THis question if for people familiar with the Kabbalic concept of אבי"ע.
Please compare the Torah and the Targum:
"וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים" - "וּבְרָא יְיָ יָת תַּנִּינַיָּא רַבְרְבַיָּא"
"וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ" - "וּבְרָא יְיָ יָת אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵיהּ"
and
"וַיִּיצֶר ה"א אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה" - "וּבְרָא ה"א יָת אָדָם עַפְרָא מִן אַרְעָא"
"וַיִּצֶר ה"א מִן־הָאֲדָמָה כָּל־חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה" - "וּבְרָא ה"א מִן אַרְעָא כָּל חַיַּת בָּרָא"
Traditionally, we know that בריאה and יצירה belong to different levels of creation (according to אבי"ע). Why would the Targum use the same word for both?
THe WIKI for Onkelos translation claims:
"Onkelos' Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses) is almost entirely a word-by-word, literal translation of the Hebrew Masoretic Text, with very little supplemental material in the form of aggadic paraphrase.**"
So according to it, Onkelos had to have a reason to stray from the literal translation.
