live and 
 not die, and the land may not be desolate. And Joseph 
 acquired all the land of Mizraim for Pharoh; for the 
 Mizraee sold every man his portion, because the famine 
 prevailed over them, and the land became Pharotr’s. 
 And the people he made him 3 to pass from city to city, 
 from one end of the limit of Mizraim to the other. 
 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for a 
 portion (was given) by Pharoh to the priests : and they 
 ate their portion which Pharoh gave them; therefore 
 they sold not their land. And Joseph said to the 
 people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your 
 land for Pharoh. Behold, (I give) you seed corn, that 
 you may sow the land. And it shall be, when it 
 bringeth forth produce, that you shall give one in five 
 to Pharoh, and four parts shall be yours, of the corn 
 of the field, that you and the men of your house may 
 
 2 Sam. Vers., “ he allotted them bread.” 
 
 8 Thus literally following the Hebrew. 
 
 H 2 
 
148 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 eat, and your little ones have food. And they said, 
 Thou hast preserved us; may we find grace in the 
 eyes of my lord, and we will be the servants of Pharoh. 
 And Joseph made it a statute unto this day over the 
 land of Mizraim, that one of five should be given to 
 Pharoh; only the land of the priests alone was not 
 Pharoh's. And Israel dwelt in the land of Mizraim in 
 the .land of Goshen, and possessed it: and they in¬ 
 creased and multiplied greatly. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 YAYECHI. 
 
 And Jakob lived in the land of Mizraim seventeen 
 years. And the days of the years of the life of Jakob 
 were a hundred and forty and seven years. And the 
 days of Israel drew near to die. And he called to his 
 son, to Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found 
 favour in thine eyes, put, I beseech thee, thine hand 
 under my thigh, and deal with me in goodness and 
 truth; nor bury me, I beseech thee, in Mizraim; but I 
 will sleep with my fathers; and thou shalt carry me 
 from Mizraim, and bury me in their sepulchre. And he 
 said, I will do according to thy word. And he said. 
 Swear to me; and he sware to him. And Israel 
 worshipped upon the pillow 4 of the bed. 
 
 XLVIII. And it was after these words that it was 
 said to Joseph, Behold, thy father is ill. And he took 
 his two sons with him, Menashe and Ephraim. And it 
 was shown to Jakob, and told (him,) Behold, thy son 
 
 4 Al risk harsa, “ upon the head of the bed.” 
 
OK GENESIS. 
 
 149 
 
 XLV1I1.] 
 
 Joseph cometh to thee. And Israel was strengthened , 5 
 and he sat upon the bed. And Jakob said to Joseph, 
 El Shadai revealed Himself to me in Luz, in the land of 
 Kenaan, and blessed me; and He said to me, Behold, I 
 will multiply thee, and make thee great, and will set 
 thee for an assembly of tribes, and will give this land to 
 thy sons after thee for an everlasting inheritance. And 
 now thy two sons which were born to thee in the land 
 of Mizraim, before my coming to thee into Mizraim, are 
 mine; Ephraim and Menashe shall be as Reuben and 
 Shimeon before me. And the children whom thou mayest 
 beget after them, who shall be thine, after the name of 
 their brethren they shall be called in their inheritance . 6 
 And I, in my coming from Padan, Rahel died by me in 
 the land of Kenaan, in the way, while as yet there was a 
 space of ground to come unto Ephrath. And I buried 
 her there, by the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 
 Aqjd Israel saw the sons of Joseph, and said, Who are 
 these? And Joseph said to his father. They are my 
 sons whom the Lord hath given me here. And he 
 said, Bring them now near to me, that I may bless 
 them. But the eyes of Israel were heavy from age, and 
 he could not discern. And he brought them near to 
 him, and he kissed them, and embraced them. And 
 Israel said to Joseph, I had not hoped 7 to see thy face, 
 and, behold, the Lord hath showed me thy sons also. 
 And Joseph led them from before him, and worshipped 
 with his face on the earth. And Joseph took both of 
 them, Ephraim in his right hand, on the left of Israel, 
 and Menashe in his left hand, on the right of Israel, 
 and brought them to him. And Israel stretched out 
 his right hand, and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who 
 was the younger; and his left hand on the head of 
 
 5 Sara. Vers., "strengthened himself.” 
 
 6 Sara. Vers., “ in their divisions.” 7 Sam. Vers., “ prayed.” 
 
150 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Menashe, using his hands designingly; (or, instructing 
 his hands;) for Menashe was the first-born. And he 
 blessed Joseph, and said. The Lord, before whom my 
 fathers Abraham and Izhak did serve; the Lord, who 
 fed me from my coming 8 unto this day; the Angel 
 who redeemed me from all evil, bless the youths; and 
 let my name be called upon them, and the name of my 
 fathers Abraham and Izhak; and as the fish of the sea 
 may they multiply 9 among the children of men upon 
 the earth ! And Joseph saw that his father laid his 
 right hand upon the head of Ephraim ; and it was evil 
 in his eyes. And he uplifted his father's hand, to 
 remove it from Ephraim's head, that it might rest on 
 the head of Menashe. And Joseph said to his father, 
 Not so, my father; for this is the first-born: lay thy right 
 hand on his head. But his father willed not, and said, 
 I know, my son, I know : he also shall be for a people, 
 and he also shall be great; yet his younger brother will 
 be greater than he, and his sons shall have dominion 
 among the nations. And he blessed them in that day,, 
 saying, By thee shall Israel bless, saying, The Lord set 
 thee as Ephraim and as Menashe. And he set Ephraim 
 before Menashe. And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I 
 die; but the Word of the Lord will be your Helper, 
 and restore you to the land of your fathers. And I 
 will give thee one portion more than thy brethren, 
 which I took from the hand of the Amoraah by my 
 prayer and by my deprecation. 
 
 XLIX. And Jacob called his sons, and said. Gather 
 together, and I will show you what will befall you in 
 the end of the days; assemble, and hearken, O sons of 
 Jakob, and receive instruction from Israel your father. 
 Reuben, thou art my first-born, my strength, and the 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., “from the house of my nativity.” 
 
 * Sam. Vers., “be spread abroad.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 151 
 
 XLIX.] 
 
 beginning of my power . 1 2 Thine should it have been 
 taking to take the three portions,—the birthright, the 
 priesthood, and the kingdom: but because thou hast 
 proceeded perversely , 8 behold, as water outpoured thou 
 wilt not prosper, neither wilt thou receive the excellent 
 portion; because thou wentest up to thy father's place 
 of sleep : then, my son, didst thou become profane, 
 when thou wentest up to my bed. 
 
 Shimeon and Levi are brothers; mighty men in 
 the land of their sojourning, they did mightily . 3 My 
 soul was not in their secret; into their company to 
 come I would not have descended from mine honour. 
 For in their anger they slew a slaughter, and in their 
 wilfulness they razed the wall of their enemy. Ac¬ 
 cursed 4 was their anger, for it was strong, and their 
 wrath, for it was relentless. I will divide them in 
 Jakob, and I will scatter them in Israel. 
 
 Jebuda, thou art praise and not shame; thy brethren 
 shall praise thee ; 5 thy hand shall prevail against thine 
 adversaries, thine enemies shall be dispersed; they will 
 be turned backward before thee, and the sons of thy 
 father will come before thee with salutations. The 
 dominion shall be (thine) in the beginning, and in the 
 end the kingdom shall be increased from the house of 
 Jehuda, because from the judgment of death, my son, 
 hast thou withdrawn . 6 He shall repose, and abide in 
 strength as a lion, and as a lioness, there shall be 
 no king that may cut him off. He who exerciseth 
 dominion shall not pass away from the house of Jehuda, 
 nor the saphra from his children's children for ever, 
 
 1 Sam. Ver9., “ the beginning of my time.” 
 
 2 Or, “ proceeded deceitfully.” Azalta lakabel appeka. 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “they accomplished the fraud of their covenant.” 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “ proud.” * Sam. Vers., “ love thee.” 
 
 6 Or, “ gone up.” 
 
152 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 until the Meshiha come, whose is the kingdom, and 
 unto whom shall be the obedience of the nations (or, 
 whom the peoples shall obey). Israel shall pass round 
 about in his cities; the people shall build his temple, 
 they will be righteous round about him, and be doers 
 of the law through his doctrine. Of goodly purple will 
 be his raiment, and his vesture of crimson wool with 
 colours . 7 His mountains shall be red with his vine¬ 
 yards, and his hills be dropping with wine; his 
 valleys shall be white with corn, and with flocks of 
 sheep. 
 
 Zebulon will dwell nigh the haven of the sea; he will 
 subdue provinces with ships, and will eat the good of 
 the sea, and his boundary shall come unto Sidon. 
 
 Issakar , 8 rich in substance, will have his heritage 
 between the boundaries; and he, seeing his portion 
 that it is good, and the land that it is fruit-bearing , 9 
 will subdue the provinces of the people, and disperse 
 their inhabitants, and they who remain of them will 
 become servants to him and bringers of tribute. 
 
 From the house of Dan will be chosen and will arise 
 a man in whose days his people shall be delivered, and 
 in whose years the tribes of Israel have rest together. 
 A chosen man will arise from the house of Dan, the 
 terror of whom shall fall upon the peoples; (a man) 
 who will smite the Philistines with strength, as the 
 serpent, the deadly serpent , 1 lurking 9 by the way, he 
 will slay the mighty of the Philistines' host, the horse¬ 
 men with the foot; he will weaken (loosen) the horses 
 
 7 Or, “ wool dyed bright with colours.” 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., “ Issakar, an ass sojourning, lying down between two 
 burdens.” 
 
 * Sam. Vers., “ fat.” 
 
 1 Churman: “ species serpentis ad cujus morsum nulla est medicinal 
 — Castel. Root, charem , “ to devote to destruction,” 
 
 2 Sam. Vers., “ erecting itself.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 XLIX.] 
 
 153 
 
 and chariots, and throw their riders backward. For 
 thy salvation have I waited, 0 Lord ! 
 
 From the house of Gad will armed hosts go over the 
 Jardena before their brethren to the battle; and with 
 much substance will they return unto their land. 
 
 The land of Asher will be good ; and he shall be 
 nourished with the dainties of kings. 
 
 In a good land will the lot of Naphtali be cast, and 
 his inheritance be fruitful; over them will they give 
 praise and benediction. 3 
 
 Joseph is my son who shall increase, my son who 
 shall be blessed, as a vine planted by a fountain of 
 vraters. Two tribes will come forth from his sons, and 
 they shall receive a portion and inheritance. The 
 mighty men, the men of division, were bitter against 
 him; they afflicted him and sorely grieved him; and 
 his prophecy shall be fulfilled in them, because he was 
 faithful to the law in secret, and set his confidence 
 firmly. Therefore w r as gold laid upon his arm, and the 
 kingdom was strengthened and confirmed. This was to 
 him from the mighty God of Jacob, who by His Word 
 pastureth the fathers and the children of the seed of 
 Israel. The Word of the God of thy father shall be 
 thy Helper, and the All-Sufficient shall bless thee, with 
 the blessings of the dew that descends from the heavens 
 above, with the blessings that spring from the depths 
 of the earth beneath, with the blessings of thy father 
 and of thy mother. The blessing of thy father shall be 
 added upon the blessing with which my fathers blessed 
 me; which the princes w T ho are of the world have 
 desired : all of them shall be upon the head of Joseph, 
 and upon the man who was separated from his brethren. 
 
 Benjamin : in his land will dwell the Shekina, and 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “Naphtali is a hind sent forth, giving words of 
 freedom.” 
 
 H 5 
 
154 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 in his possession will the sanctuary be builded. In the 
 morning and evening 4 will the priests offer the obla¬ 
 tion, and at eventime divide the remaining portions of 
 the residue of the sacred things. 
 
 All these the tribes of Israel are twelve ; and this it is 
 which their father spake to them, and blessed them; 
 according to the blessing of each man, blessed he them. 
 And he commanded them, and said to them, I am to be 
 gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the 
 cavern which is in the field of Ephron the Hitaah; in 
 the cavern which is in the double field over against 
 Mamre, in the land of Kenaan, which field Abraham 
 bought of Ephron the Hitaah for an inheritance- 
 sepulchre. There buried they Abraham and Sarah his 
 wife; there buried they Izhak and Bevekah his wife; 
 and there buried I Leah. The field, and the cavern 
 that is in it, purchased of the sons of Hitaah. And 
 Jakob ceased to instruct his sons, and drew his feet 
 together in the bed, and died, and was gathered unto his 
 people. 
 
 L. And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept 
 over him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded 
 his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and 
 the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were 
 completed to him; for so are completed the days of the 
 embalmed; and the Mizraee mourned for him seventy 
 days. And the days of his mourning passed : and 
 Joseph spake with the house of Pharoh, saying, If now 
 I have found favour in your eyes, speak, I pray, before 
 Pharoh, saying, My father adjured me, saying, Behold, 
 I die; in my sepulchre which I have prepared for me in 
 the land of Kenaan, there shalt thou bury me. And 
 now let me go up, I pray, and I will bury my father 
 and return. Aud Pharoh said, Go up and bury thy 
 
 4 Pania. Conf. the Ethiopic in Castel, under panu, col. 3021. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 155 
 
 L.] 
 
 father, as he adjured thee. And Joseph went up to 
 bury his father; and all the servants of Pharoh, the 
 elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of 
 Mizraim, went up with him ; and all the house of Joseph, 
 and his brethren, and the house of his father : only the 
 children, and the flocks, and the cattle, they left in the 
 land of Goshen. And with him went up, also, chariots 
 and horsemen ; 5 and there was a very great host. And 
 they came to the threshing-floor 6 of Atad, which is 
 beyond Jardena, and lamented there with lamentations 
 great and very strong. And he made a mourning for 
 his father seven days. And the inhabitants of the land 
 of Kenaan saw the mourning at the threshing-floor 6 of 
 Atad, and said. This is a mighty mourning of the 
 Mizraee; therefore its name is called Abel Mizraim; 
 which is beyond Jardena. And his sons did as he had 
 commanded them. And his sons carried him into the 
 land of Kenaan, and buried him in the cavern of the 
 Double Field, which Abraham bought for an inheritance- 
 sepulchre of Ephron the Hitaah, before Mamre. And 
 Joseph returned into Mizraim, he and his brethren, and 
 all who went up with him to bury his father, after he 
 had buried his father. And the brethren of Joseph 
 saw that their father was dead ; and they said, Perhaps 
 Joseph will retain enmity against us, and requiting will 
 requite us all the evil which we did him. And they 
 made visitation to Joseph, saying. Thy father commanded 
 before his death, saying, Thus shall you speak to Joseph, 
 I pray you to forgive the guilt of thy brethren and their 
 sin wherewith they did evil against thee. And now 
 forgive, I beseech thee, the guilt of the servants of the 
 God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake 
 with him. And his brethren came and fell before him, 
 and said. Behold, we are thy servants. And Joseph 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ footmen.” 6 “ The house of barns.” 
 
156 TARGUM OF ONKELOS ON GENESIS. [CHAP. L. 
 
 said to them, Tear not, for I fear the Lord. When you 
 thought evil against me, before the Lord it was intended 
 for good, to be done, as at this day, for the preservation 
 of much people. And now do not fear; I will sustain 
 you and your children. And he consoled them, and 
 spake consolation to their heart. 
 
 And Joseph dwelt in Mizraim, he and his father's 
 house. And Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. 
 And Joseph saw of Ephraim three sons; also the sons 
 of Makir, the son of Menashe, were born, whom Joseph 
 brought up. 
 
 And Joseph said to his brethren, I die; but the 
 Lord remembering will remember you, and bring you 
 up from this land to the land of which He sware to 
 Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob. And Joseph adjured 
 the sons of Israel, saying, The Lord remembering will 
 remember you, and you shall carry my bones up from 
 hence. And Joseph died, the son of a hundred and 
 ten years, and they embalmed him, and laid him in an 
 ark in Mizraim. 
 
 END OF ONKELOS ON BERESHITH. 
 
THE TARGUM OF PALESTINE, 
 
 COMMONLY ENTITLED 
 
 THE TARGUM OF JONATHAN BEN UZZIEL, 
 
 ON THR 
 
 BOOK OF GENESIS- 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 BERASHITH. 
 
 I. At the beginning (min avella) the Lord created the 
 heavens and the earth. And the earth was vacancy and 
 desolation, solitary of the sons of men, and void of every 
 animal; and darkness was upon the face of the abyss, 
 and the Spirit of mercies from before the Lord breathed 
 upon the face of the waters. 
 
 [Jerusalem Targum. In wisdom (be-hukema) the 
 Lord created. And the earth was vacancy and desola¬ 
 tion, and solitary of the sons of men, and void of every 
 animal; and the Spirit of mercies from before the Lord 
 breathed upon the face of the waters.] 
 
 And the Lord said, Let there be light to enlighten 
 above; and at once there was light. And the Lord 
 beheld the light, that it was good ; and the Lord 
 divided between the light and the darkness. And the 
 Lord called the light Day; and He made it that the 
 inhabiters of the world might labour by it: and the 
 darkness called He Night; and He made it that in it 
 
158 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the creatures might have rest. And it was evening, 
 and it was morning, the First Day. 
 
 [Jerusalem Targum. And it was evening, and it was 
 morning, in the order of the work of the creation, (or of 
 the beginning,) the First Day.] 
 
 And the Lord said. Let there be an expanse in the 
 midst of the waters, and let it separate between the 
 waters above and the waters beneath. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And let there be a separation between 
 the waters above and the waters below. 7 ] 
 
 And the Lord made the expanse, upbearing it with 
 three fingers, between the confines of the heavens and 
 the waters of the ocean, and separated between the 
 waters which were below the expanse, and the waters 
 which were above, in the collection (or covering) of the 
 expanse ; and it was so. And the Lord called the 
 expanse the Heavens. And it was evening, and it was 
 morning, the Second Day. 
 
 And the Lord said. Let the lower waters which 
 remain under the heavens be gathered together into one 
 place, and the earth be dried, that the land may be 
 visible. And it was so. And the Lord called the dry 
 (land) the Earth, and the place of the assemblage of 
 waters called He the Seas; and the Lord saw that it 
 was good. And the Lord said, Let the earth increase 
 the grassy herb whose seed seedeth, and the fruit-tree 
 making fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself upon 
 the earth. And it was so. And the earth produced 
 grasses (and) herbage whose seed seedeth, and the tree 
 making fruit after its kind. And the Lord saw that it 
 was good. And it was evening, and it was morning, 
 the Third Day. 
 
 And the Lord said, Let there be lights in the expanse 
 of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the 
 
 7 Maia araee, “ the terrestrial waters.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 159 
 
 fc] 
 
 night ; and let them be for signs and for festival times, 
 and for the numbering by them the account of days, 
 and for the sanctifying of the beginning of months, and 
 the beginning of years, the passing away of months, 
 and the passing away of years, the revolutions of the 
 sun, the birth of the moon, and the revolvings (of 
 seasons). 8 
 
 [Jerusalem. And let them be for signs, and for 
 seasons, and for the sanctifying by them of the be¬ 
 ginning of months and years.] 
 
 And let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the 
 heavens to give light upon the earth. And it was so. 
 And the Lord made two great luminaries; and they 
 were equal in glory twenty and one years, less six 
 hundred and two and seventy parts of an hour. And 
 afterwards the moon recited against the sun a false 
 report; 1 and she was diminished, and the sun was 
 appointed to be the greater light to rule the day; and 
 the moon to be the inferior light to rule in the night, 
 and the stars. And the Lord ordained them unto their 
 offices, in the expanse of the heavens, to give forth 
 light upon the earth, and to minister by day and by 
 night, to distinguish between the light of the day and 
 the darkness of the night. And the Lord beheld that 
 it was good. And it was evening, and it was morning, 
 Day the Fourth. 
 
 And the Lord said, Let the lakes of the waters 
 swarm forth the reptile, the living animal, and the fowl 
 which flieth, whose nest is upon the earth ; and let the 
 way of the bird be upon the air of the expanse of the 
 heavens. And the Lord created the great tanins, 8 the 
 lev-ya-than and his yoke-fellow which are prepared for 
 
 8 Or, “new moons.” 1 Vide Introduction, p. 11. 
 
 9 Any animals distinguished by great length, from tanan, “to extend, to 
 be prolonged.” 
 
160 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the day of consolation, and every living animal which 
 creepeth, and which the clear waters had swarmed 
 forth after their kind; the kinds which are clean, and 
 the kinds which are not clean; and every fowl which 
 flieth with wings after their kinds, the clean and the 
 unclean. And the Lord beheld that it was good. 
 And He blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, 
 and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply 
 upon the earth. And it was evening, and it was morn¬ 
 ing, Day the Fifth. 
 
 And the Lord said, Let the soil of the earth bring 
 forth the living creature according to his kind; the 
 kind that is dean and the kind that is unclean ; cattle, 
 and creeping thing, and the creature of the earth, 
 according to his kind. And it was so. And the Lord 
 made the beast of the earth after his kind, the clean 
 and the unclean, and cattle after their kind, and 
 every reptile of the earth after its kind, the clean 
 and the unclean. And the Lord saw that it was 
 good. 
 
 And the Lord said to the angels who ministered 
 before Him, who had been created in the second day 
 of the creation of the world, Let us make man in Our 
 image, in Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish 
 of the sea, and over the fowl which are in the atmo¬ 
 sphere of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the 
 earth, and over every reptile creeping upon the earth. 
 And the Lord created man in His likeness: [Jerusa¬ 
 lem. And the Word of the Lord created man in His 
 likeness, in the likeness of the presence of the Lord 
 He created him, the male and his yoke-fellow He 
 created them.] In the image of the Lord He created 
 him, with two hundred and forty and eight members, 
 with three hundred and sixty and five nerves, and over¬ 
 laid them with skin, and filled it with flesh and blood. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 161 
 
 II.] 
 
 Male and female in their bodies He created them. 
 And He blessed them, and the Lord said to them. 
 Increase and multiply, and fill the earth with sons and 
 daughters, and prevail over it, in its possessions; and 
 have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the 
 fowl of the heavens, and over every creeping animal 
 that creepeth upon the earth. And the Lord said. 
 Behold, I have given you every herb whose seed 
 seedeth upon the face of all the earth, and every un¬ 
 fruitful tree for the need of building and for burning ; 
 and the tree in which is fruit seeding after its kind, to 
 you it shall be for food. But to every beast of the 
 earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every 
 reptile upon the earth in which is the living soul, (I 
 have given) all green herbs. And it was so. And 
 the Lord beheld every thing He had made, and it was 
 very good. And it was evening, and it was morning, 
 the Sixth Day. 
 
 II. And the creatures of the heavens and earth, and 
 all the hosts of them, were completed. And the Lord 
 had finished by the Seventh Day the work which He had 
 wrought, and the ten formations which He had created 
 between the suns; 3 and He rested the Seventh Day from 
 all His works which He had performed. And the 
 Lord blessed the Seventh Day more than all the days 
 of the week, and sanctified it, because in it He rested 
 from all His works which the Lord had created and 
 had willed to make. These are the geneses of the 
 heavens and earth when they were created in the day 
 that the Lord God made the earth and heavens. And 
 all the trees of the field were not as yet in the earth, 
 and all the herbs of the field had not as yet germinated, 
 because the Lord God had not made it to rain upon the 
 
 5 Beini shimshetha. See Castel, Lex., cot 8784, and compare 
 Exod. xii. 6 ; “ from evening to evening.” 
 
162 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 earth, and man was not to cultivate the ground. But 
 a cloud of glory descended from the throne of glory, 
 and was filled with waters from the ocean, and after¬ 
 ward went up from the earth, and gave rain to come 
 down and water all the face of the ground. 
 
 And the Lord God created man in two formations; 
 and took dust from the place of the house of the sanctu¬ 
 ary, 4 and from the four winds of the world, and mixed 
 from all the waters of the world, and created him red, 
 black, and white; and breathed into his nostrils the 
 inspiration 6 of life, and there was in the body of Adam 
 the inspiration 5 of a speaking spirit,® unto the illu¬ 
 mination of the eyes and the hearing of the ears. 
 [Jerusalem. And Adam became a soul of life.] 
 
 And a garden from the Eden of the just was planted 
 by the Word of the Lord God before the creation of 
 the world, and He made there to dwell the man when 
 He had created him. And the Lord God made to 
 grow from the ground every tree that was desirable to 
 behold and good to eat, and the tree of life in the 
 midst of the garden, whose height was a journey of five 
 hundred years, and the tree of whose fruit they who 
 ate would distinguish between good and evil. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And the tree of knowledge, of which 
 any one who ate would distinguish between good and 
 evil.] 
 
 And a river went forth from Eden, to water the 
 garden, and from thence was separated, and became 
 four heads of rivers (or four chief rivers). The name 
 of the first is Phishon; that is it which compasseth all 
 the land of Hindiki, where there is gold. And the 
 gold of that land is choice. There is the bedilcha, and 
 the precious stones of byrils. And the name of the 
 
 4 Mount Moriah. Comp. chap. iv. 23. 5 Niskmelha. 
 
 6 Leruach memallela. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 163 
 
 II.] 
 
 second river is Gichon; that is it which encompasseth 
 all the land of Koosh. And the name of the third 
 river is Diglath; that is it which goeth to the east of 
 Athoor. And the fourth river is Pherath. 
 
 And the Lord God took the man from the mountain 
 of worship, where he had been created, and made him 
 dwell in the garden of Eden, to do service in the law, 
 and to keep its commandments. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And the Lord God took the man, 
 and made him dwell in the garden of Eden; and set him 
 to do service in the law, and to keep it.] 
 
 And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, Of 
 every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat. But 
 of the tree of whose fruit they who eat (become) wise 
 to know between good and evil, thou shalt not eat: for 
 in the day that thou eatest thou wilt be guilty of 
 death. 
 
 And the Lord God said, It is not right that Adam 
 should be sleeping alone : I will make unto him a wife 
 who may be a helper before him. 
 
 [Jerusalem. I will make for him a yoke-fellow, 
 going forth with him.] 
 
 And the Lord God created from the earth every 
 beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and 
 brought them to Adam, to see by what name he would 
 call it. And whatever Adam called the living animal, 
 that was its name. And Adam called the names of all 
 cattle, and all fowl of the heavens, and all beasts of the 
 field. But for Adam was not found as yet a helper 
 before him. [Jerusalem. And for Adam was not 
 found a yoke-fellow going forth with him.] 
 
 And the Lord God threw a deep slumber upon 
 Adam, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, it 
 was the thirteenth rib of the right side, and closed it 
 up with flesh. And the Lord God builded the rib 
 
164 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 which he had taken from Adam into a woman ; and 
 He brought her to Adam. And Adam said. This time, 
 and not again, is woman created from man. Thus, 
 because she is created from me, (she is) bone of my 
 bone, and flesh of my flesh. This it is fit to call 
 Woman, because from man she was taken. Therefore 
 a man shall leave, and be separate from the house of 
 the bed of his father and of his mother, and shall con- 
 sociate with his wife, and both of them shall be one 
 flesh. And both of them were wise, Adam and his 
 wife; but they were not faithful (or truthful) in their 
 glory: [Jerusalem. Therefore a man shall leave the 
 
 house of the bed of his father and his mother.And 
 
 they knew not what is shame.] 
 
 III. And the serpent was wiser unto evil than all 
 the beasts of the field which the Lord God had made. 
 And he said to the woman, Is it truth that the Lord 
 God hath said, You shall not eat of every tree of the 
 garden ? And the woman said to the serpent, From 
 the rest of the fruits of the trees of the garden we have 
 power to eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in 
 the midst of the garden the Lord hath said. You shall 
 not eat of it, nor approach it, lest you die. In that 
 hour the serpent spake accusation against his Creator, 
 and said to the woman. Dying you will not die; for 
 every artificer hateth the son of his art: for it is mani¬ 
 fest before the Lord, that in the day that you eat of it, 
 you will be as the great angels, who are wise to know 
 between good and evil. 
 
 And the woman beheld Sammael, the angel of death, 
 and was afraid; yet she knew that the tree was good 
 to eat, and that it was medicine for the enlightenment of 
 the eyes, and a desirable tree by means of which to 
 understand. And she took of its fruit, and did eat; 
 and she gave to her husband with her, and he did eat, 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 165 
 
 III.] 
 
 And the eyes of both were enlightened, and they knew 
 that they were naked, divested of the purple 7 robe in 
 which they had been created. And they saw the sight 
 of their shame, and sewed to themselves the leaves of 
 figs, and made to them cinctures. [Jerusalem. And they 
 made to them vestments.] And they heard the voice 
 of the word of the Lord God walking in the garden in 
 the repose of the day; and Adam and his wife hid 
 themselves from before the Lord God among the trees 
 of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam, 
 and said to him. Is not all the world which I have made 
 manifest before Me; the darkness as the light? and how 
 hast thou thought in thine heart to hide from before Me ? 
 The place where thou art concealed, do I not see ? 
 Where are the commandments that I commanded thee ? 
 
 [Jerusalem. Walking in the garden in the strength 
 
 of the day.And the Word of the Lord God called 
 
 to Adam, and said to him, Behold, the world which I 
 have created is manifest before Me, the darkness and 
 the light are manifest before Me; and how thinkest 
 thou that the place in the midst whereof thou art, is 
 not revealed before Me ? Where is the commandment 
 which I taught thee ?] 
 
 And he said, The voice of Thy Word heard I in the 
 garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked; and the 
 commandment which Thou didst teach me, I have 
 transgressed; therefore I hid myself from shame. And 
 He said, Who showed thee that thou art naked ? 
 Unless thou hast eaten of the fruit of the tree of 
 which I commanded that thou shouldst not eat. And 
 Adam said. The woman whom Thou gavest to be with 
 me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree, and I did eat. 
 And the Lord God said to the woman, What hast thou 
 done ? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me 
 
 7 Or,‘‘onyx-coloured.” 
 
166 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [cHAP. 
 
 with his subtilty, and deceived me with his wickedness, 
 and I ate. And the Lord God brought the three unto 
 judgment; and He said to the serpent, Because thou 
 hast done this, cursed art thou of all the cattle, and of 
 all the beasts of the field : upon thy belly thou shalt 
 go, and thy feet shall be cut off, and thy skin thou 
 shalt cast away once in seven years ; and the poison of 
 death shall be in thy mouth, and dust shalt thou eat 
 all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between 
 thee and the woman, and between the seed of thy son, 
 and the seed of her sons; and it shall be when the sons 
 of the woman keep the commandments of the law, they 
 will be prepared to smite thee upon thy head; but 
 when they forsake the commandments of the law, thou 
 wilt be ready to wound them in their heel. Neverthe¬ 
 less for them there shall be a medicine, but for thee 
 there will be no medicine; and they shall make 
 a remedy for the heel in the days of the King 
 Meshiha . 8 
 
 [Jerusalem. And it shall be when the sons of the 
 woman consider the law, and perform (its) instructions, 
 they will be prepared to smite thee on thy head to kill 
 thee; and when the sons of the woman forsake the com¬ 
 mandment of the law, and perform not (its) instruc¬ 
 tions, thou wilt be ready to wound them in their heel, 
 and hurt them. Nevertheless there shall be a medicine 
 for the sons of the woman, but for thee, serpent, there 
 shall be no medicine: but it is to be that for these 
 there shall be a remedy 8 for the heel in the days of the 
 king Meshiha.] 
 
 Unto the woman He said, Multiplying, I will multi¬ 
 ply thy affliction by the blood of thy virginity, and by 
 thy conception; in sorrow shalt thou bear children, and 
 
 8 Or, "make a bruise with the heel in the days of' the king 
 Meshiha.” “ Shephiutha, — contritio , al. complastrum .”—CasteL. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 in.] 
 
 167 
 
 to thy husband shall be thy desire, and he will have 
 rule over thee unto righteousness or unto sin. 
 
 But to Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened 
 to the word of thy wife, and hast eaten of the fruit 
 of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou 
 shalt not eat of it, accursed is the ground, in that it did 
 not show thee thy guilt; in labour shalt thou eat (of) 
 it all the days of thy life. And thorns and thistles will 
 it put forth and increase on account of thee, and thou 
 shalt eat the herb which is on the face of the field. 
 And Adam answered : I pray, through mercies from 
 before Thee, 0 Lord, that we may not be accounted as 
 the cattle, to eat the herb of the face of the field. Let 
 us stand up, and labour with the labour of the hands, 
 and eat food of the food of the earth; and thus let 
 there be distinction before Thee, between the children 
 of men and the offspring of cattle. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And thorns and dardareen shall it 
 increase to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb which is 
 on the face of the field. Adam answered and said, 
 I pray, through mercies from before Thee, O Lord, 
 that we be not accounted before Thee as the cattle, to 
 eat the herb which is on the face of the field. Let us 
 now stand up, and labour with the labour of the hands, 
 and eat food of the fruits of the earth; and in these 
 things let there be distinction before Thee between 
 the children of men and the cattle.] By the labour of 
 thy hands 9 thou shalt eat food, until thou turn again 
 to the dust from which thou wast created: for dust 
 thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return; for from the 
 dust it is to be that thou art to arise, to render judg¬ 
 ment and reckoning for all that thou hast done, in the 
 day of the great judgment. 1 
 
 And Adam called the name of his wife Hava, because 
 
 9 Kaph yedaka, “ of the palm of thy hands.” 1 Beyom dina rabba. 
 
168 TAUGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 she is the mother of all the children of men. And the 
 Lord God made to Adam and to his wife vestures of 
 honour from the skin of the serpent, which he had cast 
 from him, upon the skin of their flesh, instead of that 
 adornment which had been cast away; and He clothed 
 them. 
 
 And the Lord God said to the angels who ministered 
 before Him, Behold, Adam is sole 8 on the earth, as I 
 am sole in the heavens above; and it will be that they 
 will arise from him who will know to discern between 
 good and evil. Had he kept the commandments 
 which I appointed to him, he would have lived and sub¬ 
 sisted as the tree of life for ever. But now, because he 
 hath not kept that which I prescribed, it is decreed 
 against him that we keep 3 him from the garden of 
 Eden, before he reach forth his hand and take of the 
 tree of life: for, behold, if he eat thereof, living he will 
 live and subsist for ever. And the Lord God removed 
 him from the garden of Eden; and he went and dwelt 
 on Mount Moriah, to cultivate the ground from which 
 he had been created. And He drave out the man from 
 thence where He had made to dwell the glory of His 
 Shekina at the first between the two Kerubaia. Before 
 He had created the world, He created the law; He pre¬ 
 pared the garden of Eden for the righteous, that they 
 might eat and delight themselves with the fruit of the 
 tree; because they would have practised in their fives 
 the doctrine of the law in this world, and have main¬ 
 tained the commandments: (but) he prepared Gehin- 
 nam for the wicked, which is like the sharp, consuming 
 sword of two edges; in the midst of it He hath pre¬ 
 pared flakes of fire and burning coals for the judg¬ 
 ment of the wicked who rebelled in their life against 
 the doctrine of the law. To serve the law is better 
 
 2 Techidai — unions, vnigenitus. 3 Or, prohibit.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 169 
 
 IV.] 
 
 than (to eat of) the fruit of the tree of life, (the law) 
 which the Word of the Lord prepared, that man in 
 keeping it might continue, and walk in the paths of 
 the way of life in the world to come. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And the Word of the Lord God said, 
 Behold, Adam whom I have created is sole 4 in my world, 
 as I am sole in the heavens above. It is to be that a 
 great people are to arise from him; from him will arise 
 a people who will know how to discern between good 
 and evil. And now it is good that we keep 6 him from 
 the garden of Eden before he stretch forth his hand 
 and take also of the fruit of the tree of life, and eat, 
 
 and live for ever.And He cast out Adam, and made 
 
 the glory of His Shekina to dwell at the front of the 
 east of the garden of Eden, above the two Kerubaia. 
 Two thousand years before He had created the world, 
 He created the law, and prepared Gehinnam and the 
 garden of Eden. He prepared the garden of Eden 6 for 
 the righteous, that they should eat, and delight them¬ 
 selves with the fruit of the tree, because they had kept 
 tiie commandments of the law in this world. For the 
 wicked He prepared Gehinnam, which is like the sharp, 
 consuming sword with two edges. He prepared in the 
 depth of it flakes of fire and burning coals for the 
 wicked, for their punishment for ever in the world to 
 come, who have not kept the commandment of the law 
 in this world. Eor the law is the tree of life; who¬ 
 ever keepeth it in this life liveth and subsisteth as the 
 tree of life. The law is good to keep in this world, as 
 the fruit of the tree of life in the world that cometh.] 
 
 1Y. And Adam knew Hava his wife, who had desired 
 the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Kain; and she 
 
 * Yechidai, — unicus , unigenitus, “only begotten.” F Or, “prohibit.” 
 
 6 “ Seven things existed before the creation of the world,—the law, 
 repentance, paradise, hell, the throne of God, the name of the Messiah, 
 and the holy temple.”— Yalkut. Vide Introduction, p. 11. 
 
 I 
 
170 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 *?aid, I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord. 
 And she added to bear from her husband Adam his 
 twin, even Habel. And Habel was a shepherd of the 
 flock, but Kain was a man working in the earth. And 
 it was at the end of days, on the fourteenth of Nisan, 
 that Kain brought of the produce of the earth, the seed 
 of cotton (or line), an oblation of first things before the 
 Lord; and Habel brought of the firstlings of the flock, 
 and of their fat; and it was pleasing before the Lord, 
 and He gave (His) countenance to Habel and to his 
 oblation; but to Kain and to his oblation He gave no 
 countenance. And Kain was angered greatly, and the 
 features of his face were downcast. And the Lord said 
 to Kain, Why hast thou anger, and why are the features 
 of thy face downcast? If thou doest thy work well, 
 will not thy guilt be forgiven thee ? But if thou doest 
 not thy work well in this world, thy sin is retained unto 
 the day of the great judgment, and at the doors of thy 
 heart lieth thy sin. And into thy hand have I delivered 
 the power over evil passion, and unto thee shall be the 
 inclination thereof, that thou mayest have authority 
 over it to become righteous, or to sin. 
 
 And Kain said to Habel his brother. Come, and let 
 us two go forth into the field. And it was that when 
 they two had gone forth into the field, Kain answered 
 and said to Habel, I perceive that the world was created 
 in goodness, but it is not governed (or conducted) 
 according to the fruit of good works, for there is re¬ 
 spect to persons in judgment; therefore it is that thy 
 offering was accepted, and mine not accepted with good 
 will. 
 
 Habel answered and said to Kain, In goodness was 
 the world created, and according to the fruit of good 
 works is it governed ; and there is no respect of persons 
 in judgment; but because the fruits of my works were 
 
IV.] ON GENESIS. 171 
 
 better than thine, my oblation, before thine, hath been 
 accepted with good will. 
 
 Kain answered and said to Habel, There is neither 
 judgment nor Judge, nor another world ; nor will good 
 reward be given to the righteous, nor vengeance be 
 taken of the wicked. 
 
 And Habel answered and said to Kain, There is a 
 judgment, and there is a Judge; and there is another 
 world, and a good reward given to the righteous, and 
 vengeance taken of the wicked. 
 
 And because of these words they had contention 
 upon the face of the field; and Kain arose against 
 Habel his brother, and drave a stone into his forehead, 
 and killed him. 
 
 And the Lord said to Kain, Where is Habel thy 
 brother? And he said, I know not; am I the keeper 
 of my brother ? And He said, What hast thou done ? 
 The voice of the bloods of the murder of thy brother 
 which are swallowed up in the sod, crieth before Me 
 from the earth. And now because thou hast killed 
 him, thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened 
 the mouth, and received the bloods of thy brother from 
 thy hand. When thou tillest the earth, it shall not 
 add to give strength to its fruits for thee. A wanderer 
 and an exile shalt thou be in the earth. And Kain 
 said before the Lord, More heavy is my rebellion than 
 can be borne (away). Yet is there power before Thee 
 to forgive it. Behold, Thou hast cast me forth to-day 
 from the face of the earth, and from before Thee is it 
 possible to be hidden ? And because I am a wanderer 
 and an exile in the earth, any just one who findeth me 
 will kill me. And the Lord said to him, Behold now, 
 any one who killeth Kain, unto seven generations venge¬ 
 ance shall be taken of him. And the Lord sealed 
 upon the face of Kain the mark of the Name great and 
 
 i 2 
 
TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 172 
 
 [chap. 
 
 honourable, that any one who might find him should 
 not kill him when he saw it upon him. 
 
 [Jerusalem. 7. If thou makest thy work good in 
 this world, will it not be forgiven and remitted thee in 
 the world to come ? But if thou dost not make thy 
 work good in this world, thy sin is retained unto the 
 day of the great judgment; and at the door of thy 
 heart it lieth. Yet into thy hand have I delivered 
 power over evil passion, and to thee may be dominion 
 
 over it, to become righteous or to sin.8. And Kain 
 
 said to Habel his brother. Come, and let us go forth 
 upon the face of the field. And it was when they had 
 gone out upon the face of the field, Kain answered and 
 said to Habel his brother, There is neither judgment 
 nor Judge, nor another world; neither is a good 
 reward given to the righteous, nor will vengeance 
 be taken of the wicked. Nor was the world created 
 in goodness, nor in goodness is it conducted. There¬ 
 fore it is that thy oblation was accepted with good 
 will, and mine not accepted with good will. Habel 
 answered and said to Kain, There is a judgment, and 
 there is a Judge : there is another world, and a good 
 reward is given to the righteous, and vengeance taken 
 of the wicked. And in goodness was the world created, 
 and in goodness is it conducted. But according to the 
 fruit of good works is it conducted. Because my works 
 were better ordered than thine, my offering was accepted 
 with good will, and thine was not accepted with good 
 will. And as they two disputed on the face of the 
 field, Kain arose against Habel his brother, and killed 
 
 him.10. The voice of the blood of the multitude 
 
 of the righteous who were to arise from Habel thy 
 
 brother.13. And Kain said before the Lord, My 
 
 sins are greater than can be borne. Nevertheless 
 there is power before Thee to absolve and forgive me.] 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 173 
 
 iv.] 
 
 And Kain went out from before the Lord, and dwelt 
 in the land of the wandering of his exile, which had 
 been made for him from before, as the garden of Eden. 
 And Kain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare 
 Hanok; and he builded a city, and called the name of 
 the city after the name of his son, Hanok. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Kain went out from before the 
 Lord, and dwelt in the land of exile and wandering, 
 eastward of the garden of Eden. And it had been 
 before Kain slew Habel his brother that the earth mul¬ 
 tiplied fruits, as the fruits of the garden of Eden; (but) 
 from (the time that) he sinned and killed his brother, 
 it changed, to produce thorns and thistles.] 
 
 18. And there was born unto Hanok Irad, and Irad 
 begat Mechujael, and Mechujaei begat Methushael, and 
 Methushael begat Lemek. And Lemek took to him 
 two wives; the name of the first, Ada, and the name 
 of the second, Zillah. And Ada bare Javal; he was 
 the chief ( rab) of all those who dwell in tents, and are 
 masters of cattle. And the name of his brother (was) 
 Juval: he was chief {rab) of all those who take part in 
 song with the lyre and the pipe. And Zillah bare also 
 Tuvalkain, the chief {rab) of all artificers who know the 
 workmanship of brass and iron. And the sister of Tuval¬ 
 kain was Naama; she was mistress of elegies and songs. 
 
 And Lemek said to his wives Ada and Zillah, Hear 
 my voice, wives of Lemek, hearken to my words : for 
 I have not killed a man, that I should be slain for him; 
 neither have I destroyed a young man, on whose account 
 my children should perish. Eor Kain who sinned and 
 was converted by repentance (had protection) unto 
 seven generations extended to him: and to Lemek, the 
 son of his son, who hath not sinned, it is just that it 
 shall be extended unto seventy and seven. 
 
 And Adam knew his wife again, at the end of a 
 
174 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 hundred and thirty years after Habel had been slain; 
 and she bare a son, and called his name Sheth; for she 
 said. The Lord hath given me another son instead of 
 Habel whom Kain slew. And to Sheth also was born 
 a son, and he called his name Enosh. That was the 
 generation in whose days they began to err, and to 
 make themselves idols, and surnamed their idols by the 
 name of the Word of the Lord. 
 
 Y. This is the book of the genealogy of Man. 7 In 
 the day that the Lord created man, 7 in the likeness of 
 the Lord He made him. Male and female He created 
 them, and blessed them in the name of His Word; and 
 He called their name Man 7 in the day they were 
 created. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, 
 and begat Sheth, who had the likeness of his image and 
 of his similitude : for before had Hava born Kain, who 
 was not like to him; and Habel was killed by his hand. 
 And Kain was cast out; neither is his seed genealogized 
 in the book of the genealogy of Adam. But afterwards 
 there was born one like him, and he called his name 
 Sheth. And the days of Adam after he begat Sheth 
 were eight hundred years, and he begat sons and 
 daughters. 
 
 [Jerusalem. 4. Eight hundred years; and in those 
 years he begat sons and daughters. 5. And he died, 
 and was gathered from the midst of the world.] 
 
 And all the days of Sheth were nine hundred and 
 twelve years, and he died. And Enosh lived ninety 
 years, and begat Kenan. And Enosh lived after he had 
 begotten Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and 
 begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enosh 
 were nine hundred and five years; and he died. And 
 Kenan lived seventy years and begat Mahalalel. And 
 Kenan lived after he had begotten Mahalalel eight 
 7 Adam. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 175 
 
 V.] 
 
 hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters. 
 
 And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten 
 years ; and he died. And Mahalalel lived sixty-five 
 years, and begat Jared. And Mahalalel lived after he 
 had begotten Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and 
 begat sons and daughters. And all the days of 
 Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and 
 he died. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two 
 years, and begat Hanok. And Jared lived after he had 
 begotten Hanok eight hundred years, and begat sons 
 and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine 
 hundred and sixty-two years ; and he died. And 
 Hanok lived sixty-five years, and begat Methushelach. 
 
 And Hanok worshipped 8 in truth before the Lord after 
 he had begotten Methushelach three hundred years, and 
 begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Hanok 
 with the sojourners of the earth were three hundred 
 and sixty-five years. And Hanok served in the truth 
 before the Lord; and, behold, he was not with the 
 sojourners of the earth ; for he was withdrawn, and 
 he ascended to the firmament by the Word before the /^6, 
 Lord, and his name was called Metatron the Great/^ 32 £ 
 Saphra. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Hanok served in the truth before 
 the Lord; and, behold, he was not; for he was with¬ 
 drawn by the Word from before the Lord.] 
 
 And Methushelach lived a hundred and eighty-seven 
 years, and begat Lemek. And Methushelach lived after 
 he had begotten Lemek seven hundred and eighty-two 
 years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days 
 of Methushelach were nine hundred and two and sixty 
 and nine years; 9 and he died. And Lemek lived a 
 hundred and eighty-two years, and begat a son; and 
 
 8 Or, “ served.” 
 
 9 Tesha meah, vetarteen veshittin , utesha shenin. 
 
176 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 he called his name Noah, (Consolation,) saying, This 
 shall console us for our works that are not prosperous, 
 and for the labour of our hands with the earth which 
 the Lord hath cursed on account of the guilt of the 
 sons of men. And Lemek lived after he had begotten 
 Noah five hundred and ninety and five years, and begat 
 sons and daughters. And all the days of Lemek were 
 seven hundred and seventy and seven years; and he 
 died. And Noah was the son of five hundred years, 
 and Noah begat Shem, Cham, and Japhet. 
 
 VI. And it was when the sons of men began to 
 multiply upon the face of the earth, and fair daughters 
 were born to them; and the sons of the great saw that 
 the daughters of men were beautiful, and painted, and 
 curled, walking with revelation of the flesh, and with 
 imaginations of wickedness; that they took them wives 
 of all who pleased them. And the Lord said by His 
 Word, All the generations of the wicked which are to 
 arise shall not be purged after the order of the judg¬ 
 ments of the generation of the deluge, which shall be 
 destroyed and exterminated from the midst of the world. 
 Have I not imparted My Holy Spirit to them, (or, 
 placed My Holy Spirit in them,) that they may work 
 good works ? and, behold, their works are wicked. 
 Behold, I will give them a prolongment of a hundred 
 and twenty years, that they may work repentance, and 
 not perish. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And the Word of the Lord said, The 
 generations which are to arise shall not be judged after 
 (the manner of) the generation of the deluge, (which is) 
 to be destroyed, and exterminated, and finally blotted 
 out. Have I not imparted My Spirit to the sons of 
 men, because they are flesh, that they may work good 
 works ? But they do works of evil. Behold, I have 
 given them a prolongment of a hundred and twenty 
 
0N GENESIS. 
 
 VI.] 
 
 177 
 
 years, that they may work repentance; but they have 
 not done it.] 
 
 Schamchazai and Uzziel, who fell from heaven, were 
 on the earth in those days; and also, after the sons of 
 the Great had gone in with the daughters of men, they 
 bare to them : and these are they who are called men 
 who are of the world, 1 men of names. 
 
 And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was 
 great in the earth, and all the imagery of the thought 
 of his heart was only evil every day. And it repented 
 the Lord in His Word that He had made man upon the 
 earth; and He passed judgment upon them by His Word. 
 
 [Jehu salem. And there was repentance before the 
 Lord ih His Word that He had made man upon the 
 earth...And He said, and judged in His heart.] 
 
 And the Lord said, I will abolish by My Word man, 
 whom I have created upon the face of the earth, from 
 man to cattle, to the reptile, and to the fowl of the 
 heavens; because I have repented in My Word that I 
 have made them. But Noah, who was righteous, found 
 favour before the Lord. 
 
 [Jerusalem. But Noah, because he was righteous 
 in his generation, found favour and mercy before the 
 
 Lord.] 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 TOLEDOTH. 
 
 These are the genealogies of the race of Noah. 
 Noah was a just man, complete in good works in his 
 generation, (and) in the fear of the Lord walked Noah, 
 
 1 Gibreen demealma. 
 
178 TARGTJM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Cham, and 
 Japheth. 
 
 And the earth was corrupted through the inhabitants 
 thereof, who had declined from the ways of righteous¬ 
 ness before the Lord; and the earth was filled with 
 rapine. [Jerusalem. And the earth was filled with 
 violences and frauds.] And the Lord beheld the earth ; 
 and, lo, it was corrupt ; for all flesh had every one 
 corrupted his way upon the earth. 
 
 Aud the Lord said to Noah, The end of all flesh 
 cometh before Me, because the earth is filled with rapine 
 by their evil works; and, behold, I will destroy them 
 with the earth. Make thee an ark of the wood of 
 cedars; a hundred and fifty cells shalt thou make to 
 the ark in its left side, and thirty and six in its breadth; 
 and ten cabins in the midst, to lay up in them provision; 
 and five repositories on the right, and five on the left; 
 and thou shalt protect it within and without with pitch. 
 Go thou unto Phison, and take from thence a precious 
 stone, and fix it in the ark to illuminate you : with the 
 measure of a cubit (or span) shalt thou complete it 
 above. And a door shalt thou set in the side of the 
 ark; and with dwelling-places, inferior, second, and 
 third, shalt thou make it. And I, behold, I bring a 
 flood of waters upon the earth to swallow up all flesh 
 which hath in it the spirit of life from under the 
 heavens : whatever is upon the earth shall be swept 
 away. But I will establish my covenant with thee; 
 and thou shalt go into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and 
 thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee. And of 
 all that liveth of all flesh, two of every (kind) shall go 
 into the ark, to be preserved alive with thee: male and 
 female shall they be. Of the fowl after its kind, and 
 of all cattle after its kind, and of every reptile of the 
 earth after its kind, two of every (sort) shall enter to 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 179 
 
 VII.] 
 
 thee by the hand of the angel, who will take and cause 
 them to enter to thee, to be preserved. And thou, 
 take to thee of all food that is eaten, and let it be to 
 thee and to them for food. And Noah did according to 
 all that the Lord had instructed him. 
 
 VII. And the Lord said to Noah, Enter, thou, and 
 every one of thy house, into the ark; for thee have I 
 seen righteous before me in this generation. Of all 
 clean cattle take thou seven by seven, male and female, 
 and of all cattle not clean, two (and two), male and 
 female. But of birds of the heaven, seven by seven, 
 male and female, to preserve from them seed upon the 
 earth. Eor, behold, I give you space of seven days; if 
 they will be converted, it shall be forgiven them ; but if 
 they will not be converted, after a time of days yet 
 seven, I will cause rain to come down upon the earth 
 forty days and forty nights, and will destroy all bodies 
 of man and of beast upon the earth. And Noah did 
 according to all that the Lord had commanded him. 
 And Noah was the son of six hundred years when the 
 deluge of waters was upon the earth. And Noah 
 entered, and his sons and his wife and the wives of his 
 sons with him, into the ark, from before the waters of 
 the deluge. Of all cattle clean, and of cattle unclean, 
 of birds, and of whatever creepeth upon the earth, two 
 and two they entered unto Noah into the ark, male 
 and female, as the Lord had instructed Noah. 
 
 And it was at the time of seven days after the con¬ 
 clusion of the mourning for Methushelach, that the 
 Lord beheld, and, lo, the sons of men had not turned. 
 And the waters of the deluge came down hotly 3 from 
 the heavens upon the earth. In the six-hundredth 
 year of the life of Noah, in the second month, which 
 
 2 Rethichin, “ boiling.” The Midrash says, that “ the generation of 
 the flood was chastised with scalding water.” 
 
180 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 was the month of Marchesvan, 3 for hitherto the months 
 had been numbered from Tishri 4 which was the begin¬ 
 ning of the year at the completion of the world, in the 
 seventeenth day of the month, in that day were all the 
 fountains of the great deep broken up. And the 
 giants were gathered there together with their sons 
 and perturbed them, and afterwards the windows of 
 heaven were opened. [Jerusalem. And the windows 
 of heaven were opened.] And the rain came down 
 upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In that 
 same day entered Noah, and Shem, and Cham, and 
 Yapheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and 
 the three wives of his sons with him, into the ark: they, 
 and every animal after his kind, and all cattle after 
 their kind, and every reptile that creepeth upon the 
 earth after his kind, and every fowl after its kind, 
 every bird which flieth. And they entered to Noah 
 into the ark, two and two of all flesh in which was the 
 breath of life. And they coming entered, male and 
 female, of all flesh unto him, as the Lord had instructed 
 him; and the Word of the Lord covered over the 
 door of the ark upon the face thereof. [Jerusalem. 
 And the Word of the Lord was merciful upon him.] 
 And there was a flood forty days upon the earth, and 
 the waters were multiplied and bare up the ark, and it 
 was lifted from the earth. And the waters waxed 
 mighty and increased greatly upon the earth, and the 
 ark went floating upon the face of the waters. And 
 the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth, and all the 
 high hills .which were under the heavens were covered: 
 fifteen cubits higher did the waters prevail, and the 
 mountains were covered. And all flesh expired which 
 moveth upon the earth; of fowl, and of cattle, and of 
 wild beasts, and every moving thing that moveth upon 
 3 November. 4 October. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 181 
 
 VIII.] 
 
 the earth, and all the sons of men,—every thing in 
 whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all on the dry 
 land, died. And all the bodies of men and of beasts 
 upon the face of the earth, from man to cattle, to creep¬ 
 ing thing, and to the fowl which wingeth in the air of 
 heaven, perished from the earth ; and Noah only was 
 left, and they who were with him in the ark. And the 
 waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty 
 days. 
 
 YITT. And the Lord in His Word remembered 
 Noah, and all the animals and the cattle which were 
 with him in the ark; and the Lord caused the wind 
 of mercies to pass over the earth, and the waters were 
 dried. [Jerusalem. And He remembered in His 
 mercies the good which was with Noah. And the 
 Lord caused the wind of mercies.] And the fountains 
 of the deep were shut up, and the windows of heaven, 
 and the rain was forbidden to descend from heaven. 
 And the waters returned from being on the earth, 
 going and returning. And the waters were minished 
 at the end of a hundred and fifty days. And the ark 
 rested in the seventh month, which is the month of 
 Nisan, in the seventeenth day of the month, upon the 
 mountains of Qadron; the name of the one mountain is 
 Qardania/ and the name of the other mountain 
 Irmenia; and there was builded the city of Armenia in 
 the land of the east. And the waters went and dimi¬ 
 nished until the tenth month, the month Tammuz. In 
 Tammuz, in the first of the month, the heads of the 
 mountains were seen. And it was at the end of forty 
 days, and Noah opened the aperture of the ark which 
 he had made. And he sent out a raven; and it went 
 forth, going forth and returning, until the waters had 
 dried from the earth. And he sent forth a house-dove 
 
 s Or, “ Kurdania” 
 
182 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 from being with him, to see whether the waters were 
 lightened from off the faces of the earth. And the 
 dove found no rest for the sole of the foot, and returned 
 unto him to the ark ; and he knew that the waters were 
 (yet) upon the face of all the earth. And he reached 
 out his hand, and took and brought her unto him into 
 the ark. And he prolonged (waited) yet seven days, 
 [Jerusalem. And he began to number,] and again he 
 sent the dove from the ark. And the dove came to 
 him at the evening time, and, behold, a leaf of olive 
 gathered, broken off, she brought in her mouth, and 
 which she had taken from the Mount of the Meshiha.® 
 And Noah understood that the waters had lightened 
 from being on the earth. And he prolonged yet seven 
 days, and added to send forth the dove; but she added 
 not to return to him again. And it was in the six 
 hundred and first year, in Tishri, in the first of the 
 month, in the beginning of the year, that the waters 
 were dried from upon the earth. And Noah removed 
 the covering of the ark, and saw the faces of the ground 
 to be dried. And in the month Marchesvan, in the 
 twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Noah, saying : Go forth 
 from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and the 
 wives of thy sons, with thee. Every living animal that 
 is with thee of all flesh, of fowl, of cattle, and of every 
 reptile that creepeth on the earth, bring forth with thee, 
 that they may produce in the earth, and spread abroad 
 and multiply on the earth. And Noah went forth, and 
 his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons, with 
 him. Every animal, every reptile, and every bird, 
 which moveth upon the earth, according to its seed, 
 went forth from the ark. 
 
 And Noah budded the altar before the Lord; that 
 
 ‘ The Mount of Olives. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 183 
 
 IX.] 
 
 altar which Adam had builded in the time when he was 
 cast forth from the garden of Eden, and had offered an 
 oblation upon it; and upon it had Kain and Habel 
 offered their oblations. But when the waters of the 
 deluge descended, it was destroyed, and Noah rebuilded 
 it; and he took of all clean cattle, and of all clean fowl, 
 and sacrificed four upon that altar. And the Lord 
 accepted his oblation with favour : and the Lord said in 
 His Word, I will not add again to curse the earth on 
 account of the sin of the children of men; for the 
 imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth; 
 neither will I add to destroy whatever livetli as I have 
 done. Until all the days of the earth, sowing in the 
 season 7 of Tishri, and harvest in the season of Nisan, 
 and coldness in the season of Tebeth, and warmth in 
 the season of Tammuz, and summer and winter, and 
 days and nights shall not fail. [Jerusalem. Until all 
 the days of the earth from now, sowing and reaping, 
 and cold and heat, and days and nights shall not cease.] 
 
 IX. And the Lord blessed Noah, and his sons, and 
 said to them, Spread forth and multiply, and replenish 
 the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you 
 shall be upon every beast of the earth, and on every fowl 
 of the heavens ; of all that the earth swarmeth forth, and 
 all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they deli¬ 
 vered. Every moving thing which liveth to you shall 
 be for food : as the green herb have I given to you the 
 whole. But flesh which is torn of the living beast, 
 what time the life is in it, or that torn from a slaughtered 
 animal before all the breath has gone forth, you shall 
 noteat. But the blood of your lives will I require 8 
 of every animal which hath killed a man, I will require 
 
 7 Tequpha, “course, revolution of nature, season.” Vide Castel, 
 col. 3305. 
 
 8 Or, “ demand retribution.” 
 
184 TAUGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 that it be put to death on his account. And from the 
 hand of the human being, from the hand of the man 
 who hath shed the blood of his brother, will I require 
 the life of man. Whoso sheddeth the blood of man, 
 the judges, by witnesses, shall condemn him unto 
 death; but he who sheddeth it without witnesses, the 
 Lord of the world will bring punishment on him in the 
 day of the great judgment; because in the image of 
 the Lord He made man. And you, spread yourselves 
 abroad and multiply; bring forth in the earth, and 
 increase in it. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Noah, and to his sons with 
 him, saying, I, behold, I establish my covenant with 
 you, and with your children after you; and with every 
 living soul that is with you, of birds, and of cattle, and 
 of every beast of the earth that is with you, of all that 
 go forth from the ark, of every beast of the earth. And 
 I will establish my covenant with you, and will not 
 again cause all flesh to perish by the waters of a flood; 
 and there shall not again be a flood to destroy the 
 earth. 
 
 And the Lord said. This is the sign of the covenant 
 which I establish between My Word and between you 
 and every living soul that is with you, unto the genera¬ 
 tions of the world. I have set My Bow in the cloud, 
 and it shall be for a token of the covenant between My 
 Word and the earth. And it shall be that when I 
 spread forth My glorious cloud over the earth, the bow 
 shall be seen in the day (time), while the sun is not 
 sunk (or hidden) in a cloud. And I will remember My 
 covenant which is between My Word and between you 
 and every living soul of all flesh, that there shall not be 
 the waters of a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow 
 shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, to remem¬ 
 ber the everlasting covenant between the Word of the 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 185 
 
 IX.] 
 
 Lord and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the 
 earth. And the Lord said to Noah, This is the sign 
 of the covenant that I have covenanted between My 
 Word and between the word of all flesh that is upon 
 the earth. 
 
 And the sons of Noah who went forth from the ark 
 were Shem, Cham, and Japhet; and Cham is the father 
 of Kenaan. These are the three sons of Noah, and 
 from them they were spread abroad to dwell in all the 
 earth. 
 
 And Noah began to be a man working in the earth. 
 [Jerusalem. And Noah began to be a righteous man, 
 and he planted a vineyard.] And he found a vine 
 which the river had brought away from the garden of 
 Eden; and he planted it in a vineyard, and it flourished 
 in a day; and its grapes became ripe, and he pressed 
 them out. And he drank of the wine 8 and was 
 drunken; and he made himself naked in the midst of 
 his tent. And Cham, the father of Kenaan, beheld the 
 nakedness of his father, and showed to his brethren 
 without. And Shem and Japhet took a mantle, and 
 bare it upon the shoulders of each, and went backward, 
 and covered the nakedness of their father; and their 
 faces were turned back, and the nakedness of their 
 father they did not behold. And Noach awoke from 
 his wine, and knew, by the relation of a dream, what 
 had been done to him by Cham his son, who was infe¬ 
 rior in. worth, on the account that he had not begotten 
 a fourth son. And he said. Accursed is Kenaan who is 
 his fourth son, a serving servant shall he be to his 
 brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God 
 of Shem, whose work is righteous; and therefore shall 
 Kenaan be servant unto him. The Lord shall beautify 
 the borders of Japhet, and his sons shall be proselyted 
 9 Chamra , “ red wine.” 
 
186 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 and dwell in the schools of Shem, and Kenaan shall be 
 a servant to them. And Noach lived after the deluge 
 three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of 
 Noach were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died. 
 
 X. These are the generations of the sons of Noach, 
 and (of the) sons (who) were born to them after the 
 deluge. 1 The sons of Japheth, Gomer, and Magog, 
 and Madai, and Javan, and Thubal, and Meshek, and 
 Thiras. And the names of their provinces, 3 Afriki, and 
 Germania, and Medi, and Makadonia, and Iatinia,* and 
 Asia, and Tharki. And the sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, 
 and Biphath, and Togarma. And the sons of Javan, 
 Elisha, Alas, and Tarsas, Akazia, and Dordonia. 
 
 [Jerusalem. The sons of Japheth, Gomer; and the 
 name of their provinces, Afriki, and Garmania, and 
 Madai, and Mokdonia, and Yatania, and Asia, and 
 Tharki. And the sons of Gomer, and the name of 
 their provinces, Asia and Pharkui (Phrygia ?) and Bar- 
 beria. And the sons of Javan, Elisha, and the name 
 of their provinces, Alastarasom, Italia, and Dordonia.] 
 
 From these were distributed the tribes of the islands 
 of the Gentiles, every one according to his language, to 
 his kindred in their nations. And the sons of Cham, 
 Kush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Kenaan. And the 
 name of their provinces, Arabia, and Mizraim, and 
 Alichrok, and Kenaan. And the sons of Kush, Seba, 
 and Havilah, and Sabta, and Baama, and Sabteka; and 
 the name of their provinces, Sinirai, and Hindiki, and 
 Semadi, and Lubai, and Zingai. And the sons of 
 
 On the ethnographic details of this tenth chapter of Genesis, com¬ 
 pare Midrash Rabba, f. 32, a; Talmud Jerus., megilla 5, b; the dis¬ 
 quisition of Leopold Dukes, Beitrage z. Geschichte der altesten 
 Auslegung des Alten Test., band ii., 51; and that of De. Kalisch, in 
 his Commentary on the chapter. 
 
 * Iparkaiolh, i. q. lirapx'ta. 
 
 * Athenia ? We have retained the uncouth spelling of the Targumist. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 187 
 
 x.] 
 
 Mauritinos, Zmargad and Mezag. And Kush begat 
 Nimrod : he began to be mighty in sin, and to rebel 
 before the Lord in the earth. He was a mighty rebel 
 before the Lord; therefore it is said, From the day that 
 the world was created there hath not been as Nimrod, 
 mighty in hunting, and a rebel before the Lord. And 
 the beginning of his kingdom was Bavel the Great, and 
 Hadas, and Netsibin, and Ketispon, in the land of Pon- 
 tos. Prom that land went forth Nimrod, and reigned 
 in Athur, because he would not be in the counsel of a 
 divided generation. And he left those four cities; and 
 the Lord thereupon gave him a place; and he builded 
 four other cities, Nineveh and Pelatiath, Kartha and 
 Parioth. And Talesar, which was builded between 
 Nineveh and Hadiath; that is a great city. And 
 Mizraim begat the Nivatee, and the Mariotee, and the 
 Livakee, and the Pantascinee, and the Pathrosim, and 
 the Nasiotaee, and the Pantapolotee, from whom went 
 forth the Philistaee and the Kaphodikaee. 
 
 [Jerusalem. 9. He was mighty in hunting and in 
 sin before the Lord; for he was a hunter of the sons 
 of men in their languages. And he said to them, 
 Leave the judgments of Shem, and adhere to the 
 judgments of Nimrod. On this account it is said. 
 As Nimrod the mighty, mighty in hunting and in 
 
 sin before the Lord.10. And the beginning of 
 
 his kingdom was Bavel, and Hadas, and Netsibin, 
 and Katispa in the land of Bavel. 11. Prom that 
 land he went out towards Athur, and builded Nineveh, 
 
 and Pelatiath-Kartha, and Hadiath.And Talesar, 
 
 between Nineveh and Hadiath, which is a great 
 
 city.13. And Mizraim begat the Mariotaee, and 
 
 Pentepolitaee, and Lusetaee, and Pelusaee, and the Pan- 
 taskenaee, from whom went forth the Philistaee and 
 Kapodekaee.] 
 
188 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Kenaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth, 
 and the Jebusaee, and the Emoraee, and the Gergeshaee, 
 and the Hivaee, and the Irkaee, and the Antosaee, and 
 the Lutasaee, and the Chomtsaee, and the Antekoee; 
 and after then the seed of the Kenaanaee were 
 scattered. 
 
 [Jerusalem. 17. And the Tripolaee, and the 
 Arkaee, and the Kaphrusaee. And the Antridanaee, 
 and the Chamatsaee, and the Antukeia: from Bavel, 
 after then, were distinguished the islands of the peoples.] 
 And the limit of the Kenaanaee w 7 as from Kothanis, 
 going up to Gerar, unto Azah, unto Sedom and 
 Amorah, Admah and Zeboim, unto Kaldahi. These 
 are the sons of Cham, according to the seed of their 
 genealogies, after their languages, in the dwelling of 
 their lands, in the kindred of their people.] 
 
 And to Shem also was born a son. He is the father 
 of all the sons of the Hebrews, the brother of Japheth, 
 great in the fear of the Lord. The sons of Shem : 
 Elim, and Athur, and Arphakshad, and Lud, and Aram. 
 Arphakshad begat Shelach, and Shelach begat Eber. 
 And to Eber were born two sons: the name of the one 
 was Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided; 
 and the name of the other Joktan. And Joktan begat 
 Elmodad, who measured (or lined) the earth with lines; 
 and Shaleph, who led forth the waters of rivers, and 
 Chatsarmaveth, and Jarach, and Harodam, and Uzal, 
 and Dikla, and Oval, and Avimael, and Sheba, and 
 Ophir, and Havila, and Jobab. All these are the sons 
 of Joktan. And the house of their dwelling was from 
 Mesha, by which thou goest up to Sepharvae, a moun¬ 
 tain of the east. These are the sons of Shem, accord¬ 
 ing to their houses, in the dwelling of their lauds, 
 according to the kindred of their people. These are 
 the houses of the sons of Noah, according to their 
 
XI.] ON GENESIS. 189 
 
 houses in their peoples, and from them are the peoples 
 distinguished in the earth after the deluge. 
 
 XI. And all the earth was (of) one language, and 
 one speech, and one counsel. In the holy language 
 spake they, that by which the world had been created 
 at the beginning. And it was while they were journey¬ 
 ing from the east that they found a plain in the land 
 of Bavel, and dwelt there. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And all the inhabiters of the earth 
 were (of) one language, and of one speech, and one 
 counsel: for they spake the holy language by which 
 the world was created at the beginning: while their 
 hearts erred afterwards from the Word of Him who 
 spake, and the world was, at the beginning; and they 
 found a plain in the land of Pontos and dwelt there.] 
 
 And they said, a man to his fellow, Come, we will 
 cast bricks, and put them in the furnace. And they 
 had brick for stone, and slime for cement. And they 
 said, Come, we will build us a city and a tower, and the 
 head of it shall come to the summit of the heavens; and 
 we will make us (an image for) worship on the top of 
 it, and put a sword in his hand to act against the array 
 of war, before that we be scattered on the face of the 
 earth. And the Lord was revealed to punish them for 
 the work of the city and the tower which the sons of men 
 builded. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And they said, Come now, and we 
 will build us a city and a tower, and the head of it shall 
 reach to the summit of the heavens, and we will make 
 
 us in it a house of worship at the top,.and we will 
 
 put a sword in his hand, lest there be set against him 
 the array of war, before we be scattered upon the face 
 of all the earth.] 
 
 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and the 
 language of all of them one: and this they have thought 
 
190 TAUGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 to do: and now they will not be restrained from doing 
 whatever they imagine. And the Lord said to the 
 seventy angels which stand before Him, Come, we will 
 descend and will there commingle their language, that a 
 man shall not understand the speech of his neighbour. 
 And the Word of the Lord was revealed against the 
 city, and with Him seventy angels, having reference to 
 seventy nations, each having its own language, and thence 
 the writing of its own hand : and He dispersed them 
 from thence upon the face of all the earth into seventy 
 languages. And one knew not what his neighbour 
 would say: but one slew the other; and they ceased 
 from building the city. Therefore He called the name 
 of it Bavel , 4 because there did the Lord commingle the 
 speech of all the inhabitants of the earth, and from 
 thence did the Lord disperse them upon the faces of all 
 the earth. 
 
 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a son 
 of a hundred years, and he begat Arphakshad, two years 
 after the deluge. And Shem lived after he had begotten 
 Arphakshad five hundred years, and begat sons and 
 daughters. And Arphakshad lived thirty and five years, 
 and begat Shelach. And Arphakshad lived after he had 
 begotten Shelach four hundred and thirty years, and 
 begat sons and daughters. And Shelach lived thirty 
 years, and begat Eber. And Shelach lived after he had 
 begotten Eber four hundred and three years, and begat 
 sons and daughters. And Eber lived thirty-four years, 
 and begat Peleg. And Eber lived after he had begotten 
 Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons 
 and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat 
 Reu. And Peleg lived after he had begotten Reu two 
 hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 
 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begat Serug. And 
 
 4 “Confusion.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 191 
 
 XI.] 
 
 Eeu lived after lie had begotten Serug two hundred and 
 seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug 
 lived thirty years, and begat Nahor. And Serug lived 
 after he had begotten Nahor two hundred years, and 
 begat sons and daughters. And Nahor lived twenty- 
 nine years, and begat Terah. And Nahor lived after he 
 had begotten Terah one hundred and sixteen years, and 
 begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy 
 years, and begat Abram and Nahor and Haran. 
 
 These are the generations of Terah. Terah begat 
 Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And it 
 was when Nimrod had cast Abram into the furnace of fire 
 because he would not worship his idol, and the fire had no 
 power to burn him , 5 that Haran's heart became doubtful, 
 saying, If Nimrod overcome, I will be on his side: but if 
 Abram overcome, I will be on his side. And when all the 
 people who were there saw that the fire had no power over 
 Abram, they said in their hearts, Is not Haran the brother 
 of Abram full of divinations and charms, and has he not 
 
 5 "Abram, being brought before Nimrod, was required by the tyrant 
 to worship the fire. e Great king/ said the father of the faithful, ‘ would it 
 not be better to worship water ? It is mightier than fire, having the power 
 to quench it/ ‘Worship the water then/ said Nimrod. Abram. 
 
 * Methinks it would be more reasonable to worship the clouds, since they 
 carry the waters, and pour them down on the earth.’ Nimrod. ‘Well, 
 then, worship the clouds, which, by thy own confession, have so great 
 power.’ Abram. ‘ Nay, if power is to be the object of worship, the prefer¬ 
 ence should be given to the wind, which by its greater force drives the 
 clouds before it.’ Nimrod. * I see we shall never have done with this 
 babbler. Worship the wind, then, and we will forgive thy former 
 profaueness.’ Abram. * Be not angry, great king: I cannot worship the 
 fire, nor the water, nor the clouds, nor the wind, nor any of the things 
 that thou callest gods. The power they possess is derived from a Being 
 who has all power and mercy and love: the Creator of Heaven and 
 Earth, Him only will I worship.’ ‘Then,’ said the king, ‘since 
 thou hast refused to adore the fire, thou shalt know for thyself its mighty 
 force.’ So Abram was thrown into a fiery furnace, but God delivered 
 him from its flames.” —Bereshith Rabbet,. 
 
192 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 uttered spells over the fire that it should not burn his 
 brother ? Immediately (min yad , out of hand) there fell 
 fire from the high heavens and consumed him; and Haran 
 died in the sight of Terah his father, where he was burned 
 in the land of his nativity, in the furnace of fire which 
 the Kasdai had made for Abram his brother. 
 
 And Abram and Nahor took to them wives: the name 
 of Abram's wife was Sara, and the name of the wife of 
 Nahor, Milcha, the daughter of Haran, the father of 
 Milcha and the father of Iska, who is Sara. And Sara 
 was barren, she had no child. [Jerusalem. And 
 Sara was barren, she had no son.] And Terah took 
 Abram his son, and Lot bar Haran, the son of his son, 
 and his daughter-in-law Sara the wife of Abram his son, 
 and went forth with them from Ura of the Kasdai, to 
 go to the land of Kenaan. And they came unto Haran, 
 and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two 
 hundred and five years. And Terah died in Haran. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 LECH LECHA. 
 
 XII. And the Lord said to Abram, Go thou from 
 thy land; separate thyself from thy kindred; go forth 
 from the house of thy father; go into the land which I 
 will show thee. And I will make thee a great people, 
 and will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou 
 shalt be blessed. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And I will constitute thee a great 
 people, and I will bless thee; and Abram shall be 
 strengthened with many blessings.] 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 193 
 
 XII.] 
 
 And I will bless the priests who will spread forth 
 their hands in prayer, and bless thy sons; and Bileam, 
 who will curse them, I will curse, and they shall slay 
 him with the mouth of the sword; and in thee shall be 
 blessed all the generations of the earth. [Jerusalem. 
 And I will bless him who blesseth thee, and he who 
 curseth thee shall be accursed; and in thy righteous¬ 
 ness shall all the generations of the earth be blessed.] 
 And Abram went, according as the Lord had spoken 
 with him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was 
 the son of seventy and five years at his going forth from 
 Haran. And Abram took Sara his wife, and Lot his 
 brother's son, and all the substance which they had 
 acquired, and the souls whom they had proselyted in 
 Haran, and went forth to go to the land of Kenaan. 
 And they came to the land of Kenaan. [Jerusalem. 
 And the souls of the proselytes.] And Abram passed 
 through the land unto the place of Shekem, unj/b the 
 plain which had been showed. [Jerusalem. The plain 
 (or valley) of vision.] And the Kenaanites were then 
 in the land; for the time had not yet come that the 
 sons of Israel should possess it. And the Lord was 
 revealed unto Abram, and said, To thy sons will I give 
 this land. And he budded there an altar before the 
 Lord, who was revealed to him. And he went up from 
 thence to a mountain which was eastward of Bethel, and 
 outspread his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on 
 the east ; and he builded there an altar before the Lord, 
 and prayed in the Name of the Lord. And Abram 
 migrated, going and migrating unto the south. 
 
 And there was a famine in the land, and Abram w^ent 
 down into Mizraim to be a dweller there, because the famine 
 was strong in the land. And it was, as he approached 
 to enter the limit of Mizraim, and they had come to the 
 river, and were uncovering their flesh to pass over, that 
 
194 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Abram said to Sara his wife, Behold, until this I have 
 not beheld thy flesh; but now I know that thou art a 
 woman of fair aspect. It will be, therefore, when the 
 Mizraee see thee, and view thy beauty, that they will 
 say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, and thee 
 will keep alive. Say, I pray, that thou art my sister, 
 that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my 
 life may be spared on thy account. And it was when 
 Abram had entered Mizraim, the Mizraee saw the 
 woman to be very fair ; and the princes of Pharoh 
 beheld her, and praised her to Pharoh ; and the woman 
 was conducted to the royal house of Pharoh. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And the woman was conducted to the palace 
 of Pharoh.] And Pharoh did good to Abram for her 
 sake ; and he had sheep, and oxen, and asses, and 
 servants, and handmaids, and she-asses, and camels. 
 And the Word of the Lord sent great plagues against 
 Pharoh and the men of his house, on account of Sara, 
 Abram's wife. And Pharoh called Abram, and said, 
 What is this that thou hast done to me ? Why saidst 
 thou, She is my sister ? When I would take her to me 
 to wife, plagues were at once sent against me, and I 
 went not unto her. And now behold thy wife, take 
 (her) and go. And Pharoh commanded men concern¬ 
 ing him, and they led him forth, and his wife, and all 
 that he had. 
 
 XIII. And Abram went up from Mizraim, he and 
 his wife (and) all that he had; and Lot with him, to 
 go to the south. And Abram had become very strong 
 in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he proceeded in 
 his journeyings from the south unto Bethel, and 
 returned to the place where he had outspread his taber¬ 
 nacle at the first, between Bethel and Ai, to the place 
 of the altar which he had made there at the beginning; 
 and Abram prayed there in the Name of the Lord. 
 
ON GENESIS, 
 
 XIII.] 
 
 195 
 
 And also unto Lot, who was remembered through the 
 righteousness of Abram, there were sheep and oxen and 
 tents. And the land could not sustain them to dwell 
 together, because their possessions were great, and they 
 were not able to dwell together. And contentions 
 arose between the shepherds of Abram's flock, and the 
 shepherds of the flocks of Lot; for the shepherds of 
 Abram had been instructed by him not to go among 
 the Kenaanaee and the Pherizaee, who, as yet, had power 
 in the land, and to restrain the cattle that they should 
 make no depredation in going to the place of their 
 pasture : but the shepherds of Lot would go and feed 
 in the grounds of the Kenaanaee and Pherizaee who 
 yet dwelt in the land. [Jerusalem. 6 . Their trea¬ 
 sures. 7. And there was strife between the shep¬ 
 herds of Abram's cattle and the shepherds of the cattle 
 of Lot. The shepherds of Abram restrained their 
 beasts until the time of their coming to the place of 
 their pasture; but the shepherds of Lot did not restrain 
 their beasts, but turned them free, and went. Put 
 Abram's shepherds had been instructed by Abram their 
 righteous master, Go not to the Kenaanaee and Phe¬ 
 rizaee ; for as yet they have possession in the land.] 
 
 And Abram said to Lot, Between me and thee let 
 there not now be controversy, nor between my shepherds 
 and thy shepherds; for we are brother-men. Is not all 
 the land before thee ? Separate then from me. If 
 thou to the north, I to the south : if thou to the south, 
 
 I to the north. And Lot uplifted his eyes towards (the 
 place of) fornication; and beheld all the plain of Jar- 
 dena that it was altogether well watered, 6 before the 
 Lord in his wrath had destroyed Sedom and Amorah • 
 i land admirable for trees, as the garden of the Lord,’ 
 md for fruitage, as the land of Mizraim as thou goest 
 
 * “ A place of waters.” 
 
196 TAKGTJM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 up to Zoar. And Lot chose to him all the plain of 
 Jardena; and Lot journeyed from the east, and they 
 separated the one man from his brother. Abram 
 dwelt in the land of Kenaan, and Lot dwelt in the 
 towns of the plain, and spread his tabernacle towards 
 Sedom. And the men of Sedom were depraved, in their 
 wealth one with another, and they sinned in their 
 bodies; they sinned with open nakedness, and the 
 shedding of innocent blood, and practised strange wor¬ 
 ship, and rebelled greatly against the name of the Lord. 
 
 And the Lord said to Abram, after that Lot had 
 separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look, 
 from the place where thou art, to the north and to the 
 south, to the east and to the west: for all the land that 
 thou seest will I give unto thee, and to thy sons, for 
 ever. And I will make thy sons manifold as the dust 
 of the earth, as that, as it is impossible for a man to 
 number the dust of the earth, so also it shall be impos¬ 
 sible to number thy sons. Arise, journey in the land, 
 and make occupation of it in length and breadth; for 
 to thee will I give it. And Abram stretched his tent 
 (and made folds) for oxen and sheep, and came and 
 dwelt in the vale of Mamre which is in Hebron, and 
 builded there an altar before the Lord. 
 
 XIV. And it was in the days of Amraphel,—he is 
 Nimrod, who commanded Abram to be cast into the 
 furnace; he was then king of Pontos; Ariok, (so 
 called) because he was ( arik ) tall among the giants, 
 king of Thalasar, Kedarlaomer, (so called) because 7 he 
 had bound himself (or gone over) among the bondmen 
 of the king of Elam, and Thidal, crafty as a fox, king 
 of the peoples subjected to him, 8 —made war with Bera, 
 
 7 Keshar, “ to bind,” changed to kedar , with the name Elam or 
 Olam;—a dubious etymology. 
 
 8 The gloss on each name is derived from the root. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 197 
 
 XIV.] 
 
 whose deeds were evil, king of Sedom, and with Birsha, 
 whose deeds were with the wicked, king of Amora: 
 Shinab, who had hated his father, king of Admah, and 
 Shemebar, who had corrupted himself with fornication, 
 king of Zeboim; and the king of the city which con¬ 
 sumed (Bela) the dwellers thereof, which is Zoar. All 
 these were joined in the vale of the gardens (jt mredesaia), 
 the place that produced the streamlets of waters that 
 empty themselves into the sea of salt. Twelve years 
 they had served Kedarlaomer; and in the thirteenth 
 year they had rebelled. And in the fourteenth year 
 came Kedarlaomer and the kings who were with him, 
 and smote the Giants (gibboraia) which were in Ashta- 
 roth-Karniam, and the Strong who were in Hametha, 
 and the Terrible who were in the plain of Kiriathaim, 
 and the Choraee (dwellers in caverns) who were in the 
 high mountains of Gebala, unto the valley of Pharan, 
 which was nigh upon the edge of the desert. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. 3. All these were joined in the valley of the 
 gardens. 5. And they slew the giants who were in 
 Ashtaroth-Karnaim, 9 the famed 10 who were among them, 
 and the formidable who inhabited the city which they 
 had built, and the cavern people who dwelt in the 
 mountain of Gebala, unto the valley of vision which is 
 nigh upon the desert.] 
 
 And they returned, and came to the place where was 
 rendered the judgment of Mosheh the prophet, to the 
 fountain of the waters of Strife, which is Requam. And 
 they smote all the tields of the Amalkaee, and also the 
 Emoraee, who dwelt in En-gedi. And the king of 
 Sedom, and the king of Amorah, and the king of 
 Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of the 
 city which consumed its inhabitants, which is Zoar, 
 
 9 “ The horned A'shtaroth,” i. e., the Moon and Venus. 
 
 10 Or, “ illustrious.” 
 
198 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 went forth, and set the array of battle against them in 
 the valley of the gardens; with Kedarlaomer king of 
 Elam, and Thidal king of the nations obedient to him, 
 and Amraphel king of Pontos, and Ariok king of 
 Thelasar; four kings arrayed in battle against five. 
 [Jerusalem. And Amraphel king of Pontos, and 
 Ariok king of Elasar: four kings against five spread 
 out the array of war.] And the valley of the gardens 
 had many pits filled with bitumen : [Jerusalem. The 
 valley of the gardens was full of pits of bitumen :] and 
 the kings of Sedom and Amora fled away, and fell 
 there; and they who were left fled to the mountain^. 
 And they took all the property of Sedom and Amora, 
 and all their food, and went. And they made captive 
 Lot the son of Abram's brother, and his property, and 
 went. And he had dwelt in Sedom. 
 
 And Og came, 1 who had been spared from the giants 
 that died in the deluge, and had ridden protected upon 
 the top of the ark, and sustained with food by Noah; 
 not being spared through his righteousness, but that 
 the inhabitants of the world might see the power of the 
 Lord, and say, Were there not giants who in the first 
 times rebelled against the Lord of the world, and 
 perished from the earth ? But when these kings made 
 w r ar, behold, Og, w r ho was with them, said in his heart, 
 I will go and show Abram concerning Lot, who is led 
 captive, that he may come and deliver him from the hands 
 of the kings into whose hands he has been delivered. 
 And he arose and came, upon the eve of the day of 
 the Pascha, and found him making the unleavened cakes. 
 Then showed he to Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in 
 
 1 “ Beside Noah, Og the king of Bashan was saved; for he laid hold 
 on one of the beams of the ark, and sware to Noah that he and his 
 posterity would serve him as hondmen. Noah made an opening through 
 the wall of the ark, and gave Og some food daily: for it is written, 
 Ouly Og the king of Bashan survived of all the giants/’— Midrash. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 399 
 
 XIV.] 
 
 the valleys of Mamre Amoraah, brother of Eshkol and 
 brother of Aner, who were men of covenant with 
 Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was 
 made captive, he armed his young men who were trained 
 for war, grown up in his house; but they willed not to 
 go with him. And he chose from them Eliezer the son 
 of Nimrod, who was equal in strength to all the three 
 hundred and eighteen; and he pursued unto Dan. 
 [Jerusalem. Domestics ( marbitsi , down-liers) of his 
 house, eighteen and three hundred, and pursued after 
 them unto Dan of Kisarion.] And he divided them at 
 night in the way ; a part were to engage with the kings, 
 and a part were hidden to smite the firstborn of Egypt. 
 And he arose, he and his servants, and smote them, and 
 pursued them which remained of them unto (the place) 
 of the memorial of sin which was to be in Dan, from 
 the north of Darmesek. [Jerusalem. And he pur¬ 
 sued them unto Havetha, which is from the north of 
 Darmesek.] And he brought back all the substance, 
 and also Lot his brother and his substance he brought 
 back, and also the women and the people. And the 
 king of Sedom came forth, after that he returned from 
 destroying Kedarlaomer and the kings who were with 
 him, to meet him at the plain of Mephana, which was 
 the king^s race-course. 2 [Jerusalem. And the kings 
 who were with him, at the plain of vision which was 
 the house of the king’s plain.] 
 
 And Malka Zadika, who was Shem bar Noah, the 
 king of Yerushalem, came forth to meet Abram, and 
 brought forth to him bread and wine; and in that time 
 he ministered before Eloha Ilaha. 3 [Jerusalem. And 
 Malki Zedek, king of Yerushalem, who was Shem, who 
 was the great priest of the Most High.] And he 
 blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Lord 
 
 2 Beth risa da malka. 3 “ God the Most High,” 
 
200 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 God Most High, who for the righteous possesseth the 
 heavens and the earth. And blessed be Eloha Ilaha, 
 who hath made thine enemies as a shield which re- 
 ceiveth a blow. And he gave to him one of ten, of all 
 which he brought back. 
 
 And the king of Sedom said to Abram, Give me the 
 souls of the men of my people whom thou hast brought 
 back, and the substance take to thyself. [Jerusalem. 
 And the treasure take to thee.] And Abram said to 
 the king of Sedom, I have uplifted my hands in an oath 
 before the Lord God the Most High, who for the just 
 possesseth his possession of the heavens and the earth, 
 if from a thread to the latchet of a sandal I receive 
 any thing of all that is thine; lest thou magnify thyself 
 in saying, I have enriched Abram from mine own. 
 Have I not power over all the spoil ?—Apart from what 
 the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men 
 who went with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, they 
 also receiving their portion. [Jerusalem. If from a 
 thread to the latchet of a sandal I receive of all that is 
 thine : that thou magnify not thyself and say, I have 
 enriched Abram.} 
 
 XV. After these words, when the kings had gathered 
 together, and had fallen before Abram ; and four kings 
 had been slain, and nine hosts brought back, Abram 
 reasoned in his heart, and said, Woe to me, because I 
 have received the reward of my appointments in this 
 world, and have no portion in the world to come. Or 
 peradventure the brethren and friends of those who 
 have been slain will combine in legions and come 
 against me; or that at that time there was found with 
 me the reward of a little righteousness, so that they fell 
 before me; but the second time reward may not be 
 found with me, and by me the name of the Heavens 
 may be profaned. Thereupon was the word Q mthgama) 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 201 
 
 XV.] 
 
 of the Lord with Abram in a vision, saying, Pear not; 
 for if these men should gather together in legions and 
 come against thee, My Word ( Memra ) will be thy shield : 
 and also if these fall before thee in this world, the re¬ 
 ward of thy good works shall be kept, and be prepared 
 before Me in the world to come, great exceedingly. 
 
 And Abram said, Lord God, great blessings hast 
 Thou given me, and great (are they which it is) before 
 Thee to give me : nevertheless, what profit is to me, when 
 I pass from the world without children, and Eliezer the 
 manager [bar pharnasath, the son of sustenance) of my 
 house, by whose hands signs were wrought for (or to) 
 me in Darmasek, expects to be my heir ? And Abram 
 said, Behold, to me Thou hast not given a son; and, 
 behold, the manager of my house will be my heir. 
 And, behold, a word from before the Lord was to him, 
 saying, He shall not be thine heir; but a son whom 
 thou wilt beget shall be thy heir. And He brought him 
 forth without, and said, Look up now to the heavens, 
 and number the stars, if thou art able to number them : 
 and he said, So will be thy sons. And he believed in 
 the Lord, and had faith in the [Memra) Word of the 
 Lord, and He reckoned it to him for righteousness (li- 
 zeku), because he parleyed not before him with words. 
 
