ONKELOS, THE PROSELYTE Nil C4p71ti), son of Kalonymus (101ty715p 10), the reputed author of the celebrated Chaldee paraphrase of the Pentateuch called Targum Onkelos, was born about 4o A. D. , and died in Palestine about 120 A. D. This is evident from the fact that he is spoken of in the Tosiftha, which was edited in the 3d cen tury of the Christian era, shortly after the redac tion of the Mishna, as a contemporary and disciple of Gamaliel IL (rosiftha Mikvaoth, vi. i ; Edna, iii. 2 ; Chagiga, iii. z), who was born about A. D. 50, and died about 116 [GAMALIEL II.] His love for his newly-adopted Jewish faith was so in tense that, after dividing his paternal inheritance with his brothers, he threw his portion into co thcro the Dead Sea (Tosiftha, Demai, vi. g) ; and when Gamaliel, his teacher in the new faith, died, Onkelos, out of reverence for him, burned at his funeral costly garments and furniture to the amount of seventy Tyr an Mince = about twenty one pounds sterling (Tosltha Sabbath, ch. viii. ; Semachoth, ch. viii. ; Abodah Sarah, I I a).• The Babylonian Talmud says that he was nephew of the emperor Titus (13 DIpm5p 13 D1P71t4 tntnn rorm ; and that before his conversion to Judaism he successively conjured up from the other world the ghosts of his uncle Titus, Balaam, and Christ, to inquire of them which nation is the happiest in the next world. Titus, whom he called up first, told him that the Jews were the happiest, but warned him against embracing their faith, be cause of the great difficulty in fulfilling all its multi tudinous commandments, and advised him to perse cute them, for every one who oppresses Israel shall become a chief (Lament. i. 5). Balaam, whom he brought up next, also told him that the Jews were the most distinguished in the other world, and yet admonished him neither to seek their peace nor their prosperity all his days for ever' (Deut. xxiii. 6) ; whilst Christ, whom he called up last, and who also declared that the Jews were the first in the next world, counselled him to seek their good and not their evil, for he who touches them touches the apple of his eyes (Gitlin, 56 a, 57 b). His conversion to Judaism, however, was no easy thing.
For as soon as it was known that Onkelos, son of Kalonycos, or Kalonymos, had become a proselyte, the emperor [either Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, or Hadrian, as Titus was dead] sent a Roman cohort to capture him and bring him before the imperial tribunal, but he converted the soldiers. The empe ror then sent another cohort, charging them not to speak to him. As they caught him and were marching him off, he simply remarked [Nrbn without its appearing religious or versial], the tcrom carries the fire before the the before the NI:1711 = dux, the dux before till==i)-yEini:v, the 41764v before the but who carries the fire before the x6tois ? The soldiers replied, Nobody. Now said
Onkelos the holy one, Blessed be he, he carries the fire before Israel, as it is written, The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire (Exod. xiii. 21) ; and be also converted them Whereupon the emperor sent a third cohort, charg ing them very strictly to hold no converse with him whatever. As they captured him, and were leading him away; he looked at the Mezuza [MEzUzA], and, putting his hand on it, asked the soldiers what it was. They not being able to say, inquired of him what it was, whereupon he said, It is the custom of this world for a human king to sit inside his palace and for servants to guard him outside, whereas the Holy One, blessed he he, his servants are inside, and he keeps guard outside, as it is written, The Lord watches thy going out and coming in from this time forth and for evermore (Ps. cxxi. 8) ; and Onkelos also converted this co hort, whereupon the emperor would not send any more' (Abodah Sarah, I I a).
The first distinct intimation that Onkelos is the author or compiler of the Ghaldee paraphrase which goes by his name, is contained in the fol lowing passage R. Jeremiah, and according to others, R. Chija bar Abba, said : The Targum of the Pentateuch was made by Onkelos the Pro selyte, from the mouth of R. Eliezer and R. Joshua' (Megilla, 3 a). We are also informed here that Onkelos' paraphrase embodied the orally trans mitted Chaldee version of the text which the people generally had forgotten. Being, therefore, the floating national Targum, as well as the compilation of Onkelos, the paraphrase is alternately quoted as weparafihrase(iVillITTM),our Targunz (1111:1171r1 Xiddushin, 49 a), the Targum has it 0/3111113), the Targum (plod), andas the Targum Onkelos 1:6p)1N). Thus the Targum is distinctly quoted as the paraphrase of Onke/os (:6p7 ti in Pirke Rabbi Eliezer (cap. xxxviii. 28 a, ed. Lemberg, 1858), a Midras'n on the principal events recorded in the Pentateuch, which is ascribed to Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, but which is not of a later date than the gth century [MiDaasx] ; by Ibn Koreish, who flourished 870-900 A.D. [IBN KOREISH] ; by Me nachem b. Saruk (born about gm, died about 970), who, in his lexicon entitled ariln 1111110, says that (1015p74 -mt) Onkelos explains iron 3V111 lnvp (Gen. xlix. 29), by tOmna +In (p. 23, S. V. 17114, ed. Filipowski, 1854) ; and by Du nash Ibn Librat (born about 920, died about 980), in his polemical work against Menachem b. Saruk's Hebrew Lexicon, who cites, with great approba tion, Onkelos' rendering of :4 'inn (Gen. xlviii. 16,