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Onkelos on the Torah Understanding the Bible Text - Numbers

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This is the fourth of five books presenting the Aramaic Targum Onkelos of the Torah, or Pentateuch; previous volumes featured Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, this edition is Numbers, and the last planned volume is on Deuteronomy.

This book is handsome and well-made. It features introductions describing the purpose of the project, the challenges involved in interpreting Numbers, especially featuring the difficulty of the character of Balaam, some of the difficulties in translating words, and an extended discourse on the letter "hay" and how its presence or lack thereof was interpreted.

The actual text features Numbers in Hebrew, the Aramaic text of Targum Onkelos, Rashi's commentary in Hebrew, an English translation of the Aramaic text, and a running commentary in English describing textual difficulties, the various rabbis and their interpretation of the text, and similar matters. The book also features highlights of what is going on in the text and questions designed mostly for Jews in attempting to apply the text and its interpretation to their lives today. The book also contains the haphtarot for the various sections of Numbers, an appendix that features discussions of some of the questions that arise from a study of Numbers along with more expanded commentary on certain verses or difficulties, a glossary of certain terms, and a selected bibliography.

This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in studying Numbers. There is plenty for the scholar to consider and yet the explanations are composed so that most readers can have a good understanding of what is going on. Practically, the book is best suited for observant Jews, but anyone with an interest in the history of interpretation of Numbers will benefit from this book.

My first thought when I saw this book was wow! It's nicely bound, solid, but also a very attractive book with gold lettering and raised designs on the binding. The layout is more or less traditional, with the Beyond the Text and Onkelos Highlights segments layered in intuitively. The font is crisp and black and beautifully legible. The diacritical marks are distinct, and will be appreciated by anyone who wishes to study for extended periods of time.

I have had only a few weeks to familiarize myself with the book, but in the interests of time, I will make a few preliminary comments.

The footnotes are detailed and scholarly, and focus largely on linguistics and history. Where there are multiple meanings, they are discussed in a very straightforward and direct way, making this a valuable book for language students.

The Beyond the Text portions of the book draw the reader in with open-ended questions suitable for both scholars and laymen. It could easily be packaged separately as a series of stand-alone Bible studies for a more informal setting.

Although the intended audience is very clearly Jewish, the book would also fit into Christian settings and serve as a fine introduction to the Jewish tradition of discussion and debate, which may be entirely foreign to certain denominations.

From the outset I had to rethink my way of reading, and studying this book. I come from somewhat of a christian monastic/metaphysical background and being able to read this volume was a pure delight. I am always interested in the 'background' of why a book was written, where did it come from, what does it have to offer me, as a seeker?

From the outset this book might seem to be more for the Rabbinical student, but the publishers have done a wonderful job and have put a lot of thought into the marketing for both the Rabbinical student and the Christian layperson interested in delving a bit deeper into the study of the Old Testament. This is certainly not light reading for the weekend student, in fact this historic translation seems to be more exegesis than just an ordinary translation. But from a purely western perspective one has to get used to the layout of the volume and the reading style, first and foremost, i.e. back to front and right to left., but trust me,although I place this book on a very steep learning curve if one has not read the previous volumes published, the effort is well worth it. What the publishers have done is nothing more than a remarkable job of making this book accessible to more than just scholars.

Onkelos was the legendary writer who translated the Hebrew bible into Aramaic, similar to that spoken by the population of the land of Isreal more than 2000 years ago. I find it a truly remarkable translation, in that it is so readable, and it flows with such beauty and warmth...which is quite humerous from a christian bible study perspective, because Numbers is anything but 'warm' in the western bible study eye!

I like the historical perspective of using Onkelos' translation because I found out in previous research that the sages of long ago mandated the weekly reading of Onkelos, it was a given that his trnaslation was the one to be utilized.

I am a true lover of a well made book, and when this one arrived I was so filled with wonderment and satisfaction for the quality of this book. The leather binding, the individually stitched signatures, the sheer quality was amazing, the reverse embossing on the cover will insure that this book, and it's other volumes in the series will be a proud addition to anyones shelves for years to come.

