Targum

Targum [Aramaic,=translation], Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Bible. When Aramaic replaced the Hebrew tongue among the Jews of Palestine and Babylon, interpreters were called to translate and explain the scriptural passages that were read aloud during synagogue services. The oral Aramaic paraphrases were, in the course of time, put down in writing under the name Targum. One of the best-known Targums extant is the Targum Onkelos (see Onkelos ). The Targum is printed in the margin of corresponding parts of the Bible. A complete manuscript of a Palestinian Targum, the first of its kind, was found in 1956.

Targum. The Aramaic interpretative translations of the OT made when Hebrew had ceased to be the normal medium of speech among the Jews.

Targum (Heb., ‘translation’). A translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Aramaic, conveying interpretation of the text. The best-known Targum is Targum Onkelos which was regarded as authoritative. Targum Jonathan is the Targum to the prophetic books, and Targum Yerushalmi is a largely midrashic translation (or interpretation) of the Hagiographa. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a late targum on the whole Pentateuch (Genesis 15. 14 mentions the wives of Muḥammad as the wives of Ishmael), but preserving the earlier interpretations. Several fragmentary targumim (pl.) have survived, together with an early form of the Palestinian targum tradition in Neofiti I. From all this it is clear that there was a relatively stable, though developing, targum tradition, which is unsurprising, given the connection between targumim and synagogues.