The Hebrew Bible says Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy elders "saw the God of Israel" (Exodus 24:10). This is an extraordinary claim—direct visual perception of the divine. Targum Onkelos adjusts it to: "They saw a vision of the Glory of the God of Israel." Not God. God's Glory. And not direct sight, but a vision—a mediated, partial experience.
Under God's feet, the Hebrew describes "something like a brickwork of sapphire, and it was like the essence of heaven in purity" (Exodus 24:10). Onkelos changes "under His feet" to "under His throne of Glory" and renders the sapphire as a "precious stone." God does not have feet. God has a throne. And the vision the elders received was of the throne's base, not of God's body.
The next verse is even more theologically sensitive. The Hebrew says God "did not send His hand" against the nobles of Israel, and they "saw God and ate and drank" (Exodus 24:11). They saw God and had a meal. Onkelos dramatically reinterprets: "There was no damage" to the nobles, and they "saw the Glory of God and rejoiced in their sacrifices, which were accepted graciously, as if they ate and drank." The eating and drinking was not a literal banquet in God's presence. It was the spiritual satisfaction of knowing their offerings were accepted.
The chapter closes with Moses ascending alone into the cloud that covers Sinai for forty days and forty nights. "The appearance of God's glory was like a consuming flame at the top of the mountain" (Exodus 24:17). Onkelos preserves this image intact. Fire on a mountaintop is not anthropomorphic. It is a natural phenomenon elevated to divine significance—the kind of imagery Onkelos is comfortable leaving untouched.
1. And He said to Mosheh, Come up before the Lord, thou and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they shall worship at a distance.
2. And Mosheh shall draw nigh alone before the Lord, but they shall not draw nigh, nor shall the people ascend with them.
3. And Mosheh came and recited to the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words that the Lord hath spoken will we do.
4. And Mosheh wrote all the words of the Lord. And he arose in the morning, and builded an altar at the lower part of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5. And he sent the firstborn sons of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and sacrificed oxen (as) consecrated victims before the Lord.
6. And Mosheh took half of the blood and set it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled upon the altar.
7. And he took the Book of the Covenant, and read before the people; and they said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do and obey.
8. And Mosheh took the blood and sprinkled it upon the altar to propitiate for the people, and said, Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath ratified with you upon all these words.
9. And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.
10. And they saw the Glory of the God of Israel, and under the throne of His glory as the work of a precious stone, and as the face of heaven for its clearness.
11. Yet the princes of the sons of Israel were not hurt; and they saw the Glory of the Lord, and rejoiced in their sacrifices which were accepted with favour, as though they had eaten and drunk.
12. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Come up into My Presence in the mountain, and be there, and I will give thee the tablets of stone, and the law and the precepts, as I have written (them), that thou mayest teach them.
13. And Mosheh arose and Jehoshua his minister, and Mosheh ascended the mountain on which was revealed the Glory of the Lord.
14. But to the elders he said, Wait for us here until we return to you: and, behold, Aharon and Hur are with you: whosoever hath a (matter for) judgment, let him bring it before them.
15. And Mosheh ascended the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain;
16. And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud enveloped it six days. And He called to Mosheh on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud.
17. And the appearance of the Glory of the Lord was as the appearance of devouring fire on the summit of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel.
18. And Mosheh entered into the midst of the cloud, and ascended the mount; and Mosheh was in the mount forty day and forty nights.