What I liked about this Gefen edition is that it is clearly printed, it's notations, while taking some getting used to in it's non-standard western style, is plain and yet precise in Hebrew and English. I found it extremely easy to look for a particular reference and could go right to it. What I enjoyed most about this book though is it's layout. As I said before, I am not a Rabbinical student, or even well versed in Aramaic, but the layout simplifies the reading of all three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and English with such ease. On the upper right hand of the page is the vocalized Hebrew text which is printed across the entire width of the page. Below is the biblical text is another vocalized text of the commentary. On the left hand is the vocalized text of Onkelos. It might sound rather confusing at first to the western reader, but a few moments understanding the layout brings things into comeplete and utter clarity, at least it did for me. In discussing this volume with some friends who attend temple, one of them mentioned that this volume also contains the haphtorot associated with each chapter, thereby making this book (and I assume the other volumes already printed) ideal for use in synagogue on Shabbat.

I have been so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to preview this 4th of the 5 volume set, I now find myself in a quandry of thinking that I would certainly enjoy going back for the previous three volumes and will be eagerly awating the publication of the fifth and final one of the series. So far Genesis, Exodus andLeviticus have been published, with Numbers being the latest. I eagerly await the last in the series of such a informative, and well translated book, which is worth reading in it's own right, and will hold it's place of primacy on many a shelf of the serious Rabbinacal student, aged scholar or questioning westener such as myself.

Although this is definitely not for the faint hearted I found this to be a rather tough commentary on the Book of Numbers, punches are not pulled, and platitudes are not for making one feel that everything is just fine, but it is a wonderful read for those , who like myself, lack the expertise of having a Talmudic scholar on hand to answer the questions that inevitably arise when studying the Old Testament.

I am using this book in conjunction with other books which is a must. I don't know if this is the first book that a person should be looking at when reading the Chumush. I am studying something very specific and so I am very much enjoying the book and also the other books that are in the series. So, make sure you have taken enough classes from actual teachers where the deeper meaning of the text is explained to you. Once you're experienced enough and have a good knowledge of Hebrew is when you'll want to have this book. Otherwise you'll only gain superficial knowledge. In other words I have authentic teacher's lectures and other books that are in my head while going through this book and I think this is truly necessary. If you are experienced enough with the Chumush (you've gone through Me'am Loez, have an Interlinear translation nearby and also another competing Onkelos translation (Siftei Chachamim) then I would march forward. I really really appreciate having this book around.

Onkelos on the Torah: Numbers by Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner is a well researched and produced book that was translated into English with a faithful sense of integrity. Onkelos was a convert to Judaism and wrote the Targun Onkelos that is a translation of the Torah into Aramaic. It is generally accepted that Onkelos completed this translation around 400 C.E. The work was of such scholarly quality that even when first made available the Jewish community accepted this translation as authoritative. The authors and publishers of this series of books have done the English reading world a great service.

This volume is the fourth of the five books of the series which include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, this volume, Numbers and next to be published Deuteronomy; the Pentateuch. What makes this book so valuable is that it includes the Sefur Bemidbar in Hebrew, the Aramaic Text of the original work of Targum Onkelos and its English translation, and Rashi's text in vowelized Hebrew. The authors have done an excellent job with this English translation. We also find the corresponding Readings from the Prophets, the Haphtarot, for this book included in both the original Aramaic and their translation into English from the Aramaic Targumin.

Along with the work the authors contributed with the English translation of Targum Onkelos, they begin the book with an introductory essay on the Book of Numbers and the difficulties involved in the original translation from the Hebrew to Aramaic that Onkelos faced. Throughout the book we find a wealth of commentaries in English on the text from various sources. As well as study aids titled Onkelos Highlights and Beyond the Text segments that explore our topic more deeply and are defiantly written to provoke thought and debate.

There is no question in my mind that this series is a superb study aid and useful resource for anyone who wishes to study the literal meaning of Book of Numbers. The only note I must make is that there are many instances that the authors refer the reader to other volumes for a complete understanding to certain subjects or linguistic elements discussed. So this requires access to the other books in the series. Though with the quality of the work any student of the Bible Text will want the entire series.