 , And He said to him, I am the Lord who brought thee 
 out of the fiery furnace of the Kasdai, to give thee this 
 land to inherit. And he said, Lord God, by what may 
 I know that I shall be the heir of it ? And He said, 
 Bring Me oblations, and offer before Me an heifer of 
 three years, and a goat of three years, a ram of three 
 years, and a dove, and the young of a pigeon. And he 
 brought all these before Him, and divided them in the 
 midst, and set in order every division over against its 
 fellow; but the fowl he divided not. And there came 
 down idolatrous peoples which are like to unclean birds, 
 
202 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 to steal away the sacrifices of Israel; but the righteous¬ 
 ness of Abram was a shield over them. And when the 
 sun was nearing to set, a deep sleep was thrown upon 
 Abram : and, behold, four kingdoms arose to enslave 
 his children : Terror, which is Bavel; Darkness, which 
 is Madai; 4 Greatness, which is Javan; 8 Decline, 6 which 
 is Pheras, 7 which is to fall, and to have no uplifting, 
 and from whence it is to be that the children of Israel 
 will come up. And he said to Abram, Knowing, thou 
 must know, that thy sons shall dwell in a land not their j 
 own, because thou hast not believed, and they will sub- ; 
 jugate and afflict them four hundred years; and also j 
 that the people whom they shall serve I will judge with ' 
 two hundred and fifty plagues, and afterwards they shall 1 
 go forth into liberty with great riches. And thou shalt 1 
 be gathered to thy fathers, thy soul shall rest in peace, ] 
 and thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And in ] 
 the fourth generation of thy sons they will return hither ] 
 to inherit; because the guilt of the Amoraah is not yet 
 complete. And when the sun had set there was dark- j 
 ness. And, behold, Abram saw Gehinnam ascending, i 
 smoke with flaming coals and burning flakes of fire, 1 
 wherewith the wicked are to be judged. And, behold, 1 
 He passed between those divisions. 
 
 [Jerusalem. 1. After these words, when all the I 
 kings of the lands, and the sultans of the provinces, 1 
 had gathered together, and had made war against I 
 Abram the Just, and had fallen before him, and he had 1 
 slain of them four kings, and had brought back nine 1 
 hosts, did Abram the Just reason in his heart, and say, 1 
 Woe, now, to me, because I have received the reward 1 
 ordained in the present world, and have no portion in * 
 the world to come. Or peradventure the brethren and 
 kindred of the slain who have fallen before me, who are 
 4 Media. 5 Greece. 6 Nep/itla, “falling.” 7 Persia. 
 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 203 
 
 XV.] 
 
 in their cities and provinces, will combine in great 
 legions, and come against me; or peradventure there 
 were in my hand a few commandments in the former 
 times, so that they fell before me when they had risen 
 up against me; or it may be that righteousness was 
 found in me at the former times, that they fell before 
 me, but at the second time it may not be found, and 
 the Heavenly Name will be profaned in me. Then was 
 the word of prophecy from the Lord unto Abram the 
 Eighteous, saying, Lear not, Abram, though they should 
 gather together and come against thee with many 
 legions, My Word shall be thy reward and thy shield 
 in this world, and a protector over thee all the days of 
 the world to come. And though I deliver up thy 
 adversaries before thee in this world, the reward of thy 
 good works is prepared for thee also before Me in the 
 world to come. 
 
 2. And Abram said. Before Thee I supplicate 
 mercy, O Lord God. Manifold blessings Thou hast 
 given me, and many hast Thou before Thee still to give : 
 nevertheless, what profit have I who go from the world 
 childless, and Eliezer, the son of my house, by whose 
 hands signs were wrought for me in Damasek, expecteth 
 in himself to be my heir? 7. And He said to him, 
 I am the Lord who brought thee out of the fiery 
 furnace from Ur of the Kasdai. 9. And a turtle and 
 a young pigeon. 10-12. And He brought before 
 him all these, and divided them into divisions, and set 
 one part over against its fellow; but the fowl He 
 divided not. And when the birds descended, they came 
 not nigh the divisions : those birds are unclean fowl, 
 and those unclean fowl are the kingdoms of the earth 
 which are worshippers of idols, and which counsel evil 
 counsels against the sons of Israel; but the integrity of 
 the righteous Abram hindered them. And when the 
 
204 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 sun was going to set, a sleep profound and sweet fell 
 upon Abram. And, behold, Abram saw four kingdoms 
 which should arise to bring his sons into subjection 
 (and) Terror—the Greatness—of Darkness—Pell—upon 
 him : Terror, that is Bavel; Darkness, that is Media ; 
 Greatness, that is Greece ; Fell, that is Edom, (Rome,) 
 that fourth kingdom which is to Fall, and never to 
 rise again for ever and ever. 17. And, behold, the 
 sun went to set, and there was darkness, and Abram 
 beheld till the seats were arrayed and the thrones set 
 forth. And lo, Gehinam, which was prepared for the 
 wicked in the world to come, enveloped in burning 
 flakes and flames of fire, into which the wicked had 
 fallen when in their lives they rebelled against the law, 
 while the just who had kept it had been delivered from 
 affliction. And all were seen by Abram while He 
 passed between those divisions.] 
 
 In that day the Lord ordained a covenant with 
 Abram, that He would not judge therein his sons, but 
 w 7 ould deliver them from the kingdom, saying, To thy 
 sons will I give this land, from Nilos of Mizraim unto 
 the great river, the river Pherath, the Shalmia, and the 
 Kenizah, and the Kadmonaah, and the Hittaee, and the 
 Pherizaee, and the Gibaraee, and the Emoraee, and the 
 Kenaanaee, and the Girgeshaee, and the Jebusaee. 
 [Jerusalem. And all the sons of the East.] 
 
 XVI. But Sara, the wife of Abram, had not borne 
 to him. But he had a handmaid, a Mizreitha, and her 
 name was Hagar, a daughter of Pharoh, 8 whom he gave 
 to him as a handmaid at the time that he received her, 
 being struck by the word from before the Lord. And 
 
 8 According to the Midrash , Hagar had been given as a slave to 
 Abraham by her father, the Pharaoh of Egypt, who said, “ My daughter 
 had better he a slave in the house of Abram, than mistress iu any 
 other.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 205 
 
 XVI.] 
 
 Sara said to Abram, Behold, now, the Lord hath 
 restrained me from bearing, go to my handmaid and set 
 her free ; perhaps I may be budded by her. And 
 Abram hearkened to the word of Sara. And Sara the 
 wife of Abram took Hagar the Mizreitha handmaid, 
 when Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kenaan, 
 and set her free, and gave her to Abram her husband to 
 wife. And he went unto Hagar, and she conceived; 
 and she saw that she had conceived, and the honour of 
 her mistress was despised in her eyes. 
 
 And Sara said to Abram, All my affliction is from 
 thee. Being secure that thou wouldst do me justice, I 
 left the land and house of my father, and came up with 
 thee to a foreign land; and forasmuch as I was not able 
 to become a mother, I set free my handmaid, and gave 
 her to lie in thy bosom; and she seeth that she hath 
 conceived, and mine honour is despised before her. 
 But now is my affliction manifest before the Lord, who 
 will spread peace between me and thee, and the land 
 shall be replenished from us, nor shall we need the help 
 of the progeny of Hagar the daughter of Pharoh bar 
 Nimrod, who threw thee into the furnace of fire. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Sara said, My judgment and my 
 affliction are delivered into thine hand. I left the house 
 of my birth, and the house of my father, and came with 
 thee in the faith of the Heavens. I have gone in with 
 thee before kings; before Pharoh King of Mizraim, and 
 before Avimelek king of the Philistaee ; and I have said 
 of thee, He is my brother, so that they might not kill 
 thee. And when I saw 7 that I was not made fruitful, I 
 took Hagar the Mizreitha, my handmaid, and gave her 
 to thee to wife, and said, She shall bring forth, and I 
 will bring up whom she may bear, that I may be 
 builded, be it only from her. But now seeing that she 
 hath conceived, my honour is contemned and despised 
 
206 TARGTTM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 in her sight. Now may the Lord appear, and judge 
 between me and thee, and fulfil mercies upon me and 
 thee, and spread His peace between me and thee, and 
 replenish the world from me and from thee, that we may 
 not heed the son of Hagar the Mizreitha handmaid, who 
 is of the children of the people who cast thee into the 
 burning furnace of the Kasdin.] 
 
 And Abram said to Sara, Behold, thy handmaid is 
 under thy authority : do to her what is right in thine 
 eyes. And Sara afflicted her, and she escaped from 
 before her. And the Angel of the Lord found her at 
 the fountain of waters in the desert; at the fountain of 
 waters which is in the way to Chagra. [Jerusalem. 
 Chalitza.] And He said, Hagar, handmaid of Sara, 
 whence comest thou, and whither dost thou go ? And 
 she said, From before Sara my mistress I have escaped. 
 And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to thy 
 mistress, and be subject under her hand. And the 
 Angel of the Lord said to her. Multiplying I will 
 multiply thy sons, and they shall not be numbered for 
 multitude. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, 
 Behold, thou art with child, and thou wilt bear a son, 
 and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because thy 
 affliction is revealed before the Lord. And he shall be 
 like the wild ass among men: his hands shall take 
 vengeance of his adversaries, and the hands of his 
 adversaries be put forth to do him evil; and in the 
 presence of all his brethren shall he be commingled, 
 ( yitharbeb , Arabized,) and shall dwell. And she 
 gave thanks before the Lord whose Word spake to her, 
 and thus said, Thou art He who livest and art eternal; 
 who seest, but art not seen ! for she said, Bor, behold, 
 here is revealed the glory of the Shekina of the Lord 
 after a vision. [Jerusalem. And Hagar gave thanks, 
 and prayed in the Name of the Word of the Lord, who 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 207 
 
 XVII.] 
 
 had been manifested to her, saying, Blessed be Thou, 
 Eloha, the Living One of all Ages, who hast looked 
 upon my affliction. Eor she said. Behold, Thou art 
 manifested also unto me, even as Thou wast manifested 
 to Sara my mistress.] Wherefore she called the well. 
 The Well at which the Living and Eternal One was 
 revealed; and, behold, it is situate between Rekam and 
 Chalutsa. And Hagar bare Abram a son, and Abram 
 called the name of his son whom Hagar bare, Ishmael. 
 And Abram was the son of eighty-six years when Hagar 
 bare Ishmael to Abram. 
 
 XVII. And Abram was the son of ninety and nine 
 years, and the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to 
 him, I am El Shadai; serve before Me and be perfect 
 (shetim) in thy flesh. And I will set My covenant 
 between My Word and thee, and will multiply thee very 
 greatly. And because Abram was not circumcised, he 
 was not able to stand, but he bowed himself upon his 
 face; and the Lord spake with him, saying, Behold, I 
 have confirmed (or divided) my covenant with thee; 
 and thou shalt be the father of many peoples. And 
 thy name shall be no more called Abram, but Abraham 
 shall be thy name, because to be the father of a great 
 multitude of peoples have I appointed thee. And I 
 will make thee exceeding fruitful, and will set thee for 
 congregations; and kings ruling over peoples shall come 
 forth from thee. And I have established My covenant 
 between My Word and thee, and thy sons after thee in 
 their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a 
 God to thee and to thy sons after thee. And I will 
 give to thee and to thy sons after thee the land of thy 
 habitation, all the land of Kenaan, for an everlasting 
 possession : and I will be to them Eloha. And the Lord 
 said to Abraham, And thou shalt observe my covenant, 
 thou and thy sons after thee in their generations. This 
 
208 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 is My covenant, that you shall observe between My 
 Word and you, and your sons after you :—Every male of 
 you being circumcised, though he have not a father to 
 circumcise him. And you shall circumcise the flesh of 
 your foreskin, as a sign of the covenant between My 
 Word and you. And the son of eight days shall be cir¬ 
 cumcised among you, every male in your generations; 
 from him who is brought up in your house, or bought 
 with your silver, unto evSry son of the peoples who is 
 not of you. He who is circumcised shall circumcise 
 him who is brought up among you, or bought with your 
 silver; and it shall be My covenant in your flesh for a 
 covenant for ever. And the uncircumcised male who 
 is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, unless, 
 he have some one to circumcise him, that man shall be 
 cut off from his people; he hath made My covenant to 
 pass away. And the Lord said to Abraham, The name 
 of Sara thy wife shall be no more called Sara ; for Sarah 
 shall be her name. And I will bless her in her body, 
 and will also give from her a soil to thee, and I will 
 bless him, and he shall be for assemblies, and kings 
 ruling over nations shall be from her. 
 
 And Abraham fell on his face, and wondered, and said 
 in his heart, Shall the son of a hundred years have 
 progeny, and Sarah, the daughter of ninety years, bear 
 a child ? [Jerusalem. And Abraham bowed upon his 
 face, and wondered.] And Abraham said before the 
 Lord, May not Ishmael be established, and serve before 
 Thee ? And the Lord said, In truth Sarah thy wife 
 shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name 
 Izhak; and with him I will confirm My covenant for 
 an everlasting covenant to his sons after him. And 
 concerning Ishmael I have heard thy prayer. Behold, 
 I have blessed him; and I will spread him abroad, and 
 multiply him very greatly. Twelve princes shall he 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 XVIII.] 
 
 209 
 
 beget, and I will give him to be a great people. But 
 My covenant will I establish with Izhak, whom Sarah 
 shall bear to thee at this time in the year after. And 
 He ceased speaking with him ; and the Glory of the 
 Lord ascended from Abraham. 
 
 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all brought 
 up in his house, and all bought with money, every male 
 among the household people of Abraham, and he cir¬ 
 cumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day in 
 which the Lord spake with him. And Abraham was 
 the son of ninety and nine years when he circumcised 
 the flesh of his foreskin. In the same day, in the 
 fourteenth year, was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael 
 his son. And every man of his house, the house- 
 trained, and the purchased with money of the sons of 
 the people, was circumcised with him. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 VAYERA. 
 
 And the glory of the Lord was revealed to him in the 
 valley of Mamre; and he, being ill from the pain of 
 circumcision, sat at the door of the tabernacle in the 
 fervour (or strength) of the day. And he lifted up his 
 eyes and looked, and, behold, three angels in the re¬ 
 semblance of men were standing before him ; (angels) 
 who had been sent from the necessity of three things; 
 —because it is not possible fora ministering angel to be 
 sent for more than one purpose at a time;—one, then, 
 had come to make known to him that Sarah should bear 
 a man-child ; one had come to deliver Lot; and one to 
 overthrow Sedom and Amorah. And when he saw 
 
210 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 them, he ran to meet them from the door of the tent, 
 and bowed himself on the earth. 
 
 [Jerusalem. Three angels were sent to our father 
 Abraham; and the three were sent for three things ; 
 —because it is not possible that one of the high angels 
 should be sent for more things than one. The first 
 angel was sent to announce to our father Abraham, 
 that, behold, Sarah would bear Izhak; the second angel 
 was sent to deliver Lot from the midst of the over¬ 
 throw; the third angel was sent to overthrow Sedom 
 and Amorah, Admah and Zeboim. Therefore was there 
 a word of prophecy from before the Lord unto Abraham 
 the Just, and the Word of the Lord was revealed to him 
 in the valley of vision; and he sat in the door of the 
 tabernacle, comforting himself from his circumcision in 
 the fervour (or strength) of the day.] 
 
 And he said, I beseech, by the mercies (that are) 
 before Thee, O Lord, if now I have found favour before 
 Thee, that the glory of Thy shekina may not now 
 ascend from Thy servant, until I have set forth pro¬ 
 visions under the tree. And I will bring food of bread, 
 that you may strengthen your hearts, and give thanks 
 in the Name of the Word of the Lord, and afterwards 
 pass on. Lor therefore at the time of repast are you 
 come, and have turned aside to your servant to take 
 food. And they said, Thou hast spoken well; do 
 according to thy word. And Abraham hastened into 
 the tent unto Sarah, and said to her. Hasten three 
 measures of flour-meal, mix and make cakes. And unto 
 the flock ran Abraham, and took a calf, tender and fat, 
 and gave to a young man, and hastened to make pre¬ 
 pared meats; and he took rich cream and milk and 
 the calf which the young man had made into pre¬ 
 pared meats, and set them before them, according to the 
 way and conduct ( hilkath ) of the creatures of the world; 
 
.XVIII.] ON GENESIS. 211 
 
 and lie served before them, and they sat under the tree; 
 and he quieted himself (to see) whether they would eat. 
 
 And they said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife ? 
 And he said, Behold, she is in the tent. And One of 
 them said, Returning I will return to thee in the coming 
 year; and you shall be revived, and, behold, Sarah thy 
 wife shall have a son. And Sarah was hearkening at 
 the door of the tent, and Ishmael stood behind her, and 
 marked what the Angel said. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And He said, Returning I will return 
 to thee at that time, to revive you, and, behold, Sarah 
 thy wife shall have a male child. And Sarah was 
 hearkening at the door of the tent, and Ishmael stood 
 behind her.] 
 
 But Abraham and Sarah were old, they had mounted 
 ( alu ) in days, and with Sarah the way of women had 
 ceased. And Sarah wondered in her heart, saying, 
 After that I am old shall I have conceptions, and my 
 lord Abraham is old? [Jerusalem. And Sarah de¬ 
 rided in her heart, saying, After that I am old, is it 
 possible to return to the days of my youth, for me to 
 have conception, and Abraham old?] And the Lord 
 said to Abraham, Why hath Sarah so laughed, saying. 
 Can it be in truth that I shall bear, being old ? Is it 
 possible to hide anything from before the Lord ? At 
 the gracious time I will return to thee, in the time when 
 you shall be revived, and Sarah shall have a son. And 
 Sarah denied and said, I wondered not; for she was 
 afraid. And the Angel said. Bear not: yet in truth 
 thou didst laugh. 
 
 And the angels, who had the likeness of men, arose 
 from thence, and the one who had made known the 
 tidings to Sarah ascended to the high heavens; and 
 two of them looked toward Sedom; and Abraham went 
 with them. [Jerusalem. And they looked towards.] 
 
212 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And the Lord said, with His Word, I cannot hide from 
 Abraham that which I am about to do; and it is right 
 that before I do it, I should make it known to him. 
 For Abraham is to be a great and mighty people, and 
 through him shall all the peoples of the earth be blessed. 
 [Jerusalem. And the Lord with His Word said. Shall 
 I hide from Abraham, My friend, that which I am about 
 to do ? Forasmuch as the town of Sedom is among the 
 gifts that I have given to him, it is just that 1 should 
 not overthrow it, till I have made it known to him.] 
 Because his holiness (piety, chas'idutha) is manifest 
 before Me, (and) that he will instruct his sons, and the 
 men of his house after him, to keep the ways that are 
 right before the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that 
 the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath 
 spoken concerning him. 
 
 And the Lord said to the ministering angels. The cry 
 of Sedom and Amorah, because they oppress the poor, 
 and decree that whosoever giveth a morsel to the needy 
 shall be burned with fire, is therefore great, and their 
 guilt exceedingly weighty. I will now appear, and see 
 whether, as the cry of a damsel torn away, which 
 ascendeth before Me, they have made completion of 
 their sins; (or, whether they have made an end of their 
 sins;) and if they have wrought repentance, shall they 
 not be as (if) innocent before Me ? and as if not know¬ 
 ing, I will not punish. [Jerusalem. Now will I 
 appear and see, according as the cry of the people of 
 Sedom and Amorah hath ascended before Me, w hether 
 they have made a complete end. It may be, that some 
 among these sinners do not know that their works of 
 evil are manifest before Me. And if they seek to work 
 repentance, behold, they shall be considered before Me 
 as if those works had not been known.] 
 
 And the angels who had the likeness of men, turned 
 
XVIII.] ON GENESIS. 213 
 
 thence and went towards Sedom. And Abraham now 
 supplicated mercy for Lot, and ministered in prayer 
 before the Lord. And Abraham prayed and said, Wilt 
 Thou destroy in Thy displeasure the innocent with the 
 guilty P Perhaps there are fifty innocent persons within 
 the city, who pray before Thee,—ten for every city, of 
 all the five cities of Sedom, Amorah, Admah, Zeboim, 
 and Zoar. Wilt Thou in Thy displeasure destroy and 
 not forgive the country, on account of the fifty innocent 
 ones who are in it? Unholy would it be before Thee to 
 do according to this word, to slay the innocent with 
 the guilty, and to make the innocent to be as the guilty ! 
 That be unholy with Thee. It cannot be that One who 
 is the Judge of all the earth should not do justice. 
 And the Lord said, If I find in Sedom fifty innocent in 
 the midst of the city who pray before Me, I will forgive 
 all the land on their account. And Abraham responded, 
 and said, I pray for mercy. Behold, now, I have begun 
 to speak before the Lord ; I, who am as dust and 
 ashes. Perhaps of the fifty innocent persons, five may 
 be wanting. On account of the five who may be want¬ 
 ing to Zoar, wilt Thou destroy the whole city ? And 
 He said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and 
 five. And he added yet to speak before Him, and said. 
 Perhaps there may be forty found there; ten for each 
 city of the four cities, and Zoar, whose guilt is lighter, 
 forgive thou for Thy mercy's sake. And he said, I will 
 not make an end for the sake of the forty innocent ones. 
 And he said, Let not the displeasure of the Lord, the 
 Lord of all the world, wax strong against me, and I 
 will speak. Perhaps thirty who pray may be found there, 
 ten for each of the three cities, and Zeboim and Zoar 
 forgive them for Thy mercy's sake. And He said, I 
 will not make an end if I find thirty there. And he 
 said, Imploring mercy, I have now begun to speak 
 
214 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 before the Lord, the Lord of all the world. Perhaps 
 twenty who pray may be found; ten in each of the two 
 cities, and the three forgive Thou for Thy mercy's sake ! 
 And He said, I will not destroy for the sake of the 
 twenty innocent. And he said, I implore mercy before 
 Thee ! Let not the anger of the Lord, the Lord of all 
 the world, grow strong, and I will speak only this time. 
 Perhaps ten may be found there; and I and they will 
 pray for mercy upon all the land, and Thou wilt forgive 
 them. And He said, I will not destroy for the sake of 
 the ten who may be innocent. And the majesty of 
 the Lord went up when He had ceased to speak with 
 Abraham ; and Abraham returned to his place. 
 
 XIX. Two angels came to Sedom at the evening; 
 and Lot sat in the gate of Sedom. And Lot saw, and 
 rose up to meet them from the gate of the tabernacle. 
 And he bowed his face to the ground, and said, I beg 
 now, my lords, turn now hither, and enter the house of 
 your servant, and lodge, and wash your feet; and you 
 will arise and proceed on your way. And they said to 
 him, No ; for in the street we will lodge. [Jerusalem. 
 And Lot sat in the gate of Sedom, and he saw them, 
 and ran and saluted them, and bowed with his face to 
 
 the ground.2. And wash your feet, and wash you 
 
 in the morning, and go to your tents in peace. And 
 they said to him, No; for in the open place of the city 
 we will lodge.] And he persuaded them earnestly, and 
 they turned aside to be with him; and they entered his 
 house, and he made a repast for them, and prepared 
 unleavened cakes. And it seemed to him as if they did 
 eat. [Jerusalem. And it appeared as if they ate and 
 drank.] 
 
 They had not yet lain down, when the wicked men 
 of the city, the men of Sedom, came round upon the 
 house, from the youth to the old man, all the people 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 215 
 
 XIX.] 
 
 throughout. And they cried to Lot, and said to him, 
 Where are the men who entered with thee to-night ? 
 Bring them out to us, and we will lie with them. And 
 Lot went out to them to the gate, and shut the door 
 after him. And he said, I pray, my brethren, do not 
 thus wickedly. Behold, now, I have two daughters 
 who have had no dealing with a man; I would now 
 bring even them out to you to do to them as is meet 
 before you, rather than you should do evil to these 
 men, because they have entered in to lodge under the 
 shadow of my roof. [Jerusalem. 7. And Lot said to 
 them, Wait here a little, till we have besought mercy 
 before the Lord. 8. Who have not known dealing 
 with man.] 
 
 And they said, Give up this. And they said. Did 
 not this come alone to sojourn among us ? and, behold, 
 he is making himself a judge, and judging the whole 
 of us. But now we will do worse to thee than to them. 
 And they prevailed against the man, against Lot, 
 greatly, and came near, to shatter the door. And the 
 Men stretched forth their hands, and brought Lot unto 
 them in the house, and shut the door. But the men 
 who were at the gate of the house they struck with a 
 suffusion of the eyes, from the young to the old, and 
 they wearied themselves to find the gate. [Jerusalem. 
 With blindness.] And the Men said to Lot, Hast thou 
 yet in this city kinsman or brother ? Thy sons-in-law, 
 thy sons and thy daughters, take forth from the place ; 
 for the cry of it before the Lord is great, and the Lord 
 hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went forth, and 
 spake with his sons-in-law who had taken his daughters, 
 and said. Arise, come forth from this place; for the 
 Lord destroyeth the city. But the word was as a wonder, 
 (and he) as a man ranting, in the eyes of his sons-in- 
 law. And at the time that the morning was about to 
 
216 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 uprise, the angels were urgent upon Lot, saying, Up, 
 take thy wife and thy two daughters who are with you, 
 lest you perish in the condemnation of the inhabitants 
 of the city. But he delayed : and the men laid hold 
 on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the 
 hand of his two daughters, for mercy from the Lord 
 was upon them. And they brought them forth, and 
 set them without the city. And it was that as they led 
 them without, one of them returned into Sedom, to 
 destroy it; and one remained with Lot, and said to him, 
 Be merciful to your life; look not behind you, and 
 stand not in all the plain; to the mountain escape, or 
 you perish. And Lot said to him, I beseech of thee 
 endure with me a little hour, until I have prayed for 
 mercy from before the Lord. [Jerusalem. 15. And 
 it was at the time of the upcoming of the column of the 
 
 morning.18. Be steadfast here a little with us until 
 
 I have besought mercy before the Lord.] Behold, 
 now, thy servant hath found mercy before Thee, and 
 Thou hast multiplied the kindness Thou hast done me 
 in saving my life, and I am not able to escape to the 
 mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. Behold, 
 now, I pray, this city, it is a near habitation, and con¬ 
 venient (for us) to escape thither; and it is small, and 
 the guilt thereof light. 1 will flee thither, then. Is it 
 not a little one ? and my life shall be preserved. And 
 He said. Behold, I have accepted thee in this matter 
 also, that I will not overthrow the city for which thou 
 hast spoken, to destroy it, that thou mayest escape to 
 it. Hasten and flee thither : for I cannot do any thing 
 till thou have entered there. Therefore he called the 
 name of the city Zoar. 
 
 The sun had passed the sea, and come forth upon the 
 earth, at the end of three hours, and Lot entered into 
 Zoar. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 217 
 
 XIX.] 
 
 And the Word of the Lord had caused showers of 
 favour to descend upon Sedom and Amorah, to the 
 intent that they might work repentance, but they did it 
 not: so that they said, Wickedness is not manifest 
 before the Lord. Behold, then, there are now sent 
 down upon them sulphur and fire from before the Word 
 of the Lord from heaven. [Jerusalem. 24. And the 
 Word of the Lord Himself had made to descend upon 
 the people of Sedom and Amorah showers of favour, 
 that they might work repentance from their wicked 
 works. But when they saw the showers of favour, they 
 said, So, our wicked works are not manifest before 
 Him. He turned (then), and caused to descend upon 
 them bitumen and fire from before the Lord from the 
 heavens.] And He overthrew those cities, and all the 
 plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the 
 herbage of the earth. 
 
 And his wife looked after the angel, to know what 
 would be in the end of her father’s house, for she was 
 of the daughters of the Sedomaee; and because she 
 sinned by salt {bemilcha) she was manifestly punished ; 
 behold, she was made a statue of salt. [Jerusalem* 
 And because the wife of Lot was of the children of the 
 people of Sedom, she looked behind her, to see what 
 would be the end of her father's house : and, behold, 
 she was made to stand a statue of salt, until the time 
 of the resurrection shall come, when the dead shall 
 arise.] 
 
 And Abraham arose in the morning (and went) to 
 the place where he had ministered in prayer before the 
 Lord. And he looked towards Sedom and Amorah, 
 and all the land of the plain, and saw, and, behold, the 
 smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. 
 
 And it was when the Lord destroyed the cities of 
 the plain, that He remembered the righteousness of 
 
 L 
 
218 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 Abraham, and sent forth Lot from the midst of the 
 overthrow, when He overthrew the cities wherein Lot 
 had dwelt. 
 
 And Lot went up from Zoar, and dwelt in the moun¬ 
 tain, and his two daughters with him; because he 
 feared to reside in Zoar. And he dwelt in a cavern, he 
 and his two daughters. And the elder said to the less, 
 Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to 
 come to us after the way of the whole earth : [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And there is not a man in the land who may 
 come with us after the law of all the earth :] come, 
 let us make our father drink wine, and when he is 
 drunken we will lie with him, and raise up sons from 
 our father. And they made their father drink wine 
 that night, and he was drunk. And the elder arose, 
 and lay with her father, nor did he know when she lay 
 down, nor when she arose. And it was the day follow¬ 
 ing, and the elder said to the less. Behold, now, I lay 
 my evening with the father; let us make him drink 
 wine this night also, that he may be drunk; and go 
 thou and lie with him, that we may raise up sons from 
 our father. And they made their father drink wine 
 that night also, and he was drunk, and the younger 
 arose, and lay with him; and he knew not in her lying 
 down nor in her rising up. And the two daughters of 
 Lot became with child by their father. And the elder 
 brought forth a son, and she called his name Moab, 
 because from her father she had conceived. He is the 
 father of the Moabaee unto this day. And the younger 
 also brought forth a son, and she called his name Bar- 
 Ammi, because he was the son of her father. He is the 
 father of the Ammonite people unto this day. 
 
 XX. And Abraham went on from thence to the land 
 of the south, and dwelt between Rekam and Chagra, and 
 had his habitation in Gerar. And Abraham said con- 
 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 219 
 
 XX.] 
 
 cerniug Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelek, 
 king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. [Jerusalem. 
 King of Arad.] And a word came from before the 
 Lord unto Abimelek, in a dream of the night, and said 
 to him. Behold, thou diest, because of the woman whom 
 thou hast carried away, and she a man's wife. But 
 Abimelek had not come nigh to defile her; and he said, 
 Lord, shall the son of a people who hath not sinned, 
 and whom it is right to absolve in the judgment, be 
 killed ? Did he not tell me. She is my sister ? and did 
 not she also say. He is my brother ? In the truth¬ 
 fulness of my heart and the innocency of my hands 
 have I done this. And the Word of the Lord said to 
 him in a dream, Before Me also it is manifest that in 
 the truthfulness of thy heart thou didst this, and so 
 restrained I thee from sinning before Me; therefore I 
 would not permit thee to come near her. And now let 
 the wife of the man return; for he is a prophet; he 
 will pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt 
 not let her return, know that dying thou shalt die, thou 
 and all who are thine. And Abimelek arose in the 
 morning, and called all his servants, and told all these 
 words before them ; and the men feared greatly. And 
 Abimelek called Abraham, and said, What hast thou 
 done to us ? And in what have I sinned against thee ? 
 For thou hadst brought upon me and upon my kingdom 
 a great sin. Thou hast wrought with me works that 
 are not right. And Abimelek said to Abraham, What 
 hast thou seen, that thou didst this thing? And 
 Abraham said. Because I said in my heart. The fear of 
 the Lord is not in this place, and they will kill me 
 for the sake of my wife. But in truth she is my sister, 
 the daughter of my father's brother, but not of the 
 kindred of my mother ; and she became my wife. And 
 it was when they sought to turn me aside to the wor- 
 l 2 
 
220 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP, 
 
 ship of idols, and I went forth from my father's house, 
 that I said to her, This is the kindness thou shalt do 
 me : in every place to which we come, say concerning 
 me, He is my brother. And Abimelek took sheep, and 
 oxen, and handmaids, and gave to Abraham, and re¬ 
 stored Sarah his wife to him. And to Sarah he said, 
 Behold, I have given a thousand sileen 9 of silver to thy 
 brother; behold, they are. to thee a veil of the eyes, 
 inasmuch as thou vrast hidden from thine husband one 
 night, and I would have seen thee: for were I to give 
 all that I have it would not suffice (or be propor¬ 
 tionate). And the words were debated. And Abra¬ 
 ham knew that Abimelek had not come near Sarah his 
 wife. [Jerusalem.' And to Sarah he said, Behold, I 
 have given a thousand sileen 9 of silver to thy brother; 
 behold, that silver is given to thee as a present, because 
 thou wast hidden from the eyes of Abraham thy hus¬ 
 band one night: and of all that I have,—for on behalf 
 of all I am corrected,—behold, were I to give all what¬ 
 ever I have, it would not suffice. Let the words be 
 approved, and may Abraham the Just learn that I have 
 not known thee.] And Abraham prayed before the 
 Lord : and the Lord healed Abimelek and his wife and 
 his concubines, and they were set at large. For the 
 Word of the Lord shutting had shut in displeasure 
 the wombs of all the women of Abimelek's house on 
 account of Sarah the wife of Abraham. [Jerusalem. 
 Closing had closed.] 
 
 XXI. And the Lord remembered Sarah according to. 
 that which He had said to her; and the Lord wrought 
 a miracle for Sarah like to that for which Abraham 
 had spoken in prayer for Abimelek. [Jerusalem. And 
 the Lord wrought miracles for Sarah, as He had spoken.] 
 And she conceived, and Sarah bare to Abraham a 
 
 9 Sileen, “ shekels.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 221 
 
 XXI.] 
 
 son, who was like to himself in his age, 10 at the time of 
 which the Lord had spoken to him. And Abraham 
 called the name of his son whom Sarah had borne him 
 Izhak. And Abraham circumcised Izhak his son, when 
 the son of eight days, as the Lord had commanded him. 
 And Abraham was the son of an hundred years when 
 Izhak his son was born to him. And Sarah said. The 
 Lord hath done wondrously for me; all who hear will 
 wonder at me. And she said. How faithful was the 
 messenger who announced to Abraham, and said, Sarah 
 will nurse children, for she shall bring forth a son in 
 her old age! [Jerusalem. And she said, What was 
 the announcement which announced to my lord Abraham 
 at the beginning, and said. It will be that she will give 
 suck, because she shall bring forth a son in her old 
 age?] And the child grew and was weaned. And 
 Abraham made a great feast on the day when Izhak 
 was weaned. And Sarah observed the son of Hagar 
 the Mizreitha, whom she bare to Abraham, mocking 
 with a strange worship, and bowing to the Lord. 
 [Jerusalem. And Sarah observed the son of Hagar the 
 Mizreitha, whom she bare to Abraham, doing evil 
 works which are not fitting to be done, mocking in a 
 strange worship.] And she said to Abraham, Cast out 
 this handmaid and her son : for it is not possible for the 
 son of this handmaid to inherit with my son; and he 
 to make war with Izhak. And the thing was very evil 
 in Abraham's eyes, on account of Ishmael his son, who 
 would practise a strange worship. And the Lord said to 
 Abraham, Let it not be evil in thine eyes on account of 
 the youth who goeth forth from thy nurturing, and of 
 
 10 Midrash: “When Sarah weaned her son, Abraham made a feast. 
 Then said the heathen. Behold this aged couple who have taken up a 
 child from the streets, to pretend that he is their son. But the Lord 
 made Izhak so greatly to resemble his father, that it could not be mis¬ 
 taken whose son he was.” 
 
222 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 thy handmaid whom thou sendest away. Hearken unto 
 all that Sarah saith to thee, because she is a prophetess; 
 for in Izhak shall sons be called unto thee; and this 
 son of the handmaid shall not be genealogized after 
 thee. But the son of the handmaid have I set for a 
 predatory people ( le-am leistim ), because he is thy 
 son. And Abraham rose up in the morning, and took 
 bread and a cruse of water, and gave to Hagar to 
 bear upon her shoulder, and bound it to her loins, to 
 signify that she was a servant, and the child, and dis¬ 
 missed her with a letter of divorce ( be-gitta ). And 
 she went, and wandered from the way into the desert 
 which was hard by Beersheba. And it was when they 
 came to the entrance of the desert, they remembered to 
 wander after strange worship; and Ishmael was seized 
 with a burning thirst, and drank of the water till all the 
 water was consumed from the cruse. And he was 
 dried up, and withered in his flesh; and she carried 
 him, and was exhausted, and she cried unto the Bear of 
 his father, and He answered her not; and she laid the 
 youth down at once under one of the trees. [Jerusa¬ 
 lem. And the water was consumed from the cruse, 
 and she took up the youth.] And she went and sat on 
 one side, and cast away the idol (or the strange worship), 
 and removed from her son, as the distance of an arrow 
 from the bow; for she said, I am not able to see the 
 death of the child. And she sat over against her son, 
 and lifted up her voice and wept. And the voice of the 
 youth was heard before the Lord for the righteousness* 
 sake of Abraham ; and the Angel of the Lord called to 
 Hagar from heaven, and said. What to thee, Hagar? 
 Paint not, for the voice of the youth is heard before 
 the Lord; neither shall judgment be according to the 
 evil which he will do, but according to the righteous¬ 
 ness of Abraham is mercy upon him in the place where 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 223 
 
 XXI.] 
 
 he is. Arise, support the child, and strengthen thine 
 hand in him : for I have set him for a great people. 
 And the Lord opened her eyes, and showed her a well 
 of water, and she went and filled the cruse with water, 
 and gave the youth to drink. And the Word of the 
 Lord was the helper of the youth, and he grew and 
 dwelt in the wilderness, and became a skilful master of 
 the bow. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, 
 and took for a wife Adisha, but put her away. And 
 his mother took for him Phatima to wife, from the 
 land of Mizraim. 
 
 And it was at that time that Abimelek and Phikol, 
 chief of his host, spake to Abraham, saying, The Word 
 of the Lord is in thine aid in all whatsoever thou 
 doest. And now, swear to me here, by the Word of 
 the Lord, that thou wilt not be false with me, nor with 
 my son, nor with the son of my son : according to the 
 kindness which I have done with thee, thou shalt do 
 with me, and with the land in which thou dwellest. 
 And Abraham said to him, I swear. And Abraham 
 remonstrated with Abimelek concerning the well of 
 water of which the servants of Abimelek had deprived 
 him. And Abimelek said, I knew not who did this 
 thing; neither hast thou shown it to me; nor 
 have I heard it from others, till to-day from thyself. 
 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave to 
 Abimelek ; and they both made a covenant. And 
 Abraham set seven lambs apart and separated them 
 from the oxen. And Abimelek said to Abraham, What 
 are these seven lambs which thou hast set apart ? And 
 he said, That thou mayest take the seven lambs from 
 my hand, to be a testimony for me that I have digged 
 this well. Therefore he called that well the Well of 
 the Seven Lambs; because there they two did swear. 
 And they struck a covenant at the Well of the Seven 
 
224 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Lambs. And Abimelek and Phikol the chief of his 
 host arose and returned to the land of the Philistaee. 
 And he planted a garden, (lit., “ a paradise,”) at the Well 
 of the Seven Lambs, and prepared in the midst of it 
 food and drink for them who passed by and who 
 returned; and he preached to them there, Confess ye, 
 and believe in the Name of the Word of the Lord, the 
 everlasting God. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Abraham planted a paradise in 
 Beer Sheba, and prepared in the midst of it food and 
 drink for those who arrived at the border; and they 
 ate and drank, and sought to give him the price of 
 what they had eaten and drunk, but he willed not to 
 receive it from them; but our father Abraham dis¬ 
 coursed to them of that which he had said, that the 
 world was by His word. Pray before your Father 
 who is in heaven, from whose bounty ye have eaten and 
 drunk. And they stirred not from their place until the 
 time when he had made them proselytes, and had taught 
 them the way everlasting. And Abraham praised and 
 prayed there in the name of the word of the Lord, the 
 God of Eternity.] 
 
 XXII. And it was after these things that Izhak 
 and Ishmael contended; and Ishmael said. It is right 
 that I should inherit what is the father's, because I 
 am his firstborn son. And Izhak said, It is right that 
 I should inherit what is the father's, because I am the 
 son of Sarah his wife, and thou art the son of Hagar 
 the handmaid of my mother. Ishmael answered and 
 said, I am more righteous than thou, because I was 
 circumcised at thirteen years; and if it had been my 
 will to hinder, they should not have delivered me to be 
 circumcised; but thou wast circumcised a child of 
 eight days ; if thou hadst had knowledge, perhaps they 
 could not have delivered thee to be circumcised. Izhak 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 225 
 
 XXII.] 
 
 responded and said. Behold now, to-day I am thirty and 
 six years old; and if the Holy One, blessed be He, were 
 to require all my members, I would not delay. These 
 words were heard before the Lord of the world, and 
 the Word of the Lord at once tried Abraham, and said 
 to him, Abraham! And he said. Behold me. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And it was after these things that the Lord 
 tried Abraham with the tenth trial, and said to him, 
 Abraham ! And he said, Behold me.] And He said, 
 Take now thy son, thy only one whom thou lovest, 
 Izhak, and go into the land of worship, and offer 
 him there, a whole burnt offering, upon one of the 
 mountains that I will tell thee. [Jerusalem. At 
 Mount Moriah.] And Abraham rose up in the morning 
 and saddled his ass, and took two young men with 
 him, Eliezer and Ishmael, and Izhak his son, and cut 
 the small wood and the figs and the palm, which are 
 provided for the whole burnt offering, and arose and 
 went to the land of which the Lord had told him. 
 
 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and 
 beheld the cloud of glory fuming on the Mount, and 
 it was discerned by him afar off. And Abraham said 
 to his young men, Wait you here with the ass, and I 
 and the young man will proceed yonder, to prove if 
 that which was promised shall be established :—So shall 
 be thy sons:—and we will worship the Lord of the 
 world, and return to you. And Abraham took the 
 wood of the offering and laid it upon Izhak his son, 
 and in his hand he took the fire and the knife; and 
 they went both of them together. 
 
 And Izhak spake to Abraham his father, and said. 
 My Father ! And he said, I am. And he said, 
 Behold the fire and the wood : where is the lamb for the 
 offering ? And Abraham said, The Lord will choose 
 for Himself a lamb for the offering. And they went 
 L 5 
 
226 
 
 TARGTJM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 both of them in heart entirely as one. [Jerusalem. 
 And Abraham said, The Word of the Lord will prepare 
 for me a lamb; and if not, then thou art the offering, 
 my son! And they went both of them together with a 
 contrite heart.] 1 
 
 And they came to the place of which the Lord had 
 told him. And Abraham builded there the altar which 
 Adam had built, which had been destroyed by the 
 waters of the deluge, which Noah had again builded, 
 and which had been destroyed in the age of divisions ; 3 
 and he set the wood in order upon it, and bound Izhak 
 his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 
 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife 
 to slay his sou. 
 
 And Izhak answered and said to his father. Bind me 
 properly (aright), lest I tremble from the affliction of 
 my soul, and be cast into the pit of destruction, and 
 there be found profaneness in thy offering. (Now) the 
 eyes of Abraham looked on the eyes of Izhak; but the 
 eyes of Izhak looked towards the angels on high, (and) 
 
 1 Midrash: ** While Sarah was yet sleeping, Abraham left in the 
 early morning. Satana stood in his way as an aged man, and said :— 
 S. Whither goest thou ?—A. To pray.—S. But why with wood and 
 knife?—A. I must needs prepare food.—S. Should a man like you kill 
 his son who was given him in old age ?—A. God has commanded. 
 
 ** To Izhak the Tempter took the appearance of a young man, and 
 accosted Izhak :—S. Whither goest thou ?—I. To be instructed by my 
 father in righteousness and truth.—S. In this life, or in the next ? For 
 he designs to kill thee.—I. It matters not: I follow him. 
 
 “ Satana then appeared to Sarah :—Where, asked he, is thy husband ? 
 —Sar. He has gone upon his affairs.—Sat. And thy son?—Sar. With 
 him.—Sat. Didst thou not once resolve that he should not leave the 
 house alone ?—Sar. He prays with his father.—Sat. And thou wilt never 
 see him again.—Sar. The Lord do unto my son according to His wiU.”] 
 
 * “ The altar on which Abraham would have offered his son Izhak is 
 the same that Noah had raised when he came forth from the ark ; on 
 which Kain had offered, and where Adam himself, repenting of his fall, 
 had offered, and was made better.”— Yalkut, i., 104. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 22T 
 
 XXII.] 
 
 Izhak beheld them, but Abraham saw them not. And 
 the angels answered on high, Come, behold how these 
 solitary ones who are in the world kill the one the other; 
 he who slayeth delays not; he who is to be slain 
 reacheth forth his neck. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Abraham stretched out his hand, 
 and took the knife to slay Izhak his son. Izhak 
 answered and said to Abraham his father. My father, 
 bind my hands rightly, lest in the hour of my affliction 
 I tremble and confuse thee, and thy offering be found 
 profane, and I be cast into the pit of destruction in the 
 world to come. (Now) the eyes of Abraham reached 
 unto the eyes of Izhak; but the eyes of Izhak reached 
 to the angels on high. And Izhak beheld them; but 
 Abraham saw them not. In that hour came forth the 
 angels on high, and said, these to these, Come, behold 
 two righteous ones alone in the midst of the world : the 
 one slayeth, the other is slain. He who slayeth 
 deferreth not, and he who is to be slain stretcheth out 
 his neck.] 
 
 And the Angel of the Lord called to him from the 
 heavens, and said to him, Abraham ! Abraham ! And 
 he said. Behold me. [Jerusalem. And He said, 
 Abraham ! Abraham ! And Abraham answered in the 
 language of the sanctuary, and said, Behold me.] And 
 He said, Stretch not out thy hand upon the young man, 
 neither do him any evil; for now it is manifest before 
 Me that thou fearcst the Lord ; neither hast thou with¬ 
 held thy son thy only begotten from Me. 
 
 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and, behold, 
 a certain ram which had been created between the 
 evenings of the foundation of the world, was held in the 
 entanglement of a tree by his horns. And Abraham 
 went and took him, and offered him an offering instead 
 of his son. And Abraham gave thanks and prayed 
 
228 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 there, in that place, and said, I pray through the mercies 
 that are before Thee, O Lord, before whom it is manifest 
 that it was not in the depth of my heart to turn away 
 from doing Thy decree with joy, that when the children 
 of Izhak my son shall offer in the hour of affliction, 
 this may be a memorial for them; and Thou mayest 
 hear them and deliver them, and that all generations 
 to come may say, In this mountain Abraham bound 
 Izhak his son, and there the Shekina of the Lord was 
 revealed unto him. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Abraham prayed in the name of 
 the Word of the Lord, and said, Thou art the Lord who 
 seest, and art not seen. I pray for mercy before Thee, 
 O Lord. It is wholly manifest and known before Thee 
 that in my heart there was no dividing, in the time that 
 Thou didst command me to offer Izhak my son, and to 
 make him dust and ashes before Thee ; but that forth¬ 
 with I arose in the morning and performed Thy word 
 with joy, and I have fulfilled Thy word. And now I 
 pray for mercies before Thee, O Lord God, that when 
 the children of Izhak offer in the hour of need, the 
 binding of Izhak their father Thou mayest remember 
 on their behalf, and remit and forgive their sins, and 
 deliver them out of all need. That the generations who 
 are to arise after him may say, In the mountain of the 
 house of the sanctuary of the Lord did Abraham offer 
 Izhak his son, and in this mountain of the house of 
 the sanctuary was revealed unto him the glory of the 
 Shekinah of the Lord.] 
 
 And the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham the 
 second time from the heavens, and said, By My Word 
 have I sworn, saith the Lord, forasmuch as thou hast 
 done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thy 
 only begotten, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in 
 multiplying I will multiply thy sons as the stars of the 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 229 
 
 XXII.] 
 
 heavens, and they shall be as the sand which is upon 
 the shore of the sea, and thy sons shall inherit the cities 
 before their enemies. And all the peoples of the earth 
 shall be blessed through the righteousness of thy son, 
 because thou hast obeyed My word. 
 
 And the angels on high took Izhak and brought him 
 into the school ( medresha ) of Shem the Great; and he 
 was there three years. And in the same day Abraham 
 returned to his young men; and they arose and went 
 together to the Well of the Seven, and Abraham dwelt 
 at Beira-desheva. 
 
 And it was after these things, after Abraham had 
 bound Izhak, that Satana came and told unto Sarah 
 that Abraham had killed Izhak. And Sarah arose, and 
 cried out, and was strangled, and died from agony. 
 But Abraham had come, and was resting in the way. 
 And it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcha also 
 hath borne; she hath enlargement, through the righteous¬ 
 ness of her sister, to bring forth sons unto Nachor thy 
 brother : Uts, his firstborn, and Booz, his brother, and 
 Kemuel, master of the Aramean magicians, and Keshed, 
 and Chazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 
 And Bethuel begat Bivekeh. These eight bare Milcha 
 to Nachor the brother of Abraham. And his concubine, 
 whose name was Beuma, she also bare Tebach, and 
 Gacham, and Tachash, and Maacha. [Jerusalem. 
 And his concubine...and her name...] 
 
230 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 CHAIYEY SARAH. 
 
 XXIII. And the days of the life of Sarah were an 
 hundred and twenty and seven years, the years of the 
 life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kiryath Arba, which 
 is Hebron. [Jerusalem. And Sarah died in the city 
 of the giants.] 
 
 And Abraham came from the mountain of worship, 
 and found that she was dead; and he sat to mourn for 
 Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up 
 from the sight of the face of his dead, and spake with 
 the sons of Hittah, saying, I am a sojourner and 
 dweller with you; I pray sell me the inheritance of a 
 sepulchre among you, and I will bury my dead there. 
 And the sons of Hittah responded unto Abraham, saying 
 to him, Attend to us, our lord. Great before the Lord 
 art thou among us, in the best of our sepulchres bury 
 thy dead: there is not a man of us who will refuse thee 
 his sepulchre, that thou mayest bury thy dead. And 
 Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the 
 sons of Hittah. And he spake with them, saying, If it 
 be with the consent of your mind that I bury my dead 
 from before my face, receive of me, and intercede for 
 me before Ephron bar Zochar that he sell me his double 
 cave which is built in the side of his field, for the full 
 price in silver let him give it me among you, for an 
 inheritance of sepulture. But Ephron the Hittite 
 answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of 
 Hittah, of all who entered the gate of his city, saying. 
 My lord, listen to me: the field I give thee, and the 
 cave which is in it, to thee I give it, as a gift before the 
 sous of my people I give it to thee; go, bury thy dead. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 231 
 
 XXIY.] 
 
 And Abraham bowed before the sons of Hittah. And 
 he spake with Ephron before the people of the land, 
 saying, Nevertheless, if thou art willing to do me a 
 favour, hear me: I will give thee in silver the price 
 of the field; take (it) of me, and I will bury my dead 
 there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him. 
 My lord, hear me: the land, as to its price, would be 
 four hundred sileen of silver; between me and thee 
 what is that ? Bury thy dead. And Abraham 
 hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to 
 Ephron the silver which he had named before the sons 
 of Hittah, four hundred sileen of silver, good, passing 
 at every table, and receivable in all transactions. 
 [Jerusalem. Eour hundred sileen of silver, passing at 
 every table, and receivable in all transactions.] And 
 he confirmed the purchase of the field of Ephron, in 
 which (was) the double (cave) which is before Mamre, 
 The field, and the cave that is therein, and all the trees 
 that were in the field, in all the boundaries thereof 
 round about,—Unto Abraham, for a purchased posses¬ 
 sion, in the presence of the sons of Hittah, (even) of all 
 who entered in at the gate of the city. And afterwards 
 Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field 
 Kapheilta 3 which is before Mamre, that is, Hebron in 
 the land of Kenaan. And the field and the cave therein 
 were confirmed unto Abraham for an inheritance of 
 sepulture from the sons of Hittah. 
 
 XXIY. And Abraham was old with days, and the 
 Word of the Lord had blessed Abraham with every 
 kind of blessing. And Abraham said to Eliezer his 
 servant, the senior of his house, who had rule over all 
 his property, Put now thy hand upon the section of my 
 circumcision. [Jerusalem. And Abraham said to his 
 servant, the ruler who had rule over all that was his, 
 3 “ The Double.” 
 
232 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Put now thy hand under the thigh of my covenant.] 
 And swear to me in the name of the Word of the Lori 
 God, whose habitation is in heaven on high, the Gocl 
 whose dominion is over the earth, that thou wilt not! 
 take a wife for my son from the daughters of the! 
 Kenaanites among whom I dwell; but that thou will 
 go to the land and the house of my kindred, and take a 
 wife for my son, for Izhak. And the domestic said to 
 him, Perhaps the woman may not be willing to come 1 
 after me to this land; shall I, returning, make thy son 
 return to the land from whence thou earnest? And 
 Abraham said to him, Beware, lest thou make my son 
 return thither! The Lord God, whose seat is in heaven 
 on high, who took me from my father's house, and from 
 the land of my birth; and who spake to me, and sware 
 to me, saying, To thy son will I give this land; He 
 will seasonably send His angel, and thou shalt take a 
 wife for my son from thence. But if the woman be not 
 willing to come after thee, thou shalt be innocent from 
 this my oath; only make not my son return thither. 
 And the servant put his hand upon the circumcised " 
 part of Abraham his lord, and sware to him according 
 to this thing. 
 
 And the servant took ten camels from the camels of 
 his lord, and went: for all the goodly treasures of his 
 lord were in his hand; and he arose and went unto 
 Aram, which was by the Pherat, to the city of Nachor. 
 [Jerusalem. And all the goodly treasures of his lord 
 were in his hand; and he arose and went to Aram, 
 which is by Pherat Naharaim.] And he made the 
 camels lie down without the city by the fountain of 
 waters, at the time of evening, the time when the 
 fillers (of water) come forth. And he said, Lord God 
 of my master Abraham, prepare thou a proper woman 
 before me to-day, and deal graciously with mv master 
 
XXIV.] ON GENESIS. 233 
 
 Abraham. Behold, I stand at the well of waters, and 
 the daughters of the men of the city are coming forth 
 to fill waters. Let the damsel to whom I say, Beach me 
 now thy pitcher, that I may drink, and she say. Drink, 
 and I will also make my camels drink, be she whom 
 thou hast provided to go to thy servant Izhak; and 
 herein shall I know that Thou hast dealt graciously with 
 my master. And it was in that little hour, while he 
 had not ceased to speak, that, behold, Bivekah came 
 forth, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcha, the wife 
 of Nachor, the brother of Abraham, and her pitcher 
 was upon her shoulder. And the damsel was a virgin, 
 very beautiful to behold, and she descended to the 
 fountain and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the 
 servant ran to meet her, and said. Let me taste now a 
 little water from thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my 
 lord; and hastened to let down her pitcher upon her 
 hand, and gave him drink. And she finished giving 
 him drink, and said, Also for thy camels I will fill until 
 they be satisfied with drinking. And she hastened and 
 emptied the pitcher into the canal, the place of drink¬ 
 ing, and ran again*to the well to fill; and she filled for 
 all his camels. [Jerusalem. And she made haste, and 
 poured out her vase into the midst of the trough, and 
 filled, and gave drink to all the camels.] But the man 
 waited, and was silent, to know whether the Lord had 
 prospered his way or not. And it was when the camels 
 had been satisfied with drink, that the man took an 
 earring of gold, 4 of a drachma in weight, the counter¬ 
 part of the drachma of the head (money) which her 
 children presented for the work of the sanctuary; and 
 he set two golden bracelets upon her hands, in weight 
 ten sileen of gold ; the sum of their weight being the 
 counterpart of the two tables on which were inscribed 
 the Ten Words. And he said, Whose daughter art 
 
 4 Kadasha, “ ornament, amulet.” 
 
234 
 
 TAUGUM OP PALESTINE 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 thou ? Tell me now, if in thy father's house there be 
 room for us to lodge. And she said, I am the daughter 
 of Bethuel the son of Milcha, whom she bare to Nachor. 
 And she told him, saying. There is also straw and pro- 
 vender in plenty with us, as also proper room to lodge.; 
 And the man bowed and worshipped before the Lord, 
 who had thus prepared before him a suitable wife. 
 And he said. Blessed be the Name of the Lord, the 
 God of my master Abraham, who hath not restrained 
 His mercy and His truth from my master; for the sake 
 of his righteousness in the right way hath the Lord led 
 me to the house of my master's brother. 6 
 
 And Bivekah had a brother whose name was Laban. 
 And Laban ran towards the man without at the foun¬ 
 tain. And when Laban saw the ring and the bracelets 
 upon the hands of his sister, and heard the words of 
 Rivekah his sister, saying, Thus hath the man spoken 
 with me; he came to the man, and, behold, he stood by 
 the camels at the fountain. And Laban thought that 
 this was Abraham, and said, Come in, thou blessed of 
 the Lord : wherefore standest thou without, when I have 
 purified the house from strange worship, and have pre¬ 
 pared a place for the camels ? 
 
 And the man entered the house, and Laban undid the 
 gear of the camels, and gave the camels straw and pro- 
 vender ; and water (to Eliezer) to wash his feet, and the 
 feet of the men who were with him. And he set in 
 order before him to eat, prepared food in which was 
 poison 6 to kill; but he objected to it, and said, I will 
 not eat, until 1 have spoken my words. And he said. 
 Speak. And lie said, I am the servant of Abraham. 
 And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and hath 
 
 5 The twenty-eighth verse is wanting in this Targum. 
 
 * Sama , “arsenic.” “ Weisse Erde a us der Insel Samos” — 
 Dessaueb. "What foundation is there for this wretched calumny ? 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 235 
 
 XXIV.] 
 
 increased, and given him sheep and oxen, silver and 
 gold, servants and handmaids, and camels and asses. 
 And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son after she was 
 old, and he hath given to him all that he hath. And 
 my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take 
 a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kenaanites 
 in whose land I dwell, but shall go to my kindred, and 
 take a wife for my son. But I said to my master, Per¬ 
 haps the woman will not come after me. And he said 
 to me, The Lord before whom I worship will appoint 
 His angel to be with thee, and will prosper thy way; and 
 thou shalt take a wife for my son from my household, 
 from the race of my father's house. Then shalt thou be 
 free from my oath : if, when thou art come to the house 
 of my kindred, they give not to thee, thou shalt be free 
 from thy oath. 
 
 And I came to-day to the fountain, and said. Lord 
 God of my master Abraham, if now Thou hast pros¬ 
 pered the journey upon which I have come, behold, I 
 stand at the fountain of water,—let the damsel who may 
 come forth to fill, to whom I will say, Give me now a 
 little water to drink from thy pitcher, and she say. 
 Drink, and for thy camels also will I draw, be the wife 
 whom the Lord hath prepared by His decree 7 for my 
 master's son. 
 
 I had not yet finished speaking in the thoughts of 
 my heart, when, behold, Rivekah came forth with the 
 pitcher upon (her) shoulder, and went down to the 
 fountain, and filled. And I said. Let me now drink. 
 And she hastened ,and let down her pitcher from her, 
 and said, Drink, and I will also give thy camels drink. 
 And I asked her, and said. Whose daughter art thou ? 
 And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of 
 
 7 Be-mazla. Mazal, “a planet, propitious star, influence of the 
 
 stars, destiny,” &c. 
 
236 TATtGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP.J 
 
 Nachor, whom Milcha bare to him. And I set the 
 jewel upon her brow, and the bracelets on her hand, and 
 bowed and worshipped before the Lord; and I blessed 
 the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led 
 me in the true way to take the daughter of my master’s 
 brother for his son. 
 
 And now, if you. will deal kindly and truly with my 
 master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to 
 the south or to the north. And Laban and Bethuel 
 answered and said, The thing hath come forth from 
 before the Lord that Rivekah should be given to Izhak, 
 and we cannot say to thee either evil or good. Behold, 
 Rivekah is before thee, take and go, and let her be the 
 wife of thy master’s son, as the Lord hath spoken. 
 
 And when Abraham’s servant heard these words, he 
 worshipped on the ground before the Lord. And the 
 servant brought forth vessels of silver and of gold, and 
 vestments, and gave them to Rivekah; and present# 
 gave he to her brother and to her mother. And they 
 ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and 
 passed the night. And he arose in the morning, and 
 said, Send me away to my master. But as they were 
 talking in the evening, Bethuel had eaten of that pre¬ 
 pared food; and in the morning they found that he was 
 dead. And the brother and mother said therefore, Let 
 the damsel dwell with us the days of one year or ten 
 months, and then she shall go. And he said, Hinder 
 me not, when the Lord hath prospered my way; let 
 me depart, and I will go to my master. And they 
 said, We will call Rivekah, and hear what she says. 
 And they called Rivekah, and said to her, Wilt thou 
 go with this man ? Aud she said, I will go. 
 
 And they let Rivekah their sister go, and her nurse, 
 and the servant of Abraham, and his men. And they 
 blessed Rivekah, and said to her. Hitherto thou wast 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 237 
 
 XXIV.] 
 
 our sister; and now thou art going and art wedded to 
 the righteous; so prosper thou, that from thee may 
 come thousands of myriads ; and may thy sons inherit 
 the cities of those who hate them. 
 
 And Bivekah arose, and her damsel, and they rode 
 upon camels, and went after the man. And the ser¬ 
 vant took Bivekah with him and journeyed. And as 
 the way was shortened to him in his journey to Padan 
 Aram, so was it shortened to him in his return, that in 
 one day he went, and in one day he returned. 
 
 And Izliak was coming from the school of the Babba 
 Shem, 8 by the way of the fountain where had been 
 revealed to" him the Living and Eternal One, who 
 seeth, and is not seen; and he resided in the land of 
 the south. [Jerusalem. And Izhak was coming 
 from the school of the Babba Shem, at the fountain 
 where had been revealed to him the Shekinah of the 
 Lord; and he dwelt in the land of the south.] And 
 Izhak went forth to pray upon the face of the field at 
 :he time of evening; and he lifted up his eyes, and 
 saw, and, behold, the camels were approaching. 
 
 And Bivekah lifted up her eyes, and saw Izhak, and 
 she bowed upon the camel. And she said to the ser¬ 
 vant, Who is the man (so) majestic and graceful, who 
 walks in the field before us ? And the servant said, 
 He is my master. And she took a veil and covered 
 berself. [Jerusalem. And she took a veil, and 
 wrapped herself in it.] 
 
 And the servant related to Izhak everything he had 
 lone. And Izhak introduced her into the tabernacle of 
 Sarah his mother, and thereupon the light (again) shined 
 which had gone out at the time of Sarah's death. 
 rVnd he took Bivekah, and she was his wife, and he 
 oved her; for he saw her works that they were upright 
 9 Beth medresha de Shem rabba. 
 
238 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP* 
 
 as the works of his mother. And Izhak was consoled 
 after his mother's death. 
 
 XXY. And Abraham added and took a wife, and her 
 name was Keturah; she is Hagar, who had been bound 9 
 to him from the beginning. [Jerusalem. She is 
 Hagar, who had been tied to him from the beginning.] 
 And she bare to him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, 
 and Midyan, and Yishbak, and Shovack. And Jokshan 
 begat Sheva and Dedan; and the sons of Dedan were 
 merchants, and negotiators, and chiefs of peoples, 
 [Jerusalem. Merchants, and artificers, and chiefs of 
 peoples.] And the sons of Midyan, Eipher, and 
 Epher, and Hanok, and Abida, and Aldaah, all these 
 were the sons of Keturah. And Abraham gave the 
 gift of all he had to Izhak. And to the sons of the 
 concubines of Abraham gave Abraham riches and move- 
 able property as gifts, and sent them away from Izhak 
 his son while he (yet) lived ; and they went and dwelt 
 eastward in the land of the orient. 
 
 And this is the number of the days of the life of 
 Abraham, who lived a hundred and seventy and five 
 years. And Abraham expired, and died in a good old 
 age, aged and satisfied with all good. (Also Ishmael 
 wrought repentance in his days, and afterwards was 
 gathered to his people.) And Izhak and Ishmael his 
 sons buried him in the double cavern, at the field of 
 Ephran bar Zochar, the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 
 the field that Abraham purchased of the sons of Hittah: 
 there was Abraham buried and Sarah his wife. 
 
 And because Abraham had not designed to bless 
 Ishmael, therefore he blessed not Izhak ; for had he 
 blessed Izhak and not Ishmael, it would have kept 
 them in enmity. But, after the death of Abraham, the 
 Lord blessed Izhak; and Izhak dwelt near the well 
 
 • Keturah, “ tlie bound one,” from keter, “ to bind.” 
 
XXV.] ON GENESIS. 239 
 
 at which was revealed the glory of the Living and 
 Eternal One, who seeth and is not seen. 
 
 And these are the generations of Ishmael bar Abra¬ 
 ham, whom Hagar the Mizreitha, the handmaid of 
 Sarah, bare unto Abraham. And these are the names 
 of the sons of Ishmael by their names, according to 
 their generations. The firstborn of Ishmael, Neboi, 
 and Arab, and Abdeel, and Mibsham,—Hearing, Silence, 
 Patience, and Sharpness: and Tema, Yetur, Naphish, 
 and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and 
 these their names in their villages, and in their fenced 
 dwellings, twelve chiefs of their peoples. And these are 
 the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty 
 and seven years; and he was converted in repentance, 
 and expired, and was gathered to his people. And 
 they dwelt from Hindiki unto Chalutsa, which is in 
 face of Mizraim from going up to Athur. Before the 
 face of all his brethren he dwelt in his possession. 
 [Jerusalem. In their villages, and in their fenced 
 dwellings (or encampments). Twelve chiefs of their 
 peoples. And they dwelt from Hindekaia unto 
 Chalutsa, which is by the side of Mizraim, from thy 
 going up towards Athur. Before all his brethren he 
 dwelt.] 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 TOLEDOTH. 
 
 These are the generations of Izhak bar Abraham. 
 And because the appearance of Izhak resembled the 
 appearance of Abraham, the sons of men said, In truth 
 Abraham begat Izhak. And Izhak was the son of 
 
240 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 forty years when he took Rivekah, the daughter of 
 Bethuel the Aramite, who was of Padan Aram, the sister 
 of Laban the Aramite, unto him for a wife. And Izhak 
 went to the mountain of worship, the place where his 
 father had bound him. And Izhak in his prayer turned 
 the attention of the Holy One, blessed be He ! from 
 that which He had decreed respecting his wife, because 
 she had been barren twenty and two years; and changed 
 also was the intention of the Holy One, blessed be He! 
 from that which He had decreed concerning him who 
 had been childless. And he was enlarged, and Rivekah 
 his wife was with child. And the children pressed in 
 her womb as men doing battle. And she said, If this 
 is the anguish of a mother, what then are children to 
 me ? And she went into the school of Shem Rabba to 
 supplicate mercy before the Lord. [Jerusalem. And 
 the children pressed in her womb, and she said, If such 
 be the anguish of a mother, what now is life, that 
 children are to be mine? And she went to supplicate 
 mercy before the Lord in the beth midrash of Shem 
 Rabba.] And the Lord said to her, Two peoples are 
 in thy womb, and two kingdoms from thy womb shall 
 be separated ; and one kingdom shall be stronger than 
 the other, and the elder shall serve the younger, if the 
 children of the younger will keep the commandments of 
 
 the Law. J 
 
 And the two hundred and seventy days of her being 
 with child were completed to bring forth; and, behold, 
 twins were in her womb. And the first came forth 
 wholly red, as a garment of hair: and they called his 
 name Esau , 1 because he was born altogether complete, 
 with the hair of the head, and the beard, and teeth, and 
 grinders. [Jerusalem. And the first came forth 
 wholly red, as a garment of hair: and they called his 
 1 "Ready made,” or, according to others, "rough, hairy.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 241 
 
 XXV.] 
 
 name Esau.] Afterward came forth his brother, and 
 his hand had hold on the heel of Esau. And they 
 called his name Jakob ( YaaJcov ). 8 And Izhak was a 
 son of sixty years when he begat them. 
 
 And the lads grew; and Esau was a man of idleness 8 
 to catch birds and beasts, a man going forth into the 
 field to kill lives, as Nimrod had killed, and Hanok his 
 son. But Jakob was a man peaceful in his works, a 
 minister of the instruction-house of Eber, seeking 
 instruction before the Lord. And Izhak loved Esau, 
 for words of deceit were in his mouth; but Bivekah 
 loved Jakob. 
 
 On the day that Abraham died, Jakob dressed pot¬ 
 tage of lentiles, and was going to comfort his father. 
 And Esau came from the wilderness, exhausted ; for in 
 that day he had committed five transgressions : he had 
 worshipped with strange worship, he had shed innocent 
 blood, he had gone in unto a betrothed damsel, he had 
 denied the life of the world to come, and had despised 
 the birthright. And Esau said to Jakob, Let me now 
 taste that red pottage, for I am faint,—therefore he 
 called his name Edom . 4 And Jakob said, Sell to-day, 
 as (on this very) day, what thou wouldst hereafter 
 appropriate, thy birthright, unto me. And Esau 
 said, Behold, I am going to die, and in another world 
 I shall have no life; and what then to me is the birth¬ 
 right, or the portion in the world of which thou 
 speakest ? And Jakob said, Swear to me to-day that 
 I so it shall be. And he sware to him, and sold his 
 ! birthright to Jakob. And Jakob gave to Esau bread 
 jaud pottage of lentiles. And he ate and drank, and 
 arose and went. And Esau scorned the birthright, and 
 the portion of the world that cometh. [Jerusalem. 
 
 * From agav , “ to hold by the heel, to trip up, to act deceitfully.” 
 
 3 Or, “leisure” 4 “ Red.” 
 
242 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 1 
 
 And he arose, and went. And Esau despised the 1 
 birthright, and yilified the portion in the world that | 
 cometh, and denied the resurrection of the dead.] 
 
 XXYI. And there was a mighty famine in the land 1 
 of Kenaan, besides the former famine which had been 1 
 in the days of Abraham ; and Izhak went to Abimelek 1 
 king of the Philistaee at Gerar. It had been in 
 Izhak* s heart to go dow T n to Mizraim ; but the Lord 
 appeared to him, and said, Go not down to Mizraim; 1 
 dwell in the land as I have told thee; sojourn in the | 
 land, and My Word shall be for thy help, and I will 
 bless thee; for to the end to thy sons will I give all j 
 these lands, and I will establish the covenant which I | 
 have covenanted with Abraham thy father. And I 
 will multiply thy sons as the stars of the heavens, and 
 will give to thy sons all these lands, and through thy 
 sons shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; on 
 account that Abraham obeyed My word, and kept the ^ 
 keeping of My wmrd, My statutes, My covenants, and 
 My law r s. And Izhak dwelt in Gerar. And the men 
 of the place inquired concerning his wife; and he said, , 
 She is my sister : for he reasoned in his heart, Lest the , 
 men of the place should kill me for Rivekah, because ■ 
 she was of beautiful appearance. And it was when j 
 days had increased to him in abiding there, that Abime¬ 
 lek the king of the Philistaee looked from a window, 1 
 and beheld, and Izhak was disporting with Rivekah his 
 wife. [Jerusalem. And he looked.] And Abimelek 
 called Izhak, and said. Nevertheless she is thy wife; 
 and wliy hast thou said, She is my sister ? And Izhak 
 answered him, Because I said in my heart. Lest they 
 kill me on her account. And Abimelek said, Why hast 
 thou done this to us ? It might have been that the 
 king, w ho is the principal 5 of the people, had lain with 
 5 Or, “the individual ( myechad ), the personal representative.” i 
 
XXVI.] ON GENESIS. 243 
 
 thy wife, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us. 
 [Jerusalem. And Abimelek said to him, What is this 
 that thou hast done to us ? Yery possibly might one 
 of the young men have lain with thy wife, and there 
 would have been great guilt brought upon us.] 
 
 And Abimelek instructed all the people. Whoever 
 shall go near to injure this man or his wife, shall verily 
 be put to death. And Izhak sowed unto righteousness 
 in that land, and found in that year a hundred for one, 
 according to his measure. And the Lord blessed him, 
 and the man increased, and went forward increasing 
 until he was very great. And he had flocks of sheep, 
 and herds of cattle, and great cultivation; and the 
 Philistaee envied him. And all the wells which the 
 servants of his father had digged in the days of Abra¬ 
 ham his father, the Philistaee stopped up and filled with 
 earth. 
 
 And Abimelek said to Izhak, Go from us; for thou 
 art stronger than we in riches very much. And Izhak 
 went thence, and sojourned in the vale of Gerar, and 
 dwelt there. And Izhak digged again the w r ells of 
 water which the servants of his father had digged in 
 the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philis¬ 
 taee had stopped after Abraham was dead; and he called 
 them by the names his father had called them. And 
 the servants of Izhak digged in the border of the vale, 
 and found there a well of flowing water. And the 
 shepherds of Gerar contended with Izhak's shepherds, 
 saying, The water is ours. And it was the will of 
 Heaven, and it dried. But when they returned to 
 Izhak, it flowed. And he called the name of the well 
 (.Esek ) Contention, because (etheseJcu) they had quar¬ 
 relled with him on account of it. And they digged 
 another well; and they contended for it also; and it 
 dried, and did not flow again. And he called the 
 m 2 
 
244 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 name of it ( Sitnah ) Accusation. And he removed 
 from thence and digged another well, and for that they 
 did not contend as formerly, and he called the name 
 of it ( Ravchatha ) Spaciousness; for he said, Now hath 
 the Lord given us space to spread us abroad in the 
 land. And he went up from thence unto Beersheba. 
 And the Lord appeared to him that night, and said, 
 I am the God of Abraham thy father : fear not; for My 
 Word is for thy help, and I will bless thee, and multiply 
 thy sons for the righteousness* sake of Abraham My 
 servant. And he builded there an altar, and prayed 
 in the name of the Lord. And he spread his tabernacle 
 there, and the servants of Izhak digged there a well. 
 And when Izhak went forth from Gerar the wells dried 
 up, and the trees made no fruit; and they felt that it 
 was because they had driven him away, all these things 
 had befallen them. And Abimelek went to him from 
 Gerar, and took his friends to go with him, and Phikol 
 the chief of his host. And Izhak said to them. Why 
 come you to me that I should pray for you, when you 
 have hated me, and driven me from you ? And they 
 answered. Seeing, we have seen, that the Word of the 
 Lord is for thy help, and for thy righteousness* sake all 
 good hath been to us; but when thou wentest forth 
 from our land the wells dried up, and our trees made 
 no fruit; then we said, We will* cause him to return to 
 us. And now let there be an oath established between 
 us, and kindnesses between us and thee, and we will 
 enter into a covenant with thee, lest thou do us evil. 
 Forasmuch as we have not come nigh thee for evil, and 
 as we have acted with thee only for good, and have 
 indeed sent thee away in peace; thou art now blessed 
 of the Lord. And they arose in the morning, each man 
 with his brother; and he broke off from the bridle of 
 his ass, and gave one part to them for a testimony. 
 
XXVII.] ON GENESIS. 245 
 
 And Izhak prayed for them, and they were enlarged. 
 And Izhak accompanied them, and they went from him 
 
 in peace. 
 
 And on that day the servants of Izhak came and told 
 him concerning the well they had digged, and said to 
 him, We have found water; and he called it Sheba 
 (the Swearing) ; therefore the name of the city is 
 Beersheba unto this day. 
 
 And Esau was the son of forty years; and he took 
 to wife Yehudith daughter of Beari the Hittah, and 
 Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittah. And they 
 bowed in strange worship, and set themselves to rebel 
 in their evil conduct against Izhak and against Rivekah. 
 [Jerusalem. And they were refractory, swelling in 
 spirit with strange worship, and would not receive 
 instruction either from Izhak or Rivekah.] 
 
 XXYII. And it was when Izhak was old and his 
 eyes were darkened from seeing,—because when his 
 father was binding him he had seen the Throne of 
 Glory, and from that time his eyes had begun to 
 darken,—that he called Esau his elder son, on the 
 fourteenth of Nisan, and said to him. My son, behold, 
 this night they on high praise the Lord of the world, 
 and the treasures of the dew are opened in it. And he 
 said, Behold, I am. 
 
 And he said. Behold, now I am old; I know not the 
 day of my death: but now take thy weapons, 6 thy 
 quiver 7 and thy bow ; and go forth into the field, and 
 take me venison, and make me food such as I love, and 
 bring to me, and I will eat, that my soul may bless 
 thee ere I die. 
 
 And Rivekah heard by the Holy Spirit as Izhak 
 spake with Esau his son. And Esau went to the 
 field to take venison to bring it. And Rivekah spake 
 
 * " The instruments of thy arms.” 7 “ House of arrows.” 
 
246 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 to Jakob her son, saying, Behold, this night those on 
 high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasures of 
 the dew are opened in it; and I have heard thy father 
 speaking with Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me 
 venison, and make me food, and I will bless thee in the 
 presence of the Lord before I die. And now my son 
 receive from me what I command thee : Go now to the 
 house of the flock, and take me from thence two fat 
 kids of the goats ; one for the pascha, and one for the 
 oblation of the feast; and I will make of them food for 
 thy father such as he loveth. And thou shalt carry to 
 thy father, and he will eat, that he may bless thee 
 before his death. 
 
 And because Jakob was afraid to sin, fearing lest his 
 father might curse him, he said, Behold, Esau my 
 brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Per¬ 
 haps my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes 
 like one who derideth him, and bring upon me a curse 
 and not a blessing. 
 
 And she said. If with blessings he bless thee, they 
 shall be upon thee and upon thy sons; and if with 
 curses he should curse thee, they shall be upon me and 
 upon my soul: therefore receive from me, and go and 
 take for me. 
 
 And he went and took, and brought to his mother; 
 and his mother made food such as his father loved. 
 And Bivekah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her 
 elder son which had formerly been Adam's; but which 
 that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with 
 her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jakob 
 her younger son. And the skins of the kids she laid 
 upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck. 
 And the food and the bread she had made she set in 
 the hand of Jakob her son. 
 
 And he entered unto his father, and said, My 
 
XXVII.] ON GENESIS. 247 
 
 father. And he said, Behold me: who art thou, my 
 son ? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau thy 
 firstborn : I have done as thou spakest with me. Arise 
 now, sit 8 and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless 
 me. And Izhak said to his son, What is this that 
 thou hast found so soon, my son ? And he said, 
 Because the Lord thy God had prepared it before me. 
 And Izhak said to Jakob, Come near now, and I will 
 feel thee, my son, whether thou be my son Esau or 
 not. And Jakob drew near to Izhak his father, who 
 touched him, and said, This voice is the voice of Jakob, 
 nevertheless the feeling of the hands is as the feeling of 
 the hands of Esau. But he recognised him not, 
 because his hands were hairy as the hands of Esau his 
 brother, and he blessed him. And he said. But art 
 thou my son Esau ? And he said, I am. And he said, 
 Draw near, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my 
 soul may bless thee. And he approached him, and he 
 ate; and he had no wine; but an angel prepared it for 
 him, from the wine which had been kept in its grapes 
 from the days of the beginning of the world; and he 
 gave it into Jakob's hand, and Jakob brought it to his 
 father, and he drank. And Izhak his father said. Draw 
 near now, and kiss me, my son; and Jakob drew near 
 and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his vest¬ 
 ments, and blessed him, and said. See, the smell of my 
 son is as the smell of the fragrant incense which is to be 
 offered on the mountain of the house of the sanctuary, 
 which shall be called a field which the Lord hath 
 blessed, and that He hath chosen, that therein His 
 Shekinah might dwell. 
 
 Therefore the Word of the Lord give thee of the 
 
 8 Or, “ recline.” 
 
 9 Jerusalem, “ The feeling of his hands, the feeling of the hands 
 
 of Esau.” 
 
248 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 good dews which descend from the heavens, and of the 
 good fountains that spring up, and make the herbage 
 of the earth to grow from beneath, and plenty of pro¬ 
 vision and wine. Let peoples be subject to the£, all 
 the sons of Esau, and kingdoms bend before thee, all 
 the sons of Keturah; a chief and a ruler be thou over 
 thy brethren, and let the sons of thy mother salute 
 thee. Let them who curse thee, my son, be accursed 
 as Bileam bar Beor; and them who bless thee be blessed 
 as Mosheh the prophet, the scribe of Israel. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. Let peoples serve before thee, all the sons 
 of Esau : all kings be subject to thee, all the sons 
 of Ishmael: be thou a chief and a ruler over the sons of 
 Keturah: all the sons of Laban the brother of thy 
 mother shall come before thee and salute thee. Whoso 
 curseth thee, Jakob, my son, shall be accursed as 
 Bileam ben Beor ; and whoso blesseth thee shall be 
 blessed as Mosheh the prophet and scribe of Israel.] 
 
 And it was when Izliak had finished blessing Jakob, 
 and Jakob had only gone out about two handbreadths 
 from Izhak his father, that Esau his brother came in 
 from his hunting. And the Word of the Lord had 
 impeded him from taking clean venison; but he had 
 found a certain dog, 1 and killed him, and made food of 
 him, and brought to his father, and said to his father, 
 Arise, my father, and eat of my venison, that thy soul 
 may bless me. 
 
 And Izhak his father said to him, Who art thou ? 
 And he said, I am thy firstborn, Esau. And Izhak was 
 moved with great agitation when he heard the voice of 
 Esau, and the smell of his food rose in his nostrils as 
 the smell of the burning of Gehennam; and he said, 
 Who is he who hath got venison, and come to me, aud 
 I have eaten of all which he brought me before thou 
 
 1 Calumny. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 XXVII.] 
 
 249 
 
 earnest, and I have blessed him, and he shall, too, be 
 blessed ? 
 
 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried 
 with a cry exceeding great and bitter, and said to his 
 father, Bless me, me also, my father! And he said. 
 Thy brother hath come with subtilty, and hath received 
 from me thy blessing. And he said, His name is truly 
 called Jakob; for he hath dealt treacherously with me 
 these two times : my birthright he took, and, behold, 
 now he hath received my blessing ! And he said, Hast 
 thou not reserved a blessing for me ? And Izhak 
 answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have appointed 
 him a ruler over thee, and all his brethren have I made 
 to be his servants, and with provision and wine have I 
 sustained him : and now go, leave me; for what can I 
 do for thee, my son ? And Esau answered his father, 
 Hast thou but one blessing, my father ? Bless me, me 
 also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and 
 wept. 
 
 And Izhak answered and said to Esau, Behold, 
 among the good fruits of the earth shall be thy habita¬ 
 tion, and with the dews of the heavens from above. 
 And upon thy sword shalt thou depend, entering at 
 svery place : yet thou shalt be supple and credulous, and 
 be in subjection to thy brother; but it will be that 
 tfhen his sons become evil, and fall from keeping the 
 commandments of the law, thou shalt break his yoke 
 )f servitude from off thy neck. [Jerusalem. And by 
 hy weapons thou shalt live, and before thy brother be 
 subject. And it shall be when the sons of Jakob labour 
 n the law, and keep the commandments, they will set 
 he yoke of subjection on thy neck; but when the sons 
 >f Jakob withdraw themselves and study not the law, 
 lor keep the commandments, behold, then shalt thou 
 >reak their yoke of subjection from off thy neck.] 
 m 5 
 
250 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 1 
 
 And Esau kept hatred in his heart against Jakob his 
 brother, on account of the order of blessing with which 
 his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his 
 heart, I will not do as Kain did, who slew Habel in the 
 life (time) of his father, for which his father begat Sheth, 
 but will wait till the time when the days of mourning 
 for the death of my father come, and then will I kill 
 Jakob my brother, and will be found the killer and the 
 heir. 
 
 And the words of Esau her elder son, who thought 
 in his heart to kill Jakob, were shown by the Holy 
 Spirit to Eivekah, and she sent, and called Jakob her 
 younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau thy brother 
 lieth in wait for thee, and plotteth against thee to 
 kill thee. And now, my son, hearken to me : arise, 
 escape for thy life, and go unto Laban my brother, at 
 Haran, and dwell with him a few days, until the wrath 
 of thy brother be abated, until thy brother's anger have 
 quieted from thee, and he have forgotten what thou 
 hast done to him; and I will send and take thee from 
 thence. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one 
 day : thou being slain, and he driven forth, as Hava 
 was bereaved of Habel, whom Kain slew, and both were 
 removed from before Adam and Hava all the days of 
 the life of Adam and Hava ? [Jerusalem. Until the 
 time when the bitterness of thy brother shall be turned 
 away from thee.] 
 
 And Eivekah said to Izhak, I am afflicted in my life 
 on account of the indignity of the daughters of lieth. 
 If Jakob take a wicked wife from the daughters of 
 lieth, such as these of the daughters of the people of 
 the land, what will life be to me ? 
 
 XXVIII. And Izhak called Jakob, and blessed him, 
 and commanded him, and said to him, Thou shalt not 
 take a wife from the daughters of the Kenaanaee. 
 
XXVIII.] ON GENESIS. 251 
 
 Arise, go to Padan of Aram, to the house of Bethuel 
 thy mother's father, and take thee from thence a wife 
 from the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. 
 And El Shadai will bless thee with many possessions, 
 and increase thee and multiply thee into twelve tribes, 
 and thou shalt be worthy of the congregation of the 
 sons of the Sanhedrin, the sum of which is seventy, 
 according to the number of the nations. And He will 
 give the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy sons 
 with thee, and cause thee to inherit the land of thy 
 sojourning, which he gave unto Abraham. And Izhak 
 sent Jakob away, and he went to Padan Aram unto 
 Laban bar Bethuel the Aramite, the brother of Bivekah 
 the mother of Jakob and Esau. 
 
 And Esau considered that Izhak had blessed Jakob, 
 and had sent him to Padan Aram to take to him from 
 thence a wife, when he blessed him, and commanded 
 him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters 
 of the Kenaanites; and that Jakob obeyed the word of 
 his father, and the word of his mother, and was gone to 
 Padan Aram : and Esau considered that the daughters 
 of Kenaan were evil before Izhak his father, and Esau 
 went unto Ishmael, and took to wife Mahalath, who is 
 Basemath the daughter of Ishmael bar Abraham, the 
 sister of Nebaioth from his mother, besides his other 
 wives. 
 
252 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 VAYETSE. 
 
 Five miracles were wrought for our father Jakob at 
 the time that he went forth from Beersheba. The first 
 sign: the hours of the day were shortened, and the sun 
 went down before his time, forasmuch as the Word had 
 desired to speak with him. The second sign : the four 
 stones which Jakob had set for his pillow he found in 
 the morning had become one stone. Sign the third : 
 the stone which, when all the flocks were assembled, 
 they rolled from the mouth of the well, he rolled away 
 with one of his arms. The fourth sign : the well over¬ 
 flowed, and the water rose to the edge of it, and con¬ 
 tinued to overflow all the days that he was in Haran. 
 The fifth sign : the country was shortened before him, 
 so that in one day he went forth and came to Haran. 
 
 And he prayed in the place of the house of the 
 sanctuary, and lodged there, because the sun had gone 
 down. And he took four stones of the holy place, and 
 set his pillow, and slept in that place. And he dreamed, 
 and, behold, a ladder was fixed in the ground, and the 
 top of it reached to the height of heaven. And, behold, 
 the two angels who went unto Sedom, and who had 
 been expelled from the midst of them, because they had 
 revealed the secrets of the Lord of the world; and being 
 cast forth they had walked till the time that Jakob went 
 out from the house of his father, and had accompanied 
 him with kindliness unto Bethel,—in that day had 
 ascended to the high heavens, and said, Come, see 
 Jakob the pious, whose likeness is inlaid in the throne 
 of glory, and whom you have so greatly desired to 
 behold. Then the rest of the angels of the holy Lord 
 descended to look upon him. 
 
XXVIII.] ON GENESIS. 253 
 
 [Jerusalem. Five signs were wrought for our father 
 Jakob at the time he went forth from Beersheba to 
 go unto Haran. The first sign : the hours of the day 
 were shortened for him, and the sun was hidden from 
 him before its time, because His Word had desired to 
 speak with him. The second sign: after our father 
 Jakob had lifted up his feet from Beersheba, the 
 country was shortened before him, and he found himself 
 sitting in Haran. The third sign : the stones which 
 Jakob our father had taken in the evening, and set as 
 the resting-place of his head, when he had risen in the 
 morning he found had all become one stone; and that 
 is the stone which he set up in the first covenant, 
 pouring oil upon the top of it. The fourth sign : when 
 all the shepherds had gathered together at the stone to 
 roil it from the mouth of the well, and could not, then 
 came our father Jakob and lifted it with one hand, and 
 watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. The 
 fifth sign : after our father Jakob had lifted the stone 
 from the mouth of the well, the well overflowed, and 
 was overflowing twenty years; all the days that our 
 father Jakob dwelt in Haran. These five signs were 
 wrought for our father Jakob in the time when he 
 departed from Beersheba to go to Charan. 
 
 [12. And he dreamed, and, behold, a ladder was 
 fixed in the earth, and the summit of it reached to the 
 height of heaven. And, behold, the angels who had 
 accompanied him from the house of his father, ascended 
 to make known to the angels on high, saying, Come, 
 see Jakob the pious, whose likeness is in the throne of 
 glory, and whom you have been desirous to see ! And, 
 behold, the holy angels from before the Lord ascended 
 and descended, and looked upon him.] 
 
 And, behold, the Glory of the Lord stood above him, 
 and He said to him, I am the Lord the God of Abraham 
 
254 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 thy father, and the God of Izhak. The land on which 
 thou art lying I will give to thee and to thy sons. 
 And thy sons shall be many as the dust of the earth, 
 and shall become strong on the west and on the east, 
 on the north and on the south : and all the kindreds of 
 the earth shall through thy righteousness and the right¬ 
 eousness of thy sons be blessed. And, behold, My 
 Word is for thy help, and will keep thee in every place 
 where thou shalt go, and will bring thee (again) to this 
 land; for I will not leave thee until the time when I 
 have performed all that I have told thee. 
 
 And Jakob awoke from his sleep, and said, Verily 
 the Glory of the Lord's Shekinah dwelleth in this place, 
 and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How 
 dreadful and glorious is this place! This place is not 
 common, but the sanctuary 3 of the Name of the Lord, 
 the proper spot for prayer, set forth before the gate of 
 heaven, and founded beneath the throne of glory. 
 
 And Jakob arose in the morning, and took the stone 
 which he had placed for his pillow, and set it standing, 
 and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the 
 name of that place Beth El; but Luz was the name of 
 the city at the first. And Jakob vowed a vow, saying, 
 If the Word of the Lord will be my Helper, and will 
 keep me from shedding innocent blood, and from 
 strange worship, and from impure converse, in this way 
 that I am going; and will give me bread to eat, and 
 raiment to wear, and will bring me back in peace to my 
 father's house; the Lord shall be my God : and this 
 stone which I have set (for) a pillar shall be ordained 
 for the house of the sanctuary of the Lord, and upon it 
 shall generations worship the Name of the Lord; and 
 of all that Thou mayest give me, the tenth will I 
 separate before Thee. 
 
 2 Beth Mikdash, " the holy house.” 
 
XXIX.] ON GENESIS. 255 
 
 XXIX. And Jakob lifted up his feet lightly 3 to 
 proceed, and he came to the land of the children of the 
 east. And he looked and saw, and behold (there was) 
 a well in a field, and behold there three flocks of 
 sheep lying near it; because from that well they 
 watered the flocks; and a great stone was laid upon the 
 mouth of the well. And they gathered the flocks there, 
 and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered 
 the sheep, and set the stone on the mouth of the well 
 in its place. 
 
 And Jakob said to them. My brethren, whence are 
 you ? And they said, Prom Haran are we. And he 
 said to them, Know you Laban bar Nachor? And 
 they said, We know. And he said, Hath he peace ? 
 And they said, Peace; and, behold, Rahel his daughter 
 cometh with the sheep. And he said. Behold, the time 
 of the day is great; it is not time to gather home the 
 cattle; water the sheep, and let them go (again) to 
 pasture. [Jerusalem. It is not time to gather.] 
 And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks are 
 gathered together, and we roll the stone from the mouth 
 of the well and water the sheep. 
 
 While they were speaking with him, Rahel came with 
 her father's sheep; for she was a shepherdess at that 
 time, because there had been a plague from the Lord 
 among the sheep of Laban, and but few of them were 
 left, and he had dismissed his shepherds, and had put 
 the remaining (flock) before Rahel his daughter. And 
 it was when Jakob saw Rahel the daughter of Laban 
 his mother's brother that Jakob went nigh, and rolled 
 the stone with one of his arms from the mouth of the 
 well; and the well uprose, and the waters ascended to 
 the top of it; and he watered the sheep of Laban his 
 mother's brother; and it uprose for twenty years. 
 
