THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS

ON THE

SEPHER ELLEH HADDEBARIM

OR

BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

SECTION OF THE TORAH XLIV

TITLE DEBARIM

I. THESE are the words which Mosheh spake with all Israel beyond the Jordan, reproving them because they had sinned in the wilderness, and had provoked (the Lord) to anger on the plains over against the Sea of Suph, in Pharan, where they scorned the manna; and in Hazeroth, where they provoked to anger on account of flesh, and because they had made the golden calf.

It is a journey of eleven days from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Rekem Giah.

And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, in the first day of the month, Mosheh spake with the sons of Israel according to all that the Lord had commanded him for them. After he had slain Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og, king of Mathnan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrehi; on this side Jordan in the land of Moab began Mosheh to explain the doctrine of this law, saying:

The Lord our God spake with us at Horeb, saying : It is sufficient for you to have dwelt at this mountain: turn, and proceed, and go unto the mountain of the Amoraah, and to all its habitable places in the plains, the mountain, the valleys, and in the south, and by the side of the sea; the land of the Kenaanah and Lebanon, unto the river, the great river Phrat; behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord covenanted to your fathers, to Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob; to give it to them, and to your children after them.

And I spake to you at that time, saying: I am not able to bear you myself alone. The Lord your God hath multiplied you; and, behold, you are this day as the stars of the heavens for multitude. The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you, as He hath said to you! How can I bear alone your labour, your business, and your adjudgments? Provide (then) for yourselves prudent and sagacious men of your tribes, and I will appoint them to be chiefs over you. And you answered me, and said: The thing that thou hast spoken it is right that we should do.

And I took the heads of your tribes, wise men and masters of knowledge, and appointed them chiefs over you, captains of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and officers of your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying: Hear between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and his brother, or the sojourner. You shall not have respect to persons in the judgment; you shall hear little words (matters) as well as great; nor be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is of the Lord; and the matter that is too hard for you bring to me, and I will hear it; and commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

And we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and fearful desert which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amoraah, as the Lord our God commanded us, and we came unto Rekem Giah. And I the said: You are come to the mountain of the Amoraah, which the Lord our God will give to us. See, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: arise, possess (it), as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath bid thee; fear not, nor be broken. And all of you came to me and said: We will send men before us, to explore the land for us, and bring us word about the way to go up to it, and to what cities we shall come. And the thing was good in my eyes, and I took from you twelve men, one man for a tribe. And they turned and went up to the mountain, and came to the brook of Ethkela, and explored it. And they took in their hands some of the produce of the land and brought to us, and returned us word, saying: The land which the Lord will give us is good. But you were not willing to go up, but were rebellious against the Word of the Lord your God, and murmured in your tents, and said: Because the Lord hath hated us, He hath brought us from the land of Mizraim to deliver us into the hand of the Amoraah to destroy us. To what shall we go up? Our brethren have broken our heart, saying: The people are greater and stronger than we; vast are the cities, and walled to the height of heaven, and we saw there also the sons of the giants. But I said to you: Be not broken (hearted), fear them not; the Word of the Lord, who leadeth on before you, will fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Mizraim in your sight; and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen that the Lord thy God carrieth thee, as a man carrieth his child, in all the way you have journeyed until your coming to this place. But in this thing you did not believe in the Word of the Lord your God, who led on before you in the way to prepare for you (each) place of encampment for your sojournings, in the pillar of fire by night to show you in which way to go, and in the pillar of the cloud by day. But the voice of your words was heard before the Lord, and He was angry, and made oath, saying: If a man of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I sware to your fathers, save Kaleb bar Jephunneh. He shall see it, and I will give to him the land on which he hath trodden, and unto his children, because he hath been upright in the fear of the Lord. Also against me was there displeasure before the Lord on your account, (He) saying: Thou too art not to go in thither; Jehoshua bar Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither; strengthen him, for he is to make Israel to inherit; but your little ones, who you said would be for prey, your children, who today know not good and evil, they shall enter therein, to them will I give it, and they shall possess it; but you, turn you, and go into the wilderness by the Weedy Sea.

Then you answered, and said: We have sinned before the Lord; we will go up and wage war according to all that the Lord our God commanded; and you girded on every man his weapons of war, and began to go up to the mountain. But the Lord said to me: Tell them, You shall not go up, neither wage war; for My Shekinah is not among you, lest you be crushed before your enemies. And I told you, but you hearkened not, but rebelled against the Word of the Lord, and dared, and went up to the mountain; but the Amoraah who dwelt in that mountain came out against you, and pursued you as bees are dispersed, and smote you in Seir unto Hormah. And you returned, and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not receive your prayer, nor hearken to your words; and you dwelt in Rekem many days, according to the days that you abode.

II. And we turned, and journeyed to the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Suph, as the Lord had told us; and we encompassed the mountain of Seir many days. And the Lord spake to me, saying: You have been about this mountain enough for you: turn you northward; and command the people, saying: You are going through the coasts of your brethren, the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Take great heed, quarrel not with them; for I will not give you of their land, not so much as you may tread upon with the sole of the foot; for the inheritance of Mount Seir I have given to Esau. You shall buy provision of them with silver, that you may eat; and water, with silver, that you may drink; for the Lord thy God bath blessed thee in all the works of thy hands; He bath given thee sufficient for thy need in thy going about in this great wilderness; these forty years the Word of the Lord thy God hath been thy helper, thou hast not wanted any thing. And we passed by from our brethren, the sons of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, by the way of the plain from Elath, and from Ezion Geber; and turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

And the Lord said to me, Distress not the Moabaee, nor stir thyself to make war with them; for I will not give thee any of their land to inherit, for I have given Lechiath unto the children of Lot for an inheritance. The Emethanee in old times dwelt in it; a people great and many, and strong as the giants. They were reputed as giants, and like giants also they were; but the Moabites called them Emethanee.And in Seir dwelt the Horaee in former times; but the sons of Esau drave them out, and destroyed them, and dwelt in their places, as Israel did in the land of his inheritance which the Lord gave to them.

