Texts in Conversation
Exodus 4 says Moses brings the “staff of God” back to Egypt, language that implies God owns it. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos avoids this and rewrites the description into a phrase that removes any hint that the staff belongs to God.
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Exodus 4:20
Hebrew Bible
19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 Then Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Onkelos Exodus 4:20
Targum
19 And the Lord said to Mosheh in Midian, Go, return to Mizraim; for all the men who sought to kill thee are dead. 20 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. 21 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.
Date: 100-200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... 'The rod with which the miracles were done' ... the biblical phrase matei haElohim means 'the rod of God.' Onkelos rejects the notion that God needs or uses a rod, and substitutes, again, the Tetragrammaton for the Hebrew Elohim ..."
Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner
Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text
(p. 20) 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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