 3 Or, “ with agility.” 
 
256 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP, 
 
 And Jakob kissed Eahel, and lifted up bis voice and 
 wept. And Jakob told unto Eahel, that he was come to be 
 with her father to take one of his daughters. And 
 Eahel answered him, Thou canst not dwell with him, 
 for he is a man of cunning. And Jakob said to her, 
 I am more cunning and wiser than he; nor can he do 
 me evil, because the Word of the Lord is my Helper. 
 And when she knew that he was the son of Eivekah, 
 she ran and made it known to her father. And it was 
 when Laban heard the account of the strength and 
 piety of Jakob the son of his sister; how he had taken 
 the birthright and the order of blessing from the hand 
 of his brother, and how the Lord had revealed Himself 
 to him at Bethel; how the stone had been removed, 
 and how the well had upflowed and risen to the brink; 
 he ran to meet him and embrace him, and kissed him 
 and led him into his house; and he related to Laban 
 all these things. And Laban said to him, Truly thou 
 art my near one and my blood; and he dwelt with him 
 a month of days. 
 
 And Laban said to Jakob, Though thou art reputed 
 my brother, shouldst thou serve me for nothing ? Tell 
 me, what shall be thy wages? And Laban had two 
 daughters, the name of the elder Leah, and the name of 
 the younger Eahel. And the eyes of Leah were moist, 
 (or dropping, running, 4 ) from weeping and praying 
 before the Lord that he would not destine her for Esau 
 the wicked; and Eahel was beautiful in appearance, 
 and of a fair countenance. [Jerusalem. And the eyes 
 of Leah were tender, for she had wept and prayed that 
 she might not be brought up in the lot of Esau; 5 and 
 Eahel was beautiful in appearance, and of fair coun¬ 
 tenance.] And Jakob loved Eahel; and he said, I will 
 
 4 Tsiran, “ triefdugig .”—Dessauer. 
 
 5 Lit., “in the planet of Esau,” t. e., “be destined to be his wife.” 
 
XXIX.] ON GENESIS. 257 
 
 serve thee seven years for Rahel thy younger daughter. 
 And Laban said, with deceit. It is better that I give 
 her to thee, than to another man; abide with me. 
 And Jakob served for Rahel seven years; and they 
 seemed in his eyes as a few days, because he loved her. 
 
 And Jakob said to Laban, Give me my wife: for the 
 days of my service are completed, and I will go in with 
 her. And Laban gathered all the men of the place, 
 and made them a feast. Answering he said to them, 
 Behold, seven years since Jakob came to us the wells 
 have not failed and the watered places are multiplied : 
 and now come, let us counsel against him cunning 
 counsel, that he may remain with us. And they gave 
 him cunning counsel that he should take Leah to him 
 instead of Rahel. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Laban gathered all the people of 
 the place, and made a feast. And Laban answered and 
 said to them, Behold seven years are from the coming 
 of this just man to us; our waterings have not failed, 
 and our springs are many: and now come, give me 
 counsel how we may settle (or subject) him among us 
 yet seven years. And they gave him cunning counsel 
 to take Leah to him instead of Rahel.] 
 
 And it was in the evening that he brought Leah his 
 daughter, and introduced her to him, and he went in 
 with her. And Laban gave to him Zilpha his daughter, 
 whom his concubine had borne to him, and he delivered 
 her to Leah his daughter to be her handmaid. And it 
 was the time of the morning, and he saw her, and, 
 behold, she was Leah, whom all the night he had 
 thought to be Rahel; because Rahel had delivered to 
 her all the things with which Jakob had presented her. 
 But when he saw this, he said to Laban, What is this 
 that thou hast done to me ? Was it not for Rahel that 
 I served with thee ? Why hast thou deceived me ? 
 
258 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Laban said, It is not so done in our place, to give 
 the younger before the elder. Fulfil now the seven 
 days of the feast of this, and I will give thee also that 
 for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven 
 other years. [Jerusalem. Fulfil the seven days of this 
 feast of Leah, and I will give.] And Jakob did so, and 
 fulfilled the seven days of the feast of Leah, and he gave 
 him Eahel his daughter to wife. And Laban gave to 
 Eahel his daughter Bilhah, whom his concubine bare 
 him, and he delivered her unto ber to be her handmaid. 
 And he went in also unto Eahel; and he loved Eahel 
 also more than Leah. And he served with him for her 
 yet seven other years. And it was revealed before the 
 Lord that Leah was not loved in the sight of Jakob; 
 and He said in His Word that sons should be given her, 
 and that Eahel should be barren. And Leah conceived 
 and bare a son, and called his name Eeuben : for she 
 said, My affliction was manifest before the Lord, there¬ 
 fore now will my husband love me; for my affliction 
 hath been manifested before the Lord as will be the 
 affliction of my children before the Lord when they shall 
 be enslaved in the land of the Mizraee. And she con¬ 
 ceived again, and bare a son. And she said, Because it 
 was heard before the Lord that I was hated, and He 
 gave me this also: and so will be heard before Him the 
 voice of my children when they shall be enslaved in 
 Mizraim. And she called his name Shimeon. And 
 she conceived again, and bare a son, and said, This time 
 will my husband be united to me, because I have borne 
 him three sons; and thus will it be that my children 
 shall be united to serve before the Lord : therefore she 
 called his name Levi. And she conceived again, and 
 bare a son, and said, This time will I give praise before 
 the Lord; for from this my son kings shall come forth, 
 and from him shall spring David the king, who shall 
 
XXX.] OH GENESIS. 259 
 
 offer praise before the Lord; therefore she called his 
 name Jehudah. And she ceased to bear. 
 
 XXX. And Rahel saw that she bare not to Jakob, 
 and Rahel was envious of her sister, and said to Jakob. 
 Pray before the Lord that He give me children ; and if 
 not, my life I shall reckon as the dead. And the anger 
 of Jakob was strong against Rahel, and he said, Why 
 do you ask of me ? Ask before the Lord, from before 
 whom are children, and who hath restrained from thee 
 the fruit of the womb. And she said. Behold my hand¬ 
 maid Bilhah, enter with her, that she may bear, and I 
 may increase and may be builded up from her. And 
 she made her handmaid Bilhah free, and delivered her 
 to him, and Jakob entered with her. And Bilhah con¬ 
 ceived, and bare a son to Jakob. And Rahel said. The 
 Lord hath judged me in His good mercies; He hath 
 also heard the voice of my prayer, and given me a 
 son; and so it is to be that He shall judge by the 
 hand of Shimshon bar Manovach, who shall be of his 
 seed; and hath he not delivered into his hand the 
 people of the Philistaee ? Therefore she called his name 
 Dan. And Bilhah the handmaid of Leah conceived 
 again, and bare a second son to Jakob. And Rahel 
 said. With affliction afflicted was I before the Lord in 
 prayer; therefore He hath received my request that I 
 might have a son as my sister, and hath given me two. 
 Even so are my children to be redeemed from the hand 
 of their enemies when they shall afflict themselves 
 in prayer before the Lord; and she called his name 
 Naphtali. 
 
 And Leah saw that she had ceased from bearing, and 
 she made Zilpha her handmaid free, and gave her unto 
 Jakob to wife. And Zilpha the handmaid of Leah 
 conceived, and bare Jakob a son; and Leah said, Good 
 fortune cometh; his children shall surely inherit their 
 
260 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 habitation on the east side of Jardena: and she called 
 his name Gad. [Jerusalem. And Leah said, Good 
 success cometh ; for the feastings of the Gentiles are to 
 be cut off: and she called.] And Zilpha the handmaid 
 of Leah bare a second son to Jakob. And Leah said, 
 Praise shall be mine: for the daughters of Israel will 
 praise me, as his children will be praised before the 
 Lord for the goodness of the fruit of his land; and she 
 called his name Asher. 
 
 And Reuben went in the days of Sivan, in the time 
 of wheat harvest, and found (yavruchin) mandrakes in the 
 field; and he brought them to Leah his mother. And 
 Rahel said to Leah, Give me now of thy son’s m^Wrakes. 
 And she said to her, Is it a little thing that thou hast 
 taken my husband, and thou seekest to take also my 
 son’s mandrakes ? And Rahel said, Therefore shall he 
 lie with thee this night for thy sou’s mandrakes. 
 [Jerusalem. For a week he shall consort with thee.] 
 And Jakob came from the field at evening. And Leah 
 heard the voice of the braying of the ass, and knew that 
 Jakob had come, and Leah went forth to meet him, and 
 said, Thou wilt enter with me, because hiring I have 
 hired thee with my son’s mandrakes from Rah el my 
 sister. And he lay with her that night. And the 
 Lord heard the prayer of Leah, and she conceived, and 
 bare to Jakob a fifth son. And Leah said, The Lord 
 hath given me my reward, for that I* gave my handmaid 
 to my husband ; even so shall his children receive a 
 good reward, because they will occupy themselves with 
 the law. And she called his name Issakar. 
 
 And Leah conceived again, and bare a sixth son to 
 Jakob; and said, The Lord hath endowed me with a 
 good dowry by children. This time will the habitation 
 of my husband be with me, because I have borne him six 
 sons : and thus shall his children receive a good portion. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 261 
 
 XXX.] 
 
 And she called his name Zebnlnn. And afterward she 
 bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah; for she 
 said, Judgment is from before the Lord, that there shall 
 be from me a half of the tribes; but from Rah el my 
 sister shall go forth two tribes, even as they shall proceed 
 (in like manner) from each of the handmaids. And the 
 prayer of Leah was heard before the Lord; and the 
 infants were changed in their wombs; and Joseph was 
 given to the womb of Rahel, and Dinah to the womb of 
 Leah. And the remembrance of Rahel came before the 
 Lord, and the voice of her prayer was heard before 
 Him; and He said in his Word that He would give her 
 sons. 
 
 [Jerusalem. Lour keys are held in the hand of 
 the Lord of all the world, even the Lord, and He will 
 not deliver them either to angel or to saraph; the key of 
 the rain, the key of the provender, the key of the sepul¬ 
 chre, the key of barrenness. The key of rain : for thus 
 :he Scripture expoundeth, The Lord shall open unto thee 
 His good treasure, &c. The key of provender: for 
 bus the Scripture expoundeth, Thou openest thine 
 land, &c. The key of the sepulchre : for thus the 
 Scripture expoundeth, When I shall open your 
 iepulchre, &c. The key of barrenness : for thus the 
 Scripture expoundeth. And Elohim remembered 
 iahel, &c. And the Word of the Lord remembered 
 lahel in His good compassions, and the Word of the 
 jord heard the voice of her prayer, and He said in His 
 W>rd that He would give her children.] 
 
 And she conceived and bare a son, and said, The Lord 
 lath gathered off my reproach, even as Jehoshua the son 
 f Joseph will gather off the reproach of Mizraim from 
 he sons of Israel, and will circumcise them beyond 
 ardena. And she called his name Joseph, saying, 
 die Lord will add me yet another son to this one. 
 
262 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And it was when Rahel had borne Joseph, Jakob ! 
 said by the Holy Spirit concerning the house of Joseph,! 
 They are to be as a flame to consume the house of Esau; | 
 and he said, Therefore will I not be afraid of Esau and 
 his legions. And he said unto Laban, Send me away, 
 and I will go to my place and to my country. Give me 
 my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, 
 and I will go; for thou knowest my service with which 
 I have served thee. But Laban said to him, If now I have 
 found grace in thy eyes, [Jerusalem. I have observed,] 
 I have observed by divination that the Lord hath blessed 
 me for thy sake. And he said, Appoint 6 thy wages with 
 me, and I will give thee. 
 
 And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served 
 thee, and how thy cattle have been kept by me : for the | 
 little flock which thou hadst before me hath increased 
 greatly, and the Lord hath blessed thee at my foot, that 
 I have been profitable to thee from (the time of) my j 
 coming into thy house. And now when shall I do the * 
 work for which I am bound, to nourish the men of my, 
 house ? And he said, What shall I give thee ? And 
 Jakob said, Thou shalt not give me anything else, (but) 
 do me this thing, and I will return and pasture thy 
 flock, and keep them. I will pass through thy whole 
 flock to-day, and will set apart every lamb streaked and 
 spotted, and every black lamb among the lambs, and: 
 spotted and streaked among the goats, and they shall j 
 be my wages. [Jerusalem. Every lamb spotted andj 
 streaked, and every black lamb among the lambs, and 
 the spotted and streaked among the goats.] And my 
 righteousness shall testify for me to-morrow, 7 when ray 
 wages shall be brought before thee. Every one which is 
 not streaked or spotted among the goats, or black among 
 the lambs, shall be as if it had been a theft of mine. 
 
 6 Or, “ negotiate.” - 7 “ The day after.” 
 
XXXI.] ON GENESIS. 263 
 
 And Laban said to him, Well, let it be according to 
 thy word. And he separated that day the goats which 
 were marked in their feet, and the spotted, and all the 
 goats streaked or spotted, every one wdiich had a white 
 place in him, and every black one among the lambs, 
 and gave them into the hand of his sons. And he set 
 a journey of three days between his flocks and (those of) 
 Jakob. And Jakob tended the flock of Laban, the old 
 and the feeble which were left. 
 
 And Jakob took to him a rod of flowering poplar, 
 and of almond, and of the plane tree, and peeled in 
 them white peelings to disclose the white which was in 
 the rods. And the rods which he had peeled, he fixed 
 in the canals, in the troughs of water; at the place to 
 which they brought the flocks to water, there placed he 
 them over against the flock, that they might conceive 
 when they came to drink. [Jerusalem. In the canals.] 
 And the sheep conceived over against the rods, and the 
 sheep produced such as were marked in their feet, and 
 spotted and white in their backs. And the lambs did 
 Jakob set apart, and place in front of the flocks; all 
 the various-coloured and the black among Laban's sheep 
 he set for himself a flock apart, and did not mix them 
 with the sheep of Laban. And it w r as that whenever 
 the early (prime) sheep conceived, Jakob set the rods 
 in the canals before the eyes of the sheep, that they 
 might conceive before the rods. But with the late 
 sheep he did not set them; and the late sheep were 
 Laban's and the early ones Jakob's. And the man 
 increased greatly, and had a multitude of flocks, and 
 handmaids, and servants, and camels, and asses. 
 
 XXXI. But he heard the words of the sons of 
 Laban, saying, Jakob hath taken all that was our 
 father's; and from that which was our father's he hath 
 made himself all the glory of these riches. And Jakob 
 
264 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 observed the looks of Laban, and, behold, they were not 
 peaceful toward him as yesterday and as before it. 
 And the Lord said to Jakob, Return to the land of thy 
 fathers, and to thy native place; and My Word shall be 
 for thy help. 
 
 And Jakob sent Naphtali, who was a swift mes¬ 
 senger, and he called Rahel and Leah, and they came 
 into the field unto his flock. And he said to them, I 
 consider the looks of your father, and, behold, they are 
 not peaceful with me as yesterday and as before it; but 
 the God of my father hath been to my aid. And you 
 know that with all my strength I have served your 
 father, but your father hath deceived me, and hath 
 changed [Jerusalem. Hath commuted] my wages ten 
 portions; yet the Lord hath not given him power to do 
 me evil. If now he said, The streaked shall be thy 
 wages, all the sheep bare streaked; and if now he said, 
 The spotted-footed shall be thy wages, all the sheep 
 bare those which were spotted in their feet: and 
 the Lord hath taken away the flock of your father, 
 and hath given (it) to me. [Jerusalem. And the 
 Word of the Lord hath taken away.] And it was 
 at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted 
 up my eyes and saw in a dream, and, behold, the 
 goats which rose upon the flock were spotted in their j 
 feet, or streaked or white in their backs. And 
 the Angel of the Lord said to me, in a dream, 
 Jakob. And I said, Behold me. [Jerusalem. 
 Jakob answered in the holy tongue, and said, Behold 
 me.] And He said, Lift up now thine eyes and see: 
 all the goats that rise upon the flock are spotted in 
 their feet, or streaked or white in their backs: 
 because all the injury that Laban hath done thee i3 
 manifest before me. I am Eloha who did reveal Myself 
 to thee at Beth El, where thou didst anoint the pillar, 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 265 
 
 XXXI. J 
 
 and swear the oath before Me. Arise now, go forth 
 from this land, and return to the land of thy 
 
 birth. 
 
 And Eahel answered with the consent of Leah, and 
 said to him, Can there now be yet any portion or in¬ 
 heritance for us in our father’s house; are we not con¬ 
 sidered by him as strangers P For he hath sold us, and 
 eating he hath eaten our money. Therefore all the 
 wealth that the Lord hath taken from our father is ours 
 and our children's. And now, all that the Lord hath 
 said to thee, do. [Jerusalem. Are we not consi¬ 
 dered strangers to him? for he hath sold us, and, 
 behold, he is not willing to give us our dowry. 8 ] 
 
 And Jakob arose, and set his children and his wives 
 upon camels. And he led all his herds and his sub¬ 
 stance which he had obtained in Padan Aram to go 
 unto Izhak his father in the land of Kenaan. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. His treasure.] 
 
 And Laban had gone to shear his flock; and Rahel 
 stole the images. 9 For they had slain a man, a first¬ 
 born, and had cut off his head; they salted it with salt 
 ind balsams, and wrote incantations on a plate of gold, 
 md put it under his tongue, and set it up in the wall, 
 ind it spake with them; and unto such their father 
 iovied himself. And Jakob stole the knowledge of 
 Laban the Aramite, in that he did not show him when 
 ie went. And he went, he with all that.he had. And 
 ie arose and crossed the Pherat, and set his face to 
 iscend toward the mountain of Gilead ; because he saw 
 >y the Holy Spirit that from thence would be deli- 
 erance for his sons, in the days of Jephtach, who was 
 f Gilead. 
 
 But after Jakob had gone, the shepherds went to the 
 ell, but found no water; and they waited three days, 
 Ketubathan. 9 Tmlmanaia. 
 
 N 
 
266 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. : 
 
 if that it might (again) overflow; but it overflowed 
 not; and then came they to Laban on the third day, 
 and he knew that Jakob had fled; because through his 
 righteousness it had flowed twenty years. [Jerusalem. 
 And it was, when the shepherds were gathered together, 
 they sought to water the flock, but were not able; and 
 they waited two and three days, if that the well might 
 overflow; but it overflowed not; and then came they 
 to Laban in the third day, because Jakob had fled.] 
 
 And he took his kinsmen with him, and pursued after 
 him, going seven days, and overtook him, while sojourn¬ 
 ing in Mount Gilead, offering praise and praying before 
 his God. And there came an angel with a word from 
 before the Lord; and he drew the sword against Laban 
 the deceitful, in a dream of the night, and said to him, 
 Beware lest thou speak with Jakob from good to evil. £ 
 And Laban came upon Jakob. And Jakob had 
 spread his tent in the mountain, and Laban made his 
 brethren abide in the mount of Gilead. And Laban 
 said to Jakob, What hast thou done? Thou hast 
 stolen my knowledge, and led away my daughters like 
 captives of the sword. Why didst thou hide from me 
 that thou wouldst go, and steal my knowledge, and not 
 tell me? For if thou hadst told me, I would have sent 
 thee away with mirth, and with hymns, and with tam¬ 
 bourines, and with harps. Neither hast thou suffered 
 me to kiss the .sons of my daughters, nor my daughters. 
 Now hast thou been foolish in what thou hast done. 
 There is sufficiency in my hand to do evil with thee; 
 [Jerusalem. There are strength and ability;] but the 
 God of thy father spake with me in the evening, saying, 
 Be careful of speaking with Jakob from good to evil. 
 And now going thou wilt go; because desiring thou 
 hast desired the house of thy father: (but) why hast 
 thou stolen the images of my idols ? 
 
XXXI.] OX GENESIS. 267 
 
 And Jakob answered and said to Laban, Because I 
 feared, and said, Lest thou violently take away thy 
 daughters from me. With whomsoever thou shalt find 
 the images of thy idols, let him die before his time. 
 Before all our brethren take knowledge of what with me 
 is thine, and take it. But Jakob knew not that Rahel 
 had stolen them. And Laban went into the tent of 
 Jakob, and into the tent of Leah, and into the tent of 
 the two concubines, but found not. And he went out 
 from the tent of Leah, and entered the tent of Rahel. 
 But Rahel had taken the images, and laid them in the 
 paniers of the camels, and sat upon them. And he 
 searched all the tent, but found not. And she said, 
 Let it not be displeasing in my lord's eyes that I am 
 not able to arise before thee, because I have the way of 
 women. And he searched, but found not the images. 
 
 And the anger of Jakob took fire, and he contended 
 with Laban. And Jakob answered and said to Laban, 
 What is my sin, and what my transgression, that thou 
 bast so eagerly come after me ? Having, therefore, 
 searched all my vessels, what hast thou found of all the 
 vessels* of thy house ? Lay now the matter before my 
 Drethren and thy brethren, and let them decide the 
 irutli between us two. These twenty years have I been 
 vith thee: thy ewes and thy goats have not failed, and 
 he price of the rams of the flock I have not eaten, 
 [hat torn by wild beasts I have not brought to thee; 
 or had I sinned, from my hand thou wouldst have 
 equired it. What was stolen in the day by men, that 
 iave I made good; and what was stolen in the night 
 y wild beasts was made good also. [Jerusalem. 
 he dead I have not brought to thee; every one which 
 ad fled from the number, I have made that good; of 
 iy hands thou hast required it: and what thieves stole 
 y day or wild beasts devoured by night I have made 
 
 N 2 
 
268 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 good.] I have been in the field; by day the heat hath 
 devoured me, and the cold by night, and sleep hath 
 been parted from me. These twenty years have I been 
 in thy house, serving thee; fourteen years for thy two 
 daughters, and six years for thy sheep; and thou hast 
 changed my wages ten parts. Unless the God of my 
 father, the God of Abraham, and He whom Izhak I 
 feareth had been in my help, even now hadst thou sent 
 me away empty : but my affliction and the travail of my 
 hands are manifest before the Lord, and therefore He 
 admonished thee in the evening. 
 
 And Laban answered and said to Jakob, The children 
 whom thou hast received of thy w T ives are my children, 
 and the children whom they may bear will be reputed as 
 mine, and the sheep are my sheep, and all that thou 
 seest is mine. And for my daughters w'hat can I do 
 this day, and for the sons which they have borne? 
 And now come, let us strike a covenant, I and thou, 
 and it shall be for a witness between me and thee. 
 
 And Jakob took a stone and set it up for a pillar.' 
 And Jakob said to his sons, whom he called his 
 brethren, Collect stones. And they collected stones, and 
 made a mound, and they ate upon the mound. And 
 Laban called it Ogar Sahid, 1 but Jakob called it in the 
 holy tongue, Gal-ed. And The Observatory 3 also it 
 was called, because he said, The Lord shall observe* 
 between me and thee when we are hidden each man 
 from his neighbour. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, 
 doing them injury, and if thou take upon my daughters, 
 there is no man to judge us, the Word of the Lord 
 seeing is the witness between me and thee. And 
 Laban said to Jakob, Behold this mound, and behold 
 the pillar which thou hast reared between me and thee. 
 This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that 
 
 l “ The Mound of the Testimony.” 1 Sekutha. 3 Ttsteki Yeya. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 269 
 
 xrxn.] 
 
 I may not pass beyond this mound to thee, and that 
 thou mayest not pass beyond this mound and this pillar 
 to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of 
 Nachor shall judge between us, the God of their fathers. 
 But Jakob sware by the God whom his father Izhak 
 feared. And Jakob slew sacrifices in the mount, and 
 invited his kinsmen who came with Laban to help them¬ 
 selves to bread, (or strengthen themselves with bread,) 
 and they helped themselves to bread, and lodged in 
 the mount. And Laban arose in the morning, and 
 kissed the sons of Jakob, and his daughters, and blessed 
 them; and Laban went and returned to his place. 
 
 XXXII. And Jakob went on his way, and the angels 
 of the Lord met him. And Jakob said when he saw 
 them, These are not the host of Esau who are coming 
 to meet me, nor the host of Laban, wdio have returned 
 from pursuing me; but they are the host of the holy 
 angels who are sent from before the Lord. Therefore 
 the name of that place he called, in the language of the 
 sanctuary, Machanaim. [Jerusalem. And Jakob, 
 when he beheld them, said, Perhaps they are a host 
 from Laban, the brother of my mother, coming to set 
 against me the array of battle to slay me; or (rather) 
 they are a host of the holy angels from before the 
 Lord, who are come to save me from their hands. And 
 he called the name of that place Machanaim.] 
 
270 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 YAYISHLACH. 
 
 And Jakob sent messengers before biin to Esau bis 
 brother in the land of Gabla, the territory of the 
 Edomites, and instructed them to say, Thus shall you 
 speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jakob, 
 With Laban have I dwelt, and have tarried until now. 
 And of all that in which my father blessed me there is 
 nothing in my hand; but I have a few oxen and asses, 
 sheep, and servants and handmaids; and I have sent to 
 tell my lord that that blessing hath not profited me; 
 that I may find mercy in thine eyes, and that thou 
 mayest not maintain (enmity) against me on account 
 thereof. 
 
 And the messengers returned to Jakob, saying, We 
 came to thy brother, to Esau, and he also cometh to 
 meet thee, and four hundred chief-warriors 4 with him. 
 [Jerusalem. And four hundred men, warlike leaders 
 with him.] And Jakob was greatly afraid, because for 
 twenty years he had not been mindful of the glory of 
 his father: and he had anxiety; and he divided the 
 people who were with him, the sheep, and oxen, and 
 camels, into three troops, for a portion to Leah, and a 
 portion to Rahel. And he said. If Esau come to the 
 one troop of them and smite it, the remaining troop may 
 escape. And Jakob said, God of my father Abraham, 
 Thou, the God of my father Izhak, the Lord, who saidst 
 to me, Return to thy country and to thy kindred, and I 
 will do thee good : I am altogether less than any of 
 the (acts of) goodness and truth which Thou hast 
 exercised towards Thy servant: for with my staff, alone, 
 I passed this Jardena, and now I am become two bauds. 
 
 4 Tollmen'keen, TroXe/iapxoi. 
 
XXXII.] OX GENESIS. 271 
 
 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my elder brother, 
 from the hand of Esau, for I fear him: for he hath 
 been mindful of the glory of his father; lest he come 
 and smite the mother with the children. But Thou 
 hast promised me, I will surely do thee good, and will 
 make thy sons many as the sand of the sea, that cannot 
 be numbered for multitude. 
 
 And he abode there that night; and he took what 
 was ready at his hand a present for Esau his brother: 
 she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty; ewes 
 two hundred, and rams twenty: milch camels with 
 their young ones thirty; cows forty, and bulls ten, and 
 small colts ten. [Jerusalem. And small colts ten.] 
 And he made them ready by the hand of his servants in 
 flocks apart, and said to his servants, Pass over before 
 me, and put much (room) between flock and flock. 
 And he instructed the first, saying, When Esau my 
 brother shall meet thee, and ask of thee, saying, Whose 
 art thou, and whither art thou journeying, and whose 
 are these before thee ? Thou shalt say, It is a gift of 
 thy servant Jakob, which he sends to my lord Esau, 
 and, behold, he also cometh after us. And so he 
 instructed the second, and the third, and all them who 
 followed the flocks, saying. According to these words 
 you must speak with Esau when you find him, and say, 
 And, behold, thy servant Jakob also cometh after us. 
 For he said, I will make his countenance friendly by 
 the gift which goeth before me, and afterward will see 
 his face : peradventure he may accept me. And the 
 present passed over before him, and he abode that 
 night in the camp. And he arose in the night, and 
 took his two wives, and his two concubines, and his 
 eleven children, and went over the ford Jubeka. And 
 taking them he made them pass over the torrent, and 
 all that he had went over. 
 
272 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Jakob remained alone beyond the Jubeka; and 
 an Ansrel contended with him in the likeness of a man. 
 And he said. Hast thou not promised to give the tenth 
 of all that is thine ? And, behold, thou hast ten sons 
 and one daughter : nevertheless thou hast not tithed 
 them. Immediately he set apart the four firstborn of 
 the four mothers, and there remained eight. And he 
 began to number from Shimeon, and Levi came up for 
 the tenth. 
 
 Michael answered and said, Lord of the w'orld, this 
 is Thy lot. And on account of these things he 
 (Michael) remained from God at the torrent till the 
 column of the morning was ascending. And he saw 
 that he had not power to hurt him, and he touched the 
 hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jakob’s thigh 
 was distorted in his contending with him. 
 
 And he said. Let me go, for the column of the 
 morning ascendeth; and the hour cometh when the 
 angels on high offer praise to the Lord of the world: 
 and I am one of the angels of praise, but from the day 
 that the world was created my time to praise hath not 
 come until now. 
 
 And he said, I will not let thee go, until thou bless 
 me. [Jerusalem. And the hollow of Jakob’s thigh 
 was displaced in contending with him. And he said, 
 Send me aw f ay, for the column of the dawn ariseth, and, 
 behold, the hour cometh for the angels to praise. And 
 he said, 1 will not release thee until thou bless me.] 
 
 And he said, What is thy name? He answered, 
 Jakob. And he said, Thy name shall be no more 
 called Jakob, but Israel, because thou art magnified 
 with the angels of the Lord and with the mighty, and 
 thou hast prevailed with them. And Jakob asked and 
 said, Show me now thy name. And he said, Why dost 
 thou ask for my name? And he blessed Jakob there. 
 
XXXIII.] ON GENESIS. 27-3 
 
 And Jakob called the name of the place Peniel ; for 
 he said, I have seen the Angels of the Lord face to face, 
 and my soul is saved. And the sun rose upon him 
 before his time, (the sun) which on his account had set 
 before his time, on his going out from Beersheba, as he 
 crossed over Peniel. And he began to journey, and 
 was lame upon his thigh. Therefore the sons of Israel 
 eat not the sinew which shrank, which is in the hollow 
 of the thigh of cattle and of wild animals, until this 
 day; because the Angel touched and laid hold of the 
 hollow of the right thigh of Jakob, in the place of the 
 sinew which shrank. 
 
 j XXXIII. And Jakob lifted up his eyes and 
 looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hun¬ 
 dred men of war. And he divided the children unto 
 Leah, and to Rahel, and to the two concubines, and 
 placed the concubines and their sons foremost; for he 
 said, If Esau come to destroy the children and abuse 
 the women, he will do it with them, and meantime we 
 will arise and encounter him in fight; and Leah and 
 her children after, and Bahel and Joseph after them. 
 And he himself went over before them, praying and 
 asking mercy before the Lord ; and he bowed upon the 
 earth seven times, until he met with his brother. 
 
 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and 
 fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 
 Esau wept on account of the pain of his teeth which 
 were shaken; but Jakob wept because of the pain of 
 his neck. [Jerusalem. And Esau ran to meet him, 
 and hugged him, and fell upon his neck and kissed him. 
 Esau wept for the crushing of his teeth, and Jakob 
 wept for the tenderness of his neck. 5 
 
 And he lifted up his eyes and saw the wives and the 
 children, and said. Who are these with thee? And he 
 5 See remarks in the Introduction, page 13. 
 
 N 5 
 
274 TAIiGUM OF PALESTINE [CIIAP. f 
 
 said, They are the sons which have been given to me ] 
 through mercy from before the Lord upon thy servant, j 
 And the concubines came near, they and their children, % 
 and bowed themselves; and Leah also approached, and j 
 her children, and bowed; and afterward Joseph came I 
 near and stood before Rahel, and hid her by his stature, I 
 and they bowed. And he said. What to thee is all this I 
 troop that I have met ? And he said, It is a present I I 
 have sent to find mercy in the eyes of my lord. And 
 Esau said, I have much substance, my brother; let what 
 thou hast be confirmed to thee. And Jakob said. Say 
 not so, I beseech thee. If now I have found favour in 
 thy eyes, accept mv present from my hand; because I 
 have seen the look of thy face, and it is to me as the 
 vision of the face of thy angel; for, lo, thou art propi¬ 
 tious to me. Receive now the present which is brought 
 lo thee, because it hath been given me through mercy . 
 from before the Lord, and because I have much 
 substance. And he urged upon him, and he received. I 
 And he said, Let us journey and proceed, and I will 
 go along with thee, till thou come to the house of thy 
 habitation. And he said to him. My lord knowetk i 
 that the children are tender, and the flocks and kine 
 giving milk are with me; and if I overdrive them one 
 day, all the flock may die. Let me beseech my lord to 
 pass over and journey before thy servant, and I will lead 
 on quietly alone, according to the foot of the work which 
 is before me, and according to the foot of the instruction 
 of the children ; until the time that I come to my lordi 
 at Gabla. [Jerusalem. That the children are tender.] 
 And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of 
 the soldiers who are with me. But he said, Why this ? 
 Let me find favour before thee, my lord. And a 
 miracle was wrought for Jakob, and that day Esau 
 returned on his way to Gabla. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 275 
 
 XXXIV.] 
 
 And Jakob journeyed to Succoth, and sojourned 
 there the twelve months of the year; and he budded in 
 it a midrasha, 6 and for his flocks he made booths; 
 therefore he called the name of the place Succoth. 
 
 Then came Jakob in peace with all that he had to 
 the city of Shekern, in the land of Kenaan, in his 
 coming from Padan Aram ; and he dwelt near the city, 
 and bought the possession of a field where he spread 
 his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor father of 
 Sliekem, for a hundred pearls. 7 And he raised there 
 an altar, and there he gave the tithes which he had 
 set apart of all that he had before God, the God of 
 Israel. 
 
 .XXXIV. And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom 
 she bare to Jakob, went forth to see the manners of the 
 daughters of the people of the land. And Shekern, 
 the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw 
 her, and took her by force, and lay with her and 
 afflicted her. And his soul delighted in Dinah the 
 daughter of Jakob; and he loved the girl, and spake 
 kindly to the heart of the girl. And Shekern spake to 
 Ilamor his fatiier, saying, Take for me this damsel to 
 wife. But Jakob had heard that he had polluted 
 Dinah his daughter. And his sons were with the 
 flocks in the field, and Jakob was silent until they 
 came. 
 
 And Ilamor the father of Shekern came forth to 
 Jakob to speak with him. And the sons of Jakob had 
 come up from the field when they heard. And the men 
 were indignant, and very violently moved, because 
 Shekern had wrought dishonour in Israel in lying with 
 the daughter of Jakob; for so it was not right to have 
 been done. 
 
 And Hamor spake with them, saying, The soul of 
 
 6 “ A school.” 7 Margaleen. 
 
276 TAEGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Shekem my son delighteth in your daughter: give her, 
 I pray, to him to wife; and conjoin yourselves by 
 marriage with us. Give your daughters to us, and take 
 our daughters to you; and dwell with us, and the land 
 shall be before you, to dwell where you please and do 
 business in it and possess it. And Shekem said to her 
 father and to her brethren, Let me find grace 8 in your 
 sight, and what you shall tell me I will give. Multi¬ 
 ply upon me greatly dowry and gift, and I will give as 
 you shall tell me; only give me the damsel to wife. 
 [Jerusalem. Dotation and marriage portion.] But 
 the sons of Jakob answered Shekem and Ilamor his 
 father with subtilty, and so spake, because he had 
 polluted Dinah their sister, and said to them, We can¬ 
 not do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is 
 uncircumcised, because that would be a disgrace to us. 
 But in this we will accede to you, if you will be as we 
 are by circumcising every male. And we will give our 
 daughters to you, and will take your daughters to us, 
 and dwell with you, and be one people. But if you 
 will not hearken to us to be circumcised, we will take 
 our daughter by force and will go. And their words 
 were pleasing in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes 
 of Shekem the son of Hamor. And the young man 
 delayed not to do the tiling ; because he wished for the 
 daughter of Jakob; and he was more honourable than 
 all his father’s house. 
 
 And Hamor and Shekem his son came to the gate of 
 their city, and spake with the men of the gate of theifr 
 city, saying. These men are friendly with us; and they 
 may dwell in the land and do business in it; and the 
 land, behold, it is broad (in) limits before them; let us 
 take their daughters to us for wives, and give cur 
 daughters to them. But in this only will the men 
 8 Or, “ mercies.” 
 
XXXIV.] ON GENESIS. 277 
 
 accede to us, to dwell with us, and to be one people, by 
 every male of us being circumcised as they are. Their 
 flocks, and their substance, and all their cattle, will they 
 not be ours ? Only let us consent to them, and they 
 will dwell with us. And all they who came out of the 
 gate of his city received from Hamor and from Shekem 
 his son; and they circumcised every male, all who came 
 out of the gate of the city. 
 
 And it was on the third day, when they were weak 
 from the pain of their circumcision, two of the sons of 
 Jakob, Shimeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took 
 each man his sword, and came upon the city, which was 
 dwelling securely, and killed every male. And Hamor and 
 Shekem his son they killed with the edge of the sword; 
 and they took Dinah from the house of Shekem, and 
 went forth. And the rest of the sons of Jakob came to 
 the spoil of the slain, and they sacked the city because 
 they had polluted their sister in the midst of it. Their 
 flocks, and oxen, and asses, and whatever was in the 
 city or in the field they spoiled; and all their wealth 
 and all their little ones they took and spoiled, and all 
 that was in the houses. 
 
 And Jakob said to Shimeon and Levi, You have 
 made my name to go forth as evil among the inhabit¬ 
 ants of the land, among the Kenaanites and Pherezites. 
 And I am a people of (small) number, and they will 
 gather together against me, and destroy me and the men 
 of my house. And Shimeon and Levi answered, It 
 would not have been fit to be said in the congregations 
 of Israel that the uncircumcised polluted the virgin, 
 and the worshippers of idols debased the daughter of 
 Jakob ; but it is fit that it should be said, The uncir¬ 
 cumcised were slain on account of the virgin, and- the 
 worshippers of idols on account of the daughter of 
 Jakob. Shekem bar Hamor will not (now r ) deride us 
 
278 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 with his words; for as a whorish woman and an out¬ 
 cast who hath no avenger would he have made our sis¬ 
 ter, if we had not done this thing. 
 
 [Jerusalem. The two sons of Jakob answered to¬ 
 gether, and said to Israel their father, It would not be 
 fit to be said in the congregations of Israel, in their 
 bouse of instruction, that the uncircuincised polluted 
 the virgin, and the worshippers of idols the daughter of 
 Jakob; but it is fit that it be said in the congregations 
 of Israel and in their house of instruction, that the 
 uncircumcised were put to death for the sake of the 
 virgin, and the worshippers of idols because they had 
 defiled Dinah the daughter of Jakob. And Sliekem bar 
 Hamor will not boast in his heart and say, As a woman 
 who bath no man to avenge her injury, so hath Dinah 
 the daughter of Jakob been made. And they said, 
 As an impure woman and an outcast would be have 
 accounted our sister.] 
 
 XXXY. And the Lord said to Jakob, Arise, go up 
 to Bethel and dwell there, and make there an altar 
 unto Eloho, who revealed Himself to thee in thy flight 
 from before Esau thy brother. And Jakob said to the 
 men of his house, and to all who were with him. Put away 
 the idols of the peoples which are among you which 
 you took from the temple 9 of Shekera, and purify you 
 from the uncleannesses of the slain whom you have 
 come nigh, and change your raiment. And we will 
 arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an 
 altar unto Eloha, who heard my prayer in the day 
 w hen I w r as afflicted, and whose Word was my helper 
 in the way that I went. 
 
 And they delivered into Jakob's hand all the idols of 
 the people which w ere in their hands which they had 
 taken from the temple 9 of Sliekem, and the jewels that 
 9 Or, “ the house of idols.” 
 
XXXV.] ON GENESIS. 279 
 
 had been in the ears of the inhabitants of the city of 
 Sliekem, in which was portrayed the likeness of their 
 images; and Jakob hid them under the terebinth that 
 was near to the city of Sliekem. 
 
 And they journeyed from thence, offering praise and 
 prayer before the Lord. And there was a tremor from 
 before the Lord upon the people of the cities round 
 about them, and they pursued not after the sons of 
 Jakob. And Jakob came to Luz in the land of 
 Kenaan, which is Bethel, he and all the people who 
 were with him. And he builded there an altar, and 
 named that place. To God, who made His Shekinah 
 to dwell in Bethel, because there had been revealed 
 to him the angels of the Lord, in his flight from before 
 Esau his brother. 
 
 And Deborah, the nurse of Bivekah, died, and was 
 buried below Bethel, in the field of the plain. And there 
 it was told Jakob concerning the death of Bivekah his 
 mother; and he called the name of it. The other weeping. 10 
 
 And the Lord revealed Himself to Jakob again on 
 his return from Padan of Aram, and the Lord blessed 
 him by the name of His Word, after the death of his 
 mother. And the Lord said to him. Heretofore was 
 thy name Jakob : thy name shall be no more called 
 Jakob, but Israel shall be thy name. And the Lord 
 said to him, I am El Shadai: spread forth and mul¬ 
 tiply ; a holy people, and a congregation of prophets 
 and priests, shall be from thy sons whom thou hast 
 begotten, and two kings shall yet from thee go forth. 
 And the land which I gave to Abraham and to Izliak 
 will I give unto thee, and to thy sons after thee will I 
 give the land. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Deborah the nurse of Bivekah 
 died, and was buried below Beth El under an oak : 2 and 
 10 Aocharan baJcutiia. 1 Beluta, query, “ chestnut.” 
 
280 TAUGUM OF FAXESTINE [CXIAP. 
 
 he called the name of it, The Oak of Weeping. 2 The 
 God of eternity, whose name be Blessed for ever and 
 ever, hath taught us precepts which are beautiful and 
 statutes that are comely: He hath taught us the 
 blessing of matrimony from Adam and his bride, as the 
 scripture expoundeth. And the Word of the Lord 
 blessed them, and the Word of the Lord said to them, 
 Be strong and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue 
 it. He hath taught us to visit the afflicted, from our 
 father Abraham the Righteous, when He revealed Him¬ 
 self to him in the plain of Vision, and gave him the 
 precept of circumcision, and made him to sit in the 
 door of his tent in the heat of the day; as the scripture 
 expoundeth and saith, And the Word of the Lord 
 revealed Himself to him in the plain of Vision. And 
 again He hath taught us to bless those who mourn, 
 from our father Jakob the Righteous : for He revealed 
 Himself to him on his coming, from Padan of Aram, 
 when the way of the world had happened to Deborah, 
 the nurse of Rivekah his mother, and Rah el died by 
 him in the way, and Jakob our father sat weeping and 
 bewailing her, and mourning and crying. Then wast 
 Thou, O Lord of all worlds, in the perfection of Thy 
 free mercies revealed to him, and didst comfort him, and 
 blessing the mourners didst bless him concerning his 
 mother, even as the scripture expoundeth and saith, The 
 Word of the Lord revealed Himself unto Jakob the second 
 time on his coming from Padan Aram, and blessed him.] 
 And the Shekinah of the Lord ascended from him in 
 the place where He had spoken with him. And Jakob 
 erected there a pillar of stone in the place where He 
 had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he out¬ 
 poured upon it a libation of wine, and a libation of 
 water, because thus it was to be done at the feast of 
 
 2 Belut bakuiha. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 281 
 
 XXXV.j 
 
 Tabernacles; and he poured oil of olives thereupon. 
 And Jakob called the name of the place where the Lord 
 had spoken with him Beth El. 
 
 And they proceeded from Beth El; and there was yet 
 much space of provision land in the coming to Ephrath; 
 and Bahel travailed, and had hard labour in her birth. 
 And it was in. the hardness of her travail that the mid¬ 
 wife said to her. Fear not, for this also is to thee a male 
 child. And it was in the going forth of her soul, for 
 death came upon her, that she called his name The son 
 of my woe : but his father called him Benjamin. 
 [Jerusalem. And there was a space, as much ground, 
 to come unto Ephrath; and Bahel travailed, and had 
 
 hard labour in her birth.But his father called him 
 
 in the language of the sanctuary, Benjamin.] 
 
 And Bahel died, and was buried in the way to Eph¬ 
 rath, which is Bethlehem. And Jakob erected a pillar 
 over the house of burying, 3 which is the pillar of the 
 tomb of Bahel unto this day. 
 
 And Jakob proceeded and spread his tent beyond the 
 tower of Eder, the place from whence, it is to be, the 
 King Meshiha will be revealed at the end of the days. 
 
 And it was while Israel dwelt in this land that 
 Beuben went and confounded 4 the bed of Bilhah the 
 concubine of his father, which had been ordained along 
 with the bed of Leah his mother; and this is reputed 
 with regard to him, as if he had lain with her. And 
 Israel heard it, and it afflicted him, and he said, Alas, 
 that one should have come forth from me so profane, 
 even as Ishmael came forth from Abraham, and Esau 
 from my father ! The Spirit of Holiness answered, and 
 thus spake to him : Fear not, for all are righteous, and 
 none of them is profane.(!) 
 
 So, after that Benjamin was born, the sons of Jakob 
 3 Beth keburtha. 4 Bilbal. 
 
282 # TAEGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 were twelve. The sons of Leah, the first-born of 
 Jakob, Beuben, and Shimeon, and Levi, and Jehudah, 
 and Issakar, and Zabulon. The sons of Rahel, Joseph 
 and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of 
 Bah el, Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilplia, the 
 handmaid of Leah, Gad and Asher. These are the 
 sons of Jakob who were born to him in Padan Aram, i 
 
 And Jakob came to Izhak his father, at Mamre the 
 city of Arba, which is Hebron, for there Abraham and 
 Izhak had dwelt. And the days of Izhak were an hun¬ 
 dred and eighty years. And Izhak expired and died 
 and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; 
 and Esau and Jakob his sons buried him. 
 
 XXXVI. These are the genealogies of Esau, who is 
 called Edom. Esau took wives of the daughters of 
 Kenaan, Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittah, and 
 Ahalibama the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Sibeon 
 the Hiva, and Basemath the daughter of Ishmael whom 
 Nebaioth her brother gave to him. And Adah bare to 
 Esau Eliphaz, and Basemath bare Beuel. And Ahali¬ 
 bama bare to Esau Jehus, and Jaalam, and Korach. 
 These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the 
 land of Kenaan. And Esau had taken his wives and his 
 sons and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, 
 and his flocks and his cattle, and all the substance 
 which he had gotten in the land of Kenaan, and had 
 gone into another land; for there fell upon him a fear 
 of Jakob his brother: for their possessions would be too 
 great for them to dwell together, neither would the laud 
 of their sojourning maintain them, on account of their 
 flocks. And Esau dwelt in the mountain of Gabal. He 
 is Esau the prince of the Edomites. 
 
 And these are the kindreds of Esau the prince of the 
 Edomites, the place of whose dwelling was in the moun¬ 
 tain of Gabal. These are the names of the sons of 
 
XXXVI.] OX GENESIS. 283 
 
 Esau, Eliphaz bar Adah, wife of Esau; Reuel bar 
 Basemath, wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were 
 Teman Omar, Zepliu, and Gaatam, and Kenaz, and 
 Timna. And Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz bar 
 Esau, and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek. He is Eliphaz 
 the companion of Job. 
 
 These are the sons of Adah wife of Esau. And 
 these are the sons of Reuel, Nachath and Zerach, 
 Shammah and Mizzah. These are the sons of Base- 
 math wife of Esau. x\nd these are the sons of Ahali- 
 bama the daughter of Anah the daughter of Sebeon 
 wife of Esau ; and she bare to Esau, Jehus, and Jaalam, 
 and Korach. 
 
 These are the chieftains of the sons of Esau; the sons 
 of Eliphaz, the first-born of Esau, Rabba Teman, Rabba 
 Omar, Rabba Zepliu, Rabba Kenaz, Rabba Korach, 
 Rabba Gaatam, Rabba Amalek: these are the chieftains 
 of Eliphaz, whose habitation w'as in the land of Edom; 
 they are the sons of Adah. 
 
 And these are the sons of Reuel bar Esau; Rabba 
 Nachath, Rabba Zerach, Rabba Shammah, Rabba 
 Mizzah; these are the chieftains of Reuel, whose habi¬ 
 tation was in the land of Edom. These are the sons of 
 Basemath wife of Esau. 
 
 And these are the sons of Alialibama wife of Esau; 
 Rabba Jeush, Rabba Jaalam, Rabba Korach ; these are 
 the chieftains of Alialibama, daughter of Adah wife of 
 Esau. These are the sons of Esau, and these their 
 chieftains. He is the father of the Edomites. 
 
 These are the sons of Gebal, the generations who 
 before that had dwelt in that land : Lotan, and Shobal, 
 and Sebeon, and Anah, and Dislion, and Etser, and 
 Dishan. These are the chieftains of the generations of 
 the sons of Gebal, whose habitation was of old in the 
 land of the Edomites. And the sons of Lotan were the 
 
284 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [cHAP. \ 
 
 Chori and Hemnm; and the sister of Lotan was Timna. | 
 And these are the sons of Shobal, Alvan, and Mana-jl 
 chotli, and Ebal, Sliepho, and Onara. And these are 
 the sons of Sebeon, Aja and Anah: he is Anab who I 
 coupled the onagers with the she-asses, and after a 
 time found mules which had come forth from them, 
 when he was tending the asses of Sebeon his father. I 
 And these are the children of Anah : Dishon ; and ' 
 Ahalibama was the daughter of Anah. And these are 
 the sons of Dishon, Hemdan, and Jisban, and Jithran, 3 
 and Reran. These are the sons of Etser, Bilhan, and 
 Zaavan, and Akan. These are the sons of Dishan, 
 Hutz and Aram. These are the chieftains of the 
 families : Rabba Lotan, Rabba Shobal, Rabba Sebeon, 
 Rabba Anah, Rabba Dishon, Rabba Etser, Rabba 
 Dishan : these are the chieftains of the families, accord¬ 
 ing to their principalities, whose habitation was of old 
 in the land of Gabla. 
 
 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom 
 before any king reigned over the sons of Israel. In 
 Edom reigned Bileam the son of Behor, and the name 
 of the city of the house of his kingdom was Dinhaba. 
 And Bela died, and in his stead reigned Jobab the son 
 of Zerach of Botsra. And Jobab died, and in his stead 
 reigned Husham of the south country; and Husham 
 died, and in his stead reigned Hadad the son of Bedad, 
 who slew the Midianites when he arrayed war with them 
 in the fields of Moab, and the name of the city of the 
 house of his kingdom was Avith. And Hadad died, 
 and in his stead reigned Siinlah of Masrekah. And 
 Simlah died, and instead of him reigned Shaul, who 
 was of Rohoboth on the Pherat. And Shaul died, and 
 in his stead reigned Baal Hanan bar Akbor. And 
 Baal Hanan bar Akbor died, and instead of him reigned 
 Hadar; and the name of the city of the house of his 
 
XXXVI.] ON GENESIS. 285 
 
 kingdom was Pahu; and the name of his wife was 
 Mehetabel the daughter of Matred. He was the man 
 who laboured with perseverance and vigilance, and who, 
 after he had become wealthy and had gotten riches, 
 turned to become more lofty in his heart, saying. What is 
 silver, and what is gold? [Jerusalem. ■ And after him 
 reigned Hadar; and the name of his city was Pahu, and 
 the name of his wife Mehitabel the daughter of Matred, 
 the daughter of the changer of gold: the man who 
 laboured with perseverance all the days of his life; but 
 who, after he had eaten and was satisfied, converted, 
 and said, What is gold, and what is silver ?] 
 
 And these are the names of the chieftains of Esau, 
 after their kindreds, after the place of their habitations, 
 with their names: Rabba Timna, Rabba Alva, Rabba 
 Jetheth, Rabba Aholibama, Rabba Elah, Rabba Phinon, 
 Rabba Kenaz, Rabba Teman, Rabba Mibzar, Rabba 
 Magdiel,—he was called Magdiel from the name of his 
 city whose ( migdol ) tower was strong,—Rabba Hiram. 
 These are the chieftains of Edom, according to their 
 habitations in the land of their possessions. He is Esau 
 the father of the Edomites. 
 
 1 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 VAYESHEV. 
 
 And Jakob dwelt in peace in the land of the sojourn¬ 
 ing of his fathers, in the land of Kenaan. These are the 
 generations of Jakob. Joseph was a son of seventeen 
 years. He had come forth from the school, and was a 
 youth brought up with the sons of Bilhah and the sons 
 
286 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 of Zilplia his father's wives. And Joseph brought their 
 evil report; for he had seen them eat the flesh that had j 
 been torn by wild beasts, the ears and the tails; and 
 he came and told it to his father. And Israel loved 
 Joseph more than all his sons, because the likeness of 
 Joseph resembled his own, and he made him a figured 
 robe. [Jerusalem. A figured robe.] And his brothers 
 saw that their father loved him more than all his 
 brethren, and they cherished enmity against him, and 
 were unwilling to speak peacefully with him. 
 
 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and declared it to his 
 brethren, and they added yet to keep enmity against 
 him. And he said to them, Hear now this dream 
 which I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves 
 in the midst of the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and 
 stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves surrounded and 
 bowed to my sheaf. [Jerusalem. Were binding 
 sheaves.] And his brothers said to him. Art thou 
 thinking to reign over us, or dost thou expect to have 
 rule over us ? And they added yet to keep enmity 
 against him, for his dream and. for his words. 
 
 And he dreamed again another dream, and told it to 
 his brothers, and said. Behold, I have dreamed yet a 
 dream, and, lo, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars, 
 bowed to me. And he related it to his father and to \ 
 his brethren : but his father rebuked him, and said to 
 him, What dream is this that thou hast dreamed ? Shall 
 I, and thy mother, and thy brethren, really come and 
 bow before thee to the ground? And his brothers 
 envied him; yet his father kept the saying in his 
 heart. 
 
 And his brothers went to feed their father's flock in 
 Shekem. And it was at the time of days that Israel 
 said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed in Shekem ? 
 But I am afraid lest the Hivaee come and smite them, 
 
XXXVI.] ON GENESIS. 287 
 
 because they smote Hamor and Shekem and tlie inha¬ 
 bitants of the city. Come now, and I will send thee to 
 them. And he said, Behold me. And he said, Go, see 
 the welfare of your brethren, and the welfare of the 
 flock, and return me word. But he sent him according 
 to the deep counsel which was spoken to Abraham 
 in Hebron; for on that day began the captivity of 
 Mizraim. 
 
 And Joseph arose, and came to Shekem. And Gabriel, 
 in the likeness of a man, found him wandering in the 
 field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest 
 thou ? And he said, I seek my brothers; show me, I 
 pray, where they feed. And the man said. They have 
 journeyed hence: for I heard beyond the Veil, that, 
 behold, from to-day would begin the servitude to the 
 Mizraee; and it was said to them in prophecy, that the 
 Hivaee would seek to set battle in array against them. 
 Therefore, said they, we will go unto Dothan. 
 
 And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them 
 in Dothan. And they saw him from afar, before he 
 had come nigh to them, and plotted against him to 
 kill him. And Shimeon and Levi, who were brothers 
 in counsel, said each man to his brother, Behold, this 
 master of dreams cometh. And now, come, let us kill 
 him, and throw him into one of the pits, and say that 
 an evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what 
 will be the interpretation of his dreams. 
 
 And Reuben heard, and delivered him from their 
 hands, and said. We will not kill him, nor become 
 guilty of his blood. And Reuben said. Let us not shed 
 innocent blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilder¬ 
 ness, but the hand of the slayer stretch not forth against 
 him; because he would deliver him from their hand, to 
 restore him to his father. 
 
 And when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped 
 
288 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 him of his garment, the figured garment that was on 
 him, and took and threw him into the pit.; but the pit 
 was empty, no water was therein, but serpents and 
 scorpions were in it. And they sat around to eat bread. 
 And they lifted up their eyes, and looked, and behold a 
 band of Arabians [Jerusalem. A band of Saracens] 
 were coming from Gilead with their camels, carrying 
 wax, resin, balsam and stacte, proceeding to go into 
 Mizraim. And Jehuda said to his brethren, What 
 profit of mammon should we have if we killed our 
 brother, and covered his blood ? Come, let us sell him 
 to the Arabians, and our hands shall not be upon him 
 to kill him; for our brother is our own flesh. And 
 his brethren agreed. And the Midianite men, masters 
 of business, passed by; and they drew and brought up 
 Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Arabians 
 for twenty mahin of silver; and they bought sandals 
 of them. And they brought Joseph to Mizraim. 
 
 And Reuben returned to the pit; for he had not 
 been with them to assist when they sold him, because he 
 had sat fasting on account that he had confounded the 
 couch of his father; and he had gone and sat among 
 the hills, that he might return to the pit and bring him 
 up for his father, if haply he might avert his anger. 
 But when he had returned, and looked, and, behold, 
 Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes, and 
 returned to his brethren, and said, The youth is not; 
 and I, whither shall I go, and how shall I see the look 
 of my father's face ? 
 
 But they took the garment of Joseph, and killed a 
 kid of the goats, because his blood is like the blood of 
 a man, and they dabbled the garment in the blood. 
 And they sent it by the hand of the sons of Zilplia and 
 of the sons of Bilhah, the figured garment; and they 
 brought it to their father, and said, This have we 
 
XXXVIII.] ON GENESIS. 289 
 
 found; know now, whether it be thy son's garment, or 
 not. And he recognised it and said, It is my son's 
 garment: a beast of the wilderness hath not devoured 
 him, neither hath he been slain by the hand of man; 
 but I see, by the Holy Spirit, that an evil woman 
 standeth against him. [Jerusalem. And he dis¬ 
 cerned it and said, It is my son's garment: yet a wild 
 beast hath not devoured him, neither is my son Joseph 
 slain; but I see by the Spirit of the sanctuary, that an 
 evil woman standeth against him.] And Jakob rent 
 his clothes, and wrapped sackcloth on his loins, and 
 mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and 
 all the men of his house arose and went to console 
 him; but he refused to receive consolation, and said, 
 Tor I will go down to my son mourning to the house 
 of the grave. And Izhak his father also wept for him. 
 But the Midianites sold him in Mizraim to Potiphar 
 a captain of Pharoh, a captain of the guards . 5 [Jeru¬ 
 salem. To Potiphar an officer 6 of Pharoh, a captain 
 of the guards.] 
 
 t XXXVIII. It was at that time that Jehuda had 
 gone down from his property, and separated himself 
 from his brethren, and had inclined to a man an Adul- 
 lemite whose name was Hira, that Jehuda saw there the 
 daughter of a merchant man whose name was Shuva, 
 and he proselyted her, and entered with her. And she 
 conceived and bare a son, and called his name Er , 7 
 because he was to die without a child. And she con¬ 
 ceived again, and bare a son, and called his name 
 Onan , 8 because his father would have to mourn for 
 him. And she added, and bare a son, and called his 
 name Shela, because her husband had forgotten her 1 
 
 • SapuJclatoria, “ spiculators, javelin men.” 8 Shaliia, “ ruler.” 
 
 7 Er, “naked, destitute.” 8 Onan, “ sorrow,” or, “iniquity.” 
 
 1 The Chaldee verb shelah is either “ cessavit “ destitit ,” or 
 
 “ rejecit, vel oblitus est .” 
 
 O 
 
290 TARGTTM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 and was in cessation when she bare him. [Jerusalem. 
 And it was that she ceased.] 
 
 And Jeliuda took a wife for Er his firstborn, a 
 daughter of Shem the great, whose name was Tamar. 
 But Er the firstborn of Jehuda was evil before the 
 Lord because he had not given his seed unto his wife, 
 and the anger of the Lord prevailed against him, and 
 the Lord slew him. And Jehuda said unto Onan, 
 Enter thou to thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise 
 up seed unto the name of thy brother. And Onan 
 knew that they would not call the children after his 
 name, and it was, when he entered to the wife of his 
 brother, that he corrupted his work upon the earth, 
 that he might not raise up children to his brother's 
 name. And what he did was evil before the Lord, and 
 he cut off his days also. 
 
 And Jehuda said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, 
 Eemain a widow in thy father's house, till Shela my son 
 be grown up. Eor he said, Lest he also die as his 
 brethren. And Tamar went, and remained in her 
 father's house. 
 
 And days multiplied, and the daughter of Shuva, 
 Jehuda's wife, had died, and Jehuda was comforted. 
 And Jehuda went up to the shearing of his flock, he 
 and Hira his friend the Adullemite, to Timnath. And 
 it was told to Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law 
 cometh up to Timnath to shear his flock. And she put 
 the dress of her widowhood from her, and covered her¬ 
 self with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the 
 dividing of the road where all eyes see, upon the way 
 of Timnath. Eor she knew that Shela was grown up, 
 yet she had not been given to him to be his wife. And 
 Jehuda saw her; but she seemed in his face as an har¬ 
 lot , 2 because she had provoked him to anger in his 
 
 2 Ke-naphkaih bara , “ as an outcast.” 
 
XXXVIII.] ON GENESIS. 291 
 
 house, and Jehuda did not love her. [Jerusalem. For 
 she had enwrapped her face.] And he inclined to her 
 in the way and said. Let me now go in with thee : for 
 he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And 
 she said, What wilt thou give me to go in with me ? 
 And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from 
 the flock. And she said, If thou wilt give me a pledge 
 until thou shalt have sent. And he said, What pledge 
 shall I give thee ? And she answered, Thy seal, and 
 thy mantle, and thy staff which is in thy hand. And he 
 gave (them) to her, and went in with her; and she con¬ 
 ceived by him. And she arose and went, and put her 
 veil from her, and put on the dress of her widowhood. 
 And Jehuda sent the kid of the goats by the hand of 
 his friend the Adullemite, to bring back the pledge from 
 the hand of the woman; but he found her not. And 
 he asked the men of the place, saying, Where is the 
 harlot who was in the sight of the eyes by the way ? 
 And they said, There is no harlot here. And he 
 returned to Jehuda and said, I could not find her: and 
 the men of the place also said that no harlot was there. 
 And Jehuda said, Lest she should have taken the pledge, 
 lest we become a laughing-stock, behold, I have sent 
 this goat, and thou canst not find her. 
 
 And it was at the time of three months, that she was 
 known to be with child: and it was told to Jehuda, 
 saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath committed 
 fornication, and, behold, she is with child by fornication. 
 And Jehuda said, Is she not the daughter of a priest? 
 Let her be brought forth and burned. 
 
 Tamar was brought forth to be burned, and she 
 searched for the three pledges, but found them not. 
 Uplifting her eyes to the heavens above, she thus said, 
 Mercy I implore from Thee, 0 Lord: answer Thou me 
 in this hour of need, and enlighten mine eyes to find 
 o 2 
 
292 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the three witnesses; and I will dedicate unto Thee 
 from my loins three saints, who shall sanctify Thy 
 name, and descend to the furnace of fire in the plain 
 of Dura. 
 
 In that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, signed 
 to Michael, who enlightened her eyes, that she found 
 (the witnesses) and took and cast them before the feet 
 of the judges, and said. The man to whom these pledges 
 belong is he by whom I am with child. Yet though 
 I may be burned I do not make him manifest: never¬ 
 theless the Lord of the world will cause him in his 
 heart to acknowledge them, and will deliver me from 
 this great judgment. 
 
 Now when Jehuda saw them, he recognised them, 
 and said in his heart. It is better for me to be ashamed 
 in this world that passeth away, than be ashamed in 
 the faces of my righteous fathers in the world to come. 
 It is better that I burn in this world by a fire that is 
 extinguished, than burn in the world to come with fire 
 devouring fire. Tor measure is set against measure* 
 This is according to that which I said to Jakob my 
 father. Know now the robe of thy son; so am I now 
 constrained to hear at the place of judgment, Whose 
 are this seal and mantle and staff? 
 
 And Jehuda acknowledged and said, Tamar is 
 innocent; she is with child by me. And the Bath kol 
 fell from heaven, and said, Trom before Me was this 
 thing done, and let both be delivered from judgment. 
 And Jehuda said, Because I gave her not to Shela my 
 son, hath this happened to me. But he added not to 
 know her again. 
 
 [Jerusalem. 19. Her veil. 25. Tamar was brought 
 forth to be burned with fire; and she sought the three 
 witnesses, but found them not. She lifted up her eyes on 
 
 3 Mekela kebcl mekela. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 293 
 
 XXXVIII.] 
 
 high and said, For mercy I pray before the Lord. Thou 
 art He, 0 Lord God, who answerest the afflicted in the 
 hour of their affliction; answer me in this the hour of 
 my affliction, and I will dedicate to thee three saints in 
 the valley of Dura, Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya. 
 
 [In that hour the Word of the Lord heard the voice 
 of her supplication and said to Mikael, Descend, and let 
 her eyes have light....When she saw them, she took 
 them, and cast them before the feet of the judges, 
 saying. By the man to whom these belong I am with 
 child. But though I may be burned, I declare him 
 not, but confide in the Euler of all the world, the Lord 
 who is witness between me and him, that He will give 
 to the heart of the man to whom these belong, to ac¬ 
 knowledge whose are these his ring, and mantle, and staff. 
 
 [And Jehuda recognised the three witnesses, and arose 
 upon his feet and said, I pray you, my brethren, and ye 
 men of the house of my fathers, to hear me. With the 
 measure that a man measureth shall it be measured to 
 him; whether good measure or evil; and blessed is 
 every man who confesseth his works. Because I took 
 the coat of Joseph my brother and dipped it into the 
 blood of a goat, and brought it before the feet of my 
 father and said to him, Know now whether this be thy 
 soffls coat or not, the measure is according to the 
 measure, and the rule to the rule. Better is it for me 
 to blush in this world than to blush in the world to 
 come; better to burn with a fire that goes out, than to 
 burn in the fire devouring fire. Let Tamar my daughter- 
 in-law be spared. She hath not conceived a child by 
 fornication, but because I did not give to her Shela my 
 son. 
 
 [The Bath kol came forth from heaven, and said, Both 
 of you are acquitted in the judgment. The thing was 
 from the Lord. And he added not to know her.] 
 
294 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 But it was in the time of her giving birth, that, 
 behold, twins were in her womb. And it was in being 
 born that the child stretched forth his hand; and the 
 midwife took it, and bound it with a scarlet thread, 
 saying, This came the first. And after the child had 
 withdrawn his hand, behold, his brother came forth, and 
 she said, With what great power hast thou prevailed, 
 and for thee will it be to prevail; for thou wilt possess 
 the kingdom. And she called his name Pharets. And 
 afterward came forth his brother, upon whose hand was 
 bound the scarlet thread, and she called his name Zarach. 
 
 XXXIX. But Joseph was brought down into Mizraim; 
 
 and Potiphar, 4 .a man of Mizraim, a chief of Pharoh, 
 
 a chief of the executioners, bought him with the pledge 6 
 of the Arabians who had brought him down thither. 
 And the Word of the Lord was Joseph's Helper, and 
 he became a prosperous man in the house of his Mizraite 
 master. And his master saw that the Word of the 
 Lord was his Helper, and that the Lord prospered in 
 his hand all that he did ; and Joseph found favour in 
 his eyes, and he served him, and he appointed him 
 superintendent over his house, and all that he had he 
 delivered in his hands. [Jerusalem. And he appointed 
 him superintendent.] 
 
 And it was from the time he appointed him 
 superintendent over his house, and over all that he had, 
 the Lord prospered the house of the Mizraite for the 
 sake of the righteousness of Joseph, and the blessing of 
 the Lord was oil all that he had in the house and in the 
 field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, 
 and took no knowledge of anything of his, except his 
 wife with whom he lay. 
 
 4 I have omitted two clauses in this chapter.— Translator. 
 
 5 Quando servos vendebant olim,eogebantur emptori dare spunsionewt* 
 quod illos non furati sint .— Castel, fol. 2889. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 295 
 
 XXXIX.] 
 
 And Joseph was of goodly form and beautiful aspect. 
 And it was after these things that the wife of his master 
 lifted up her eyes to Joseph, and said, Lie with me. 
 But he refused to come near her, and said to his master's 
 wife. Behold, my master taketh no knowledge of what 
 is with me in the house, and all he hath he delivereth 
 into my hand; there is none in the house greater than 
 I, nor hath he restricted me from anything but thyself, 
 because thou art his wife : and how can I do this great 
 wickedness, and become guilty before the Lord ? And 
 it was when she spake with Joseph this day and the 
 next, and he hearkened not to her to lie with her, lest 
 with her he should be condemned in the day of the 
 great judgment of the world to come ; it was on a certain 
 day that he entered the house to examine the tablets of his 
 accounts, and there was no man of the house within; 
 that she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with 
 me: and he left his garment in her hand, and went 
 forth into the street. And when she saw that he had 
 left his garment in her hand, and had gone forth into 
 
 the street, that she.called the men of the house and 
 
 said, See this, which the Hebrew man hath done, whom 
 your master hath brought to mock us. He came in to 
 lie with me, and I cried with a high voice. And when 
 he heard that I lifted up my voice, he left his garment 
 with me, and went forth into the street. And she let 
 the garment remain until his master came into his 
 house; and she spake to him according to these words, 
 saying, The Hebrew servant whom thou broughtest to 
 us came in to me to mock me. [Jerusalem. 18. And 
 it was when I thundered with my voice.] 
 
 And when his master heard the words which his wife 
 spake with him, saying. According to these things did 
 thy servant to me, his wrath became strong. And 
 Joseph's master took counsel of the priests, who. 
 
296 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 put him not to death, but delivered him into the house 
 of the bound, where the king's prisoners were bound; 
 and he was there in the house of the bound. [Jerusa¬ 
 lem. In the prison house.] And the Word of the 
 Lord was Joseph's Helper, and extended mercy to him, 
 and gave him favour in the eyes of the captain of the 
 prison. And the captain of the prison confided all the 
 prisoners who were in the house to Joseph's hands, and 
 whatsoever was done there he commanded to be done. 
 It was not needful for the captain of the prison to watch 
 Joseph, after the custom of all prisoners, because he saw 
 that there was no fault in his hands; for the Word of 
 the Lord was his Helper, and that which he did the 
 Lord made it to prosper. 
 
 XL. And after these things it was shown, saying, The 
 chief of the butlers of the king of Mizraim, and the 
 chief of the bakers, have offended; having taken counsel 
 to throw the poison of death into his food, and into his 
 drink, to kill their master the king of Mizraim. And 
 Pharoh was angry when he heard concerning his two 
 servants, the chief cup-bearer and the chief baker. And 
 he gave them in ward in the house of the chief execu¬ 
 tioner, the prison house where Joseph was confined. 
 And the chief executioner intrusted Joseph with them, 
 and he served them, and they were certain days in the 
 house of custody. 
 
 And they dreamed a dream, both of them, each man 
 his dream in one night, each man his own dream, and the 
 interpretation of his companion's dream, the butler and 
 the baker of the king of Mizraim who were confined in the 
 prison. And Joseph came to them in the morning, and 
 saw them, and, behold, they were troubled. And Joseph 
 asked the chiefs of Pharoh who were with him in the 
 custody of his master's house, saying, Why is the look 
 of your faces more evil to-day than all the other days 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 297 
 
 XL.] 
 
 that you have been here? And they said to him, We 
 have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for 
 it. And Joseph answered, Are not the interpretations 
 of dreams from the Lord ? Tell it now to me. And 
 the chief of the butlers related his dream to Joseph, 
 and said to him, I saw in my dream, and, behold, 
 a vine was before me. And in the vine were three 
 branches; and as it sprouted it brought forth buds, and 
 immediately they ripened into clusters, and became 
 grapes. And I saw till they gave the cup of Pharoh 
 into my hand, and I took the grapes, and expressed 
 them into Pharoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharoh's 
 hand. 
 
 And Joseph said to him, This is the end of the inter¬ 
 pretation of the dream. The three branches are the 
 three Lathers of the w r orld, Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob, 
 the children of whose sons are to be enslaved in Mizraim 
 in clay and brick (work,) and in all labour of the face 
 of the field: but afterwards shall they be delivered by 
 the hand of three shepherds. As thou hast said, T took 
 the grapes and expressed them into Pharoh's cup, and 
 gave the cup into Pharoh's hand : It is the vial of wrath 
 which Pharoh (himself) is to drink at the last. But 
 thou, the chief butler, shalt receive a good reward, 
 concerning the good dream which thou hast dreamed; 
 and the interpretation of it, to thyself, is this: The 
 three branches are three days until thy liberation. At 
 the end of three days the memory of thee will come 
 before Pharoh, and he will lift up thy head with honour, 
 and restore thee to thy service, and thou wilt give the 
 cup of Pharoh into his hand, according to thy former 
 custom in pouring out 6 for him. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Joseph said, This is the interpreta¬ 
 tion of the dream: The three branches are the three 
 
 8 Or, “ commingling.” 
 
 o 5 
 
298 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP* 
 
 Fathers of the world, Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob, the 
 children of whose sons will be enslaved in the land of 
 Mizraim, and will be delivered by the hand of three 
 faithful pastors, 7 who may be likened to the clusters. 
 And whereas thou hast said, I took the grapes and ex¬ 
 pressed them into the cup of Pharoh, and gave the cup 
 into Pharoh's hand: It is the cup of retribution which 
 Pharoh is to drink at the last. As to thyself, the chief 
 of the butlers, thou wilt not lose thy reward; for this 
 dream which thou hast dreamed is good. Nevertheless 
 the interpretation of the dream (as relating to himself) 
 Joseph had not told him; but afterwards he explained 
 it, when it pleased him. And Joseph said to him, The 
 three branches are three days.] 
 
 Joseph, leaving his higher trust 8 and retaining confi¬ 
 dence in a man, said to the chief butler, But be thou 
 mindful of me when it shall be well with thee, and act 
 kindly by me, and remember me before Pharoh, and 
 obtain my deliverance from this prison house. For I 
 vras verily carried aw r ay dishonestly from the land of 
 the Hivraee; and here also I have done nothing evil, 
 that they should put me in prison. 
 
 And the chief baker, when he understood the inter¬ 
 pretation of his companion's dream, seeing that he had 
 interpreted well, began to speak with an impatient 
 tongue, and said to Joseph, I also saw in my dream, 
 and, behold, three baskets of fine cakes were upon my 
 head; [Jerusalem. And, behold, three baskets of hot 
 loaves were upon my head ;] and in the upper basket of 
 all delicious meat for Pharoh made by the confectioner: 
 and the birds ate them from the basket upon my head. 
 
 Joseph answered and said, This is its interpretation. 
 The three baskets are the three enslavements with which 
 the house of Israel are to be enslaved. But thou, the 
 
 7 Or, “ rulers.” 8 Rochetsana, “ covjidentia .” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 '299 
 
 XL.] 
 
 chief of the bakers, wilt receive an evil award, by the 
 dream which thou hast dreamed. And Joseph explained 
 it, as it was proper in his eyes, and said to him : This 
 is its interpretation to thyself. The three baskets are 
 three days until thy death. At the end of three days, 
 Pharoh with the sword will take away thy head from 
 thy body, and will hang thee upon a gibbet, and the 
 birds will eat thy flesh from thee. [Jerusalem. And 
 he said to him, The three baskets are the three heavy 
 enslavements which are to happen to the house of Israel 
 in the land of Mizraim, in clay, and in bricks, and in all 
 work on the face of the field. It will be that Pharoh 
 king of Mizraim will decree evil decrees against Israel, 
 and throw their children into the river. Nevertheless 
 Pharoh will perish, and his host be destroyed, but the 
 sons of Israel will go forth redeemed with uncovered 
 head. And thou, the chief of the bakers, wilt receive 
 punishment; for this dream which thou hast dreamed 
 is evil. But the interpretation of the dream Joseph did 
 not (at once) make known to him; but afterwards 
 Joseph expounded it, when it pleased him. And Joseph 
 said to him, This is the interpretation of the dream. 
 The three baskets are three days.] 
 
 And it was on the third day, the nativity of Pharoh, 
 that he made a feast to all his servants. And he lifted 
 up the head of the chief butler, and the head of the chief 
 baker, in the midst of his servants. And he restored 
 the chief butler to his butlership, because he found he 
 had not been in that counsel. And he gave the cup 
 into Pharoh's hand. But the chief baker he hanged, 
 because he had taken counsel to kill him, even as Joseph 
 had expounded to them. 
 
 But because Joseph had withdrawn from 9 the mercy 
 that is above, and had put his confidence in the chief 
 
 9 ShabaJc, “ had forsaken.’* 
 
300 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 butler, he waited on the flesh. Therefore the chief 
 butler did not remember Joseph, but forgat him, until 
 from the Lord came the time of the end that he should 
 be released. [J erusalem. Joseph left the mercy above, 
 and the mercy beneath, and the mercy which accompanied 
 him from his father’s house, and put his confidence in 
 the chief butler : he trusted in the flesh, and the flesh 
 he tasted of, even the cup of death. Neither did he 
 remember the scripture where it is written expressly, 
 Cursed shall be the man who trusteth in the flesh, and 
 setteth the flesh as his confidence. Blessed shall be the 
 man who trusteth in the Name of the Word of the 
 Lord, and whose confidence is the Word of the Lord. 
 Therefore the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but 
 forgat him, until the time of the end came that he should 
 be released.] 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 V A YE HI MEKETS. 
 
 It was at the end of two years, that the remembrance 
 of Joseph came before the Word of the Lord. And 
 Pharoh dreamed, and, behold, he stood by the river, and, 
 behold, from the river came up seven oxen good-looking 
 and fat-fleshed; and they grazed in the midst of the 
 sedges. 1 [Jerusalem. Grazing in the midst of the 
 sedges. 1 ] And, behold, seven other oxen came up from 
 the river, evil-looking, and lean in their flesh, and stood 
 by the side of the oxen on the bank of the river. And 
 1 Gomaya , “ papyri.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 301 
 
 XLI.] 
 
 the evil-looking and lean-fleshed oxen devoured the 
 seven good-looking and fat. And Pharoh awoke from 
 his sleep. 
 
 And he slept, and saw a second dream; and, behold, 
 seven ears arose on one stalk, full and good; and, 
 behold, seven ears, thin and blighted with the east 
 wind, sprang up after them. And the seven thin ears 
 devoured the seven fat and full. And Pharoh awoke, 
 and, behold, it was a dream. And in the morning his 
 spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all the magi¬ 
 cians of Mizraim, and all the wise men; and Pharoh 
 told them the dreams; but no man was able to inter¬ 
 pret it; for it was occasioned 2 by the Lord, because the 
 time had come that Joseph should come forth from the 
 house of the bound. 
 
 And the chief of the cup-bearers spake before Pharoh, 
 saying, My faults do I remember this day. It was 
 occasioned from the Lord that Pharoh was angry with 
 his servants, and he put me in w r ard in the house of the 
 chief executioner, me and the chief baker. And we 
 dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; each man his 
 (own) dream, and the interpretation of his companion’s 
 dream we dreamed. And there was with us a Hebrew 
 youth, a servant of the chief executioner; and we re¬ 
 counted to him, and he explained the dream to us, to 
 each man he explained the interpretation of his dream. 
 And even as he interpreted to us so it was; me he 
 restored in his sentence to the order of my service, and 
 him he hanged. 
 
 And Pharoh sent and called Joseph, and hastened 
 him from the prison; and he dressed his hair, 3 and 
 changed his garments, and went unto Pharoh. And 
 Pharoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and 
 there is no interpreter for it; and I have heard of thee, 
 
 2 Istakaph. 3 Shaphar, “ totondit.” 
 
302 TARGTJM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 saying, that if thou hear a dream thou canst explain it. 
 And Joseph answered Pharoh, saying, (It is) without 
 me; it is not man who interprets dreams : but from 
 before the Lord shall be an answer of peace unto 
 Pharoh. 
 
 And Pharoh spake with Joseph, saying, I saw in my 
 dream, and, behold, I stood on the bank of the river. 
 And, behold, from the river came up seven oxen, fat- 
 fleshed and good-looking, and they grazed in the midst 
 of the sedges. And, behold, seven other oxen came up 
 after them, wasted, and very evil-looking, and lean in 
 their flesh. I have not seen the like of them in all the 
 land of Mizraim for badness. And the wasted and evil 
 oxen devoured the first seven fat oxen. And they 
 entered into their stomach, but it could not be known 
 that they had entered into their stomach, for their 
 appearance was evil as before; and I awoke. 
 
 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears arose 
 on one stalk, full and good; and, behold, seven ears 
 withered, thin, 4 blighted with the east wind, sprang up 
 after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven 
 good ears. And I told the magicians, but there is no 
 one w 7 ho can teach me. 
 
 And Joseph said to Pharoh, The dream of Pharoh is 
 one. That which the Lord is about to do He showeth 
 to Pharoh. The seven good oxen announce seven 
 years; and the seven good ears announce also those 
 seven years : the dream is one. And the seven wasted 
 and evil oxen which arose after them announce seven 
 other years; and the seven ears thin and blighted with the 
 east wind likewise make known that there will be seven 
 years of famine. This is the word that I speak to Pha¬ 
 roh : what the Lord is about to do He showeth Pharoh. 
 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty in all 
 
 4 Or, " stricken.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 303 
 
 XLI.] 
 
 the land of Mizraim. And after them will arise seven 
 years of famine, which will make all the plenty that was 
 in the land of Mizraim to be forgotten; and the famine 
 will consume the inhabitants of the land; neither will 
 the plenty which had been in the land be known, for 
 the famine that will be afterward, because it will be 
 exceeding strong. And forasmuch as the dream was 
 repeated to Pharoh twice, therefore is the thing con¬ 
 firmed before the Lord, and the Lord hasteneth to 
 do it. 
 
 But now let Pharoh look out a man prudent and 
 wise, and appoint him over the land of Mizraim. Let 
 Pharoh make superintendents over the land, and let 
 them take out one part in five of all the produce of the 
 land of Mizraim in the seven years of plenty. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. Let Pharoh make and appoint him a superin¬ 
 tendent over the land; and let him set apart one in five 
 throughout the land of Mizraim in the seven years of 
 plenty.] And let them collect all the produce of those 
 good years that are coming, and gather together the 
 produce under the hand of Pharoh’s superintendents, 
 and set the produce in the cities to be kept; and there 
 will be provision laid up (as) in a cavern in the earth, 
 that therefrom they may take in the years of famine 
 which come upon the land of Mizraim, that the people 
 of the land perish not through the famine. 
 
 And the word was good before Pharoh, and before 
 all his servants. And Pharoh said to his servants, Can 
 we find a man like this, in whom is the spirit of prophecy 
 from the Lord? And Pharoh said to Joseph, Since 
 the Lord hath made known all this to thee, there is no 
 one so prudent and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be 
 superintendent over my house, and by the decree of thy 
 mouth shall all my people be armed; only in the throne 
 of the kingdom will I be greater than thou. And 
 
304 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Pharoh said to Joseph, See, I have appointed thee 
 prince 0 over the land of Mizraim. 
 
 And Pharoh took off his ring from his hand, and set 
 it on Joseph's hand; and he clothed him in vestments 
 of fine linen, and set a collar of gold upon his neck, and 
 made him ride in the second chariot of Pharoh; and 
 they chanted before him, This is the Pather of the king; 
 Great in wisdom, few 6 in years. And he appointed him 
 prince over all the land of Mizraim. [Jerusalem. 
 And they chanted before him, and said, Live the Pather 
 of the king. Great in wisdom and few in years.] And 
 Pharoh said to Joseph, I am Pharoh the king, and thou 
 art viceregent, 7 and without thy word a man shall not 
 lift up his hand to gird on arms, or his foot to mount a 
 horse in all the land of Mizraim. And Pharoh called 
 the name of Joseph, The man who revealeth mysteries. 
 And he gave him Asenath, whom Dinah had borne to 
 Shekem, and the wife of Potiphera prince (Rabba) of 
 Tanis had brought up, to be his wife. And Joseph 
 went forth ruler over the land of Mizraim. And 
 Joseph was a son of thirty years when he stood before 
 Pharoh, king of Mizraim. And Joseph went out from 
 Pharoh, and passed, a prince and a ruler, through all 
 the land of Mizraim. 
 
 And the earth (so) brought forth, that every blade 
 made two handsfull in the seven years of plenty, until 
 all the granaries were full. And they gathered all the 
 produce of the seven years of plenty which were in the 
 land of Mizraim, and he laid up the produce in the cities; 
 the produce of the fields which were round about a city 
 he laid up therein. 
 
 And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of 
 famine arose, which Asenath who had been brought up 
 in the house of Potiphera prince of Tanis bare to him. 
 
 5 Sarkan. 8 Or, “tender.” 7 Alkajphta. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 305 
 
 XLII.] 
 
 And Joseph called the name of his first-born Menasheh ; 
 because. The Lord hath made me forget all my weariness 
 and all the house of my father. And the name of the 
 second he called Ephraim; for he said, The Lord hath 
 made me mighty in the land of my affliction, as he will 
 make the house of my father mighty here in their 
 afflictions. 
 
 And the seven years of plenty were completed which 
 were to come in the land of Mizraim; and the seven 
 years of famine began to be, as Joseph had said. And 
 there was famine in all lands, but in all the land of 
 Mizraim there was bread. And all the land of Mizraim 
 had dearth; because the seed wheat bare no fruit, and 
 the people cried before Pharoh for bread. And Pharoh 
 said to all the Mizraee, Go to Joseph, and what he shall 
 tell you do. And the famine was upon all the face of 
 the land ; and Joseph opened all the treasures and sold 
 to the Mizraee. And the famine waxed mighty in the 
 land of Mizraim; and all the inhabitants of the earth 
 came into Mizraim to buy provision of Joseph; for the 
 famine was mighty in all the earth. 
 
 XLII. And Jakob saw that provisions might be 
 bought, and that they brought corn from Mizraim; and 
 Jakob said to his sons, Why are you afraid to go down 
 to Mizraim ? And he said, Behold, I have heard that 
 corn is sold in Mizraim : go down thither and bay for 
 us from thence, that we may live and not die. And the 
 ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy corn from 
 Mizraim. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jakob sent 
 not down with his brethren; for he said. Behold, he is 
 a youth, and I fear lest death should befall him. 
 
 And the sons of Israel went every one by one door, 
 lest the evil eye should have sway over them, as they went 
 together to buy among the Kenaanites who went also 
 to buy; because the famine was in the land of Kenaan. 
 
306 TAUGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Joseph was ruler over the land; and he knew 
 that his brethren had come to buy; for he had appointed 
 notaries at the gates of the city to register daily, of 
 every one who came, his name and the name of his 
 father; and he it was who sold corn to all the people 
 of the land. 
 
 And the brethren of Joseph came. And they looked 
 through all the streets, and public places, and hospices, 
 but could not find Him. And they came unto his 
 house, and worshipped him with their faces to the 
 ground. 
 
 And Josepli saw his brethren, and recognised them; 
 but he made himself as a stranger in their eyes, and 
 spake hard words to them, and said to them, Whence 
 come you ? And they said, From the land of Kenaan, 
 to buy corn. Now Joseph recognised his brethren, 
 because, when separated from them, they had the token 
 of the beard; but they did not recognise him, because 
 (at that time) he had not the token of the beard, and 
 at this hour he had it. And Joseph remembered the 
 dreams he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, 
 You are spies : to see the nakedness of the shame of the 
 land are you come. And they answered him. No, my 
 lord, thy servants are come to buy corn: we are all the 
 sons of one man; we are true; thy servants are not 
 spies. But he said to them, No, but to see the naked¬ 
 ness of the shame of the land are you come. They 
 answered, Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of 
 one man, in the land of Kenaan; and, behold, the 
 youngest is to-day with our father, and one went from 
 us, and we know not what hath been in his end! And 
 Joseph said to them, This is what I have spoken to you, 
 saying. You are spies. By that word you shall be 
 proved. (By) the life of Pliaroh you shall not go hence 
 unless your youngest brother be brought hither. Send 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 307 
 
 XLII.] 
 
 one of you, and bring your brother; but you shall be 
 bound, and your words be proved if the truth is with 
 you: and if not, (by) the life of Pharoh yon are spies. 
 And he kept them together in the house of confinement 
 three days. 
 
 And Joseph said to them on the third day, This do, 
 that you may live; for I fear the Lord. If you are true, 
 let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your 
 confinement; and go you, carry the corn, that you may 
 buy for the hunger of your house, and bring your 
 youngest brother to me, that your words may be verified, 
 and you may not die. And they did so. 
 
 And they said, a man to his brother, In truth we are 
 guilty concerning our brother, when we saw the distress 
 of his soul, when he entreated us, and we would not 
 hearken to him; therefore hath this affliction come upon 
 us. And Reuben answered them and said, Did I not 
 tell you, saying, Do not sin against the youth ? But you 
 would not listen to me; and thus, behold, his blood is 
 required of us. But they knew not that Joseph under¬ 
 stood (heard) the holy language; for Menasheh was 
 interpreter 8 between them. [Jerusalem. But they 
 knew not that Joseph heard in the holy language; for 
 as an interpeter Menasheh stood between them.] And 
 he withdrew from them and wept, and returned and 
 spake with them. And from them he took Shimeon, 
 who had counselled them to kill him, and bound him 
 before them. 
 
 And Joseph commanded his servant to fill their 
 vehicles with corn, and to return each man's money in 
 his sack, and to give them provisions for the way. 
 And he did so for them. And they laid their corn 
 upon their asses and went thence. 
 
 8 Meturgeman. 
 
308 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Levi, who had been left without Shimeon his com¬ 
 panion, opened his sack to give food to his ass at the 
 place of lodging, and saw his money: behold, it was in 
 the mouth of his pannier. And he said to his brothers. 
 My money is returned, behold, it is in my pannier. And 
 knowledge failed from their hearts, and each wondered 
 with his brother, saying, What is this which the Lord 
 hath done, and not for sin of ours ? 
 
 And they came to Jakob their father in the land of 
 Kenaan, and related to him all that had befallen them, 
 saying. The man the lord of the land spake with us 
 harshly, and treated us as spies of the country : but we 
 said to him. We are faithful men, not spies. We are 
 twelve brothers, sons of our father; of one, we know 
 not what was his end, and the youngest is to-day with 
 our father in the land of Kenaan. And the man, the 
 lord of the land said to us. By this I shall know that 
 you are true. Leave me one of your brothers with me, 
 and what is needed by the hunger of your houses take, 
 and go, and bring your youngest brother to me, and I 
 shall know that you are not spies, but faithful. I will 
 (then) restore your brother to you, and you shall 
 transact business in the land. 
 
 And it was as they emptied their baggages, behold, 
 every man's bundle of money was in his baggage; and 
 they and their father saw T the bundles of money, and 
 they were afraid on account of Shimeon whom they had 
 left there. And Jakob their father said to them, Me 
 have you bereaved! Of Joseph you said, An evil beast 
 hath devoured him; of Shimeon you have said, The 
 king of the land hath bound him; and Benjamin you 
 seek to take away: upon me is the anguish of all of 
 them. [Jerusalem. And Jakob their father said to 
 them. Me have you bereaved of Joseph. From the 
 hour that I sent him to you I have not known what was 
 
XLTII.] ON GENESIS. 309 
 
 his end; and Benjamin yon are seeking to take. Yet 
 by me are to arise the twelve tribes.] And Reuben 
 spake to his father, saying, Slay my two sons with a 
 curse 9 if I do not bring him to thee. Give him into 
 my hand, and I will restore him to thee. But he said, 
 My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is 
 dead, and he alone remains of his mother; and if death 
 should befall him in the way that you go, you will 
 bring down my age with mourning to the grave. But 
 the famine was strong in the land. [Jerusalem. 
 Death.] 
 
 XLIII. And it was when they had finished eating 
 the corn they had brought from Mizraim, their father 
 said to them, Return and buy us a little corn. And 
 Jehuda spake to him, saying, The man attesting attested 
 to us saying, You shall not see the sight of my face unless 
 your youngest brother be with you. If thou wilt send 
 our brother with us, we will go down and buy corn for 
 thee; but if thou wilt not send (him), we will not go 
 down; for the man told us, You shall not see the sight 
 of my face unless your brother be with you. 
 
 And Israel said, Why did you do me evil in showing 
 the man that you had yet a brother ? And they said, The 
 man demanding demanded (to know) about us, and 
 about our family, saying, Is your father yet living ? 
 Have you a brother ? And we informed him according 
 to the word of these things. Could we know that he 
 would say. Bring your brother down? And Jehuda 
 said to Israel his father, Send the youth with me, that 
 we may arise and go; and that we may live and not 
 die, both we, and you, and our little ones. I will be 
 surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him. 
 If I bring him not to thee again, and set him before 
 thee, the guilt be upon me before thee all days. 
 
