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.