The Hebrew Bible says God "appeared" to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1). Targum Onkelos says God "became revealed." It sounds like the same thing. It is not. Appearing implies a visible form. Becoming revealed implies a shift in perception—God was always there, but now Abraham perceives the divine presence.
Three men arrive. Abraham runs to greet them, bows, offers water and food. Sarah bakes cakes. Abraham slaughters a calf. He "stood over them under the tree, and they ate" (Genesis 18:8). Onkelos adds: he "served them." Abraham is not merely present. He is actively attending to his guests. The patriarch of monotheism is a waiter at his own table.
When the visitors announce that Sarah will bear a son, she laughs "to herself" (Genesis 18:12). Onkelos preserves this interior laugh without commentary. But when God confronts Abraham—"Why did Sarah laugh?"—and Sarah denies it, the exchange plays out with devastating simplicity. "Not so, for you did laugh." God knows what happens inside a person's mind. No Aramaic paraphrase is needed to make that point.
The chapter then pivots to Sodom. God says: "Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do?" (Genesis 18:17). This is one of the Torah's most extraordinary moments—God deliberating aloud about whether to inform a human being of divine plans. Onkelos translates it straight. No buffering, no Memra. The intimacy between God and Abraham is too central to the story to filter. When God announces He will "descend and see" Sodom, Onkelos again renders it as "become revealed and judge." God does not travel. God acts.