 9 Be-schamatha. 
 
310 TAEGU M OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 [Jerusalem. I will be afar off from tbe saluta¬ 
 tion of my father all days.] For unless we had thus 
 delayed, we should already have returned these two 
 times. 
 
 And Israel their father said to them, If it must be so, 
 do this : Take of the praiseworthy things of the land, 
 and put them in your vessels, and carry down the man 
 a present, a little gum 1 and a little honey, wax and 
 ladanum, 2 the oil of nuts, and the oil of almonds, and 
 money two upon one [J erusalem. Double] take in your 
 hands, even the money that was returned in the mouth of 
 your baggage, take back in your hands; perhaps it was 
 done in error. And take Benjamin your brother, and 
 arise, return to the man, and God the Almighty give 
 you mercies before the man, that he may release to you 
 your other brother, and Benjamin : and I, behold, I am 
 now certified by the Holy Spirit that if I am bereaved 
 of Joseph, I shall also be bereaved of Shimeon and of 
 Benjamin. [Jerusalem. And I, behold, if I be not 
 bereaved of my son Joseph, so shall I not add to be 
 bereaved of Shimeon and of Benjamin.] 
 
 The men took the present, and the money two for 
 one in their hands, and they took Benjamin, and went 
 down to Mizraim, and stood before Joseph. And 
 Joseph saw Benjamin with them: and he said to 
 Menasheh whom he had made superintendent over his 
 house, Bring the men into the house, and unloose the 
 house of slaughter, and take out the sinew that shrank, 
 and prepare meat before them; for the man shall eat 
 with me at the time of the noon-day meal. And the 
 man did as Joseph had said, and the man brought the 
 men into Joseph's house. 
 
 1 Seraph Jcetaph, “liquid gum.” Lacliryma arlorum , tire herlarum. 
 — Pesac., 39, 1. Opobalsamnm. —Josbphus, Ant., 8, 6. 
 
 2 Letom , Arab., Ladanon , “ gum of the cistus.” 
 
XLIII.] ON GENESIS. 311 
 
 The men feared when they were brought into 
 Joseph's house, and said, Tor the money that was 
 returned in our sacks at the first are we brought in, 
 that he may find occasion against us and condemn us, and 
 sell us for slaves, and take our asses. And they drew near 
 the man who had been appointed intendant over Joseph's 
 house, and spake with him at the gate of the house. 
 And they said, We entreat you, my lord: we indeed 
 came down at first to buy corn. But it was when we 
 had come to our place of lodging, that we opened our 
 sacks, and, behold, the money of a man was in the mouth 
 of his sack: but we have brought it back in our hand. 
 And other money have we brought down in hand to 
 buy corn. We know not who put the money in our 
 sacks. And he said, Peace to you; be not afraid of 
 my lord. Your God and the God of your fathers gave 
 you treasure in your sacks: your money came to me. 
 And he brought out Shimeon to them. 
 
 The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and 
 gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he 
 gave them provender for their asses. And they made 
 ready the present against the entrance of Joseph at the 
 noon-day feast; for they had heard from him that they 
 were to eat bread there. 
 
 And Joseph entered the house, and they offered to 
 him the present which was in their hands for the house; 
 and bowed before him upon the ground. And Joseph 
 saluted them, and said, Is it well with your father, the 
 old man of whom you told me P Is he still alive ? They 
 answered, It is well with thy servant our father; he is 
 yet alive. And they bowed and made obeisance. And 
 he lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, the 
 son of his mother, and said, Is this your youngest 
 brother of whom you told me? And he said, Mercy 
 from the Lord be upon thee, my son! 
 
312 TAB-GUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Joseph made haste, for his compassions were 
 moved upon his brother, and he sought to weep, and 
 he went into the chamber [Jerusalem. Into the 
 chamber] the house of sleep, and wept there. And he 
 washed [Jerusalem. And he washed] his face from 
 tears, and came forth, and hastened and said, Set bread. 
 And they set for him by himself, and for them by 
 themselves, and for the Mizraee who ate with him by 
 themselves; for it was not proper for the Mizraee to 
 eat bread with the Yehudaee, because the animals 
 which the Mizraee worshipped the Yehudaee ate. And 
 they sat around him, the greatest according to his 
 majority, and the less according to his minority. Tor 
 he had taken the silver cup in his hand,"and, sounding 8 
 as if divining, he had set in order the sons of Leah on 
 one side, and the sons of Zilpha on the other side, and 
 the sons of Bilhah on another side, and Benjamin the 
 son of Kaliel he ordered by the side of himself. And 
 the men wondered each at the other. And he sent 
 portions from his table, and they set them forth from 
 him before them. But Benjamin's portion was larger 
 than the portions of any of them; five portions: one 
 was his own portion: one portion from himself, one 
 from his wife, and two portions from his two sons. 
 And they drank and were drunken with him; for from 
 the day when they were separated from him they had 
 not drunk wine, neither he nor they, until that day. 
 
 XLIY. And he commanded Menasheh, whom he 
 had appointed intendant of his house, saying, Bill the 
 men's sacks with corn, as much as they can carry, and 
 put each man's money in the mouth of his bag. And 
 put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack 
 of the youngest, and his purchase money. And he did 
 according to the word which Joseph had spoken. 
 
 3 “Tinkling” or “ringing.” 
 
XLIV.] ON GENESIS. 313 
 
 The morning lightened, and the men were sent away, 
 they and their asses. They had not gone far from the 
 city, when Joseph said to Menasheh whom he had 
 appointed the intendant of his house, Arise, follow after 
 the men, overtake them and say to them. Why have ye 
 returned evil for good ? Is it not that from which my 
 lord drinketh, and by which divining he divineth ? 
 That which you have done is evil. [Jerusalem. By 
 which divining he divineth.] And he overtook them, 
 and spake with them all these words. 
 
 They said to him, Why does my lord speak words 
 like these ? Par be it from thy servants to do such a 
 thing. Behold, the money which we found in the 
 mouth of our bags we brought to thee again from the 
 land of Kenaan; how then should we steal from thy 
 lord's house vessels of silver, or vessels of gold ? With 
 whomsoever of thy servants it shall be found, let him 
 be guilty of death, and we also will be slaves of thy 
 lord. And he said, According to your words let it be. 
 With whomsoever it is found he shall be my slave, but 
 you shall be innocent. 
 
 And they made haste, and brought down each man 
 his sack upon the ground, and every man opened his 
 sack. And he searched, beginning with Beuben, and 
 ending with Benjamin. And the cup was found in 
 Benjamin's sack. And they rent their clothes; but 
 the strength of fortitude was given to them ; and they 
 laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 
 
 And Jehuda and his brethren entered into Joseph's 
 house. He was yet there; and they fell before him on 
 the ground. 
 
 And Joseph said to them. What deed is this that 
 you have done ? Could you not know that a man like 
 me divining can divine ? And Jehuda said to him, 
 What shall we say to my lord concerning the former 
 
 p 
 
314 TARGTJM OF PALESTINE [CIIAP. 
 
 money, and what concerning the latter money ? and how 
 shall we be acquitted concerning the cup? From 
 before the Lord there is sin found upon thy servants. 
 Behold, we are my lord's servants, and he in whose 
 hand the chalice hath been found. But he said. Far 
 be it from me to do thus; the man in whose hand the 
 chalice hath been found shall be my slave; but you, go 
 you up in peace to your father. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 VAYIGGASH. 
 
 And Jehuda came near to him and said, In implor¬ 
 ing my lord, let thy servant, I implore, speak a word 
 in the hearing of my lord, and let not thy anger grow 
 strong against thy servant; for at the hour that we 
 came to thee thou didst say to us, I fear before the 
 Lord; and now thy judgments are rendered like (the 
 judgments) of a prince of Pharoh. My lord asked his 
 servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother ? 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Jehuda came near him, and said, 
 In beseeching thee, my lord, let thy servant now speak 
 a word in the hearing of my lord, and let not thy anger 
 be strong against thy servant; for at the first time we 
 came down to thee into Mizraim didst thou not tell us, 
 I fear before the Lord ? And now thy judgments are 
 returned like the judgments of Pharoh thy lord, by 
 whom thou adjurest. Yet I am honourable as thou 
 art, and my father is honourable as Pharoh thy lord is, 
 by whom thou dost adjure. Can I not swear by the 
 life of the head of my father, and not he ? For if I 
 
XLIV.] ON GENESIS. 315 
 
 draw my sword from within its sheath, I would not 
 return it till I had filled all the land of Mizraim with 
 the slain; to its sheath I would not return it, till I 
 had made all Mizraim desolate of inhabitants, beginning 
 with thyself, and ending with Pharoh thy lord, were it 
 not against the will of my father. Or, hath it not 
 been heard by thee, or not told thee, what my two 
 brothers Shimeon and Levi did, who went up against 
 the town of Shekem while they were dwelling in 
 security, and killed every male by the edge of the 
 sword, because they had corrupted Dinah our sister, 
 who hath not been numbered in the tribes, nor hath 
 portion or inheritance with us in the dividing of the 
 land ? By how much more then (shall it be done) for 
 Benjamin our brother, who is numbered with us among 
 the tribes, and who hath portion and inheritahce with 
 us in the dividing of the land ? And my force is more 
 unyielding than theirs, because I have become the 
 sponsor for the youth at the hands of my father, saying, 
 If I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee, I 
 will be guilty with thee and be removed from thy salu¬ 
 tation all the days. Hast thou not heard, or hath it 
 not been told thee, that in the land of Kenaan we are 
 kings and princes, as thou art ? 
 
 [19. When Joseph, the beloved and honourable, saw 
 that the strength of Jehuda his brother had risen up, 
 and that the thoughts of his heart came forth, and that 
 they rent their garments, in that hour beckoned Joseph 
 to Menasheh his first-born, and stamped with his shoe; 
 and all Joseph's palace trembled. In that hour Jehuda 
 said, If it had not been on the side of the house of my 
 father, it would not have been done so. Then began 
 Jehuda to be milder in his words, and he said, My lord 
 asked his servants, saying, Have you a father, or a 
 brother ?] 
 
 p 2 
 
316 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And we told my lord, We have an aged father, and a 
 son of his old age, a little one, whose brother is dead, 
 and he only remains of his mother; and his father on 
 that account loveth him. And thou saidst to thy 
 servants, Bring him down to me, and I will set mine 
 eyes on him for good. [Jerusalem. Mine eyes shall 
 be gracious upon him.] But we told my lord, The 
 youth cannot leave his father: for if he leave his father, 
 he will die. Yet thou saidst to thy servants, If you 
 bring not your youngest brother down, you shall not 
 again see my face. And it was when we went up to 
 thy servant our father, we related to him my lord's 
 words. And our father said to us, Return, and buy us 
 a little corn. But we told him, We cannot go down if 
 our youngest brother be not with us when we go down, 
 for we shall not be able to see the man's face, unless 
 our youngest brother be with us. And thy servant our 
 father said to us, You know that my wife bare me two 
 sons. One went forth from me, and I said, Surely he 
 is dead, and I have not beheld him since; and you will 
 now take this other from before me ; and if death hap¬ 
 pen to him, you will bring down mine age with mourning 
 to the house of the grave. Therefore thy servant 
 became surety for the youth with my father, saying, If 
 I restore him not to thee, let me be guilty before my 
 father all the days. And now let thy servant remain, I 
 beseech thee, as the slave of my lord, instead of the 
 young man; and let the young man go up with his 
 brothers. Por how can I go up to my father, and the 
 young man be not with us ?—lest I behold the evil that 
 will strike my father through ! 
 
 XLY. And Joseph could not endure not to (be able to) 
 weep, on account of all who stood before him. And he 
 said, Let every man go out from me: and no one stood with 
 him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 
 
OX GENESIS. 
 
 317 
 
 XLV.] 
 
 And he lifted up his voice with weeping; and the 
 Mizraee heard, and a man of the house of Pharoh 
 heard. 
 
 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph ! Is 
 my father yet alive ? 
 
 But his brothers could not answer him a word; for 
 they were troubled before him. 
 
 And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near, I pray, 
 and examine me. And they came near. And he said 
 to them, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold 
 into Mizraim. Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor 
 consider it a hard thing 4 that you sold me hither; for 
 the Lord sent me hither before you to preserve you. 
 "For these two years hath the famine been in the midst 
 of the land, and there are yet five years in which there 
 will be neither ploughing nor harvest. But the Lord 
 sent me before you to set you a remnant in the land, 
 and to preserve you by a great deliverance. 
 
 And now, it was not you who sent me hither, but it 
 was from before the Lord that the thing was occasioned, 
 that He might set me for a prince unto Pharoh, a chief 
 over his house, and a ruler in all the land of Mizraim. 
 Make haste, and go up to my father, and say to him, 
 Thus saith thy son Joseph, The Lord hath set me for 
 a chief over all the Mizraee; come down to me, delay 
 not, and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and be 
 near me, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons' children, thy 
 sheep, thy oxen, and all that thou hast. And I will 
 sustain you there, for there are yet five years of famine, 
 lest thou, and the men of thy house, and all that thou 
 hast be wasted away. And, behold, your eyes see, and 
 the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth 
 speaketh with you in the language of the house of 
 holiness. And you must show my father all the honour 
 4 “ Let it not be hard in your eyes.” 
 
318 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 I have in Mizraim, and all my greatness which you see, 
 and hasten my father hither. 
 
 And he bowed himself upon his brother Benjamin's 
 neck, and wept; because it would be that the house of 
 holiness should be builded in the portion of Benjamin, 
 and be twice destroyed: and Benjamin wept upon 
 Joseph's neck, because he saw that the tabernacle of 
 Shiloh would be in the portion of Joseph and be 
 destroyed. And he kissed all his brethren, and wept 
 over them, because he saw that the sons of his people 
 would be brought into bondage. And afterward his 
 brethren discoursed with him. 
 
 And a voice was heard in the royal house of Pharoh, 
 saying, The brothers of Joseph are come. And the 
 thing was pleasing in the eyes of Pharoh, and in the 
 eyes of his servants. And he said to Joseph, Tell thy 
 brethren, Do this. Lade your beasts, and go, carry 
 into the land of Kenaan; and take your father and the 
 men of your house, and come to me, and I will give 
 you the best of what is desirable in the land of Miz- 
 raim, and you shall eat the fat of the land. And thou 
 Joseph shalt appoint for the honour of thy father: 
 therefore tell thy brethren, Do this. Take with you 
 from the land of Mizraim waggons drawn by oxen, in 
 which to carry your children and your wives, and bring 
 your father, and come. And your eyes must not look 
 wistfully on your utensils: for the best of what is desir¬ 
 able in all the land of Mizraim is yours. 
 
 And the sons of Israel did so. And Joseph gave 
 them waggons according to the word of Pharoh, and he 
 furnished them with provision for the way. And to 
 each of them he gave vestments and apparel; but to 
 Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver, and 
 five vestments for apparel. And these presents he sent 
 to his father; ten asses laden with wine and the good 
 
XLVI.] ON GENESIS. 319 
 
 things of Mizraim, and ten she asses laden with corn, 
 and bread, and provisions for his father's journey. And 
 he dismissed his brothers to go, and said to them, Do 
 not contend about my having been sold, lest you quarrel 
 in passing along the way. 
 
 And they went up from Mizraim, and came to the 
 land of Kenaan unto Jakob their father. And they 
 declared to him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and is ruler 
 over all the land of Mizraim. But his heart was 
 divided, because he did not believe them. [Jerusalem. 
 And his heart was divided.] And they told him all the 
 words of Joseph which he had spoken to them. And 
 when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to 
 bring him, the Spirit of Prophecy which had gone up 
 from him at the time that Joseph was sold, returning, 
 rested upon Jakob their father. And Israel said. Many 
 benefits hath the Lord wrought for me; He delivered 
 me from the hand of Esau and from the hand of Laban, 
 and from the hands of the Kenaanites who pursued me; 
 and many consolations have I seen and have expected to 
 see; but this I had not expected, that Joseph my son 
 should yet be alive. I will go now, and behold him 
 before I die. [Jerusalem. And Israel said. Many 
 benefits and consolations I had hoped to see; but this I 
 had not expected, that, behold, Joseph my son should 
 be yet alive. I will go and see him before I die.] 
 
 XLYI. And Israel journeyed with all that he had, 
 and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God 
 of his father Izhak. And the Lord spake to Israel in a 
 prophecy of the night, and said, Jakob! and he said, 
 Behold me. And He said, I am God, the God of thy 
 father; fear not to go down into Mizraim on account of 
 the servitude I have decreed with Abraham : for a great 
 people will I make thee there. I am He who in My 
 Word will go down with thee into Mizraim; I will 
 
320 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 regard the affliction of thy children, and My Word shall 
 bring thee up from thence, and cause thy children to 
 come up; but Joseph shall lay his hand upon thine 
 eyes. 
 
 And Jakob arose from Beer de Sheba; and the sons 
 of Israel journeyed, with Jakob their father, their little 
 ones, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharoh 
 had sent to carry him. They took their possessions 
 and the substance which they had gotten in the land of 
 Kenaan, and came into Mizraim, Jakob and all his sons 
 with him, his sons and his sons' children with him, his 
 daughters, and the daughters of his sons; and all his 
 seed came with him to Mizraim. 
 
 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came 
 into Mizraim. Jakob and his sons. The firstborn of 
 Jakob, Reuben. And the sons of Reuben, Hanok and 
 Phallu, Pletsron and Karmi. The sons of Shimeon, 
 Jemuel and Jamin, Ochad, Jakin, Sochar, and Shaul: 
 he is Zimri, who made the work of the Kenaanites in 
 Shittim. And the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kehath, and 
 Merari. The sons of Jehuda, Er, Onan, Shelah, 
 Pherets, and Zarach. But Er and Onan died, on 
 account of their evil work in the land of Kenaan; and 
 Shelah and Zarach had no children in the land of 
 Kenaan; but the sons of Pherets who went down to 
 Mizraim were Hetsron and Chamul. The sons of 
 Issakar, sages, and masters of reasoning, their names 
 were Tola, Phua, Job, and Shimron. The sons of Zebu- 
 Ion, merchants, masters of commerce nourishing their 
 brethren, the sons of Issakar, and receiving a reward 
 like theirs; and their names were Sered, Elon, and 
 Jahleel. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bare 
 unto Jakob in Padan Aram, with Dinah his daughter; 
 all the souls of his sons and his daughter, thirty and 
 three. And the children of Gad, Seplion, Haggi, Suni, 
 
XLVI.] ON GENESIS. r $21 
 
 Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The children of Asher, 
 Yimna, Yishvah, Yishvi, Beriah, and Serach their sister, 
 who was carried away while alive into the Garden (of 
 Eden), because she had announced to Jakob that Joseph 
 still lived. It was she who saved the inhabitants of 
 (the city) Abel from the judgment of death, in the days 
 of Joab. The sons of Beriah who went down into 
 Mizraim were Heber and Malkiel. These are the 
 children of Zilpha, whom Laban gave to Leah his 
 daughter, and she bare them to Jakob; sixteen souls. 
 The sons of Rahel, wife of Jakob, Joseph and Benjamin. 
 And to Joseph were born two sons in the land of 
 Mizraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Dinah, edu¬ 
 cated in the house of Potiphera prince of Tanis, bare,— 
 Menasheh and Ephraim. The sons of Benjamin, ten; 
 and their names, according to the interpretation of 
 Joseph his brother: Bela, 5 who was swallowed up 
 from him; Beker, who was the chosen of his mother; 
 Eshbal, who went into captivity; Gera, who became a 
 sojourner in a foreign land; Naaman, who was pleasant 
 and honourable; Achi, who had a (twin) brother, the 
 son of his mother; Rosh, who was a chief in his father’s 
 house; Muppim, who was sold into Muph; Chuppim, 
 because at the time that he was separated from him he 
 was the son of eighteen years and was eligible for . 
 marriage ( Chupha , thalamus nuptialis '); andAred, who 
 descended into Mizraim. These are the children of 
 Rahel who were born unto Jakob, all the souls fourteen. 
 The sons of Dan, able men (or armed) and merchants, 
 of whose numbers there is no end (or sum). And the 
 sons of Naphtali, Jakzeel, Guni, Jetser, and Shillem. 
 These are the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to 
 Rahel his daughter; and she bare them unto Jakob, all 
 the souls seven. All the souls which went into 
 5 The roots of these names have the meanings here assigned. 
 
 p 5 
 
522 TAR GUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Mizraim with Jakob which had come forth from his 
 thigh; besides the wives of Jakob's sons, all the souh 
 were sixty and six. But the sons of Joseph who were 
 born to him in Mizraim, were two souls; and Joseph 
 who was in Mizraim, and Jokebed the daughter of Levi, 
 who w’as born among the hills in their journey to 
 Mizraim,—the sum of all the souls of the house of 
 Jakob who came into Mizraim, seventy. 
 
 And he sent Jehnda before him to Joseph to indicate 
 the way before him, to subdue the pillars of the earth, 
 and to provide him a house of dwelling in Goshena. 
 And they came to the land of Goshen. [Jerusalem. 
 To prepare him a place of habitation in Goshena.] 
 
 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to 
 meet Israel his father in Goshen; and his father, before 
 he recognised him, worshipped him, and thus became 
 liable to be shortened (or cut off) in his years. And he 
 wondered, and beheld him, and fell upon his neck, and 
 wept still upon his neck, because he had worshipped 
 him. And Israel said to Joseph, If at this time I die, 
 I am comforted: for with the death that the righteous 
 die shall I die, after seeing thy face, because thou art 
 yet alive. 
 
 And Joseph said to his brethren and his father's 
 house, I will go up and tell Pharoh, and say to him, My 
 brethren and my father's house from the land of Kenaan 
 have come to me. The men are pastors of sheep; for 
 they are men, the masters of flocks; and their sheep and 
 oxen and all which they have, they have brought. And 
 it must be, when Pharoh calleth you, and saith, Tell me, 
 what is your work ? you must say, Thy servants have 
 been masters of flocks from our youth until now: that 
 you may dwell in the land of Goshen; because the 
 Mizraee reject 6 all shepherds. 
 
 6 Or, “ keep at a distance from.” 
 
XLVII.] ON GENESIS. 323 
 
 XLYII. And Joseph came and informed Pharoh, 
 and said, My father and my brethren, with their sheep 
 and oxen and all that they have, are come from the land 
 of Kenaan, and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. 
 And from the extreme of his brethren he took five men, 
 Zebulon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, and presented 
 them before Pharoh. And Pharoh said to Josephus 
 brethren, What is your work ? And they said to Pharoh, 
 Thy servants are pastors of sheep, both we and our 
 fathers. And they said to Pharoh, To dwell in the land 
 are we come, because there is no place of pasture for 
 thy servants' sheep, for the famine hath prevailed in the 
 land of Kenaan; let thy servants therefore now dwell 
 in the land of Goshen. 
 
 And Pharoh spake to Joseph, saying, Thy father and 
 thy brethren have come to thee. The land of Mizraim 
 is before thee. In the fairest part of the land make 
 thy father and thy brethren to dwell: let them dwell in 
 the land of Goshen. And if thou know any among 
 them men of ability, appoint them masters over my 
 flocks. 
 
 And Joseph brought Jakob his father, and presented 
 him before Pharoh. And Jakob blessed Pharoh, and 
 said, May it please the Almighty that the waters of 
 Kilos may be replenished, and may the famine pass 
 away from the world in thy days ! And Pharoh said to 
 Jakob, How many are the days of the years of thy life ? 
 And Jakob answered Pharoh, The days of the years of 
 my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years. Pew 
 and evil have been the days of the years of my life; for 
 in my youth I fled before Esau my brother, and so¬ 
 journed in a land not my own; and now in the time 
 of my old age have I come down to sojourn here. And 
 my days have not reached the days of the years of the 
 life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And 
 
324 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Jakob blessed Pharoh, and went out from before 
 Pliarob. 
 
 And Joseph brought his father and brethren to dwell, 
 and gave them a possession in the land of Mizraim, in a 
 goodly part of the country, in the country of Pilusin, as 
 Pharoh had commanded. [Jerusalem. Pelusim.] And 
 Joseph sustained his father and his brethren and all his 
 father’s house with bread, according to the need of their 
 families. But there was no bread (grown) in all the 
 land, because the famine prevailed greatly, and the 
 inhabitants of the land of Mizraim failed, and the 
 dwellers in the land of Kenaan, in presence of the famine. 
 And Joseph collected all the money which was found 
 in the land of Mizraim, and in the land of Kenaan, for 
 the corn which he sold to them; and Joseph brought 
 the money into the treasure-house of Pharoh. And the 
 money was finished from the land of Mizraim, and from 
 the land of Kenaan; and the Mizraee came to Joseph, 
 saying, Give us bread; why should we die before thee ? 
 for all our money is finished. [Jerusalem. And hath 
 failed.] And Joseph said, Give your flocks, and for 
 your flocks I will give you provisions, if the money be 
 consumed. And they brought their cattle to Joseph, 
 and Joseph gave them bread for their horses, and for 
 the flocks of sheep, the oxen, and the asses; and he 
 sustained them with bread for all their flocks for that 
 year. And that year being ended, all the Mizraee came 
 to him, in the second year, and said to him, We will 
 not hide it from my lord, that the money is finished, and 
 my lord hath the flocks of cattle : there is nothing left 
 us before my lord except our bodies, and our land. Why 
 should we die, and thine eye seeing (it), both we and 
 our land also ? Buy us, and our land, for bread, and 
 we and our land will be servants of Pharoh, and give 
 the seed of corn, that we may live and not die, and the 
 
XLVII.] ON GENESIS. 325 
 
 land be not desolated. And Joseph bought all the land 
 of Mizraim for Pharoh ; for the Mizraee sold every man 
 his portion, because the famine prevailed over them, 
 and the land became the property of Pharoh. And the 
 people of a province he removed to a city, and the 
 people of the city he removed to a province, for the 
 sake of the brethren of Joseph, that they might not be 
 called wanderers: therefore he made them migrate from 
 one end of Mizraim to the other. [Jerusalem. And 
 the people who were dwelling in the province he 
 removed into the city; and the people who dwelt in the 
 city he removed into the province, that they might not 
 deride the sons of Jakob, and call them Galilean 
 (wandering) guests.] Only the land of the priests he 
 bought not, because they had considered him innocent 
 at the time when his master was seeking to put him to 
 death, and they had delivered him from the judgment 
 of death : and besides he had said that a portion should 
 be given them from Pharoh. So they ate the portion 
 which Pharoh gave them, and sold not their land. 
 
 And Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have this 
 day bought you and your land for Pharoh: behold, (I 
 give) you seed corn to sow the land; and at the time of 
 the ingathering of your produce you shall give the fifth 
 part to Pharoh, and four parts shall be yours, for the 
 seeding of your land, and for food and for provision for 
 your houses and little ones. And they said, Thou hast 
 preserved us : let us find favour in the eyes of my lord, 
 and we will be PharolPs servants. And Joseph 
 established it a law unto this day over the land of 
 Mizraim to take to Pharoh a fifth part of the produce, 
 except only the land of the priests which was not 
 PharolPs. 
 
 And Israel dwelt in the land of Mizraim, and they 
 built there schools and mansions in the land of Goshen, 
 
326 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 and inherited therein fields and vineyards; and they 
 increased and multiplied greatly. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 VAYECHI. 
 
 And Jakob lived in the land of Mizraim seventeen 
 years. And the sum of the days of Jakob, of the days 
 of his life, was a hundred and forty and seven years. 
 And the days of Israel drew near to die. And he 
 called to his son, to Joseph, and said to him, If now I 
 have found favour before thee, put thy hand on the 
 place of my circumcision, and deal with me in goodness 
 and truth, That thou wilt not bury me in Mizraim, that I 
 may sleep with my fathers, and thou mayest carry me 
 from Mizraim, and bury me in their sepulchre. But 
 because he was his son he did not (so) put his hand; but 
 said, I will do according to thy word. And he said, Swear 
 to me: and he sware to him. And immediately the 
 Glory of the Shekina of the Lord was revealed to him, 
 and Israel worshipped upon the pillow 7 of the bed. 
 [ J ertjsalem. And Israel praised upon the head of the 
 couch.] 
 
 XLVIII. And after these things it was told Joseph, 
 Behold, thy father is lying ill. And he took his two 
 sons with him, Menasheh and Ephraim. And it was 
 announced to Jakob, saying, Behold, thy son Joseph hath 
 come to thee : and Israel strengthened himself, and sat 
 upon the bed. 
 
 7 Or, “hea<L ! 
 
xlviii.] on genesis. 327 
 
 And Jakob said to Joseph : El Shadai revealed Him¬ 
 self to me at Luz, in the land of Kenaan, and blessed 
 me. And He said to me, Behold, I will increase thee 
 and multiply thee, and make thee an assemblage of 
 tribes, and will give this land to thy sons after thee 
 for an everlasting inheritance. And now, thy two sons 
 who have been born to thee in the land of Mizraim 
 before I came to thee into Mizraim are mine; Ephraim 
 and Menasheh as Reuben and Shimeon shall be 
 reckoned unto me. And thy children whom thou 
 mayest beget after them shall be thine; by the name 
 of their brethren shall they be called in their inheritance. 
 And I beseech thee to bury me with my fathers. Rahel 
 died by me suddenly in the land of Kenaan, while there 
 was yet much ground to come to Ephrath; nor could I 
 carry her to bury her in the Double Cave, but I buried 
 her there, in the way of Ephrath which is Bethlechem. 
 
 And Israel looked at the sons of Joseph and said, 
 Erom whom are these born to thee ? And Joseph 
 answered his father, They are my sons which the Word 
 of the Lord gave me according to this writing, according 
 to which I took Asenath the daughter of Dinah thy 
 daughter to be my wife. 
 
 And he said, Bring them now near to me, and I will 
 bless them. But Israel's eyes were heavy from age, 
 and he could not see. And he brought them to him, 
 and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel 
 said to Joseph, To see thy face I had not reckoned, but, 
 behold, the Lord hath also showed me thy sons. And 
 Joseph brought them out from (between) his knees, and 
 worshipped on his face upon the ground. And Joseph 
 took both of them, Ephraim on his right side, which was 
 Israel's left, and Menasheh on his left side, which was 
 Israel's right, and brought them to him. 
 
 And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it 
 
328 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 upon the head of Ephraim, though he was the 
 younger; and his left hand upon the head of Menasheh, 
 altering his hands, for Menasheh was the firstborn. 
 [Jerusalem. He altered his hands.] And he blessed 
 Joseph, and said: 
 
 The Lord, before whom my fathers, Abraham and 
 Izhak, did serve; the Lord who hath fed me since I 
 have been unto this day, be pleased that the angel 
 whom thou didst ordain for me, to redeem me from all 
 evil, may bless the children; and let my name be 
 called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abra¬ 
 ham and Izhak. And as the fishes of the sea in 
 multiplying are multiplied in the sea, so may the chil¬ 
 dren of Joseph be multiplied abundantly in the midst 
 of the earth. 
 
 And Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand 
 upon Ephraim's head ; and it was evil before him, and 
 he uplifted his father's hand to remove it from off the 
 head of Ephraim, that it might rest on the head of 
 Menasheh. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, 
 my father, for this is the firstborn ; lay thy right hand 
 on his head. But his father was not willing, and said, 
 I know, my son, I know that he is the firstborn, and 
 also that he will be a great people, and will also be 
 multiplied; yet will his younger brother be greater 
 than he, and his sons be greater among the nations. 
 And he blessed them in that day, saying, In thee, 
 Joseph my son, shall the house of Israel bless their 
 infants in the day of their circumcision, saying, The 
 Lord set thee as Ephraim and as Menasheh. And in 
 the numbering of the tribes the prince of Ephraim shall 
 be numbered before the prince of Menasheh. And he 
 appointed that Ephraim should be before Menasheh. 
 
 And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, my end cometh 
 to die. But the Word of the Lord shall- be your 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 329 
 
 XLIX.] 
 
 Helper, and restore you to the land of your fathers; 
 and I, behold, I have given to thee the city of Shekem, 
 one portion for a gift above thy brethren, which I took 
 from the hand of the Amoraee at the time that you 
 went into the midst of it, and I arose and helped you 
 with my sword and with my bow. [ Jehusalem. And 
 I, behold, I have given thee one portion above thy 
 brethren, the robe of the first Adam. Abraham the 
 father of my father took it from the hands of Nimrod 
 the Wicked, and gave it to Izhak my father; and 
 Izhak my father gave it to Esau, and I took it from 
 the hands of Esau my brother, not with my sword nor 
 with my bow, but through my righteousness and my 
 good works.] 
 
 XLIX. And Jakob called his sons and said to them. 
 Purify yourselves from uncleanness, and I will show 
 you the hidden mysteries, the ends concealed, the 
 recompense of reward for the righteous, the retribution 
 of the wicked, and the bower of Eden, what it is. And 
 the twelve tribes of Israel gathered themselves together 
 around the golden bed whereon he reclined, and where 
 was revealed to him the Shekina of the Lord, (though) 
 the end for which the king Meshiha is to come had 
 been concealed from him. Then said he, Come, and I 
 will declare to you what shall befall you at the end of 
 the days. Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons 
 of Jakob, and receive instruction from Israel your 
 father. 
 
 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, the beginning of the 
 strength of my generation, and the chief event of my 
 thoughts. To thee belonged the birthright, and the 
 high priesthood, and the kingdom : but because thou 
 hast sinned, my son, the birthright is given to Joseph, 
 and the kingdom to Jehuda, and the priesthood to 
 Levi. I will liken thee to a little garden in the midst 
 
330 TAKGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 of which there enter torrents swift and strong, which it 
 cannot bear, but is overwhelmed. Be repentant then, 
 Beuben my son, for thou hast sinned, and add not; 
 that wherein thou hast sinned it may be forgiven thee; 
 for it is reckoned to thee as if thou wentest in to have 
 to do with the wife of thy father at the time that thou 
 didst confound my bed upon which thou wentest up. 
 
 Shimeon and Levi are brothers of the womb ; 8 
 their thoughts are of sharp weapons for rapine. In 
 their counsel my soul hath not had pleasure, and in 
 their gathering against Shekem to destroy it mine 
 honour was not united; for in their anger they slew 
 the prince and his ruler, and in their ill will they 
 demolished the wall 9 of their adversary. And Jakob 
 said, Accursed was the town of Shekem when they 
 entered within it to destroy it in their violent wrath ; 
 and their hatred against Joseph, for it was relentless. 
 If, said Jakob, they dwell together, no king nor ruler 
 may stand before them. Therefore will I divide the 
 inheritance of the sons of Shimeon into two portions; 
 one part shall come to them out of the inheritance of 
 the sons of Jehuda, and one part from among the rest 
 of the tribes of Jakob; and the tribe of Levi I will 
 disperse among all the tribes of Israel. 
 
 Jehuda, thou didst make confession in the matter of 
 Tamar : therefore shall thy brethren confess 1 thee, and 
 shall be called Jeliudain from thy name. Thy hand 
 shall avenge thee of thy adversaries, in throwing arrows 
 upon them when they turn their backs before thee; and 
 the sons of thy fathers shall come before thee with 
 salutations. I will liken thee, my son Jehuda, to a 
 whelp, the young of a lion; for from the killing of 
 Joseph my son thou didst uplift thy soul, and from 
 
 8 Acldn telamin, “frat res uterini.” —Caste L, 3903. 
 
 9 Or, “ destroyed the oxen.” 1 Or, “ praise.” 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 331 
 
 XLIX.] 
 
 the judgment of Tamar thou wast free. He dwelleth 
 quietly and in strength, as a lion; and as an old lion 
 when he reposeth, who may stir him up ? Kings shall 
 not cease, nor rulers, from the house of Jehuda, nor 
 sapherim teaching the law from his seed, till the time 
 that the King, the Meshiha, shall come, the youngest of 
 his sons ; and on account of him shall the peoples flow 
 together. How beauteous is the King, the Meshiha 
 who will arise from the house of Jehuda! He hath 
 girded his loins, and descended, and arrayed the battle 
 against his adversaries, slaying kings with their rulers; 
 neither is there any king or ruler who shall stand 
 before him. The mountains become red with the blood 
 of their slain ; his garments, dipped in blood, are like the 
 outpressed juice of grapes. How beautiful are the eyes 
 of the king Meshiha, as the pure wine ! He cannot look 
 upon what is unclean, nor on the shedding of the blood 
 of the innocent; and his teeth, purer than milk, cannot 
 eat that which is stolen or torn; and therefore his 
 mountains are red with wine, and his hills white with 
 corn, and with the cotes of flocks. 
 
 Zebulon shall dwell upon the banks of the sea, and 
 have dominion over the havens; he will surmount the 
 breakers of the sea with ships, and his border will 
 extend unto Zidon. 
 
 Issakar is an ass in the law ; a strong tribe, knowing 
 the order 3 of the times; and he lieth down between 
 the limits of his brethren. And he saw the rest of the 
 world to come thatjt is good, and the portion of the 
 land of Israel that it is pleasant; therefore bowed he 
 his shoulders to labour in the law, and unto him shall 
 come his brethren bearing presents. 
 
 Prom the house of Dan there is to arise a man who 
 will judge his people with the judgment of truth. All 
 2 Or, “intention.” 
 
332 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the tribes of Israel will hearken to him together. A 
 chosen man shall arise from the house of Dan, like the 
 basilisk which lieth at the dividing of the way, and the 
 serpent's head which lurketh by the way, that biteth 
 the horse in his heel, and the master from his terror 
 is thrown backward. Even thus will Shimshon bar 
 Manovach slay all the heroes of Philistia, the horsemen 
 and the foot; he will hamstring their horses and hurl 
 their riders backwards. 
 
 When Jakob saw Gideon bar Joash and Shimshon 
 bar Manovach, who were established to be deliverers, he 
 said, I expect not the salvation of Gideon, nor look I 
 for the salvation of Shimshon; for their salvation will 
 be the salvation of an hour; but for Thy salvation have 
 I waited, and will look for, 0 Lord; for Thy salvation 
 is the salvation of eternity. 
 
 The tribe of Gad with the rest of the tribes will, 
 armed, pass over the streams of Arnona, and subdue 
 before them the pillars of the earth, and armed will they 
 return into their limits with much substance, and dwell 
 in peace beyond the passage of Jardena; for so will 
 they choose, and it shall be to them to receive their 
 inheritance. 
 
 Happy is Asher, whose fruitage is plenteous, and 
 w T hose land aboundeth in balsams and costly perfumes. 
 
 Naphtali is a swift messenger, like a hind that run¬ 
 neth on the tops of the mountains, bringing good 
 tidings: he it was who announced that Joseph was 
 living; he it was who hasteneth to go into Mizraim, and 
 bring the contract of the double field in which Esau 
 had no portion; 3 and when he shall open his mouth in 
 the congregation of Israel to give praise, he shall be the 
 chosen of all tongues. 
 
 Joseph, my son, thou hast become great; Joseph, my 
 ’ See the next chapter. 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 333 
 
 XL1X.] 
 
 son, thou hast become great and mighty; the end 
 (determined) on thee was (that thou shouldst) be 
 mighty, because thou didst subdue thy inclination in 
 the matter of thy mistress, and in the work of thy 
 brethren. Thee will I liken to a vine planted by foun¬ 
 tains of water, w r hich sendeth forth her roots, and over- 
 runneth the ridges of stone, and covereth by her 
 branches all unfruitful trees ; even so didst thou my son 
 Joseph subject by thy wisdom and thy good works all 
 the magicians of Mizraim; and when, celebrating thy 
 praises, the daughters of princes walking on the high 
 places cast before thee bracelets and chains of gold, 
 that thou shouldst lift up thine eyes upon them, thine 
 eyes thou wouldst not lift up on one of them, to become 
 guilty in the great day of judgment. And all the magi¬ 
 cians of Mizraim were bitter and angry against him, and 
 brought accusations against him before Pharoh, expect¬ 
 ing to bring him down from his honour. They spake 
 against him with the slanderous tongue 4 which is severe 
 as arrows. But he returned to abide in his early 
 strength, and would not yield himself unto sin, and 
 subdued his inclinations by the strong discipline he had 
 received from Jakob, and thence became worthy of 
 being a ruler, and of being joined in the engraving of 
 the names upon the stones of Israel. From the Word 
 of the Lord shall be thy help; and He who is called the 
 All-Sufficient shall bless thee with the blessings which 
 descend with the dew of heaven from above, and with 
 the good blessing of the fountains of the deep which 
 ascend and clothe the herbage from beneath. The 
 breasts are blessed at which thou wast suckled, and the 
 womb in which thou didst lie. The blessings of thy 
 father be added to the blessings wherewith my fathers 
 
 4 “ With triple tongue.” Compare the Targum on Psalm ci. 5 ; 
 Psalm cxl. 11; Eccles. x. 11; and our Introduction, p. 12. 
 
334 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Abraham and Izhak have blessed me, and which the 
 princes of the world Ishmael and Esau and all the sons 
 of Keturah have desired:—let all these blessings be 
 united, and form a diadem of majesty for the head of 
 Joseph, and for the brow of the man who became chief 
 and ruler in Mizraim, and the brightness of the glory of 
 his brethren. 
 
 Benjamin is a strong tribe, (like) the wolf (with) his 
 prey. In his land will dwell the Shekina of the Lord 
 of the world, and the house of the sanctuary be builded 
 in his inheritance. In the morning will the priests offer 
 the lamb continually until the fourth hour, and between 
 the evenings the second lamb, and at eventide will they 
 divide the residue remaining of the offering, and eat, 
 every man, his portion. 
 
 [Jerusalem Targum. And our father Jakob called 
 his sons, and said to them, Gather together, and I will 
 teach you the concealed end, the secret mysteries, the 
 recompense of reward for the just, and the punishmeut 
 of the wicked, and the blessedness of Eden, what it is. 
 And the twelve tribes of Jakob assembled and sur¬ 
 rounded the golden bed whereon our father Jakob lay, 
 desiring that he should teach them (at the) end in 
 benediction and consolation. Then was revealed to him 
 the secret that had been hidden from him, and then was 
 opened the door which had been shut to him. Our 
 father Jakob turned therefore and blessed his sons, every 
 man according to his good did he bless him. 
 
 [When the twelve tribes of Jakob were assembled, and 
 surrounded the golden bed whereon our father Jakob 
 lay, they expected that lie would make known to them 
 the order of blessing and consolation: but they were 
 hidden from him. Our father Jakob answered and said 
 to them : From Abraham my father's father arose the 
 profane Ishmael and all the sons of Keturah; and from 
 
XLIX. 
 
 ON GENESIS. 
 
 335 
 
 Izhak my father arose the profane Esau, my brother; 
 and I am afraid lest there should be among you a man 
 whose heart is separated from his brethren to go and 
 worship before strange idols. The twelve tribes of 
 Jakob answered all together, and said, Hear us, Israel 
 OUR RATHER! The LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD ! 
 And Jakob our father answered, and said, May His 
 Great Name be blessed for ever and ever! 
 
 [Keuben, my firstborn art thou, my strength, and the 
 beginning of my sorrow. To thee my son Reuben 
 would it have pertained to receive three portions above 
 thy brethren, birthright, priesthood, kingdom: but 
 because thou hast sinned, Reuben, my son, the birth¬ 
 right is given unto Joseph, the kingdom to Jehuda, and 
 the high priesthood to the tribe of Levi. I will liken 
 thee, my son Reuben, to a little garden into the midst of 
 which there enter rapid torrents, which it cannot bear, 
 but is carried away before them. Be repentant then, 
 my son Reuben, with good works, for thou hast sinned; 
 and sin no more, that that which thou hast sinned may 
 be forgiven thee. 
 
 [5. Siiimeon and Levi are brothers of the womb, 
 men who are masters of sharp weapons; they made war 
 from their youth ; in the land of their adversary they 
 wrought out the triumphs of war. In their counsels 
 my soul found no pleasure; and in their gathering 
 together at the city of Shekem to destroy it, they were 
 not favourable to my honour; for in their anger they 
 slew kings with princes, and in their wilfulness they sold 
 Joseph their brother, who is compared to the ox. 
 Accursed was the town of Shekem when Shimeon and 
 Levi entered to destroy it in their wrath, for it was 
 strong, and in their anger, for it was cruel. And Jakob 
 our father said, If these remain together, no people or 
 kingdom can stand before them. I will divide the tribe 
 
336 TAB-GUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 of Shimeon, that they may become preachers and teachers 
 of the law in the congregation of Jakob; and I will 
 disperse the tribe of Levi in the houses of instruction 
 for the sons of Israel. 
 
 [8. Jehuda, thee shall all thy brethren praise, and 
 from thy name shall all be called Jehudaee; thy hand 
 shall avenge thee of thy adversaries; all the sons of thy 
 father shall come before thee with salutation. I will 
 liken thee, my son Jehuda, to a whelp the son of a lion : 
 from the slaying of Joseph thou wast free, from the 
 judgment of Tamar thou, my son, wast acquitted. He 
 remaineth tranquil in the midst of war, as the lion and 
 as the lioness; nor is there people or kingdom that can 
 stand against thee. Kings shall not cease from the 
 house of Jehuda, nor sapherim teaching the law from 
 his children's children, until the time that the King 
 Meshiha shall come, whose is the kingdom, and to whom 
 all the kingdoms of the earth shall be obedient. How 
 beauteous is the King Meshiha, who is to arise from the 
 house of Jehuda! 
 
 [Binding his loins, and going forth to war against 
 them that hate him, he will slay kings with princes, 
 and make the rivers red with the blood of their slain, 
 and his hills white with the fat of their mighty ones; 
 his garments will be dipped in blood, and he himself be 
 like the juice of the winepress. More beautiful are the 
 eyes of the king Meshiha to behold than pure wine; 
 they will not look upon that which is unclean, or the 
 shedding of the blood of the innocent. His teeth are 
 employed according to the precept rather than in eating 
 the things of violence and rapine; his mountains shall 
 be red with vines, and his presses with his wine, and 
 his hills be white with much corn and with flocks of 
 sheep. 
 
 [14. Issakar is a strong tribe, and his limits shall be 
 
XLIX.] ON GENESIS. 337 
 
 in the midst between two boundaries. And he saw the 
 house of the sanctuary, which is called Quietness, 5 that 
 it is good, and the land that its fruits are rich; and 
 bared his shoulders to labour in the law, and to him 
 shall be all his brethren bringing tribute. 
 
 [17. (Of Dan) He will be the deliverer who is to 
 arise, strong will he be and elevated above all kingdoms. 
 And he will be like the serpent that lieth in the way, 
 and the basilisk which lurketh at the dividing of the 
 road, which striketh the horse in his heel, and thinketh 
 by the terror of him to throw his rider backward. He 
 is Shimshon bar Manovach, who will be a terror upon 
 his adversaries, and a fear upon them that hate him, 
 and who will slay kings with princes. Our father Jakob 
 said, My soul hath not waited for the redemption of 
 Gideon bar Joash which is for an hour, nor for the 
 redemption of Shimshon which is a creature redemption, 
 but for the Redemption which Thou hast said in Thy 
 Word shall come for Thy people the sons of Israel, for 
 this Thy Redemption my soul hath waited. 
 
 [19. From the house of Gad will go forth hosts 
 arrayed in arms. They will bring Israel over Jardena ; 
 put them in possession of the land of Kenaan, and after¬ 
 wards return in peace to their tabernacles. 
 
 [Of happy Asher, how fertile is the land ! His land 
 shall satisfy with dainties the kings of the sons of 
 Israel. 
 
 [Naphtali is a swift messenger declaring good tidings. 
 He first declared to our father Jakob that Joseph was 
 yet in life, and he went down to Mizraim in a little time, 
 and brought the contract of the Double Field from the 
 palace of Joseph. And when he openeth his mouth in the 
 congregation of Jakob, his tongue is sweet as honey. 
 
 [22. My son who hast become great, Joseph, my son, 
 
 8 Menucha. 
 
 Q 
 
338 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 who hast become great, and waxed mighty, that thou 
 wouldst become mighty was foreseen. Thee, Joseph, my 
 son, will I liken to a vine planted by fountains of water, 
 which sendeth her roots into the depth and striketh 
 the ridges of the rocks, uplifting herself on high and 
 surmounting all the trees. So hast thou, O Joseph my 
 son, risen by thy wisdom above all the magicians of 
 Mizraim, and all the wise men who were there, what 
 time thou didst ride in the second chariot of Pharoh, 
 and they proclaimed before thee and said, This is the 
 father of the king, Long live the father of the king. 
 Great in wisdom, though few in years. And the 
 daughters of kings and of princes danced before thee at 
 the windows, and beheld thee from the balconies, and 
 scattered before thee bracelets, rings, collars, necklaces, 
 and all ornaments of gold, in hope thou wouldst uplift 
 thine eyes and regard one of them. But thou my son 
 Joseph wast far from lifting thine eyes on any one of 
 them, though the daughters of kings and of princes 
 spake one to another, This is the holy man Joseph, 
 who walks not after the sight of his eyes nor after the 
 imagination of his heart; because the sight of the eyes 
 and the imagination of his heart make the son of woman 
 to perish from the world. Therefore will arise from thee 
 the two tribes Menasheh and Ephraim, who shall receive 
 portion and inheritance with their brethren in the dividing 
 of the land. The magicians of Mizraim and all the wise 
 men spake against him, but could not prevail over him; 
 they spake evil of him before his lord, they accused him 
 before Pharoh king of Mizraim, to bring him down from 
 his dignity; they spake against him in the palace of 
 Pharoh with a slanderous tongue severe as arrows. But 
 the strength of his confidence 6 remained in both his 
 
 6 Or, “fidelity.” 
 
XLIX.] ON GENESIS. 339 
 
 hands and his arms, and he sought mercy from the 
 strength of his father Jakob, under the arms of whose 
 power the tribes of Israel are led, and do come. Blessed 
 are the breasts that suckled thee, and the womb in which 
 thou didst lie. The blessing of thy father be added 
 upon thee, upon the blessings wherewith thy fathers 
 Abraham and Izhak who are like mountains blessed thee, 
 and upon the blessing of the four mothers, Sarah, 
 Rivekah, Rahel, and Leah, who are like hills; let all 
 these blessings come, and make a diadem of majesty 
 upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the 
 man who became a chief and ruler in the land of Mizraim, 
 and the brightness of the glory of his brethren. 
 
 [17. (Of Benjamin) I will liken him to a ravening 
 wolf. In his limits will the sanctuary be builded, and 
 in his inheritance the glory of the Shekina of the Lord 
 will dwell. In the morning will the priests offer the 
 continual lamb and its oblations, and at the going 
 down of the sun will the priests offer the continual 
 lamb and its oblations, and at evening divide the offerings 
 of the sons of Israel.] 
 
 All these Tribes of Israel are twelve: they are all 
 righteous together, and this it is which their father 
 spake to them, and blessed them; according to his 
 blessing blessed he each man. And he commanded 
 them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my 
 people; bury me with my fathers in the cavern which 
 is in the field of Ephron the Hitah, in the cave that is 
 in the Double Field over against Mamre in the land of 
 Kenaan; for Abraham bought the field of Ephron the 
 Hitah for an inheritance of burial. There they buried 
 Abraham, and Sarah his wife; there they buried Izhak, 
 and Rivekah his wife ; and there I buried Leah :—the 
 purchase of the field, and the cave that is in it, of the 
 sons of Hitah. 
 
 Q ^ 
 
340 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Jakob ceased to command his sons. And he 
 gathered up his feet into the midst of the bed, and 
 expired, and was gathered unto his people. 
 
 L. And Joseph laid his father upon a couch of ivory 
 which was framed with pure gold, and inlaid with 
 precious stones, and secured with cords of byssus. 
 There they poured out fervid wines, and there burned 
 they most costly perfumes: there stood the chiefs 
 of the house of Esau and the chiefs of the house 
 of Ishmael; there stood the Lion of Jehuda, the 
 strength of his brethren. lie answered and said to his 
 brethren, Come, and let us raise up to our father a tall 
 cedar whose head shall reach to the top of heaven, and its 
 branches overshadow all the inhabitants of the earth, 
 and its roots extend to the depths of the abyss: from it 
 have arisen the twelve tribes, and from it will arise 
 kings, princes, and priests in their divisions, to offer 
 oblations, and from it the Levites in their appointments 
 for singing. Then, behold, Joseph bowed himself upon 
 his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him. 
 
 [Jerusalem. And Joseph laid him on a couch of 
 ivory which was covered with pure gold, and inset with 
 pearls, and spread with clothes of byssos and purple. 
 There they poured out wine with choice perfumes, there 
 they burned aromatic gums; there stood the chiefs of 
 the house of Esau; there stood the princes of the house 
 of Ishmael; there stood the Lion Jehuda, the strength 
 of his brethren. And Jehuda answered and said to 
 his brethren, Come, let us raise up to our father a tall 
 cedar, whose head shall reach to heaven, but whose 
 branches unto the inhabitants of the world. Erom it 
 have arisen the twelve tribes, from it the priests with 
 their trumpets and the Levites with their harps. And 
 they wept, and Joseph bowed himself on the face of 
 his father, and wept over him and kissed him.] 
 
ON GENESIS. 
 
 341 
 
 L.] 
 
 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians 
 to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed 
 Israel. And the forty days of embalming were completed 
 to him; for so fulfil they the days of embalming; and 
 the Mizraee lamented him seventy days; saying one to 
 another, Come, let us lament over Jakob the Holy, 
 whose righteousness turned away the famine from the 
 land of Mizraim. Eor it had been decreed that there 
 should be forty and two years of famine, but through 
 the righteousness of Jakob forty years are withheld from 
 Mizraim, and there came famine but for two years only. 7 
 And the days of his mourning passed. And Joseph 
 spake with the lords of the house of Pharoh, saying, If 
 I may find favour in your eyes, speak now in the 
 hearing of Pharoh, saying, My father made me swear, 
 saying, Behold, I die, in the sepulchre which I have 
 prepared for me in the land of Kenaan there shalt thou 
 bury me. And now let me go up and bury my father, 
 and I will return. And Pharoh said. Go up, and bury 
 thy father, according as he made thee swear. 
 
 And Joseph went up to bury his father; and all the 
 servants of Pharoh, the elders of his house, and all the 
 elders of the land of Mizraim, went up with him. 
 And all the men of Joseph’s house, and his brethren, 
 and his father’s household : only their children, and 
 their sheep and oxen, left they in the land of Goshen. 
 
 And there went up with him chariots and horsemen 
 and a very great host. And they came to the thresh¬ 
 ing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jardena, and 
 there they lamented with a great and mighty lamenta¬ 
 tion. And he made there a mourning for his father 
 seven days. And the inhabitants of the land of 
 Kenaan beheld the mourning at the threshing-floor of 
 Atad, and they loosed the girdles of their loins in 
 7 Fiction. 
 
342 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 honour of Jakob, and spread forth their hands, and said. 
 This is a mighty mourning of the Mizraee. Therefore 
 he called the name of the place Abel Mizraim, which is 
 on the other side of Jardena. And his sons did for 
 him as he had commanded them. 
 
 But when his sons had brought him into the land of 
 Kenaan, and the thing was heard by Esau the Wicked, 
 he journeyed from the mountain of Gebala with many 
 legions, and came to Hebron, and would not suffer 
 Joseph to bury his father in the Double Cave. Then 
 forthwith went Naphtali, and ran, and went down to 
 Mizraim, and came in that day, and brought the Instru¬ 
 ment that Esau had written for Jakob his brother in 
 the controversy of the Double Cave. And immediately 
 he beckoned to Husliim the son of Dan, who 
 unsheathed the sword and struck off the head of the 
 wicked Esau, and the head of Esau rolled into the 
 midst of the cave, and rested upon the bosom of Izliak 
 his father; and the sons of Esau buried his body in 
 the double field, 8 and afterward the sons of Jakob 
 buried him in the cave of the double field; in the field 
 which Abraham bought for an inheritance-sepulchre, of 
 Ephron the Hitah, over against Mamre. 
 
 And Joseph returned to Mizraim, he and his breth¬ 
 ren, and all who went up with him to bury his father, 
 after they had buried his father. 
 
 And Joseph's brethren saw that their father was 
 dead, and that he (Joseph) did not return to eat 
 together with them, and they said, Perhaps Joseph 
 retaineth enmity against us, and will bring upon us all 
 the evil that we did him. And they instructed Bilhah 
 to say to Joseph, Thy father commanded before his 
 death to speak to thee, Thus shall you say to Joseph, 
 Eorgive now the guilt of thy brethren and their sin, for 
 8 Fiction. 
 
ON GENESIS, 
 
 343 
 
 L.j 
 
 they committed evil against tliee; but forgive, I beseech 
 thee, the guilt of the servants of the God of thy father, 
 [Jerusalem. And they instructed the tribe of Bilhah 
 the handmaid of Bahel to say, Thy father before he was 
 gathered commanded, saying.] 
 
 And Joseph wept when they spake with him. And 
 his brethren came also, and bowed themselves before 
 him, and said, Behold, we are thy servants. And 
 Joseph said to them, Pear not, for I will not do you 
 evil, but good ; for I fear and humble myself before the 
 Lord. [Jerusalem. And Joseph said to them, Pear 
 not, for the evil that you did me hath ended. Are not 
 the thoughts of the sons of men before the Lord ?] 
 You indeed imagined against me evil thoughts, that 
 when I did not recline with you to eat it was because 
 I retained enmity against you. But the Word of the 
 Lord thought on me for good; for my father hath 
 caused me to sit at the head, and on account of his 
 honour I received ; but now not for the sake of my 
 (own) righteousness or merit was it given me to 
 work out for you deliverance this day for the preserva¬ 
 tion of much people of the house of Jakob. And now 
 fear not; I will sustain you and your little ones. And 
 lie comforted them, and spake consolation to their 
 heart. 
 
 And Joseph dwelt in Mizraim, he and his father's 
 house. And Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 
 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third 
 generation; also the sons of Makir the son of 
 Menasheh, when they were born, were circumcised by 
 Joseph. 
 
 And Joseph said to his brethren, Behold, I die; but 
 the Lord remembering will remember you, and will 
 bring you up from this land, into the land which He 
 sware to Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob. And 
 
344 TARGUM OF PALESTINE ON GENESIS. 
 
 Joseph adjured the sons of Israel to say to their sons, 
 Behold, you will be brought into servitude in Mizraim; 
 but you shall not presume to go up out of Mizraim 
 until the time that two Deliverers shall come, and say 
 to you, Remembering, remember ye the Lord. And at 
 the time when ye go up ye shall carry up my bones 
 from hence. 
 
 And Joseph died, the son of a hundred and ten 
 years. And they embalmed him with perfumes, and 
 laid him in an ark, and submerged him in the midst of 
 the Nilos of Mizraim. [Jerusalem. And they em¬ 
 balmed him, and laid him in an ark in the land of 
 Mizraim. 9 
 
 9 The Jerusalem Talmud records the tradition that “ the Egyptians 
 enclosed the body of Joseph in a metal coffin, and buried it in the Nile, 
 that thereby the watei’9 of the river might be blessed; ” and that at 
 the Exodus the coffin was recovered .—Sot ah, 10. 
 
 END OF THE TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 ON THE SEPHER BERESHITH. 
 
THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BOOK SHEMOTH, 
 
 OR 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 [In the Pentateuch the first chapter of Exodus begins the Thirteenth 
 Section of the Law with the initial Shemoth, or Names.] 
 
 I. And these are the names of the sons of Israel 
 who came into Mizraim with Jakob ; (each) man with 
 the men of his house they came in : Beuben, Shimeon, 
 Levi and Jehudah, Issakar, Zebulon and Benyamin, 
 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all the souls 
 that came forth from the thigh of Jakob were seventy 
 souls, with Joseph who was in Mizraim. 
 
 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that 
 generation; but the sons of Israel increased and pro¬ 
 pagated, and became great and very mighty, and the 
 land was filled with them. 
 
 But a new king arose over Mizraim who did not hold 
 valid (or confirm) the decree of Joseph. And he said 
 to his people, Behold, the people of the sons of Israel 
 are more numerous and stronger than we: come, let us 
 deal wisely by them, lest they multiply, and it be that 
 should war happen to us they join themselves with our 
 enemies, and break forth in the war against us, and go 
 up from the land. And they appointed over them evil- 
 doing governors (shiltonin) to afflict them in their 
 labours. And they builded cities of treasure houses for 
 
 Q 5 
 
346 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Pharoh, Pithom, and Baamsas. But by as much as 
 they afflicted them, so they increased and waxed strong, 
 and the Mizraee had vexation on account of the sons 
 of Israel; and the Mizraee made the sons of Israel 
 serve with rigour, and embittered their lives with hard 
 labour, in clay and in brick, and in all labour of the 
 field,—all the work which they wrought, they made 
 them do with hardship. 
 
 And the king of Mizraim spake to the midwives of 
 Jewesses, ( Yehuditha ,) of whom the name of the one 
 was Shiphra, and the name of the second Puvah; and he 
 said, When you do the office of the midwife among the 
 Jewish women, and you look upon the childbirth, if it 
 be a son, you shall kill him; but if a daughter, let her 
 live. But the midwives feared before the Lord, and 
 did not act as the king of Mizraim had bidden them, 
 but preserved the sons alive. And the king of Miz¬ 
 raim called the midwives and said to them, Why have 
 you done this thing and have kept the sons alive ? 
 And the midwives said to Pharoh, It is because the 
 Jewesses are unlike the Mizraite women; they are 
 cunning, and give birth before the midwives come to 
 them. And the Lord did good to the midwives; and 
 the people multiplied and became very strong. And 
 because the midwives feared before the Lord He made 
 for them houses. But Pharoh commanded all his 
 people, saying, Every son who is born to the Jews you 
 shall throw into the river, and every daughter you shall 
 keep alive. 
 
 II. And a man of the house of Levi went and took 
 a daughter of Levi (to wife). And the woman con¬ 
 ceived, and bare a son; and she saw that he was good, 
 and concealed him three months. But not being able 
 to hide him longer, she took an ark of reed, and 
 covered it with bitumen and pitch, and laid the child 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 347 
 
 «•] 
 
 within it, and set it in the river upon the brink of the 
 stream. 1 And his sister stationed herself at a distance, 
 to know what would be done to him. 
 
 And the daughter of Pharoh came down to wash at 
 the river, and her damsels walked on the river’s bank ; 
 and she saw the ark in the flood, 2 and reached out her 
 arm and took it. And opening, she saw the child; 
 and, behold, the infant wept. And she had compassion 
 on him and said, This is one of the children of the 
 Jehudaee. Then spake his sister to the daughter of 
 Pharoh, Shall I go and call a nurse-woman of the 
 Jehudaee who will suckle the child for thee ? And the 
 daughter of Pharoh said to her, Go ; and the maiden 
 went, and called the child’s mother. And Pharoh’s 
 daughter said to her, Take this child and nurse it for 
 me, and I will give thee thy recompense. And the 
 woman took the child and suckled him. And the 
 child grew, and she brought him to Pharoh’s 
 daughter, and he became to her a son, and she called 
 his name Mosheh, saying, Because I drew him out from 
 the water. 
 
 And it was in those days when Mosheh had grown 
 that he went out to his brethren and beheld their ser¬ 
 vitude. And he saw a Mizraite man smite a man, a 
 Jehudai, (one) of his brethren. And he turned this 
 way and that, and saw that there was no man; and 
 smote the Mizraite, and buried him in the sand. And 
 he went out the second day, and, behold, two men, 
 Jehudaeen contended. And he said to the guilty one, 
 Why did you strike your companion? But he said. 
 Who set you a chief man and a judge over us ? Will 
 you who speak so kill me, as you killed the Mizraya ? 
 And Mosheh was afraid, and said, Surely the thing is 
 known. And Pharoh heard that thing, and sought to 
 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ among the rushes.” 2 Ibid. 
 
348 TAllGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 kill Mosheh; and Mosheh fled from before Pliaroh, 
 and dwelt in the land of Midian. 
 
 And he sat by a well; and the prince (rabba) of 
 Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew 
 and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 
 But the shepherds came and drave them away; and 
 Mosheh arose and rescued them, and watered the flock. 
 
 And they came to Beuel their father; and he said. 
 What is this, that ye have come so quickly to-day ? 
 And they said, A man, a Mizraya, delivered us from the 
 hand of the shepherds, and also drew for us and 
 watered the flock. And he said to his daughters, And 
 where is he ? wherefore have you left the man ? Call 
 him, that he may eat bread. And Mosheh was willing 
 to dwell with the man; and he gave Zipporah his 
 daughter unto Mosheh. And she bare a sou ; and he 
 called his name Gershom; for, said he, I am a stranger 
 in a foreign land. 
 
 And it was in many of those days : and the king of 
 Mizraim died. And the sons of Israel groaned with 
 the hard service which was upon them; and the cry 
 rose up before the presence of the Lord, from their 
 labour. And their appeal was heard before the Lord; 
 and the Lord remembered His covenant with Abraham, 
 with Izhak, and with Jakob. And the servitude of the 
 sons of Israel was known before the Lord, and the 
 Lord said in His Word, that He would deliver them. 
 
 III. And Mosheh tended the flock of Jelhro his 
 father-in-law, the rabba of Midian, and he led the flock 
 to the place of the best pastures of the wilderness, and 
 came to the mountain on which was revealed the glory 
 of the Lord, unto Horeb. And the Angel of the Lord 
 appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a 
 bush.' And he gazed, and, behold, the bush burned 
 with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 349 
 
 in.] 
 
 Mosheh said, I will now turn and see this great sight, 
 why the bush is not burned up. And the Lord saw 
 that he turned to see, and the Lord called to him from 
 the midst of the bush, and said, Mosheh, Mosheh ! 
 And he said, Behold me. And He said. Approach not 
 hither; 3 loose the sandal from thy foot, for the place 
 where thou standest is holy. And He said, I am the 
 God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, the God of 
 Izhak, and the God of Jakob. And Mosheh bowed 
 with his face; for he was afraid to look up to the glory 
 of the Lord. 
 
 And the Lord said, The bondage of My people who 
 is in Mizraim is verily disclosed before Me, and before 
 Me is heard their cry on account of their toils; 4 for 
 their afflictions are disclosed before me; and I have 
 appeared to deliver them from the hand of the Mizraee, 
 and to bring them up from that land, unto a land good 
 and large, a land producing milk and honey, unto the 
 place of the Kenaanaee, and the Hittaee, and the Amo- 
 raee, and the Perizaee, and the Hivaee, and Yevusaee. 
 And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel ascend- 
 eth before Me, and the affliction is also revealed before 
 Me wherewith the Mizraee afflict them. And now, 
 come, I will send thee to Pharoh, and will bring forth 
 the sons of Israel from Mizraim. 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, Who am I, that 
 I should go unto Pharoh to bring forth the sons of 
 Israel from Mizraim ? And He said, Because My 
 Word shall be thy helper : and this shall be the sign 
 that I have sent thee: In thy leading forth of the 
 people from Mizraim you shall do service before the 
 Lord upon this mountain. 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, when I 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “ suddenly,” or, “ rashly.” 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “ before the face of their taskmasters.” 
 
350 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 am come to the sons of Israel, and say to them, The 
 God of your fathers hath sent me to you, and they say 
 to me, What is His name ? what shall I say to them ? 
 And the Lord said unto Mosheh, Eheyeh asher 
 Eheyeh. And he said, Thus shalt thou speak to the 
 sons of Israel, Eheyeh hath sent me unto you. 
 
 The Lord said moreover to Mosheh, Thus shalt 
 thou speak to the sons of Israel, The Lord, the God of 
 your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Izhak, 
 and the God of Jakob, hath sent me unto you. This 
 is My Name for ever, and this is My Memorial in every 
 generation and generation. Go and assemble the 
 elders of Israel and say to them, The Lord, the God of 
 your fathers, hath revealed Himself to me, the God of 
 Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob, saying, Remembering I 
 have remembered you, and that which hath been done 
 to you in Mizraim; and I have said that I would bring 
 you up from the bondage of Mizraim to the land of the 
 Kenaanaee, and Hittaee, and Emoraee, and the Pherizaee, 
 and Hivaee, and Jebusaee,—to a land producing milk and 
 honey. And they will be obedient to thee, 5 and thou shalt 
 go, thou and the elders of Israel, to the king of Mizraim, 
 and say to him. The Lord, the God of the Jehudaee, 
 hath called us; 6 and now let us go, as (for) a journey 
 of three days into the desert, that we may sacrifice 
 before the Lord our God. But it is manifest before 
 Me that the king of Mizraim will not release you, that 
 you may go, not even on account of Him whose power 
 is mighty. But I will send forth the stroke of My 
 power, and will smite the Mizraee with all My miracles 
 which I will perform among them, and afterward they 
 will send you away. And I will give this people to 
 become favourites in the eyes of the Mizraee, and it 
 
 5 Al. cod “ to thy word.” 
 
 8 Al. cod. } “ hath revealed Himself to us.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 351 
 
 IV.] 
 
 shall be that when you go you shall not go empty. 
 But you shall demand, a woman of her neighbour and the 
 inmates of her house, articles of silver and of gold and 
 vestments, and put them upon your sons and upon 
 your daughters, and shall make the Mizraee empty. 7 
 
 IY. And Mosheh answered and said, But, behold, 
 they will not believe me nor hearken to me : for they will 
 say, The Lord hath not been revealed to thee. And 
 the Lord said to him, What is that which is in thy 
 hand ? and he said, A rod. And He said, Cast it to 
 the ground; and he cast it upon the ground, and it 
 became a serpent, and Mosheh fled from before it. And 
 the Lord said to Mosheh, Stretch forth thy hand and 
 seize it by its tail ; and he put forth his hand and 
 grasped it, and it became a rod in his hand. That they 
 may believe that the Lord God of their fathers hath 
 been revealed to thee, the God of Abraham, the God of 
 Izhak, and the God of Jakob. And the Lord said yet 
 to him. Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he 
 put his hand into his bosom, and drew it out; and, 
 behold, his hand was white as snow. And He said, 
 Beturn thy hand into thy bosom.. And he returned 
 his hand into his bosom, and drew it out from his bosom, 
 and, behold, it had turned to be as his own flesh. And 
 it shall be, if they will not believe thee nor receive the 
 voice of the first sign, that they shall believe the voice 
 of the latter sign. But if they will not believe either 
 of these two signs, nor receive from thee, take of the 
 water that is in the river, and pour it upon the ground; 
 and the water which thou takest from the river shall 
 become blood upon the ground. 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, In entreating, I 
 am not a man who is (well) spoken, neither yesterday 
 nor the day before, and from the time that thou spakest 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ strip the Mizraee.” 
 
352 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 with Thy servant: for I am heavy of speech and of a 
 deep 8 tongue. But the Lord said to him. Who hath 
 appointed the mouth of man, and who hath appointed 
 the mute, or the deaf, or the open-sighted, or the blind ? 
 Have not I, the Lord ? And now go, and My Word 
 shall be with thy mouth, and I will teach thee what to 
 say. And he said, I beseech the Lord to send by the 
 hand of one who is fit to be sent. And the displeasure 
 of the Lord was kindled against Mosheh; and He said, 
 Is not Aharon the Levite, thy brother, known before Me 
 as one who speaking can speak? and also, behold, he 
 cometh forth to anticipate thee, and will see thee, and 
 rejoice in his heart. And thou shalt speak with him, 
 and put the words in his mouth; and My Word will be 
 with thy mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach 
 you what to do. And he shall speak for thee with the 
 people, and shall be thy interpreter, and thou shalt be 
 to him a rab; and this staff thou shalt take in thy 
 hand wherewith to work the signs. 
 
 And Mosheh went, and returned to Jether his father- 
 in-law, and said to him, I will now go and return to my 
 brethren wLo are in Mizraim, and see if they still live. 
 And Jether said to Mosheh, Go in peace. And the 
 Lord said to Mosheh in Midian, Go, return to Mizraim; 
 for all the men who sought to kill thee are dead. And 
 Mosheh took his wife and his sons, and made them ride 
 upon the ass, and returned to the land of Mizraim. 
 And Mosheh took the staff with which the miracles had 
 been done before the Lord in his hand. And the Lord 
 said to Mosheh, In thy going to return to Mizraim 
 look to all the wonders that I have appointed by thy 
 hand, and do them before Pharoh. But I will obdurate 
 his heart, and he will not send the people away. And 
 thou shalt say unto Pharoh, Thus said the Lord; Israel 
 e Or, "stammering.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 353 
 
 v.] 
 
 is My son, My firstborn. And I say unto tbee, Let 
 My son go, that he may serve before Me; and if thou 
 refuse to send him away, behold, I will kill thy son, thy 
 firstborn. 
 
 And it was in the way, at the place of lodging, that 
 the Angel of the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. 
 And Zipporah took a stone, and circumcised the fore¬ 
 skin of her son, and approached before him, and said, 
 On account of the blood of this circumcision let my 
 husband be given (back) to me. And when he had 
 desisted from him, she said. But for the blood of this 
 circumcision my husband would have been condemned 
 to die. 
 
 And the Lord said to Aharon, Go thou to meet 
 Mosheh in the desert. And he went, and met him at 
 the mountain on which was revealed the glory of the 
 Lord, and he kissed him. And Mosheh showed Aharon 
 all the words with which the Lord had sent him, and 
 all the signs which he had commanded. And Mosheh 
 and Aharon went and assembled all the elders of the 
 sons of Israel; and Aharon told all the words which 
 the Lord had spoken with Mosheh, and did the signs 
 in the eyes of the people. And the people believed, 
 and understood (heard) that the Lord had remembered 
 the sons of Israel, and that their slavery was manifest 
 before him; and they bowed, and adored. 
 
 V. And afterward Mosheh and Aharon went in, and 
 said to Pharoh : Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, 
 Let My people go, to solemnize a feast {yechagun) 
 before Me in the desert. And Pharoh said. The name 
 of the Lord is not known to me, that I should hearken 
 to His word to send Israel away. The name of the 
 Lord is not revealed to me, and Israel I shall not 
 release. And they said. The God of the Jehudaee hath 
 revealed Himself to us; let us now go three days' journey 
 
354 TAUGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 into the desert to sacrifice before the Lord our God, 
 lest He come upon us with death or with slaughter. 
 And the king of Mizraim said to them, Why, Mosheh 
 and Aharon, do you hinder the people from their works ? 
 Go to your employment. And Pharoh said, Behold 
 now, the people of the land are many, and you make them 
 relax from their employment. And Pharoh that day 
 commanded the masters 9 of the people and the over¬ 
 seers, 10 saying, You shall not continue (add) to give 
 straw to the people to cast bricks, as heretofore; let 
 them go and collect straw for themselves; yet the 
 number 11 of bricks which they have made heretofore 
 you shall still lay upon them and not diminish; for 
 they are idle, and therefore cry, saying, We will go 
 and sacrifice before our God. Make labour heavy upon 
 the men : let them be occupied with it, and not with 
 vain words. And the masters of the people and the 
 overseers went forth and spake to the people, saying. 
 Thus saith Pharoh, I will not give you straw; you shall 
 go and gather up straw for yourselves wheresoever you 
 can find it; though from your work there shall be 
 nothing diminished. And the people were scattered 
 abroad over all the country of Mizraim to gather 
 stubble for straw. And the masters were urgent, saying, 
 Fulfil your work, the matter of a day in a day, as you 
 did when straw was given you. And the masters whom 
 Pharoh set over the sons of Israel smote them, saying, 
 Why do you not fulfil your requirement to cast the 
 bricks as heretofore, as yesterday, so also to-day ? And 
 the overseers of the sons of Israel came and complained 
 before Pharoh, saying, Why hast thou done thus with 
 thy servants ? Thou hast not given thy servants straw, 
 yet they say to us, Make bricks; and, behold, thy servants 
 
 9 Sam. Vers., “the foremen.” 10 Sam. Vers., “his scribes.” 
 
 11 Sam. Vers., “ proportion.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 355 
 
 VI.] 
 
 are beaten, and thy people sin against us. But he said, 
 You are idle, you are idle: therefore you say. We will go 
 and sacrifice before the Lord. And now go, work : but 
 straw I will not give you; yet the number of bricks 
 you shall render. And the overseers of the sons of 
 Israel perceived that they were in evil: for they said to 
 them. You shall not diminish from your bricks the 
 matter of a day, in a day. 
 
 And they met Mosheh and Aharon standing before 
 them in their coming out from being with Pharoh. And 
 they said to them. May the Lord manifest Himself to 
 you and adjudge; 1 because you have made our savour 
 evil in the eyes of Pharoh, and in the eyes of his servants, 
 and have put a sword into their hands to kill us ! And 
 Mosheh returned before the Lord and said, 0 Lord, why 
 hast Thou done evil unto this people, and w T herefore 
 didst Thou send me ? and from the time that I went in 
 to Pharoh to speak in Thy name he hath done evil to 
 this people, but liberating Thou hast not liberated Thy 
 people. YI. But the Lord said to Mosheh, Now shalt 
 thou see what I will do to Pharoh : for with a strong 
 hand shall he send them away, and with a strong hand 
 drive them from his land. 
 
 SECTION XIY. 
 
 VAERA. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh and said to him, I 
 am the Lord; and I appeared unto Abraham and to 
 Izhak and to Jakob by (the name) EUShaddai, but by 
 My name Jehovah 2 I was not known to them. And also 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ interpret.” 2 Onkelos, Yeyd. 
 
356 TAR,GUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 I have confirmed My covenant with them to give them 
 the land of Kenaan, the land of their sojournings in 
 which they sojourned. And before Me hath been heard 
 the cry of the sons of Israel whom the Mizraee make to 
 labour for them; and I have remembered My covenant. 
 Therefore, say thou to the sons of Israel, I am the 
 Lord, and I will bring you out from the midst of 
 the sore labour for the Mizraee, and will deliver 
 you from their servitude, and redeem you with a lofty 
 arm and with great judgments. And I will bring 
 you nigh before Me to be a people, and I will be unto 
 you a God; and you shall know that I am the Lord 
 your God who bringeth you out from the sore Mizrean 
 bondage. And I will lead you into the land w'hich I 
 have sworn in My Word to give to Abraham, to Izhak, 
 and to Jakob; and to you will I give it for an inherit¬ 
 ance ; I am the Lord. And Mosheh so spake with the 
 sons of Israel: but they received not from Mosheh 
 through anguish of spirit, and from the labour which 
 was hard upon them. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Go in, speak 
 with Pharoh king of Mizraim, that he send aw r ay the 
 sons of Israel from his land. And Mosheh spake before 
 the Lord, saying, Behold, the sons of Israel have not 
 received from me, and how then wfill Pharoh receive, and 
 I (so) heavy of speech ? And the Lord spake to Mosheh 
 and Aharon, and gave them commandment to the sons 
 of Israel and unto Pharoh king of Mizraim for the going 
 forth of the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim. 
 
 These are the heads of the house of their fathers. 
 The sons of Eeuben the firstborn of Israel, Hanuk and 
 Phalli, Hetsron and Karmi; these are the progeny of 
 Eeuben. And the sons of Shimeon, Yemuel and Yamiu 
 and Achad and Yakin and Zochar and Shaul the son of 
 a Pvenaanitha; these are the progeny of Shimeon. And 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 357 
 
 VI.] 
 
 these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to 
 their generations: Gershon and Kehath and Merari. 
 And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred and 
 thirty and seven years. The sons of Gerson, Libni and 
 Shimei, after their progenies. And the sons of Kehath, 
 Am ram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel. And the 
 years of the life of Kehath, a hundred and thirty and 
 three years. And the sons of Merari, Maheli and 
 Mushi. These are the progenies of Levi, after their 
 generations. And Amram took Yokebed the sister of 
 his father unto him to wife, and she bare him Aharon 
 and Moslieh. And the years of the life of Amram were 
 an hundred and thirty and seven years. And the sons 
 of Izhar, Korah and Nepheg and Zikri. And the sous 
 of Uzziel, Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. And 
 Aharon took Elisheba the daughter of Aminadab the 
 sister of Nachshon to him to wife; and she bare him 
 Nadab and Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar. And the sons 
 of Korah, Asir and Elkanah and Abiasaph: these are 
 the progeny of Korah. And Elazar the son of Aharon 
 took (one) of the daughters of Phutiel to himself to 
 wife, and she bare him Pinhas. These are the chiefs of 
 the fathers of the Levaee, according to their generations. 
 It is Aharon and Mosheh, to whom the Lord had said. 
 Bring forth the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim 
 by their armies. These are they who spake with Pharoh 
 king of Mizraim to let the sons of Israel go forth from 
 Mizraim: it is Mosheh and Aharon. 
 
 And it was in the day when the Lord spake with 
 Mosheh in the land of Mizraim, that the Lord spake 
 unto Mosheh, saying, I am the Lord: Speak with 
 Pharoh king of Mizraim all that I have said to thee. 
 But Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, I am heavy 
 of speech, and how will Pharoh receive from me ? But 
 the Lord said to Mosheh, See, I have appointed thee a 
 
358 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Master (rah) with Pharoli, and Aharon shall be thy 
 interpreter ( methurgeman ). Thou shalt speak all that 
 I have commanded thee, and Aharon thy brother shall 
 speak with Pharoh to send away the sons of Israel from 
 his land. And I will harden the heart of Pharoh, and 
 will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of 
 Mizraim. But Pharoh will not receive from you; and 
 I will give forth the stroke of My power upon Mizraim, 
 and will bring out My host, My people, the sons of 
 Israel, from the land of Mizraim by great judgments. 
 And the Mizraee shall know that I am the Lord when 
 I uplift the stroke of My power upon Mizraim, and 
 bring forth the sons of Israel from among them. And 
 Mosheh and Aharon did as the Lord commanded them, 
 so did they. And Mosheh was the son of eighty years, 
 and Aharon the son of eighty and three years, in their 
 speaking with Pharoh. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh and Aharon, saying, 
 When Pharoh shall speak to you, saying, Produce a 
 sign, thou shalt say to Aharon, Take thy rod, and throw 
 it down before Pharoh, and it shall become a serpent 
 (i tanina , Heb., tanin, a long creature, whether serpent 
 or crocodile. T.). And Mosheh and Aharon went in unto 
 Pharoh, and did as the Lord had commanded them. 
 Aharon threw down his rod before Pharoh and before 
 his servants, and it became a serpent. And Pharoh 
 called for the wise men and the magicians; and they 
 also, the Mizraite magicians, did so by their enchant¬ 
 ments. They cast down every man his rod, and they 
 became serpents; but the rod of Aharon swallowed up 
 their rods. And PharolPs heart was hardened, and he 
 would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, The heart of Pharoh 
 is obdurate (heavy) : he is unwilling to send the people 
 away. Go unto Pharoh in the morning; behold, he 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 859 
 
 VII.] 
 
 goeth, forth to the waters, and stand to meet him on the 
 bank of the river, and the rod that was turned to a 
 serpent (« ohevja , Heb., nachash) take in thy hand; 
 and say to him, The Lord God of the Jehudaee hath 
 sent me to thee, saying, Release My people, that they 
 may serve before Me in the desert; and, behold, thou hast 
 not yet acceded. Thus saith the Lord, By this thou 
 shalt know that I am the Lord : Behold, with the rod 
 that is in my hand I smite the water of the river, and it 
 shall be turned to blood: and the fish which are in the 
 river shall die, and the river become putrid, and the 
 Mizraee try in vain to drink the water from the river. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, Say to Aharon, 
 Take thy rod, and lift up thy hand over the waters of 
 the Mizraee, upon their rivers, upon their canals, and 
 upon their lakes, and upon all their reservoirs of water, 
 that they may become blood; and there shall be blood 
 in all the land of Mizraim, and in vessels of wood and 
 in vessels of stone. And Mosheh and Aharon did so, 
 as the Lord commanded; and he lifted the rod, and 
 struck the waters of the river, in the sight of Pharoh, 
 and in the eyes of his servants, and all the waters of the 
 river were turned into blood. And the fish of the river 
 died, and the river became putrid; and the Mizraee 
 could not drink of the water of the river, and there was 
 blood in all the land of Mizraim. And the magicians 
 did so with their enchantments; and Pharoh's heart was 
 hardened, and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord 
 had said. And Pharoh turned and entered into his 
 house; neither did he set his heart also unto this. 
 And all the Mizraee digged by the bending of the river 
 for water to drink; for the water which was in the river 
 they could not drink. 
 
 And seven days were fulfilled after that the Lord had 
 struck the river; and the Lord said to Mosheh, Go in 
 
360 TARGTJM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 unto Pliaroh and say to him, Thus saith the Lord: 
 Send away My people, that they may serve before me. 
 But if thou refuse to send them away, behold, I will 
 smite all thy borders with frogs, and the river shall 
 multiply frogs ; and they shall come up and enter into 
 thy house, and into thy chamber the place of sleep, and 
 Upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and 
 among thy people, and into thy ovens and thy kneading 
 pans; and upon thee and upon thy people and upon all 
 thy servants shall the frogs come up. And the Lord 
 said to Mosheh, Say to Aharon, Uplift thy hand with 
 thy staff upon the streams, upon the rivulets, and upon 
 the lakes; and the frogs shall come up on the land of 
 Mizraim. And Aharon lifted up his hand over the 
 waters of the Mizraee, and the frogs came up and 
 covered the land of Mizraim. And the magicians did 
 so with their enchantments, and made frogs to come up 
 on the land of Mizraim. And Pliaroh called Mosheh 
 and Aharon, and said, Pray before the Lord that the 
 frogs may be removed from me and from my people; 
 and I will release the people, that they may sacrifice 
 before the Lord. And Mosheh said to Pliaroh, Demand 
 for thyself a miracle, and appoint me a time 8 when I 
 shall pray for thee, and for thy servants and thy people, 
 that the frogs may be finished from thee and from thy 
 house, and remain only in the river. And he said, To¬ 
 morrow. And he said, According to thy word; that 
 thou mayest know that there is none as the Lord our 
 God. And the frogs shall be removed from thee and 
 from thy house and thy servants and thy people; in the 
 river only shall they remain. And Mosheh and Aharon 
 went out from Pliaroh; and Mosheh prayed before the 
 Lord concerning the frogs which he had appointed unto 
 Pliaroh. And the Lord did according to the words of 
 
 3 Sam. Yers., "Decide for me,” or, “over me.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 361 
 
 vii r.] 
 
 Mosheh; and the frogs died from the houses, and from 
 the courts, and from the fields. And they gathered 
 them in heaps (upon) heaps, and they corrupted upon 
 the ground. And Pliaroh saw that there was relief; 
 and hardened his heart, and would not hearken to them, 
 as the Lord had said. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, Say unto Aharon, 
 Lift up thy rod and smite the dust of the earth, and it 
 shall become insects, 4 in all the land of Mizraim. 
 And they did so. And Aharon lifted up his hand with the 
 rod and smote the dust of the earth, and it became insects 
 on man and on cattle; all the dust of the earth became 
 insects in all the land of Mizraim. And the magicians 
 wrought so with their enchantments to produce the 
 insects, but were not able; and there were insects on 
 man and on beast. And the magicians said to Pharoh, 
 This is a plague from before the Lord. Yet Pharoh's 
 heart was hardened, and he would not hearken to them, 
 as the Lord had said. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Arise in the morning 
 and stand before Pharoh; behold, he goeth out to the 
 waters; and say to him, Thus saith the Lord, Send My 
 people away, that they may serve before Me. Por if 
 thou wilt not send My people away, behold, I will send 
 on thee, and on thy servants, and on thy people, and 
 upon thy houses, the aroba; 5 and they shall fill the 
 houses of the Mizraee with the aroba; and also the 
 ground on which they are. But I will make a distinc¬ 
 tion in that day with the land of Goshen where My 
 people dwell, that the aroba shall not be there; so that 
 thou mayest know that I the Lord do rule in the midst 
 of the earth. And I will ordain redemption to My 
 
 4 “ Poisonous flies.” Kalmetha , Onk. Ciniphes, Skniphes, LXX. 
 
 8 Heb., Arob ; probably beetles,— blatta JEgyptica, a formidable and 
 voracious insect. 
 
 R 
 
362 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 people, but upon thy people shall be the plague. To¬ 
 morrow shall this sign be. And the Lord did so; and 
 the aroba came with strength into the house of Pharoh, 
 and into the house of his servants, and into all the land 
 of Mizraim; and the land was destroyed before the 
 aroba. 
 
 And Pharoh called for Mosheli and Aharon, and said, 
 Go, sacrifice before your God in the land. But 
 Mosheh said, It will not be fitting to do so; because 
 the animals which the Mizraee worship we shall take to 
 sacrifice before the Lord our God. Behold, should we 
 immolate the animal which the Mizraee worship, would 
 they not stone us when they saw it ? A journey of 
 three days will we go into the desert, and sacrifice 
 before the Lord our God, as He hath told us. And Pharoh 
 said, I will send you away, that you may sacrifice before 
 the Lord your God in the desert; only you shall not go 
 farther and farther: pray also for me. And Mosheh 
 said. Behold, I will go out from being with thee, and 
 will pray before the Lord, and He will remove the aroba 
 from Pharoh, and from his servants, and his people, to¬ 
 morrow ; only let Pharoh no more be false 6 in not 
 sending away the people to sacrifice unto the Lord. 
 And Mosheh went out from before Pharoh, and prayed 
 before the Lord. And the Lord did according to the 
 word of Mosheh, and removed the aroba from Pharoh 
 and his servants, and his people; not one remained. 
 But Pharoh hardened his heart this time also, and 
 would not dismiss the people. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Go in unto Pharoh 
 and say to him : Thus saith the Lord, the God of the 
 Jehudaee; Send My people away, that they may serve 
 before Me : for if thou refuse to send them away,—and 
 thou hast kept them until now,—behold, a plague from 
 6 “ Add to lie.” So also the Sam. Vers. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 363 
 
 IX.] 
 
 before the Lord shall be upon thy cattle which are in 
 the-field; upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the 
 camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep, a very 
 great death. But the Lord will make distinction 
 between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of the Miz- 
 raee ; and of all that the children of Israel possess 
 not one shall die. And the Lord set a time, 7 
 saying, To-morrow will the Lord do this thing in the 
 land. And the Lord did that thing on the following 
 day, and all the cattle of the Mizraee died; but of the 
 cattle of the sons of Israel died not one. And Pharoh 
 sent, and, behold, not one of the cattle of the sons of 
 Israel had died. And PharolTs heart was hardened, 
 and he would not send the people away. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh and Aharon, Take you 
 handfuls of dust of the furnace, and let Mosheh scatter 
 it towards the heavens in the presence of Pharoh; and 
 it will be like fine powder upon all the land of Mizraim, 
 and it shall be upon man and beast an inflammation 
 growing into ulcers in all the land of Mizraim. And 
 they took the dust of the furnace and stood before 
 Pharoh; and Mosheh scattered it towards the heavens, 
 and it became an inflammation of ulcers multiplying on 
 man and beast. And the magicians could not stand 
 before Mosheh, on account of the disease; for the 
 disease was upon the magicians and upon all the 
 Mizraee. And the Lord obdurated the heart of Pharoh, 
 and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had 
 said to Mosheh. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Kise up in the morn¬ 
 ing and stand before Pharoh, and say to him, Thus 
 saith the Lord, the God of the Jehudaee, Send My 
 people away, that they may serve before Me: for at this 
 time I will send all My plagues upon thy heart, and 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ appointed a testimony.” 
 
