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Onkelos Leviticus

About this book

Forbidden Relations and Practices

Chapter 18

1 And the Lord spoke with Moses, saying: 2 Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: I am the Lord your God: 3 You shall not act like the people of the land of Egypt, where you lived, or follow the practices of the people of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; neither shall you follow their laws. 4 You shall carry out My judgments and observe My statutes by following them; I am the Lord your God. 5 And you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man who does them shall live an everlasting life.⁠ I am the Lord. 6 No man shall approach any close relative to uncover the nakedness; I am the Lord. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father or your mother. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife, it is your father's nakedness. 9 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or your mother, whether born to your father by another wife or to your mother by another husband. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter; for they are your nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father; she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister: she is related to your father. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister; for she is related to your mother. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother; you shall not approach his wife; she is the wife of your father's brother. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; you shall not take the daughter of her son nor the daughter of her daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are closely related, it is a wicked scheme. 18 And you shall not take a woman together with her sister to cause her distress by uncovering her sister's nakedness during her lifetime. 19 And you shall not approach a woman during her separation for uncleanness to uncover her nakedness. 20 Nor shall you have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife to defile yourself with her. 21 And you shall give none of your children to be transferred to Molek,⁠ neither shall you profane the Name of the Lord your God: I am the Lord. 22 And you shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abhorrent thing. 23 Nor shall you lie with any animal to defile yourself with it; neither shall a woman stand before a beast to allow it to have power over her; it is confusion. 24 You shall not pollute yourselves with any of these; for the peoples whom I am about to drive away from before you have defiled themselves with all these practices. 25 And the land itself is contaminated; and I will punish its guilt, and the land shall empty out the inhabitants. 26 But you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, and commit none of these abominations, neither the native born nor the proselytes who live among you; 27 for all these abominations have been done by the men of the land who have been before you, and the land has been polluted; 28 so that the land does not empty you out when you defile it; as it will have cast out the people who were before you. 29 For whoever commits any of these abominations, the souls that do them shall be destroyed from among their people. 30 And you shall observe the command of My Memra, that you do not follow the abominable customs⁠ which have been done before you, nor be corrupted by them. I am the Lord your God.

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 18:30 and Onkelos Leviticus 18:30

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

In Leviticus 18, the Targum introduces Memra where the Hebrew speaks of God’s personal command, likely to avoid implying that God physically holds his statutes. This reflects a willingness to modify the text to accommodate a theological interpretation.

Passages

Leviticus 18:30

Hebrew Bible
28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nations that were before you. 29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, that person who does them will be cut off from the midst of the people. 30 You must obey my charge not to practice any of the abominable statutes that have been done before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Onkelos Leviticus 18:30

Targum
28 so that the land does not empty you out when you defile it; as it will have cast out the people who were before you. 29 For whoever commits any of these abominations, the souls that do them shall be destroyed from among their people. 30 And you shall observe the command of My Memra, that you do not follow the abominable customs which have been done before you, nor be corrupted by them. I am the Lord your God.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Leviticus

References

"... The Targum introduced memra here to avoid the anthropomorphic portrayal of God holding or guarding His statutes (“My charge”) ... Our translator could have more simply substituted memra for “charge” and written, “Observe My memra.” This would have made the verse clearer. However, he preferred to retain the biblical words if at all possible and added memra for the above-stated reason ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Leviticus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2008), 145.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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