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- “Into the Ark Together”: Order, Gender, and Cause in the LXX Rendering of Noah’s Entry
- Burning Beneath the Pot: Simile Syntax and Semantic Force in Ecclesiastes 7:6
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- Guarded by Grammar: Purpose Clauses and Verbal Suffixes in Proverbs 7:5
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Author Archives: Aramaic Grammar
Syntax of Judgment: Divine Legal Language in Genesis 6:13 (Onkelos)
וַאֲמַר יְיָ לְנֹחַ קִצָּא דְכָל בִּשְׂרָא עַלַּת לִקֳדָמַי אֲרֵי אִתְמְלִיאַת אַרְעָא חֲטוֹפִין מִן קֳדָם עוֹבָדֵיהוֹן בִּישַׁיָּא וְהָא אֲנָא מְחַבֶּלְהוֹן עִם אַרְעָא:
And YHWH said to Noaḥ, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with plunder from before them because of their evil deeds, and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.”
Poetic Reflection: When Grammar Bears Witness
The world is not judged with thunder, but with syntax. In Targum Onkelos, YHWH’s speech to Noaḥ is a juridical declaration — not merely emotional or punitive, but constructed with linguistic precision.… Learn Hebrew
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Erasure by Divine Speech: Volition, Object Marking, and Decreation in Genesis 6:7
וַאֲמַר יְיָ אֶמְחֵי יָת אֲנָשָׁא דִּי בְרֵאתִי מֵעַל אַפֵּי אַרְעָא מֵאֱנָשָׁא עַד בְּעִירָא עַד רִיחֲשָׁא וְעַד עוֹפָא דִּשְׁמַיָּא אֲרֵי תָבִית בְּמֵימְרִי אֲרֵי עֲבַדְתִּנוּן:
(Genesis 6:7)
And YHWH said, “I will wipe out mankind whom I created from the face of the earth, from man to beast, to creeping thing and to the bird of the heavens—for I have repented by My word that I made them.”
Scroll Marginalia: A Commentary of Undoing
In a single decree, existence recoils. The language of Targum Onkelos captures this moment not only with legal exactness but with a grammar of divine reversal.… Learn Hebrew
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On the Heart and from the Mouth: Command Syntax in Targum Onkelos on Deuteronomy 6:6
וִיהוֹן פִּתְגָּמַיָּא הָאִלֵּין דִּי אֲנָא מְפַקְּדָךְ יוֹמָא דֵין עַל לִבָּךְ
And these words which I am commanding you today shall be upon your heart.
Why This Verse?
This pivotal line from Targum Onkelos on Deuteronomy 6:6, part of the daily Shema, showcases:
Emphatic demonstrative construction: פִּתְגָּמַיָּא הָאִלֵּין
Paʿel verb with object suffix: מְפַקְּדָךְ
Temporal immediacy: יוֹמָא דֵין
Internalization: עַל לִבָּךְ
Targum Onkelos is generally more literal than Targum Jonathan, and this verse is a prime example of its restrained yet precise interpretive style.… Learn Hebrew
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Sevens and Sacrifice: Numerals, Imperatives, and Construct Syntax in Targum Onkelos on Numbers 23:1
וַאֲמַר בִּלְעָם לְבָלָק בְּנֵה לִי הָכָא שַׁבְעָא מַדְבְּחִין וְאַתְקֵן לִי הָכָא שַׁבְעָא תוֹרִין וְשַׁבְעָא דִכְרִין
And Bilʿam said to Balaq, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
Why This Verse?
This verse illustrates multiple grammatical domains in action:
Use of Peal vs. Aphel imperatives (בְּנֵה vs. אַתְקֵן)
Definite numeral constructions with plural nouns (שַׁבְעָא מַדְבְּחִין)
Construct phrase syntax (שַׁבְעָא דִכְרִין)
It also reveals the ritual-literary tone of Targum Onkelos, maintaining closeness to the Hebrew while embedding subtle Aramaic flavor.… Learn Hebrew
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The Grammar of Perfection: Divine Integrity in Deuteronomy 32:4 (Onkelos)
תַּקִּיפָא דְּשָׁלְמִין עוֹבָדוֹהִי אֲרֵי כָּל ארְחָתֵיהּ דִּינָא אֱלָהָא מְהֵימְנָא דְּמִן קֳדָמוֹהִי עַוְלָה לָא נָפֵק דְּמִן קֳדָם זַכַּי וְקַשִּׁיט הוּא:
Mighty is He, whose works are complete—for all His ways are justice; a faithful God, from before whom no injustice proceeds, from before whom [comes only] innocence and uprightness.