Now arise, (said I,) and go over the stream of Zared. And we passed over the stream of Zared. And the days in which we were journeying from Rekem Giah until we crossed the stream of Zared were thirty and eight years, till all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. For the plague stroke from before the Lord was upon them to destroy them from among the host till they were consumed.

When all the men of war had been consumed, and had died away from among the people, the Lord spake with me, saying: Thou art today to pass by Lechaiath, the frontier of Moab. But when thou comest nigh over against the Beni Ammon, be not troublesome to them, nor provoke thyself to make war with them; for I have not given to thee of the land of the Beni Ammon any inheritance; for I have given it to the children of Lot to inherit. That also was reputed a land of giants; in old times giants did dwell in it, and the Ammonites called them Hashbanee; a people great and many, and strong as giants, but the Lord destroyed them before them) and cast them out, and they dwelt in their places.

As did the sons of Esau who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horaee from before them, and drave them out, and they have dwelt in their places unto this day. And the Avaee, who dwelt in Pheziach unto Hazah destroyed the Kaphutkaee, who came out of Kaphutkaia, and dwelt in their place.

Arise, remove, and pass over the river of Arnon: behold, I have delivered into thy hand Sihon, king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land; begin to cast him out, and rouse thyself to make battle with him. This day will I begin to put dread of thee and fear of thee upon the face of the peoples which are under the whole heavens, who shall hear thy fame, and be broken before thee.

And I sent ambassadors from the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, May I pass through thy land by the way? I will go by the way, nor turn to the right or the left: thou shalt sell me provision for silver, and I will eat; and give me water for silver, and I will drink; I will only go through on my feet: as the Beni Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabaee who dwell in Lechaiath, did to me, until I pass over Jordan to the land which the Lord our God shall give to us. But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to permit us to pass through his coasts; for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and strengthened his heart, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as at this day. And the Lord said to me, See, I have begun to deliver to thee Sihon and his country; begin thou to drive him out, that thou mayest inherit his land. And Sihon came forth to meet us, he and all his people, to give battle at Jahaz; and the Word of the Lord our God delivered him up before us, and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we subdued all his cities at that time, and consumed all the towns, and the men, women, and children, and left none to escape. Only the cattle was a booty to us, and the spoil of the cities which we subdued. From Aroer which is upon the bank of the river of Arnon, and the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was no city too strong for us; for the Lord our God delivered all before us. Only to the land of the Beni Ammon thou didst not come near, nor to all the side of the river Jubeka, nor the cities of the mountain, nor to any of which the Lord our God had commanded us.

III. And we turned, and went up the way of Mathnan; and Og king of Mathnan came out to meet us, he and all his people, to give battle at Edrehi. And the Lord said to me, Fear him not; for I have delivered him into thy hand, with all his people and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou hast done to Sihon king of the Amoraah, who dwelt at Heshbon. And the Lord our God delivered Og the king of Mathnan into our hand with all his people, and we smote him until not a remnant of him escaped. And we subdued all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, sixty cities, all the region of the territory of the kingdom of Og in Mathnan. All those strong cities were fortified with gates and bars, beside unwalled towns very many. But we consumed them as we did Sihon king of Heshbon: we destroyed in all the cities the men, women, and children; but all the cattle and the spoil of the cities were a prey to us. And we took at that time from the hand of the two kings of the Amoraah, the country on this side of Jordana, from the river of Arnon unto the mountain of Hermon. The Zidonaee call Hermon Sirion, but the Amoraee call it the Mount of Snow: All the cities of the plain, all Gilead, and all Mathnan, unto Salka and Edrehi, cities of the kingdom of Og in Mathnan. For only Og king of Mathnan remained of the remnant of the giants. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron: is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon, nine cubits its length, and four cubits its breadth, in the cubit of the king? And their land (which) we took into possession at that time, from Aroer, upon the river Arnon, and half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, I have given to the tribe of Reuben, and to the tribe of Gad. And the rest of Gilead, and all Mathnan, the kingdom of Og, I have given to the half tribe of Menasheh; all the surrounding country, even all Mathnan, which was called the Land of the Giants. Jaer bar Menasheh took all the territory of Terakona, unto the border of Geshurah and Aphkiros, and called it after his name, Mathnan Kapharne-Jair, unto this day. And to Machir I have given Gilead. And to the tribe of Reuben, and of Gad, I have given from Gilead unto the river of Arnon (to) the middle of the river and its bound, unto the river Jubeka, which is the border of the children of Ammon. And the plain, and the Jordan, and the border thereof, from Genezar unto the Sea of the Plain, the Sea of Salt, under the declivity of the height, eastward. And I instructed you at that time, saying: The Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it; you shall pass over armed before your brethren the sons of Israel, all armed for the host. Only your wives, and little ones, and your cattle, for I know that you have much cattle, shall abide in your cities which I have given you, until the Lord hath given rest to your brethren as well as to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God hath given to them on the other side of Jordana: and you shall return every man to his inheritance which I have given you. And I charged Jehoshua at that time, saying: Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings; so shall the Lord do to all the kingdoms to which thou art going over. Fear them not, for the Word of the Lord your God will fight for you.