Texts in Conversation
Exodus 31:18 is a rare case where Targum Onkelos preserves a human-like image of God in its translation, describing the tablets as written by the finger of God. Unlike other passages that change this language, this was preserved likely to emphasize the divine authorship of the tablets.
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Exodus 31:18
Hebrew Bible
17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” 18 He gave Moses two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of God.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Onkelos Exodus 31:18
Targum
17 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 in the seventh day rested and was refreshed. 18 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.
Date: 100-200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Exodus 31:18, our Targumist retains Scripture's clearly anthropomorphic 'finger of the Lord,' although it is exchanged in 8:15 to 'a plague from before the Lord.' Some Targum interpreters suppose that since 31:18 speaks of the two tablets of the testimony (in contrast to 8:15, which talks of the plague of lice), the targumist kept the anthropomorphic phrase to strengthen the readers' belief that God transmitted the Torah. Actually, Onkelos does not replace all phrases that ascribe human attributes to God. In 32:16, 'work of the Lord' and 'writing. ..of the Lord' are also left unchanged; they too refer to the tablets. Changing every one of the multitudes of anthropomorphisms would have produced a text radically different and, indeed, unrecognizable from the biblical original and would have distanced the reader from Scripture. The targumist made subjective judgments when translating, and deleted or changed only those words he felt would be misunderstood ..."
Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner
Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text
(p. 216) Gefen, 2006
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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