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Onkelos ( ʾunqəlōs), possibly identical to Aquila of Sinope, was a Roman Empire who Gerim in Tannaim times ( 35–120 CE). He is considered to be the author of the Targum Onkelos ( 110 CE).
Onkelos' conversion is the subject of a story wherein he first consulted with the spirits of three deceased enemies of Israel to see how Israelites fared in the next world. Gittin 57a The first was his uncle Titus, who was blamed for the destruction of the Second Temple; the second was the seer Balaam, hired by Balak king of Moab to curse Israel; and the last was Yeshu, a name used for those who sought to lead Jews astray to idolatry, in particular an idolatrous former student of Joshua ben Perachiah in the Hasmonean period as well as Manasseh of Judah. (In later writings Yeshu is used for Jesus, but opinions differ over whether it can be understood this way in the Talmud.) Onkelos is said to have seen all of them subjected to humiliating punishments for harming Israel. However, while Titus and Balaam dissuade him from converting, Yeshu encourages him to join the Jewish people (prompting the Talmud to praise "the sinners of Israel"). The earlier Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 10b gives the subject of these stories as Aquilas the proselyte, often understood as being a person other than Onkelos. The difficulty with this theory, however, is that the Jerusalem Talmud says explicitly that he (Aquilas the proselyte) translated the Torah under Eliezer ben Hurcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah. The Babylonian Talmud Megillah 3a repeats the same oral tradition, but this time calls him by the name Onkelos the proselyte, which leads one to conclude that the name is a mere variant of Aquila, applied in error to the Aramaic instead of the Greek translation. This view is supported by Epiphanius of Salamis (4th century).Epiphanius, Treatise on Weights and Measures - Syriac Version (ed. James Elmer Dean), Chicago University Press c1935, pp. 30–31. Click to see online translation of Epiphanius' Treatise on Weights and Measures
The following story about Aquila's conversion appears in Midrash Rabbah:
After his conversion, the Talmud records a story of how the Roman emperor tried to have Onkelos arrested. Avodah Zarah 11a Onkelos cited verses from the Tanakh to the first Roman contubernium, who then converted. The second contubernium was also converted, after he juxtaposed God's personal guidance of Israel in the Book of Numbers to the Roman social hierarchy. A similar tactic was used for the third contubernium, where Onkelos compared his mezuzah to a symbol of God guarding the home of every Jew, in contrast to a Roman king who has his servants guard him. The third contubernium also converted and no more were sent.
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