 B. 2 
 
364 TARGTTM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 upon thy servants and thy people, that thou mayest 
 know that there is no one like Me, the Euler in all the 
 earth. Eor now it is nigh before Me to send indeed My 
 strong plagues, and smite thee and thy people with 
 death, and cut thee off from the earth. Eor therefore 
 have I raised thee up, that I may show thee My power, 
 and that they may acknowledge the might of My 
 name in all the earth. Until now hast thou kept My 
 people down , 8 that thou mayest not release them. 
 Behold, I will cause to come down, as at this time to¬ 
 morrow, hail most mighty, the like of which hath never 
 been in Mizraim from the day that it was founded until 
 now. And now, send, gather in thy cattle and all that 
 thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast 
 that may be found in the field not gathered into the 
 house the hail will fall, and they shall die. Who feared 
 the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharoh 
 collected his servants and his cattle unto the houses; 
 but he who did not set his heart upon the word of the 
 Lord, left his servants and his cattle in the field. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Uplift thy hand 
 towards the heavens, and there shall be hail in all the 
 land of Mizraim upon man, and beast, and every herb 
 of the field throughout the land of Mizraim. And 
 Mosheh lifted up the rod towards the heavens, and the 
 Lord sent thunders, (voices,) and hail, and fire going 
 upon the ground: and the Lord rained hail upon the 
 land of Mizraim, and there was hail, and fire flaming 
 among the hail, very mighty, such as the like of had 
 not been in all the land of Mizraim since the time it 
 had been for a people. And the hail smote in all the 
 land of Mizraim all that was in the field from man to 
 cattle, and every herb of the field the hail struck, and 
 every tree of the field it brake. Only in the land of 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., “ hast dealt deceitfully with.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 IX.] 
 
 365 
 
 Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no 
 hail. 
 
 And Pharoh sent and called for Mosheh and Aharon, 
 and said to them, I have sinned this time; the Lord is 
 righteous, and I and my people are guilty. Pray before 
 the Lord that relief may be multiplied before Him, so 
 that there may be upon us no more thunders of maledic¬ 
 tion like these before the Lord, nor hail; and I will 
 send you away, and will not continue to detain you. 
 And Mosheh said to him, When I shall have gone out 
 of the city, I will spread forth my hands in prayer 
 before the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, and there 
 shall be no more hail, that you may know that the 
 earth is the Lord's. But (as for) thee and thy ser¬ 
 vants, I know that as yet ye are not humbled before the 
 Lord God. And the flax and the barley were smitten, 
 because the barley was earing, and the flax was in 
 flower: but the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, 
 for they were later. And Mosheh went out of the city 
 from Pharoh, and spread forth his hands in prayer 
 before the Lord, and the thunders ceased, and the hail 
 and the rain which had descended came not (more) 
 upon the earth. And Pharoh saw that the rain had 
 ceased, and the hail and the thunders, and he added 
 yet to sin, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 
 And the heart of Pharoh was hardened, and he would 
 not send away the sons of Israel, as the Lord had 
 spoken by the hand of Mosheh. 
 
366 
 
 TARGUM OP ONKELOS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 SECTION XY. 
 
 BO EL PHAROH. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Go in unto Pharoh; 
 for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his ser¬ 
 vants, to set these My signs among them; and that 
 thou mayest relate before thy son and the son of thy 
 son the miracles which I wrought in Mizraim and the 
 signs that I did set among them, that ye may know 
 that I am the Lord. And Mosheh and Aharon 
 entered unto Pharoh, and said to him. Thus saith 
 the Lord the God of the Jehudaee, Until now thou 
 hast obstinately refused to humble thyself before Me; 
 send My people away, that they may serve Me. For 
 if thou refuse to release My people, behold, to-morrow 
 I will bring the locust into thy borders, and he shall 
 cover the eye of the sun of the earth, (or, shall hide the 
 sun (which is) the eye of the earth, 9 ) so that it will not 
 be possible to see the ground; and he will devour the 
 residue which hath been spared (saved) and that hath 
 been reserved to you from the hail, and will devour 
 every tree which groweth up for you from the field; 
 and they shall fill thy house, and the houses of thy 
 servants, and the houses of all the Mizraee, which thy 
 fathers have not seen, nor the fathers of thy fathers, 
 from the day they were upon the earth until this day. 
 And he turned and went out from Pharoh. 
 
 And the servants of Pharoh said to him, How long 
 shall this man be an injury (stumbling-block) to us? 
 Send the men away, that they may serve before the 
 Lord their God. Knowest thou not yet that Mizraim 
 hath perished ? And Mosheh and Aharon were made 
 to return unto Pharoh; and he said to them, Go, serve 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ shall cover the appearance of the earth.*’ 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 367 
 
 X.] 
 
 before the Lord your God : (but) who and who shall go ? 
 And Mosheh said, With our young ones and with our 
 old men will we go; with our sons and with our daughters, 
 with our sheep and with our oxen, will we go; for we 
 have a feast before the Lord. And he said to them, So 
 be the Word of the Lord in your help when I send you 
 away and your little ones : beware, for the evil that you 
 are thinking to do will be turned against your faces. 
 Not so: but let the men go and serve before the Lord; 
 for it was that which you demanded. And they were 
 driven from before Pharoh. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand over 
 the land of Mizraim, that the locusts may come, and go 
 up on the land of Mizraim, and devour every herb of the 
 earth, even all which the hail hath left. And Mosheh 
 stretched forth his rod upon the land of Mizraim, and 
 the Lord led an east wind upon the land all that day and 
 all the night; at morn the east wind barre the locust. 
 And the locust came up on all the land of Mizraim, 
 and abode in all the boundary of Mizraim exceedingly 
 strong. Before him the locust had never been like him, 
 nor afterward will he be so; and he covered the eye of 
 the sun of all the earth, and the earth was darkened; 
 and he devoured every herb of the ground, and all the 
 fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there did 
 not remain any green on the trees nor herbage of the 
 field in all the land of Mizraim. And Pharoh made 
 haste to call Mosheh and Aharon, and said, I have 
 sinned before the Lord your God, and you. And now, 
 forgive my sin only this time, and intercede before the 
 Lord your God, that He may remove from me only this 
 death. And they went out from Pharoh, and prayed 
 before the Lord. And the Lord turned a west wind 
 exceedingly strong, and it carried the locust and drave 
 him into the sea of Suph, nor did one locust remain in 
 
868 
 
 TARGUM OP ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 all the border of Mizraim. Yet the heart of Pharoh was 
 hardened, and he would not send the sons of Israel 
 away. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Uplift thy hand 
 towards heaven , 1 and there shall be darkness 3 upon the 
 land of Mizraim after the darkness of the night hath 
 passed away. And Mosheh lifted up his hand towards 
 heaven, and there was darkness of darkness in all the 
 land of Mizraim three days : a man saw not his brother, 
 nor did any man rise up from his place, three days. 
 Yet, all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. 
 And Pharoh called Mosheh and said. Go, serve before 
 the Lord; only leave your sheep and your oxen, your 
 little ones also may go with you. But Mosheh said. 
 Thou must give into our hands also the holy victims 
 and holocausts, that we may serve before the Lord our 
 God. Our cattle too shall go with us, and there shall 
 not remain any thereof; for of it we must take to serve 
 the Lord our God, and we know not with what we have 
 to do service before Him until we come thither. But the 
 Lord hardened Pharoh's heart, and he was not willing 
 to send them away. And Pharoh said to him, Go from 
 me. Beware for thyself. See my face no more; for in 
 the day that thou seest my face thou shalt die. And 
 Mosheh said, Thou hast spoken well. I will see thy 
 face no more. 
 
 But the Lord said to Mosheh, Yet one plague will I 
 bring upon Pharoh and upon Mizraim; after which he 
 will send you hence. When sending away he thoroughly 
 driving will drive you from hence. Speak now before 
 the people of Israel that a man shall require of his com¬ 
 panion, and a woman of her companion, vessels of silver 
 
 1 Al tsaith shemaya, “ towards the height of the heavens.” Sam, 
 Vers., “ towards the height.” 
 
 3 Sam. Vers., “ That darkness may be brought.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 369 
 
 XII.] 
 
 and vessels of gold. And the Lord gave the people 
 favour in the eyes of the Mizraee; also the man Mosheh 
 was very great in the land of Mizraim, in the eyes of 
 the servants of Pharoh and in the eyes of the people. 
 
 And Mosheh said, Thus saith the Lord, At the dividing 
 of the night I will be revealed in the midst of Mizraim, 
 and all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim shall die; 
 from the firstborn of Pharoh who would sit upon the 
 throne of his kingdom, unto the firstborn of the woman- 
 servant who is behind 3 the mills, and all the firstborn 
 of cattle. And there shall be a great cry in all the 
 land of Mizraim, the like of which hath not been, nor 
 will be the like of it again. But any one of the sons of 
 Israel no dog will hurt even with his tongue by barking, 
 from man and to beast, so that you shall know that the 
 Lord hath distinguished between the Mizraee and Israel. 
 And all these thy servants shall come down to me, and 
 beseech of me, saying, Go forth, thou and all thy people 
 who are with thee: and after that I will go forth. And 
 he went out from Pharoh with vehement anger. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Pharoh will not hearken 
 to you; therefore will I multiply My wonders in the 
 land of Mizraim. And Mosheh and Aharon wrought 
 all these wonders before Pharoh; but the Lord hardened 
 Pharoh's heart, that he would not send the children of 
 Israel from his land. 
 
 XII. And the Lord spake to Mosheh and Aharon in 
 the land of Mizraim, saying, This month shall be to you 
 the beginning of the months; the first, it shall be to you, 
 of the months of the year. Speak with all the congre¬ 
 gation of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month 
 they shall take to them every man a lamb for the 
 house of a father, a lamb for the house. And if the 
 house be smaller than the numbering (required) for the 
 3 Some copies, “ who is in the house of the mills.’* 
 
 Ei 5 
 
370 TAUGUM OP ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 lamb, let him take himself, and his neighbour who is 
 nearest to his house, according to the number of the 
 souls, every man according to the mouth of his eating 
 shall you count over the lamb. The lamb shall be 
 perfect, a male, the son of a year; it shall be to you; 
 from the sheep or from the goats 4 you may take it. 
 And you shall have it in keeping till the fourteenth day 
 of this month, and the whole church (kehala) of the 
 congregation of Israel shall kill him between the suns. 
 And they shall take of the blood, and apply it upon the 
 two posts and upon the lintel of the houses in which 
 they eat him. And they shall eat the flesh in that night 
 roasted with fire, and (with) unleavened cake with bitters 
 you shall eat him. You shall not eat of it while living, 
 neither boiled with boiling in water, but roasted with 
 fire; his head with his feet and his inwards. And you 
 shall not leave of it till the morning; and that which 
 remains of it till morning you shall burn in the fire. 
 And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, with 
 your sandals on your feet, and your staves in your hands, 
 and you shall eat it in haste; it is the Pascha before the 
 Lord. And I will appear in the land of Mizraim in 
 that night, and will kill every firstborn in the land from 
 man unto beast, and on all the idols of Mizraim I will 
 execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood 
 shall be for you a sign upon the houses where you are; and 
 I will see the blood, and will have mercy upon you, and 
 there shall not be among you the destruction of death 
 when I slay in the land of Mizraim. And this day 
 shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall solemnize 
 it a festival before the Lord in your generations; an 
 everlasting ordinance (covenant) shall you solemnize it. 
 And on the first day there shall be an holy congregation, 
 and on the seventh day an holy congregation shall there 
 4 Other copies, " from the sons of the goats.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 371 
 
 XII.] 
 
 be to you. Every kind of work may not be done in 
 them; save what pertains to the eating of every soul, 
 that only may be done by you. And you shall keep the 
 (feast of the) Unleavened; for on this very day shall I 
 have brought your hosts out of the land of Mizraim, and 
 you shall keep this day to all your generations for ever . 5 
 In Nisan, on the fourteenth day of the month in the even¬ 
 ing you shall eat unleavened, until the twenty and first of 
 the month in the evening. Seven days leaven shall not 
 be found in your houses; for whosoever will eat of that 
 which is leavened, that man shall perish from the con¬ 
 gregation of Israel, of the stranger, or of the native of 
 the land. You shall eat no leavened (food), in all your 
 dwellings you shall eat unleavened. 
 
 And Mosheh called for all the elders of Israel, 
 and said to them, Draw out, and take to you from 
 the sons of the flock for your families, and kill the 
 pascha. And you shall take a bundle of hyssop and 
 dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and sprinkle 
 upon the lintel and the two posts from the blood which 
 is in the basin; and you shall not go forth from the 
 door of your house 6 until the morning. Eor the Lord 
 will be revealed to smite the Mizraee; and seeing the 
 blood upon the lintel and upon the two posts, the Lord 
 will be merciful upon the door, and will not suffer the 
 Destroyer (or destruction) to enter your houses to 
 smite. And you shall observe the thing for an ordi¬ 
 nance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall 
 be, when you have entered into the land which the 
 Lord will give you as He hath said, that you shall (still) 
 keep this service. And it shall be, when your children 
 say to you. What is this service to you ? you shall 
 say, It is a sacrifice for compassion before the Lord, 
 
 8 Other copies, “ an everlasting ordinance in all your.” 
 
 9 Other copies, “ any man from the door of his house.” 
 
372 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 because He had compassion on the house of the sons of 
 Israel in Mizraim, when He smote the Mizraee, but 
 spared our houses. And the people bowed and wor¬ 
 shipped. And the sons of Israel went and did as the 
 Lord had commanded Mosheh and Aharon, so did 
 they. 
 
 And it came to pass at the dividing of the night that 
 the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim; 
 from the firstborn of Pharoh who should sit on the 
 throne of his kingdom unto the firstborn of the captive 
 in the house of the chained, and all the firstborn of 
 cattle. And Pharoh rose up in that night, and all his 
 servants and all the Mizraee; and there was a great cry 
 in Mizraim, because there was no house in which there 
 was not the dead. And he cried to Mosheh and to 
 Aharon by night, and said. Arise, go out from among 
 my people, you and the sons of Israel, and go and serve 
 before the Lord, as you have said. Your flocks and 
 your herds take also, as you have spoken, and go, and 
 .pray also for me. And the Mizraee were forcible on 
 the people to hasten to send them away; for they said, 
 All of us are dead. And the people took their dough 
 while not leavened, remaining in the kneading pans, 
 bound with their clothes upon their shoulders. And 
 the children of Israel did according to the word of 
 Mosheh, and demanded of the Mizraee vessels of silver, 
 and vessels of gold, and raiment. And the Lord gave 
 the people favour in the eyes of the Mizraee, and they 
 demanded of them, and left the Mizraee empty . 7 
 
 And the children of Israel journeyed from Ramases 
 to Succoth ; about six hundred’ thousand men on foot, 
 besides children (or families); and a multitude of 
 strangers also went up with them, and flocks and herds 
 and very much cattle. And they baked the dough 
 
 7 Sam. Vers., “ stripped.” 
 
ON EXODU3. 
 
 373 
 
 XIII.] 
 
 which they had brought out from Mizraim (into) 
 unleavened cakes; for it had not been leavened, because 
 they had been driven out from Mizraim and could not 
 stay, and they had not made provision. And the 
 dwelling of the sons of Israel in their abode in Mizraim 
 (was) four hundred and thirty years. And it was at 
 the end of four hundred and thirty years, in that same 
 day, that all the hosts of the Lord went forth from the 
 land of Mizraim. It is a night to be kept before the 
 Lord for bringing them forth from the land of 
 Mizraim: this is that night before the Lord kept by all 
 the children of Israel in their generations. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh and to Aharon, This 
 is the rite of the Pascha. Every son of Israel who 
 apostatizes shall not eat of it; but every male servant 
 bought with silver, and thou hast circumcised him, may 
 eat thereof. A sojourner and a hireling shall not eat 
 thereof. In one company it shall be eaten. You shall 
 not carry any of the flesh from the house without, and 
 a bone shall not be broken in him. All the congrega¬ 
 tion of Israel shall do this. And when the sojourner 
 who sojourneth with thee will perform the pascha 
 before the Lord, every male of his shall be circumcised, 
 and he may then approach and perform it; he shall be 
 as one born in the land, but none uncircumcised shall 
 eat of it. One law shall there be for the native and for 
 the proselyte who sojourneth among you. And all 
 the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded 
 Mosheh and Aharon, so did they. And it was on the 
 same day that the Lord led forth the sons of Israel 
 from the land of Mizraim by their armies. 
 
 XIII. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, 
 Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn. Every one which 
 openeth the womb among the children of Israel, of man 
 and of beast, that is Mine. And Mosheh said to the 
 
374 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 people, Remember this day, in which you went forth 
 from Mizraim from the house of servitude; for with a 
 mighty hand hath the Lord brought you forth from 
 thence; and you shall not eat what is leavened. This 
 day have you come out, in the month of Abiba. And 
 it shall be when the Lord hath led thee into the land of 
 the Kenaanaee and Hittaee and Emoraee and Hivaee 
 and Jebusaee, which He covenanted to thy fathers to 
 give thee, a land producing milk and honey, that thou 
 shalt perform this service in this month. Seven days 
 thou shalt eat the ( pkatira ) unleavened cake, and in the 
 seventh day solemnize a feast before the Lord. The 
 unleavened cake thou shalt eat seven days; that which 
 is leavened shall not be seen with thee; the leavened 
 thing shall not be seen with thee in all thy limits. 
 And thou shalt teach thy son on that day, saying, (It 
 is) on account of that which the Lord did for me in 
 bringing me out of Mizraim. And it shall be a sign to 
 thee on thy hand, and for a memorial between thine 
 eyes, that the Law of the Lord may be in thy mouth, 
 for that with a mighty hand did the Lord bring thee 
 forth from Mizraim : and thou shalt keep this ordinance 
 in its season from time to time. 
 
 And it shall be, when the Lord hath brought thee 
 into the land of the Kenaanaee, as He sware to thee and 
 to thy fathers, and hath given it to thee, that thou shalt 
 make over whatsoever openeth the womb before the 
 Lord ; among the cattle which thou hast the male shall 
 be consecrate before the Lord. And every firstling of 
 an ass thou shalt ransom with a lamb; but if thou wilt 
 not ransom it, thou shalt destroy it; and every firstborn 
 of man among thy children thou shalt ransom. And 
 it shall be, when thy son shall ask thee to-morrow, say¬ 
 ing, Why is this ? thou shalt say to him. By a mighty 
 hand the Lord brought us out of Mizraim from the 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 375 
 
 XIII.] 
 
 house of servitude. And it was when Pharoh was 
 obdurate about letting us go away that the Lord slew 
 all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, from the first¬ 
 born of man to the firstborn of cattle : therefore I sacri¬ 
 fice before the Lord of all that openeth the womb, the 
 males, and all the firstborn of my children I ransom. 
 And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand and for 
 Tephillin between thine eyes, because with a mighty 
 hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Mizraim. 
 
 SECTION XYI. 
 
 BESHALLACH. 
 
 And it was when Pharoh had sent the people away, 
 that the Lord led them not by the way of the land of 
 the Philistaee because it was the nearest: for the Lord 
 said, Lest the people be terrified at the seeing of war, 
 and return to Mizraim. But the Lord led the people 
 round by the way of the desert to the sea of Suph; 
 and harnessed (or girded) went the sons of Israel up 
 out of the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh brought up 
 the bones of Joseph with him; for he had adjured the 
 sons of Israel with an oath, saying, Kemembering, the 
 Lord will remember you, and you shall carry up my 
 bones from hence. And they journeyed from Sukkoth, 
 and encamped in Etham, which is beside the desert. 
 And the Lord went before them by day in the column 
 of the cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in 
 the column of fire to enlighten them, that they might 
 go in the day and in the night. The column of the 
 cloud by day, nor the column of the fire by night, 
 departed not before the people. 
 
376 
 
 TAUGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Speak with 
 the sons of Israel that they return and encamp before 
 Pum Hiratha, between Migdol and the sea, before Beel 
 Zephon: you shall encamp before it by the sea. And 
 Pharoh will say of the children of Israel, They are 
 bewildered in the land, the desert hath got hold of 
 them : 8 and I will harden Pharoh's heart, and he will 
 pursue them; and I will be glorified in Pharoh and in 
 all his host; and the Mizraee shall know that I am the 
 Lord. And they did so. And it was seen by the king 
 of Mizraim that the people had gone. And the heart 
 of Pharoh and of his servants was turned to the people; 
 and they said, What is this that we have done, that we 
 have sent Israel away from serving us ? And he set 
 his chariot in order, and took his people with him. 
 He took also six hundred select chariots, and all the 
 chariots of the Mizraee, and appointed strong men over 
 them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharoh 
 king of Mizraim, and he pursued after the children of 
 Israel. But the children of Israel went forth with 
 uncovered head. And the Mizraee followed after them, 
 and overtook them while encamping by the sea; all the 
 chariot horses of Pharoh, and his horsemen, and his 
 army, by Pum Hiratha which is before Beel Zephon. 
 And Pharoh drew nigh, and the sons of Israel lifted up 
 their eyes, and, behold, the Mizraee were coming after 
 them : and they were greatly afraid, and the children 
 of Israel cried before the Lord. But to Mosheh they 
 said, Was it because there were no graves in Mizraim 
 that thou hast taken us to die in the wilderness? 
 What is this that thou hast done to bring us out of 
 Mizraim? Was not this the word which we spake, 
 with thee in Mizraim, saying, Let us alone, and we will 
 serve the Mizraee ? for better would it have been for us 
 8 Sam. Vers., “ hath covered them.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 377 
 
 XIV.] 
 
 to serve the Mizraee, than to die in the wilderness. And 
 Mosheh said to the people, Pear not, stand still (or, be 
 ready) and see the Lord's deliverance which He will 
 work for you this day; for as you have seen the 
 Mizraee this day, you will see them no more for ever: the 
 Lord will fight for you the fight, and you shall be quiet. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, I have heard thy prayer. 
 Speak to the children of Israel that they go onward: 
 and thou, take thy rod and stretch forth thy hand over 
 the sea, and divide it, and the children of Israel shall go 
 in the midst of the sea on dry ground. And I, behold, 
 I will harden the hearts of the Mizraee, and they will go 
 in after them; and I will be glorified by Pharoh and by 
 all his army, by his chariots and his horsemen ; 9 and 
 the Mizraee shall know that I am the Lord, when I have 
 been glorified by Pharoh and his chariots and his 
 horsemen . 9 
 
 And the angel of the Lord who went before the camp 
 of Israel passed by and came behind them; and the 
 column of the cloud passed from before them and abode 
 behind them. And it entered between the camp of the 
 Mizraee and the camp of Israel; and was a cloud and 
 darkness to the Mizraee, but unto Israel a light all the 
 night: and that came not near to this all the night. 
 
 And Mosheh stretched forth his hand over the sea; 
 and the Lord drave the sea by a mighty east wind all 
 the night, and caused the sea to be dry, and the waters 
 were disparted; and the children of Israel went into the 
 midst of the sea upon dry ground; and the waters were 
 to them a wall 10 on their right hand and on their left. 
 And the Mizraee followed and entered in after them, 
 all the horses of Pharoh, and his chariots and horsemen, 
 into the midst of the sea. And it was in the morning 
 watch that the Lord looked upon the host of the Mizraee 
 9 Sam. Vers., “footmen.” 10 Sam. Vers., “a munition.” 
 
378 TARGTJM OF ONXELOS [CHAP. 
 
 from the column of fire and cloud, and perturbed the 
 host of the Mizraee. And he removed the wheels of the 
 chariots, so that they drave them by strength; 1 and the 
 Mizraee said, Let us flee from before Israel; for this is 
 the power of the Lord which hath done battle for them 
 against Mizraim. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Stretch forth thy hand 
 over the sea, and the waters shall return upon the 
 Mizraee, upon their chariots and their horsemen. And 
 Mosheh stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea 
 returned, at the time of the morning, unto its strength; 
 and the Mizraee fled before it; and the Lord drowned 
 the Mizraee in the midst of the sea. And the waters 
 returned and covered the chariots and horsemen and all 
 the host of Pharoh who had gone after them into the 
 sea, and there remained of them not one. But the 
 children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of 
 the sea; and the waters were a wall to them on their 
 right hand and on their left. And the Lord delivered 
 Israel that day from the Mizraee, and Israel saw the 
 Mizraee dead upon the shore of the sea. And Israel 
 saw the Power of the Great Hand which the Lord had 
 made (to appear) in Mizraim; and the people feared 
 before the Lord, and believed in the Word of the Lord, 
 and in the prophetic (work) of Mosheh His servant. 
 
 Then sang Mosheh and the children of Israel this 
 hymn before the Lord; and they spake, saying, We 
 will sing and give thanks before the Lord, because He 
 is magnified upon the mighty, and the power is His 
 own; the horse and his rider hath He cast into the sea. 
 My strength and my song 3 is the terrible Lord; He 
 hath said by His Word that He will be mine to redeem. 
 This is my God, and I will build Him a sanctuary; the 
 God of my fathers, and I will worship before Him. The 
 1 Or, “ with difficulty.” 2 Sam. Vers., “ my portion.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 379 
 
 XV.] 
 
 Lord is the Lord of Victory in battles, the Lord is His 
 Name. The chariots of Pharoh and his horses He hath 
 cast into the sea, his chosen warriors are drowned in the 
 sea of Suph. The depths covered them over, they went 
 down to the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, 0 Lord, 
 is illustrious in power; Thy right hand, 0 Lord, shattereth 
 the adversary; and in the greatness of Thy might Thou 
 hast broken down them who arose against Thy people. 
 Thou didst send forth Thy wrath, and it consumed them 
 as stubble in the flame, and by the word of Thy mouth 
 the waters, (as if) wise, stood up like a wall; the depths 
 were congealed in the heart of the sea. The adversary 
 said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the 
 spoil; my soul shall be satisfied upon them; I will 
 draw my sword, and my hand shall destroy them. Thou 
 didst speak by Thy Word, the sea covered them over, 
 they sank like lead in the mighty waters. There is none 
 beside Thee, O God, (who art) glorious in holiness, 
 fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thou didst uplift 
 Thy right hand, the earth swallowed them up. Thou 
 hast led forth in goodness Thy people whom Thou hast 
 redeemed; Thou wilt bring them by Thy strength to the 
 dwelling of Thy holiness. The nations will hear it, and 
 be moved; terror will seize on the inhabiters of Pela- 
 sheth; then will the princes of Edom be alarmed, the 
 strong ones of Moab will be seized with trembling, and 
 they who dwell in Kenaan will be broken down. Fear 
 and dread will fall upon them, by the greatness of Thy 
 power they will be silent as a stone, until Thy people, O 
 Lord, pass over Arnona, until Thy people whom Thou 
 hast redeemed pass over Jardena. Thou wilt bring 
 them in, and cause them to dwell in the mountain of 
 Thine inheritance, in the place w r hich Thou hast ordained 
 for the house of Thy Shekina, the sanctuary which Thy 
 hands, O Lord, have prepared. The kingdom of the 
 
380 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Lord endureth for ever, and for ever, evermore! Because, 
 when the horses of Pharoh with his chariots and his 
 horsemen had entered into the sea, the Lord caused the 
 waters of the sea to return upon them, and the children 
 of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea. 
 
 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aharon, took 
 the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out 
 after her with timbrels and choruses. And Miriam 
 answered them : Sing and give thanks before the Lord, 
 for He hath magnified Himself upon the proud: and 
 the majesty belongeth (only) unto Him; the horse and 
 his rider hath He cast into the sea. 
 
 And Mosheh caused Israel to remove from the sea of 
 Suph, and they went forth into the desert of Chagra, 
 and went three days in the desert, but found no water. 
 And they came to Marah, and could not drink the 
 waters of Marah because they were bitter; therefore he 
 called the name of it Marah. And the people were 
 fretful against Mosheh, saying, What shall we drink ? 
 And he prayed before the Lord; and the Lord instructed 
 him (in the properties of) a tree, and he cast it into the 
 waters, and the waters became sweet. There decreed He 
 a statute, and a judgment, and there He tried him. And 
 He said, If hearkening thou wilt hearken unto the Word 
 of the Lord thy God, and wilt do what is right in His 
 eyes, and wilt listen to His precepts and keep all His 
 statutes, none of the maladies which I have set upon 
 Mizraim will I put upon thee; for I am the Lord thy 
 Healer. 
 
 And they came to Elim, and there were twelve wells 
 of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped 
 there before the waters. And they journeyed from Elim, 
 and came, the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, to the 
 desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the 
 fifteenth day of the second month from their outgoing 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 381 
 
 XVI.] 
 
 from the land of Mizraim. And all the congregation of 
 the children of Israel were troublous against Moslieh and 
 against Aharon in the desert; and the children of Israel 
 said to them, 0 that we bad died before the Lord in the 
 land of Mizraim, when we sat by the caldrons of flesh, 
 and could eat bread and be satisfied! Why have you 
 brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole 
 assembly with famine ? 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Behold, I will cause 
 bread to come down to you from heaven; and the people 
 shall go out and collect the matter of the day for the 
 day; that I may prove them whether they will walk in 
 My law, or not. And in the sixth day, when they 
 prepare that which they bring in, it shall be two for one 
 upon what they collect from day to day. And Mosheh 
 and Aharon said to all the children of Israel, In the 
 evening you shall know that the Lord brought you out 
 of the land of Mizraim, and in the morning shall you 
 see the Glory of the Lord; for your tumults are heard 
 before the Lord: and we—what, that you are restive 
 against us? And Mosheh said, When the Lord will 
 give you at evening flesh to eat, and bread in the 
 morning to satisfy, while are heard before the Lord 
 your tumults against Him! Bor what are we ? your 
 tumults are not against us, but against the Word of the 
 Lord. And Mosheh said to Aharon, Bid all the con¬ 
 gregation of the sons of Israel to come together before 
 the Lord; for your tumult is heard before the Lord. 3 
 And it was, while Aharon was speaking with all the 
 congregation of the sons of Israel, that they turned 
 towards the desert, and, behold, the glory of the Lord 
 was revealed in the cloud. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, The 
 tumult of the children of Israel is heard before Me. 
 
 3 Other copies, “ before Him.” 
 
382 TAUGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Speak with them to say, Between the evenings you shall 
 eat flesh, and in the morning be satisfied with bread, 
 and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. 
 And it was in the evening that the quails came up and 
 covered the camp; and in the morning a dew descended 
 round about the camp; and when the dew which had 
 fallen had gone up, behold, upon the face of the desert, 
 a small (substance) without covering, 4 small like hoar 
 frost, heaped on the earth. And the sons of Israel 
 saw, and said, a man to his brother, Mana-hu! for they 
 knew not what it was. And Mosheh said to them. 
 This is the bread which the Lord will give you to eat. 
 This is the word that the Lord hath commanded : Let 
 every man* gather of it according to his eating 6 an 
 omera for every head according to the number of your 
 souls, a man for those of his tent shall you take. And 
 the sons of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, 
 (others) less; and they measured with an omera,—and 
 he who had (gathered) much had not more, and he who 
 had (gathered) little had not less; every man according 
 to his eating* they gathered. And Mosheh said to 
 them, No man must leave of it for the morning. But 
 they hearkened not to Mosheh, but some left for the 
 morning, and it swarmed worms and corrupted. And 
 Mosheh was angry with them. And they gathered it 
 from morning to morning a man according to his 
 eating; and when the sun grew hot on that which 
 remained upon the face of the field, it melted. And it 
 was that on the sixth day they gathered a double 
 (quantity) of bread, 7 two omers for one: and all the 
 chiefs of the congregation came and showed Mosheh. 
 And he said to them, To-morrow is the rest of the holy 
 Shabbath before the Lord. That which you prepare 
 
 4 Or, “peeled.” Sam. Vers., “shining.” 5 Sam. Vers., "ashes.” 
 
 8 Or, “ the mouth of his eating.” 7 Or, “ bread for one, two.” 
 
XVII.] ON EXODUS. 383 
 
 by baking, bake, and that which you prepare by boiling, 
 boil, and all the remainder lay up to you, a store for 
 the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as 
 Mosheh had instructed; and it did not corrupt, neither 
 were there worms in it. And Mosheh said, Eat that to¬ 
 day, for this day is Shabbath before the Lord; this day 
 you would not find it in the field. Six days you shall 
 collect it; but on the seventh day, the Shabbath, there 
 will be none. And it was on the seventh day that some 
 of the people went out to gather, but they found it not. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, How long will you be 
 unwilling to keep My commandments and My laws? 
 See, because the Lord hath given you the Shabbath He 
 hath therefore given you on the sixth day the bread for 
 two days; let every man dwell in his resting, and not 
 go out from his place on the seventh day. And the 
 people reposed on the seventh day. And the house of 
 Israel called the name of it Manna; and it was as the 
 seed of Gida 8 white, and its taste was like cake broiled 
 with honey. And Mosheh said, This is the word which 
 the Lord hath commanded. Eill an omera of it to be 
 kept for your generations, that they may see the bread 
 which I made you eat in the desert when I brought you 
 forth from the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh said to 
 Aharon, Take one vase, and* put therein an omera full 
 of manna, and lay it up before the Lord to be preserved 
 for your generations. As the Lord commanded, so did 
 Mosheh; and Aharon laid it up before the Testimony, 
 to keep. And the children of Israel ate the manna 
 forty years, until they came to the land inhabited; 
 they did eat the manna till they came to the confines of 
 the land of Kenaan. And one omera is the tenth of 
 three seahs. 
 
 XVII. And all the congregation of the children of 
 
 8 Heb., Gid, “coriander.” Sam. Vers., “rice.” 
 
384 TAEGUM OP ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Israel journeyed from the desert of Sin, according to 
 their itinerations by the Word of the Lord; and they 
 encamped in Repliidim: but the people had no water to 
 drink; and the people were contentious with Mosheh, 
 and said, Give us water that we may drink. And 
 Mosheh said, Why do you contend with me ? why do 
 you tempt before the Lord ? But the people thirsted 
 there for water, and the people were turbulent against 
 Mosheh, and said, Why is this,—to have brought us 
 from Mizraim, to kill me and my children and my cattle 
 with thirst? And Mosheh prayed before the Lord, 
 saying, What shall I do with this people ? Yet a little, 
 and they will stone me ! And the Lord said to Mosheh, 
 Pass over before the people, and take with thee of the 
 elders of Israel, and thy rod wherewith thou didst 
 smite the river take in thy hand, and go. Behold, I 
 will stand before thee there, upon the rock in Horeb, 
 and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come out 
 of it, that the people may drink. And Mosheh did so 
 in the eyes of the elders of Israel. And he called the 
 name of the place. Temptation and Strife, because of 
 the striving of the sons of Israel, and because they 
 tempted before the Lord, saying, Is the Majesty of the 
 Lord among us, or not ? 
 
 And Amaleq came, and Warred battle with Israel in 
 Rephidim. And Mosheh said to Jehoshua, Choose for 
 us men, and go forth and do battle with Amaleq. To¬ 
 morrow I will stand on the top of the hill, and the rod 
 with which the miracles are wrought from before the 
 Lord shall be in my hand. And Jehoshua did as 
 Mosheh had said to him, and he did battle with 
 Amaleq. And Mosheh, Aharon, and Hur ascended to 
 the top of the hill. And it was that when Mosheh 
 lifted up his hand, the house of Israel prevailed; and 
 when he let down his hand, the house of Amaleq 
 
XVITI.] ON EXODUS. 385 
 
 prevailed. But the hands of Mosheh became heavy, 
 and they took a stone and placed it under him, and he 
 sat upon it, and Aharon and Hur held up his hands, 
 here one, and there one; and thus were his hands 
 stretched out in prayer until the going of the sun. 
 And Jehoshua shattered Amaleq and his people with 
 the edge of the sword. And the Lord said to Mosheh : 
 Write this memorial in the Book, and set it before 
 Jehoshua,—That blotting, I will blot out the memorial 
 of Amaleq from under the heavens. And Mosheh 
 builded an altar, and ministered upon it before the 
 Lord who had wrought (such) miracles for him. And 
 he said, With an oath hath this been declared from 
 before the Tearful One whose Shekinah is upon His 
 glorious throne; that war shall be waged with the 
 house of Amaleq, to destroy it from the generations of 
 the world. 
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 YETHRO. 
 
 XVIII. And Jethro, the rabba of Midian, the 
 father-in-law of Mosheh, had heard of all that the Lord 
 had done for Mosheh and for Israel His people, and that 
 the Lord had brought Israel out of Mizraim. And 
 Jethro, MoshelTs father-in-law, took Zipporah the wife 
 of Mosheh, after he had let her go, and his two sons, 
 the name of the one Gershom ; Eor, he said, I have been 
 a sojourner in a strange land; and the name of the 
 other Eliezer; Eor (said he) the God of my fathers hath 
 
 s 
 
386 TARGUH OF 0NKEL08 [CHAP. 
 
 been my helper, and hath delivered me from the sword 
 of Pharoli. And Jethro the father-in-law of Mosheh 
 came, and his sons, and his wife, to Mosheh in the 
 desert where he had encamped at the mountain upon 
 which was revealed the glory of the Lord. And he had 
 told Mosheh, I, thy father-in-law Jethro, come to thee 
 with thy wife, and her two sons with her. And Mosheh 
 went forth to meet his father-in-law, and bowed, and 
 kissed him, and each saluted the other with peace; and 
 they entered the tabernacle. And Mosheh recounted 
 to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to 
 Pharoh and to Mizraim for IsraePs sake; and all the 
 tribulation that they had found upon the way, and how 
 the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro was glad 
 over all the good which the Lord, who had saved him 
 from the hand of Mizraim, had wrought for Israel. 
 And Jethro said. Blessed be the Lord, who hath 
 delivered you out of the hand of the Mizraee, and out 
 of the hand of Pharoh, and hath delivered the people 
 from under the domination of the Mizraee. Now know 
 I that the Lord is great, and that there is no God but 
 He for by the thing by which the Mizraee had thought 
 to punish (judge) Israel, they themselves are punished. 
 And Jethro the father-in-law of Mosheh offered a burnt 
 offering and sacrificed holy things before the Lord. 
 And Aharon came, with all the elders of Israel, to eat 
 bread with the father-in-law of Mosheh before the Lord. 
 
 And on the day after, Mosheh sat to judge the 
 people, and the people stood about Mosheh from morn 
 till evening; and the father-in-law of Mosheh observed 
 all that he did to the people. And he said. What thing 
 is this that thou art doing to the people ? Why dost 
 thou sit alone, with all the people standing about thee 
 from morn till evening? And Mosheh said to his 
 father-in-law, Because the people come to me to ask 
 
XVIII.] ON EXODUS. 387 
 
 instruction from before the Lord. When they have (a 
 matter) for judgment they come to me, and I adjudicate 
 between a man and his neighbour, and make them to 
 know the statutes of the Lord, and His laws. But the 
 father-in-law of Mosheh said to him, The thing thou art 
 doing is not right; with weariness thou wilt be weary, 
 thou and also this people who are with thee; for the 
 thing is too weighty for thee, thou art not able to do it 
 by thyself. Now hearken to me, I will give thee 
 counsel, and the Word of the Lord shall be thy helper. 
 Be thou for the people the seeker of instruction from 
 the presence of the Lord, to bring the matters before 
 the Lord: and thou shalt admonish them in the statutes 
 and the laws, and make them know the way in which to 
 walk, and the work that must be done. And thou, 
 look out from the whole people men of ability who fear 
 the Lord, men of truth who abhor to take mammon; 
 and superappoint them chiefs of thousands, and chiefs of 
 hundreds, and chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens. And 
 they shall judge the people at any time, and every great 
 matter they shall bring to thee, but every small thing 
 they shall judge; and they will lighten it from thee, and 
 bear it with thee. If thou wilt do this, and the Lord 
 teach thee, thou wilt be able to endure, and (of) all this 
 people (every one) will go to his place in peace. And 
 Mosheh hearkened to his father-in-law, and did all that 
 he had said. And Mosheh chose men of ability from 
 all Israel, and appointed them heads over the people; 
 chiefs 9 of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, 
 and chiefs of tens; and they judged the people at all 
 times; a weighty thing they brought to Mosheh, and 
 every minor thing they judged themselves. And 
 Mosheh sent his father-in-law away, and he went unto- 
 his land. 
 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ scribes.” 
 s 2 
 
388 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 XIX. In the third month 1 of the outgoing of the 
 sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim, on that day 
 came they to the desert of Sinai. And they journeyed 
 from Rephidim, and came to the desert of Sinai, and 
 dwelt there by the side of the mountain. And Mosheh 
 ascended before the Lord. And the Lord called to him 
 from the mount, saying. As thus thou shalt speak to the 
 house of Jakob, and show to the sons of Israel: You 
 have seen what I did to the Mizraee, and how I bare 
 you as on eagles’ wings, and brought you nigh to serve 
 Me: and now, if hearkening you will hearken to My 
 Word, and will keep My covenant, you, before Me, shall 
 be more beloved than all peoples; for all the earth is 
 Mine. And you, before Me, shall be kings (and) priests, 
 a holy people. These are the words which thou shalt 
 speak with the sons of Israel. And Mosheh came, and 
 called the elders 2 of the people, and set all these words 
 in order before them, as the Lord had instructed him. 
 And all the people responded together, and said, All 
 that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Mosheh 
 brought back the words of the people before the Lord. 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Behold, I will be revealed 
 to thee in the darkness of the cloud, that the people may 
 hear, in My speaking with thee, and also that they may 
 confide in thee for ever. And Mosheh showed the 
 words of the people before the Lord. And the Lord 
 said to Mosheh, Go unto the people and prepare them, 
 to-day and to-morrow, and let them purify 3 their 
 clothing; and be ready for the third day; for on the 
 third day the Lord will be revealed in the eyes of all the 
 people upon mount Sinai. And thou shalt set a limit 
 for the people round about, saying, Beware you of going 
 up on the mountain, or of approaching the border of it. 
 Whoever approaches the mountain, slain he shall be 
 1 Sivan. * Sam. Vers., “ wise men.” 8 Sam. Vers., “ make white.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 389 
 
 XIX.] 
 
 slain. No hand shall touch him; for stoned he shall be 
 stoned, or pierced he shall be pierced; whether beast 
 or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet is pro¬ 
 longed they shall be allowed to go forward to the mount. 
 And Mosheh came down from the mountain unto the 
 people, and prepared the people, and they made white 
 their clothes. And he said to the people. Be ready on 
 the third day, approach not to a woman. And it was 
 the third day 4 at morning; and there were voices, and 
 lightnings, and mighty clouds upon the mountain, and 
 the voice of the trumpet exceedingly strong; and all the 
 people trembled who were in the camp. And Mosheh 
 led forth the people out of the camp to meet the Word 
 of the Lord; and they stood at the lower parts of the 
 mount. And the mountain of Sinai was altogether 
 fuming from before the revelation of the Lord upon it 
 in fire; and the smoke went up as the smoke of a 
 furnace, and the whole mount trembled greatly. But 
 when the voice of the trumpet went forth and became 
 exceedingly strong, Mosheh spake, and from the presence 
 of the Lord he was answered by a voice. And the 
 Lord was revealed upon mount Sinai, on the head of 
 the mountain; and the Lord called Mosheh unto the 
 head of the mount; and Mosheh went up. And the 
 Lord said to Mosheh, Go down, warn the people lest 
 they break through before the Lord to see, and many of 
 them fall. And let the priests also, who are to minister 
 before the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord slay 
 them. And Mosheh spake before the Lord, The people 
 are not able to come up to mount Sinai; for Thou hast 
 warned us, saying, Set a boundary to the mountain, and 
 sanctify it. But the Lord said to him. Go, descend, 
 and come up, thou and Aharon with thee; but let not 
 the priests nor the people break through to come up 
 4 Sixth of Sivan. 
 
390 TAEGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 before the Lord, lest He slay them. And Mosheh went 
 down to the people, and spake with them. 
 
 XX. And the Lord spake all these words, saying, I 
 am the Lord thy God, who have brought thee out of the 
 land of Mizraim, out of the house of servitude. Thou 
 shalt have no other God beside Me. Thou shalt not 
 make to thee image nor likeness of any thing that is in 
 the heavens above, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the 
 waters under the earth: thou shalt not worship them 
 nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous 
 God ; visiting the sins of the fathers upon the rebellious 
 children, unto the third generation and to the fourth 
 generation of those who hate Me; while the children 
 continue (or complete) to sin after their fathers; but 
 doing good to thousands of generations of those who 
 love Me and keep My commandments. Thou shalt not 
 swear in the name of the Lord thy God vainly; for the 
 Lord will not acquit him who sweareth in His Name 
 with falsity. Remember the day of Shabbatha to 
 sanctify it. Six days shalt thou do service and do all 
 thy work; but the seventh day is Shabbath before the 
 Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do every work; thou, 
 nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy servant nor thy 
 handmaid, nor thy cattle, nor thy sojourner who is in 
 thy city . 5 Tor in six days the Lord made the heavens 
 and the earth, the seas and all that is in them, and 
 rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed 
 the day of Shabbatha, and sanctified it. Honour thy 
 father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged 
 upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth to thee. 
 Thou shalt not kill life. Thou shalt not commit 
 adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not testify 
 against thy neighbour a testimony of falsehood. Thou 
 shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; thou shalt not 
 5 Sam. Vers., “thy cities.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 391 
 
 XX.] 
 
 covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his servant, nor his 
 handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is 
 thy neighbour's. 
 
 And all the people saw the thunders, and the flames, 
 and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain 
 smoking; and the people saw, and trembled, and stood 
 afar off. And they said to Mosheh, Speak thou with 
 us, and we will hearken; but let it not be spoken to us 
 from before the Lord, lest we die, Aud Mosheh said 
 to the people, Fear not; for that He may prove you He 
 hath revealed to you the glory of the Lord, and that 
 His fear may be before your face, that you may not sin. 
 And the people stood afar off, but Mosheh drew nigh to 
 the darkness where was the glory of the Lord. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Thus shalt thou speak 
 to the children of Israel; You have seen that I have 
 spoken to you from the heavens. You shall not make 
 before Me idols of silver, neither idols of gold shall you 
 make to you. An altar of earth shalt thou make 
 before Me, and shalt sacrifice upon it thy burnt offer¬ 
 ings and thy sanctified victims, thy sheep and thy oxen. 
 In every place where I may cause My Shekinah to 
 dwell, thither will I send My blessing, and will bless 
 thee. And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone 
 before Me, thou shalt not build it with hewn stones, 
 lest thou lift up thy cutting-tool 6 upon it and profane 
 it. And thou shalt not ascend by steps to My altar, 
 that thy nakedness may not be discerned upon it. 
 
 6 Lit., “ thy sword.” 
 
39 Z 
 
 TAEGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 MISHPATIM. 
 
 And these are the judgments which thou shalt set in 
 order before them. When thou dost purchase a ser¬ 
 vant, a son of Israel, six years he shall serve, and in 
 the seventh go forth free, for nothing. If he came in alone, 
 he shall go out alone; if the husband of a wife, his 
 wife shall go out with him. If his master have given 
 him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, 
 the wife and the children are the master's, and he shall 
 go out alone. But if the servant saying shall say, I 
 love my master, my wife and my children, I will not 
 go out free; his master shall bring him before the 
 judges, and shall take him to the door, even to the 
 post, and his master shall bore his ear with an awl; 
 and he shall be to him a working servant for ever. 
 
 And when a man selleth his daughter to be a hand¬ 
 maid, she shall not go out as at the outgoing of the 
 men servants. If she be evil in the eyes of the master 
 who had covenanted with her to be his, then shall he 
 make her free; to another man he shall not have 
 ability to sell her to domineer over her. And if he 
 hath covenanted her to his son, after the custom of the 
 daughters of Israel shall he act towards her. And if 
 he take another to him, her food, her raiment, and her 
 marriage due he shall not restrain. And if these three 
 he doth not perform to her, he shall release her freely 
 without money. 
 
 Whosoever striketh a man and killeth him, being 
 killed he shall be killed. But if it was not (done) 
 covertly to him, but he was delivered into his hand 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 393 
 
 XXI.] 
 
 from before the Lord, then I will appoint thee a place 
 whither he may flee. But when a wicked, man acts 
 toward his neighbour with deceitfulness to kill him, 
 even from Mine altar thou shalt bring him aw r ay to put 
 him to death. Whosoever striketh his father or his 
 mother shall be surely put to death. And whosoever 
 stealeth a soul of the house of Israel and selleth him, 
 or if he be found in his hand, shall be surely put to 
 death. And he who curseth his father or his mother 
 shall surely be put to death. And when men contend, 
 and a man smiteth his neighbour with a stone or with 
 his fist, and he die not, but fall upon his bed;—if he 
 rise (again) and w r alk about upon his staff, he who 
 smote him shall be acquitted; only he shall make good 
 his loss of labour, and defray the charge of the 
 physician. 
 
 And when a man smiteth his servant or his hand¬ 
 maid with a staff, and he die under his hand, con¬ 
 demned he shall be condemned. But if he survive one 
 day, or two, he shall not be condemned, because he was 
 his money. If men contending strike a woman with 
 child and she miscarry, but die not, fined he shall be 
 fined, as the husband of the woman may set upon him, 
 and he shall give according to the sentence of judg¬ 
 ment. But if death take place, thou shalt give life for 
 life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for 
 foot, burning for burning, wmund for wound, bruise for 
 bruise. And if a man smite the eye of his servant or 
 his handmaid and destroy it, he shall let him go free, 
 for the sake of his eye. Or if he beat out (cause to 
 fall) a tooth of his servant or a tooth of his handmaid, 
 he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth. 
 
 If an ox gore a man or woman unto death, the ox 
 being stoned shall be stoned, and his flesh must not be 
 eaten; but the master of the ox shall be acquitted, 
 s 5 
 
394 TAUGUM 01' 0NKEL0S [CHAP. 
 
 But if the ox had gored in time before (yesterday and 
 the day before), and it had been attested to his master, 
 and he not keeping him he hath killed man or woman, 
 the ox shall be stoned and the owner be put to death. 
 If a fine of money 7 (if mammon) be laid upon him, he 
 may give redemption for his life according to all that is 
 laid upon him. If the ox gore a son or daughter of 
 Israel, after this judgment shall it be done to him. If 
 an ox gore a man-servant or a maidservant, (the owner) 
 shall give to his master thirty sileen of silver, and the 
 ox shall be stoned. 
 
 And if a man open a pit, or dig a pit, and doth not 
 cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein, the master of 
 the pit shall pay : he shall give silver to his owner, and 
 the carcass shall be his own. And if the ox of one 
 man hurt a neighbour's ox that it die, they shall sell 
 the living ox and divide the money; and that which is 
 dead they shall also divide. But if it be known that 
 the ox gored in time past and his owner did not keep 
 him in, paying he shall pay ox for ox, and the dead one 
 shall be his. If a man steal an ox or a lamb, and kill 
 or sell it, he shall repay five oxen for the ox, and four 
 sheep for the lamb. 
 
 XXII. If a thief be found breaking through, and he 
 be smitten and die, there shall be no blood due to him. 
 If the eyes of witnesses fall upon him, blood shall be 
 due to him, paying he shall pay. If he have nothing, 
 he shall be sold for his robbery. If the thing stolen, 
 from an ox to an ass, be found in his possession, they 
 being alive, he shall restore two for one. If a man 
 make waste a field or vineyard, or send his cattle to 
 consume another's field, the best of his field and the 
 best of his vineyard he shall restore. If fire break out, 
 and it find thorns, so that sheaves or standing corn or 
 7 Sam. Vers., " If a price of eipiation.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 XXII.] 
 
 395 
 
 the field be consumed, he who kindled the fire paying 
 shall pay. 
 
 When a man giveth his neighbour silver or vessels 
 to keep, and they be stolen from the man's house; if 
 the thief be found, he shall repay double. If the thief 
 be not found, the master of the house shall be brought 
 before the judges (to make oath) that he hath not put 
 forth his hand upon that which his neighbour had 
 delivered to him. Upon every matter of guiltiness 
 about ox or ass or lamb, or raiment, or anything de¬ 
 stroyed of which it may be said, This is it, the cause of 
 both shall be brought before the judges, and he whom 
 the judges shall condemn shall pay double to his neigh¬ 
 bour. If a man deliver to his neighbour an ass or an 
 ox or a lamb or any cattle to keep, and it die, or be 
 injured, or be carried away, no one seeing; an oath of the 
 Lord shall be between them that he hath not put forth his 
 hand against that which his neighbour had delivered, and 
 the owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not repay. 
 But if it be stolen from him, he shall repay its owner; 
 and if it be torn, and he bring witnesses that it was 
 torn, he shall not repay. And if a man borrow of his 
 neighbour and it be injured or die, the owner of it not 
 being with it, repaying he shall repay. But if the 
 owner be with it, he shall not repay. If it were hired, 
 let it be (considered) for its hire. 
 
 And if a man seduce a virgin who is not betrothed 
 and lie with her, he shall surely establish her to be his 
 wife. If her father be unwilling to give her to him, he 
 shall weigh down silver according to the dowry of 
 virgins. An enchantress 8 shall not live. Whosoever 
 lieth with a beast shall be surely put to death. Who¬ 
 soever sacrificeth to the idols of the Gentiles shall be 
 put to death :—but to the Name of the Lord alone, 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., “ a pythoness.” 
 
396 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 And a stranger thou shalt not trouble nor oppress; 
 for you were sojourners in the land of Mizraim. 
 Afflict not the widow or the orphan: if you indeed 
 afflict them, and they cry before Me, I will surely 
 hearken to their cry; and My displeasure shall be 
 strong, and will kill you with the sword; and your 
 wives shall be widows and your children fatherless. If 
 thou lend money to My people, to the poor who is with 
 thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, 9 neither 
 shalt thou inflict an injury upon him. If, (as) a 
 pledge, thou take thy neighbour’s garment, at the going 
 away of the sun thou shalt return it unto him. For it 
 may be his only covering; for (then) it is the clothing 
 for his skin : wherein shall he sleep? And it shall be 
 that when he crieth before Me I will hearken; for I am 
 merciful. 
 
 Thon shalt not revile the judges, nor curse the ruler 
 of My people. Thy firstfruits and thy tithes thou shalt 
 not delay (to offer:) the firstborn of thy children thou 
 shalt separate before Me; so shalt thou do with thy 
 oxen and with thy sheep. Seven days shall (the first¬ 
 ling) be with its mother ; on the eighth day thou shalt 
 separate it before Me. And ye shall be holy men 
 before Me; and the flesh torn from a living animal you 
 may not eat; you shall cast it to the dogs. 
 
 Thou shalt not take up a false report, nor set thine 
 hand with the wicked to be a false witness for him. 
 Thou shalt not follow the many to wickedness, neither 
 shalt thou fail to teach that which in thine eyes is judg¬ 
 ment ; 1 after the many (majority ?) thou shalt fulfil 
 judgment. And upon the poor thou shalt not be 
 pitiful in judging him. 
 
 If thou meet the ox of thy enemy, or his ass, wan- 
 
 9 Sam. Vera., “ an exactor.” 
 
 1 Other copies, “ what thou hast sought out concerning judgment.” 
 
XXIII.] ON EXODUS. 397 
 
 dering away, thou shalt surely bring it back to him. 
 When thou seest thine enemy’s ass prostrate beneath 
 his burden, thou shalt forbear from forsaking him; 2 
 thou shalt surely abandon what is in thy heart against 
 him, and shalt deliver it unto him. Thou shalt not 
 warp the judgment of the poor man in his cause. 
 From a false matter keep distant ; and him who 
 has been acquitted and has come forth from judg¬ 
 ment uncondemned thou shalt not kill; for I will not 
 justify the guilty. And thou art not to receive a 
 bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and 
 perverts the words of the just. And thou shalt not 
 distress the sojourner; for you know the mind of a 
 sojourner; for you were dwellers in the land of Mizraim. 
 
 Six years thou shalt sow the land and gather in its 
 produce, but the seventh year thou shalt let it alone 
 and suffer it to rest, that the poor of thy people may 
 eat, and what they leave the beast of the field may eat. 
 So also shalt thou do with thy vineyard and with thy 
 olive ground. Six days shalt thou do thy work, and in 
 the seventh day have rest, that thy ox and thy ass may 
 rest, and the son of thine handmaid and thy sojourner 
 may be quiet. And of all that I have spoken to you 
 be mindful, and the name of the idols of the Gentiles 
 remember not; let it not be heard upon thy lips. 
 
 Three times thou shalt solemnize festival before Me 
 in the year. Thou shalt keep the festival of unlea¬ 
 vened bread. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened 
 cake, as I have commanded thee, in the time of the 
 moon of Abiba, for therein you went forth from Miz¬ 
 raim ; and you shall not appear before Me empty. And 
 the festival of harvest, the first fruits of thy labours 
 which thou hast sowed in thy fields; and the festival of 
 gathering, at the end of the year when thou gatherest 
 2 Sam. Vers., “ wilt thou turn away to abandon him ? ” 
 
398 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 in thy labours from the field. Three times in the year 
 shall all thy males appear before the Lord, the Euler of 
 the world. Thou shalt not offer with unleavened bread 
 the blood of My pascha, neither shall the fat of the 
 sacrifice of the feast remain without on the altar until 
 morning. The beginning of the first fruits of thy land 
 thou shalt bring into the sanctuary of the Lord thy 
 God. Thou shalt not eat flesh with milk. 
 
 Behold, I send My Angel 3 before thee, to protect 
 thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which 
 I have prepared. Take heed before Him, and hearken 
 to His words; rebel not against Him, for He will not 
 forgive your sins ; for in My Name are His words. 
 For if thou wilt truly hearken to His words, and do all 
 that I shall speak, I will be a foe to thy enemies, and 
 will afflict them that afflict thee. For My Angel shall 
 go before thee, and bring thee in, to the Amoraee and 
 Hittaee, and Perizaee and Kenaanaee, Hivaee and 
 Jebusaee; and I will destroy them. Thou shalt not 
 worship their idols, nor serve them, nor do according to 
 their doings, but shalt utterly demolish them, and break 
 their images; and you shall serve before the Lord your 
 God, and He will bless thy food and thy drink, and will 
 take away grievous evils from among thee. There shall 
 be none abortive or barren in thy land ; the number of 
 thy days will I complete. I will send My terror'before 
 thee, and will perturb all the people among whom thou 
 shalt come to fight against them, and I will make all 
 thy adversaries turn their back before thee. I will send 
 the hornet before thee, and it shall drive out the Hivaee 
 and Kenaanaee and the Hittaee from before thee. I 
 will not expel them before thee in one year, lest the 
 land be made desolate, and the beasts of the field 
 multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive 
 3 Sam. Yers., shelachi, “ my apostle.” 
 
XXIV.] ON EXODUS. 399 
 
 them out before thee, until thou shalt be increased and 
 inherit the land. And I will appoint thy boundary 
 from the sea of Suph unto the sea of the Philistaee, and 
 from the desert to the river; for I will deliver the 
 inhabitants of the land into your hands, and thou shalt 
 drive them out before thee. Thou shalt strike no 
 covenant with them nor with their idols. They shall 
 not dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to commit 
 sin before Me; for if thou serve their idols, it will be a 
 stumbling-block to thee. 
 
 XXIY. And He said to Mosheh, Come up before 
 the Lord, thou and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and 
 seventy of the elders of Israel; and they shall worship 
 at a distance. And Mosheh shall draw nigh alone 
 before the Lord, but they shall not draw nigh, nor shall 
 the people ascend with them. And Mosheh came and 
 recited to the people all the words of the Lord and all 
 the judgments; and all the people answered with one 
 voice and said, All the words that the Lord hath 
 spoken will we do. And Mosheh wrote ail the words 
 of the Lord. And he arose in the morning, and 
 builded an altar at the lower part of the mountain, and 
 twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 
 And he sent the firstborn sons of Israel, and they 
 offered holocausts, and sacrificed oxen (as) consecrated 
 victims before the Lord. And Mosheh took half of the 
 blood and set it in basins, and half the blood he 
 sprinkled upon the altar. And he took the Book of 
 the Covenant, and read before the people; and they 
 said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do and 
 obey. And Mosheh took the blood and sprinkled 
 it upon the altar to propitiate for the people, and said, 
 Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath 
 ratified with you upon all these words. 
 
 And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and 
 
400 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 seventy of the elders of Israel went up. And they saw 
 the Glory of the God of Israel, and under the throne of 
 His glory as the work of a precious stone, and as the 
 face of heaven for its clearness. Yet the princes of the 
 sons of Israel were not hurt; and they saw the Glory of 
 the Lord, and rejoiced in their sacrifices which were 
 accepted with favour, as though they had eaten and 
 drunk. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Come up into My 
 Presence in the mountain, and be there, and 1 will give 
 thee the tablets of stone, and the law and the precepts, 
 as I have written (them), that thou mayest teach them. 
 
 And Mosheh arose and Jehoshua his minister, and 
 Mosheh ascended the mountain on which was revealed 
 the Glory of the Lord. But to the elders he said, 
 Wait for us here until we return to you: and, behold, 
 Aharon and Hur are with you: whosoever hath a 
 (matter for) judgment, let him bring it before them. 
 And Mosheh ascended the mountain, and the cloud 
 covered the mountain; and the glory of the Lord dwelt 
 upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud enveloped it six days. 
 And He called to Mosheh on the seventh day out of the 
 midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the Glory 
 of the Lord was as the appearance of devouring fire on 
 the summit of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of 
 Israel. And Mosheh entered into the midst of the 
 cloud, and ascended the mount; and Mosheh was in 
 the mount forty day and forty nights. 
 
XXV.] 
 
 ON EXODUS. 
 
 401 
 
 SECTION XIX. 
 
 TERUMAH. 
 
 XXV. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, 
 Speak with the sons of Israel that they set apart before 
 Me a separated portion : from every man who is will¬ 
 ing in his heart thou shalt receive that which is set 
 apart. And this is the separation that thou shalt take 
 of them : gold, and silver and brass; and hyacinth, 
 and purple, and vermilion, (lit., bright colour,) and fine 
 linen, ( butz ,) and hair of goats, and skins of rams made 
 red, and skins of purple, and sittin woods; oil for the 
 illuminators, aromatics for the anointing oil, and aro¬ 
 matics for the incense; burilla stones, and stones that 
 may complete the insetting of the ephod and the breast¬ 
 plate. And they shall make before me a Sanctuary in 
 which I will dwell among them. Altogether as I show 
 thee the pattern of the sanctuary, and the pattern of all 
 its vessels, even so shalt thou make them. 
 
 And they shall make an Ark of sitta wood; two 
 cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its 
 breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And thou 
 shalt cover it with pure gold within and without, and 
 thou shalt make a crown of gold upon it round about. 
 And thou shalt cast for it four rings of gold, and set 
 them upon its four corners, two rings upon one side of 
 it, and two rings upon its other side. And thou shalt 
 make staves of sittin woods, and cover them with gold, 
 and shalt insert the staves in the rings upon the sides 
 of the ark, that the ark may be carried upon them. 'In 
 the rings of the ark shall be the staves, they shall not 
 be removed therefrom. And thou shalt place in the 
 ark the Testimony that I will give thee. 
 
402 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 And thou shalt make a Propitiatory of pure gold ; 
 two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half 
 its breadth. And thou slialt make two Kerubin of 
 gold, beaten (ductile) shalt thou make them, on the two 
 sides of the propitiatory. And thou shalt make one 
 keruba on this side and one keruba on that side of the 
 propitiatory; thou shalt make the kerubin on its two 
 sides. And the kerubin shall have their wings out¬ 
 spreading above, overshadowing the propitiatory with 
 their wings; and their faces shall be opposite one to 
 another, towards the propitiatory shall be the faces of 
 the kerubin. And thou shalt set the propitiatory upon 
 the Ark over above, and within the ark shalt thou put 
 the Testimony that I will give thee. And I will appoint 
 My Word (Memra) with thee there; and I will speak 
 with thee from above the Propitiatory, from between 
 the two kerubin that are upon the Ark of the Testimony, 
 all that I may command thee for the sons of Israel. 
 
 And thou shalt make a Table of sittin woods, two 
 cubits the length of it, and a cubit its breadth, and a 
 cubit and a half its height. And thou shalt overlay 
 it with pure gold, and make for it a crown of gold round 
 about. And thou shalt make to it a border, a hand- 
 breadth high round about, and make a crown of gold to 
 the border of it round about. And thou shalt make 
 for it four golden rings, and put the rings upon the 
 four corners of its four feet. Opposite to the border 
 shall be the rings for the place of the staves for carrying 
 the table. And thou shalt make the staves of sittin 
 woods, and cover them with gold, that they may carry 
 the table upon them. And thou shalt make its dishes 
 and its vases, its vials and its chalices with which the 
 libations are outpoured, of pure gold shalt thou make 
 them. And thou shalt set upon the table the Presence- 
 Bread continually before Me. 
 
XXVI.] ON EXODUS. 403 
 
 And thou shalt make a Candelabrum ; of pure 
 ductile gold shalt thou make the candelabrum; its base 
 and its shaft, its cups, apples, and lilies, of the same shall 
 they be. And six branches shall come out from its 
 sides, three branches of the candelabrum from one side, 
 and three branches of the candelabrum on the second 
 side. Three cups (calyxes) figured on one branch with 
 apple and lily, and three cups figured on one branch 
 with apple and lily, so for the six branches that come 
 out from the candelabrum. And upon the candelabrum 
 shall be four cups, figurated with apples and lilies; an 
 apple under the two branches of this, and an apple 
 under the two branches of that, according to the six 
 branches that come forth from the candelabrum. Their 
 apples and their branches shall be of it, all beaten of 
 pure gold. And thou shalt make its seven lights, and 
 kindle its lights that they may shine towards its face. 
 And its snuffers and shovels (shall be made) of pure 
 gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it and all 
 these vessels. And look thou, and make, according to 
 their resemblance which was displayed in the mount. 
 
 XXYI. And thou shalt make the Tabernacle (of) 
 ten curtains of fine linen twined, and hyacinth, and 
 purple, and vermilion, (and) figures of kerubin, the work 
 of the artificer shalt thou make them. The length of 
 one curtain twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of 
 one curtain four cubits ; the measure of all the curtains 
 shall be one. Five curtains shall be conjoined one with 
 another, and five curtains conjoined one with another. 
 And thou shalt make loops of hyacinth upon the edge 
 of one curtain in the side on which it is joined, and so 
 shalt thou do on the border of the second curtain in the 
 side on which it is joined. Fifty loops shalt thou make 
 in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in 
 the side of the curtain which is in the place of the second 
 
404 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 coupling, that the loops may answer one with another. 
 And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and loop the 
 curtains one with another with the taches, that it may 
 be one Tabernacle. And thou shalt make curtains of 
 goat's (hair) to stretch over the tabernacle; eleven 
 curtains thou shalt make them. The length of one curtain 
 shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain 
 four cubits; of one measure shall be the eleven curtains. 
 And thou shalt loop five curtains together, and six 
 curtains together, and fold the sixth curtain against the 
 front of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make fifty loops 
 on the edge of the one curtain where it is conjoined, and 
 fifty loops on the edge of the curtain at the place of the 
 second conjoinment. And thou shalt make fifty taches 
 of brass, and introduce the taches into the loops, and 
 conjoin the tabernacle that it may be one. And the 
 overplus which remaineth of the tabernacle curtains, the 
 half curtain, (namely,) thou shalt stretch over the hinder 
 side of the tabernacle. And the cubit on this and the 
 cubit on that (side) which remain in the length of the 
 curtains of the tabernacle shall be spread over the sides 
 of the tabernacle, here and there, to cover it. And thou 
 shalt make a covering for the tabernacle of rams' skins 
 dyed red, and a covering of purple skins above. And 
 thou shalt make the standing-boards of the tabernacle of 
 sittin woods. Ten cubits the length of one board, and a 
 cubit and a half its breadth. Two tenons (shall there 
 be) to each board, fastened over against one another; 
 so shalt thou make all the boards of the tabernacle. And 
 thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty 
 boards on the southern side. And forty bases of silver 
 shalt thou make under the twenty boards; two bases 
 under one board for its two tenons, and two bases under 
 one board for its two tenons. And for the second side of 
 the tabernacle, on the northern side, twenty boards and 
 
XXVI.] ON EXODUS. 405 
 
 their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one 
 board, and two sockets under another. And for the 
 side of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six 
 boards. And two boards thou shalt make at the corners 
 of the tabernacle at their extremities; and they shall be 
 united below and likewise united at head with one ring; 
 so shall it be with both of them for the two corners. 
 And they shall be eight boards, and their silver bases, 
 sixteen bases; two bases under one board, and two 
 bases under the other board. And thou shalt make 
 bars of sittin woods, five for the boards of one side of the 
 tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the second 
 side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the end side of 
 the tabernacle toward the west. And the middle bar 
 in the midst of the boards shall pass from end to end. 
 And the boards thou shalt overlay with gold, and the 
 rings make thou of gold, the place for the bars, and 
 cover the bars with gold. And thou shalt erect the 
 tabernacle after the manner of it which hath been showed 
 thee on the mount. 
 
 And thou shalt make a Veil, of hyacinth, and purple, 
 and vermilion, and fine linen twined with the work of 
 the artificer, it shall be made, figured with kerubin. 
 And thou shalt set it upon four pillars of sittin covered 
 with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold upon four 
 bases of silver. And thou shalt put the veil under the 
 taches, and shalt bring in thither within the veil the 
 Ark of the Testament; and the veil shall separate to you 
 between the Holy and the Holy of Holies. And thou 
 shalt set the Mercy Seat upon the ark of the Testament 
 in the Holy of Holies. And place thou the table 
 without the veil, and the candelabrum over against the 
 table at the south side of the tabernacle, and the table 
 place thou at the north side. And thou shalt make a 
 curtain for the door of the tabernacle of hyacinth, and 
 
406 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 purple, and vermilion, and fine linen twined, the work 
 of the embroiderer; and make for the curtain five pillars 
 of sittin, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks 
 shall be of gold; and shalt set them upon five bases of 
 brass. 
 
 XXVII. And thou shalt make the Altar of sittin 
 woods; five cubits the length and five cubits the breadth ; 
 square shall be the altar, and three cubits its height. 
 And thou shalt make its horns upon its four corners; 
 of the same shall be its horns, and overlay it with brass. 
 And make its pots, to collect the ashes, and its fire- 
 shovels, and its basins, and its flesh-hooks, and its 
 thuribles, all its vessels make thou of brass. And make 
 for it a grate, a work of netting of brass, and make upon 
 the network four rings of brass upon its four sides, and 
 place it under the surrounding of the altar beneath, 
 that the net may (extend) to the middle of the altar. 
 And make thou staves for the altar, staves of sittin wood, 
 and overlay them with brass; and he shall put the staves 
 into the rings, and the staves shall be at the two sides of 
 the altar to carry it. Hollow (with) boards make thou 
 it, according to what was showed thee in the mount, so 
 do thou. 
 
 And thou shalt make the Court of the tabernacle on 
 the side toward the south: curtains (shall there be) for 
 the court of fine twined linen a hundred cubits in 
 length on one side. And its pillars twenty and their 
 bases twenty of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their 
 rods of silver. And so for the north side in length 
 (there shall be) curtains of a hundred cubits long, and 
 their columns twenty and their bases twenty of brass; 
 the hooks of the pillars and their rods shall be of silver. 
 And on the side of the court toward the west curtains 
 of fifty cubits, their columns ten and their bases ten. 
 And the breadth of the court toward the east side east- 
 
XXVIII.] ON EXODUS. 407 
 
 ward, fifty cubits, and fifteen cubits the curtains on a 
 side, their columns three and their bases three. And 
 on the second side fifteen curtains, their pillars three, 
 and their bases three. And for the door of the court 
 shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of hyacinth, and 
 purple, and vermilion, and fine linen twined, the work 
 of the embroiderer; their pillars four and their bases 
 four. All the pillars round about the court shall be 
 (united) with rods of silver, their hooks shall be of 
 silver and their bases of brass. The length of the court, 
 one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty, and the height 
 five cubits, of fine linen twined, and their bases of brass. 
 All the vessels of the tabernacle, and all its service, and all 
 its utensils, and all the pins of the court shall be of 
 brass. 
 
 SECTION XX. 
 
 TETSAVVEH. 
 
 And thou shalt instruct the sons of Israel to bring to 
 thee the pure oil of olives, beaten, to illuminate, that 
 the lamps may burn continually. In the tabernacle of 
 ordinance, without the veil that is before the testimony, 
 Aharon and his sons shall set it in order from evening to 
 morning before the Lord; a perpetual statute for the 
 generations of the sons of Israel. 
 
 XXVIII. And thou, bring to thee Aharon thy 
 brother and his sons with him from among the sons of 
 Israel, that they may minister before Me; Aharon, 
 Nadab and Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar, sons of Aharon. 
 And thou shalt make the holy vestments for Aharon thy 
 brother for glory and for praise. And speak thou with 
 
408 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 all the wise of heart whom I have filled with the Spirit 
 of wisdom, that they make the vestments of Aharon to 
 consecrate him to minister before Me. And these are 
 the vestments which they shall make; the breastplate, 
 and the ephoda, and the robe, and the inwrought tunic, 
 and the mitre, and the girdle; and they shall make holy 
 vestments for Aharon thy brother and for his sons to 
 minister before Me. And they shall take the gold, and 
 the hyacinth, and the vermilion, and the fine linen. 
 
 And shall make the Ephoda of gold, hyacinth, and 
 vermilion, and fine linen twined, the work of the arti¬ 
 ficer. Two shoulder-pieces doubled (or, conjoined) 
 shall it have at the two sides conjoined. And the 
 adorned girdle thereof which is upon it shall be of the 
 same work, and be of gold, hyacinth, vermilion, and 
 fine linen twined. And thou shalt take two stones of 
 onyx (burilla); and engrave upon them the names, of 
 the sons of Israel. Six of their names upon the one 
 stone, and the six names which remain upon the second 
 stone, according to their nativity. By the work of the 
 artificer in precious stone the writing shall be distinct; 
 as the engraving of a ring, so shalt thou engrave the 
 two stones with the names of the sons of Israel; 
 inwrought in sockets of gold shalt thou make them. 
 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders 
 of the epliod, stones of the memorial of the sons of 
 Israel; and Aharon shall bear their names before the 
 Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And 
 thou shalt make sockets of gold; and two chains of pure 
 gold enwreathed shalt thou make of twisted work, and 
 shalt set the twisted chains in the sockets. 
 
 And thou shalt make the Breastplate of Judgment 
 with the work of the artificer, like the work of the epliod 
 shalt thou make it, of gold, hyacinth, vermilion, and 
 fine linen twined shalt thou make it. Square shall it 
 
XXVIII.] ON EXODUS. 409 
 
 be; doubled; a span its length and a span its breadth; 
 and thou shalt fulfil in it the complement of stones : 
 four rows of precious stones ; the first row, the carnelian, 
 topaz and smaragd, the first row; the second row, 
 the carbuncle, sapphire, and onyx; 4 and the third row, the 
 jacinth, agate, and amethyst; and the fourth row, the 
 chrysolite, and beryl, and jasper: they shall be inset in 
 gold in their completeness. And the stones shall be 
 according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve 
 according to their names; the writing distinct as the 
 engraving of a ring; a man according to his name shall 
 they be, after the twelve tribes. And thou shalt make on 
 the breastplate wreathed chains of twisted work of pure 
 gold, and upon the breastplate two golden ring's, and 
 shalt set the two rings upon the two sides of the breast¬ 
 plate. And thou shalt put the two wreaths of gold into 
 the two rings on the sides of the breastplate; and the 
 two wreaths which are upon its two sides thou shalt set 
 in the two sockets, and put them upon the shoulders of 
 the ephod over against its front. And thou shalt make 
 two rings of gold, and set them on the two sides of the 
 breastplate at its edges on the side of the ephod within. 
 And thou shalt make two (other) rings of gold, and put 
 them upon the two shoulders of the ephod beneath, 
 over against its conjoinment above the girdle of the 
 ephod. And they shall unite the breastplate with its 
 rings to the rings of the ephod with ribbon of hyacinth 
 to be above the girdle of the ephod, that the breastplate 
 be not separated from (being) upon the ephod. And 
 Aharon shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the 
 breastplate of judgment upon his heart in his going into 
 the sanctuary, for a perpetual memorial before the Lord. 
 
 And thou shalt put in (or upon) the breastplate of 
 judgment the Uraia and the Thummaia ; 5 and they 
 
 Or, “emerald.” ‘ Hebrew, Eth ha-urim ve-eth ha-tummim. 
 
 T 
 
410 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 shall be upon Aharon's heart when he entereth before 
 the Lord; and Aharon shall carry the judgment of the 
 sons of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. 
 And thou shalt make the Lobe of the ephod of hyacinth 
 altogether. And the orifice thereof for the head shall 
 be doubled inwardly; its opening shall be binded round 
 about with the work of the sewer, as the opening of a 
 coat of mail it shall be, that it be not torn. And thou 
 shalt make on the lower part of it pomegranates of 
 hyacinth, and purple, and vermilion upon its lower 
 part round about, with bells of gold between them 
 round about. A golden bell and a pomegranate; a 
 golden bell and a pomegranate upon the lower part of 
 the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aharon to 
 minister, and its voice shall be heard in his entering 
 into this sanctuary before the Lord, and in his coming 
 out, that he shall not have died. 
 
 And thou shalt make a Diadem (or plate) of pure 
 gold, and engrave upon it (in) distinct waiting Holiness 
 unto the Lord ; and thou shalt set it upon a ribbon of 
 hyacinth, that it may be upon the tiara; over the front 
 of the tiara shall it be. And it shall be upon Aharon's 
 forehead, that Aharon may bear the iniquity of the 
 things which the sons of Israel may consecrate of all 
 their consecrated gifts; and it shall be upon his fore¬ 
 head continually for their acceptableness before the 
 Lord. And thou shalt weave the vesture of fine linen, 
 and make the tiara of fine linen, and a girdle shalt thou 
 make, the work of the embroiderer. 
 
 And for the sons of Aharon thou shalt make vestures, 
 and make for them girdles, and mitres shalt thou make 
 for them for honour and for praise. And thou shalt 
 dress them, Aharon thy brother and his sons with him, 
 and shalt anoint them and offer oblations and consecrate 
 them, that they may minister before Me. And thou 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 XXIX.] 
 
 411 
 
 shalt make them coverings of fine linen to cover the 
 flesh of their shame; from the loins to the thighs shall 
 they be. And they shall be upon Aharon and upon his 
 6ons in their entering into the tabernacle of ordinance, 
 or in approaching to the altar to minister in the sanc¬ 
 tuary, that they contract not guilt and die. (This shall be) 
 an everlasting statute for him and for his sons after him. 
 
 XXIX. And this is the thing which thou shalt do to 
 them, to consecrate them to minister before Me: Take 
 one bullock, the young of a bullock, and two rams 
 unblemished; and unleavened bread, and unleavened 
 cakes mingled with oil, and wafers unleavened which are 
 anointed with oil; of wheaten flour shalt thou make 
 them. And thou shalt put them on one basket, and 
 bring them in the basket, and the bullock and the two 
 rams, and Aharon and his sons thou shalt bring to the 
 door of the tabernacle of ordinance, and wash them 
 with water. And thou shalt take the vestments, and 
 dress Aharon with the tunic and the robe of the ephod, 
 and the ephod and the breastplate, and shalt ordain him 
 with the girdle of the ephod. And thou shalt set the 
 tiara on his head, and put the diadem of Holiness upon 
 the tiara. And thou shalt take the oil of anointing, 
 and pour upon his head to anoint him. And thou shalt 
 bring his sons near, and dress them in the tunics and 
 gird them with the girdles, Aharon and his sons; and 
 thou shalt set on them the mitres, and it shall be to them 
 a priesthood, by a perpetual statute. And thou shalt offer 
 the oblation for Aharon and the oblation for his sons, 
 and the bullock shalt thou offer before the tabernacle of 
 ordinance. And Aharon and his sons shall lay their 
 hands upon the head of the bullock; and thou shalt 
 slay the bullock before the Lord at the door of the 
 tabernacle of ordinance. And thou shalt take of the 
 blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the 
 
 T & 
 
412 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 altar with thy finger, and all the blood (that remains) 
 thou shalt pour out at the base of the altar. And thou 
 shalt take all the fat which covereth the inwards, and 
 the caul that is upon the liver, and the two kidneys 
 and the fat that is upon them, and sacrifice them upon 
 the altar. And the flesh of the bullock, his skin, and 
 his dung, burn thou with fire without the camp; it is 
 a sin-offering. And thou shalt take the one ram, 
 and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands upon 
 the head of the ram; and thou shalt kill the ram, and 
 take his blood, and sprinkle upon the altar round 
 about. And the ram thou shalt divide by his mem¬ 
 bers, and shalt cleanse his inwards, and his legs, and 
 put them upon his members, and upon his head, and 
 thou shalt sacrifice the ram at the altar ; it is a holo¬ 
 caust before the Lord, to be accepted with favour, an 
 oblation before the Lord. And thou shalt take the 
 second ram, and Aharon and his sons shall lay their 
 hands upon the head of the ram. And thou shalt kill 
 the ram, and take of his blood, and put it on the tip of 
 Aharon's ear, and upon the tip of the right ear of his 
 sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and 
 upon the toe of their right foot; and thou shalt 
 sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And 
 thou shalt take of the blood which is upon the altar, 
 and of the oil of anointing, and drop it on Aharon and 
 on his vestments, and on his sons, and on the vestments 
 of his sons with him, and he shall be consecrated, he 
 and his vestments, and his sons, and the vestments of 
 his sons with him. And thou shalt take of the ram, 
 the fat, and the tail, and the fat which covereth the 
 inwards, and the caul which is on the liver, and the 
 two kidneys, and the fat which is on them, and the 
 right shoulder, for it is a ram for oblation; and one 
 loaf of bread, and one cake of bread (with) oil, and one 
 
XXIX.] ON EXODUS. 413 
 
 wafer from the basket of the unleavened ones which is 
 before the Lord : and put thou all upon the hands of 
 Aharon and upon the hands of his sons, and uplift 
 them for an elevation before the Lord; and take them 
 from their hands, and offer them at the altar upon the 
 burnt offering, that they may be received with acceptance 
 before the Lord; it is an oblation before the Lord. 
 And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aharon's 
 oblations, and uplift it, an elevation before the Lord; 
 and it shall be thy porticn. And thou shalt con¬ 
 secrate the breast of the elevation and the shoulder 
 of separation which is uplifted and which is separated 
 of the oblation-ram of Aharon and that of his sons; 
 and it shall be for Aharon and for his sons by a per¬ 
 petual statute for the sons of Israel, because it is a 
 thing separated. And a separation shall be (taken) 
 from the sons of Israel of their consecrated sacrifices, 
 (even) their separation before the Lord. 
 
 And the sacred garments of Aharon shall be his sons' 
 after him, to be anointed in them, (and) in them to 
 offer their oblations. Seven days shall the priest wear 
 them, who of his sons (is to be anointed) instead of 
 him, and who shall enter into the tabernacle of ordi¬ 
 nance to minister in the sanctuary. And the ram of 
 the oblations thou shalt take, and boil his flesh in the 
 holy place. And Aharon and his sons shall eat the 
 flesh of the ram and the bread that is on the basket at 
 the door of the tabernacle of ordinance. And they 
 may eat those things by which propitiation is made in 
 offering them as oblations to consecrate them; but an 
 alien may not eat, because they are sacred. And if any 
 (part) of the flesh of the oblations or of the bread 
 remain until the morning, the remainder shall be 
 burned with fire; it shall not be eaten, it is sacred. 
 And thou shalt do (thus) to Aharon and to his sons. 
 
414 TAJEtGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 according to all that I have prescribed to thee : seven 
 days shalt thou offer 6 their oblations. A bullock that is 
 a sin-offering thou shalt perform daily for expiation, 
 and thou shalt make purification upon the altar in 
 making expiation upon it, and shalt anoint it, to sanc¬ 
 tify it. Seven days must thou make expiation on the altar 
 to sanctify it, and the altar shall be most holy ; 7 
 whosoever shall touch the altar let him be sanctified. 
 
 And this is w r hat thou shalt perform upon the altar: 
 Two lambs, the offspring of the year, for the day, con¬ 
 tinually. The one lamb thou shalt perform in the 
 morning, and the second lamb thou shalt perform 
 between the evenings. And a tenth of flour, sprinkled 
 with the fourth of a hina of beaten oil, and a libation of 
 the fourth of a hina of wine, to one lamb. And the 
 second lamb thou shalt perform between the evenings, 
 as the oblation of the morning, and as its libation thou 
 shalt perform it to be received with acceptance, an 
 oblation before the Lord. A perpetual holocaust unto 
 your generations at the door of the tabernacle of ordi¬ 
 nance before the Lord, where I have appointed My 
 Word with you, to speak with you there. And I will 
 appoint My Word there unto the sons of Israel, and 
 (with) My glory will I sanctify (it ). 8 And I will 
 sanctify the tabernacle of ordinance, and the altar, and 
 Aharon, and his sons will I sanctify to minister before 
 Me. And I will cause My Shekinah to dwell in the midst 
 of the sons of Israel, and I will be their God. And 
 they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought 
 them out from the land of Mizraim, that I may make My 
 Shekinah to dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. 
 
 XXX. And thou shalt make an altar upon which to 
 
 6 Sam. Vers., “ thou shalt complete.” 
 
 7 Or, “ it shall be the altar of the Holy of holies.” 
 
 8 Sam. Vers., “ and I will sanctify (it) with My glory.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 415 
 
 XXX.] 
 
 burn fragrant incense, of woods of sittin shalt thou 
 make it. A cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth, 
 four-square shall it be, and two cubits its height. The 
 horns of it shall be of the same. And thou shalt cover 
 it with fine gold, its top and its sides round about, and 
 its horns. And thou shalt make to it a crown of gold 
 round about, and two rings of gold shalt thou make to 
 it under its crown, upon its top corners, at its two sides ; 
 and it shall be for the places of the staves by which to 
 carry it. And thou shalt make the staves of sittin 
 woods, and cover them with gold. And thou shalt 
 place it before the veil which is over the ark of the 
 testimony before the mercy-seat which is over the testi¬ 
 mony, where I will appoint My Word to be with thee. 
 And Aharon shall burn thereon fragrant incense from 
 morning to morning, when he setteth the lamps in order 
 he shall burn it. And when Aharon kindleth the lamps 
 between the evenings, he shall burn fragrant incense 
 continually before the Lord in your generations. You 
 shall not offer upon it incense of strange perfumes, nor 
 holocaust, nor mincha, nor pour any libation upon it. 
 And Aharon shall atone upon its horns once in the year 
 with the blood of the sin offering of the atonement, once 
 in the year shall he atone upon it, unto your genera¬ 
 tions. It is holy of holiness before the Lord. 
 
 SECTION XXI. 
 
 KI THISSA. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, When 
 thou takest the account of the sons of Israel according 
 to their number, they shall give every man a ransom for 
 his soul before the Lord, when thou numberest them, 
 
416 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 that there may not be death among them when thou 
 numberest them. This they shall give : every one who 
 cometh over to the adnumberraent, a half shekel, of the 
 shekel of the sanctuary, of twenty mayin the shekel, 
 half a shekel shall be set apart before the Lord. Every 
 one who cometh over to the adnumberment, from a son 
 of twenty years and above, shall give the separation 
 before the Lord. He who is rich shall not increase (it), 
 and he who is poor shall not diminish from the half 
 shekel in presenting the separation before the Lord to 
 propitiate for your souls. And thou shalt take the 
 silver of the propitiation from the sons of Israel, and 
 appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of ordinance; 
 and it shall be to the sons of Israel for a memorial before 
 the Lord to propitiate for your souls. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying. Thou shalt 
 make a Laver of brass, and its foundation of brass for 
 purifying; and set it between the tabernacle of ordi¬ 
 nance and the altar, and put water therein. And 
 Aharon and his sons shall purify at it their hands and 
 their feet. In their entering into the tabernacle of ordi¬ 
 nance they shall cleanse themselves with water, that 
 they die not ; or when they approach the altar to 
 minister, to offer an oblation before the Lord ; and (thus) 
 they shall purify their hands and their feet, that they may 
 not die. And it shall be to them an everlastiug statute, 
 to him and to his sons unto their generations. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, Take thou 
 also to thee choice (first or principal) aromatics: pure 
 myrrh, five hundred (shekels* weight); and sweet cinna¬ 
 mon, one half (as much), two hundred and fifty (shekels*) 
 weight; of sweet calamus, two hundred and fifty (she¬ 
 kels*) weight; and cassia, five hundred (shekels*) weight, 
 of the shekels of the sanctuary; and olive oil, a liina 
 full; and make it a holy anointing oil, most fragrant, 
 
XXXI.] ON EXODUS. 417 
 
 the work of the perfumer ; it shall be the holy oil 
 for anointing. And thou shalt anoint therewith the 
 tabernacle of ordinance and the ark of the testimony, 
 and the table and all its vessels, and the candela¬ 
 brum and its -vessels, and the altar of sweet incense, 
 and the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, 
 and the laver and its foundation, and consecrate 
 them. They shall be most holy; whoever approacheth 
 them shall be sanctified. And Aharon and his sons 
 thou shalt anoint, and consecrate them to minister 
 'before Me. And thou shalt speak to the sons of Israel, 
 saying, A holy anointing oil shall thus be unto Me for 
 your generations. Upon the flesh of man it shall not 
 be poured, nor the like to it be made; sacred is it, and 
 sacred shall it be to you. The man who compoundeth 
 the like to it, or who putteth it upon an alien, shall be 
 destroyed from his people. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Take thee spices, 
 stachte 9 and onycha, and galbanum spices, and pure 
 frankincense, weight for weight shall they be; and thou 
 shalt make it a sweet incense, fragrant, the work of the 
 perfumer, mixed, pure, for consecration. And thou 
 shalt beat some of it and make it fine, and put thereof 
 before the testimony in the tabernacle of ordinance, 
 where I will appoint My Word to be with thee; to you 
 it shall be most holy. And of the sweet incense which 
 thou shalt make you must not make the like for your¬ 
 selves ; it shall be sacred to thee before the Lord. The 
 man who maketh the like of it, to smell thereto, shall 
 be destroyed from his people. 
 
 XXXI. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, 
 Behold, I have named by name Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur, 
 of the tribe of Jehudah, and have fulfilled him with the 
 spirit of prophecy from before the Lord, with wisdom, 
 9 Sam. Vers., “balsam.” 
 
 T 5 
 
418 TAUGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 and with intelligence, and with knowledge, and in all 
 work (to excel), to instruct artificers to work in gold, 
 and in silver, and in brass, and in artisanship of precious 
 stone, to fill in, and in carving of wood, to accomplish 
 all the work. And I, behold, have given with him 
 Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of the tribe of Dan m } and in 
 the heart of all the wise of heart have I ingiven wisdom, 
 that they may make all that I have commanded thee - : 
 The tabernacle of ordinance, and the ark of the testi¬ 
 mony, and the propitiatory that is upon it, and all the 
 vessels of the tabernacle; and the table and its vessels/ 
 and the pure candelabrum and all its vessels, and the 
 altar of sweet incense, and the altar of burnt offering 
 and all its vessels, and the laver and its foundation. 
 And the vestments of ministration, and the holy vest¬ 
 ments of Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his 
 sons for ministry; and the oil of anointing, and the 
 sweet incense for the sanctuary, according to all that 
 I have commanded thee, they shall make. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, Speak thou 
 also with the sons of Israel, saying, The days of My 
 Sabbaths ye shall indeed keep; for it is a sign between 
 My Word and you, unto your generations, that ye may 
 know that I am the Lord who sanctifieth you. And 
 you shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy unto you; 
 whosoever profaneth it, dying, he shall die; for whoso¬ 
 ever doeth work therein, that man shall be destroyed 
 from among his people. Six days shalt thou do work, 
 and the seventh day is Sabbath, the Holy Sabbath 
 before the Lord : whosoever doeth work on the day of 
 the Sabbath, dying, he shall die. And the sons of Israel 
 shall keep the Sabbath to fulfil (lit., perform) the Sabbath 
 unto their generations, a statute for ever. Between My 
 Word and the sons of Israel it is a sign for ever; for in 
 six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth; and 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 419 
 
 XXXII.] 
 
 in the seventh day rested and was refreshed . 10 And He 
 gave to Mosheh, when He had finished to speak with 
 him on Mount Sinai, two tablets of the testimony, 
 tablets of stone, inscribed with the finger of the Lord. 
 
