The Targums

The Targums

A source-witness: the Aramaic renderings of Scripture

The Targums are the Aramaic translations and paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures, made for the people when Aramaic had become the common tongue and the Hebrew of the synagogue reading was no longer understood by all. They were first spoken alongside the reading, and later written down.

They range from close renderings to free paraphrase. Targum Onqelos to the Torah and Targum Jonathan to the Prophets are relatively literal and were held in high regard; the Palestinian Targums, such as the Targum Neofiti and the Fragment Targums, and the later Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, are far more expansive, weaving in interpretation, legend, and law.

Value as a witness

The Targums show how the Scriptures were understood and applied in the synagogue, often softening bold expressions about God, filling gaps in the narrative, and drawing out the meaning thought to be implied. They are a witness less to the bare words of the text than to its living interpretation in the Aramaic-speaking world — the same world in which Jesus taught.