“Finish, Complete, and Destroy”: Biblical Hebrew Killah in Targum Onqelos to the Pentateuch

One of the often-asserted hallmarks of targum Onqelos to the Pentateuch is the claim of its consistency in choosing Aramaic equivalents for Hebrew roots. It is only that pattern which enables us to draw any inferences at all about the subtleties of targumic interpretation when Onqelos deviates from being consistent. This essay endeavors to examine one small piece of the pattern of targumic consistency, the way in which Onqelos handles the biblical Hebrew verb כלה when it appears in the Piel. Onqelos renders כלה (Piel) with Aramaic שיצי in an overwhelming number of its occurrences in the Pentateuch. This is the case whether כלה means “destroy” or “finish, complete, exhaust.” When we find such strong consistency of pattern in Onqelos, the apparent exceptions to the rule must be studied with an eye to discerning what generates them. The results of such an examination will provide insight into Onqelos’ translational and exegetical technique as we observe that the apparent exceptions also appear to follow a pattern. If time allows, our results for Onqelos will be contrasted with the parallel data in the other pentateuchal targumim and targum Jonathan to the Prophets.