 XXXII. But the people saw that Mosheh delayed to 
 come down from the Mount; and the people gathered 
 together unto Aharon, and said to him. Arise, make us 
 gods (dachalariy pi., objects to be venerated) that may 
 proceed before us ; n for this Mosheh, the man who 
 brought us up from the land of Mizraim, we know not 
 what hath been to him. And Aharon said to them, 
 Take off the golden ear-rings which are in the ears of 
 your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring 
 them to me. And all the people took off the golden 
 rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto 
 Aharon. And he took them from their hands, and 
 formed it with a graver, and made it a molten calf. 
 And they said. These are thy gods, Israel, which 
 brought thee up from the land of Mizraim. And 
 Aharon saw , 1 and builded an altar before it; and 
 Aharon proclaimed and said, A feast shall be held 
 before the Lord to-morrow. And they arose next day, 
 and sacrificed burnt offerings and offered oblations; and 
 the people sat around to eat and drink, and rose up to 
 disport. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, Go, descend, for 
 thy people whom thou broughtest up from the land of 
 Mizraim have corrupted themselves; they have quickly 
 warped from the way which I had taught them; they 
 have made a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and 
 sacrificed unto it, and have said, These are thy gods, 
 Israel, which have brought thee up from the land of 
 Mizraim. And the Lord said to Mosheh, It is seen 
 
 11 Sam. Vers., “as it may please us.” 
 
 10 Sam. Vers., “breathed . 3 
 1 Sam. Vers., “ feared.” 
 
420 TARGUM or OXKtLOS [chap. 
 
 before Me tliat this people are hard-necked. And now 
 refrain from thy prayer before Me, and My anger shall 
 prevail against them, and I will destroy them, and will 
 make thee to a great people. But Mosheh prayed 
 before the Lord his God, and said, Why, Lord, is Thy 
 anger strong against Thy people, whom Thou didst 
 bring up from the land of Mizraim with great power 
 and with mighty hand ? Wherefore should the Mizraee 
 speak to say, With evil (purpose) He led them out to 
 kill them among the mountains, and to consume them 
 from the face of the earth ? Turn from the strength of 
 Thine anger, and revert from the evil which Thou hast 
 threatened to do unto Thy people. Remember Abraham, 
 Izhak, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou hast sworn 
 by Thy Word, and to whom Thou hast said, I will 
 multiply your sons as the stars of the heavens, and all 
 this land of which I have spoken. I will give unto your 
 sons, and they shall own it for ever. 
 
 And the Lord did turn from the evil which He had 
 threatened to do unto the people. And Mosheh returned 
 and w’ent dow r n from the Mount, and the two tablets 
 of testimony w r ere in his hand: the tablets were inscribed 
 on their tw r o sides, here and there were they inscribed. 
 And the tablets were the work of the Lord, and the 
 writing was the writing of the Lord set forth distinctly 
 upon the tablets. 
 
 And Jehoshua heard the voice of the people as they 
 made outcry, and he said to Mosheh, The voice of war 
 is in the camp. But he said, It is not the voice of 
 men w r ho are victorious, nor is it the voice of the weak 
 who are beaten, but it is the voice of revellers that I 
 hear. And it was that as he drew nigh the camp, and 
 saw the calf and the dancing, that the anger of Mosheh 
 grew strong, and he cast from his hands the tablets, 
 and brake them at the declivity of the mountain. And 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 421 
 
 XXXII.] 
 
 he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in 
 fire, and ground it until it was powder, and spread it 
 on the face of the water, and made the sons of Israel 
 drink it. 
 
 And Mosheh said to Aharon, What did this people 
 to thee, that thou hast brought upon them so great a 
 sin ? And Aharon said, Let not my lord's anger be 
 violent: thou knowest the people, that it is prone to 
 evil. And they said to me, Make us gods that shall 
 go before us : for this Mosheh, the man who brought us 
 up from the land of Mizraim, we know not what hath 
 been done to him. And I said to them, Whoever hath 
 gold let him deliver, and give it to me; and I cast it 
 into the fire, and this calf came forth. And Mosheh 
 saw that the people were undone (or, made empty); for 
 Aharon had undone them, to defile them with an evil 
 name in their generations; and Mosheh stood at the 
 gate of the camp, and said. Let those who fear the Lord 
 come to me. And all the sous of Levi gathered 
 together to him. And he said to them. Thus saith the 
 Lord the God of Israel, Let every man put his sword 
 upon his thigh, pass through, and return, from gate to 
 gate in the camp, and slay, a man his brother, and a 
 man his companion, and a man his neighbour. And 
 the sons of Levi did according to the word of Mosheh, 
 and there fell of the people in that day as three thou¬ 
 sand men. And Mosheh said, Present your hands 2 this 
 day an offering before the Lord, every man with (or, on 
 account of) his son and his brother, that you may bring 
 blessings upon you this day. 
 
 And it was on the day following that Mosheh said 
 to the people, You have sinned a great sin; but now I 
 will go up before the Lord, if haply I may propitiate 
 for your sin. And Mosheh returned before the Lord, 
 
 2 Some copies omit “ your hands,” and read, “ Present your offerings.” 
 
422 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 and said in his prayer. This people have sinned a great 
 sin, for they have made to them gods of gold. But 
 now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin ! But if not, blot 
 me now out of the Book which Thou hast written. 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Him who hath sinned 
 before Me, will I blot from My book. But now, go, 
 lead the people to the place that I have told thee of: 
 behold, My Angel shall proceed before thee; and in the 
 day that I visit, I will visit upon them their sin. And 
 the Lord smote the people because they had worshipped 
 (or served) the calf which Aharon had made. 
 
 XXXIII. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Go, descend 
 from hence, thou and the people thou hast brought up 
 from the land of Mizraim, unto the land which I have 
 covenanted unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob, 
 saying, To thy sons will I give it. And I will send My 
 Angel before thee, and will drive out the Kenaanaee, 
 the Amoraee, and Hittaee, and the Pherizaee, the 
 Ilivaee, and the Jebusaee; to the land producing milk 
 and honey: for My Shekinah shall not go up among 
 you, because thou art a hard-necked people, lest I 
 destroy thee in the way. And the people heard these 
 ■words of evil, and lamented, and no man put on his 
 usual ornaments. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Say 
 to the children of Israel, Ye are a hard-necked people; 
 if one hour My Shekinah go up among thee, I should 
 destroy thee. And now take off thy garnishing from 
 thee, and it will appear before me what I shall do with 
 thee. And the children of Israel removed their usual 
 ornaments (on their return) from the mount of Horeb. 
 And Mosheh took a tabernacle, and spread it for him¬ 
 self without the camp, at a distance from the camp, 
 and called it the Tabernacle of the House of Listruction : 
 and it was that every one who sought instruction from 
 before the Lord, went forth to the tabernacle of the 
 
XXXIII.] ON EXODUS. 423 
 
 house of instruction without the camp. And it came 
 to pass that when Mosheh went forth to the taber¬ 
 nacle, all the people rose up, and stood, every man at 
 the door of his tent, and looked after Mosheh until he 
 had entered into the tabernacle. And it was when 
 Mosheh had entered the tabernacle, the column of 
 the Cloud descended and stood at the door of the taber¬ 
 nacle, and (He) spake with Mosheh. And all the 
 people saw the column of the Cloud standing at the 
 door of the tabernacle, and all the people arose and 
 worshipped, every man at the door of his tent. And 
 the Lord spake with Mosheh word with word, as a man 
 speaketh with his companion. And he returned to the 
 camp ; but his minister, Jehoshua bar Nun, a young 
 man, did not remove from the tabernacle. 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, See, Thou hast 
 said to me, Take this people up ; but Thou hast not let 
 me know whom Thou wilt send with me; yet Thou hast 
 said, I have ordained thee by name, and thou hast found 
 mercy before Me. And if now I have found mercy 
 before Thee, show me, I pray, Thy good way , 3 that I 
 may know Thy loving-kindness, and may find mercy 
 before Thee, and make it manifest before Thee that this 
 people is Thy people. And He said. My Shekinah 
 shall go, and I will give thee rest. And he said before 
 Him, If Thy Shekinah goeth not among us, let us not 
 ascend from hence. And in what shall it be known 
 that I and Thy people have found mercy before Thee, if 
 Thy Shekinah go not up with us, to make for us the 
 distinction , 4 and to distinguish me and Thy people from 
 every people that is upon the face of the earth ? And 
 the Lord said to Mosheh, This thing that thou hast 
 spoken will I do, because thou hast found mercy before 
 
 8 Or, " the way of Thy Goodness.” 
 
 4 Sam. Vers., “ to make us free.” 
 
424 TARGTJM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 Me, and I have ordained thee by name. And he said. 
 Show me, I pray, Thy Glory ! And He said, I will 
 make all My Goodness pass before thy face , 5 and I will 
 proclaim the Name of the Lord before thee, and I will be 
 gracious to whom I will be gracious, and have mercy on 
 whom I will have mercy. And He said. Thou canst 
 not see the Face of My Shekinah; for no man can see 
 Me and abide alive. And the Lord said, Behold, there 
 is a place prepared before Me, and thou shalt stand 
 upon the rock, and it shall be, when My Glory passeth, 
 I will put thee in a cavern of the rock, and My Word 
 shall overshadow thee until I have passed; and I will 
 take away the word ( dibberath) of My Glory, and thou 
 shalt see that which is after Me , 6 but My Aspect 7 shall 
 not be seen. 
 
 XXXIV. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Hew thee 
 two tablets of stone as the first ones, and I will write 
 upon the tablets the w r ords that were upon the former 
 tablets w'hich thou hast broken. And be ready in the 
 morning, and go up at morn to Mount Sinai, and stand 
 there before Me on the summit of the mountain. Let 
 no man ascend with thee; let no man be seen upon all 
 the mountain, nor sheep nor oxen be grazing upon the 
 mountain. And hew two tablets of stone like the 
 former ones. 
 
 And Mosheh arose in the morning, and ascended 
 Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and 
 took in his hand two tablets of stone. And the Lord 
 was revealed in the Cloud, and He stood with him there, 
 and He proclaimed the Name of the Lord . 8 And the 
 Lord made His Shekinah pass before his face; and lie 
 
 5 Sam. Vers., “ My loving-kindness shall go before, and will lead 
 thee.” 
 
 6 Le-bathrai. 7 De-kadamai. 
 
 fl Or, " proclaimed in the Name of the Lord.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 425 
 
 XXXIV.] 
 
 proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, Merciful and 
 Gracious, slow to anger, and making goodness and 
 truth to abound; Keeping goodness for thousands of 
 generations; Forgiving iniquity and rebellion and guilt; 
 Pardoning them who convert unto His law, but ac¬ 
 quitting not them who convert not; Yisiting the guilt 
 of fathers upon the children and upon the children's 
 children of the rebellious, upon the third and upon the 
 fourth generation. And Mosheh made haste, and 
 bowed upon the ground and worshipped. 
 
 And he said, If now I have found mercy before Thee, 
 0 Lord, let, I pray, the Shekinah of the Lord go among 
 us; for it is a hard-necked people; but forgive Thou 
 our guilt and our sin, and take possession of us. And 
 He said, Behold, I make a covenant before all thy 
 people that I will do wonders which were never created 
 upon all the earth, nor among any of the peoples; and 
 all peoples among whom thou art shall see the work of 
 the Lord; for terrible shall that be which I will do with 
 thee. Observe thou that which I command thee this 
 day. Behold, I will drive out from before thee the 
 Amoraee, and Kenaanaee, and Hittaee, and Pherizaee, 
 and Hivaee, and Jebusaee. Beware lest thou make a 
 covenant with the inhabitants of the land upon which 
 thou shalt enter, lest it become a stumbling-block in the 
 midst of thee: but their altars thou shalt destroy, and 
 their statues break, and their groves cut down; 9 for 
 thou shalt not worship the idols of the peoples; for the 
 Lord, Zealous is His Name, a zealous God is He. Lest 
 thou strike a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, 
 and go erring after their idols, and to their idols offer 
 sacrifices, and they invite thee, and thou eat of their 
 sacrifices, and thou take of their daughters for thy sons, 
 and they make thy daughters go erring after their idols, 
 9 Sam. Vers., “ root up.” 
 
426 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 and thy sons to go erring after their idols. Molten 
 gods thou shalt not make to thee. 
 
 The feast of the unleavened thou shalt keep. Seven 
 days thou shalt eat unleavened (bread) as I have com¬ 
 manded thee, in the time of the month of Abiva; for in 
 the month of Abiva thou didst come out of Mizraim. 
 All that openeth the womb is Mine; all males of cattle 
 thou shalt sanctify, the first-born of oxen and of sheep. 
 But the firstling of an ass thou raayest redeem with a 
 lamb; but if thou redeem him not, thou shalt cut him 
 off. All the first-born of thy sons thou shalt redeem. 
 
 And let none appear before Me empty. Six days 
 thou shalt labour, and on the seventh day rest; in 
 sowing (time) and in reaping thou shalt rest. And the 
 feast of Weeks thou shalt make to thee, of the firsts of 
 the wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering in the 
 cycle of the year. Three times in the year shall all 
 your males appear before the Master of the World, the 
 Lord God of Israel. Tor I will drive out the nations 
 before thee, and enlarge thy borders, and no man shall 
 covet thy land when thou goest up to appear before the 
 Lord thy God three times in the year. Thou shalt not 
 sacrifice the blood of My Pascha with leaven, nor shall 
 the fat of the sacrifices of the Paschal feast be left with¬ 
 out the altar till the morning. The chief of the first- 
 fruits of thy land thou shalt bring to the sanctuary of 
 the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not eat flesh with milk. 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Write for thee these 
 words; for upon the expression of these words I make 
 covenant with thee and with Israel. 
 
 And he was there before the Lord forty days and 
 forty nights; bread he ate not, nor water did he drink; 
 and he wrote upon the tablets the words of the cove¬ 
 nant, the Ten Words. And it was when Mosheh 
 descended from the mountain of Sinai with the two 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 427 
 
 XXXV.] 
 
 tablets of the testimony in the hand of Mosheh, in his 
 descending from the mount, that Mosheh knew not 
 how great was the splendour of the glory of his coun¬ 
 tenance through His speaking with him. And Aharon 
 and all the sons of Israel saw Mosheh, and, behold, 
 great was the splendour of the glory of his countenance, 
 and they were afraid to approach him. But Mosheh 
 called to them, and Aharon and all the chiefs of the 
 congregation returned to him, and Mosheh conversed 
 with them. And afterward all the sons of Israel drew 
 near, and he taught them all that the Lord had said to 
 him on Mount Sinai. And when Mosheh had com¬ 
 pleted to speak with them, he put a veil upon his face. 
 But when Mosheh went in before the Lord to speak 
 with Him, he removed the veil until he came out. 
 And he went forth and spake with the sons of 
 Israel of that which was commanded. And the chil¬ 
 dren of Israel saw the face of Mosheh, that the 
 splendour of the glory of Mosheh's face was great; 
 and Mosheh put the veil again upon his face until he 
 went in to speak with Him. 
 
 SECTION XXII. 
 
 VAYAKEHEL. 
 
 XXXV. And Mosheh assembled all the congrega¬ 
 tion of the sons of Israel, and said to them, These are 
 the things which the Lord hath commanded you to do. 
 Six days thou shalt do work, but the seventh day (is) a 
 
428 TAKGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 holy rest, the Sabbath 1 before the Lord : every one who 
 doeth work thereon shall be put to death. You may 
 not kindle a fire in all your dwellings on the day of the 
 Sabbath. And Mosheh spake to all the congregation 
 of the sons of Israel, saying, This is the word which the 
 Lord hath commanded, saying, Take from you a separa¬ 
 tion ( 'aphrashutha ) before the Lord of every one whose 
 heart may be willing; let him bring the separation 
 before the Lord: gold, ’ and silver, and brass, and 
 hyacinth, and crimson, and scarlet, and fine linen, and 
 goat's hair, and ram's skin dyed red, and purple skins, 
 and sittin w r oods ; and oil for the illuminator, and aro¬ 
 matics for the anointing oil, and for the sweet perfumes; 
 and onyx stones and complete stones for insetting in 
 the ephod and in the breastplate. And all the wise- 
 hearted among you shall come and make all that the 
 Lord hath commanded : the tabernacle, its.tent and its 
 coverings, its hasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and 
 its bases. The ark, and its staves, the mercy-seat, 
 and the veil that shall be spread; the table, and its 
 staves, and all its vessels; and the bread of the Pre¬ 
 sence, and the candelabrum for light, and its vessels, 
 and its lamps, and the oil for illumination. And the 
 altar of sweet incense, and its staves, and the oil of 
 anointing, and the incense of perfumes, and the curtain 
 of the door of the tabernacle. The altar of burnt- 
 offering, and its brasen grate, its staves, and all its ves¬ 
 sels ; the laver and its base. The curtains of the court, 
 and its pillars, and its bases, and the hanging of the 
 gate of the court. The nails of the tabernacle, and the 
 nails of the court and their cordings. The vestments of 
 ministration for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy 
 vestments of Aharon the priest, and the vestments of 
 his sons for ministration. 
 
 1 Shabbatha. 
 
XXXV.] ON EXODUS. 429 
 
 And all the congregation of the sons of Israel went 
 forth from before Mosheh. And they came, every man 
 who was led by his heart, and every one whose spirit 
 was ample, and brought their separation before the 
 Lord, for the work of the tabernacle of ordinance, and 
 for all its service, and for the holy vestments. And they 
 came, the men with the women, every one who was 
 willing of heart, and brought chains, and bracelets, and 
 rings, and bands, all of gold. And every man who 
 uplifted an offering of gold before the Lord, and 
 every man with whom was found hyacinth, or purple, 
 or crimson, or fine linen, or goats' skins, or rams' skins 
 dyed red, or purpled skins, brought. Every one who 
 would offer silver or brass, brought the separation 
 before the Lord; and every one with whom was found 
 woods of sittin for any work of the service, brought. 
 And every woman wise in heart spun with her hands, 
 and brought what was spun, the hyacinth, the purple, 
 the crimson, and the fine linen. And all the women 
 with whom was willingness of heart with wisdom spun 
 goat's hair. And the princes brought onyx stones and 
 complete stones for the insetting of the ephod and the 
 breastplate; and the perfume, and oil for the light and 
 for the oil of anointing, and the incense of perfumes. 
 Every man and woman whose heart led them to bring 
 for all the work which the Lord had commanded to 
 make by Mosheh, did the children of Israel bring 
 willingly before the Lord. 
 
 And Mosheh said to the sons of Israel, See, the 
 Lord hath ordained by name Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur, 
 of the tribe of Jehudah, and hath filled him with the 
 spirit of prophecy 2 from before the Lord, wdth wisdom, 
 with intelligence, and with knowledge, for all handi¬ 
 craft, and to teach the arts of working in gold, and in 
 
 2 Some copies omit “of prophecy.” 
 
430 TARGUM OP ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 silver, and in brass, and the skilful work of precious 
 stones for enchasing, and the workmanship of wood to 
 work in all the work of the artificer. And he hath 
 ingiven in his heart to teach also Ahaliab bar Achisa- 
 mak, of the tribe of Dan, and hath tilled them with 
 wisdom of heart to make all the work of the car¬ 
 penter, and artificer, and embroiderer, in hyacinth, and 
 in purple, and in scarlet, and in fine linen, and the 
 weaver, of (such as) do any work, and who teach the 
 arts. 
 
 XXXVI. And Bezalel and Ahaliab, with every man 
 wise in heart, to whom the Lord had given wisdom and 
 intelligence to know how to make each work for the 
 service of the sanctuary, wrought (according) to all that 
 the Lord had commanded. And Mosheh called Bezalel 
 and Ahaliab, and every man wise in heart, to whose 
 heart the Lord had given wisdom, every one wffiose 
 heart was led to draw near and do the work itself. And 
 they took from Mosheh all the separation which the 
 children of Israel had brought for the work of the ser¬ 
 vice of the sanctuary to make it. And they still 
 brought to him votive offerings from morning to morn¬ 
 ing. And all the wise men who wrought all the work 
 of the sanctuary came, each man from his work which 
 they had wrought. And they spake with Mosheh, 
 saying, The people abound in bringing more than is 
 needed for the work which the Lord hath commanded to 
 make. And Mosheh ordered, and they made publica¬ 
 tion in the camp, saying, Let no man or woman make any 
 more work of the separation for the sanctuary : and the 
 people ceased to bring. Bor what had been done was 
 sufficient for all the work to be wrought, and more than 
 enough. And all the wise-hearted of them who did the 
 work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine linen, 
 and hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, (with) forms of 
 
XXXVI.] ON EXODUS. 431 
 
 kerubin ; 3 tlie work of the embroiderer he made them. 
 The length of one curtain twenty and eight cubits, and 
 the breadth of the curtain four cubits; there was one 
 measure for all the curtains. And he conjoined five 
 curtains one with another, and five curtains conjoined 
 he one with another. And he made loopings of hyacinth 
 upon the border of one curtain at the edge of the place 
 of conjunction; so made he upon the border of the 
 other curtain at the edge of the second place of con¬ 
 junction. Fifty loopings he made on one curtain, and 
 fifty loopings he made on the border of the second cur¬ 
 tain at the place of conjunction : the loopings were 
 arranged the one to correspond with the other. And he 
 made fifty taches of gold, and conjoined the curtains one 
 with another by the taches, and the tabernacle became one. 
 
 And he made curtains of goat's hair to spread over 
 the tabernacle: eleven curtains made he them. The 
 length of one curtain thirty cubits, and four cubits the 
 breadth of one curtain; one measure had the eleven 
 curtains. And he conjoined five curtains together, and 
 six curtains together. And he made fifty loops upon 
 the border of the curtain on the side of the conjunction, 
 and fifty loops made he upon the side of the second cur¬ 
 tain at the place of conjuncture. And he made fifty 
 taches of brass to conjoin the tabernacle, that it might 
 be one. And he made the covering of the tabernacle of 
 rams' skins reddened, and a covering of purple skins 
 above. And he made the boards of the tabernacle of 
 sittin wood, standing. Ten cubits the length of a 
 board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of one board. 
 Two tenons for one board corresponding one with the 
 other; so made he for all the boards of the tabernacle. 
 And he made the boards of the tabernacle twenty boards 
 on the side towards the south. And forty sockets of 
 
 3 Sara. Vers., “pictures of kerubia.” 
 
432 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 silver made he under the twenty boards, two sockets 
 under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets 
 under one board for its two tenons. And for the 
 second .side of the tabernacle toward the north he 
 made twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver; 
 two sockets under one board, and two sockets under 
 one board. And for the side of the tabernacle west¬ 
 ward he made six boards; and two boards made he at 
 the corners of the tabernacle at their extremities. And 
 they were compacted in the lower part together, and 
 compacted in their upper part by one ring; thus did he 
 at both of the two corners. And there were eight 
 boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two 
 and two, under each board. And he made bars of sit- 
 tin wood; five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, 
 and five bars for the boards of the second side of the 
 tabernacle, and five bars for the extremity of the tabernacle, 
 westward. And he made a middle bar to pass through, 
 in the midst of the boards from end to end. And the 
 boards he overlaid with gold, and their rings made he 
 of gold (to be) places for the bars, and he covered the 
 bars with gold. 
 
 And he made the Veil of hyacinth, and purple, and 
 crimson, and fine linen; of the work of the embroiderer 
 he made it, with forms of kerubin. And he made for 
 it four pillars of sittin, and covered (them) with gold, 
 and their hooks of gold, and cast for them four sockets 
 of silver. And he made a curtain for the door of the 
 tabernacle, of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and 
 fine linen, the work of the embroiderer. And its five 
 pillars and their hooks ; and he overlaid their capitals, 
 and covered them and their joining rods with gold, and 
 their five bases (made he) of brass. 
 
 XXXVII. And Bezalel made the Ark of sittin woods ; 
 two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half 
 
xxxvii.] on exodus. 433 
 
 its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And he 
 covered it with pure gold within and without, and made 
 for it a wreath of gold round about. And he cast for 
 it four rings of gold upon its four corners, two rings on 
 the one side of it, and two rings on the second side. 
 And he made staves of sittin wood, and covered them 
 with gold. And he introduced the staves into the rings 
 on the sides of the ark, for carrying the ark. 
 
 And he made the Mercy Seat of pure gold; two 
 cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and°a half its 
 breadth. And he made two kerubim, of beaten gold 
 he made them, at the two sides of the mercy seat. One 
 keruba on this side, and one keruba on that side of 
 the mercy seat; he made the kerubaia from its two 
 sides. And the kerubaia spread out their wings above, 
 overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings; and 
 their faces were one towards the other, over against the 
 mercy seat were the faces of the kerubaia. 
 
 And he made the Table of sittin woods; two cubits its 
 length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half 
 its height. And he covered it with pure gold, and 
 made for it a golden crown round about, and made 
 for it a rim, 1 its height a span, round about; and he 
 made a crown of gold for its rim round about. And 
 he cast for it four golden rings, and set the rings upon 
 the four corners of its four feet. Over against the rim 
 were the rings to be the place of the staves for carrying 
 the table. And he made the vessels which were to be 
 upon the table; its dishes, and its vases, and its mea¬ 
 sures, and the cups with which (the libations) are out¬ 
 poured, of pure gold. 
 
 And he made the Candelabrum of pure gold, beaten 
 made he the candelabrum, its rest, its shaft, its cups, its 
 apples, 3 and its lilies were of the same. And six 
 1 Sam. Vers., “a wreath.” 2 Or, “spherieles ” 
 
TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 43-Jt 
 
 [chap. 
 
 branchlets proceeded from its sides; three branclilets 
 of the candelabrum on one side, and three branchlets of 
 the candelabrum on the second side. Three cups figu- 
 rated on one branchlet, an apple, and a lily: so the six 
 branchlets which proceeded from the candelabrum. 
 And on the candelabrum four cups figurated, its apples 
 and its lilies. An apple under two branchlets of the 
 same, and an apple under two branchlets of the same, 
 and an apple under two branchlets of the same, for the 
 six branchlets that proceeded from it. Their apples and 
 their branches were of the same, all of one beaten work 
 of pure gold. And he made its seven lamps, and its 
 snuffers, and its receivers of pure gold; of a talent of 
 pure gold made he it, and all its vessels. 
 
 And he made the Altar of sweet Incense of sittin 
 wood ; its length a cubit, and a cubit its breadth, four¬ 
 square, and two cubits the height of it; of the same 
 were its horns. And he overlaid it with pure gold, its top 
 and its sides round about, and its horns : and he made for 
 it a golden crown round about. And two rings of gold 
 made he for it under its crown, upon its two sides, the 
 place for the staves by which to carry it. And he made 
 the staves of sittin wood, and overlaid them with gold. 
 And he made the oil for holy anointment, and the pure 
 sweet incense, the work of the perfumer. 
 
 XXXYIII. And he made the Altar of Burnt Offer¬ 
 ing of sittin wood; five cubits its length, and five cubits 
 its breadth, four-square, and three cubits its height. 
 And he made its horns upon its four corners, of the 
 same w r ere its horns, and he coated it with brass. And 
 he made all the vessels of the altar, the caldrons, and 
 the cleaners, and the basins, and the fleshhooks, and the 
 receivers; all its vessels made he of brass. And he 
 made for the altar a brasen grate of network, under its 
 border beneath, (reaching) unto its middle. And he 
 
XXXVIII.] ON EXODUS. 435 
 
 cast four rings for the four corners of the brasen grate, 
 the place for the staves. And he made the staves of 
 sittin wood, and overlaid them with brass. And he put 
 the staves into the rings upon the sides of the altar by 
 which to carry it; hollow with boards he made it. 
 
 And he made the Laver of brass, and its base of brass, 
 of the mirrors of the women who come to pray at the 
 door of the tabernacle of ordinance. And he made the 
 court, the southern side of which was of hangings for 
 the court, of fine linen twined, of a hundred cubits; 
 their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; 
 the hooks, pillars, and their uniting rods of silver. And 
 for the northern side (hangings) of a hundred cubits, 
 their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass ; 
 the hooks of the pillars and their uniting rods of 
 silver. And for the western side, curtains, fifty cubits; 
 their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of 
 the pillars and their uniting rods of silver. And on the 
 eastern side, eastward, fifty cubits. The hangings 
 fifteen cubits on (one) side (of the gate), their pillars 
 three, and their bases three. And on the second side 
 of the gate of the court, here and there, hangings, fif¬ 
 teen cubits; their pillars three, and their bases three. 
 All the hangings of the court round about were 
 of fine linen twined. And the bases of the pillars 
 were of brass, the hooks, pillars, and their uniting rods 
 of silver, and the overlaying of their heads was of 
 silver, and there were uniting rods of silver for all the 
 pillars of the court. And the veil for the gate of 
 the court was the work of the embroiderer, hyacinth, 
 and purple, and crimson, and fine linen; and twenty 
 cubits was its length, and the height, in the breadth five 
 cubits, according (to the height of) the curtains of the 
 court. And their pillars four, and their bases four, of 
 brass, and their hooks silver, and the overlaying of their 
 
436 
 
 TARGUM OF ONKELOS 
 
 [chap. 
 
 heads and their uniting rods, silver. And all the pins of 
 the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of 
 brass. 
 
 SECTION XXIII. 
 
 PEKUDEY. 
 
 These are the admeasurements 3 of the Tabernacle, 
 the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were numbered 
 upon the word of Mosheh: the service of the Levites 
 by the hand of Ithamar bar Aharon the priest. And 
 Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur of the tribe of Jehudah made 
 all that the Lord commanded Mosheh. And with him 
 Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of the tribe of Dan, a wood¬ 
 worker, and artificer, and embroiderer in hyacinth, 
 and in purple, and in crimson, and in fine linen. And 
 all the gold which was used in making all the work of 
 the sanctuary, and which had been a separation 4 (there¬ 
 unto), was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred 
 and thirty shekels, of the shekels of the sanctuary. 
 And the silver of the numbered ones of the congrega¬ 
 tion was a hundred talents, and a thousand and seven 
 hundred and seventy and five shekels, in the shekels of 
 the sanctuary. The weight was (appointed) by capita¬ 
 tion ; a half shekel, in the shekel of the sanctuary, for 
 every one who passed to the adnumberments from twenty 
 years (old) and upward, for six hundred and three thou¬ 
 sand and five hundred and fifty men. 
 
 And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the 
 bases of the sanctuary, and the bases of the veil (or tent), 
 a hundred bases with a hundred talents, a talent for a 
 3 Or, “ numerations.” 4 Some copies, “ gold of the offering.” 
 
437 
 
 XXXIX.] ON EXODUS. 
 
 base. And with the thousand and seven hundred and 
 seventy and five (shekels) he made the hooks for the 
 pillars, and covered their capitals, and made their uniting 
 rods. And the brass of the oblation was seventy 
 talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 
 And with it he made the bases of the door of the 
 Tabernacle of Ordinance, and the altar of brass, and the 
 brasen grate which pertained to it, and all the vessels 
 of the altar; and the bases of the court round about, 
 and the bases of the door of the court, and all the pins 
 of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round 
 about. 
 
 XXXIX. And of the hyacinth, and purple, and 
 crimson, they made the vestments of ministration to 
 minister in the sanctuary, and they made the holy vest¬ 
 ments of Aharon, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. 
 And he made the ephoda of gold, hyacinth, and purple, 
 and crimson, and fine linen twined. And they beat 
 out 5 the plates of gold, and cut (them) into threads, to 
 insert into the hyacinth, and the purple, and the crim¬ 
 son, and the fine linen, the work of the artificer. 
 Shoulder-pieces made they for it, conjoined; at the two 
 sides were they conjoined. And the band of its fasten¬ 
 ing which is upon it was of the same according to its 
 work, of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and 
 fine linen twined, as the Lord had commanded 
 Mosheh. 
 
 And they wrought the onyx stones, inset in sockets 
 of gold, engraven in distinct writing, with the names of 
 the sons of Israel. And he set them upon the 
 shoulders of the ephoda, stones of memorial of the sons 
 of Israel, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. 
 
 And he made the Breastplate ( chushena :), the work 
 of the artificer, according to the work of the ephoda, of 
 5 Sam. Vers., “ broadened/’ 
 
438 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen 
 twined. Four-square was it, doubled made they the 
 breastplate; a span its length, and a span its breadth, 
 doubled. And they filled it 6 with four rows of precious 
 stones : the first row carnelian, topaz, and carbuncle, 
 row one; the second row, smaragd, sapphire, and eme¬ 
 rald; and the third row, jacinth, agate, and amethyst; 
 and the fourth row, chrysolite, beryl, and jasper: they 
 were set in sockets of gold, in their infillings. And 
 the stones were according to the names of the sons of 
 Israel, twelve, according to their names, written dis¬ 
 tinctly, as the engraving of a ring, each according to 
 his name for the twelve tribes. And they made upon 
 the breastplate chains enwreathed, 7 a work of braiding, 
 of pure gold. And they made two sockets of gold, and 
 two golden rings, and put the two rings upon the two 
 sides of the breastplate. And they put the two golden 
 wreaths upon the two rings upon the sides of the breast¬ 
 plate, and the two wreaths which were upon the two 
 sides they put upon the two sockets, and set them upon 
 the shoulders of the ephoda towards its face. And 
 they made two rings of gold, and set them on the two 
 sides of the breastplate, upon its edge which was on the 
 side of the ephoda inward. And they made two golden 
 rings, and set them on the two shoulders of the ephoda 
 underneath towards its front, toward the place of its 
 conjoinment, above the band of the ephoda. And they 
 adunited the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the 
 ephoda, by a ribbon of hyacinth, to be upon the band of 
 the ephoda, that the breastplate might not be loosened 
 from the ephoda, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. 8 
 
 8 Sara. Vers., “fitted.” 7 Sam. Vers., “wreathed chains.” 
 
 8 The Samaritan Text adds here: "And they made the Urim and 
 Thummim” (Version, “elucidations and perfections”) “as the Lord 
 commanded Mosheh.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 439 
 
 XXXIX.] 
 
 And he made the Robe of the ephoda, the work of 
 the embroiderer, altogether of hyacinth. And the open¬ 
 ing (mouth) of the robe in the middle of it like the 
 opening of a corslet, with a binding going about its 
 border, that it might not be torn. And they made upon 
 the hem of the robe pomegranates of hyacinth and 
 purple and crimson inwoven. And they made bells of 
 pure gold, and set the bells among the pomegranates 
 upon the hem of the robe round about among the 
 pomegranates. A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a 
 pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about, 
 to minister, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. 
 
 And they made the tunics of fine linen, the work of 
 the weaver, for Aharon and for his sons. And the 
 tiara of fine linen, and the mitres of beauty of fine 
 linen; and the drawers of linen, of fine linen twined. 
 And the girdle of fine linen twined, and hyacinth and 
 purple and crimson, the work of the embroiderer, as the 
 Lord commanded Mosheh. And they made the plate 
 of the diadem of holiness of pure gold, and wrote upon 
 it as the engraving of a ring in distinct writing. 
 Holiness unto the Lord. And they put upon it a 
 ribbon of hyacinth, that it might be upon the tiara 
 above, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. 
 
 And completed was all the work of the tabernacle, 
 the tabernacle of ordinance; and the sons of Israel did 
 according to all that the Lord had commanded Mosheh, 
 so did they. And they brought the tabernacle to 
 Mosheh, the tabernacle and all its vessels, its taches, its 
 boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its bases. And 
 the covering of rams* skins reddened, and the covering 
 of purple skins, and the veil for the hanging ; and the 
 ark of the testimony and its staves, and the mercy seat; 
 the table and all its vessels, and the bread of the Pre¬ 
 sence ; the pure candelabrum and its lamps, the lamps 
 
440 TARGUM OF ONKELOS [CHAP. 
 
 of order, and all its vessels ; and the oil for the light; 
 and the golden altar, and the oil of consecration, and 
 the sweet incense; and the hanging for the door of the 
 tabernacle; and the brasen altar and the brasen grate 
 for it; its staves and all its vessels; and the laver and 
 its base, the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its 
 sockets, and the veil for the gate of the court, its cords, 
 and its pins, and all the vessels of the service of the 
 tabernacle, for the tabernacle of ordinance; the vest¬ 
 ments of ministration to minister in the sanctuary, and 
 the holy vestments of Aharon the priest, and the vest¬ 
 ments of his sons to minister : according to all that the 
 Lord commanded Mosheh, so made the sons of Israel all 
 the service. And Mosheh surveyed all the work, and, 
 behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, 
 so had they done; and Mosheh blessed them. 
 
 XL. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, In 
 the day of ,tlie first month, in the first of the month, 
 thou shalt uprear the tabernacle, the tabernacle of ordi¬ 
 nance. And thou shalt set there the ark of the testi¬ 
 mony, and outspread the veil before the ark; and thou 
 shalt bring in the table, and arrange the order thereof. 
 And thou shalt bring in the candelabrum, and kindle 
 its lamps. And thou shalt put the golden altar of 
 sweet incense before the ark of the testimony, and set 
 the veil of the door of the tabernacle. And thou shalt 
 put the altar of burnt offering before the door of the 
 tabernacle, the tabernacle of ordinance. And thou 
 shalt place the laver between the tabernacle of ordinance 
 and the altar, and put water therein. And thou shalt 
 set the court round about, and put the hanging at the 
 "ate of the court. And thou shalt take the oil of con- 
 
 O 
 
 secration, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is 
 therein, and sanctify it, and all its vessels, and it shall 
 be holy. And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 441 
 
 XL.] 
 
 offering, and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar ; and 
 it shall be an altar most holy. And thou shalt anoint 
 the laver and its base, and sanctify it. And thou shalt 
 bring Aharon and his sons to the door of the tabernacle 
 of ordinance, and lave them with water, and shalt clothe 
 Aharon with the holy vestments, and anoint him, and 
 consecrate him, that he may minister before Me. And 
 thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with the 
 tunics, and consecrate them, as thou didst consecrate 
 their father, that they may minister before Me, and that 
 it may be to them the consecration 9 of a perpetual 
 priesthood in their generations. 
 
 And Mosheh did according to all which the Lord 
 commanded, so did he. And it was in the first month, 
 in the second year, on the first of the month, that the 
 tabernacle was reared. And Mosheh reared the taber¬ 
 nacle, and placed its bases, and set its boards, and fixed 
 its bars, and reared its pillars; and he spread the tent 
 upon the tabernacle, and set the covering of the taber¬ 
 nacle over it, above, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. 
 And he took and placed the testimony in the ark, and 
 set the staves upon the ark, and placed the mercy seat 
 upon the ark above. And he brought the ark into the 
 tabernacle, and placed the veil which was spread to 
 overshadow the ark of the testimony, as the Lord com¬ 
 manded Mosheh. And he placed the table in the 
 tabernacle of ordinance upon the side of the tabernacle 
 northward without the veil. And he set in order upon 
 it the rows of bread before the Lord, as the Lord com¬ 
 manded Mosheh. And he set the candelabrum in the 
 tabernacle of ordinance over against the table on the 
 side of the tabernacle southward. And he kindled the 
 lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. 
 And he set the golden altar in the tabernacle of ordi- 
 ' Sam. Vers., “ excellence.” 
 
 u 5 
 
442 TARGUM OF ONKELOS ON EXODUS. 
 
 nance before the veil, and burned thereon sweet incense, 
 as the Lord commanded Moslieh. . And he set the 
 hanging of the door of the tabernacle, and the altar of 
 burnt offering set he at the door of the tabernacle of 
 ordinance, and offered upon it the burnt offering, and 
 the oblation, (mincha,) as'the Lord had commanded 
 Mosheh. And he set the laver between the tabernacle 
 of ordinance and the altar, and put water therein for 
 purifying. And Mosheh and Aharon and his sons 
 purified with it their hands and their feet. In their 
 going into the tabernacle of ordinance, and in their 
 approachment to the altar, they purified (themselves), as 
 the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he set up the 
 court, round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set 
 the hanging of the gate of the court: and Mosheh com¬ 
 pleted the work. 
 
 And the Cloud covered the tabernacle of ordinance, 
 and the Glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And 
 Mosheh was not able to enter into the tabernacle of 
 ordinance, because the Cloud abode upon it, and the 
 Glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And when the 
 Cloud ascended above the tabernacle, the sons of Israel 
 went forward in all their journeys. And if the Cloud 
 did not ascend, they did not proceed, until the day of 
 its uprising. Lor the Cloud of the Glory of the Lord 
 was upon the tabernacle by day, and the vision of fire 
 was in it by night, in the eyes of all the house of Israel 
 in all their journeys. 
 
 END OF THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS ON SHEMOTH. 
 
THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BOOK SHEMOTH, 
 
 OR 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 SECTION OF THE LAW XIII. TITLE SHEMOTH. 
 
 And these are the names of the sons of Israel who 
 went into Mizraim with Jakob, each with the men of 
 his house entered in : Beuben, Shimeon, Levi, and 
 Jehudah; Issakar, Zebulon, and Benjamin; Dan and 
 Naphtali; Gad and Asher. And the number of all the 
 souls coming from the thigh of Jakob, seventy souls, 
 with Joseph and his sons, who were in Mizraim. 
 
 And Joseph died, and after him died all his brethren, 
 and all that generation. And the sons of Israel increased, 
 and multiplied children, and became strong, and pre¬ 
 vailed greatly, and the land was filled with them. And 
 there arose a new king (other) than he who was for¬ 
 merly over Mizraim, who took no knowledge of Joseph, 
 and walked not in his laws. [Jerusalem Targum. 
 And a king arose (different from him who was) 
 formerly over Mizraim, who took no knowledge of 
 Joseph, and walked not in his laws.] And he said to 
 his people, Behold now, the people of the house of 
 Israel are many, and are stronger than we. Come, let 
 
444 TAEGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 us take counsel against them in these matters, to 
 diminish them that they multiply not, so as that, should 
 war be arrayed against us, they be not added to our 
 adversaries, and destroy us that not one of us be left, 
 and they afterward go forth from the land. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And they kill us, and go up in peace from the 
 land.] And they set over them work-masters to afflict 
 them in their servitude; and they builded walled cities 
 to become Pharoh's treasure-places, Tanis and Pilusin. 
 [Jerusalem. Tanis and Pilusin.] But as much as they 
 depressed them, so much they multiplied, and so much 
 they prevailed, and the Mizraee were troubled in their 
 lives before the sons 'of Israel. And the Mizraee 
 enslaved the sons of Israel, and made their lives bitter 
 by hard service in clay and bricks, and all the labour of 
 the face of the field; and in all the work which they 
 made them do was hardness. 
 
 And Pharoh told that he, being asleep, had seen in 
 his dream, and, behold, all the land of Mizraim was 
 placed in one scale of a balance, and a lamb, the young 
 of a sheep, was in the other scale; and the scale with 
 the lamb in it overweighed. Porthwith he sent and 
 called all the magicians of Mizraim, and imparted to 
 them his dream. Immediately Jannis and Jambres, the 
 chief of the magicians, opened their mouth and answered 
 Pharoh,—A certain child is about to be born in the 
 congregation of Israel, by whose hand will be destruc¬ 
 tion to all the land of Mizraim. Therefore did Pharoh, 
 king of Mizraim, give counsel to the Jehudith mid¬ 
 wives, the name of one of whom was Shifra, who is 
 Jokeved, and the name of the other Puvah, who is 
 Miriam her daughter. [Jerusalem. And the king of 
 Mizraim told the Hebrew midwives, the name of the 
 first of whom was Shifra, and she was Jokeved, and the 
 name of the second Puvah, she was Miriam.] And 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 445 
 
 II.] 
 
 he said, When you attend Jehudith women, and see 
 them bear, if it be a male child, you shall kill him; but 
 if a daughter, you may let her live. But the mid wives 
 feared before the Lord, and would not do according to 
 what the king of Mizraim had said to them, but they 
 saved the children. And the king of Mizraim called 
 the midwives, and said to them, Why have you done 
 this thing, and have saved the children ? And the mid¬ 
 wives said to Pharoh, The Jehudith women are not as 
 the Mizraite, for they are sturdy (or, courageous) and 
 wise-minded : before the midwife cometh to them they 
 lift up their eyes in prayer, supplicating mercy before 
 their Bather wTlo is in heaven, who heareth the voice 
 of their prayer, and at once they are heard, and bring 
 forth, and are delivered in peace. [Jerusalem. Because 
 they are vivacious, and before the midwife cometh to 
 them they pray before their Bather who is in heaven, 
 and He answereth them, and they bring forth.] And 
 the Lord did good to the midwives, and the people mul¬ 
 tiplied and prevailed greatly. And forasmuch as the 
 midwives feared before the Lord, they obtained for 
 themselves a good name unto the ages ; and the Word 
 of the Lord up-builded for them a royal house, even the 
 house of the high priesthood. [Jerusalem. Because 
 the midwives feared before the Lord, they obtained for 
 themselves a good name in the midst of the ages, and 
 made unto themselves houses,—the house of the Levites 
 and the house of the high priesthood.] But when 
 Pharoh saw this, he commanded all his people, saying, 
 Every male child that is born to the Jehudaee you 
 shall cast into the river; but every daughter you may 
 spare. 
 
 II. And Amram, a man of the tribe of Levi, went 
 and returned to live in marriage with Jokeved his wife, 
 whom he had put away on account of the decree of 
 
446 TAR GUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Pharoh. [Jerusalem. And there went a man of the 
 tribe of Levi and took Jokeved, who was beloved of 
 him, (or, who was related to him,) to wife.] And she 
 was the daughter of a hundred and thirty years when 
 he returned to her; but a miracle was wrought in her, 
 and she returned unto youth as she was, when in her 
 minority she was called the daughter of Levi. And 
 the woman conceived and bare a son at the end of six 
 months; and she saw him to be a child of steadfastness, 
 (or, of steadfast life,) and hid him three months, which 
 made the number nine. But she could conceal him no 
 longer, for the Mizraee had become aware of him. And 
 she took an ark of papyrus, {tunes,) and coated it with 
 bitumen and pitch, and placed the child within it, and 
 laid him among the reeds on the bank of the river. 
 And Miriam his sister stood at a distance to take 
 
 knowledge of what would be done to him. And the 
 ° . • 
 
 Word of the Lord sent forth a burning sore and inflam¬ 
 mation of the flesh upon the land of Mizraim; and the 
 daughter of Pharoh came down to refresh herself at the 
 river. And her handmaids, walking upon the bank of 
 the river, saw the ark among the reeds, and put forth 
 the arm and took it, and were immediately healed of the 
 burning and inflammation. And she opened, and saw 
 the child, and, behold, the babe wept; and she had 
 compassion upon him, and said, This is one of the 
 children of the Jehudaee. And his sister said to 
 PharolTs daughter, May I go and call for thee a nursing 
 woman from the Jehudesses, to suckle the babe for 
 thee ? And Pharoh's daughter said, Go; and the 
 damsel went and called the child's mother. And the 
 daughter of Pharoh said, Take this child and suckle 
 it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the 
 woman took the child and suckled him. And the child 
 grew, and was brought to Pharoh's daughter, and he 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 447 
 
 II.] 
 
 was beloved by her as a son; and she called his name 
 Mosheh, Because, said she, I drew him out of the water 
 of the river. [Jerusalem. I uplifted him.] 
 
 And in those days when Mosheh was grown up, he 
 went forth to his brethren, and saw the anguish of 
 their souls, and the greatness of their toil. And he saw 
 a Mizraite man strike a Jewish man of his brethren; 
 and Mosheh turned, and considered in the wisdom of 
 his mind, and understood that in no generation would 
 there arise a proselyte from that Mizraite man, and that 
 none of his children's children would ever be con¬ 
 verted ; and he smote the Mizraite, and buried him in 
 the sand. [Jerusalem. And Mosheh, by the Holy 
 Spirit, considering both the young men, saw that, 
 behold, no proselyte would ever spring from that 
 Mizraite; and he killed him, and hid him in the sand.] 
 And he went out the second day, and looked; and, 
 behold, Dathan and Abiram, men of the Jehudaee, con¬ 
 tended ; and seeing Dathan put forth his hand against 
 Abiram to smite him, he said to him, Wherefore dost 
 thou smite thy companion ? And Dathan said to him. 
 Who is he who hath appointed thee a chief man and a 
 judge over us ? Wilt thou kill me, said he, as thou 
 didst the Mizraite ? And Mosheh was afraid, and said, 
 Verily, the thing has become known. And Pharoh 
 heard this thing, and sought to kill Mosheh ; and 
 Mosheh escaped before Pharoh, to dwell in the land of 
 Midian. And he sat by a well. And the priest of 
 Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew, 
 and filled the watering-troughs, to give drink to the 
 flocks of their father. But the shepherds came and 
 drave them away. And Mosheh arose in the power of 
 his might, and rescued them, and gave the flocks drink. 
 And they came to Keuel, their grandfather, who said to 
 them, How is it that you are come (so) early to-day ? 
 
448 T All GUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And they replied, A Mizraite man not only delivered us 
 from the hand of the shepherds, but also himself draw¬ 
 ing drew and watered the flock. And he said to his 
 son's daughters, And where is he ? Why did you leave 
 the man ? Call him, and let him eat bread. But when 
 Beuel knew that Mosheh had fled from before Pliaroh, 
 he cast him into a pit; but Zipporah, the daughter of 
 his son, maintained him with food, secretly, for the time 
 of ten years; and at the end of ten years brought him 
 out of the pit. And Mosheh went into the bedchamber 
 of Beuel, and gave thanks and prayed before the Lord, 
 who by him would work miracles and mighty acts. And 
 there was shown to him the Bod which was created 
 between the evenings, and on which was engraven and 
 set forth the Great and Glorious Name, with which he 
 was to do the wonders in Mizraim, and to divide the 
 sea of Suph, and to bring forth water from the rock. 
 And it was infixed in the midst of the chamber, and 
 he stretched forth his hand at once and took it. Then, 
 behold, Mosheh was willing to dwell with the man, 
 and he gave Zipporah, the daughter of his son, to 
 Mosheh. And she bare him a male child, and he called 
 his name Gershom, Because, said he, a sojourner have I 
 been in a strange land which is not mine. 
 
 And it was after many of those days that the king 
 of Mizraim was struck (with disease), and he com¬ 
 manded to kill the firstborn of the sons of Israel, that 
 he might bathe himself in their blood. And the sons 
 of Israel groaned with the labour that was hard upon 
 them; and they cried, and their cry ascended to the 
 high heavens of the Lord. And He spake in His Word 
 to deliver them from the travail. And their cry was 
 heard before the Lord, and before the Lord was the 
 covenant remembered which He had covenanted with 
 Abraham, with Izhak, and with Jakob. And the Lord 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 449 
 
 III.] 
 
 looked upon the affliction of the bondage of the sons of 
 Israel; and the repentance was revealed before Him 
 which they exercised in concealment, so as that no man 
 knew that of his companion. 
 
 III. But Mosheh was keeping the flock of Jethro his 
 father-in-law, the rabba of Midian ; and he had led the 
 flock to a pleasant place of pasturage which is behind 
 the desert, and had come to the mountain on which was 
 revealed the glory of the Lord, even Horeb. And 
 Zagnugael, the angel of .the Lord, appeared to him in a 
 flame of fire in the midst of the bush. And he gazed, 
 and, behold, the bush burned with fire, yet the bush was 
 neither burned nor consumed with fire. [Jerusalem:. 
 And he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, 
 yet remained in freshness, (or, was moist), neither was 
 it consumed.] And Mosheh said, I will turn aside now 
 and consider this great sight, why the bush is not 
 burned. [Jerusalem. I will look at this great sight, 
 wherefore the bush is refreshed and not burned.] And 
 when it was seen before the Lord that he turned to 
 look, the Lord called to him from the midst of the 
 bush and said, Mosheh, Mosheh ! And he said, Behold 
 me. And He said, Approach not hither, take the shoe 
 from thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is a 
 holy place; and upon it thou art to receive the Law, to 
 teach it to the sons of Israel. And He said, I am the 
 God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of 
 Izhak, and the God of Jakob. And Mosheh covered 
 his face; for he was afraid to look upon the height of 
 the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord. 
 
 And He said, The oppression of My people who are 
 in Mizraim is verily manifest before Me, and heard 
 before Me is their cry on account of them who hold 
 them in bondage; for their affliction is known before Me. 
 And I have revealed Myself to thee this day, that by 
 
450 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 My Word they may be delivered from the hand of the 
 Mizraee, to bring them up out of the unclean land, 
 unto a good land, and large in its boundaries, a land 
 yielding milk and honey; unto the place where dwell 
 the Kenaanaee, and the Hittaee, and the Amoraee, and 
 the Pherizaee, and the Hivaee, and the Jebusaee. And 
 now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel cometh up 
 before Me, and the bruising of the Mizraee wherewith 
 they bruise them is also revealed before Me. And now, 
 come, and I will send thee unto Pharoh, and thou shalt 
 bring forth My people, the sons of Israel, out of Mizraim. 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, Who am I, that I 
 should go to Pharoh, and bring forth the sons of Israel 
 out of Mizraim? But He said, Therefore My Word 
 shall be for thv help; and this shall be the sign to thee 
 that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought the 
 people forth from Mizraim, ye shall worship before the 
 Lord, because ye shall have received the Law upon this 
 mountain. 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, I will go 
 to the sons of Israel, and say to them, The Lord God 
 of your fathers hath sent me to you : and they will say 
 to me, What is His Name ? What shall I say to them ? 
 And the Lord said unto Mosheh, He who spake, and 
 the world was; who spake, and all things were. And 
 He said, This thou shalt say to the sons of Israel, I am 
 He who is, and who will be, hath sent me unto you. 
 [Jerusalem. And the Word of the Lord said to 
 Mosheh, He who spake to the world, Be, and it was ; 
 and who will speak to it. Be, and it will be. And He 
 said. Thus shalt thou speak to the sons of Israel, 
 Eheyeh 1 hath sent me unto you.] And the Lord said 
 again unto Mosheh, Thus shalt thou speak to the sons 
 of Israel, The God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, 
 1 “ I will be.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 451 
 
 IV.] 
 
 the God of Izhak, and the God of Jakob, hath sent me 
 unto you. This is His Name for ever, and this is His 
 Memorial to every generation and generation. 
 
 Go, and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to 
 them. The Lord God of your fathers hath appeared unto 
 me, the God of Abraham, Izliak, and Jakob, saying, 
 Kemembering I have remembered you, and the injury 
 that is done you in Mizraim; and I have said in My 
 Word, I will bring you up out from the oppression of 
 the Mizraee into the land of the Kenaanaee, and 
 Hittaee, and Amoraee, and Pherizaee, and Hivaee, and 
 Jebusaee, to the land that yieldeth milk and honey. 
 And they will hearken to thee : and thou and the elders 
 of Israel shall go to the king of Mizraim and say to him, 
 The Lord God of the Jehudaee hath called us; and 
 now let us go a journey of three days into the wilder¬ 
 ness, to sacrifice before the Lord our God. But it is 
 manifest before Me that the king of Mizraim will not 
 let you go, (no,) not from fear of Him who is Mighty, 
 until that by My Word he shall have been punished 
 with evil plagues. And ye will be hindered there until 
 I have sent forth the stroke of My pow T er, and have 
 smitten the Mizraee with all My wonders, that I will 
 do among them; and afterward he will release you. 
 And I will give this people grace in the eyes of the 
 Mizraee; and it shall be that when ye go free from 
 thence, ye shall not go empty. But a woman shall ask 
 of her neighbour, and from those next to the wall of 
 her house, [Jerusalem. Eellow r resident,] vessels of 
 silver, and vessels of gold, and vestments ; and you shall 
 set them as crowns upon your sons and your daughters, 
 and make the Mizraee empty. 
 
 IV. And Mosheh answered and said, But, behold, thev 
 will not believe me, nor hearken to me; for they will 
 say, The Lord hath not appeared to thee. And the 
 
452 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 Lord said to him. What is that in thy hand ? And he 
 said, The rod. And He said. Cast it on the ground; 
 and he cast it to the ground, and it became a serpent; 
 and Mosheh fled from before it. [Jerusalem. And 
 He said, Cast it on the ground; and he cast it on the 
 ground.] And the Lord said to Mosheh, Stretch forth 
 thy hand and seize (it) by its tail. [Jerusalem. And 
 grasp the place of its tail.] And he stretched forth his 
 hand and grasped it, and it became the rod in his hand : 
 —Ln order that they may believe that the Lord God of 
 their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Izhak, 
 and the God of Jakob, hath revealed Himself to thee. 
 And the Lord said to him again, Put now thy hand 
 within thy breast ( Clioiba ); and he put it within his 
 breast, and withdrew it, and, behold, his hand was 
 leprous, it was white as snow. And He said, Return 
 thy hand into thy bosom ( Aitaph); and he returned 
 his hand to his breast, and withdrew it from his breast, 
 and it had become clean as his flesh. [Jerusalem. 
 Put now thy hand into thy breast, and he put his hand 
 within his breast.] And if they believe not these two 
 signs, nor receive from thee, thou shalt take of the water 
 of the river and pour it on the ground, and the water 
 that thou shalt take from the river shall become blood 
 upon the ground. 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, 0 Lord, I pray : 
 I am not a man of words, nor ever have been before 
 that Thou didst speak with Thy servant; for I am of a 
 staggering 3 mouth and staggering speech. [Jerusalem. 
 Por of a staggering mouth and difficult speech am I.] 
 And the Lord said, Who is he who first put the 
 language of the mouth into the mouth of man ? or who 
 hath appointed the dumb or the deaf, the open-seeing 
 or the blind, but I the Lord ? And now go, and I by 
 
 * Or. “lame.” 
 
IV.] ON EXODUS. 453 
 
 My Word will be with the speaking of thy mouth, and 
 will teach thee what thou shalt say. 
 
 And he said, I pray for mercy before the Lord. 
 Send now Thy sending by the hand of Phinehas, by 
 whom it is to be sent at the end of the days. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. Send now by the hand of him by whom it is 
 opportune to send.] And the anger of the Lord was 
 kindled against Mosheh, and He said. Is it not manifest 
 before Me that Aharon thy brother speaking can speak ? 
 And, behold, also, he cometh forth to meet thee, and 
 will see thee and rejoice in his heart. And thou shalt 
 speak with him, and put the matter in his mouth, and 
 My Word shall be with the word of thy mouth, and 
 with the word of his mouth, and I will instruct you 
 what you are to do. And he shall speak for thee with 
 the people, and be to thee an interpreter, and thou to 
 him the principal, seeking instruction from before the 
 Lord. [Jerusalem. He shall be to thee an interpreter, 
 and thou to him one inquiring instruction from before 
 the Lord.] And this rod take thou in thy hand to 
 work therewith the signs. 
 
 And Mosheh went, and returned unto Jethro his 
 father-in-law, and said, I will now r go to my brethren 
 who are in Mizraim, to see how they now live. And 
 Jethro said to Mosheh, Go in peace. And the Lord 
 said unto Mosheh in Midian, Go, return to Mizraim; 
 for they have come to nought, and gone down from 
 their possessions; behold, all the men w T ho sought to 
 take thy life are reckoned as the dead. 
 
 And Mosheh took his wife and his sons, and made 
 them ride on the ass, and returned to the land of 
 Mizraim. And Mosheh took the rod which he had 
 brought away from the chamber of his father-in-law; 
 and it was from the sapphire Throne of glory, in weight 
 forty sein; and upon it was engraven and set forth the 
 
454 T AH GUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Great and Glorious Name by which the signs should be 
 wrought before the Lord by his hand. And the Lord 
 said to Mosheh, In going to return into Mizraim, con¬ 
 sider all the miracles that I have put in thy hand, and 
 do them before Pharoh : and I will make obstinate the 
 disposition (passion) of his heart, and he will not deliver 
 the people. And thou shalt say to Pharoh, Thus saith 
 the Lord, Israel is My first-born son; and to thee I 
 say, Let My son go free, that he may worship before 
 Me; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will 
 slay thy first-born son. 
 
 But it was on the way, in the place of lodging, that 
 the angel of the Lord met him, and sought to kill him, 
 because Gershom his son had not been circumcised, 
 inasmuch as Jethro his father-in-law had not permitted 
 him to circumcise him: but Eliezer had been circum¬ 
 cised, by an agreement between them two. And 
 Zipporah took a stone, and circumcised the foreskin of 
 Gershom her son, and brought the severed part to the 
 feet of the angel, the Destroyer, and said. The husband 
 sought to circumcise, but the father-in-law obstructed 
 him; and now let this blood of the circumcision atone 
 for my husband. [Jerusalem. And she circumcised 
 the foreskin of her son, and brought before the feet of 
 the Destroyer, and said, The husband would have cir¬ 
 cumcised, but the father-in-law did not permit him; 
 but now, let the blood of this circumcision atone for 
 the fault of this husband.] And the destroying angel 
 desisted from him, so that Zipporah gave thanks, and 
 said. How lovely is the blood of this circumcision that 
 hath delivered my husband from the angel of destruc¬ 
 tion ! [Jerusalem. And when the Destroyer had 
 ceased from him, Zipporah gave thanks and said, How 
 lovely is the blood of this circumcision which hath 
 saved my husband from the hand of the angel of death !] 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 455 
 
 V.] 
 
 And the Lord had said to Aharon, Go and meet 
 Mosheh in the desert. And he came and met him at 
 the mountain where was revealed the glory of the Lord, 
 and he embraced him. And Mosheh delivered to 
 Aharon all these w r ords with which he had sent him, and 
 all the signs that he had instructed him to work. 
 
 And Mosheh and Aharon went, and gathered 
 together all the elders of the sons of Israel. And 
 Aharon spake all the words which the Lord had spoken 
 with Mosheh, and did the signs in the eyes of the peo¬ 
 ple. And the people believed, and heard that the Lord 
 had remembered the sons of Israel, and that their bond¬ 
 age was manifest before Him; and they bowed them¬ 
 selves and worshipped. [Jerusalem. And they kneeled 
 down.] 
 
 Y. And after this Mosheh and Aharon went in unto 
 Pharoh, and said, Thus saith the Lord, the God of 
 Israel: Belease My people, that they may make unto 
 Me a festival in the wilderness. And Pharoh said, 
 The name of the Lord is not made known to me, that I 
 should receive His word to release Israel. I have not 
 found written in the Book of the Angels the name of 
 the Lord. Of Him I am not afraid, neither will I 
 release Israel. And they said. The Name of the God of 
 the Jehudaee is invoked by (or upon) us. We will go, 
 then, to proceed three days into the desert, and offer the 
 sacrifices of a festival before the Lord God, that death 
 and slaughter befall us not. And the king of Mizraim 
 said to Mosheh and Aharon, Why do you make the 
 people cease from their labours ? Go to your work. 
 And Pharoh said, Behold, this people of the land are 
 many, whom you would stop from their service. And 
 Pharoh that day commanded the officers of the people 
 and their exactors, saying, You shall no more give 
 straw to the people to cast bricks as heretofore; let 
 
456 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 them go and collect straw for themselves; but the 
 (same) number of bricks which they have heretofore 
 made ye shall lay upon them, and not diminish from it, 
 because they are idle; therefore they clamour, saying. 
 Let us go to offer the sacrifice of a festival before our 
 God. Make their work strenuous upon the men, that 
 they may be occupied with it, and not be setting their 
 hopes upon lying words. And the officers and exactors 
 of the people went forth, and said to the people, Thus 
 saith Pharoh, I will not give you straw; you must go 
 and take straw wherever you can find it; for your work 
 will not in anywise be diminished. And the people were 
 scattered abroad in all the land of Mizraim to gather 
 stubble for the straw. But the officers were pressing, 
 saying, Fulfil your work day by day, as you did when 
 the straw r was given you. And the exactors whom 
 Pharoh set over them as officers beat the sons of Israel, 
 saying, Why have not you fulfilled your appointment,*to 
 cast (the same number of) bricks as heretofore, to-day 
 as yesterday ? And the foremen came, and cried before 
 Pharoh, saying, Why hast thou dealt thus with thy ser¬ 
 vants ? Thou hast not given thy servants the straw, and 
 (yet) say they to us, Make the bricks; and, behold, they 
 beat thy servants, and the guilty treatment of thy people 
 is strong:—but it goeth up ! But he said, You are 
 idle, idle: therefore you are saying, Let us go and offer 
 the sacrifice of a festival before our God. And now, go, 
 work; but the straw shall not be given you, yet the 
 number of the bricks you shall produce. And the fore¬ 
 men of the sons of Israel saw that they were in evil, 
 (in his) saying, Ye are not to withhold the assignment 
 of your bricks from day to day. And they met Mosheh 
 and Aharon, who stood before them when they came 
 out from the presence of Pharoh, and they said to them, 
 Our affliction is manifest before the Lord, but our 
 
457 
 
 VI.] ON EXODUS. 
 
 punishment is from you who have made our smell offen¬ 
 sive before Pharoh and his servants ; for you have occa¬ 
 sioned a sword to be put into their hand to kill us. And 
 Mosheh returned before the Lord, and said, 0 Lord, 
 why hast Thou done evil to this people, and wherefore 
 hast Thou sent me ? Prom the hour that I went in 
 unto Pharoh to speak in Thy name, this people hath 
 suffered evil, and delivering Thou hast not delivered 
 them. 
 
 VI. And the Lord said unto Mosheh, Now have I 
 seen what Pharoh hath done : for by a strong hand 
 shall he release them, and with a strong hand drive 
 them forth from his land. 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 VAERA. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, and said to him, 
 I am the Lord who revealed Myself to thee in the 
 midst of the bush, and said to thee, I am the Lord. 
 And I was revealed unto Abraham, and to Izhak, and 
 to Jakob, as El-Shaddai; but My Name Ye-ya, as it 
 discovereth My Glory, 3 was not known to them. 
 [Jerusalem. And the Lord was revealed in His Word 
 unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob, as the God of 
 Heaven; but the Name of the Word of the Lord was 
 not known to them.] And I confirmed also My cove¬ 
 nant with them, to give them the land of Kenaan, the 
 land of their sojourning in which they were sojourners. 
 
 3 Or, “ in the face of My Shekinah.” 
 
 X 
 
458 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And now cometh before Me tbe groaning of the sons of 
 Israel, because the Mizraee do enslave them; and I 
 remember My covenant. Therefore say to the sons of 
 Israel, I am the Lord; and I will bring you forth from 
 the oppressive bondage of the Mizraee, and will deliver 
 you from your servitude, and save you with an uplifted 
 arm, and by great judgments. And I will bring you 
 nigh before Me to be a people, and I will be a God 
 unto you, and you shall know that I am the Lord your 
 God who hath led you forth from the hard service of 
 the Mizraee. And I will bring you into the land which 
 I covenanted by My Word to give unto Abraham, to 
 Izhak, and to Jakob ; and I will give it to you for an 
 inheritance. I Am the Lord. And Mosheh spake 
 according to this to the sons of Israel; but they received 
 not from Mosheh, through anxiety of spirit, and from 
 the strange and hard service which was upon their 
 hands'! [Jerusalem. From anxiety.] 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Go in, 
 speak with Pharoh, the king of Mizraim, that he release 
 the children of Israel from his land. And Mosheh 
 said before the Lord, Behold, the sons of Israel do not 
 hearken to me; how then will Pharoh hearken to me, 
 and I a man difficult of speech ? And the Lord spake 
 with Mosheh and with Aharon, and gave them admoni¬ 
 tion for the sons of Israel, and sent them to Pharoh, 
 king of Mizraim, to send forth the children of Israel 
 from the land of Mizraim. 
 
 These are the heads of the house of their fathers. 
 The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, Hanok 
 and Phallu, Hezron and Karmi; these are the race of 
 ReubeD. And the sons of Shimeon, Jemuel, and 
 Jamin, and Ohad, and Jakin, and Sochar, and Sliaul 
 (he is Zimri, who yielded himself unto fornication, as 
 among the Kenaanaee); tl^ese are the race of Shimeon. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 459 
 
 VI.] 
 
 And these are the names of the sons of Levi, according 
 to their race: Gershon, and Kehath, and Merari. 
 And the years of the life of Levi a hundred and thirty 
 and seven years: he lived to see Mosheli and Aharon 
 the deliverers of Israel. And the sons of Gershon, 
 Libni and Shemei, according to their generations. And 
 the sons of Kehath, Amram, and Jitshar, and Hebron, 
 and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kehath the 
 saint, a hundred and thirty and three years. He lived 
 to see Phinehas, who is Elijah, the Great Priest, who is 
 to be sent to the captivity of Israel at the end of the 
 days. And the sons of Merari, Mahali and Mushi; 
 these are the race of Levi, according to the generations. 
 And Amram took Jokeved his cousin to wife, and she 
 bare him Aharon and Mosheli; and the years of 
 Amram the saint were a hundred and thirty and seven 
 years. He lived to see the children of Eechabia bar 
 Gershom bar Mosheh. And the sons of Jitshar 
 (were) Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. And the sons 
 of Uzziel, Mishael, and Elsaphan, and Sithri. And 
 Aharon took Elisheba, daughter of Aminadab, sister of 
 Nachshon, unto him to wife, and she bare him Nadab 
 and Abihu, Elasar and Ithamar. And the sons of 
 Korah, Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph : these are the 
 race of Korah. And Elasar bar Aharon took unto him 
 a wife from the daughters of Jethro who is Putiel, 
 and she bare him Phinehas. These are the heads of the 
 fathers of the Levites, according to their generations. 
 These are Aharon and Mosheh, to whom the Lord 
 said, Bring forth the sons of Israel free from the land 
 of Mizraim, according to their hosts;—these are they 
 who spake with Pharoh, king of Mizraim, that he 
 should send out the sons of Israel from Mizraim;—it is 
 Mosheh the prophet, and Aharon the priest. 
 
 4 Levitee. 
 x 2 
 
460 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And it was in the day when the Lord spake with 
 Mosheh in the land of Mizraim, that Aharon gave a 
 listening ear, and heard what He spake with him. And 
 the Lord spake with Mosheh, and said to him, I am 
 the Lord. Say to Pharoh, king of Mizraim, all that I 
 tell thee. And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, 
 I am difficult in speaking; how then will Pharoh 
 hearken to me ? 
 
 VII. But the Lord said to Mosheh, Wherefore art thou 
 fearful ? Behold, I have set thee a terror to Pharoh, 
 as if thou wast his God, and Aharon thy brother shall 
 be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak to Aharon that 
 which I command thee, and Aharon thy brother shall 
 speak to Pharoh, that he release the sons of Israel from 
 his land. But I will harden the disposition of Pharoh's 
 heart, to multiply My signs and My wonders in the land 
 of Mizraim. Nor will Pharoh hearken to you. But I 
 will shoot among them the arrows of death, and inflict 
 the plagues of My mighty hand upon Mizraim, and will 
 bring out the sons of Israel free from among them. And 
 Mosheh and Aharon did as the Lord commanded them, 
 even so did they. And Mosheh was the son of eighty 
 years, and Aharon the son of eighty and three years, 
 at their speaking with Pharoh. And the Lord spake to 
 Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, When Pharoh talkethwith 
 you, saying, Give us a miracle, thou shalt say to Aharon, 
 Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharoh, and it 
 shall become a basilisk-serpent; 5 —for all the inhabiters 
 of the earth shall hear the voice of the shriek of Mizraim 
 when I shatter them, as all the creatures heard the shriek 
 of the serpent when made naked at the beginning. 
 [Jerusalem. And throw down before Pharoh.] 
 
 And Mosheh and Aharon went in unto Pharoh, and 
 did as the Lord had commanded. And Aharon threw 
 
 5 Chiv&chureman. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 461 
 
 VII.] 
 
 down the rod before the sight of Pharoh, and before 
 the sight of his servants, and it became a basilisk. 6 But 
 Pharoh called the hacbems and magicians; and they 
 also, Janis and Jamberes, magicians of Mizraim, did the 
 same by their burnings of divination. They threw 
 down each man his rod, and they became basilisks; 
 but were forthwith changed to be what they were at 
 first; and the rod of Aharon swallowed up their rods. 
 And the disposition 7 of Pharoh's heart was hardened, 
 and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had 
 said. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, The disposition of 
 Pharoh's heart is obdurated in refusing to release the 
 people. Go unto Pharoh in the morning : behold, he 
 cometh forth to observe divinations at the water as a 
 magician; so shalt thou prepare thee to meet him on 
 the bank of the river, and Aharon's rod that was 
 changed to be a serpent thou shalt take in thy hand. 
 [Jerusalem. To refresh himself at the river.] And 
 thou shalt say to him. The Lord God of the Jehudaee 
 hath sent me unto thee, saying, Release My people, that 
 they may serve Me in the desert; and, behold, as 
 yet thou hast not hearkened. Thus saith the Lord: By 
 this sign thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Behold, 
 with the rod that is in my hand, I will smite the waters 
 of the river, and they shall be changed into blood. And 
 the fish that are in the river shall die, and the 
 river become foul, and the Mizraee shall desist from 
 drinking water from the river. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Tell Aharon, Take thy 
 rod and stretch forth thy hand over the waters of the 
 Mizraee, over their rivers, over their trenches, over their 
 canals, and over every place for collecting their waters, 
 and they will become blood; and there shall be blood 
 
 • Churmana . 7 Yitsra, “ disposition/’ or “ design.” 
 
462 TARGI7M OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 in all the land of Mizraim, and in vessels of wood and 
 in vessels of stone. [Jerusalem. In vases.] And 
 Mosheh and Aharon did so, as the Lord commanded; 
 and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters of the 
 river in the sight of Pharoh, and in the sight of his 
 servants; and all the waters of the river were turned 
 into blood; and the fish that were in the river died ; 
 and the river became foul, and the Mizraee could not 
 drink of the waters of the river, and the plague of 
 blood was in all the land of Mizraim. But so (also) 
 did the astrologers of Mizraim by their burnings, and 
 turned the waters of Goshen into blood. And the 
 design of Pharolr’s heart was strengthened, and he 
 would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said. And 
 Pharoh did what was needful to him, and went unto 
 his house, nor did he set his heart upon this plague. 
 And tlie Mizraee digged about the river for water to 
 drink, but could not find them pure; for they were not 
 able to drink of the water from the river. 
 
 And seven days were completed after the Lord had 
 smitten the river, and the Word of the Lord had after¬ 
 ward healed the river. And the Lord spoke to Mosheh, 
 Go in unto Pharoh and say to him. Thus saith the 
 Lord, Emancipate My people, that they may serve 
 before Me. But if thou refuse to set them free, behold, 
 I will plague all thy borders with frogs. And the 
 river shall multiply frogs, and they shall ascend and 
 come up into thy house, and into the bedchamber where 
 thou sleepest, and upon thy couch; atid into the house 
 of thy servants, and among thy people, and into thy 
 ovens, and into thy baking-troughs, and upon thy body, 
 and upon the bodies of thy people, and upon all thy 
 servants, shall the frogs have power., 
 
 VIII. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand 
 with thy rod over the rivers, over the trenches, and over 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 463 
 
 VIII.] 
 
 the canals, [Jerusalem. Pools,] and I will bring up 
 the frogs upon the land of Mizraim. And Aharon 
 uplifted his hand over the waters of Mizraim, and the 
 plague of frogs came up and covered the land of Miz¬ 
 raim. But Mosheli (himself) did not smite the waters, 
 either with the blood or with the frogs, because through 
 them (the waters of the Nile) he had (found) safety at 
 the time that his mother laid him in the river. And 
 the astrologers did likewise by their burnings, and 
 brought up frogs upon the land of Mizraim. And 
 Pharoh called to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, Pray 
 before the Lord, that He may remove the frogs from me 
 and from my people; and I will release the people to 
 offer the sacrifices of a feast before the Lord. And 
 Mosheh said to Pharoh, Glorify thyself on account of 
 me. At what time dost thou request that I should 
 pray for thee, and for thy servants, and' for thy people, 
 that the frogs may be destroyed from thee and from 
 thy house, and be left only in the river ? And he said, 
 To-morrow. And he said. According to thy word : 
 that thou mayest know that there is none like the Lord 
 our God. [Jerusalem. Give a sign, and keep -at a 
 distance, till I shall have prayed for thee.] And the 
 frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy house, and 
 from thy servants, and from thy people; and those only 
 that are in the river shall remain. And Mosheh and 
 Aharon went out from Pharoh, and Mosheh prayed 
 before the Lord respecting the frogs, as he had proposed 
 to Pharoh. And the Lord did according to the word 
 of Mosheh; and the frogs died from the houses and from 
 the courts and from the field, and they collected them 
 in heaps and heaps, [Jerusalem. Heaps, heaps,] and 
 the land was corrupted. And Pharoh saw that he was 
 refreshed from hi! molestation, but hardened his heart, 
 and would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said. 
 
464 TARGUH OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak unto Aharon, 
 Lift up thy rod and smite the dust of the earth, and it 
 shall become venomous insects 8 in all the land of Miz- 
 raim. But it shall not be by thee that the ground 
 shall be smitten, because therein for thee was (the 
 means of) safety when thou hadst slain the Mizraite and 
 it received him. And they did so, and Aharon lifted 
 up his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the 
 ground, and it became a plague of venomous insects 
 upon the flesh of men and of cattle; all the dust of the 
 earth was changed to become insects, in all the land of 
 Mizraim. And the astrologers wrought with their 
 burnings to bring forth the insects, but were not able; 
 and the plague of insects prevailed upon men and 
 upon cattle. And the astrologers said to Pharoh, 
 This is not by the power or strength of Mosheh and 
 Aharon; but this is a plague sent from before the Lord. 
 Yet the design of Pharoh's heart was strengthened, and 
 he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, Arise in the morn¬ 
 ing, and stand before Pharoh : behold, he goeth forth to 
 observe divinations at the w r ater, as a magician; and 
 thou shalt say to him. Thus saith the Lord, Emancipate 
 My people, that they may worship before Me; but if 
 thou wilt not set My people free, behold, I will stir up 
 among thee, and thy servants, and thy people, and thy 
 house, a mixed multitude of wild beasts, [Jerusalem. 
 A commixture,] and the houses of the Mizraee shall be 
 filled with a swarm of wild beasts, and they shall be 
 upon the land also. And I will do wonders that day 
 in the land of Goshen where My people dwell, that 
 there no swarms of wild beasts shall be;—that thou 
 mavest know that I the Lord am the Ruler in the midst 
 of the land. And I will appoint redemption for My 
 8 Kalma , “ genusfornicce.” — Castel. Heb. text, kinnim, “ gnats.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 465 
 
 IX.] 
 
 people, and upon thy people will I lay the plague : to¬ 
 morrow this sign shall be. And the Lord did so ; and 
 sent the mixed multitude of wild beasts in strength to 
 the house of Pharoh, and to the house of his servants; 
 and in all the land of Mizraim the inhabitants of the 
 land were devastated from the swarm of wild beasts. 
 And Pharoh called to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, 
 Go, worship with festival sacrifices before the Lord 
 your God in this land. But Mosheh said, It will not 
 be right to do so; because we shall take sheep, which 
 are the abomination of the Mizraee, and offer them 
 before the Lord our God. Behold, if we offer the 
 abomination of the Mizraee before them, they would 
 stone us with stones as an act of justice. We will go 
 three days' journey into the wilderness to offer the 
 festival sacrifices before our God, as He hath bidden us. 
 And Pharoh said, I will release you to sacrifice before 
 the Lord your God in the wilderness, only you shall 
 not go to a greater distance. Pray, (too,) for me. 
 And Mosheh said, I will go forth from thee, and pray 
 before the Lord to remove the swarm of wild beasts 
 from Pharoh, and from his servants, and from his 
 people, to-morrow; only let not Pharoh add to deceive, 
 in not releasing the people to offer the festal sacrifices 
 before the Lord. And Mosheh went out from Pharoh, 
 and prayed before the Lord ; and the Lord did accord¬ 
 ing to the word of the prayer of Mosheh, and removed 
 the swarm of wild beasts from Pharoh, and from his 
 servants, and from his people; not one was left. Yet 
 did Pharoh strengthen the design of his heart this 
 time also, and released not the people. 
 
 IX. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Go in to Pharoh, 
 and say to him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of the 
 Jehudaee, Emancipate My people, that they may worship 
 before Me. But if thou refuse to release, and hitherto 
 x 5 
 
466 • TAIiGTJM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 thou hast constrained them, behold, the stroke of the 
 Lord's hand shall be as it hath not been yet, upon thy 
 cattle that are in the field, upon the horses, and upon 
 the asses, upon the camels, oxen, and sheep, with a very 
 mighty death. [Jerusalem. Great conturbation.] 
 And the Lord will work wonders between the flocks of 
 Israel and the flocks of the Mizraee, that not any of 
 those which belong to the sons of Israel shall die. And 
 the Lord set a time, saying, To-morrow will the Lord 
 do this thing in the land. f And the Lord did that 
 thing the day after, and all the cattle of the Mizraee 
 died; but of the cattle of the sons of Israel died not 
 one. And Pharoh sent certain to look; and, behold, 
 not one of the cattle of the sons of Israel had died, not 
 even one. But the disposition of Pharoh's heart was 
 aggravated, and he would not release the people. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh and to Aharon, Take 
 with you hands-full of fine ashes from the furnace, and 
 let Mosheh sprinkle them towards the height of the 
 heavens in the sight of Pharoh. And the dust shall be 
 upon all the land of Mizraim, upon man and upon beast, 
 for a boil, producing tumours in all the land of Miz¬ 
 raim. [Jerusalem. Tumours.] And they took ashes 
 of the furnace, and arose to meet Pharoh ; and Mosheh 
 sprinkled them towards the height of the heaveus; and 
 there came a boil multiplying tumours upon man and 
 beast. And the astrologers could not stand before 
 Mosheh, on account of the boil; for the plague of the 
 boil was upon the astrologers, and upon all the Mizraee. 
 And the Lord hardened the design of Pharoh's heart, 
 and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had 
 said to Mosheh. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Arise in the morning, 
 and place thyself before Pharoh, and say to him, Thus 
 saith the Lord, the God of the Jehudaee, Emancipate 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 467 
 
 IX.] 
 
 My people, that they may worship before Me. For at 
 this time I will send upon thee a plague from the 
 heavens, and all My plagues wherewith I have plagued 
 thee thou wilt cause to return upon thy heart, and upon 
 thy servants, and upon thy people, (plagues) which have 
 been sent from before Me, and not from the magic of 
 the sons of men, that thou mayest know that there is 
 none like Me in all the earth. Now could I send the 
 plague of My strength by judgment (or, with justice) to 
 strike thee and thy peopl.e with death, and destroy thee 
 from the earth; but verily I have spared thee alive, not 
 that I may benefit thee, but that My power may be 
 made manifest to thee, and that My Holy Name may be 
 made known in all the earth. Hitherto hast thou 
 tyrannized over My people, instead of releasing them. 
 [Jerusalem. BeLentlessly.] Behold, at this time to¬ 
 morrow I will cause to come down from the treasures 
 of the heavens a mighty hail, the like of which hath 
 never been in Mizraim since the day when men were 
 settled upon it until now. But now send, gather 
 together thy flocks, and all that thou hast in the field : 
 (for) upon all men and cattle that are found in the 
 field, and not gathered together within the house, will 
 the hail come down, and they will die. Hiob, (Job,) 
 who reverenced the word of the Lord, among the ser¬ 
 vants of Pharoh, gathered together his servants and his 
 flocks within the house. But Bileam, who did not set 
 his heart upon the word of the Lord, left his servants 
 and his flocks in the field. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Uplift thy hand 
 towards the height of the heavens, and there shall be 
 hail on all the land of Mizraim, upon men, and upon 
 beasts, and upon every herb of the field in the land of 
 Mizraim. And Mosheh lifted up his rod toward the 
 height of the heavens, and the Lord gave forth thunders 
 
468 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 and hailstones with flaming fire upon the ground; the 
 Lord made the hail descend upon the land of Mizraim. 
 And there was hail, and fire darting among the hail 
 with exceeding force: unto it had never been the like 
 in all the land of Mizraim ever since it was a nation 
 and a kingdom. And the hail smote in all the land of 
 Mizraim whatsoever was in the field, of men and of 
 cattle, and all the herbage of the field the hail smote, 
 and every tree of the field it shattered and uprooted. 
 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of 
 Israel were, there was no hail. And Pharoh sent certain 
 to call Mosheh and Aharon; and he said to them. 
 This time I have sinned. I know that the Lord is a 
 righteous God, and that I and my people have deserved 
 every one of these plagues. Intercede before the Lord, 
 that with Him it may be enough, and there may be no 
 more maledictory thunders nor hail from the presence 
 of the Lord; and I will release you, and no longer 
 hinder. And Mosheh said to him, When I have gone 
 out from thee into the city, I will outspread my hands 
 in prayer before the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, 
 and there shall be no more hail; that you may know 
 that the earth is the Lord's. But I know that ere thou 
 and thy servants release the people, they will have to be 
 afraid before the Lord God. And the flax and the 
 barley were beaten down, because the barley was in the 
 ear, and the flax was making pods. [Jerusalem. The 
 flax was (making) pods, for it had cast its flowers.] But 
 the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, because they 
 are later. And Mosheh and Aharon went out from 
 Pharoh to the suburb, and he stretched out his hands 
 in prayer before the Lord, and the thunders of the 
 curse were withheld, and the hail and rain that were 
 descending came not on the earth. And Pharoh saw 
 that the rain and hail and the thunders of the curse had 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 469 
 
 X.] 
 
 ended, and he added to sin, and made strong the design 
 of his heart, both he and his servants. And Pharoh's 
 heart was made obstinate, and he would not release the 
 children of Israel, as the Lord had said through Mosheh. 
 
 SECTION XY. 
 
 BO EL PHAROH. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, Go in unto Pharoh; 
 for I have made strong the design of his heart, and the 
 design of the heart of his servants, to set these My 
 signs among them ; and that in the hearing of thy sons 
 and of thy children's children may be told the wonders 
 I have done in Mizraim, and the signs that I set among 
 them, that ye may know that I am the Lord. And 
 Mosheh and Aharon went in unto Pharoh, and said to 
 him. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, How long 
 wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me ? Let 
 My people go, that they may worship before Me. But if 
 thou refuse to let My people go, behold, to-morrow I bring 
 the locust upon thy borders, and they shall cover the 
 face of the ground, so that it will be impossible to see 
 the ground, and shall destroy the remainder that w r as 
 spared to you from the hail, and destroy every tree 
 which groweth for you out of the field. And they shall 
 fill thy house, and the houses of all thy servants, and 
 the houses of the Mizraee, (the like of) which neither 
 thy fathers nor thy forefathers have seen since the day 
 that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he 
 turned and went out from Pharoh. 
 
 And the servants of Pharoh said, How long shall 
 
470 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 this man be a stumbling-block to us ? Let the men be 
 released, that they may worship before the Lord their 
 God. Art thou not aware that by His hand it will be 
 that the land of Mizraim shall be destroyed ? And he 
 commanded to bring back Mosheh and Aharon to 
 Pharoh, and said to them, Go, worship before the Lord 
 your God: but who are they that are to go ? And 
 Mosheh said. With our children and with our old men 
 will we go; with our sons and with our daughters we 
 will go; with our sheep and with our oxen we will go; 
 for we have a solemn feast before the Lord. And he 
 said to them, So may the Word of the Lord be a help 
 to you: (but) how can I release (both) you and your 
 children ? The evil offence is in the look of your faces : 
 (you think to go onward) in the way that you would 
 walk, till the time that you shall have come to the house 
 of the place of your habitation. (It shall be) not so 
 as ye devise; but the men only shall go and worship 
 before the Lord; for that it was which ye demanded. 
 And he drave them out from before the face of 
 Pharoh. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand 
 over the land of Mizraim for the locust, that he may 
 come up over the land of Mizraim, and destroy every 
 herb of the earth, whatsoever the hail hath left. And 
 Mosheh lifted up his rod over the land of Mizraim, and 
 the Lord brought an east wind upon the country all 
 that day and all the night; and in the morning the east 
 wind bare the locust. And the locust came up over all 
 the land of Mizraim, and settled in all the limits of 
 Mizraim exceedingly strong. Before him there had 
 been no locust so hard, nor will there be like him. And 
 he covered the face of all the land, until the land was 
 darkened, and every herb of the ground was consumed, 
 and all the fruit of the tree that the hail had left; and 
 
X.] ON EXODUS. 471 
 
 nothing green of tree or herb of the field was left in 
 all the land of Mizraim. 
 
 And Pharoh made haste, and sent certain to call 
 Mosheh and Aharon. And he said, I have sinned before 
 the Lord your God and against you. But now, pardon 
 my sin only this once, and pray before the Lord, that He 
 would only remove from me this death. And he went 
 out from Pharoh, and prayed before the Lord. And 
 the Lord turned a wind from the west of exceeding 
 strength, and it carried away the locust, and bare him 
 to the sea of Suph : there was not one locust left in all 
 the borders of Mizraim. And even such as had been 
 salted in vessels for needed food, those, too, the western 
 wind bare away, and they went. But the Lord 
 strengthened the design of PharolPs heart, and he would 
 not release the children of Israel. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand 
 towards the height of the heavens, and there shall be 
 darkness over all the land of Mizraim, in the morning, 
 at the passing away of the first darkness of the night. 
 [Jerusalem. And they shall serve in darkness.] And 
 Mosheh stretched out his hand towards the height of 
 the heavens, and there was dark darkness in all the 
 land of Mizraim three days. No man saw his brother, 
 and none arose from his place three days. But among 
 all the sons of Israel there was light, that the wicked 
 among them who died might be buried, and that the 
 righteous might be occupied with the precepts of the 
 law in their dwellings. And at the end of three days 
 Pharoh called Mosheh, and said, Go, worship before 
 the Lord; only your sheep and your oxen shall abide 
 with me : your children also may go with you. But 
 Mosheh said, Thou must also give into our hands holy 
 oblations and burnt offerings, that we may perform 
 service before the Lord our God. Our flocks, more- 
 
472 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAi. 
 
 over, must go with us; not one hoof of them shall 
 remain; for from them we are to take, to do service 
 before the Lord our God. We cannot leave them; 
 for we know not (as yet) in what manner we are 
 to worship before the Lord, until we come thither. 
 But the Lord made strong the design of Pharoh's 
 heart, and he would not release them. And Pharoh 
 said to him, Go from me. Beware that thou add 
 not to see my face to speak before me one of these 
 words that are so hard : for in the day that thou 
 seest my face, my anger will grow strong against thee, 
 and I will deliver thee into the hands of the men who 
 seek thy life to take it. And Mosheh said, Thou hast 
 spoken fairly. While I was dwelling in Midian, it was 
 told me in a word from before the Lord, that the men 
 who had sought to kill me had fallen from their means, 
 and were reckoned with the dead. At the end there 
 will be no mercy upon thee; but I will pray, and the 
 plague shall be restrained from thee. And now I will 
 see thy face no more. [Jerusalem. And Pharoh said 
 to him, Go from me. Beware that thou increase not 
 my anger against thee by saying, Are not these hard 
 words that thou speakest to me ? Yerily Pharoh 
 would rather die than hear thy words. Beware, lest my 
 anger grow strong against thee, and I deliver thee into 
 the hands of this people, who require thy life to slay 
 thee. And Mosheh said, Thou hast spoken truly. But 
 it was certified to me at the former time when I dwelt 
 in Midian, that all the men were dead who sought to 
 kill my life. At the end there will be no mercy upon 
 thee. Yet I will pray for thee, and this plague shall 
 be restrained. But a tenth plague is for Pharoh, of 
 (which the victim will be) thy firstborn sou. And 
 Mosheh said to him. Thou hast spoken fairly the truth : 
 I will see thy face no more.] 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 473 
 
 XI.] 
 
 XI. And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, Yet one 
 stroke will I bring upon Pharoh and upon the Mizraee, 
 which shall be greater than all, and afterward will he 
 send you hence : when he releases, there shall be to him¬ 
 self an end : driving, he will drive you forth from hence. 
 Speak now in the hearing of the people, That every man 
 shall demand from his Mizraite friend, and every woman 
 of her Mizraite friend, vessels of silver and vessels of 
 gold. And the Lord gave the people favour before the 
 Mizraee; also the man Mosheh was very great in the 
 land of Mizraim before the servants of Pharoh and 
 before his people. 
 
