Texts in Conversation
Exodus 15 calls God a man of war, portrayed with a body who fights in combat. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos changes “man” to “master” and adds the word “victory,” describing God no longer as a warrior but as one who directs the outcomes.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 15:3
Hebrew Bible
2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a man of war10— the Lord is his name. 4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has thrown into the sea, and his chosen officers were drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The depths have covered them; they went down to the bottom like a stone.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Onkelos Exodus 15:3
Targum
2 My strength and my song is the awesome Lord; He has said by His Memra that He will be my Redeemer. This is my God, and I will build Him a sanctuary; the God of my fathers, and I will worship before Him. 3 The Lord is a master of victory in war, the Lord is His Name. 4 He has thrown Pharaoh's chariots and his horses into the sea; his chosen warriors are drowned in the Red Sea.
Date: 50–500 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Bible: 'God is a Man of War.' Our translator and Saadiah avoid the crude and aggressive anthropomorphism. Rashi cites the similar targumic conversion of 'man' to 'master' in Ruth and 1 Kings 2:2. The targumist's addition of 'victory' implies that God is not physically engaged in battle, but influences the outcome ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2006), 89.
* 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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