Q&A: Onkelos’s Translation of the Word “Around”
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Onkelos’s Translation of the Word “Around”
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Why does Onkelos translate the word “around” as “all around” and not just once as “around”? This is something that repeats itself many times.
Answer
“All around” is an expression for going around many times. That is also true in modern Hebrew. I’m not familiar with the term “around” standing by itself. I wouldn’t build any homiletic idea on this. Even regarding the wording of the Torah, we have a tradition that the Torah speaks in human language, and some things were written for rhetorical elegance.