Exodus 4:6

Hebrew Bible

5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe.” So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out—there was his hand, leprous like snow! 7 He said, “Put your hand back into your robe.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe—there it was, restored like the rest of his skin!

Onkelos Exodus 4:6

Targum

5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers has been revealed to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Izhak, and the God of Jakob. 6 And the Lord said to him, Put your hand into your garment. And he put his hand into his garment, and took it out; and, behold, his hand was white as snow. 7 And He said, Return your hand into your garment. And he returned his hand into his garment, and drew it out , and, behold, it had returned to his own flesh.

 Notes and References

"... The targumist deliberately translates the word metzora'at as 'white' rather than as 'leprous,' its literal translation. This may have been done to preserve the dignity of Moses: God would not let so great a man as Moses become leprous. It is also possible that the change was made to thwart the suggestion that Moses might have been a leper, as Manetho and some other Egyptian anti-Israelites claimed during the centuries before the Common Era ..."

Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (p. 19) Gefen, 2006

 User Comments

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