Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Exodus 5:2 presents Pharaoh asking defiantly who the Lord is, expressing ignorance and resistance. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos changes this from a rhetorical question to a declarative statement, likely to avoid total ignorance or open contempt for God.
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Exodus 5:2
Hebrew Bible
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by releasing Israel? I do not know the Lord, and I will not release Israel!” 3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.”
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Onkelos Exodus 5:2
Targum
1 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. 2 And Pharaoh said, The name of the Lord is not known to me, that I should listen to His word to send Israel away. The name of the Lord is not revealed to me, and Israel I shall not release. 3 And they said, The God of the Judeans has revealed Himself to us; let us now go three days journey into the desert to sacrifice before the Lord our God, otherwise He will come upon us with death or with slaughter.
Date: 100-200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Onkelos changes the words of Pharaoh, 'who is the Lord that I should listen to His voice?' The question is replaced with an affirmative clause because it was regarded as unseemly that Pharaoh should have no knowledge of God or demonstrate contempt for the deity ..."
Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner
Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text
(p. 25) 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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