Onkelos Exodus 2:25

Hebrew Bible

23 During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning; God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the Israelites, and God understood.

Onkelos Exodus 2:25

Targum

23 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. 24 And their appeal was heard before the Lord; and the Lord remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Izhak, and with Jakob. 25 And the servitude of the sons of Israel was known before the Lord, and the Lord said in His Memra, that He would deliver them.

 Notes and References

"... In this verse, Onkelos veers significantly from the literal translation of the text, which reads, 'And God saw the children of Israel, and God knew.' The targumist, again, attempts to avoid anthropomorphisms and introduces memra (a term, like the Greek word logos, which denotes 'word' or 'wisdom.' Thus, God Himself is not anthropomorphically performing the act.) A Midrash expounds exegetically that God anthropomorphically 'saw' that which was not apparent to human observers and 'knew' that He would not distance Himself from events. He would do what was necessary in order to rescue the Israelites ..."

Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (p. 8) Gefen, 2006

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.