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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.

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    Traditionally we know... We do?
    – Alex
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 0:47
  • Please those who are not familiar, take your -1s back.
    – Al Berko
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 14:03
  • Please provide evidence that Onkelos translates the Torah according to Kabbalistic principles, and I will gladly take my -1 back...
    – רבות מחשבות
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 14:25

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The Targum used the same word to translate ברא and יצר since they mean the same thing.

Both Targum Onkelos and Targum Pseudo-Yonasan translate the root יצר as ברא all three times that it appears in Parshas Bereishis (here, here, and here), which shows that they understood יצירה and בריאה to mean the same thing.

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  • OTOH, that may just be because Aramaic doesn't have a good equivalent for יצר. In the various places where this appears in Yeshayah, for example, Targum Yonasan variously translates it as תקן or עבד, though more precisely those would translate עשה.
    – Meir
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 5:06
  • I think you didn't understand the question's bases. Please read he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%91%D7%99%22%D7%A2 and redact your answer accordingly.
    – Al Berko
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 14:01
  • @AlBerko I'm not sure why you think that Onkelos translates according to Kabbalah. Can you find any place where he does so? And if we're playing the Wikipedia game: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
    – רבות מחשבות
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 14:23
  • "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 WIki is with me, he needs a reason to stray from the literal translation. Thank you for the wiki!
    – Al Berko
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 14:30

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