 And Mosheh spake (or, had spoken) to Pharoh, 
 Thus saith the Lord, At this hour of the following night 
 will I be revealed in the midst of the Mizraee, and 
 every firstborn in the land of Mizraim shall die: from 
 the firstborn of Pharoh who should sit upon the throne 
 of his kingdom, unto the firstborn son of the humblest 
 mother in Mizraim who grindeth behind the mills, and 
 all the firstborn of cattle. And there will be a great 
 cry in all the land of Mizraim, because like the plague 
 of this night there hath not been, and like the plague 
 of this night there never will be one. But any of the 
 children of Israel a dog shall not harm by lifting up his 
 tongue against either man or beast; that they may 
 know that the Lord maketh distinction between the 
 Mizraites and the sons of Israel. And thou shalt send 
 down all thy servants to me, coming and beseeching me, 
 saying, Go forth, thou and all the people who are with 
 thee; and afterwards I will go. And he went out from 
 Pharoh in great anger. But the Lord said to Mosheh, 
 Pharoh will not hearken to you; that I may multiply 
 My wonders in the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh and 
 Aharon did all these wonders before Pharoh; and the 
 Lord strengthened the design of PharolPs heart. 
 
474 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 and he would not release the sons of Israel from his 
 land. 
 
 XII. And the Lord spake to Mosheh and to Aharon 
 in the land of Mizraim, saying, This month is ordained 
 to be to you the beginning of the months; and from it 
 you shall begin to number for festivals, and times, and 
 cycles; it shall be to you the first of the number of the 
 months of the year. Speak to all the congregation of the 
 children of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month, 
 whose time is appointed for this time (occasion), and not 
 for (coming) generations, they shall take to them a 
 lamb for the house of a family, and, if many in number, 
 they shall take a lamb for a house: but if the men of 
 the house are fewer than ten in number, in proportion 
 to a sufficient number to eat the lamb, he and his 
 neighbour who is nearest to his house shall take accord¬ 
 ing to the number of souls: each man according to the 
 sufficiency of his eating shall be counted for the lamb. 
 The lamb shall be perfect, a male, the son of a year he 
 shall be to you; from the sheep or from the young goats 
 ye may take. And it shall be bound and reserved for 
 you until the fourteenth day of this month, that you 
 may not know the fear of the Mizraee when they see it; 
 and ye shall kill him according to the rite of all the 
 congregation of the assembly of Israel, between the 
 suns. 1 And you shall take of the blood and set it upon 
 the two posts and upon the upper board outside of the 
 houses in which you eat and sleep. And you shall eat 
 the flesh on that night, the fifteenth of Nisan, until the 
 dividing of the night roasted with fire, [Jerusalem. 
 
 9 Hilketha, “custom.” 
 
 1 “ Between the suns,” i. e., the time between sunset and starlight. 
 “ We have two evenings; the first the setting of the sun, and the second 
 the ceasing of the light which is reflected in the clouds; and between both 
 lies an interval of about an hour and twenty minutes.”—E ben Ezra. 
 It is, therefore, the time which we call “ twilight.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 475 
 
 XII.] 
 
 Boasted,] without leaven, with horehound and lettuce 
 shall you eat it. Eat not of it while living, neither 
 boiled in wine, or oil, or other fluids, neither boiled in 
 water, but roasted with fire, with its head, and its feet, 
 and its inwards. Nor shall any be left of it till the 
 morning; but what may remain of it in the morning 
 you shall cover over, and in the daylight of the sixteenth 
 day burn with fire; for y ou may not burn the residue 
 of a holy oblation on the feast day. And according 
 to this manner you shall eat it, this time, but not 
 in (other) generations: your loins shall be girded, 
 [Jerusalem. Bound by the precepts of the law,] your 
 shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands; and 
 you shall eat in the fear of the majesty of the Lord of 
 the world; because mercy hath been shown to you from 
 before the Lord. And I will be revealed in the land 
 of Mizraim in the majesty of My glory this night, and 
 with Me ninety thousand myriads of destroying angels; 
 and I will slay all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, 
 of man and of beast, and against all the idols of the 
 Mizraee I will execute four judgments: the molten 
 idols shall be melted, the idols of stone be broken, the 
 idols of clay shall be shattered, and the idols of wood be 
 made dust, that the Mizraee may know that I am the 
 J_jord. And the blood of the paschal oblation, (like) 
 the matter of circumcision, shall be a bail for you, to 
 become a sign upon the houses where you dwell; and I 
 will look upon the worth of the blood, and will spare 
 you; and the angel of death, to whom is given the 
 power to destroy, shall have no dominion over you in 
 the slaughter of the Mizraee. And this day shall be to 
 you for a memorial, and you shall celebrate it a festival 
 before the Lord in your generations; by a perpetual 
 statute shall you solemnize it. Seven days you shall eat 
 unleavened bread: in the dividing of the day which 
 
476 TAPGTJM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 precedes the feast you shall put away leaven from your 
 houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, from 
 the first day of the feast until the seventh day, that man 
 shall be destroyed from Israel. And on the first day 
 there shall be a holy congregation, and on the seventh 
 day there shall be to you a holy congregation. No 
 work shall be done among you, only that which must be 
 done for every one's eating may be done by you. And 
 you shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread, 
 because in this same day the Lord will bring out your 
 hosts free from the land of Mizraim; and you shall 
 observe this day in your generations, a statute for ever. 
 In Nisan, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall 
 kill the passover, and at evening on the fifteenth you 
 shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first of the 
 month. On the evening of the twenty-second you may 
 eat leavened bread. Por seven days leaven shall not be 
 found in your houses; for whosoever eateth of leaven, 
 that man shall perish from the congregation of Israel, 
 whether he be a stranger or home-bred in the land. 
 Any mixture of leaven you shall not eat; in every place 
 of your habitation you shall eat unleavened bread. 
 
 And Mosheh called all the elders of Israel, and said to 
 them, Withdraw your hands from the idols of the 
 Mizraee, and take to you from the offspring of the flock, 
 according to your houses, and kill the paschal lamb. 
 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the 
 blood that is in the earthen vessel, and upon the upper 
 bar without and upon the two posts you shall sprinkle 
 of the blood which is in the earthen vessel, and not a 
 man of you must come forth from the door of his house 
 till the morning. Por the Glory of the Lord will be 
 manifested in striking the Mizraee, and He will see the 
 blood upon the lintel and upon the two posts, and the 
 Word of the Lord will spread His protection over the 
 
XII.] ON EXODUS. 477 
 
 door, and the destroying angel will not be permitted to 
 enter your houses to smite. 
 
 And you shall observe this thing for a statute to thee 
 and to thy sons for a memorial for ever. And it shall 
 be when you are come into the land that the Lord will 
 give to you, as He hath spoken, that from the time of 
 your coming you shall observe this service. And it 
 shall be that when at that time your children shall say 
 to you, What is this your service ? you shall say, It is 
 the sacrifice of mercy before the Lord, who had mercy 
 in His Word upon the houses of the sons of Israel in 
 Mizraim, when He destroyed the Mizraee, and spared our 
 houses. And when the house of Israel heard this word 
 from the mouth of Mosheh, they bowed and worshipped. 
 And the sons of Israel went and did as the Lord com¬ 
 manded Mosheh and Aharon, so did they hasten and do. 
 
 And it was in the dividing of the night of the fif¬ 
 teenth, that the Word of the Lord slew all the firstborn 
 in the land of Mizraim, from the firstborn son of Pha- 
 roh, who would have sat upon the throne of his king¬ 
 dom, unto the firstborn sons of the kings who were 
 captives in the dungeon as hostages under Pharoh’s 
 hand ; and who, for having rejoiced at the servitude of 
 Israel, were punished as (the Mizraee) : and all the 
 firstborn of the cattle that did the work of the Mizraee 
 died also. 
 
 And Pharoh rose up in that night, and all the rest of 
 his servants, and all the rest of the Mizraee; and there 
 was a great cry, because there was no house of the 
 Mizraee where the firstborn was not dead. And the 
 border of the land of Mizraim extended four hundred 
 pharsee; but the land of Goshen, where Mosheh and 
 the sons of Israel were, was in the midst of the land of 
 Mizraim; and the royal palace of Pharoh was at the 
 entrance of the land of Mizraim. But when he cried to 
 
478 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Mosheli and to Aharon, in the night of the Pascha, his 
 voice was heard unto the land of Goshen; Pharoli 
 crying with a voice of woe, and saying thus : Arise, Go 
 forth from among my people, both you and the sons of 
 Israel; and go, worship before the Lord, as you have 
 said; your sheep also take, and whatever of mine you 
 have spoken about, and go; and nothing ask I of you 
 except that you pray for me that I may not die. When 
 Mosheli and Aharon, and the sons of Israel, heard the 
 voice of PharolPs weeping, they were not mindful, until 
 he came himself, and all his servants, and all the 
 Mizraee, and urged all the people of the house of Israel, 
 that they might hasten to send them forth from the land; 
 Por, said they, if they prolong here one hour more, 
 behold, we are all dead. [Jerusalem. Por, said the 
 Mizraee, if Israel delay one hour (longer),' behold, all 
 Mizraim dies.] 
 
 And the people carried their dough upon their heads, 
 being unleavened, and what remained to them of the 
 paschal cakes and bitter things they carried, bound up 
 with their raiment, upon their shoulders. And the 
 sons of Israel did according to the word of Mosheh, 
 and asked of the Mizraee vessels of silver and vessels of 
 gold. And the Lord gave the people favour and com¬ 
 passion before the Mizraee, and they brought forth to 
 them, and they emptied the Mizraee of their riches. 
 
 And the sons of Israel moved forth from Pilusin 
 towards Succoth, a hundred and thirty thousand, pro¬ 
 tected there by seven clouds of glory on their f<^ur 
 sides : one above them, that neither hail nor tain might 
 fall upon them, nor that they should be burned by the 
 heat of the sun; one beneath them, that they might 
 not be hurt by thorns, serpents, or scorpions; and one 
 went before them, to make the valleys even, and the 
 mountains low, and to prepare them a place of habita- 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 479 
 
 XII.] 
 
 tion. And they were about six hundred thousand men, 
 journeying on foot, none riding on horses except the 
 children, five to every man; 2 and a multitude of 
 strangers, [Jerusalem. A mixed multitude,] two hun¬ 
 dred and forty myriads, went up with them, and sheep, 
 a,nd oxen, and cattle, very many. And they divided 
 the dough which they brought out of Mizraim, which 
 they had carried on their heads, and it was baked for 
 them by the heat of the sun, (into) unleavened cakes, 
 because it had not fermented; for the Mizraee had 
 thrust them out, neither could they delay; and it was 
 sufficient for them to eat until the fifteenth of the month 
 Ijar; because they had not prepared provision for the 
 way. 
 
 And the days of the dwelling of the sons of Israel in 
 Mizraim were thirty weeks of years, (thirty times seven 
 years,) which is the sum of two hundred and ten years. 
 But the number of four hundred and thirty years (had 
 passed away since) the Lord spake to Abraham, 3 in the 
 hour that He spake with him on the fifteenth of Nisan, 
 between the divided parts, until the day that they went 
 out of Mizraim. And it was at the end of thirty years 
 from the making of this covenant, that Xzhak was born ; 
 and thence until they went out of Mizraim four hun¬ 
 dred (years), on the selfsame day it was that all the 
 hosts of the Lord went forth made free from the land of 
 Mizraim. 
 
 Lour nights are there written in the Book of Memo¬ 
 rials before the Lord of the world. Night the first,_ 
 
 when He was revealed in creating the world; the 
 second,—when He was revealed to Abraham; the 
 third,—when He was revealed in Mizraim, His hand 
 killing all the firstborn of Mizraim, and His right 
 hand saving the firstborn of Israel; the fourth,—when 
 
 2 “ Five and five.” 3 Q en> xy 
 
480 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 He will yet be revealed to liberate the people of the 
 house of Israel from among the nations. And all these 
 are called Nights to be observed; for so explained 
 Mosheh, and said thereof, It is to be observed on 
 account of the liberation which is from the Lord, to 
 lead forth the people of the sons of Israel from the land 
 of Mizraim. This is that Night of preservation from 
 the destroying angel for all the sons of Israel who were 
 in Mizraim, and of redemption of their generations from 
 their captivity. 
 
 [Jerusalem Targum. It is a night to be observed 
 and celebrated for the liberation from before the Lord 
 in bringing forth the sons of Israel, made free from the 
 land of Mizraim. Lour nights are there written in the 
 Book of Memorial. Night first; when the Word of 
 the Lord was revealed upon the world as it was created; 
 when the world was without form and void, and darkness 
 was spread upon the face of the deep, and the Word of 
 the Lord illuminated and made it light; and he called it 
 the first night. Night second; when the Word of the 
 Lord was revealed unto Abraham between the divided 
 parts; when Abraham was a son of a hundred years, 
 and Sarah was a daughter of ninety years, and that 
 which the Scripture saith was confirmed,—Abraham a 
 hundred years, can he beget ? and Sarah, ninety years old, 
 can she bear? Was not our father Izhak a son of 
 thirty and seven years, at the time he was offered upon 
 the altar? The heavens were (then) bowed down and 
 brought low, and Izhak saw their realities, 4 and his eyes 
 were blinded at the sight, and he called it the second 
 night. The third night; when the Word of the Lord was 
 revealed upon theMizraee, at the dividing of the night; 
 His right hand slew the firstborn of the Mizraee, and 
 His right hand spared the firstborn of Israel; to fulfil 
 4 Or, “ perfections.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 481 
 
 XIII.] 
 
 what the Scripture hath said, Israel is My firstborn 
 son. And he called it the third night. Night the 
 fourth; when the end of the age will be accomplished, 
 that it might be dissolved, the bands of wickedness 
 destroyed, and the iron yoke broken. Mosheh came 
 forth from the midst of the desert; but the King 
 Meshiha (comes) from the midst of Koma. The Cloud 
 preceded that, and the Cloud will go before this one; and 
 the Word of the Lord will lead between both, and they 
 shall proceed together. This is the night of the Pascha 
 before the Lord, to be observed and celebrated by the 
 sons of Israel in all their generations.] 
 
 A sojourner or a hired stranger shall not eat thereof. 
 In his own company he shall eat. Thou shalt not 
 carry any of the flesh out of the house from (thy) com¬ 
 pany, nor send a gift one man to his neighbour; and a 
 bone of him shall not be broken for the sake of eating 
 that which is within it. [Jerusalem. A sojourning 
 man and a hireling born of the Gentiles shall not eat of 
 it.] All the congregation of Israel shall mix together, 
 this one with that, one family with another, that they 
 may perform it. And if a proselyte sojourn with you, 
 and would perform the pascha before the Lord, let 
 every male belonging to him be circumcised, and so be 
 made fit to perform it; and he shall be as the native of 
 the land: but no uncircumcised one of the sons of 
 Israel shall eat thereof. One law shall there be as to 
 all appointments for the native and for the proselyte 
 who sojourneth among you. And all the sons of 
 Israel did, as the Lord had commanded Mosheh and 
 Aharon, so did they. And it was on that same day 
 that the Lord brought forth the sons of Israel from the 
 land of Mizraim, with their hosts. 
 
 XIII. And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, saying, 
 Sanctify before Me every firstborn male. Whatsoever 
 
 Y 
 
482 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 openetli the womb of all the sons of Israel among men, 
 and (also) among beasts, is Mine. AndMosheh said to 
 the people, Remember this the day in which you went out 
 free from Mizraim, from the house of the bondage of 
 slaves; for by great strength of hand did the Lord bring 
 you forth from thence; and you shall not eat leaven. This 
 day you are come out free; on the fifteenth of Nisan, 
 which is the month of Abiba. And it shall be, when the 
 Lord your God shall have brought you into the land of 
 the Kenaanaee, and Hittaee, and Amoraee, and Hivaee, 
 and Jebusaee, which He sware by His Word unto Abra¬ 
 ham to give thee, a land producing milk and honey, that 
 thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days 
 shalt thou eat unleavened cakes, and on the seventh day 
 shall be a feast before the Lord. Unleavened cakes 
 shall be eaten seven days, and nothing leavened shall be 
 seen with thee, nor leaven itself be seen with thee in all 
 thy borders. And thou shalt instruct thy son on that 
 day, saying, This precept is on account of what the 
 Word of the Lord did for me in miracles and wonders, 
 in bringing me forth from Mizraim. And this miracle 
 shall be inscribed and set forth upon the tephilla of the 
 hand, on the top of thy left (arm,) and for a memorial 
 inscribed and set forth upon the tephilla of thy head, 
 set between thine eyes on thy forehead; 6 that the law 
 of the Lord may be in thy mouth, because in strength, 
 with a mighty hand, the Lord brought thee forth from 
 Mizraim. Thou shalt therefore keep this statute of 
 the Tephillin in the season to which it belongs, on 
 
 5 “The Israelite unites his thoughts with God by certain observance* 
 which Holy Writ ha9 taught him. He wears Tephillin at the head, 
 the organ of reflection and memory; and lets from thence hang down 
 thongs which reach to the hand, and which he shall see at all time. 
 He wears the Tephillin of the hand, issuing from the heart, the source 
 of our powers. The Tephillin 4ell of the Unity of God, and of the Pro¬ 
 vidence by which He is connected with His creatures.”— Sejpher Kusari. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 488 
 
 XIII.] 
 
 work days, not on sabbaths ^ or solemnities; and by 
 day, not by night. [Jerusalem. From these days to 
 those months.] And when I the Lord have brought thee 
 into the land of the Kenaanaee, which I have sworn to 
 thee and to thy fathers to give thee, thou shalt set 
 apart before the Lord every one that openeth the womb ; 
 and every animal that its dam beareth and that openeth 
 the w r omb, if it be to thee a male, thou shalt sanctify 
 before the Lord. And every ass that openeth the 
 womb thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou 
 redeem him not, thou shalt cut him off; [Jerusalem. 
 Thou shalt kill him;] and every firstborn man (child) 
 among thy sons thou shalt redeem; but thy servant 
 thou mayest not redeem with money. 
 
 And when in future thy son shall ask thee, saying, 
 What is this ordinance of the firstborn ? thou shalt tell 
 him: By the power of a mighty hand the Lord 
 delivered us from Mizraim, redeeming us from the 
 house of the servitude of slaves. And when the Word 
 of the Lord had hardened the heart of Pharoh (that he 
 would) not deliver us, he killed all the firstborn in the 
 land of Mizraim, from the firstborn of man to the first¬ 
 born of cattle; therefore do I sacrifice before the Lord 
 every male that openeth the womb, and every firstborn 
 of my sons I redeem with silver. And it shall be 
 inscribed and set forth upon thy left hand, and on the 
 tephilla between thine eyebrows; because by mighty 
 strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Mizraim. 
 
 SECTION XVI. 
 
 BESHALACH. 
 
 And it was when Pharoh had released the people, 
 that the Lord did not conduct them by the way of the 
 
484 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 land of the Phelishtaee, though that was the near one; 
 for the Lord said, Lest the people be affrighted in seeing 
 their brethren who were killed in war, two hundred 
 thousand men of strength of the tribe of Ephraim, who 
 took shields, and lances, and weapons of war, and went 
 down to Gath to carry off the flocks of the Phelishtaee ; and 
 because they transgressed against the statute of the Word 
 of the Lord, and went forth from Mizraim three years 
 before the (appointed) end of their servitude, they were 
 delivered into the hand of the Phelishtaee, who slew 
 them. These are the dry bones which the Word of the 
 Lord restored to life by the ministry (hand) of Yeche- 
 zekel the prophet, in the vale of Dura; but which, if 
 they (now) saw them, they would be afraid, and return 
 into Mizraim. But the Lord led the people round by 
 the way of the desert of the sea of Supli; and every one 
 of the sons of Israel, with five children, went up from 
 the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh carried up the ark 
 in which were the bones of Joseph, from out of the Nilos, 
 and took them with him; because, adjuring, he adjured 
 the sons of Israel, saying, The Lord will surely remem¬ 
 ber you, and you shall carry up my bones with you. 
 
 And they journeyed from Succoth, the place where 
 they had been covered with the clouds of glory, and 
 sojourned in Ethan, which is on the side of the desert. 
 [Jerusalem. 18. And the Word of the Lord con¬ 
 ducted the people by the way of the desert of the sea of 
 Suph; armed in good works went up the sons of Israel, 
 free from the land of Mizraim. 19. Por, adjuring, he 
 adjured the sons of Israel, saying, The Lord remember¬ 
 ing, will remember you in His Word, and in His good 
 mercies. 20. Which cometh upon the end of the 
 desert.] And the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord 
 went before them by day in the column of the Cloud to 
 lead them in the way, and at night the column of the 
 Cloud removed behind them to darken on their pur- 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 485 
 
 xiv.] 
 
 suers behind them; but to be a column of fire to 
 enlighten them before, that they might go forward by 
 day and by night. The column of the Cloud departed 
 not by day, nor the column of fire by night, in leading 
 on before the people. [Jerusalem. It ceased not.] 
 
 XIY. And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Speak 
 to the sons of Israel, that they return back, and encamp 
 before the Mouths of Hiratha, 8 as they lie, created after 
 the manner (likeness) of the children of men, male and 
 female, and their eyes open to them : it is the place of 
 Tanes, which is between Migdol and the sea, before the 
 idol Zephon (Typhon), that is left of all the idols of 
 Mizraim. Lor the Mizraee will say, More excellent is 
 Baal Zephon than all idols, because it is left, and not 
 smitten ; and therefore will they come to worship it, 
 and will find that you are encamped nigh unto it, on 
 the border of the sea. 
 
 And Pharoh said to Dathan and Abiram, sons of 
 Israel, who had remained in Mizraim, The people of the 
 house of Israel are bewildered in the land: the idol 
 Zephon hath shut them in close upon the desert. 
 [Jerusalem. 2. And they shall return and encamp 
 before the caravansaries of Hiratha, between Migdol 
 and the sea, before the idol of Zephon, ye shall encamp 
 over against it. And Pharoh will say concerning the 
 people of the sons of Israel, They are losing themselves 
 in the wilderness : the idol of Peor hath shut them in 
 before the desert.] And I will strengthen the design 
 of Pharoh's heart to pursue after them, and I will be glo¬ 
 rified upon Pharoh and upon his hosts, and the Mizraee 
 shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so. • 
 
 And the officers 7 who went with Israel announced 
 
 * They were two lofty rocks, with a defile between them,, called the 
 (pi) mouth of the rocks.—R. S. Izhaki, in loco. 
 
 7 Oktaraia: “ Octariones , prcefccti militares .” 
 
486 TAltGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 that the people had fled. [Jerusalem. And it was 
 declared to the king.] And the heart of Pliaroh and 
 his servants was turned unto evil against the people; and 
 they said, What is this that we have done ? for we have 
 released Israel from serving us. And he himself pre¬ 
 pared his chariot, and his people led he with him by soft 
 words. And he took six hundred choice chariots, and all 
 the chariots of the Mizraee his servants, who were 
 afraid of the Word of the Lord, lest they should be 
 killed with pestilence, if not w r ith hail: and a third 
 mule, for drawing and following swiftly, he added to 
 each chariot. And the Lord hardened the design of 
 the heart of Pharoh, king of Mizraim, and he pursued 
 after the sons of Israel. But the sons of Israel, going 
 out with a high hand, were stronger than the Mizraee. 
 And the Mizraee followed after them, and came upon 
 them as they were encamped by the sea, gathering of 
 pearls and goodly stones, which the river Pishon had 
 carried from the garden of Eden into the Gihon, and 
 the Gihon had carried into the sea of Suph, and the sea 
 of Suph had cast upon its bank. But all the chariot- 
 horses of Pharoh, and his horsemen, and his hosts (were 
 coming) towards the Mouths of Hiratha, which are 
 before the idol Zephon. And Pharoh saw the idol 
 Zephon (still) preserved, and offered oblations before it. 
 And the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, 
 behold, the Mizraee were pursuing them; and they were 
 sorely afraid, and the children of Israel prayed before 
 the Lord. But the wicked generation said to Mosheh, 
 Because there were no places of burial for us in Mizraim, 
 hast thou led us forth to die in the wilderness ? What 
 hast thou done to us, in bringing us out of Mizraim ? 
 Was not this the word that we spake to thee in Miz¬ 
 raim, Let the Lord manifest Himself over us and judge, 
 saying. Desist from us, and we will serve the Mizraee ? 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 487 
 
 XIV.] 
 
 for it is better for us to serve the Mizraee than to perish 
 in the desert. [Jerusalem. 9. But the sons of Israel 
 
 had gone out free.Before the caravansaries of 
 
 Hiratha,—before the idol Zephon.] 
 
 Pour parties were made (among) the sons of Israel on 
 the shore of the Weedy Sea: one said. Let us go down 
 into the sea; another said. Let us return into Mizraim; 
 another said, Let us set against them the line of battle; 
 and another said. Let us raise a cry against them, and 
 confound them. Unto the company which said. Let us 
 go down to the sea, spake Mosheh, Pear not, stand still, 
 and see the salvation of the Lord, which will be wrought 
 for you to-day. To the company which said, Let us 
 return into Mizraim, Mosheh said. You shall not 
 return; for, though you see the Mizraee to-day, you 
 will see them no more for ever. To the company who 
 said. Let us set against them the line of battle, said 
 Mosheh, Contend not; for the victory shall be wrought 
 among you from the presence of the Lord. And to 
 the company who said, Let us raise a cry against 
 them, Mosheh said, Be silent; and give the glory, and 
 praise, and exaltation to your God. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Why standest thou 
 praying before Me ? Behold, the prayers of My people 
 have come before thy own: speak to the sons of Israel, 
 that they go forward; and thou, lift up thy rod, and 
 stretch forth thy hand with it over the sea, and divide 
 it: and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of 
 the sea upon the ground. Por, behold, I will harden 
 the design of the heart of the Mizraee, and they will go 
 in after them; and I will be glorified upon Pharoh and 
 upon all his hosts, upon his chariots and his horsemen; 
 that the Mizraee may know that I am the Lord, when 
 I am glorified upon Pharoh, upon his chariots and 
 horsemen. 
 
488 TAItGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP, 
 
 [Jerusalem. 13. Tour companies made the sons of 
 Israel, standing by the Weedy Sea. One said, Let us 
 fall upon the sea; another said, Let us return to 
 Mizraim; another said, Let us array battle against 
 them ; and another said, Let us shout against them to 
 confuse them. To that company who said. Let us fall 
 upon the sea, Mosheh said, Pear not; stand still, and see 
 the salvation of the Lord which shall be wrought for 
 you this day. To the company who said, We will 
 return unto Mizraim, Mosheh said, Fear not; for as 
 you have seen the Mizraee to-day, you will see them no 
 more in bondage for ever. To the company who said. 
 We will array battle against them, Mosheh said, Fear 
 not; the Lord, in the glory of His Shekinah, will work 
 the victory for your hosts. To the company who had 
 said, Let us shout against them to confound them, 
 Mosheh said, Fear not; stand and be silent; and give 
 the glory, and praise, and exaltation unto Eloha. 15. 
 And the Word of the Lord said to Mosheh, How long 
 standest thou praying before Me? Heard before Me 
 are thy prayers; but the prayers of My people have 
 preceded thine. Speak to the sons of Israel that they 
 go forward; and thou, lift up thy rod and stretch forth 
 thy hand.] 
 
 And the Angel of the Lord who led the way before 
 the hosts <pf Israel went and came behind them; and 
 the column of the Cloud went from before and stood 
 behind them: because the Mizraee threw darts and 
 stones at the Israelites, but the Cloud intercepted them; 
 and it came between the host of Israel and the host of 
 the Mizraee; a cloud, one half of which was light and 
 one half darkness. On the one side it darkened upon 
 the Mizraee, and on the other side it shined upon Israel 
 all night; and one host did not attack the other all the 
 night. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 489 
 
 XIV.] 
 
 And Mosheh stretched out his hand over the sea, 
 with the great and glorious rod which was created at the 
 beginning, and on which were engraven and set forth 
 the Great and Glorious Name, and the ten signs which 
 had smitten the Mizraee, and the three fathers of the 
 world, and the six mothers, and the twelve tribes of 
 Jakob: and straightway the Lord brought a vehement 
 east wind upon the sea all night, and made the sea dry j 
 and divided the waters into twelve divisions, according 
 to the twelve tribes of Jacob. [Jerusalem. 20. And 
 the cloud was half light and half darkness: light, it 
 enlightened upon Israel; and darkness, it darkened 
 upon Mizraim. And those came not against these, to 
 set battle in order, all the night. 21. And he stretched 
 forth.] And the children of Israel went through the midst 
 of the sea upon the ground, and the waters were con¬ 
 gealed like a wall, three hundred miles on their right 
 hand and on their left. 
 
 And the Mizraee followed and went in after them, all 
 the horses of Pharoh, and his chariots and horsemen, 
 into the midst of the sea. And it was that in the 
 morning watch, at the time that the powers on high 
 come to offer praise, the Lord looked forth with anger 
 upon the hosts of the Mizraee from the column of fire,, 
 to hurl upon them flakes of fire and hail, and from the 
 column of cloud, and confounded the host of the 
 Mizraee; and He brake (or, made rough) the wheels of 
 Pharolfis carriages, so that they drave them with hard¬ 
 ship, and that they went on and left them behind. And 
 the Mizraee said one to another, Let us flee from the 
 people of the house of Israel; for this is the Word of 
 the Lord who fought for them in Mizraim. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Stretch forth thy hand 
 over the sea, that the waters may return upon the 
 Mizraee, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen., 
 y 5 
 
490 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And Moslieh stretched out his hand over the sea, and 
 the sea returned at the time of the morning unto its 
 strength; and the Mizraee fled from before its waves. 
 And the Lord strengthened the Mizraee in the midst of 
 the sea, that they should not (soon) die in the midst of 
 it, that they might receive the punishment which had 
 been sent to them. [Jerusalem. 24. And it was in 
 the time of the morning that the Word of the Lord 
 looked upon the host of the Mizraee, and hurled upon 
 them bitumen (naphtha), and fire, and stones of hail, and 
 conturbed the host of the Mizraee. And he unloosed 
 the wheels of their carriages, so that they went, dragging 
 them after them : the mules, going, after their way, before 
 the wheels, were turned, so as that the wheels went before 
 the mules, and they were cast into the sea. The 
 Mizraee answered and said one to another, Let us flee 
 from before the people of the sons of Israel; for this is 
 the Word of the Lord who worketh victory for them in 
 their battles; so that they set the back against Mizraim. 
 26. Stretch forth. 27. And Mosheh stretched forth 
 his hand over the sea, and the sea returned at the time 
 of the morning to its place.] And the waves of the 
 sea returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, 
 and all the host of Pharoh who had gone in after them, 
 into the sea, not one among them was left. But the 
 sons of Israel walked on the ground in the midst of the 
 sea, and the waters to them were as walls on their 
 right hand and on their left. That day the Lord 
 redeemed and saved Israel from the hand of the Mizraee; 
 and Israel saw the Mizraee, dead and not dead, cast upon 
 the shore of the sea. And Israel saw the power of the 
 mighty hand by which the Lord had wrought the 
 miracles in Mizraim; and the people feared before the 
 Lord, and believed in the Name of the Word of the 
 Lord, and in the prophecies of Mosheh His servant. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 491 
 
 XV.] 
 
 XV. Beliold: then sang Mosheh and the sons of 
 Israel this song of praise before the Lord, and saying 
 they said : 
 
 Thanksgiving and praise we bring before the Lord 
 Most High, who is glorified above the glorious, and 
 exalted above the exalted; who punisheth by His Word 
 whomsoever glorifieth himself before Him. 
 
 Therefore when Pharoh the wicked bare himself 
 proudly before the Lord, and, being uplifted in his 
 heart, followed after the people of the sons of Israel, 
 their horses and their chariots He threw and buried in 
 the sea of Suph. 
 
 [Jerusalem. Then sang Mosheh and the sons of 
 Israel the praise of this song before the Lord, saying, 
 to say: Thanksgiving and praise bring we before the 
 Lord, who is high above the highest, and glorified above 
 the glorious, and who punisheth by His Word whom¬ 
 soever glorifieth himself before Him. The horses and 
 their riders, because they bare themselves proudly and 
 followed after the people of the house of Israel, He hath 
 thrown and buried in the sea of Suph.] 
 
 The Lerd is Mighty, and greatly to be feared over all 
 the world. He spake in His Word, and became to me a 
 God of salvation. 
 
 Prom their mothers* breasts even the children have 
 given signs with their fingers to their fathers, and said, 
 This is our God, who nourished us with honey from the 
 rock, and with oil from the stone of clay, at the time 
 when our mothers went forth upon the face of the field 
 to give us birth, and leave us there; and He sent an 
 angel who washed us and enwrapped us ; and now will 
 we praise Him: He is the God of our fathers, and we 
 will exalt Him. 
 
 The sons of Israel said, The Lord is a man making 
 war for us: from generation to generation He maketh 
 
492 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 known His power unto the people of the house of Israel. 
 The Lord is His Name; according to His Name, so is 
 His power; His Name shall be blessed for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 The chariots of Pharoh and his hosts He hath east 
 into the sea ; the goodliest of his young men hath He 
 thrown and drowned in the sea of Suph. The deep 
 covered them over, they went down, and are buried in 
 the depths of the sea, and are silent as a stone. 
 
 Thy right hand, 0 Lord, how glorious is it in power! 
 Thy right hand, O Lord, hath cut off the adversaries of 
 Thy people who rose against them to do them hurt. 
 And in the plenitude and greatness of Thy majesty 
 Thou hast destroyed the walls of the enemies of Thy 
 people. 
 
 Thou wilt pour upon them Thy fierce anger. Thou 
 wilt consume them as the burning fire prevails over the 
 stubble. Lor by the Word from before Thee the waters 
 became heaps; they stood, as if bound like skins that 
 confine flowing water, and the depths were congealed in 
 the flood of the great sea. 
 
 Pharoh the wicked, the hater and adversary, did say, 
 I will follow after the people of the sons of Israel, and 
 will lay waste their camp on the bank of the sea: I will 
 set w 7 ar in array against them, and kill them, small and 
 great, despoil them of much spoil, bring them back into 
 great captivity, and divide their substance among my 
 people who make war: and when my soul is satisfied 
 with the blood of their slain, I will sheathe my sword, 
 having destroyed them with my right hand. 
 
 [Jerusalem. The Lord is Mighty, and greatly to be 
 praised and feared over all the world. He spake in 
 His Word, and for us became salvation. 
 
 [From their mothers' breasts have even the children 
 given signs with their fingers unto the fathers, and have 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 493 
 
 XV.] 
 
 said to them, This is our Father, who nourished us with 
 honey from the rock, and gave us oil from the stone of 
 clay. 
 
 [The sons of Israel answered and said one to another. 
 He is our God, and we will praise Him; the God of our 
 fathers, and we will exalt Him. 
 
 [The Lord in the glory of His Shekinah is He who 
 worketh victory for your arms. From one generation 
 to another He maketh known His power to the people 
 of the house of Israel. 
 
 [His Name is the Lord: as is His Name, so is His 
 power; let His name be glorified for ever and ever. 
 
 [Upon the chariots of Pharoh and his host He shot 
 arrows in the sea; his goodly young men and his men 
 of strength He hath drowned in the sea of Suph. How 
 glorious is Thy right hand, O Lord, in power, which 
 hath broken and shattered the walls of the enemies of 
 Thy people! 
 
 [Pharoh the wicked, the hater and adversary, did say, 
 I will follow after the people of the sons of Israel, and 
 will overtake them encamped at the side of the sea. I 
 will lead them captive into great captivity, and despoil 
 them of great spoil; I will divide their substance 
 among my men of war; and when my soul shall be 
 satisfied with them, I will sheathe my sword, when I 
 shall have destroyed them with my right hand.] 
 
 Thou didst blow with the wind from before Thee, 0 
 Lord, and the waves of the sea covered them; they 
 went down, and sank as lead in the proud waters. 
 
 "Who is like Thee among the exalted gods, 0 Lord, 
 who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, 
 doing wonders and manifestations for Thy people, the 
 house of Israel.? 
 
 The sea spake to the earth, Receive thy children: 
 but the earth spake to the sea, Receive thy murderers. 
 
494 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And the sea was not willing to overwhelm them, and 
 the earth was not willing to swallow them up. The 
 earth was afraid to receive them, lest they should be 
 required from her in the day of the great judgment in 
 the world to come, even as the blood of Habel will be 
 required of her : whereupon Thou, 0 Lord, didst stretch 
 forth Thy right hand in swearing to the earth that in 
 the world to come they should not be required of 
 her. And the earth opened her mouth and consumed 
 them. 
 
 [Jerusalem. The sea and the earth had controversy 
 one with the other. The sea said to the earth. Receive 
 thy children; and the earth said to the sea. Receive 
 thy murderers. But the earth willed not to swallow 
 them, and the sea willed not to overwhelm them. And 
 by the Word from before Thee Thou didst stretch forth 
 Thy right hand in oath, and didst swear unto the earth 
 that Thou wilt not require them of her in the world to 
 come. Then did the earth open her mouth and 
 swallow them up.] 
 
 Thou hast led in Thy mercy the people whom Thou 
 hast redeemed, and given them the heritage of the 
 mountain of Thy sanctuary, the place of the dwelling of 
 Thy holy Shekinah. 
 
 The nations will hear and be afraid; terror will lay 
 hold upon them, even upon all the pillars of the inha¬ 
 bitants of the Palestinian land. Behold, then will the 
 princes of the Edomaee be confounded, the strong ones 
 of Moaba will be seized with fear, their heart within 
 them will melt away, even all the pillars of the inha¬ 
 bitants of the Kenaanian land. 
 
 Through the power of Thy mighty arm, let the 
 terrors of death fall upon them, let them be silent as a 
 stone, till the time when Thy people, 0 Lord, shall 
 have passed the streams of Arnona, till the time when 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 495 
 
 £V.] 
 
 Thy people whom Thou didst ransom shall have crossed 
 the dividing current of Jabeka. 
 
 Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on the 
 mountain of Thy sanctuary, tbe place which Thou hast 
 provided before the throne of Thy glory, the house of 
 Thy holy Shekinah, which Thou, O Lord, hast prepared, 
 Thy sanctuary that with both hands Thou hast 
 established. 
 
 When the people of the house of Israel beheld the 
 signs and manifestations which the Holy One, whose 
 Name be praised, had done at the sea of Suph, and the 
 power of His hand, the children of the captives answer¬ 
 ing said one to the other, Come, and let us set the 
 crown of majesty on the head of our Eedeemer, who 
 maketh to pass over, and passeth not; who changeth, 
 and is not changed; whose is the crown of the king¬ 
 dom; the King of kings in this world; whose, too, 
 is the kingdom in the world to come, for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 [Jerusalem. 16. Thou wilt make the terror of 
 death to fall upon them and undoing, by the power of 
 Thy mighty arm, that they shall be as silent as a stone, 
 until this people whom Thou hast redeemed shall have 
 gone over the dividing stream of Jobeka and that of 
 Jardena; till this people shall have passed over whom 
 Thou hast ransomed for Thy Name. 17. Thou wilt 
 bring them in, and wilt plant them in the mountain of 
 Thy inheritance, the dwelling of the glory of Thy 
 holiness, which Thou, O Lord, hast prepared for Thyself, 
 the sanctuary of the Lord that with both hands He 
 hath established. 18. When the house of Israel had 
 beheld the signs and wonders that the Holy One, Blessed 
 be He, had wrought for them at the border of the 
 sea,—let His great Name be blessed for ever and ever,— 
 they gave glory and thanksgiving and exaltation unto 
 
496 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 their God. The sons of Israel answered and said one 
 to another, Come, let us set the crown upon the head of 
 the Redeemer, who causeth to pass over, but is not 
 passed; who changeth, but is not changed; the King of 
 kings in this world; whose, too, is the crown of‘the 
 kingdom of the world to come, and w r hose it will be for 
 ever and ever.] 
 
 Tor Pharoh's horses with his chariots and horsemen 
 went into the sea, and the Lord made the waters of the 
 sea to return upon them; but the sons of Israel walked 
 upon the land in the midst of the sea, and there did 
 spring up sweet fountains and trees yielding food and 
 verdure and ripe fruits, (even) on the ground of the 
 sea. 
 
 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aharon, 
 took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women 
 came out after her, dancing with tambourines and play¬ 
 ing on instruments. [Jerusalem. With tambourines 
 dancing.] And Miriam sang to them, Let us give 
 thanks and praise before the Lord, for might and 
 supremacy are His; above the proud He is glorified, 
 and above the lofty He is exalted. When the wicked 
 Pharoh in his pride followed after the people of the 
 sons of Israel, his horses and his chariots did He cast 
 and drown in the sea of Suph. 
 
 And Mosheh made Israel go forward from the sea of 
 Suph, and they went forth into the wilderness of 
 Chalutsa. [Jerusalem. The way of Chalutsa.] And they 
 journeyed three days in the desert, empty of instruc¬ 
 tion, and found no water. And they came to Marah, 
 hut could not drink the waters of Marah because they 
 were bitter; therefore he called the name of it Marah. 
 And the people murmured against Mosheh, saying. 
 What shall we drink ? .[Jerusalem. And the people 
 contended.] And he prayed before the Lord, and the 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 497 
 
 XV.] 
 
 Lord showed him the bitter tree of Ardiphne; 8 and 
 he wrote upon it the great and glorious Name, and cast 
 it into the midst of the waters, and the waters were 
 rendered sweet. And there did the Word of the Lord 
 appoint to him the ordinance of the sabbath, and the 
 statute of honouring father and mother, the judgments 
 concerning wounds and bruises, and the punishments 
 wherewith offenders are punished; and there he tried 
 (them) with the tenth trial, and said, If you will truly 
 hearken to the Word of the Lord your God, and do that 
 which is right before Him, and will listen to His precepts 
 and keep all His statutes, all those evil things that I 
 laid upon the Mizraee I will not lay upon thee : but if 
 thou wilt transgress against the word of the law, upon 
 thee shall they be sent. If thou convert, I will remove 
 them from thee; for I am the Lord thy Healer. 
 [Jerusalem. 25. And Mosheh prayed before the 
 Lord, and the Word of the Lord showed him the tree 
 of Ardiphene, and he cast it into the midst of the 
 waters, and the waters were made sweet. There did 
 the Word of the Lord show unto him statutes and 
 orders of judgment, and there He tried him with trials 
 in the tenth trial. 26. Lor I am the Lord who healeth 
 thee by My Word.] And they came to Elim; and in 
 Elim were twelve fountains of water, a fountain for 
 each tribe; and seventy palm-trees, corresponding with 
 the seventy elders of Israel: and they encamped there 
 by the waters. [Jerusalem. And they came to Elim, 
 ■where were twelve fountains of water, answering to th 
 
 8 The Ardiphne, Hirdoph, and sometimes Rododaphne, is described 
 in Shemoth Rabba as a tree which grows beside water, and bears 
 flowers like lilies, of a bitter taste. The name is given also to the 
 bitter herbs eaten with the passover. (Tr. Pesachivi , 39.) The old 
 commentator in the Yalkut says, “This was one miracle within another, 
 —bitter waters made sweet by a bitter tree.” 
 
498 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 twelve tribes of Israel, and seventy palm-trees, answer¬ 
 ing to the seventy elders of the sanhedrin of Israel.] 
 
 XVI. And the whole congregation of Israel jour¬ 
 neyed from Elim, and came to the desert of Sin, which 
 is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the 
 month of Ijar, the second month from their going forth 
 from the land of Mizraim. And on that day the bread 
 which they had brought out of Mizraim was finished. 
 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Mosheh 
 and against Aharon in the desert. And the sons of 
 Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the 
 Word of the Lord in the land of Mizraim, when we sat 
 by the cisterns of meat, and ate bread and had enough ! 
 Why hast thou brought us out into this wilderness to 
 kill all this congregation with hunger? And the Lord 
 said to Mosheh, Behold, I will cause the bread which 
 hath been laid up for you from the beginning to 
 descend from heaven: and the people shall go out and 
 gather the matter of a day by the day, that I may try 
 them whether they will keep the commandments of My 
 law or not. And on the sixth day they shall prepare 
 what they set before them to eat on the day of the 
 Sabbath; and they shall mix in the houses and com¬ 
 municate in their dwellings, so that by carrying this to 
 that, they may have double of that which they gather 
 from day to day. 
 
 And Mosheh and Aharon said to all the sons of 
 Israel, At evening you shall know that the Lord hath 
 brought you out free from the land of Mizraim ; and in 
 the morning will be revealed to you the glory of the 
 Shekinah of the Lord ; and w r e, what are we accounted, 
 that you complain against us ? [Jerusalem. And we, 
 what are we accounted ?] And Mosheh said, By this 
 you shall know, when the Lord prepareth you at 
 evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 499 
 
 XVI.] 
 
 satisfy, that your complainings wherewith you complain 
 against Him are heard before the Lord. And we, 
 what are we accounted ? Your complaints are not 
 against us, but against the Word of the Lord. And 
 Mosheh said to Aharon, Bid all the congregation 
 of the sons of Israel draw nigh before the Lord; for 
 your murmurings are heard before Him. 
 
 And it was while Aharon was speaking with all the 
 congregation of Israel that they turned towards the 
 desert, and, behold, the glory of the majesty of the 
 Lord was revealed in the cloud of glory. And the 
 Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Hearing I have heard 
 the murmurings of the sons of Israel before Me. Speak: 
 thou with them, saying, Between the evenings (suns) 
 you shall eat flesh, and in the morning shall you eat 
 bread, and shall know that I am the Lord your God. 
 
 And it came to pass, that in the evening the phea¬ 
 sants 9 came up and covered the camp; and in the 
 morning there was a fall of holy dew, prepared as a 
 table, round about the camp: and the clouds ascended 
 and caused manna to descend upon the dew; and there 
 was upon the face of the desert a minute (substance) in 
 lines, 10 minute as the hoar frost upon the ground. 
 [Jerusalem:. As hoar frost.] And the sons of Israel 
 beheld, and wondered, and said, a man to his com¬ 
 panion, Man Hu? 1 for they knew not what it was. 
 And Mosheh said to them, It is the bread which hath 
 been laid up for you from the beginning in the heavens 
 on high, and now the Lord will give it you to eat. 
 This is the word which the Lord hath dictated: You 
 are to gather of it, every man according to the number 
 of your souls; every man according to the mouth of the 
 number of the persons of his tabernacle, are you to take. 
 Amd the sons of Israel did so, and gathered manna 
 9 Phisyonin. 10 Mesargal . 1 “ What is it ? ” 
 
500 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap 
 
 more or less; but when they measured by the homer 
 nothing remained above the measure of him who had 
 gathered much; and he who had gathered little, wanted 
 nothing of the measure: every man according to the 
 mouth of his eating, so they gathered. And Mosheh 
 said to them, Let no man make a reserve of it till the 
 morning. But (some of them) hearkened not toj 
 Mosheh: Dathan and Abiram, men of wickedness, did! 
 reserve of it till the morning; but it produced worms 
 and putrefied; and Mosheh was ^ngry with them. 
 And they gathered from the time of the dawn until the 
 fourth hour of the day, every man according to his 
 eating; but at the fourth hour, when the sun had 
 waxed hot upon it, it liquefied, and made streams of 
 water, [Jerusalem. Became as Streams,] which flowed 
 away into the Great Sea; and wild animals that were 
 clean, and cattle, came to drink of it, and the sons of 
 Israel hunted, and ate them. And it came to pass on 
 the sixth day they gathered double bread, two homers a 
 man; and all the princes of the congregation came and 
 told Mosheh. And Mosheh said to them. This which 
 the Lord hath told you, do. To-morrow is the rest of 
 the holy Sabbath before the Lord: That which is need¬ 
 ful to have to bake for to-morrow, bake to-day; and 
 what is needful to boil for to-morrow, boil to-day: and 
 all whatever remaineth of that which you eat to-day lay 
 it up, and it shall be preserved until the morning. 
 And they laid it up until the morning, as Mosheh had 
 directed them ; and it did not corrupt, and no worm 
 was in it. And Mosheh said to them, Eat to-day, 
 because this is the Sabbath day before the Lord. This 
 day you will not find any in the field. "Six days you 
 shall gather, but on the seventh day, which is the Sab¬ 
 bath, no manna will come down. And it was that on 
 the seventh day some of the wicked of the people went 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 501 
 
 XVII.] 
 
 forth to gather manna, but they found none. And the 
 Lord said to Mosheh, How long will ye refuse to keep 
 My commandments and My laws ? Behold, because I 
 have given you the Sabbath, I gave you on the sixth 
 day bread for two days. Let every man abide in his 
 place, and not wander from one locality to another, 
 beyond four yards; 3 nor let any man go forth to walk 
 beyond two thousand yards on the seventh day; for the 
 people shall repose on the seventh day. 
 
 And the house of Israel called the name of it Manna; 
 and it was like the seed of coriander, 3 white, and the 
 taste of it like preparations of honey. [Jerusalem. 
 Like the seed of coriander, and the taste of it like con¬ 
 fections of honey.] And Mosheh said, This is the 
 thing which the Lord hath commanded—to lay up of it 
 a homer-full to keep in your generations; that perverse 
 generations may see the bread which you have eaten in 
 the wilderness, in your coming forth out of the land of 
 Mizraim. And Mosheh said to Aharon, Take one 
 earthen vase, and put therein a full homera of manna, 
 and lay it up before the Lord to be kept unto your 
 generations. As the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did 
 Aharon lay it up before the testimony to be kept. 
 And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years, 
 until they came to an inhabited land : manna did they 
 eat forty days after his death, until they had passed the 
 Jordena, and entered upon the borders of the land of 
 ■Kenaan. And a homera is one tenth of three seahs. 
 
 XVII. And all the congregation of the sons of Israel 
 ijourneyed from the desert of Sin by their journeyings 
 according to the word of the Lord, and they encamped 
 in Bephidim, a place where their hands were idle in the 
 commandments of the law, and the fountains were dry, 
 ind there was no water for the people to drink. And 
 
 2 Garmidee. 3 Kusehar. 
 
502 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the wicked of the people contended with Mosheh, and 
 said, Give us water, that we may drink. And Mosheh 
 said to them, Why contend you with me? and why 
 tempt you before the Lord? But the people were 
 athirst for w r ater, and the people murmured against 
 Mosheh, and said, Why hast thou made us come up 
 out of Mizraim, to kill us, and our children, and our 
 cattle with thirst ? And Mosheh prayed before the 
 Lord, saying, What shall I do for this people ? Yet a 
 very little, and they will stone me. And the Lord said, 
 to Mosheh, Pass over before the people, and take with 
 thee some of the elders of Israel, and the rod with, 
 which thou didst smite the river take in thy hand, and' 
 go from the face of their murmuring. Behold, I will 
 stand before thee there, on the spot where thou sawest 
 the impress 4 of the foot on Horeb ; and thou shalfc 
 smite the rock with thy rod, and therefrom shall come 
 forth waters for drinking, and the people shall drink. 
 And Mosheh did so before the elders of Israel. And 
 he called the name of that place Temptation and Strife; 
 because there the sons of Israel contended with Mosheh, 
 and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Doth the 
 glory of the majesty of the Lord truly dwell among us, 
 or not ? 
 
 And Amalek came from the land of the south, and 
 leaped on that night a thousand and six hundred miles; 
 and on account of the disagreement which had been 
 between Esau and Jakob, he came and waged war with 
 Israel in Rephidim, and took and killed (some of the) 
 men of the house of Dan; for the cloud did not 
 embrace them, because of the strange worship that was 
 among them. And Mosheh said to Jeh'oshua, Choose 
 such men as are strong in the precepts, and victorious 
 in fight; and go, under the Cloud of glory, and set 
 4 Ros/iem. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 503 
 
 XVII.] 
 
 battle in array against the hosts of Amalek. To-morrow 
 I will stand, prepared with fasting, with the righteous 
 fathers of the chiefs of the people, and the righteous 
 mothers who are like the hills, with the rod with which 
 the miracles have been wrought from before the Lord, 
 in my hand. And Jehoshua did as Mosheh had bidden 
 him, to wage war with Amalek. And Mosheh, and 
 Aharon, and Hur went up to the top of the height. 
 And it was, when Mosheh lifted up his hands in prayer, 
 that the house of Israel prevailed; and when he rested 
 his hand from praying, that the house of Amalek pre¬ 
 vailed. And the hands of Mosheh were heavy, because 
 the conflict was prolonged till the morrow, and the 
 deliverance of Israel was not prepared on that day; and 
 he could not hold them up in prayer; on which account 
 he would have afflicted his soul. And they took a 
 stone, and placed it under him, and he sat upon it; 
 and Aharon and Hur supported his hands, this the 
 one, and that the other; and his hands were out¬ 
 stretched with firmness, (or, fidelity,) in prayer and fast¬ 
 ing, until the going down of the sun. And Jehoshua 
 shattered Amalek, and cut off the heads of the strong 
 men of his people, by the mouth of the Word of the 
 Lord, with the slaughter of the sword. [Jerusa¬ 
 lem. 11. And it was that when Mosheh lifted up his 
 hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed; and 
 when his hands declined from prayer, Amalek prevailed; 
 and (Israel) fell in the line of battle. 12. And the 
 hands of Mosheh were lifted up in prayer.] 
 
 And the Lord said unto Mosheh, Write this memo¬ 
 rial in the book of the elders that were of old, and 
 these words in the hearing of Jehoshua, that blotting, I 
 will blot out the memory of Amalek from under the 
 heavens. And Mosheh builded an altar, and called the 
 name of it, The Word of the Lord is my banner; for 
 
504 TAEGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the sign which He hath wrought (in this) place was on 
 my behalf. And he said, Because the Word of the 
 Lord hath sworn by the throne of His glory, that He 
 by His Word will fight against those of the house of 
 Amalek, and destroy them unto three generations; from 
 the generation of this world, from the generation of the 
 Meshiha, and from the generation of the world to come. 
 [Jerusalem. 16. And he said, The oath hath come 
 forth from beneath the throne of the Great One, of all 
 the world the Lord; the first king who will sit upon 
 the throne of the kingdom of the sons of Israel, Shaul, 
 the son of Kish, will set the battle in array against, 
 the house of Amalek, and will slay them; and those of 
 them that remain will Mardekai and Esther destroy. 
 The Lord hath said by His Word that the memory of 
 Amalek shall perish to the age of ages.] 
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 JETHRO. 
 
 And Jethro, prince of Midian, the father-in-law of 
 Mosheh, heard all that the Lord had done for Mosheh 
 and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought 
 forth Israel from Mizraim. And Jethro the father-in- 
 law of Mosheh took Zipporah his wife, whom Mosheh 
 had sent back from him after going into Mizraim, and 
 his two sons, the name of the one of whom was Gershom, 
 Because, he had said, I am a dweller in a strange land 
 which is not mine; and the name of the other Eliezer, 
 Eor (he had said) the God of my fathers was my helper, 
 and saved me from the sword of Pharoli. And Jethro 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 505 
 
 XVIII.] 
 
 the father-in-law of Mosheh, and the sons of Mosheh, 
 and his wife, came to Mosheli at the desert in which he 
 was sojourning hard by the mountain upon which the 
 glory of the Lord was revealed to Mosheli at the be¬ 
 ginning. And he said to Mosheh, I, thy father-in-law 
 Jethro, have come to thee to be a proselyte ; and if thou 
 wilt not receive me on my own account, receive me for 
 the sake of thy wife and of her two sons who are with 
 her. And Mosheh came forth from under the cloud of 
 glory to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance, and 
 kissed him, and made him a proselyte; and they asked 
 of each other's welfare, and came to the tabernacle, the 
 house of instruction. And Mosheh recounted to his 
 father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharoh and 
 to the Mizraee on behalf of Israel; all the hardship they 
 had found in the way, at the sea of Suph, and at Marah, 
 and at Rephidim, and how Amalek had fought with them, 
 and the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced 
 over all the good which the Lord had done unto Israel, 
 and that He had given them manna, and the well, and 
 that He had saved them from the hand of the Mizraee. 
 And Jethro said, Blessed be the Name of the Lord who 
 hath saved you from the hand of the Mizraee, and from 
 the hand of Pharoh, and hath saved the people from 
 under the tyranny of the Mizraee. Now have I known 
 that the Lord is stronger than all gods; for by the very 
 thing by which the Mizraee wickedly would have 
 punished Israel by (drowning them in) the' sea, upon 
 themselves came the punishment, in being punished in 
 the sea. And Jethro took burnt offerings and holy 
 sacrifices before the Lord, and Aharon and all the elders 
 of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of 
 Mosheh before the Lord; and Mosheh stood and minis¬ 
 tered before them. 
 
 And the day after, the day of reconciliation, Mosheh 
 
506 TAEGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 sat to judge the people: and the people stood before 
 Mosheh from morning till evening. And the father-in- 
 law of Mosheh saw how much he toiled and laboured 
 for his people; and he said, What thing is this that 
 thou art doing to the people ? Why dost thou sit alone 
 to judge, and all the people stand before thee from 
 morning until evening? And Mosheh said to his 
 father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire 
 for instruction from before the Lord. When they have 
 a matter for judgment, they come to me, and I judge 
 between a man and his fellow, and make them to know 
 the statutes and the law of the Lord. And the father- 
 in-law of Mosh6h said to him, This thing that thou art 
 doing is not well ordered; thou wilt verily wear thyself 
 away. Aharon also, and his sons, and the elders of thy 
 people, because the thing is heavier than thou art able 
 to do by thyself, (should take part in it.) Now hearken 
 to me, and I will advise thee; and may the Word of the 
 Lord be thy helper! When thou art with the people 
 who seek instruction from before the Lord, thou shouldst 
 take their affair before the Lord> and give them counsel 
 about the statutes and laws, make them understand the 
 prayer they are to offer in the house of congregation, 
 the manner of visiting the sick, of burying the dead, of 
 being fruitful in doing good, and in the work and process 
 of justice, and how to conduct themselves among the 
 wicked. But thou shouldst elect from all the people 
 men of ability who fear the Lord, upright men who hate 
 to receive the mammon of dishonesty, and superappoint 
 them to be heads of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, 
 and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times, 
 and every great matter bring to thee, but every little 
 thing let them judge themselves, that they may lighten 
 the burden that is upon thee, and bear it with thee. If 
 thou wilt do this, and exempt thyself from judging (every 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 507 
 
 XIX.] 
 
 case) as the Lord shall give thee instruction, thou wilt 
 be able to continue to hear them; and Aharon also and 
 his sons, and all the elders of this people, will resort to 
 the place of judgment in peace. And Mosheh hearkened 
 to his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And 
 Mosheh selected able men from all Israel, and appointed 
 them chiefs over the people, rabbans of thousands, six 
 hundred; rabbans of hundreds, six thousand; rabbans 
 of fifties, twelve thousand; and rabbans of tens, six 
 myriads. And they judged the people at all times; a 
 hard case they brought to Mosheh; but every light 
 matter they judged it. And Mosheh parted from his 
 father-in-law, and he went, and himself made proselytes 
 of all the children of his land. 
 
 XIX. In the third month of the Exodus of the sons 
 of Israel from the land of Mizraim, on that day, the 
 first of the month, came they to the desert; for they had 
 journeyed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of 
 Sinai; and Israel encamped there in the desert, of one 
 heart, nigh to the mountain. And Mosheh on the 
 second day went up to the summit of the mount; and 
 the Lord called to him from the mount, saying. This 
 shalt thou speak to the men of the house of Jakob, and 
 instruct the house of Israel. [Jerusalem. And 
 Mosheh went up to seek instruction from before the 
 Lord; and the Word of the Lord anticipated him from 
 the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou speak to the men 
 of the house of Jakob, and teach the congregation of 
 the sons of Israel.] 
 
 Ye have seen what I did to the Mizraee; and how I 
 bare you upon the clouds as upon eagles' wings from 
 Pelusin, to take you to the place of the sanctuary, there 
 to solemnize the Pascha; and in the same night brought 
 you back to Pelusin, and from thence have brought you 
 nigh, to (receive) the doctrine of My law. And now, 
 z 2 
 
508 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 if you will truly hearken to My Word and keep My 
 covenant, you shall be more beloved before Me than all 
 the peoples on the face of the earth. And before Me 
 you shall be crowned kings, and sanctified priests, and a 
 holy people. These are the words thou shalt speak to 
 the sons of Israel. And Mosheh came that day, and 
 called the elders of the people, and set in order before 
 them all these words which the Lord had commanded. 
 And all the people responded together, and said, All 
 that the Lord hath spoken we will do. 
 
 And Mosheh carried back the words of the people 
 before the Lord. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Behold, 
 on the third day I will reveal Myself to thee in the depth * 
 of the cloud of glory, that the people may hear while I 
 speak with thee, and may believe in thee for ever. And 
 Mosheh delivered the words of the people before the Lord. : 
 [Jerusalem. 4. You have seen what vengeance I have 
 taken of the Mizraee, and (how) I bare you upon the 
 light clouds as upon eagles' wings, and brought you 
 nigh to the doctrine of My law. And now, if you will 
 truly hearken to the voice of My Word, and will keep 
 My covenant, you shall be unto My Name a distinct 
 people, and beloved as a precious treasure above all 
 peoples; for all the earth is to the Name of the Lord. 
 And to My Name shall you be kings and priests and a 
 holy people. These are the words thou shalt speak. 
 And Mosheh came and called the sages of Israel, and 
 set in order before them all these words which the Word 
 of the Lord had commanded him. And all the people 
 answered together in the fulness of their heart, and said. 
 All that the Word of the Lord hath spoken, we will do. 
 And Mosheh returned the words of the people in prayer 
 before the Lord. And the Word of the Lord said to 
 Mosheh, Behold, My Word will be revealed to thee in the 
 thickness of the cloud, that the people may hear while 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 509 
 
 XIX.] 
 
 I speak with thee, and may also believe for ever in the 
 words of the prophecy of thee, My servant Mosheh. And 
 Mosheh delivered the words of the people in prayer 
 before the Lord.] 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh on the fourth day, Go 
 unto the people, and prepare them to-day and to¬ 
 morrow ; let them wash their raiment, and be prepared 
 on the third day; for on the third day the Lord will 
 reveal Himself to the eyes of all the people, upon the 
 Mount of Sinai. And thou shalt set limits for the peo¬ 
 ple, that they may stand round about the mountain, and 
 shalt say, Beware that you ascend not the mount, nor 
 come near its confines; whoever cometh nigh the mount 
 will be surely put to death. Touch it not with the 
 hand; for he will be stoned with hailstone, or be pierced 
 with arrows of fire; whether beast or man, he will not 
 live. But when the voice of the trumpet is heard, they 
 may go up (forwards) towards the mount. [Jerusa¬ 
 lem. No man shall touch it with the hand; for stoned 
 he will be stoned, or fiery arrows will flee against him; 
 whether beast or man, he will not live. When the 
 trumpet soundeth, they may go up toward the moun¬ 
 tain.] And Mosheh went down that day to the people, 
 and prepared the people, and they blanched their clothes. 
 And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day; 
 abstain from the marriage-bed. [Jerusalem. And he 
 said to the people, Be ready for the third day; abstain 
 from the marriage-bed.] 
 
 And it was on the third day, on the sixth of the 
 month, in the time of the morning, that on the moun¬ 
 tain there were voices of thunders, and lightnings, and 
 mighty clouds of smoke, and a voice of a trumpet 
 exceeding loud; and all the people in the camp 
 trembled. And Mosheh brought forth the people from 
 the camp to meet the glorious Presence of the Lord; 
 
510 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 and suddenly the Lord of the world uprooted the 
 mountain, and lifted it in the air, and it became 
 luminous as a beacon, and they stood beneath the 
 mountain. And all the mount of Sinai was in flame; 
 for the heavens had overspread it, and He was revealed 
 over it in flaming fire, and the smoke went up as the 
 smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain quaked 
 greatly. [Jerusalem. And all mount Sinai sent up 
 smoke, because the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord 
 was revealed upon it in flame of fire.] And the voice 
 of the trumpet went forth, and grew stronger : (then) 
 Mosheh spake, and was answered from before the Lord 
 with a gracious and majestic voice, and with pleasant 
 and gracious words. And the Lord revealed Himself 
 on mount Sinai upon the summit of the mountain, and 
 the Lord called unto Mosheh from the summit of the 
 mount, and Mosheh went up. And the Lord said to 
 Mosheh, Descend, and warn the people, lest they come 
 directly before the Lord to gaze, and many of them fall. 
 The priests, also, who approach to minister before the 
 Lord, must be sanctified, lest the Lord destroy them. 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, The people 
 cannot come up to mount Sinai, because Thou didst 
 instruct us, saying, Make limits to the mount, and 
 sanctify it. And the Lord said to him, Go down, and 
 then ascend, thou and Aharon with thee; but let not 
 the priests or the people directly come up to gaze before 
 the Lord, lest He slay them. And Mosheh went down 
 from the mountain to the people, and said to them, 
 Draw nigh, and hear the Law with Ten Words.* 
 [Jerusalem. And Mosheh went down from the moun¬ 
 tain to the people, and said to them, Draw nigh, and 
 receive the Ten Words.] 
 
 XX. And the Lord spake all these words, saying: 
 
 5 Im asarti dibraia. 
 
XX.] ON EXODUS. 511 
 
 [Jerusalem. And the Word of the Lord spake all 
 the excellency 6 of these words, saying :] 
 
 The first word, as it came forth from the mouth of 
 the Holy One, whose Name be blessed, was like storms, 
 and lightnings, and flames of fire, with a burning light 
 on His right hand and on His left. It winged its way 
 through the air of the heavens, and was made manifest 
 unto the camp of Israel, and returned, and was engraven 
 on the tables of the covenant that were given by the 
 hand of Mosheh, and were turned in them 7 from side 
 to side : and then called He, and said : 
 
 Sons of Israel My people, I am the Lord your God, 
 who brought you out free from the land of Mizraim, 
 from the house of the bondage of slaves. The second 
 word which came forth from the mouth of the Holy 
 One, whose name be blessed, was like storms, and light¬ 
 nings, and flames of fire. A burning light was on His 
 right hand and on His left, and was borne through the air 
 of the heavens, returned, and was made manifest unto the 
 camp of Israel; it returned, and was engraven on the 
 tables of the covenant, and was turned in them from side 
 to side. Then called He, and said, House of Israel, My 
 people, Thou shalt have no other God beside Me. You 
 shall not make to yourselves image or figure, or any simi¬ 
 litude of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth 
 beneath, or in the waters under the earth. You shall 
 not bow down to them, or worship before them; for I 
 the Lord your God am a jealous God and an avenger, 
 punishing with vengeance, recording the guilt of wicked 
 fathers upon rebellious children unto the third and 
 unto the fourth generation of them who hate Me; but 
 keeping mercy and goodness for thousands of genera¬ 
 tions of the righteous who love Me, and who keep My 
 commandments and My laws. 
 
 6 She bach, “praise.” 
 
 7 Mithhaphik behon. 
 
O 1 * TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 My people of the house of Israel, Let no one of you 
 swear by the name of the Word of the Lord your God 
 in vain; for in the day of the great judgment the Lord 
 will not hold guiltless any one who sweareth by His 
 name in vain. 
 
 My people of the house of Israel, Remember the day 
 of Shabbatha, to sanctify it. Six days you shall labour, 
 and do all your service: but the seventh day is (for) 
 rest and quietude before the Lord your God: you shall 
 not perform any work, you, and your sons, and your 
 daughters, and your servants, and your handmaids, and 
 your sojourners who are in your cities. Lor in six days 
 the Lord created the heavens, and the earth, and the 
 sea, and whatever is therein, and rested on the seventh 
 day: therefore the Lord hath blessed the day of Shab¬ 
 batha, and sanctified it. 
 
 My people, the house of Israel, Let every man be 
 instructed in the honour of his father and in the honour 
 of his mother : that your days may be multiplied upon 
 the land which the Lord your God giveth you. 
 
 My people, the sons of Israel, You shall not be mur¬ 
 derers ; you shall not be companions of or partakers 
 with murderers: in the congregations of Israel there 
 shall not be seen a murderous people; neither shall 
 your sons rise up after you and teach one another to 
 take part with murderers: for on account of the guilt 
 of murder the sword cometh forth upon the world. 
 
 My people of the house of Israel, Be ye not adul¬ 
 terers, nor companions nor partakers with adulterers: 
 nor in the congregations of Israel shall there be seen an 
 adulterous people, that your sons may not arise after 
 you to teach one another to have part with adulterers: 
 for through the guilt of adultery death cometh forth 
 upon the world. 
 
 Sons of Israel My people. Ye shall not be thieves, 
 
XX.] 
 
 ON EXODUS. 
 
 513 
 
 nor companions nor partakers with thieves : there shall 
 not be seen in the congregations of Israel a thievish 
 people; that your sons may not arise after you to teach 
 one another to have part with thieves: for on account 
 of the guilt of theft famine cometh forth upon the 
 world. 
 
 Sons of Israel My people, Ye shall not testify against 
 your neighbours a testimony of falsehood, nor be com¬ 
 panions or partakers with those who bear false witness : 
 nor shall there be seen in the congregations of Israel a 
 people who testify a testimony of falsehood; neither 
 shall your sons arise after you to teach one another to 
 have part with those who testify falsehood : for because 
 of the guilt of false testimony the clouds go up and the 
 rain cometh not down, and dryness cometh upon the 
 world. 
 
 Sons of Israel My people, Ye shall not be covetous, 
 nor companions or partakers with the covetous : nor shall 
 there be seen in the congregations of Israel a covetous 
 people; that your sons may not arise after you to teach 
 one another to have part with the covetous: neither 
 shall any among you covet the wife of his neighbour, 
 nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his 
 ass, nor anything that belongeth to his neighbour : 
 because through the guilt of covetousness the govern¬ 
 ment breaketh in upon the possessions of men to take 
 them, and the wealthy are made poor, and slavery 
 cometh upon the world. 
 
 And all the people saw the thunders, and were turned 
 back, every one as he heard them coming forth from the 
 midst of the lights, and the voice of the trumpet as it 
 will raise the dead, and the mountain smoking; and all 
 the people saw and drew back, and stood twelve miles 
 off. And they said to Mosheh, Speak thou with us, 
 and we can hear; but let it not be spoken with us any 
 z 5 
 
514 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 more from before the Lord, lest we die. [Jerusalem. 
 And all the people saw the thunders and the lights, and 
 the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; 
 and the people saw and trembled, and stood afar off.] 
 And Mosheh said to the people, Fear not; for the 
 glory of the Lord is revealed to try you, whether His 
 fear is before your faces, that ye may not sin. And the 
 people stood twelve miles off ; but Mosheh drew near to 
 the height of the darkness where was the glory of the 
 Lord. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak thus to 
 the sons of Israel: Yoh have seen that from the heavens 
 I have spoken with you ; sons of Israel, My people, you 
 shall not make, that you may worship, the likeness of 
 the sun, or the moon, or the stars, or the planets, or 
 the angels who minister before Me; idols of silver, nor 
 idols of gold, ye shall not make to you. An altar of earthye 
 shall make to My Name, and sacrifice upon it thy burnt 
 offerings and thy sanctified oblations from thy sheep and 
 from thy oxen. And in every place where My Shekinah 
 shall dwell, and thou worship before Me, there will I send 
 My blessing upon thee, and will bless thee. But if thou 
 wilt make an altar of stones unto My Name, thou shalt 
 not build them sculptured ; for if thou lift up iron, 
 from which the sword is made, upon the stone, thou wilt 
 profane it. And you, the priests, who stand to minister 
 before Me, shall not ascend to My altar by steps, but 
 by (sloping) bridges; that thy shame may not be seen 
 thereupon. [Jerusalem. An altar grounded in the 
 earth shalt thou make unto My name, and shalt offer 
 upon it your burnt offerings and sacred oblations, your 
 sheep and your oxen. In every place in which ye shall 
 memorialize My holy Name, My Word shall be revealed 
 to you, and bless you. But if you make an altar of 
 stones unto My Name, you shall not build it with 
 sculptured ones, because the sword is made of iron. If 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 515 
 
 XXI.] 
 
 thou workest with iron upon it, thou wilt profane it. 
 You also, the priests, the sons of Aharon, who stand 
 and minister beside Mine altar, shall not ascend by steps 
 unto Mine altar, lest your shame be disclosed upon it.] 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 MISHPATIM. 
 
 XXI. And these are the orders of judgments which 
 thou shalt order before them. If thou shalt have 
 bought a son of Israel, on account of his theft, six 
 years he shall serve, and at the incoming of the seventh 
 he shall go out free without price. If he came in alone, 
 he shall go out alone: but if (he be) the husband of a 
 wife, a daughter of Israel, his wife shall go out with 
 him. If his master give him a wife, an handmaid, and 
 she bear him sons or daughters, the wife and her 
 children shall belong to his master, and he may go out 
 alone. But if the servant shall affirm and say, I love 
 my master, my wife, and my children, (and) I will not 
 go out free, then his master shall bring him before the 
 judges, and shall receive from them the power, and 
 bring him to the door that hath posts; and his 
 master shall pierce his right ear with an awl; and he 
 shall be a servant to serve him until the jubela. And 
 if a man of Israel sell his daughter, a little handmaid, 
 she shall not go forth according to the going forth of 
 the servants of the Kenaanaee, who are set at liberty 
 on account of the tooth or the eye; but in the years of 
 remission, and with tokens, and at the jubela, and on 
 the death of her master, and by redemption with money. 
 
516 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 If she hath not found favour before her master who 
 bought her, then her father may redeem her; but to a 
 foreigner he shall not have power to sell her; for as a 
 vessel of her Lord he hath power over her. And if he 
 had intended her for the side of his son, he shall do by 
 her after the manner of the daughters of Israel. If he 
 take another daughter of Israel to him beside her, her 
 food, her adorning, and her conjugal rights, he shall not 
 withhold from her. [Jerusalem. And if he take 
 another wife beside her, of her food, her adorning, and 
 her going in and coming out with him, he shall not 
 deprive her.] And if these three things he doth not 
 for her, to covenant her to himself, or to his son, or to 
 release her into the hand of her father, she shall go free 
 without payment, and a writing of release he shall give 
 her. 
 
 Whosoever smiteth a son or a daughter of Israel, so 
 as to cause death, shall be put to death with the sword. 
 But he who did not attack him, but mischance from 
 before the Lord befell him at his hand, I will appoint 
 thee a place w r here he may flee. But if a man come 
 maliciously upon his neighbour to kill him with craft, 
 —though the priests are ministering at My altar, thence 
 thou shalt take him, and slay him with the sword. 
 [Jerusalem. But if a man deviseth against his neigh¬ 
 bour to kill him by guile,—though the high priest were 
 standing to minister before Me, from thence thou shalt 
 bring him, and put him to death.] And he who 
 
 woundeth his father or his mother shall die by 
 
 strangling . 8 And he who stealeth a soul of the children 
 of Israel, and selleth him, or if he be found in his 
 possession, shall die by strangling. And he who 
 
 curseth his father or his mother by the Great Name,* 
 
 8 Lit., “ by suffocation with the towel.” 
 
 9 Or, “by the Name of Manifestationj” the Shern Hamepliorash. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 517 
 
 XXI.] 
 
 dying he shall die by being stoned with stones. And 
 when men strive together, and one smite his neighbour 
 with a stone, or with his fist, so that he die not, but 
 fall ill, if he rise again from his illness, and walk in the 
 street upon his staff, he who smote him shall be acquitted 
 from the penalty of death; only for his cessation from 
 labour, his affliction, his injury, his disgrace, and the 
 hire of the physician, he shall make good until he be 
 cured. And when a man hath smitten his Kenaanite 
 man-servant or maid-servant with a staff, and he die the 
 same day under his hand, he shall be judged with the 
 judgment of death by the sword. But if the wounded 
 person continue one or two days from time to time, he 
 shall not be (so) judged; because with money he had 
 bought him. If men when striving strike a woman 
 with child, and cause her to miscarry, but not to lose 
 her life, the fine on account of the infant which the 
 husband of the woman shall lay upon him, he shall pay 
 according to the sentence of the judges. But if death 
 befall her, then thou shalt judge the life of the killer 
 for the life of the woman. The value of an eye for an 
 eye, the value of a tooth for a tooth, the value of a hand 
 for a hand, the value of a foot for a foot, an equivalent 
 of the pain of burning for burning, and of wounding 
 for wounding, and of blow for blow. And when a man 
 strikes the eye of his Kenaanite servant or handmaid, 
 and causeth blindness, he shall let him go free, on 
 account of the eye. And if he strike out the tooth of 
 his Kenaanite man or maid-servant, he shall make the 
 servant free on account of the tooth. 
 
 And if an ox goreth a man or woman to cause death, 
 the ox must be stoned, but shall not be killed that his 
 flesh may be eaten; and the owner of the ox shall be 
 exempt from the condemnation of death, and also from 
 the price of the servant or handmaid. But if the ox 
 
518 TARGTJM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 (had been wont) to gore yesterday and before, and it had 
 been attested before his owner three times, and be (had 
 neglected) to restrain him, the ox, when he killeth man 
 or woman, shall be stoned, and his master also shall die 
 with a death sent upon him from heaven. Yet if a fine 
 of money be laid upon him, he may give a ransom for 
 his life, according to what shall be imposed on him by 
 the sanhedrin of Israel. Whether the ox hath gored a 
 son or a daughter of Israel, according to that judgment 
 it shall be done to him. If an ox goreth a Kenaanite 
 man-servant or handmaid, the master of the man or 
 woman-servant shall give thirty sileen 1 of silver, and 
 the ox shall be stoned. And if a man openeth a pit in 
 the street, and doth not cover it, and an ox or an ass 
 fall therein; the master of the pit shall deliver silver to 
 give to its owner the price of the ox or the ass, and the 
 dead body shall be his. And when an ox woundeth his 
 neighbour's ox, and he die, they shall sell the living ox, 
 and divide the price, and the price of the dead one shall 
 they also divide. But if it hath been known that the 
 ox was wont to gore in time past, and his master did 
 not restrain him, he shall surely deliver ox for ox; but 
 the carcase and the skin shall be his., When a man 
 stealeth an ox or a sheep, and killeth or selleth it, five 
 oxen shall he make good for one ox, because he hath 
 hindered him from his ploughing; and four sheep for 
 one, because he hath impoverished him by his theft, and 
 not done service by it. 
 
 XXII. If a thief be found in a window of the wall, 
 and be smitten and die, there shall not be on his account 
 the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood. If the 
 thing be as clear as the sun that he was not entering to 
 destroy life, and one hath killed him, the guilt of the 
 shedding of innocent blood is upon him ; and if spared 
 1 Shekels. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 519 
 
 XXII.] 
 
 from his hand, restoring he shall restore. If he have 
 not wherewith to restore, the beth din shall sell him for 
 his theft until the year of release. If before witnesses 
 the thing stolen was found in his possession, from an 
 ox or an ass, unto a sheep alive, he shall restore two for 
 one. If a man break in upon a field or a vineyard, and 
 send in his beast to feed in another man's field, the 
 best of his field and the best of his vineyard he shall 
 restore. If fire break out, and catch thorns, and con¬ 
 sume the sheaves, or whatever is standing, or the field, 
 whoever kindled the fire shall surely restore. 
 
 When a man confideth to his neighbour silver, or 
 vessels to keep, without recompense for the care, and 
 they be stolen from the man's house, if the thief be 
 found, he shall restore two for one. If the thief be not 
 found, the master of the house shall be brought before 
 the judges, and shall swear that he hath not put forth 
 his own hand upon the property of his neighbour. 
 And about whatever is injured covertly, whether ox, or 
 ass, or sheep, or raiment, of whatever is (so) lost, he 
 shall make oath when he saith that so it is; and ,when 
 the thing stolen shall be afterward found in the hand of 
 the thief, the cause of both shall be brought before the 
 judges, the cause of the householder and the cause of 
 the thief; and w r hom the judges shall condemn, the 
 thief shall restore twofold to his neighbour. If a man 
 deliver to his neighbour an ox, or a sheep, or any 
 animal to keep, (if) he is to keep it without recompense, 
 and it die, or be torn by wild beast, or be carried off, 
 and no witness seeing who can testify it; an oath of 
 the Lord shall be between them both, that he hath not 
 put forth his hand upon the property of his neighbour; 
 and the owner of the thing shall accept his oath, and he 
 shall not (be required to) make it good. But if it be 
 stolen from him who was to receive recompense for the 
 
520 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 care, lie shall make it good to its owner. If it hath 
 been torn by a wild beast, let him bring witnesses, or 
 bring him to the carcase : because for that which is (so) 
 torn he shall not make restitution. [Jerusalem. 12. 
 If it hath been really killed, he shall bring of its 
 members, as a testimony, and for that which is killed 
 he shall not make restitution.] And if a man borrow 
 anything of his neighbour, and the vessel be broken, or 
 the animal die, and the owner be not with it, he shall 
 certainly make it good. If the owner be with it, he 
 shall not make it good : if it had been lent for profit, 
 its loss came on account of its hire. 
 
 If a man seduce a virgin unbetrothed, and have cri¬ 
 minal conduct with her, endowing, he shall endow her 
 to be his wife. [Jerusalem. 15. If a man seduce a 
 virgin, unbetrothed, and have criminal conduct with 
 her, endowing, he shall endow her to be a wife.] If 
 this doth not appear to him (to be desirable), or if her 
 father be not willing to give her to him, fifty sileen of 
 silver shall be laid upon him, according to the endow¬ 
 ment of a virgin. Sons of My people Israel, whoso¬ 
 ever practiseth witchcraft you shall not suffer to live. 
 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall be stoned to death. 
 Whosoever sacrificeth to the idols of the Gentiles shall 
 be slain with the sword, and his goods be destroyed; 
 for ye shall worship only the Name of the Lord. And 
 the stranger you shall not vex with words, nor 
 distress him by taking his goods : Remember, sons 
 of Israel, My people, that you were strangers in 
 the land of Mizraim. You shall not impoverish 
 the widow or the orphan. If thou impoverish her, 
 beware ; for if they rise up and cry against you in 
 prayer before Me, I will hear the voice of their 
 prayer, and will avenge them, and My anger will 
 be kindled, and I will slay you with the sword, and 
 
XXIII.] ON EXODUS. 521 
 
 your wives shall be widows, and your children be 
 orphans. 
 
 If thou lend money to (one of) My people, to (one 
 of) the humble of My people, thou shalt not be to him 
 as an usurer, neither lay it upon him that there shall be 
 witnesses against him, or that he give pledges, or 
 equivalents, or usury. [Jerusalem. 24. If thou lend 
 money to My people, to the poor of your people, you 
 shall not be to him an oppressive creditor, or lay upon 
 him either equivalents or usury.] If thou take (at all) 
 for a pledge the garment of thy neighbour, thou shalt 
 restore it to him before sunset; for it may be his taleth 
 which alone covereth him; (or) it is his only garment 
 in which he rests, which falleth upon his skin; and if 
 thou take the coverlet of the bed whereon he lies, and 
 he be heard before Me, I will hearken to his prayer; 
 for I am Eloah the Merciful. 
 
 Sons of Israel My people, ye shall not revile your 
 judges, nor curse the rabbans who are appointed rulers 
 among thy people. The firsts 2 of thy fruits, and the 
 firsts of thy wine-press, thou shalt not delay to bring 
 up in their time to the place of My habitation. The 
 firstlings of thy males thou shalt separate before Me. 
 So shalt thou do with the firstlings of thy oxen and 
 sheep; seven days it shall be suckled by its mother, 
 and on the eighth day thou shalt separate it before Me. 
 And holy men, tasting unconsecrated things innocently, 
 shall you be before Me; but flesh torn by wild beasts 
 alive you may not eat, but throw it to the dog as his 
 portion. 
 
 XXIII. Sons of Israel My people, take not up lying 
 words from a man who accuseth his neighbour before 
 thee, nor put thine hand with the wicked to become a 
 false witness. Sons of Israel My people, you shall not 
 
 2 Bekurey. 
 
522 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 go after the many to do evil, but to do good; and no 
 one among you shall restrain himself from affirming 
 justly concerning his neighbour in the judgment, by 
 saying, Behold, the judgment sides with the many. 
 [Jerusalem. Sons of Israel My people, you shall not 
 go after the multitude to do evil, but to do good; and 
 no one of you shall restrain himself from setting forth 
 the just cause of his neighbour in the judgment, nor 
 say in your heart, The judgment sides with the many.] 
 And to the poor man who is guilty in his cause, thou 
 shalt not be partial in having compassion upon him; 
 for there must not be respect of persons in judgment. 
 If thou meet the ox of thine enemy whom thou dis- 
 likest on account of the wickedness which thou only 
 knowest is in him, or an ass that wandereth from the 
 way, thou shalt surely bring it to him. If thou seest 
 the ass of thy enemy whom thou dislikest on account of 
 the wickedness which thou only knowest to be in him, 
 lying under his burden, and thou wouldst refrain thy¬ 
 self from going near him, thou shalt relinquish at once 
 the dislike of thy heart against (thy enemy), and release 
 and take care of the ass (or, charge thyself with him). 
 
 Sons of Israel My people, ye shall not warp the 
 judgment of the poor in his cause. From a false matter 
 keep distant. And when one hath gone forth from thy 
 house of justice acquitted, and they (afterwards) find 
 out his guilt; or one hath been brought out con¬ 
 demned, and they (afterward) find out his innocence,— 
 thou shalt not put him to death; for I will not hold (the 
 former) innocent, nor the latter guilty. And thou 
 mayest not receive a bribe; for a bribe blindeth their 
 eyes who have taken it, and casteth down the wise from 
 their seats, and perverteth the right words which are 
 written in the law, and confoundeth the words that are 
 in the mouth of the innocent in the hour of judgment. 
 
XXIII.] ON EXODUS. 523 
 
 Thou shalt not oppress the stranger; for ye know the 
 sigh of a stranger's soul; because ye were sojourners 
 in the land of Mizraim. 
 
 Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather the 
 produce; but the seventh year thou shalt exempt it 
 from labour, and give up the fruit of it to be eaten by 
 the poor of My people; and what they leave shall be 
 eaten by the beasts of the field. And in like manner 
 shalt thou do with thy vine and olive grounds. Six 
 days do thy work, and on the seventh day repose, that 
 thy ox and thy ass may rest, and that the uncircumcised 
 son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may rest. And 
 of all the precepts that I have spoken to you, be care¬ 
 ful ; and the names of the idols of the Gentiles remember 
 not, nor let them be heard upon your lips. 
 
 Three times in the year thou shalt keep festival 
 before Me. The feast of unleavened cakes thou shalt 
 keep. Seven days thou art to eat unleavened bread, as 
 I have instructed thee, in the time of the month of 
 Abiba, because in it thou earnest forth from Mizraim; 
 and you shall not appear before Me empty. And the 
 feast of the harvest first-fruits of the work thou didst 
 sow in the field; and the feast of gathering, at the 
 end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy work 
 from the field. Three times in the year shall all thy 
 males appear before the Lord the Ruler of the world. 
 
 Sons of Israel My people, while there is leaven in 
 your houses you may not immolate the bloody sacrifice 
 of My Pascha; nor shall the fat of the sacrifice of My 
 Pascha remain without the altar until morning, nor of 
 the flesh that you eat in the evening. The first of the 
 choice fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring to the 
 sanctuary of the Lord thy God. My people of the 
 house of Israel, you are not permitted to dress or to 
 eat of flesh and milk mingled together, lest I be greatly 
 
524 
 
 TARGTJM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 displeased ; and I prepare you the wheat and the straw 
 together for your food. 
 
 Behold, I will send an Angel before thee, to keep 
 thee in the way, and to bring thee in to the place of 
 My habitation which I have prepared. Be circumspect 
 before Him, and obey His word, and be not rebellious 
 against His words; for He will not forgive your sins, 
 because His word is in My Name. For if thou wilt 
 indeed hearken to His word, and do all that I speak by 
 Him, I will be the enemy of thy enemy, and will trouble 
 them who trouble thee. For My Angel shall go before 
 thee, and bring thee to the Amoraee, and PherizaeeJ 
 and Kenaanaee, Hivaee, and Jebusaee; and I will destroy' 
 them. Thou shalt not worship their idols, nor serve 
 them, nor do after their evil works; but thou shalt 
 utterly demolish the house of their worship, and break 
 the statues of their images. And you shall do service 
 before the Lord your God, and He will bless the pro¬ 
 vision of thy food and thy drinks, and remove the bitter 
 plague from among thee. None shall be abortive or 
 barren in thy land; the number of the days of thy life 
 I will fulfil from day to day. My terror will I send 
 before thee, and will perturb all the peoples to whom 
 thou comest, that thou mayest wage battle against them; 
 and I will make all thy enemies turn back before thee. 
 And I will send the hornet before thee to drive out the 
 Hivaee, and Kenaanaee, and Hitaee, from before thee. 
 
 I will not expel them before thee in one year, lest the land 
 become a wilderness, and the beasts of the field multiply 
 upon thee, when they come to eat their carcasses, and 
 injure thee. By little and little I will drive them out 
 before thee, until thou art increased, and inherit the 
 land. And I will set thy boundary from the sea of 
 Suph, to the sea of the Philistaee, and from the desert 
 unto the Pherat; for I will deliver into your hand all 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 525 
 
 :xiy.] 
 
 lie inhabitants of the land, and thou shalt drive them 
 >ut from before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant 
 vith them, nor with their idols. Thou shalt not let 
 hem dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to err, and 
 o sin before Me, when thou dost worship their idols; 
 or they will be a stumbling-block to thee. 
 
 XXIV. And Michael, the Prince of Wisdom, said 
 o Mosheh on the seventh day of the month, Come up 
 >efore the Lord, thou and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, 
 md seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a 
 listance. And Mosheh alone shall approach before the 
 !.ord; but they shall not draw nigh, nor may the 
 leople come up with him. 
 
 And Mosheh came and set before the people all the 
 vords of the Lord, and all the judgments. And all the 
 )eople answered with one voice, and said, All that the 
 .jord hath spoken we will do. And Mosheh wrote the 
 vords of the Lord, and arose in the morning and 
 milded an altar at the lower part of the mountain; 
 nd twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And 
 Le sent the firstborn of the sons of Israel,—for until 
 hat hour had the firstborn had the (office of perform- 
 ag) worship, the tabernacle of ordinance not (as yet) 
 ieing made, nor the priesthood given unto Aharon ; 
 nd they offered burnt offerings and consecrated obla- 
 ions of oxen before the Lord. And Mosheh took half 
 f the blood of the offering, and put it in basins, and 
 alf of the blood of the offering he sprinkled upon the 
 ltar. And he took the Book of the Covenant of the 
 jaw, and read before the people; and they said, All the 
 r ords which the Lord hath spoken we will perform and 
 bey. And Mosheh took half of the blood which was in 
 le basins, and sprinkled upon the altar, to expiate the 
 eople, and said, Behold, this is the blood of the Covenant 
 hich the Lord hath made with you upon all these words. 
 
526 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP.' 
 
 And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and 
 seventy of the elders of Israel, went up. And Nadab 
 and Abihu lifted up their eyes, and saw the glory of the 
 God of Israel; and under the footstool of His feet 
 which was placed beneath His throne, was like the work 
 of sapphire stone—a memorial of the servitude with 
 which the Mizraee had made the children of Israel to 
 serve in clay and bricks, (what time) there were women 
 treading clay with their husbands; the delicate young 
 woman with child was also there, and made abortive by 
 being beaten down with the clay. And thereof did 
 Gabriel, descending, make brick, and, going up to the 
 heavens on high, set it, a footstool under the cathedra 
 of the Lord of the world, whose splendour was as the 
 work of a precious stone, and as the power of the 
 beauty of the heavens when they are clear from clouds. 
 [Jerusalem. The footstool of His feet as the work of 
 pure sapphire stones, and as the aspect of the heavens 
 when they are cleared from clouds.] 
 
