Glory of the Lord – Vayyetzei
Jacob lays down to sleep, by José de Ribera, 1639
Instead of “The Lord”, Targum Onkelos says “the glory of the Lord”. As usual the Targum avoids anthropomorphic terms for God. Both versions have the same aim, showing that Jacob was in no danger because he was protected by the Almighty – but the Targum insists that we should not say that God Himself was watching over him; the protection came through a Divine attribute.
The general practice is that when the Bible uses an image of God we interpret it metaphorically.
