[22:4]

  וַיֹּאמֶר מוֹאָב אֶל זִקְנֵי מִדְיָן, עַתָּה יְלַחֲכוּ הַקָּהָל אֶת כָּל סְבִיבֹתֵינוּ, כִּלְחֹךְ הַשּׁוֹר, אֵת יֶרֶק הַשָּׁדֶה וּבָלָק בֶּן צִפּוֹר מֶלֶךְ לְמוֹאָב, בָּעֵת הַהִוא.
And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

 

וַאֲמַר מוֹאָב לְסָבֵי מִדְיָן, כְּעָן יְשֵׁיצוּן קְהָלָא יַת כָּל סַחֲרָנָנָא, כְּמָא דִּמְלַחֵיךְ תּוֹרָא, יַת יְרוֹקָא דְּחַקְלָא וּבָלָק בַּר צִיפּוֹר מַלְכָּא לְמוֹאָב בְּעִידְנָא הַהִיא

And Moab said to the elders of Midian, Now shall this congregation destroy all that are round about us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was the king to Moab in that time.

 

1:   וַיֹּאמֶר מוֹאָב/ and Moab said                =       וַאֲמַר מוֹאָב / and Moab said

2: אֶל זִקְנֵי מִדְיָן / to the elders of Midian    =       לְסָבֵי מִדְיָן / to the elders of Midian

3: עַתָּה / now                                              =       כְּעָן / now

4: יְלַחֲכוּ / they will lick up                         =       יְשֵׁיצוּן / they will destroy

5: הַקָּהָל / the congregation                        =       קְהָלָא / the congregation

6: אֶת כָּל / all                                               =       יַת כָּל / all

7: סְבִיבֹתֵינוּ / our surroundings                 =       סַחֲרָנָנָא / our surroundings

8: כִּ / like                                                    =       כְּמָא דִּ / like

9: לְחֹךְ / licks                                             =       מְלַחֵיךְ /licks

10: הַשּׁוֹר / the ox                                       =       תּוֹרָא / the ox

11: אֵת יֶרֶק / the grass of                            =       יַת יְרוֹקָא דְּ / the grass of

12: הַשָּׁדֶה / the field                                   =       חַקְלָא / the field

13: וּבָלָק בֶּן צִפּוֹר / and Balak son of Zippor        = וּבָלָק בַּר צִיפּוֹר / and Balak the son of Zippor

14: מֶלֶךְ / was king                                     =       מַלְכָּא / was the king

15: לְמוֹאָב / to Moab                                  =       לְמוֹאָב / to Moab

16: בָּעֵת הַהִוא / at that time                        =       בְּעִידְנָא הַהִיא / at that time

 

Notes:

3: כְּעָן is the same root as עַתָּה, and means now. It is also used to translate נָא, and even then it also means now.

4: Onkelos here explains the simile. He transforms “they will lick up all around us” into “they will destroy all around us” but leaves the latter half of the simile, “as the ox licks up the grass of the field.

7: Onkelos consistently translates סביב as סחוֹר סחוֹר. In Hebrew, סחוֹר is the root of סוֹחֵרָה, which means armor, which is round about the person’s body. The ָנָא is the translation of ֵינו, and the first nun was part of the base noun: סחרן.

8: כְּמָא דִּ is like כמוֹ שֶׁ in Hebrew.

9: מְלַחֵיךְ has a mem prefix, which in the kal would imply the infinitive. But the patach under the lamed shows that it is the pael, which is called the intensive form, though the pa‘el is really just a different form, not necessarily more intensive than the kal. There is no dagesh in the chet, though we would expect it in the pa‘el form, because chet, as a gutteral, does not get doubled by a dagesh. So, this is the pa‘el participle = present tense.

10: תּוֹרָא: the  ָא ending means “the” and this תּ in Aramaic corresponds to the שּׁ in Hebrew.

11: In the Hebrew, the construct form – grass of – looks identical to the absolute form – grass. In Aramaic, Onkelos shows that it is construct by adding דְּ

14: מֶלֶךְ: This is using a noun as a verb. This is actually very common – Hebrew has no present tense, and if you think about it, the present tense is really just the noun. שׁוֹמֵר means a watchman and he watches. Most often the noun will be the present tense, but it can be others as well. מֶלֶךְ means king, but here it means was king. Alternatively, just say that the word היה is implicit here.