Onkelos

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File:Targum.jpg
Targum from the 11th century

Onkelos (Template:Langx ʾunqəlōs), possibly identical to Aquila of Sinope, was a Roman national who converted to Judaism in Tannaic times (Template:Circa 35–120 CE). He is considered to be the author of the Targum Onkelos (Template:Circa 110 CE).

In the TalmudEdit

Template:Eras of the Halakha Onkelos is mentioned several times in the Talmud. According to the traditional Jewish sources, he was a prominent Roman nobleman, the son of a man named Callinicus (Template:Langx Qəlūnīqūs or קַלִינִיקוּס Qalīnīqūs) and the brother of Titus, the Roman emperor. According to the midrash Tanhuma, he was a nephew of Hadrian, and not Titus.<ref>Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim, 5</ref> These claims have been questioned, as Hadrian's sister, his only sibling, had a daughter,<ref>* Augustan History: Hadrian

</ref> and the only known child of either of Titus' siblings to survive to adulthood was also a girl, later known as Saint Flavia Domitilla.<ref>Albino Garzetti: From Tiberius to the Antonines page 266</ref> This lack of mention of any other sibling, can easily be explained, that due to the conversion, his uncle had him expurgated from the historical record. Whether historical or not, the story goes that his uncle, the emperor, advised Onkelos to go out and find something that wasn't worth much today but would be invaluable in the future. Onkelos found Judaism.

Onkelos' conversion is the subject of a story wherein he first consulted with the spirits of three deceased enemies of Israel to see how Israel fared in the next world.<ref>Gittin 57a</ref> The first was his uncle Titus, who was blamed for the destruction of the Second Temple; the second was the seer Balaam, hired by Balak king of Moab to curse Israel; and the last was Yeshu, a name used for those who sought to lead Jews astray to idolatry, in particular an idolatrous former student of Joshua ben Perachiah in the Hasmonean period as well as Manasseh of Judah. (In later writings Yeshu is used for Jesus, but opinions differ over whether it can be understood this way in the Talmud.) Onkelos is said to have seen all of them subjected to humiliating punishments for harming Israel. However, while Titus and Balaam dissuade him from converting, Yeshu encourages him to join the Jewish people (prompting the Talmud to praise "the sinners of Israel"). The earlier Jerusalem Talmud<ref>Megillah 10b</ref> gives the subject of these stories as Aquilas the proselyte, often understood as being a person other than Onkelos. The difficulty with this theory, however, is that the Jerusalem Talmud says explicitly that he (Aquilas the proselyte) translated the Torah under Eliezer ben Hurcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah. The Babylonian Talmud<ref>Megillah 3a</ref> repeats the same oral tradition, but this time calls him by the name Onkelos the proselyte, which leads one to conclude that the name is a mere variant of Aquila, applied in error to the Aramaic instead of the Greek translation. This view is supported by Epiphanius of Salamis (4th century).<ref>Epiphanius, Treatise on Weights and Measures - Syriac Version (ed. James Elmer Dean), Chicago University Press c1935, pp. 30–31. Click to see online translation of Epiphanius' Treatise on Weights and Measures</ref>

The following story about Aquila's conversion appears in Midrash Rabbah: Template:Quote

After his conversion, the Talmud records a story of how the Roman emperor tried to have Onkelos arrested.<ref>Avodah Zarah 11a</ref> Onkelos cited verses from the Tanakh to the first Roman contubernium, who then converted. The second contubernium was also converted, after he juxtaposed God's personal guidance of Israel in the Book of Numbers to the Roman social hierarchy. A similar tactic was used for the third contubernium, where Onkelos compared his mezuzah to a symbol of God guarding the home of every Jew, in contrast to a Roman king who has his servants guard him. The third contubernium also converted and no more were sent.

The Targum of OnkelosEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} According to tradition, Onkelos authored the Targum Onkelos as an exposition of the "official" interpretation of the peshat (or basic meaning) of the Torah as received by rabbis Eliezer ben Hurcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah.<ref>Megillah 3a</ref> This helped canonise the status of both Onkelos and his Targum in the Jewish tradition.

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