The Hebrew Bible says God will "pass through" Egypt on the night of the Passover (Exodus 12:12). Targum Onkelos changes this to God will "become revealed in" Egypt. God does not travel through a country like a figure moving through a landscape. God's presence is revealed—a shift from motion to manifestation.
The Passover laws Onkelos translates with extraordinary precision, preserving every detail of the original instructions: the lamb selected on the tenth of the month, held until the fourteenth, slaughtered "between the evenings" (in the afternoon), its blood placed on the doorposts and lintel. The meat must be roasted over fire—not boiled, not half-cooked. Eaten with matzot and bitter herbs. Nothing left until morning.
"You must eat it in haste—it is a Pesach (Passover)-offering to God" (Exodus 12:11). Onkelos renders "to God" as "before God"—the offering is presented in God's presence, not given to God as if God needed food. The distinction between worship and feeding is absolute.
The most theologically loaded verse is (Exodus 12:12): "Against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments." Onkelos translates this without flinching. The gods of Egypt—their idols, their deities, their entire theological system—are subject to the judgment of the God of Israel. This is not a battle between equals. It is a verdict delivered by the only true Judge against false claims of divinity.
"I will see the blood and I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13)—Onkelos renders "pass over" as "have mercy upon." The Passover is not God skipping a house. It is God actively extending mercy. The blood is not a trick to fool a destroyer. It is a sign that invokes divine compassion.