The Hebrew Bible says God "descended to see the city and the tower" of Babel (Genesis 11:5). Targum Onkelos will not allow that reading. God does not descend. Instead, "God became revealed in order to punish them because of the building of the city and the tower." Revelation replaces motion. Judgment replaces curiosity.
This is one of Onkelos's boldest rewritings. The Hebrew text presents God almost as a character in the story—coming down, looking around, reacting. Onkelos strips away every anthropomorphic element. God does not need to "see" anything. God reveals Himself for the purpose of judgment. The verb changes from observation to action.
"Come, let us descend and jumble their language" (Genesis 11:7)—the plural "us" troubled ancient readers. Onkelos translates: "Let us be revealed." He keeps the plural (a nod to the divine council, the heavenly court) but removes the physical descent. God does not move from one place to another. God's presence becomes manifest where it was previously hidden.
The builders' original transgression is preserved intact: "Come, we will build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach the height of the heavens. Thus we will make ourselves a name, so that we will not be scattered" (Genesis 11:4). Their ambition was not architectural but existential—they wanted permanence, fame, and unity on their own terms. God's response was not anger at a tall building but a correction of human hubris. The scattering was not punishment for construction. It was the restoration of the natural order that humanity was trying to override.