 But upon Nadab and Abihu, the comely young men, 
 was the stroke not sent in that hour, but it awaited 
 them on the eighth day for a retribution to destroy 
 them; but they saw the glory of the Shekinah of the 
 Lord, and rejoiced that their oblations were received 
 with favour, and so did eat and drink. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Ascend before Me at 
 the mount, and I will there give thee the tables of 
 stone on which I have set forth the rest of the words of 
 the Law, and the six hundred and thirteen precepts \ 
 which I have written for their instruction. And 
 Mosheh arose and Jehoshua his minister; and Mosheh 
 went up to the mountain on which was revealed the 
 glory of the Shekinah of the Lord. And to the sages 
 he had said, Expect us here, at the time of our return 
 to you; and, behold, Aharon and Hur are with you; if 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 527 
 
 XXV.] 
 
 there be any matter of judgment, bring it to them. 
 And Mosheh went up into the mount, and the Cloud of 
 Glory covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord's 
 Shekinab abode upon the mountain of Sinai, and the 
 Cloud of Glory covered it six days. And on the 
 seventh day He called to Mosheh from the midst of the 
 Cloud. And the appearance of the splendour of the 
 glory of the Lord was as burning fire with flashes of 
 devouring fire; and the sons of Israel beheld and were 
 awe-struck. And Mosheh entered into the midst of the 
 Cloud, and ascended the mountain; and Mosheh was 
 upon the mountain forty days and forty nights, learning 
 the words of the Law from the mouth of the Holy One, 
 whose Name be praised. 
 
 SECTION^XIX. 
 
 TERUMAH. 
 
 XXV. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, 
 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they shall set 
 apart (take) before me a Separation : of every one whose 
 heart is willing, but not by constraint, ye shall take my 
 separation. And this is the separation which you shall 
 take of them: gold, and silver, and brass; and 
 hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen; and 
 goats' skins, and skins of rams dyed red, and purpled 
 skins, and woods of sittin, and olive oil for the light, 
 and aromatics for the confection of the pure anointing 
 oil, and of the fragrant incense; gems of beryl that are 
 gems of perfection, for engraving and insertion in the 
 ephoda and in the breastplate. 
 
528 
 
 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And they shall make a Sanctuary to My Name, that 
 My Shekinah may dwell among them. According to 
 all that I show thee, the likeness of the tabernacle and 
 the likeness of all its vessels, so shalt thou make. And 
 they shall make an ark of sitta wood; two cubits and 
 a half its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a 
 cubit and a half its height. And thou shalt cover it 
 with pure gold within and without, and. shalt make 
 upon it a crown of gold round about. [Jerusalem. 
 A coronal of gold shall surround it.] And thou shalt 
 cast for it four rings of gold, and set them upon its four 
 corners; two rings for one side, and two rings for the 
 second side. And thou shalt make staves of sitta 
 wood, and cover them with gold; and thou shalt intro-] 
 duce the staves into the rings on the sides of the arkJ 
 that the ark may be carried upon them. The staves 
 shall be inlaid in the rings of the ark, and not be 
 removed from it. And thou shalt put within the ark 
 the Testament that I will give thee. 
 
 And thou shalt make a ( kaphortha ) mercy-seat of 
 pure gold; two cubits and a half the length, and a 
 cubit and a half the breadth, and its depth shall be a 
 handbreadth {pus/ieka). And thou shalt make two 
 kerubin, ol pure beaten gold shalt thou make them on 
 the two sides of the mercy-seat. Thou shalt make one 
 keruba on this side, and one keruba on that side of the 
 mercy-seat; you shall make the kerubaia on its two 
 sides. And the kerubaia sliall stretch forth their wings 
 above, their heads over against each other, their wings 
 overshadowing the mercy-seat, and their faces over 
 against each other; towards the mercy-seat shall be the 
 faces of the kerubaia. And thou shalt put the mercy- 
 seat above upon the ark, and within the ark thou shalt 
 lay the Tables of the Testament that I will give thee. 
 And I will appoint My Word with thee there, and will 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 529 
 
 XXV. J 
 
 speak with thee from above the mercy-seat, between the 
 two kerubaia that are over the ark of the testament, con¬ 
 cerning all that T may command thee for the sons of Israel. 
 
 And thou shalt make a Table of sitta wood; two 
 cubits its length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit 
 and a half its height. And thou ' shalt overlay it with 
 pure gold, and make for it a rim of gold round about. 
 And thou shalt make to it a border, a handbreadth 
 high round about, and make a golden wreath for its 
 border round about. [Jerusalem. A border of a span 
 surrounding.] And thou shalt make for it four golden 
 rings, and set the rings in its four corners which 
 are at its four feet. Over against the border shall the 
 rings be, for the place of the staves, to carry the table. 
 And thou shalt make its dishes and its spoons, its 
 tankards and its measures, which are for the service of 
 libation; of pure gold shalt thou make them. And 
 upon the table thou shalt set in order the interior bread 
 before Me continually. 
 
 And thou shalt make a Candelabrum ; of pure beaten 
 gold shalt thou make the candelabrum; its base and 
 shaft, its cups and apples and lilies, shall be of the 
 same. Six branches shall spread out from its sides; 
 three branches of the candelabrum from one side, and 
 three branches of the candelabrum on the second side. 
 Three calyxes adorned with their figurations on one 
 branch, with apple and lily^ and three calyxes adorned 
 with their figurations on the other branch, with apple 
 and lily : so for the six branches that spread out from 
 the candelabrum. And upon the candelabrum there 
 shall be four calyxes adorned with their figurations, 
 their apples and lilies. And there shall be an apple 
 under two branches of it, and an apple under two 
 branches of it, and an apple under two branches of it, 
 for the six branches which extend from the cande- 
 a a 
 
530 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 labrum. Their apples and their branches shall be of 
 the same; all of it one beaten work of pure gold. 
 And thou shalt make its seven lights, and the priest 
 who ministers shall kindle the lights, that they may 
 shine over upon its face. And its snuffers and its 
 shovels of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall 
 he make it and all these its vessels. And look thou, 
 and make according to their forms which thou hast 
 seen in the mount. 
 
 XXVI. And the Tabernacle thou shalt make with ten 
 curtains of fine linen twined, and hyacinth, and purple, 
 and crimson, with figures of kerubin; with the work of 
 the artificer shalt thou make them. The length of one 
 curtain twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one 
 curtain four cubits; the measure of one shall be that of 
 all the curtains. Five curtains shall be coupled one 
 with another, and five other curtains coupled one with 
 another. And thou shalt make loops of hyacinth upon 
 the edge of one curtain at the side in the place of 
 coupling, and so shalt thou do in the edge of the second 
 curtain in the place of conjoinment. Fifty loops shalt 
 thou make in one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou 
 make in the side of the second curtain in the place of 
 conjoinment, so that the loops may answer one to the 
 other. And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and 
 couple the curtains one with another with the taches, 
 and the Tabernacle shall be conjoined to be one. 
 
 And thou shalt make curtains of goats* hair to extend 
 over the tabernacle : twelve curtains thou shalt make 
 them. The length of one curtain thirty cubits, and the 
 breadth of one curtain four cubits; and the measure of 
 one (shall be that of each) of the eleven (other) curtains. 
 And thou shalt conjoin five curtains together, corre¬ 
 sponding with the five books of the Law; and six cur¬ 
 tains together, corresponding with the six orders of the 
 
XXVI.] ON EXODUS. 581 
 
 Mishna; and shalt fold the sixth curtain over the front 
 of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make fifty loops upon 
 the edge of one curtain at the side of the place of 
 coupling; and fifty loops in the edge of the second 
 curtain at the place of coupling. And thou shalt make 
 taches of brass, fifty, and put the taches into the loops, 
 and conjoin the tabernacle, that it may be one. 
 
 And the surplus which remaineth of the curtains of 
 the Tabernacle, the half curtain which remaineth, thou 
 shalt spread over the hinder part of the Tabernacle. 
 [Jerusalem. And the surplus.] And the cubit here 
 and the cubit there, of that which remaineth in the 
 curtains of the tabernacle, shall hang over the sides of 
 the tabernacle here and there, to cover it. And thou 
 shalt make a covering for the tabernacle of rams' skins 
 dyed red, and a covering of purple skins above. And 
 thou shalt make the boards of the tabernacle of sittin 
 woods; they shall stand up, after the manner of their 
 plantation. [Jerusalem. Slabs.] Ten cubits the length 
 of the board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of one 
 board. Two tenons to one board, each in its side 
 answering to the other: so shalt thou do for all the 
 boards of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make the 
 boards of the tabernacle, twenty boards towards the wind 
 on the south side. And thou shalt make forty bases of 
 silver [Jerusalem. Bases of silver] beneath the twenty 
 boards; two bases beneath one board with its two 
 ;enons, and two bases under the other board with its 
 ;wo tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle 
 owards the north wind twenty boards, and their forty 
 jases of silver; two bases under one, and two bases 
 mder the other board. And for the side of the tabernacle 
 vestward thou shalt make six boards. And two boards 
 halt thou make at the corners of the tabernacle at their 
 nds. And they shall be conjoined beneath, and in one 
 2 a 2 
 
532 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [ciIAP. 
 
 manner shall be conjoined at their heads, with one ring; so 
 shall it be with them both; for the two corners shall they 
 be. And there shall be eight boards and their silver 
 bases; sixteen bases ; two bases under one board, and two 
 bases under another board. And thou shalt make bars 
 of sittin woods, five for the boards of one side of the 
 tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the second 
 side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the side of the 
 tabernacle at their extremity towards the west. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And five bars for the boards of the side of the 
 tabernacle stretching to the west.] And the middle bar 
 in the midst of the boards passing from end to end 
 shall be from the tree which Abraham planted in Beara 
 of Sheba: for when Israel had crossed the sea, the 
 angels cut down the tree and cast it into the sea, and it 
 floated on the face of the waters. And an angel pro¬ 
 claimed, and said, This is the tree which Abraham planted 
 in Beara of Sheba, and prayed there in the name of the 
 Word of the Lord. And the sons of Israel shall take 
 and make thereof the middle bar, seventy cubits in 
 length, and with it shall wondrous things be done: for 
 when they have reared up the tabernacle, it shall go 
 round it like a serpent among the boards of the taber¬ 
 nacle; and when they take it down, it shall become 
 straight as a rod. And the boards thou shalt overlay 
 with gold, and make of gold their rings for the place of 
 the bars, and shalt overlay the bars with gold. And 
 thou shalt rear the tabernacle according to the manner 
 showed thee in the mountain. 
 
 And thou shalt make a Veil of hyacinth, and purple, 
 and crimson, and fine linen entwined; the work of the 
 artificer shalt. thou make it, with figures of kerubin. 
 And thou shalt range it upon four pillars of sitta, covered 
 with gold, their hooks of gold, upon four bases of silver. 
 [Jerusalem. And their hooks of gold.] And thou 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 533 
 
 XXVII.] 
 
 shalt place the veil under the taches, and bring in thither 
 within the veil the ark of the testament: and thou shalt 
 spread the veil for you between the Holy and the Holy 
 of Holies. And thou shalt place the mercy seat with 
 the kerubaia produced of beaten work for it in the Holy 
 of Holies. 
 
 And thou shalt set the Table outside of the veil, and 
 the Candelabrum over against the table on the southern 
 side of the tabernacle ; but the table thou shalt arrange 
 on the northern side. And thou shalt make a curtain for 
 the door of the tabernacle, of hyacinth, purple, and crim¬ 
 son, and fine linen twined, the work of the embroiderer. 
 And thou shalt make for the curtain five pillars of sitta, 
 and cover them with gold, and their nails shall be of 
 gold ; and thou shalt cast for them five bases of brass. 
 
 XXYII. And thou shalt make the Altar of woods 
 of sitta; five cubits the length, and five cubits the 
 breadth: square shall be the altar, and its height three 
 cubits. And thou shalt make its horns upon its four 
 corners: the horns shall be of it, they shall rise upward, 
 and thou shalt cover it with brass. And thou shalt 
 make its pots to carry away its ashes, and its shovels, 
 and its basins, and its thuribles; all its vessels thou 
 shalt make of brass. [Jerusalem. And thou shalt 
 make its pots to carry its ashes, and its scoops and 
 basins, and its fleshhooks, and its thuribles; all 
 its vessels thou shalt make of brass.] And thou 
 shalt make for it a grate of network of brass, and upon 
 the network four brass rings upon its four corners. 
 [Jerusalem. A grate.] And thou shalt place it under 
 the surroundings of the altar, beneath, that the network 
 may be to the middle of the altar, that, if any fragment 
 or fiery coal fall from the altar, it may fall upon the grate, 
 and not touch the ground, and that the priests may • 
 take it from the grate, and replace it upon the altar. 
 
534 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And thou shalt make staves of sittin woods, and overlay 
 them with brass ; and thou shalt place the staves within 
 the rings, and the staves shall be on the two sides of the 
 altar in carrying the altar, hollow: (with) boards filled 
 with dust shalt thou make it; according to what I 
 showed thee in the mountain, so shall they make. 
 
 And thou shalt make the Court of the tabernacle. 
 For the southern side shall be hangings of fine linen 
 twined; a hundred cubits the length for one side. 
 [Jerusalem. Hangings.] And its pillars twenty, and 
 their foundations twenty, of brass; the hooks of the 
 pillars, and their rods, of silver. And so for the northern 
 side, for length, the hangings a hundred (cubits) long, 
 and their pillars twenty, and their foundations twenty, of 
 brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their rods, of silver. 
 And for the breadth of the court on the western side, 
 the hangings shall be fifty cubits; their columns ten, 
 and their foundations ten. And for the breadth of the 
 eastern side eastward fifty cubits; and fifteen cubits the 
 hangings of the side, their pillars three and their 
 foundations three. And for the door of the court shall 
 be a veil of ten cubits of hyacinth, and purple, and 
 crimson, and fine linen twined, of embroidered work; their 
 pillars four, and their foundations four. All the pillars 
 of the court round about shall be united with silver 
 rods; their hooks of silver, and their foundations of 
 brass. The length of the court one hundred cubits, and 
 the breadth fifty on the west and fifty on the east, and 
 the height five cubits, of fine linen twined, and their 
 foundations of brass. All the vessels of the tabernacle 
 in all its service, and all the pins of the court around, of 
 brass. 
 
XXVIII.] 
 
 ON EXODUS. 
 
 535 
 
 SECTION XX. 
 
 TETSAWEH. 
 
 And thou shalt instruct the sons of Israel to bring 
 the pure olive oil, beaten, for illumination, that the 
 lamps may burn continually. In the tabernacle of the 
 covenant, without the veil that is before the testimony, 
 Aharon and his sons shall set it in order from evening 
 until morning before the Lord, an everlasting statute to 
 your generations of the house of Israel. 
 
 XXVIII. And thou, bring near to thee Aharon thy 
 brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of 
 Israel, to minister before Me: Aharon, Nadab, and 
 Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon. And 
 thou shalt make garments of holiness for Aharon thy 
 brother, for glory and for praise. And thou shalt 
 speak with all who are wise of heart, and whom I have 
 filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make the 
 vestments of Aharon to consecrate him to minister 
 before Me. And these are the vestments they shall 
 make: the breastplate and ephoda, and the robe, and 
 the embroidered tunics, the mitres and girdles; and 
 they shall make the holy garments for Aharon thy 
 brother, and for his sons, to minister before Me. 
 And they shall take from their treasures gold, and 
 hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen. And 
 they shall make the ephod of hyacinth, and purple, and 
 crimson, and fine linen, twined, the work of the arti¬ 
 ficer. Two shoulder (pieces) shall it have, conjoined to 
 its two sides, and (so) it shall be united. And the 
 ornamented girdle which is to be upon it shall be of 
 the same work; of gold, hyacinth, purple, and crimson, 
 and fine twined linen, shall it be. And thou shalt take 
 
536 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [cHAP. 
 
 two gems of onyx, and engrave upon them the names of 
 the sons of Israel. Six of their names shall be engraven 
 upon one gem, and the six remaining names upon the 
 second gem; they shall be set in the order of their 
 nativity. The engraved gems shall be the work of the 
 artificer, engraven, and the engraving be distinct as the 
 engraving of a ring; thou slialt engrave the two gems 
 according to the names of the sons of Israel in their 
 work round about; inset in gold shalt thou make them. 
 And thou shalt fix the two gems upon the shoulders of 
 the epliod, to be set for a memorial of righteousness for 
 the sons of Israel; and Aharon shall bear the names 
 of the sons of Israel upon his two shoulders for a memo¬ 
 rial. And thou shalt make the sockets of gold. And 
 two chains of pure gold, measured shalt thou make 
 them, of twisted work, and insert the twisted chains in 
 the sockets. [Jerusalem. Chains.] 
 
 And thou shalt make the Breastplate of Judgment, 
 by which are made known the judgments that are hidden 
 from the judges; and the order of the victories of their 
 battles, and amends that are made for the judges; the 
 work of the artificer; as the work of the ephod, thou shalt 
 make it; of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and 
 fine linen twined, thou shalt make it. Square shall it 
 be, doubled; a span its length, and a span its breadth. 
 [Jerusalem. A handsbreadth.] And thou shalt fill 
 it with a fulness of precious stones : four rows of pre¬ 
 cious gems, answering to the four regions of the w r orld. 
 The first row, carnelian, topaz, carbuncle; and on them 
 shall be engraven and expressed the names of the tribes 
 Reuben, Shemeon, and Levi. [Jerusalem. And thou 
 shalt fill it with a filling of stones, four rows of precious 
 stone; the first row, carnelian, and topaz, and car¬ 
 buncle ; written with expression upon it (shall be) the 
 name of the three tribes, Reuben, Shemeon, Levi.] 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 537 
 
 XXVIII.] 
 
 And the name of the second row, smaragd, and sap¬ 
 phire, and chalcedony ; and upon them shall be 
 engraven and expressed the names of the three tribes, 
 Jehudah, Dan, and JNaphtali. And the name of the 
 third row, ligure, and agate, and amethyst; and upon 
 them shall be written and expressed the names of three 
 tribes, Gad, and Asher, and Issakar. And the name of 
 the fourth row, chrysolite, onyx, and jasper; and upon 
 them shall be written and expressed the names of three 
 tribes, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin. Set in gold 
 shall they be, in their completeness. [Jerusalem. 
 And the second row, carbuncle, and sapphire, and 
 amethyst; in writing expressed upon them, the name of 
 the three tribes, Jehudah, Issakar, and Zebulon. And 
 the third row, ligure, and beryl, and smaragd; written 
 expressly upon them (shall be) the name of the three 
 tribes, Dan, Naphtali, and Gad. And the fourth row, 
 chrysolite, bdellium, and margelite.* Written expressly 
 upon them shall be the name of the three tribes, Asher, 
 
 3 The three Chaldee Targums vary in the translation of the names of 
 these gems. For the convenience of the student I will set them down 
 in one view. 
 
 Hebrew Text. 1 . Odem, pitedah, hareketh. 2. Nophek, sapphir, 
 yahalon. 3. Leshem, sheho, achlamah. 4. Tarshish, shoham, 
 yashepheh. 
 
 Onkelos. 1 . Samkan, jarkan, or jarktha, barkan. 2. Izmargadin, 
 schabziz, sibhalom. 3. Kankire, tarkaja, ain-igla. 4. Kerum-yama, 
 burella, pantire. 
 
 Jonathan. 1 . Simuktha, yarketha, barketha. 2. Izmorad, saphi- 
 rinon, kadekodin. 3. Kankerinun, arekin, ain-egel. 4. Kerum-yama- 
 rabba, birlevath-chala, margenith-apantirin. 
 
 Jerusalem. 1 . Samketha, yarketha, barketha. 2. Kadkedana, 
 simphuryana, ein-igla. 3. Zozin, berulin, zemargedin. 4. Kerum 
 yama, bedolcha, margalitha. We cannot render some of these by the 
 names of stones with which we are familiar with absolute certainty. 
 Much curious matter on this chapter may be found in, “Die TJrim und 
 Thummim, die dltesten Gemmen. Von J. J. Belle rmann ” Berlin 
 1824. 
 
 2 A 5 
 
538 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Joseph, and Benjamin: socketed in gold shall they be 
 in their completeness.] And the jewels shall be taken 
 according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve are 
 they according to their names, engraven and set forth 
 as the engraving of a ring; the gem of each man 
 according to his name; (so) shall they be for the twelve 
 tribes. 
 
 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate measured 
 chains of twisted work of pure gold, and shalt make upon 
 the breastplate two rings of pure gold, and put the two 
 rings upon the two sides of the breastplate. And thou 
 shalt put the two golden chains upon the two rings in the 
 sides of the breastplate, and the two chains which are 
 upon the two sides thou shalt put upon the two sockets, 
 and set on the shoulders of the ephod against its front. 
 And thou shalt make two golden rings, and fix them 
 upon the two sides of the breastplate, in the border of 
 it which is on the edge of the ephod inwardly. And 
 thou shalt make (likewise) two golden chains, and fix 
 them upon the two shoulders of the ephod beneath, 
 towards its front, towards the place of its conjoinment 
 above the girdle of the ephod; and they shall unite the 
 breastplate with its rings to the rings of the ephod, with 
 twined ribbon, of hyacinth, to be joined upon the girdle 
 of the ephod, that the breastplate may not be removed 
 from the ephod. And Aharon shall bear the names of 
 the sons of Israel upon his heart what time he entereth 
 into the sanctuary for a good memorial before the Lord 
 continually. 
 
 And thou shalt put upon the breastplate of judgment 
 the Uraia, which illuminate their words, and manifest 
 the hidden things of the house of Israel, and the 
 Tumaia, which fulfil (or perfect) their work to the high 
 priest, who seeketh instruction by them before the 
 Lord; because in them is engraven and expressed the 
 
XXVIII.] ON EXODUS. 539 
 
 Great and Holy Name by which were created the three 
 hundred and ten worlds, and which was engraven and 
 expressed in the foundation stone wherewith the Lord 
 of the world sealed up the mouth of the great deep at 
 the beginning. Whosoever remembereth that holy 
 name in the hour of necessity shall be delivered. And 
 they shall be upon Aharon’s heart in the time that he 
 entereth before the Lord: and Aharon shall bear the 
 judgment of the sons of Israel before the Lord con¬ 
 tinually. 
 
 And thou shalt make the mantle-robe (mintar meila) 
 of the ephod, of twined thread of hyacinth; and an 
 orifice shall be in the middle of its upper part; a border 
 shall be upon its opening round about its orifice, the 
 work of the sewer; as the orifice of a coat of mail it 
 shall be, that it may not be rent. [Jerusalem. And 
 an orifice shall be in the middle of its head; a border 
 shall surround the orifice, the work of the sewer; like 
 the opening of a coat of mail shall it be, that it be not 
 torn.] And thou shalt make upon the hem of it pome¬ 
 granates of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, upon its 
 hem, round about, and bells of gold among them round 
 about. A golden bell, and a pomegranate of hyacinth 
 and crimson; a golden bell, and a pomegranate of hya¬ 
 cinth and crimson upon the border of the robe round 
 about; their number, seventy and one. And it shall 
 be a vestment upon Aharon to minister, and its voice 
 shall be heard at the time that he hath entered the holy 
 place before the Lord, and at the time that he cometh 
 out, that he die not by the flaming fire. 
 
 And thou shalt make a plate (or crown) of pure gold, 
 and engrave upon it with distinct engraving, HOLI¬ 
 NESS TO THE LOED. And thou shalt put it on a 
 twined ribbon of hyacinth, to make amends for boldness 
 of face; and it shall be on the mitre above the tephillin 
 
540 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 of the head, in front of the mitre shall it be. And it 
 shall be in the front of Aharon's forehead, from time to 
 time as it comes; and Aharon shall bear the iniquity of 
 the consecrated things which the sons of Israel may 
 consecrate; even of all their sacred gifts in which they 
 have been insincere. And it shall be upon the front 
 continually, for their reconciliation before the Lord. 
 And thou shalt weave the tunic of fine linen to expiate 
 for the shedding of innocent blood; and shalt make the 
 tiara of fine linen to expiate for the pride of their 
 thoughts; and the girdle shalt thou make of the work of 
 the embroiderer. And for the sons of Aharon thou 
 shalt make tunics, and girdles, and mitres, for glory 
 and for praise. And with them thou shalt invest 
 Aharon thy brother, and his sons with him, and anoint 
 them, that they may offer their oblations; and sanctify 
 them to minister before Me. And thou shalt make for 
 them under-garments of fine linen to cover the flesh of 
 their shame; from the girt of the girdle of their loins 
 unto their thighs they shall be. [Jerusalem. Drawers 
 of fine linen.] And they shall be upon Aharon and 
 upon his sons at the time when they enter the taber¬ 
 nacle of testimony, or when they approach the altar to 
 minister in the sanctuary, that they may not receive the 
 punishment of flaming fire. This is an 'everlasting 
 statute for him and for his sons after him. 
 
 XXIX. And this is the thing that thou shalt do to 
 them to sanctify them, that they may serve before Me. 
 Take one bullock, the young of a bullock, without spot; 
 and two rams, unblemished (perfect); and unleavened 
 bread, and unleavened cakes, mingled with olive oil; 
 and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with olive oil, 
 and with flour of wheat shalt thou make them. And 
 thou shalt put them upon one basket, and oiler them iu 
 the basket, and the bullock and the two rams they shall 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 541 
 
 XXIX.] 
 
 bring in a vehicle. And Aharon and his two sons thou 
 shalt bring near to the door of the tabernacle of testi¬ 
 mony, and wash them, in four measures of living water. 
 And thou shalt take the vestments, and clothe Aharon 
 with the tunic, and the robe of the epliod, and the 
 ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him (or ordain 
 | him) with the girdle of the ephod. And thou shalt set 
 the mitre on his head, and put the diadem upon which 
 I is engraven the Kame of Holiness upon the mitre. 
 And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and pour it upon 
 his head and anoint him. And thou shalt bring his 
 sons near, and dress them in the tunics, and indue 
 (ordain) them with the girdles, Aharon and his sons, 
 and wrap on them the mitres; and the priesthood shall 
 be theirs by an everlasting statute. 
 
 And thou shalt offer the oblation of Aharon, and the 
 oblation of his sons. And thou shalt bring the bullock 
 before the tabernacle of ordinance, and Aharon and his 
 sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock, 
 and thou shalt kill the bullock before the door of the 
 tabernacle of ordinance; and take of the blood of the 
 bullock, and put (it) on the horns of the altar with thy 
 finger, and all the (remaining) blood thou shalt pour 
 out at the foot of the altar. Aud thou shalt take all 
 the fat that covereth the inwards, and what remaineth 
 upon the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the 
 fat which is upon them, and set them in order upon the 
 altar. And the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and 
 his dung, thou shalt burn with fire without the camp; 
 it is a sin offering. And the one ram thou shalt take, 
 and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands on the 
 head of the ram. And thou shalt kill the ram, and 
 take his blood and sprinkle on the altar round about. 
 And the ram shalt thou divide according to his mem¬ 
 bers (dividings), and wash his inwards and his legs, and 
 
542 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 set them in order upon his members, and upon his 
 head. [Jerusalem. And the ram thou shalt divide 
 according to his divisions, and shalt cleanse his inwards 
 and his legs, and lay them upon his divided parts, and 
 upon his head.] And thou shalt offer the whole ram 
 upon the altar, it is a holocaust before the Lord to be 
 accepted with favour, an oblation it is before the Lord. 
 And thou shalt take the second ram, and Aharon and 
 his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram. 
 And thou shalt kill the ram, and take of his blood, and 
 put upon the tip 4 of Aharon's right ear, and upon the 
 tip 4 of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of 
 their right hands, and upon the toe of their right feet, 
 and pour the rest of the blood upon the altar round 
 about. 
 
 And thou shalt take of the blood which is upon the 
 altar, and of the anointing oil, and drop it upon Aharon, 
 and upon his vestments, and on his sons, and on his 
 sons' vestments with him. And thou shalt take of the 
 ram, the fat and the tail, and the fat that covereth 
 the inwards, and which remaineth upon the caul of the 
 liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon 
 them, and the right shoulder, for it is the ram of the 
 oblation; and one round of bread, and one cake of 
 bread mingled with oil, and one wafer from the basket 
 of unleavened bread which is before the Lord; and thou 
 shalt put all upon the hands of Aharon and upon the 
 hands of his sons, and shalt uplift them for an elevation 
 before the Lord. And thou shalt take them from their 
 hands, and set them in order upon the altar upon the 
 burnt offering, to be received with acceptance before the 
 Lord: it is an oblation before the Lord. And thou 
 shalt take the breast of the ram of Aharon's oblation, 
 and uplift it, an elevation before the Lord, and it shall be 
 4 Lit., “ cartilage.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 543 
 
 XXIX.] 
 
 thy portion. [Jerusalem. The breast.] And thou 
 shalt consecrate the breast of the elevation and the 
 shoulder of the separation, which have been uplifted and 
 separated from the ram of the oblation from the hand of 
 Aharon and from the hand of his sons. And it shall be 
 for Aharon and for his sons by a perpetual statute for the 
 sons of Israel; because it is a separation, and a separa¬ 
 tion it shall be from the sons of Israel from the offer¬ 
 ings of their consecration, their separation before the 
 Lord. And the holy vestments of Aharon shall be to 
 his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and in them 
 to offer their oblations. Seven days shall the priest 
 wear them, who ariseth after him from his sons, but not 
 from the Levites, at the time when he entereth into the 
 tabernacle of ordinance to minister in the sanctuary. 
 
 And thou shalt take the ram of the oblation, and boil 
 its flesh in the holy place; and Aharon and his sons 
 shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in 
 the basket at the door of the tabernacle of ordinance. 
 And they shall eat those things by which atonement 
 was made for them in offering their oblations to sanctify 
 them to minister before Me : but the profane shall not 
 eat; for they are holy. And if any of the flesh of the 
 oblation and of the bread remain until the morning, 
 thou shalt burn that which remaineth with fire; it shall 
 not be eaten; for it is sacred. And thus thou shalt do to 
 Aharon and to his sons according to all that I have pre¬ 
 scribed to thee; seven days thou shalt offer their obla¬ 
 tion. And a bullock for a sin offering thou shalt offer 
 daily for atonement, and shalt anoint the altar in offering 
 the atonement upon it; thou shalt anoint it, to conse¬ 
 crate it. Seven days make thou atonement upon the 
 altar to consecrate it; and it shall be the altar of the 
 Holy of Holies. Every one of the sons of Aharon who 
 approacheth to the altar must be holy; to the rest of 
 
544 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the people it is not lawful to approach, lest they be 
 burned with the fiery flame which cometh from the holy 
 place. 
 
 And this is the oblation which thou shalt perform 
 upon the altar; two lambs of one year, daily, evermore. 
 The one lamb thou shalt perform in the morning; and 
 the second lamb thou shalt perform between the even¬ 
 ings. And the tenth of flour mingled with oil of olives 
 beaten; (with) the fourth of a hina, and the libation of 
 a fourth of a hina for the one lamb. And the second 
 lamb thou shalt perform between the evenings: it shall 
 be as the mincha of the morning, and as the libation 
 thou shalt do it, to be received with acceptance, an 
 oblation before the Lord ; a perpetual holocaust for 
 your generations at the door of the tabernacle of 
 ordinance before the Lord; where I will appoint My 
 Word to (meet) thee there, to speak with thee there. 
 And there I will appoint My Word (to meet) with the 
 sons of Israel, and I will be sanctified in their rulers for 
 My glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of 
 ordinance and the altar; and Aharon and his sons will 
 I sanctify to minister before Me : and My Shekinah 
 shall dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will 
 be their God. And the sons of Israel shall know that I 
 am their God, who led them out free from the land of 
 Mizraim to make My Shekinah dwell among them. I 
 am the Lord their God. 
 
 XXX. And thou shalt make an altar on which to 
 burn incense of perfumes : of sitta wood shalt thou make 
 it. A cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth; four¬ 
 square shall it be: and two cubits its height: and 
 its upright horns shall be of it. And thou shalt overlay 
 it with pure gold, its top, and its w r all round about, 
 and its horns; and make for it a border of gold round 
 about. And two golden rings make thou for it beneath 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 545 
 
 XXX.] 
 
 its border at the two corners, thou shalt make upon its 
 two sides, to be the place for the staves by which it 
 may be carried. And thou shalt make the staves of 
 sitta wood, and cover them with gold. And thou shalt 
 place it before the veil which is over the ark of the tes¬ 
 timony, before the mercy seat that is upon the testi¬ 
 mony, where I will appoint My Word to be with thee. 
 And Aharon shall burn sweet incense upon it from 
 morning to morning: when he ordereth the lamps, he 
 shall burn it. And when Aharon kindleth the lamps 
 between the evenings, he shall burn sweet incense per¬ 
 petually before the Lord in your generations. Thou 
 shalt not offer thereon the sweet incense of strange 
 peoples, nor offer upon it burnt offerings, or minchas, 
 nor pour libations. And Aharon shall expiate upon its 
 horns once in the year with the blood of the sin offering 
 for an expiation : once in the year shall he make atone¬ 
 ment upon it on the day of atonement in your genera¬ 
 tions : it shall be most holy before the Lord. 
 
 SECTION XXI. 
 
 KI THISSA. 
 
 And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, saying, When 
 thou takest the sum of the sons of Israel according to 
 their number, they shall give every man the ransom of 
 their souls before the Lord when thou numberest them; 
 that there may not be among them the calamity of death 
 when thou dost number them. [Jerusalem. When 
 thou takest the head of the number of the sums of the 
 
546 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 sons of Israel.] This valuation was shown to Mosheh in 
 the mountain as with a denarius of fire, and thus spake He 
 to him: So shall every one who passeth to the number- 
 ment give a half shekel of the coin of the sanctuary: 
 (a half shekel is twenty manin :) the half shekel is to be 
 the separation before the Lord. Every one who passeth 
 to the numbering, from a son of twenty years and 
 upwards, shall give the separation before the Lord. He 
 who is rich shall not add to, and he who is poor shall not 
 diminish from, the half shekel in giving the separation 
 before the Lord, to atone for your souls. And thou 
 shalt take the silver of the ransom from the sons of 
 Israel, and apply it to the work of the tabernacle of 
 ordinance; that it may be for the sons of Israel for a 
 good memorial before the Lord, as a ransom for your 
 souls. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, And thou 
 shalt make a laver of brass, and its foundation of brass, 
 for purification; and shalt set it between the tabernacle 
 of ordinance and the altar, and put water therein. And 
 they shall take from it for a cleansing ablution. And 
 Aharon and his sons shall sanctify their hands and their 
 feet with its water; at the time of their entering into 
 the tabernacle of ordinance they shall sanctify with 
 water, that they die not by the fiery flame : and it shall 
 be to them an everlasting statute, to him and to his sons 
 in their generations. 
 
 And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, And thou 
 also take to thee the first aromatics, choice myrrh, in 
 weight five hundred minas, and sweet cinnamon of half 
 the weight, two hundred and fifty minas, and sweet cala¬ 
 mus in weight two hundred and fifty minas, and cassia 
 in weight five hundred minas of shekels, in the shekel 
 of the sanctuary, and olive oil a vase full, in weight 
 twelve logas, a loga for each tribe of the twelve tribes. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 547 
 
 tfxx.] 
 
 [Jerusalem. And thou take to thee the chief goodly 
 spices, choice myrrh, in weight five hundred minas of 
 shekels.] And thou shalt make of it a holy anointing 
 oil, perfumed with perfume, the work of the perfumer, 
 of compounded perfumes : a holy anointing oil shall it 
 be. And with it anoint thou the tabernacle of ordi¬ 
 nance, and the ark of the testimony, and the table and 
 all its vessels, and the candelabrum and its vessels, and 
 the altar of sweet incense, and the altar of burnt offering 
 and all its vessels, and the laver and its foundation, and 
 consecrate them, and they shall be most holy. Every 
 one of the priests who approacheth to them shall be sanc¬ 
 tified; but of the rest of the tribes, (whoever toucheth 
 them) shall be consumed by the fiery flame from before 
 the Lord. But Aharon and his sons anoint thou, and 
 consecrate them to minister before Me. And speak 
 thou to the sons of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy 
 anointing oil before Me unto your generations. Upon 
 the flesh of man it may not be poured, and the like of it 
 you shall not make to resemble it; unto you it shall be 
 most sacred. The man who compoundeth the like of it, 
 or putteth it upon the unconsecrated who are not of the 
 sons of Aharon, shall be destroyed from his people. 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Take to thee spices, 
 balsam, and onycha, and galbanum, choice spices, and 
 pure frankincense, weight for weight shall it be. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. Balsam, spikenard-myrrh, and galbanum.] And 
 confect therewith a fragrant incense, the work of the 
 compounder, a pure and sacred mixture. [Jerusalem. 
 Commixed.] And beat, and make it small, and of it 
 some shalt thou put before the testimony in the taber¬ 
 nacle of ordinance, where I will appoint My Word to 
 be with thee. Most sacred shall it be to you. And of 
 the sweet incense thou shalt make, the like shall not be 
 made among you; it shall be sacred to you before the 
 
548 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP* 
 
 Lord: the man who maketh the like of it to smell 
 thereto shall be destroyed from his people. 
 
 XXXI. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying; 
 Look, Mosheh, I have called by name the good Bezalel 1 ] 
 bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah, and have 
 fulfilled him with the Spirit of holiness from before the 
 Lord, in wisdom and in intelligence, in knowledge, and 
 in all workmanship; to think in their thoughts so as to 
 work (perfectly) in gold, and in silver, and in brass; 
 and in the cutting of jewels for their insetting, and in 
 the carving of woods, to make all manner of work. 
 [Jerusalem. See, Mosheh, behold, I have anointed and 
 called by a good name Bezalel.] And, behold, I have 
 appointed with him Ahaliab bar Achisamah, of the 
 tribe of Dan; and in the heart of every one wise*, 
 hearted I have added the Spirit of wisdom, that they 
 may perform all whatever I have commanded thee. 
 The tabernacle of ordinance, and the ark of the testi¬ 
 mony, and the mercy seat which is over it; and all the 
 vessels of the tabernacle; and the table, and ail its 
 vessels; and the altar of sweet incense, and the altar 
 of burnt offering, and all its vessels; and the laver, and 
 its foot; and the vestments for ministration, the holy 
 vestments of Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his 
 sons for ministry; and the oil of anointing; and the 
 sweet incense- for the sanctuary; even all whatever I 
 have commanded thee, they shall make. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, Also, speak 
 thou with the sons .of Israel, saying, Ye shall keep the 
 day of My Sabbaths indeed; for it is a sign between 
 My Word and you, that you may know that I am the 
 Lord who sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath, 
 because it is holy to you; whosoever profaneth it, dying 
 he shall die; whoso doeth work therein, that man shall 
 ‘ Or, " I have called by a good name Bezalel.” 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 549 
 
 XXXII.] 
 
 be destroyed from his people. Six days ye shall do 
 work; but the seventh day is Sabbath, the holy Sabbath 
 before the Lord. Whoso doeth work upon the Sabbath, 
 dying he shall die, by the casting of stones. The sons 
 of Israel shall therefore keep the Sabbath, to perform 
 the delightful exercises of the Sabbath; (it is) for your 
 generations an everlasting statute; between My Word 
 and the sons of Israel it is a sign for ever. For in six 
 days the Lord created and perfected the heavens and 
 the earth; and in the seventh day He rested and re¬ 
 freshed. 
 
 And He gave to Mosheh, when He had finished to 
 speak with him in Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the 
 testimony, tablets of sapphire-stone from the throne of 
 glory, weighing forty sein, inscribed by the finger of the 
 Lord. 
 
 XXXII. But the people saw that Mosheh delayed to 
 come down from the mount, and the people gathered 
 together unto Aharon, when they saw that the time he 
 had appointed to them had passed; and Satana had 
 come, and caused them to err, and perverted their hearts 
 with pride. And they said to him, Arise, make us 
 gods that shall go before us; for as for this Mosheh, the 
 man who brought us up from the land of Mizraim, he 
 may have been consumed in the mountain by the fire 
 which flameth from before the Lord, (and) we know not 
 what hath befallen him in his end. And Aharon said 
 to them, Deliver the golden rings that are in the ears 
 of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring 
 them to me. And their wives denied themselves to give 
 their ornaments to their husbands; and all the people 
 at once delivered up the golden rings which were in 
 their ears, and brought them to Aharon. And he took 
 them from their hands, and bound them in a wrapper, 
 and wrought it with a tool, having made a molten calf; 
 
550 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 and he said, These, Israel, are thy gods, which brought 
 thee forth from the land of Mizraim. For Aharon had 
 seen Hur slain before him, and was afraid; and he 
 builded an altar before him, and Aharon cried with a 
 doleful voice, and said, Let there be a feast before the 
 Lord to-morrow, of the sacrifice of the slain of these 
 adversaries who have denied their Lord, and have 
 changed the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord for this 
 calf. [Jerusalem. And Aharon saw Hur slain before 
 him, and was afraid; and he builded an altar before 
 him, and Aharon cried and said, A feast.] And on the 
 day following, they arose, and sacrificed burnt-offerings; 
 and the people sat around to eat and to drink, and rose 
 up to disport themselves with strange service. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And they rose up to disport themselves with 
 strange service.] 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Descend from the 
 greatness of thine honour; for I have not given thee 
 greatness except on account of Israel. But now thy 
 people, whom thou didst bring up from the land of 
 Mizraim, have corrupted their works; quickly have they 
 declined from the way which I taught them in Sinai, 
 (that) ye shall not make to yourselves image, or figure, 
 or any similitude; for now have they made to them a 
 molten calf, and have worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, 
 and proclaimed before it, These are thy gods, Israel, 
 which brought thee up from the land of Mizraim. And 
 the Lord said to Mosheh, The pride of this people is 
 manifest before Me, and, behold, it is a people of hard 
 neck. And now, cease from thy prayer, and cry not 
 for them before Me; for I will let My anger burn like 
 strong fire against them, and consume them, and I will 
 make thee a great people. 
 
 And Mosheh was shaken with fear, and began to 
 pray before the Lord his God; and he said, Wherefore 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 551 
 
 XXXII.] 
 
 should Thy wrath, 0 Lord, prevail against Thy people, 
 whom Thou didst bring up from the land of Mizraim, 
 with great power and with a mighty hand. Why 
 should the Mizraee who are remaining say, It was 
 for evil that He led them out, to kill them among the 
 mountains of Tabor and Hermon, and Sirion and Sinai, 
 and to destroy them from the face of the earth ? Turn 
 from Thy strong anger, and let there be relenting before 
 Thee over the evil that Thou hast threatened to do unto 
 Thy people. Eemember Abraham, and Izhak, and 
 Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear in Thy 
 Word, and didst say to them, I will multiply your 
 children as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of 
 which I have told you will I give to your sons, and 
 they shall inherit for ever. And there was relenting 
 before the Lord over the evil which He had thought to 
 do unto His people. And Mosheh turned, and went 
 down from the mount, and the two tables of the testi¬ 
 mony were in his hands, inscribed on their two sides, 
 here and there were they inscribed. And the tables 
 were the work of the Lord, and the writing was the 
 Lord's writing, inscribed and manifested upon the 
 tables. 
 
 And Jehoshua heard the voice of the people exulting 
 with joy before the calf. [Jerusalem. Doing evil.] 
 And he said to Mosheh, There is the voice of battle in 
 the camp. But he said, It is not the voice of the 
 strong, who are victorious in battle, nor the voice of the 
 weak, who are overcome by their adversaries in the 
 fight; but the voice of them who serve with strange 
 service, and who make merriment before it, that I hear. 
 [Jerusalem. The voice of them who praise in strange 
 service.] And it was when Mosheh came near the 
 camp, and saw the calf, and the instruments of music 
 in the hands of the wicked, who were dancing and 
 
552 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 bowing before it, and Satana among them dancing and 
 leaping before the people, the wrath of Mosheh was 
 suddenly kindled, and he cast the tables from his hands, ! 
 and brake them at the foot of the mountain;—the holy i 
 writing that was on them, however, flew, and was car- j 
 ried away into the air of the heavens;—and he cried, j 
 and said, Woe upon the people who heard at Sinai from 
 the mouth of the Holy One, Thou shalt not make to j 
 thyself an image, or figure, or any likeness,—and yet, 
 at the end of forty days, make a useless molten calf! 
 And he took the calf which they had made, and burned 
 it in fire, and bruised it into powder, and cast (it) upon 
 the face of the water of the stream, and made the sons 
 of Israel drink; and whoever had given thereto any 
 trinket of gold, the sign of it came forth upon his 
 nostrils. And Mosheh said unto Aharon, What did 
 this people to thee, that thou hast brought upon them a 
 great sin ? And Aharon said, Let not my lord's anger 
 be strong : thou knowest the people, that they are the 
 children of the Just; but evil concupiscence hath made 
 them to err: and they said to me. Make us gods that 
 may go before us ; for this Mosheh, the man who 
 brought us up from the land of Mizraim, is consumed 
 in the mountain, by the flaming fire from before the 
 Lord, and we know not what hath been done to him in 
 his end. And I said to them, Whoever hath gold, let 
 him deliver and give it to me; and I cast it into the 
 fire, and Satana entered into it, and there came out of 
 it the similitude of this calf! And Mosheh saw that 
 the people were naked; for they had been stripped by 
 the hand of Aharon of the holy crown which was upon 
 their head, inscribed and beautified with the great and 
 glorious Name; and that their evil report would go 
 forth among the nations of the earth, and they would 
 get to them an evil name unto their generations. [Jeru- 
 
XXXII.] ON EXODUS. 553 
 
 salem. And Mosheh saw the people that they were 
 uncovered; for they had been stripped of the golden 
 crown which was upon their head, whereon the Name 
 had been engraven and set forth, at Mount Horeb.] 
 And Mosheh stood in the sanhedrin gate of the camp, 
 and said. Who feareth the Lord, let him come to me. 
 And there gathered to him all the sons of Levi. And 
 he said to them, Thus hath said the Lord, the God of 
 Israel, Whosoever hath sacrificed to the idols of the 
 Gentiles, let him be slain with the sword. And now, 
 go, pass through from the gate of the sanhedrin to the 
 gate of the house of judgment, in the camp, and with 
 prayer before the Lord that He will forgive you this sin, 
 take vengeance upon the wicked workers of strange 
 worship, and slay, even a man his brother, and a man 
 his companion, and a man his neighbour. And the 
 sons of Levi did according to the word of Mosheh ; and 
 of the people who had the mark in their nostrils there 
 fell that day by the slaughter of the sword about the 
 number of three thousand men. 
 
 And Mosheh said, Offer your oblation for the 
 shedding of the blood that is upon your hands, and 
 make atonement for yourselves before the Lord, 
 because you have smitten a man his son or his brother, 
 and that you may bring a blessing upon you this day. 
 And it came to pass on the day following, that Mosheh 
 said to the people, You have sinned a great sin; but 
 now I will go up and will pray before the Lord, if 
 haply I may obtain forgiveness of your sin. And 
 Mosheh returned, and prayed before the Lord, and 
 said, I supplicate of Thee, Thou Lord of all the world, 
 before whom the darkness is as the light! Now have 
 this people sinned a great sin, and have made to them 
 gods of gold; but now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin, 
 forgive; but if not, blot me, I pray, from the book of 
 
 B B 
 
554 TARGUM OE PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 tlie just, in the midst of which Thou hast written my 
 name. And the Lord said to Mosheh, It is not right 
 that I should blot out thy name; but whosoever 
 sinneth before Me, him will I blot from My book. 
 But now, go lead the people to the place of which I 
 have told thee; behold. My angel shall proceed before 
 thee; but in the day of My visitation I will visit upon 
 them their sin. And the Word of the Lord plagued 
 the people, because they had bowed themselves to the 
 calf that Aharon had made. 
 
 XXXIII. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, Go, 
 remove thee hence, lest My anger grow hot against the 
 people, and I consume them. Therefore proceed thou, 
 and the people whom thou didst bring up out of the 
 land of Mizraim, (to that land) which I have covenanted 
 unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob, saying, Unto 
 thy sons will I give it. And I will appoint before thee an 
 angel, and by his hand will cast out the Kenaanaee, 
 Amoraee, Hittaee, and Pherizaee, Hivaee, and Jebusaee; 
 to the land producing milk and honey. For the Shekinah 
 of My Glory cannot go up among you, nor My Majesty 
 dwell in the habitation of their camp, because thou art 
 a hard-necked people, lest I destroy you in the way. 
 
 And the people heard this evil word, and mourned; 
 and no man put on his accustomed ornaments, 6 which 
 had been given them at Mount Sinai, and on which was 
 inscribed and set forth the great and holy Name. And 
 the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak to the sons of Israel, 
 Ye are a hard-necked people : were the glory of My 
 Shekinah to go up with you, in one little hour I should 
 destroy you. And now put thy accustomed ornaments 9 
 from thee, that it may be manifest before Me what I 
 may do to thee. And the sons of Israel were deprived 
 of their usual adornments, 6 on which was written and 
 6 Or, “ appointed arms.” 
 
XXXIII.] ON EXODUS. 555 
 
 set forth the great Name; and which had been given 
 them, a gift from Mount Horeb. And Mosheh took 
 and hid them in his tabernacle of instruction. But 
 the tabernacle he took away from thence, and spread it 
 without the camp, and removed it from the camp of the 
 people to the distance of two thousand cubits; and it 
 was called the Tabernacle of the House of Instruction: 
 and it was that when any one turned by repentance 
 with a true heart before the Lord, he went forth to the 
 Tabernacle of the House of Instruction that was without 
 the camp, to confess and pray for the pardon of his 
 sins; and praying, he was forgiven. And it was wlien 
 Mosheh passed forth from the camp to go to the taber¬ 
 nacle that all the wicked people arose, and stood, every 
 man at the door of his tent, and looked with the evil 
 eye after Mosheh, when he entered the tabernacle. 
 And it came to pass when Mosheh had gone into the 
 tabernacle, the column of the glorious Cloud descended 
 and stood at the door of the tabernacle; and the Word 
 of the Lord spake with Mosheh. And all the people 
 beheld the column of the Cloud standing at the door of 
 the tabernacle, and the whole people at once rose up 
 and worshipped towards the tabernacle, standing every 
 man at the door of his tent. 
 
 And the Lord spake with Mosheh word for word,— 
 the voice of the word was heard, but the Majesty of the 
 Presence was not seen,—in the w r ay that a man con¬ 
 versed with his companion : and after the speaking 
 voice had ascended, he returned to the camp, and deli¬ 
 vered the word to the congregation of Israel. But his 
 minister, Jehoshua bar Nun, a young man, removed not 
 from the tabernacle. [Jerusalem. But his minister, 
 Jehoshua bar Nun, a young man, passed not from 
 within the tabernacle.] 
 
 And Mosheh said before the Lord, Lo, w r hat hast 
 2 b 2 
 
556 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 Thou said to me, Take this people up ? but Thou hast 
 not made me to know whom Thou wilt send with me. 
 By Thy Word Thou hast said, I have ordained thee with 
 a goodly name, and thou hast found favour before Me. 
 But now I pray, if I have found mercy before Thee, 
 make me to know the way of Thy goodness, to under¬ 
 stand Thy mercy when in Thy dealing with just men it 
 falleth to them as it (falleth) to the guilty, and to the 
 guilty as to the just; but, on the contrary, how it 
 (indeed) befalleth the just according to their righteous¬ 
 ness, and the guilty according to their guilt; that I 
 may find mercy before Thee, and it be made manifest by 
 Thee that this people is Thy people. And He said. 
 Await, until the face of My displeasure shall have gone 
 away, and afterward I will give thee rest. And he said 
 to Him, If Thy wrath go not from us, suffer us not to 
 go up from hence under the frown of Thy displeasure. 
 In what will it be known that I have found mercy 
 before Thee but in the converse of Thy Shekinah with 
 us, that distinguishing signs may be wrought for us, in 
 the withholdment of the Spirit of prophecy from the 
 nations, and by Thy speaking by the Holy Spirit to me 
 and to Thy people, that we may be distinguished from 
 all the peoples upon the face of the earth ? And the 
 Lord said to Mosheh, This thing also which thou hast 
 *poken of, will I do; for thou hast found mercy before 
 tfe, and I have ordained thee with a goodly name. 
 Ind he said. Show now unto me Thy glory : but He 
 said, Behold, I will make all the measure of My good¬ 
 ness pass before thee, and I will give utterance in the 
 name of the Word of the Lord before thee; and I will 
 have compassion upon whom I see it right to have 
 compassion, and will be merciful to whom I see it 
 right ta have mercy. [Jerusalem:. And He said, 
 Behold, I will make all the measure of My goodness to 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 557 
 
 XXXIV.] 
 
 pass before thee, and I will give utterance in the 
 good Name of the Lord before thee, and I will 
 have compassion upon whom I see it right to have 
 compassion, .and will be merciful upon whom I see it 
 right to have mercy.] And He said. Thou canst not 
 see the visage of My face; for no man can see Me and 
 abide alive. And the Lord said, Behold, a place is 
 prepared before Me, and thou shalt stand upon the 
 rock. And it shall be that when the glory of My 
 Shekinah passeth before thee, I will put thee in a 
 cavern of the rock, and will overshadow thee with My 
 Word until the time that I have passed by. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And I will overshadow with My hand.] And 
 I will make the host of angels who stand and minister 
 before Me to pass by, and thou shalt see the hand- 
 border of the tephilla of My glorious Shekinah; but the 
 face of the glory of My Shekinah thou canst not be able 
 to see. [Jerusalem. And I will cause the hosts of 
 angels who stand and minister before Me to pass by, 
 and will make known the oracle; for the glory of My 
 Shekinah thou art not able to behold. 
 
 XXXIY. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Hew thee 
 two tables of stone, as the former, and write upon the 
 tables the words that were upon the former tables which 
 thou didst break; and be ready in the morn; and at 
 morning ascend thou Mount Sinai, and stand there before 
 Me on the summit of the mountain. No man shall 
 ascend with thee, nor any man be seen on all the 
 mountain, nor sheep, nor oxen grazing on the side of 
 the mount. And he hewed two tables of stone like the 
 former: and Mosheh arose in the morning and ascended 
 Mount Sinai, as the Lord had instructed him, and took 
 in his hand the two tables of stone. 
 
 And the Lord revealed Himself in the cloud of the 
 glory of His Shekinah, and Mosheh stood with Him 
 
558 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 there; and Mosheh called on the Name of the Word of 
 the Lord. And the Lord made His Shekinah to pass 
 by before his face, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord 
 God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and nigh in 
 mercies, abounding to exercise compassion and truth; 
 keeping mercy and bounty for thousands of generations, 
 absolving and remitting guilt, passing by rebellions, and 
 covering sins; pardoning them who convert unto the 
 law, but holding not guiltless in the great day of judg¬ 
 ment those who will not convert; visiting the sins of 
 fathers upon rebellious children upon the third and upon 
 the fourth generation. And Mosheh made haste and 
 bowed himself upon the earth and worshipped. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. And the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord 
 passed by before him; and Mosheh prayed, and said, 
 Lord, Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to be 
 angry, but nigh to be merciful, and abounding to 
 exercise kindness and truth; keeping goodness for 
 thousands of generations; absolving and remitting sin 
 and transgressions, but not to acquit the guilty in the 
 great day of judgment; and remembering the sins of 
 wicked fathers upon rebellious children upon the third 
 and upon the fourth generation. And Mosheh hastened 
 and prostrated himself upon the earth, and gave thanks 
 and glorified.] 
 
 And he said, If now I have found mercy before the 
 Lord, let the Shekinah of the' Glory of the Lord go, I 
 pray, among us; for it is a people of hard neck; but 
 pardon Thou our guilt and our sin, and give us the 
 inheritance of the land which Thou didst covenant unto 
 our fathers, and change us not to become an alien 
 people. And He said. Behold, I make covenant that I 
 will not change this people to become an alien people; 
 nevertheless from thee shall proceed a multitude of the 
 righteous; and with all thy people will I do wondrous 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 559 
 
 XXXIV.] 
 
 things in the time when they go into captivity by the 
 rivers of Bavel: for I will bring them up from thence, 
 and make them dwell from within the river Sambation ; 
 and like wonders shall not be created among all the 
 inhabitants of the earth, nor among any nation. And 
 all the people among whom thou wilt dwell shall see in 
 that day the work of the Lord; for terrible is the thing 
 that I will do with thee. 
 
 Observe thou that which I command thee this day : 
 behold, I drive out from before thee the Amoraee, and 
 Kenaanaee, and Hittaee, and Pherizaee, and Hivaee, and 
 Jebusaee. Take heed to thee, lest thou strike covenants 
 with the inhabitants of that land into which thou art to 
 enter; that it may not be a stumbling-block unto thee. 
 But thou shalt rather destroy their high places, and 
 break their statues, and cut down their groves; for it 
 is not lawful for thee to worship other gods; for the 
 Lord is zealous and avengeful; His Name is God, the 
 Zealous and the Avenger. Lest thou strike covenant 
 with the dwellers in the land, and they draw thee astray 
 after their idols, and they sacrifice to their idols, and 
 invite thee, and thou eat of the sacrifices of their idols; 
 and thou take of their daughters for thy sons, and when 
 their daughters wander after their idols they make thy 
 sons also go astray after their idols. [Jerusalem. And 
 they cause to err.] Molten gods you shall not make to you. 
 
 You shall observe the feast of the unleavened. Seven 
 days thou shalt eat unleavened (cakes), as I have 
 commanded thee, in the time of the month Abiba; for 
 in the month of Abiba you came out free from Mizraim. 
 Whatever openeth the womb is Mine; and of all cattle 
 thou art to consecrate the males, of oxen, and of sheep. 
 But the firstling of an ass thou mayest redeem with a 
 lamb; but if thou redeem him not, thou shalt cut him 
 off with the blade. And each firstborn of thy sons thou 
 
560 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP, 
 
 must redeem; and they shall not appear before Me 
 empty. [Jerusalem. All firstlings opening the womb 
 thou shalt sanctify unto My Name; all the firstborn of 
 your males, the first that breaketh through the womb, 
 of oxen and of sheep. 20. My people of the house of 
 Israd, it shall not be allowed you to see the Lord your 
 God empty of any precept.] 
 
 Six days shalt thou work, and in the seventh day 
 have rest; in ploughing time and in harvest thou shalt 
 rest. [Jerusalem. In ploughing.] The feast of weeks 
 also shalt thou make to thee in the time of the firsts of 
 the wheat harvest; and the feast of ingathering at the 
 conclusion of the year. Three times in the year shall 
 all thy males appear before the Master of the world, the 
 Lord God of Israel. Tor I will drive out the nations from 
 before thee, and enlarge thy borders; and no man shall 
 covet thy land at the time of thy going up to appear before 
 the Lord thy God thrice in the year. 
 
 You shall not sacrifice the victim of My passover 
 before you have done away with leaven; nor suffer the 
 fat of the paschal sacrifice to remain about the altar till 
 the morning. [Jerusalem. You shall not sacrifice with 
 leaven the blood of the paschal victim, nor suffer the 
 flesh which you sacrifice on the night of the feast of the 
 first of Pascha to remain from the evening till the 
 morning.] The best of the firstfruits of your land ye shall 
 bring to the sanctuary of the Lord your God. You are not 
 allowed to boil or to eat flesh and milk mixed together, 
 lest My displeasure be kindled against you, and the 
 fruit of your trees, with the grapes in their branches and 
 their leaves, be laid waste together. [Jerusalem. The 
 first (best) of the firstfruits of your produce ye shall 
 bring to the sanctuary of the Lord your God. 
 My people of the house of Israel, ye shall not be 
 allowed to boil or to eat flesh and milk mixed together.] 
 
XXXIV.] OX EXODUS. 561 
 
 And the Lord said to Mosheh, Write thou these 
 words; for upon the expression of these words have I 
 stricken My covenant with thee, and with the people of 
 Israel. And he was there before the Lord forty days 
 and forty nights; he ate no bread, nor did he drink 
 water; and he wrote upon the other tables the words of 
 the covenant, the Ten Words which had been written 
 upon the former tables. 
 
 And it w r as at the time when Mosheh came down 
 from the mountain of Sinai, with the two tables ‘of the 
 testimony in the hand of Mosheh, in his descending from 
 the mount, that Mosheh knew not that the visage (form) 
 of his face shone with the splendour which had come 
 upon him from the brightness of the glory of the Lord's 
 Shekinah in the time of His speaking with him. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. That the beams of his face did shiue.] And 
 Aharon and all the sons of Israel saw Mosheh, and, 
 behold, the glory of the form of his face shined, and 
 they were afraid to come near to him. And Mosheh 
 called to them and Aharon, and all the princes who 
 had been appointed chiefs in the congregation returned, 
 and Mosheh conversed with them. And afterward drew 
 nigh all the sons of Israel, and he taught them all that 
 the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. And 
 when Mosheh had finished to speak with them, he put 
 over the form of his face a veil. [Jerusalem. A cloth.] 
 And when Mosheh went in before the Lord to speak 
 with Him, he removed the veil from his countenance 
 until he came forth; and he came forth and spake to 
 the sons of Israel what had been commanded. And 
 the sons of Israel saw the countenance of Mosheh, that 
 the glory of the form of Mosheh's face was shining. 
 And Mosheh replaced the veil upon his face until the 
 time of his going in to speak with Him. 
 
 2 b 5 
 
562 
 
 TARGUM OF PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 SECTION XXII. 
 
 YAIYAKHEL. 
 
 And Mosheli gathered together all the congregation 
 of the sons of Israel, and said to them: These are the 
 things which the Lord hath commanded to be done. 
 Six days thou shalt do work, and on the seventh day 
 there shall be to you the holy Sabbath of repose before 
 the Lord. Whoever doeth work on the Sabbath day, 
 dying he shall die by the casting of stones. My people 
 of the sons of Israel, ye shall not kindle a fire in any 
 place of your habitations on the day of the Sabbath. 
 [Jerusalem. Ye shall not kindle a fire in any place of 
 the house of your dwelling on the Sabbath day.] 
 
 And Mosheh spake to all the assembly of the chil¬ 
 dren of Israel, saying, This is the word which the Lord 
 hath commanded, saying, Take of you a separation 
 before the Lord: -whosoever is moved in his heart, let 
 him present the separation for the Lord; gold, or silver, 
 or brass, or hyacinth, or purple, or scarlet, or fine linen, 
 or goats' hair, or rams' skins dyed red, or skins of seals, 
 (purple skins,) and woods of sitta; or oil for the lights, 
 * aromatics for the anointing oil, and sweet incense; the 
 onyx stones, and stones for completing the enchasement 
 of the ephoda and the breastplate. And let all the 
 wise-hearted among you give and make all that the 
 Lord hath commanded : The tabernacle, its tent, and its 
 covering, its hasps, and its boards, its bars, and its pil¬ 
 lars, and its bases. [Jerusalem:. The tabernacle, and 
 its tent, and its covering, its hasps, and boards, and its 
 bars, its pillars, and its bases.] The ark, with its 
 staves, and the mercy seat, and the veil for the cover- 
 
OK EXODUS. 
 
 563 
 
 XXXV. J 
 
 ing; and the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, 
 and the bread for the Presence; and the candelabrum 
 for illumination, with the lamps, and the oil for the 
 light; and the altar of sweet incense, and its staves, and 
 the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the curtain 
 for the door of the tabernacle of ordinance; the altar of 
 burnt offering, and its brasen grate, with its staves, and 
 its vessels, and the laver, with its base; and the cur¬ 
 tains of the court, with its pillars, and bases, and the 
 hanging for the gate of the court, and the pins of the 
 tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords; 
 the vestments of ministration, for ministering in the 
 sanctuary, and the holy vestments for Aharon the priest, 
 and the vestments of his sons for ministering. And all 
 the congregation of the sons of Israel went out from 
 before Mosheh. 
 
 And every man whose heart moved him, and every 
 one who was filled with the Spirit of prophecy, came, and 
 brought what he had for a separation before the Lord 
 for the work of the tabernacle of ordinance, and for all 
 its service, and for the holy vestments. And with the 
 men came the women, every one whose heart was moved, 
 and brought chains, and necklaces, rings, bracelets, and 
 every ornament of gold; every one offering up the 
 offering of gold before the Lord. And every one with 
 whom was found hyacinth, or purple, or crimson, or 
 fine linen, goats* hair, or purple skins, brought the 
 separation before the Lord; and all with whom were 
 found woods of sitta for all the work of the service 
 brought. And every woman whose heart was wise spun 
 with her hands, and brought the spun work of hyacinth, 
 and purple, and crimson, and fine linen. And all the 
 women whose hearts were moved in wisdom spun goats* 
 hair (while) upon their bodies, and sheared them, being 
 alive. And the clouds of heaven went to the Phison, and 
 
564 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 drew up from thence onyx stones, and stones for infilling, 
 to enchase the epliod and the breastplate, and spread 
 them upon the face of the wilderness ; and the princes of 
 Israel went, and brought them for the need of the work. 
 And the clouds of heaven returned, and went to the gar¬ 
 den of Eden, and took from thence choice aromatics, and 
 oil of olives for the light, and pure balsam for the 
 anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. Every man, a 
 son of Israel, and (every) woman, a daughter of Israel, 
 who was moved in heart, brought for all the work which 
 the Lord by Mosheh had commanded to be made; so 
 brought the children of Israel the votive gift before the 
 Lord. 
 
 And Mosheh said to the sons of Israel, See, the 
 Lord hath ordained with a good name Bezalel bar Uri 
 bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah, and hath filled him 
 with the Spirit of prophecy from before the Lord, in 
 wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all 
 handicraft; and to instruct artificers to work in gold, 
 and in silver, and in brass, and in the cutting of 
 precious stones, to perfect by them the work, and in the 
 fabrication of wood, to work in all the work of arti¬ 
 ficers. [Jerusalem. And in the cutting of precious 
 stones for completion, and the workmanship of wood, 
 to work in all the work of the artificer.] And to teach 
 art-work to the rest of the artificers he imparted skill to 
 his heart, and to (that of) Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of 
 the tribe of Dan. He filled them with wisdom of 
 heart to make all the work of the carpenter and the 
 embroiderer, in hyacinth, and in purple, and in crimson, 
 and in fine linen; and of the sewer, to fashion all the 
 work, and to teach the workmen. 
 
 XXXVI. And Bezalel and Ahaliab wrought, and 
 every man wise in heart, to w r hom the Lord had given 
 wisdom and intelligence to understand and to make all 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 565 
 
 XXXVI.] 
 
 the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to 
 all that the Lord had commanded. And Mosheh called 
 Eezalel and Ahaliab, and every man wise in heart, to 
 whose heart the Lord had given wisdom, every one 
 whose heart was moved, to draw near, and do the work 
 itself. And they took from before Mosheh all the 
 separation that the children of Israel had brought for 
 the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it. 
 And they still brought to him the voluntary gift, morn¬ 
 ing after morning, from their possessions. [Jerusalem. 
 The gift.] And all the wise men who did all the work 
 of the sanctuary came, each man from the work which 
 he had done; and they said to Mosheh, The people 
 abound in bringing (more) than is enough for the service 
 of the work, which the Lord hath ordained. And 
 Mosheh commanded, and they made proclamation 
 through the camp, saying, Neither man nor woman may 
 make any more work for the holy separation: and the 
 people ceased from bringing. Lor what had been done 
 was according to the sufficiency of all the work; and 
 they did it, and had more than enough. 
 
 And all the wise in heart made the Tabernacle ; ten 
 curtains of fine linen, and hyacinth, and purple, and 
 scarlet, figured with kerubin, the work of the 
 embroiderer, he made them. The length of one cur¬ 
 tain twenty and eight cubits, the sum of one curtain; 
 the measure was one for all the curtains. And he con¬ 
 joined five* curtains one with another, and (the other) 
 five curtains conjoined he one with another. And he 
 made loops of hyacinth upon the edge of one curtain, at 
 the place of conjunction in the side ; so made he in the 
 side at the place of conjunction in the other curtain. 
 [Jerusalem. In the jointure.] Fifty loops he made in 
 one curtain, and fifty loops made he at the place of 
 juncture of the edge of the second curtain; the loops 
 
566 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 •were arranged one over against the other. [Jerusalem. 
 Answering to each other.] And he made fifty taches of 
 gold, and conjoined one curtain with another with the 
 taches, and there was one tabernacle. And he made 
 curtains of goats’ hair to spread upon the tabernacle: 
 eleven curtains he made them. The length of one cur¬ 
 tain thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of one 
 curtain; one measure for the eleven curtains. And he 
 joined five curtains together, corresponding with the 
 five books of the law; and six curtains together, 
 corresponding with the six orders of the Mishna. And he 
 made fifty loops in the border of the curtain at the place 
 of conjuncture, and fifty loops made he upon the border 
 of the curtain at the second place of conjuncture. And 
 he made taches of brass to compact the tabernacle, that 
 it might become one. And he made a covering for the 
 tabernacle of rams’ skins reddened, and of purple skins to 
 protect it above. And he made the boards of the taber¬ 
 nacle of sitta wood, standing up, after the way of their 
 plantation; ten cubits the length of the board, and a cubit 
 and a half of a cubit the breadth of one board. Each board 
 had two tenons arranged, one side for the midst of the 
 other side; and so did he for all the boards of the taber¬ 
 nacle. And he made the boards of the tabernacle twenty 
 boards on the side of the south wind; and forty sockets 
 of silver he made under the twenty boards ; two sockets 
 beneath one board for its two tenons, and two sockets 
 under another board for its two tenons. And for the 
 second side of the tabernacle on the north he made 
 twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver; two 
 sockets beneath one board, and two sockets beneath 
 another board. And to the border of the tabernacle west¬ 
 ward he made six boards, and two boards made he at the 
 corners of the tabernacle at their extremes. [Jerusalem. 
 At the declivities.] And they were conjoined below, and 
 
XXXVII.] ON EXODUS. 567 
 
 joined together were they at their tops with one ring ; so 
 made he both of them at the two corners. [Jerusalem. 
 And they were twins.] And eight boards there were, and 
 their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets, and 
 two sockets under one board. And he made bars of sitta 
 wood; five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, 
 and five bars for the boards of the second side of the 
 tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle 
 at the ends westward. And he made the middle bar to 
 mortise in the midst of the boards from end to end,—of 
 the tree which our father Abraham planted in Beira of 
 Sheba, praying therein the Name of the Word of the 
 Lord, the everlasting God. [Jerusalem. And he made 
 the middle board to go along among the boards.] And 
 the boards he overlaid with gold, and the rings he made 
 of gold, as the place for the bars; and he covered the 
 bars with gold. 
 
 And he made the Yeil of hyacinth, and purple, and 
 crimson, and fine linen twined, the work of the arti¬ 
 ficer ; figured with kerubin he made it. And he made 
 for it four pillars of sitta wood, and covered them with 
 gold, and their hooks of gold, and cast for them four 
 sockets of silver. And he made a curtain for the door 
 of the tabernacle, of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, 
 and fine linen twined, the work of the embroiderer, and 
 its five pillars, and their five hooks; and he covered 
 their capitals and their joinings with gold, and their five 
 bases with brass. 
 
 XXXYII. And Bezalel made the Ark of sitta wood; 
 two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and half 
 its breadth, and a cubit and half its height. And he 
 covered it with pure gold within and without, and made 
 for it a crown of gold round about. And he cast for it 
 four golden rings upon its four corners; two rings 
 upon one side of it, and two rings upon its second side. 
 
568 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And he made the staves of it of sitta wood, and covered 
 them with gold, and put the staves into the rings upon 
 the sides of the ark, to carry the ark. 
 
 And he made the Mercy Seat of pure gold; two 
 cubits and a half the length, and a cubit and half its 
 breadth; but its thickness was a span. And he made 
 two kerubin of pure gold, beaten made he them, on the 
 two sides of the mercy seat. One keruba on this side, 
 and one keruba on that side, of beaten work; and the 
 kerubin were face to face. They were not separated 
 from the mercy seat; but by the wisdom of the Spirit of 
 prophecy, he made the kerubin on its two sides. And 
 the kerubaia spread forth their wings, with their heads 
 upward, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, 
 and their faces were toward each other, over against the 
 mercy seat were the faces of the kerubaia. 
 
 And he made the Table of sitta wood, two cubits its 
 length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and half its 
 height. And he covered it with pure gold, and made 
 for it a golden crown round about. And he made a 
 border for it, its height a span round about. [Jeru¬ 
 salem. A border, a span around, and he made a 
 coronal of gold for the surrounding border.] And he 
 made a crown of gold for the border round about. 
 And he cast for it four golden rings, and set the rings 
 upon the four corners of its four feet. Over against 
 the border were the rings, the place for the staves in 
 carrying the table. And he made the staves of sitta 
 wood, and covered them with gold, for carrying the 
 table. And he made the vessels to be upon the table, 
 its dishes, and its bowls, and its measures, and its cups 
 for the lavings , 7 of pure gold. 
 
 And he made the Candelabrum of pure gold, beaten 
 made he the candelabrum; its base and its shaft, its 
 7 Cqstel, col. 1332. 
 
xxxvm.] on exodus. 569 
 
 cups, its apples, and its lilies were of the same. And 
 six branches came forth from its sides; three branches 
 of the candelabrum on one side, and three branches of 
 the candelabrum on the second side. Three embossed 
 cups with their figurations on one branch, with the 
 apple and lily, and three embossed cups with their 
 figurations on the other branch, with the apple and 
 lily; so the six branches which proceeded from the 
 candelabrum. And upon the candelabrum, four 
 embossed cups with their figurations of apples and 
 lilies. And an apple (was) under two branches of the 
 same, and an apple under two branches of the same, 
 and an apple under two branches of the same, for the 
 six branches that proceeded from it. Their apples and 
 their branches were of the same, all of it one beaten 
 work of pure gold: of a talent of pure gold made he it, 
 and all its vessels. 
 
 And he made the Altar oe sweet Incense of sitta 
 wood, a cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth, four¬ 
 square, and two cubits was its height; its two upright 
 horns were of the same. And he overlaid it with pure 
 gold, its top and its sides round about, and its horns; 
 and he made for it a golden crown round about. And 
 two golden rings he made for it under its crown, at its 
 two corners, upon its two sides, to be the place of the 
 staves by which to carry it. And the staves he made 
 of sitta wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he 
 made the sacred oil of anointing, and the pure sweet 
 incense, the work of the perfumer. 
 
 XXXVIII. And he made the Altar of Burnt 
 Offering of sitta wood; five cubits its length, and five 
 cubits its breadth, four-square, and three cubits its 
 height. And he made horns upon its four corners; of 
 the same were its horns stretching upward; and he 
 covered it with brass. And he made all the vessels of 
 
570 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 the altar; the pots, and the cleaners, and the basins, 
 and the fleshhooks, and the pans, all its vessels made 
 he of brass. And he made the grate of the altar, of 
 brasen network under the border beneath, reaching to 
 the middle of it, to receive the cinders and bones that 
 fell from the altar. And he cast four rings, for the 
 four corners of the grate, of brass, (to be) places for the 
 staves. And he made the staves of sitta wood, and 
 coated them with brass. And he put the staves into 
 the rings, upon the sides of the altar, to carry it by 
 them: hollow with boards, and filled with earth made 
 he it. 
 
 And he made the brasen Laver, and its foundation of 
 brass, from the brasen mirrors of the pious women, 
 who, at the season, came to pray at the door of the 
 tabernacle of appointment, standing with their oblations, 
 giving thanks and confession, and returning to their 
 husbands, the mothers of righteous children, who had 
 been purified from the uncleanness of their blood. 
 [Jerusalem. And he made the laver of brass, and the 
 base thereof of brass, with the mirrors of the pious 
 women who were devout at the gate of the tabernacle of 
 appointment.] And he made the court; on the 
 southern side, the curtains of the court (made he) with 
 fine linen, a hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and 
 their bases twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and 
 their rods were of silver. And on the north side, a 
 hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their bases 
 twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their 
 rods were of silver. And the curtains of the western 
 side, fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their bases ten; 
 the hooks of the pillars, and their rods, were of silver. 
 And on the east side, eastward, fifty cubits. And the 
 curtains were fifteen cubits on a side; their pillars three, 
 and their bases three. And for the second side of the 
 
XXXVIII.] ON EXODUS. 571 
 
 door of the court, here and there, at the gate of the 
 court,’ curtains fifteen cubits, their pillars three and 
 their bases three. All the curtains of the court round 
 about were of fine linen twined. And the bases of the 
 pillars were of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their 
 rods of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals 
 silver, and the rods silver; so were made all the pillars 
 of the court. And the hanging for the gate of the 
 court was made of embroidered work in hyacinth, and 
 purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined; and twenty 
 cubits (was) the length, and the height on its breadth 
 five cubits, corresponding with the curtains of the court. 
 And their pillars four, and their bases four, of brass; 
 their hooks silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, 
 and their rods, silver. But all the pins of the taber¬ 
 nacle, and of the court round about, were of brass. 
 
 SECTION XXIII. 
 
 PEKUDEY. 
 
 These are the sums, weights, and numbers of the 
 Tabernacle of the Testimony, which were counted by 
 the word of the mouth of Mosheh. But the service of 
 the Levites was by the hand of Ithamar bar Aharon the 
 priest. And Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of 
 Jehudah, made all that the Lord had commanded 
 Mosheh; and with him, Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of the 
 tribe of Dan, a worker in wood, and an artificer, and an 
 embroiderer in hyacinth, and in purple, and in crimson, 
 and in fine linen. 
 
572 
 
 TARGUM OP PALESTINE 
 
 [chap. 
 
 All the gold that was used in making the whole work 
 of the sanctuary, and it was the amount of the gold of 
 the oblation, (was) twenty and nine talents, and seven 
 hundred and thirty shekels, in the shekel of the sanc¬ 
 tuary. This was the gold of the oblation, which every 
 man of the sons of Israel, whose heart was willing, had 
 offered as a separation. And the silver of them who 
 were numbered of the sons of Israel, who gave at the 
 time when Mosheh numbered them, every one for the 
 redemption of his soul, a hundred talents, and a 
 thousand and seven hundred and seventy and five 
 shekels, of the shekel of the sanctuary. A drachma for 
 (each) head, a half shekel of the shekel of the sanctuary, 
 for every one who passed to the numberments, from 
 twenty years and upwards, for six hundred and thirty 
 thousand and five hundred and fifty (men). And there 
 were a hundred talents of silver for casting the bases of 
 the sanctuary, and the bases of the veil, a hundred 
 bases, answering to the talents, a talent for a base. 
 And with the thousand and seven hundred and seventy 
 and five shekels, he made hooks for the pillars, and the 
 overlaying of their capitals and their rods. And the 
 brass of the oblation was seventy talents, and two thou¬ 
 sand and four hundred shekels. And he made with it 
 the bases of the gate of the tabernacle of ordinance, 
 and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all 
 the vessels of the altar. And the bases of the court 
 round about, and the bases of the gate of the court, and 
 all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the 
 court round about. 
 
 XXXIX. And of the hyacinth, and purple, and 
 crimson, they made the vestments of ministration, to 
 minister in the sanctuary. And they made the holy 
 vestments of Aharon the priest, as the Lord had com¬ 
 manded Mosheh. And he made the ephoda of gold. 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 573 
 
 XXXIX.] 
 
 hyacinth, and purple, and fine linen twined. And they 
 beat out the plates of gold, and cut them into threads 
 to inwork with the hyacinth, and the purple, and the 
 crimson, and the fine linen, the work of the artificer. 
 Shoulderpieces made they for it conjoined; upon its 
 two sides were they conjoined. And its ordered band 8 
 that was upon it was of the same ; it was according to 
 its work, of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, 
 and fine linen twined, even as the Lord had commanded 
 Mosheh. And they wrought the jewels of onyx, 
 enchased, set, inwrought, graved with graven waiting, 
 setting forth the names of the sons of Israel. And he 
 set them on the shoulders of the ephoda, as stones of 
 memorial for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded 
 Mosheh. 
 
 And he made the Breastplate, the work of the arti¬ 
 ficer, according to the work of the ephoda, of gold, 
 hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen 
 twined. Foursquare was it; doubled they made the 
 breastplate, a span its length, and a span its breadth. 
 [Jerusalem. A palm its length, and a palm its 
 breadth, doubled.] And they filled it with four rows 
 of precious gems, ( margalyan ,) corresponding with the 
 four corners of the world. The first row r , carnelian, 
 topaz, and carbuncle, row one : and upon them were 
 engraven and expressed the names of three tribes, 
 Beuben, Shimeon, and Levi. And the name of the 
 second row, smaragd, and sapphire, and chalcedony : 
 and upon them was inscribed and set forth the name 
 of three tribes, Jehudah, Dan, and Naphtali. And 
 the name of the third row, figure, agate, and amethyst: 
 and upon them inscribed and set forth the name of 
 three tribes, Gad, Asher, and Issakar. And the name 
 of the fourth row, chrysolite, and onyx, and jasper: and 
 8 Or, “ girdle of ordination.” 
 
574 TARGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 upon them inscribed and set forth the name of three 
 tribes, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin: enchased and 
 set in gold in their infillings. And the gems were 
 according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, 
 according to their names; the writing engraven, in¬ 
 scribed, and set forth as the engraving of a ring; each 
 man's gem according to his name in the twelve tribes. 
 And they made upon the breastplate wreathen chains, 
 entwined work, of pure gold. And they made two 
 sockets of gold, and two golden rings, and set the two 
 rings on the two sides of the breastplate. And they put 
 the two entwinements of gold within the two rings upon 
 the two sides of the breastplate, and the two chains that 
 were arranged on the two sides they fastened upon the 
 two sockets, and set them on the shoulders of the 
 eplioda, toward its front. And they made two golden 
 rings, and set them upon the two sides of the breast¬ 
 plate, upon its edge, that was on the border of the 
 ephod inward. And they made two golden rings, and 
 arranged them upon the two shoulders of the ephod 
 below, toward its front, over against the place of con- 
 joinment above the band of the ephod, and fitted the 
 breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod by a 
 ribbon of hyacinth, that it might adhere to the band of 
 the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosened 
 from being upon the ephod, as the Lord commanded 
 Mosheh. 
 
 And he made the mantle-robe, a work of the weaver, 
 of twined thread of hyacinth. And the aperture of the 
 upper robe (was) double in the midst, like the opening of 
 a piece of armour, with a border round about its edge, that 
 it might not be torn. And they made upon the bottom 
 of the upper robe pomegranates of hyacinth, and purple, 
 and crimson, and (fine linen) entwined. And they made 
 golden bells, and set the bells among the pomegranates 
 
XXXIX.] ON EXODUS. 575 
 
 upon the border of the mantle-robe, round about among 
 the pomegranates; a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and 
 a pomegranate, all of them seventy upon the bottom of 
 the upper robe round about to minister in; as the Lord 
 commanded Mosheh. 
 
 And they made the plate of the crown of holiness of 
 pure gold, and wrote upon it, inscribed, engraven, and 
 set forth, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And they 
 set upon it a twined ribbon of hyacinth, to put it upon 
 the tiara above the forehead; as the Lord commanded 
 Mosheh. 
 
 And all the work of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of 
 ordinance, was completed : and the sons of Israel did as 
 the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did they. And they 
 brought the tabernacle to Mosheh at his house of 
 instruction, (leth Midrash,) where sat Mosheh, and 
 Aharon, and his sons, where he gave direction to them 
 concerning the order of the priesthood; and there (also) 
 sat the elders of Israel. And they brought to him the 
 tabernacle and all its vessels; its taches, its boards, its 
 bars, its pillars, and its bases; and the covering of 
 reddened rams' skins, and the covering of purple skins, 
 and the veil that was to be spread; and the ark of the 
 testimony, and its staves, and the mercy seat, and the 
 kernbaia produced of beaten work of the same, the one 
 here, and the other there; and the table, and all its ves¬ 
 sels, and the bread of faces; and the candelabrum, and 
 its lamps, the lamps of order, which were ordained to 
 correspond to the seven stars, that rule in their pre¬ 
 scribed places in the firmament by day and by night; 
 and the oil for the lights, and the golden altar, and the 
 consecration oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging 
 for the door of the tabernacle; and the brasen altar, and 
 its brasen grate, and its staves, and all its utensils; and 
 the laver, and its base; the curtain-work of the court, 
 
576 TAUGUM OF PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 and its pillars, and tlie bases, and the veil of the gate of 
 the court, its cords, and pins, and all the vessels for the 
 service of the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of ordi¬ 
 nance ; and the vestments of ministration for minister¬ 
 ing in the sanctuary, the holy vestments of Aharon the 
 priest, and the vestments of his sons, to minister. 
 According to all that the Lord had commanded 
 Mosheh, so had the sons of Israel made all the ser¬ 
 vice. And Mosheh surveyed all the service, and, 
 behold, they had made it as the Lord had commanded, 
 so had they made it. And Mosheh blessed them, and 
 said, May the Shekinah of the Lord dwell within the 
 work of your hands ! 
 
 XL. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, On 
 the day of the first month, that is the month of Nisan, 
 on the first of the month, thou shalt rear up the taber¬ 
 nacle, the tabernacle of ordinance. And thou shalt set 
 there the ark of the testimony, and overlay the ark with 
 the mercy seat. And thou shalt bring in the table on 
 the north side, because from thence are given riches; for 
 from thence distil the drops of the latter rain upon the 
 herbs, for the food of the inhabiters of the world ; and 
 thou shalt arrange its orders, two rows of bread, com¬ 
 prising six cakes in a row, answering to the tribes of 
 Jakob. And thou shalt bring in the candelabrum, on 
 the south side, because there are the paths of the sun 
 and of the moon, and the pathways of the luminaries; 
 and thence are the treasures of the wisdom which 
 resembleth the light. And thou shalt kindle the seven 
 lamps, corresponding to the seven stars which resemble 
 the just, who shine unto eternity in their righteousness. 
 And thou shalt place the golden altar for sweet incense 
 before the ark of the testimony ; because the wise who arc 
 diligent in the law have a perfume fragrant as the sweet 
 incense. And thou shalt set the veil at the gate of the 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 577 
 
 XL.] 
 
 tabernacle; because the righteous so covereth with their 
 righteousness the people of the house of Israel. And 
 thou shalt place the altar of burnt offering before the 
 door of the tabernacle of ordinance; because the rich, 
 who spread the table before their doors and feed the 
 poor, shall have their sins forgiven what time they make 
 the offering upon the altar. And thou shalt place the 
 laver between the tabernacle of ordinance and the altar, 
 and put water therein for the sins of such as convert by 
 repentance, and pour off their perversity like water. 
 And thou shalt place the court round about, because of 
 the merit of the fathers of the world, which encom- 
 passeth the people of the house of Israel round about. 
 And thou shalt set the hanging of the gate of the court 
 on account of the merit of the mothers of the world, 
 which spreadeth at the gate of Gehennam, that none 
 may enter there of the souls of the children of the peo¬ 
 ple of Israel. And thou shalt take the consecration-oil, 
 and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and 
 shalt sanctify it, on account of the crown of the kingdom 
 of the house of Jehudah, and of the King Meshiha, who 
 is to redeem Israel at the end of the days. And thou 
 shalt anoint the altar of burnt offering, and all its ves¬ 
 sels, and consecrate the altar, that it may be an altar 
 most holy, on account of the crown of the priesthood of 
 Aharon, and his sons, and of Elijah, the great Priest 
 who is to be sent at the end of the captivity. And thou 
 shalt anoint the laver, and its base, and consecrate it, on 
 account of Jehoshua thy minister, chief of the sanhedrin 
 of his people; by whose hand the land of Israel is to be 
 partitioned: and of Meshiha bar Ephraim, who shall 
 spring from him, by whose hand the house of Israel is 
 to vanquish Gog and his confederates at the end of the 
 days. 
 
 c c 
 
578 TARGUM OP PALESTINE [CHAP. 
 
 And thou shalt bring Aharon and his sons to the 
 door of the tabernacle of ordinance, and wash them with 
 water, and clothe Aharon with the holy vestments, and 
 anoint him, and consecrate him ; that he may minister 
 before Me. And his sons thou shalt bring near, and 
 dress them with tunics, and anoint them, as thou didst 
 anoint their father, that they may minister before Me; 
 and their consecration shall be for a perpetual priesthood 
 in their generations. 
 
 And Mosheh did all that the Lord commanded, so did 
 he. And it was in the first month, that is, the month 
 Nisan, in the second year, in the first of the month, that 
 he reared up the tabernacle. And Mosheh reared the 
 tabernacle, and placed its bases, and set its boards, and 
 placed its bars, and reared its pillars. And he spread 
 the tent over the tabernacle, and placed the covering of 
 the tabernacle upon it above, as the Lord commanded 
 Mosheh. And he took the two tables of stone, the 
 tables of the covenant which were given to him in 
 Horeb, and set them up for a sign in the House of 
 Instruction : they are the tables of the testimony. And 
 the broken tables (he deposited) in the ark. And he 
 set the staves in the ark, and placed the mercy seat, 
 with the kerubaia that were produced for it of beaten 
 work, upon the ark above. And he brought the ark 
 into the tabernacle, and set the veil of the covering, and 
 shadowed there with the ark of the testimony, as the 
 Lord commanded Mosheh. 
 
 And he placed the table in the tabernacle of ordinance, 
 at the side of the tabernacle northward without the veil, 
 and set in order upon it the rows of bread before the 
 Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. [Jerusalem. 
 And he set in order upon it the order of the bread of 
 faces before the Lord.] And he placed the candelabrum 
 
ON EXODUS. 
 
 XL.] ON EXODUS. 579 
 
 in the tabernacle of ordinance, over against the table 
 upon the side of the tabernacle southward, and 
 kindled the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord com¬ 
 manded Mosheh. And he set the golden altar in the 
 tabernacle of ordinance before the veil, and burned sweet 
 incense upon it, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And 
 he set the hanging at the gate of the tabernacle. And 
 the altar of burnt offering he placed at the gate of the 
 tabernacle, and offered thereon the burnt offering and 
 the oblation, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he 
 set the laver upon its foundation between the tabernacle * 
 of ordinance and the altar, and put living water therein 
 for purification, that it may not fail, nor become corrupt 
 all the days. And Mosheh, and Aharon, and his sons, 
 took from it for their ablutions, and sanctified there¬ 
 with their hands and their feet; at the time they 
 entered into the tabernacle of ordinance, or approached 
 unto the altar, they purified themselves, as the Lord 
 commanded Mosheh. And he reared up the court 
 round about the tabernacle and the altar, and placed the 
 hanging which was for the gate of the tabernacle. And 
 Mosheh completed the work. 
 
 Then the Cloud of Glory overspread the tabernacle of 
 ordinance, and the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord 
 filled the tabernacle. And Mosheh was not able to 
 enter the tabernacle of ordinance, because the Cloud of 
 Glory rested upon it, and the glory of the Lord's 
 Shekinah filled the tabernacle. 
 
 At the time when the Cloud of Glory ascended from 
 the tabernacle, the sons of Israel went forward in all their 
 journeys; but if the Cloud of Glory went not up, they 
 did not go forward until the day when it ascended. For 
 the Cloud of the Glory of the Lord overspread the taber¬ 
 nacle by day, and (as) a column of fire it gave light in 
 2 c 2 
 
580 TARGUM OF PALESTINE ON EXODUS. 
 
 the night, that all the sons of Israel might see in all 
 their journeys. [Jerusalem. Because the Cloud of the 
 Glory of the Lord's Shekinah overspread the tabernacle 
 by day, and a fire shined upon it all the nights; all the 
 sons of Israel seeing in all their journeys.] 
 
 END OF THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM 
 ON THE SEPHER SHEMOTH. 
 
 LONDON: PRINTED B¥ WILLIAM NICHOLS, 46, HOXTON SQUARE. 
 
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