The Hebrew Bible says God "passed before" Moses and proclaimed the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6). Targum Onkelos renders this as God "made His Shechinah pass" before Moses. God's Presence moves. God does not.
The Thirteen Attributes are the theological heart of the Torah—the words Jews recite on every fast day, every Day of Atonement, every moment of communal crisis. "God, God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and truth, preserving kindness for thousands of generations, bearing iniquity, transgression, and sin" (Exodus 34:6-7). Onkelos translates these almost verbatim, with one significant adjustment: "slow to anger" becomes "distancing anger"—not that God takes a long time to get angry, but that God actively pushes anger away.
The most theologically loaded phrase is the ending: "He clears and He does not clear"—a paradox in the Hebrew. Onkelos resolves it: "He forgives those who return to His Torah, and He does not acquit the impenitent." The apparent contradiction disappears. God forgives the repentant and punishes the stubborn. The paradox was never about God's nature. It was about human choice.
After receiving the Thirteen Attributes, Moses descends the mountain with the second set of tablets, and his face is radiant—literally glowing with light. "The skin of Moses's face shone" (Exodus 34:29). Onkelos translates this faithfully: the radiance is physical, visible, real. Aaron and the people are afraid to approach him. Moses puts a veil over his face. The man who asked to see God's glory now carries a trace of that glory on his own skin—and it terrifies everyone who sees it.