16. They said to Moses, "You speak with us and we will accept. Do not let it be spoken with us from before the Lord, lest we die."
WE WILL ACCEPT. Rather than the biblical figure of speech "we will hear." Onkelos translates "hear" as "accept," when it means to "obey" or "understand," rather than "listen."
LET IT BE SPOKEN WITH US FROM BEFORE THE LORD. Our targumist weakens the biblical active voice "let not God speak with us" to the passive "be spoken," to avoid the anthropomorphism and the implication that God's speech kills people who hear it.
Excerpted with permission from Onkelos on the Torah by Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, published by Gefen Publishing Company.
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