Texts in Conversation
In Numbers, God tells Moses to take the leaders of Israel and hang them after the people worship Baal Peor. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos has the leaders assemble as a court instead, judging and executing only those who deserve death.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Numbers 25:4
Hebrew Bible
1 When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. 2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal Peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel. 4 The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal Peor.”
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Onkelos Numbers 25:4
Targum
1 But Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to have illicit sexual relations with the daughters of Moab; 2 and they invited the people to the sacrifices of their idols, and the people ate and bowed down to their idols. 3 And Israel was joined to Baal-peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses: Take all the chiefs of the people, and judge, and put to death anyone who deserves death before the Lord, in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel: Each of you shall put to death the men under his authority who have joined themselves to Baal-peor.
Date: 50–500 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... 4. LEAD. Onkelos and Neophyti’s “lead” is a typical respectful rendering of Scripture’s grasping figure of speech “take,” the latter being more appropriate for inanimate objects. Compare 20:25, 22:41, 23:11, 14, 27, and 27:18. JUDGE [THEM], AND KILL THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE KILLED. Scripture’s “take all the heads of the people and hang them up to the Lord” seems to imply that God is outrageously expressing His anger against the leaders of the people, rather than the guilty parties, [...] whose misdeeds were evident to them. Israelites are enjoined to be responsible one for the other (Sifra and the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 27b). ...”
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Numbers: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2009), 235–236.
* 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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