Inner Monologue of the Text Itself
“I am the stone,” the verse declares silently. Not merely metaphor—תקיפא, unbreakable, immovable. I speak of One whose justice needs no correction, whose every action fits the blueprint of perfect righteousness.… Learn Hebrew
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“Let Him Be Killed Now!”: Direct Object Chains and Deictic Emphasis in Targum Jonathan on Jeremiah 38:4
וַאֲמַרוּ רַבְרְבַיָא לְמַלְכָּא יִתְקְטֵיל כְּעַן גַבְרָא הָדֵין אֲרֵי עַל כֵּן הוּא מְרַשֵׁל יַת יְדֵי גַבְרֵי עָבְדֵי קְרָבָא דְאִשְׁתָּאֲרוּ בְּקַרְתָּא הָדָא וְיַת יְדֵי כָל עַמָא לְמֵלָלָא עִמְהוֹן כְּפִתְגָמַיָא הָאִלֵין אֲרֵי גַבְרָא הָדֵין לֵיתוֹהִי תָּבַע לִשְׁלָמָא לְעַמָא הָדֵין אֱלָהֵן לְבִישׁוּ:
And the nobles said to the king, “Let this man now be killed, for because of this he is weakening the hands of the men, the warriors who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking with them according to these words.… Learn Hebrew
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“Before Me”: Pronominal Prepositions and Divine Proximity in Targum Onkelos
בְּעִדָּנָא הַהִיא אֲמַר יְיָ לִי פְּסַל לָךְ תְּרֵין לוּחֵי אַבְנַיָּא כְּקַדְמָאֵי וְסַק לָקֳדָמַי לְטוּרָא וְתַעְבֵּד לָךְ אֲרוֹנָא דְאָעָא
(Deuteronomy 10:1)
At that time the LORD said to me, “Carve for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones and go up before Me to the mountain, and make for yourself an ark of wood.”
Why This Verse?
This verse from Targum Onkelos contains a rich variety of morphological and syntactic constructions, but our focus will be on the phrase לָקֳדָמַי — a superb illustration of compound prepositions with attached pronominal suffixes in literary Jewish Aramaic.… Learn Hebrew
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One Night, Two Dreams: The Syntax of Paired Constructs in Targum Onkelos
וַחֲלָמוּ חֶלְמָא תַּרְוֵיהוֹן גְּבַר חֶלְמֵיהּ בְּלֵילְיָא חַד גְּבַר כְּפוּשְׁרַן חֶלְמֵיהּ שָׁקְיָא וְנַחְתּוֹמָא דִּי לְמַלְכָּא דְמִצְרַיִם דִּי אֲסִירִין בְּבֵית אֲסִירֵי:
(Genesis 40:5)
And they dreamed a dream, the two of them—each man his dream in one night—each man, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Mitsrayim, who were confined in the house of imprisonment.
Whispers Behind Bars: A Narrative Opening
In the depths of a prison cell in Mitsrayim, two officials of the king—each tarnished by suspicion—share not only confinement, but something stranger: a dream.… Learn Hebrew
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Scroll Marginalia: When Moshe Calls Grammar to Order (Onkelos on Deuteronomy 5:1)
וּקְרָא משֶׁה לְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל וַאֲמַר לְהוֹן שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יָת קְיָמַיָּא וְיָת דִּינַיָּא דִּי אֲנָא מְמַלֵּל קֳדָמֵיכוֹן יוֹמָא דֵין וְתַלְּפוּן יָתְהוֹן וְתִטְּרוּן לְמֶעְבָּדְהוֹן:
And Moshe called to all Yisraʾel and said to them, “Hear, O Yisraʾel, the statutes and the judgments that I am speaking before you today, and you shall learn them and keep them to perform them.”
Margins of Authority: The Verse at a Glance
This verse marks a turning point—the reintroduction of the Ten Words—but the Targum does not simply restate the moment.… Learn Hebrew
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She Spoke and He Was Named: Constructing Divine Reward in Genesis 30:18
וַאֲמֶרֶת לֵאָה יְהַב יְיָ אַגְרִי דִּיהָבִית אַמְתִי לְבַעְלִי וּקְרַת שְׁמֵיהּ יִשָּׂשׂכָר:
(Genesis 30:18)
And Leʾah said, “YHWH has given my reward, because I gave my maidservant to my husband,” and she called his name Yissakhar.
The Voice of Leʾah: A Dramatic Monologue
“Yehav YHWH agri”—the words burst forth from Leʾah’s lips, not with self-pity but divine arithmetic. Her grammar is theology, her syntax is sacrifice. In this verse, Targum Onkelos preserves not only the content of the Hebrew but its rhetorical sequence and relational logic, steeped in reward, agency, and naming.… Learn Hebrew
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