Regarding Targum Onqelos aka Onkelos:
According to the Babylonian Talmud [Bab. Talm.] (Meg. 3a) it was composed early in the 2nd century A.D., but this seems to be a confusion with the Greek translation of Aquila…was probably completed before A.D. 400…reads…“sons of the great ones,” probably referring to rulers. For Nephilim it has [Hebrew spelling for gibborim]. [John Wesley] Etheridge’s translation “giants” for this is possible, but not necessary, as [Moses] Aberbach and [Bernard] Grossfeld prefer “mighty ones.”1
This Targum states the following in 6:1-2, 4:
And it was when the sons of men had begun to multiply upon the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of the mighty saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and took to them wives of all whom they pleased…
Giants were in the earth in those days; and also when, after that the sons of the mighty had gone in unto the daughters of men, there were born from them giants who from of old were men of name.
Targum Neofiti aka Neophyti “is the only complete extant MS of the Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch” Torah, first five books of the Bible, “dated from the 1st to the 4th centuries A.D.”:
In place of the Hebrew [for sons of God] is the Aramaic…”sons of the judges”…in the MT [Masoretic Text] of Gen 6:3. Nephilim is rendered by…”warriors.”…the last sentence of 6:4—”these are the warriors that (were there) from the beginning of the world, warriors of wondrous renown”—so as to exclude human beings.
However, the MS has many marginal notes, which presumably represent one or more other MSS of the Palestinian Targum. One such note occurs at 6:4 and reads: “There were warriors dwelling on earth in those days, and also afterwards, after the sons of the angels had joined (in wedlock) the daughters of the sons.”2
Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel more accurately Pseudo-Jonathan 6:1-2, 4 (dates to the 600s AD):
And it was when the sons of men began to multiply upon the face of the earth, and fair daughters were born to them; and the sons of the great saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and painted, and curled, walking with revelation of the flesh, and with imaginations of wickedness; that they took them wives of all who pleased them…
Schamchazai and Uzziel, who fell from heaven, were on the earth in those days; and also, after the sons of the Great had gone in with the daughters of men, they bare to them: and these are they who are called men who are of the world, men of names.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A plea: I have to pay for server usage and have made all content on this website free and always will. I support my family on one income and do research, writing, videos, etc. as a hobby. If you can even spare $1.00 as a donation, please do so: it may not seem like much but if each person reading this would do so, even every now and then, it would add up and really, really help out. Here is my donate/paypal page.
Due to robo-spaming, I had to close the comment sections. However, you can comment on my Twitter page, on my Facebook page and/or on my Google+ page.
Twitter: #Nephilim, #Targum, #Bible
Facebook: #Nephilim, #Targum, #Bible