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LET’S STUDY ONKELOS A Guide for Rabbis, Teachers and Torah Students to Study and Teach the Parashat Hashavua through the Eyes of its Most Important Translator By Stanley M. Wagner and Israel Drazin Based on the five volume, Onkelos on the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), Understanding the Bible Text, by Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, published by Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem/New York, 2006-2010. STUDY GUIDE VAYECHEE (CHAPTER 47:28–50:26) SUMMARY OF THE TORAH PORTION Jacob is about to die and Joseph promises him that he will be buried in Hebron and not in Egypt; Joseph takes his two sons to Jacob to be blessed; Jacob gives a favored blessing to Ephraim, Joseph’s second-born; Jacob assembles his sons and blesses each one separately; Jacob dies and Pharaoh grants Joseph permission to bury him in Canaan; Joseph dies and is buried in Egypt. ONKELOS REFERS TO THE MESSIAH, OR DOES IT? The book of Genesis ends with one of the most difficult chapters in the Pentateuch. Our commentary on 49:1, “JACOB” (page 333),1 describes its complexity: JACOB. Genesis 49, like Exodus 15, Numbers 23 and 24, and Deuteronomy 32 and 33, is a poetic narrative filled with ambiguous and obscure metaphors. In the twenty-five passages of Jacob’s testament to his children (49:3–27), we find many unusual and difficult terms, and words that are omitted in order to heighten poetic sounds. There are passages that present difficulties in determining whether Jacob is speaking of the past, present, or future, and whether he is referring to his children or their descendants. The Onkelos Targum paraphrases almost every phrase of twenty-three of the twenty-five passages. While it is clear that the paraphrase is attempting to 1 All page numbers refer to the Onkelos on the Torah volume. 1 explain the text, it frequently fails and the translation remains obscure. The Targum uncharacteristically and purposely renders some verses contrary to their plain meaning. Frequently and inexplicably, the Targum all too often offers more than one interpretation of a single phrase. The irregular character of this chapter’s translation is most probably the result of the efforts of scribes rewriting the ancient targumist’s work by inserting alien duplicative material. One example of the inscrutability and intricacy of the many passages that beg for understanding in this chapter is 49:10 (pages 336 and 337), which contains the only reference in the Targum to a Messiah. The verse is apparently, but by no means certainly, addressing the future of the Judean dynasty begun by King David. The Hebrew reads, “A staff will not depart from Judah, or the ruler’s staff from between his legs, until he comes to Shiloh; and the nations will obey him.” The following commentary shows the views of some commentators other than Onkelos on Scripture’s “Shiloh.” UNTIL THE MESSIAH COMES. Scripture’s “until he comes to Shiloh,” which could also mean “until Shiloh comes,” is one of the most captivating and obscure passages of the Bible. There have been a multitude of suggested interpretations, and many scholars have offered ways of emending the text in order to clarify it. Rashbam views the verse’s initial two phrases as a description of David and his son Solomon, who would reign over all twelve Israelite tribes—until Solomon’s son traveled to Shiloh, which was close to Shechem, in an attempt to retain the solidity of his sovereignty after his father’s death. But ten tribes seceded from serving him, and set Jeroboam as their king. Hence, according to Rashbam, the next phrase refers to Jeroboam, whom “the nations will obey.” Chazkunee agrees with Rashbam that the section of the verse discussed here refers to Solomon’s son and that Shiloh was the site where the Davidic kingdom was split, but offers that Shiloh could also refer to the prophet Ahijah who came from Shiloh and tore Solomon’s son’s garment into twelve pieces to foretell the split in the Davidic kingdom (I Kings 11:30–31). The commentary continues with the view of Onkelos and others on “Shiloh.” Although there is no explicit mention in the Pentateuch of a Messiah, Onkelos, Genesis Rabbah, the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b), the other Targums, other Midrashim, and other commentators such as Saadiah, Rashi, Nachmanides, and Radak, treat the final (Hebrew) letter “hay” of the word “Shiloh” as if it were a “vav.” As such they translate the word as “his,” and consider the pronoun a reference to the Messiah. Ibn Ezra notes that some commentators also interpret Shiloh as if the letters “yud” and “hay” were reversed, yielding “draw out”; others read it as “shelil,” “embryo”; and still others take