The Weekly Shtikle - Ki Seitzei

Early on in the parsha, we are taught of two different mitzvos between man and his neighbour which share a common warning.  We must expend great effort to return a lost object to its rightful owner, be it an inanimate object or an animal. Immediately following, we are told that we must help our fellow Jew who is having difficulty loading his animal. In both cases, we are warned against ignoring the situation. (22:1-4)

What is curious about these warnings is the specific words used by Targum Onkelos. You shall not see the lost object - vehis'alamta. You shall not see the struggling animal - vehis'alamta. In both cases, Onkelos renders vesiskeveish. This is in line with  Rashi who translates it as a closing of one's eye as if he does not see. But for the lost object, the pasuk repeats at the end - lo suchal lehis'aleim. The word seems to be the same but here Onkelos renders l'iskasa'ah. One might translate this to mean you cannot conceal yourself. Interestingly, this is the same word that Onkelos uses in last week's parsha in the introduction to the case of the zakein mamreh - 17:8 ki yipaleh mimecha davar - when a certain case is baffling. The targum is arei yitichsei, when the matter is concealed from you.

Unfortunately, I haven't come to a clear understanding as to why the translation changes in our case. However, I did reveal a significant clue. This root does appear many times in the Torah (see Concordance.) There appears to be a pattern as to how Onkelos translates the word. Any time it is used in a passive sense such as referring to something being forgotten, he uses kasah. When the pasuk refers to an active ignorance, such as our cases and the case of a nation refusing to prosecute the crime of giving one's child to the molech, (Vayikra 20:4), the word kavash is used. The Commentaries on Rashi make quite an issue of the fact that Rashi repeats the same commentary on the second instance. Perhaps, their understanding of Rashi sheds some light on how Onkelos understood these two phrases. 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

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