it as a simple reference to the city of Shiloh to which Jacob is referring as the location of the Tabernacle until the onset of David’s reign. Rashi adds that we can read “Shiloh” as two words meaning “tribute to him.” The fact that this prophecy of the everlasting reign of David’s family was not fulfilled should not be regarded as problematic, since, as the Tosaphists wrote, “The prophets did not prophesy what will be, but, rather, what should be.” 2 In the commentary that immediately follows, we find the suggestion that Onkelos’ reference to the Messiah may actually be a scribal insert. FOR THE KINGDOM IS HIS. This is added as part of the Targum’s explanation of “Shiloh” (see prior commentary). However, it is probable that this addition is the Onkelos targumist’s only interpretation, while the wording “until the Messiah comes” is a late interpolation of a pious but inexact copyist. To add to the discussion, we cite the views of two additional commentators in our appendix (page 465): Bechor Schor interprets 49:10 as Jacob’s prophecy of when the Davidic line of kings will begin. The verb “yavo,” in “ad kee yavo Shiloh,” means “destroyed,” as in Isaiah 60:20, and means that a member of the tribe of Judah would not become king over the Israelites until the Tabernacle that was situated in the city of Shiloh was destroyed–a prediction that was fulfilled. Bechor Schor maintains that verse 18 is stating that as long as God protects the tribe of Judah, Judah will protect the rest of the Israelites. Ibn Kaspi interprets verse 10 as a prediction concerning the end of the Davidic rule. The term “shiloh” means “error,” as in II Samuel 6:7; the verb “yavo” means “occur”; and “ad,” “until,” denotes when the promise will cease. Thus, Jacob is promising that there will be Davidic kings until (“ad”) there occurs (“yavo”) an error (“shiloh”). This error happened during the reign of King Zedekiah, the last king of David’s line, who foolishly rebelled against Babylon. The Babylonians smote the Judeans, destroyed the Temple, and “Judah was carried away captive out of his land” (II Kings 25:21). Jacob, ibn Kaspi continues, is not predicting the destruction of the Second Temple, since there were no Davidic kings during the Second Temple period. In summary, 49:10 is obscure and there have been many radically different interpretations of what it intends to say. Onkelos has two interpretations of Scripture’s “Shiloh”; an unusual occurrence, since our targumist generally offers only a single view. The Targum reads the verse to say that the tribe of Judah will produce a ruler—“for the kingdom is his” to rule over the nation of Israel. This interpretation does not suggest that the ruler will be anything other than a normal king. However, the Onkelos text in our hands today also renders “Shiloh” as “until the Messiah comes.” We suggest that the reference to the Messiah was not in the original translation composed by our targumist. He does not generally offer two interpretations of a word or passage and does not offer theological interpretations such as the advent of a Messiah. The idea of the Messiah was added by an overzealous copyist who felt that this was the Torah’s intent and that he had an obligation to make this clear to fellow Jews. 3 ADDITIONAL DISCUSSIONS ON ONKELOS We know that our targumist eschews theological notions in his translation. Could this be an exception because the anticipated “coming of the Messiah” was a hope strongly entrenched in the hearts of persecuted Jews during the age when he lived? Could it also be that he wanted to emphasize that the Messiah had not yet come, for the belief that he had arrived was maintained by Christians and he didn’t want his fellow religionists to be misled? Or, are we correct that the inclusion of the phrase “until the Messiah comes” is an insert by a later copyist? After all, the concept of a miraculous arrival of a “Messiah” is not explicit anywhere in the Torah. There is one other reference to meshicha in Targum Onkelos, an Aramaic word that can be translated as “Messiah” or as “anointed one.” The term “Messiah” has a somewhat supernatural connotation, while “anointed one” can simply mean a priest or king, both of whom were anointed with oil when they assumed their positions. The word is in Numbers 24:17. Scripture reads “a scepter will stand from Israel.” Onkelos has “an anointed one will be anointed.” We explain in our commentary, “AN ANOINTED ONE WILL BE ANOINTED”: Our translator understands the metaphor “scepter,” as he did “star,” to refer to a “king,” but since he already used the noun “king” in the prior phrase, he inserted the synonym “an anointed one,” which refers to kings who were anointed upon taking office.

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