A targum (plural: targumim) is an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) written or compiled in the Land of Israel or in Babylonia from the Second Temple period until the early Middle Ages (late first millennium). Aramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. ... Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language — the source text — and the production of a new, equivalent text in another language — called the target text, or the translation. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum Hebrew Bible refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian canons. ... 11th century Targum Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also spelt Tanach or Tenach) is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. ... The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) is the land that made up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... Drawing of Herod the Greats Second Temple in Jerusalem A stone (2. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

As translations, the targumim largely reflect rabbinic (i.e. midrashic) interpretation of the Tanakh. This is true both for those targumim that are fairly literal, as well as for those which contain a great many midrashic expansions. Midrash (pl. ... 11th century Targum Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also spelt Tanach or Tenach) is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. ... Midrash (pl. ...

Aramaic was the lingua franca for hundreds of years in major Jewish communities in the Land of Israel and Babylonia. In order to facilitate the study of Tanakh and make its public reading understood, authoritative translations were required. Aramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) is the land that made up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... 11th century Targum Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also spelt Tanach or Tenach) is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. ...

The Two "Official" Targumim

11th century targum, perhaps from Tunisia, found in Kurdistan: part of the Schøyen Collection.

The two most important targumim for liturgical purposes are: Download high resolution version (946x1102, 141 KB)The Schøyen Collection MS 206, Oslo and London. ... Download high resolution version (946x1102, 141 KB)The Schøyen Collection MS 206, Oslo and London. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Kurdish flag flown by Kurds in parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, and Syria. ...

• Targum Onkelos on the Torah (The Law)
• Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Nevi'im (The Prophets)

These two targumim are mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud as targum didan ("our Targum"), giving them official status. In the synagogues of talmudic times, Targum Onkelos was read alternately with the Torah, verse by verse, and Targum Jonathan was read alternately with the selection from Nevi'im (i.e. the Haftarah). This custom continues to this day in Yemenite Jewish communities. Because of this, Yemenite Jews are the only ones to preserve a living tradition of pronunciation for the Aramaic of the targumim (according to a Babylonian dialect). Categories: Judaism-related stubs | Jewish texts ... Jump to: navigation, search Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... Targum Jonathan (ben Uzziel) (תרגום יונתן בן עוזיאל) is the official eastern (Babylonian) targum to the Neviim. ... Neviim [נביאים] or Prophets is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). ... Categories: Judaism-related stubs | Jewish texts ... Jump to: navigation, search Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... Targum Jonathan (ben Uzziel) (תרגום יונתן בן עוזיאל) is the official eastern (Babylonian) targum to the Neviim. ... Neviim [נביאים] or Prophets is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). ... The haftarah (haftara, haphtara, haphtarah, Hebrew הפטרה‎; plural haftarot, haftaros, haphtarot, haphtaros) is a text selected from the books of Neviim (The Prophets) that is read publicly in the synagogue after the reading of the Torah on each Sabbath, as well as on Jewish festivals and fast days. ... Yemenite Jews (תֵּימָנִי, Standard Hebrew Temani, Tiberian Hebrew Têmānî; plural תֵּימָנִים, Standard Hebrew Temanim, Tiberian Hebrew Têmānîm) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen (תֵּימָן far south, Standard Hebrew Teman, Tiberian Hebrew Têmān), on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. ...

Besides its public function in the synagogue, the Talmud also mentions targum in the context of a personal study requirement: "A person should always review his portions of scripture along with the community, reading the scripture twice and the targum once." This too refers to Targum Onkelos on the public Torah reading and to Targum Jonathan on the haftarot from Nevi'im. Categories: Judaism-related stubs | Jewish texts ... Jump to: navigation, search Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... Targum Jonathan (ben Uzziel) (תרגום יונתן בן עוזיאל) is the official eastern (Babylonian) targum to the Neviim. ... The haftarah (haftara, haphtara, haphtarah; plural haftarot, haftaros, haphtarot, haphtaros) is a text selected from the books of Neviim (The Prophets) that is read publicly in the synagogue after the reading of the Torah on each Sabbath, as well as on Jewish festivals and fast days. ... Neviim [נביאים] or Prophets is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). ...

Medieval biblical manuscripts of the Tiberian mesorah sometimes contain the Hebrew text interpolated, verse-by-verse, with the official targumim. This scribal practice has its roots both in the public reading of the Targum and in the private study requirement. The Masoretic Text (MT) is the Hebrew text of the Tanakh approved for general use in Judaism. ...

The two "official" targumim are considered eastern (Babylonian). Nevertheless, scholars believe they too originated in the Land of Israel because of a strong linguistic substratum of western Aramaic. Though these targumim were later "easternized," the substratum belying their origins still remains. The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) is the land that made up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. ...

In post-talmudic times, when most Jewish communities had ceased speaking Aramaic, the public reading of Targum along with the Torah and Haftarah was abandoned in most communities. In Yemen, however, rather than abandoning the Aramaic targum during the public reading of the Torah, it was supplemented by a third version, namely the translation of the Torah into Arabic by Saadia Gaon (called the Tafsir). Thus, in Yemen each verse was read three times. Jump to: navigation, search Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... The haftarah (haftara, haphtara, haphtarah, Hebrew הפטרה‎; plural haftarot, haftaros, haphtarot, haphtaros) is a text selected from the books of Neviim (The Prophets) that is read publicly in the synagogue after the reading of the Torah on each Sabbath, as well as on Jewish festivals and fast days. ... Saadia Ben Joseph Gaon (892-942), the Hebrew name of Said al-Fayyumi, was a rabbi who was also a prominent Jewish exilarch, philosopher, and exegete. ...

The private study requirement to review the Targum was never entirely relaxed, even when Jewish communities had largely ceased speaking Aramaic, and the Targum never ceased to be a major source for Jewish biblical exegesis. For these reasons, the Targum is still almost always printed alongside the text in Jewish editions of the Bible with commentaries. Nevertheless, later halakhic authorities argued that the requirement to privately review targum (which means "translation") might also be met by reading a translation in the current vernacular in place of the official Targum, or else by studying an important commentary containing midrashic interpretation (especially that of Rashi). Suggestion: The following categories should each contain one or a just a few brief paragraphs summing up the main exegetes and their works, with numerous internal links to individual articles. ... Rashi Rashi (February 22, 1040-July 17, 1105) is the acronym of Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (or: Shlomo Yitzhaki). ...

Targum Ketuvim

The Talmud explicitly states that no official targumim were composed besides these two on Torah and Nevi'im alone, and that there is no official targum to Ketuvim ("The Writings"). An official targum was in fact unnecessary for Ketuvim because its books played no fixed liturgical role. Nevertheless, most books of Ketuvim have targumim, whose origin is mostly western (Land of Israel) rather than eastern (Babylonia). But for lack of a fixed place in the liturgy, they were poorly preserved and less well known. From the Land of Israel, the tradition of targum to Ketuvim made its way to Italy, and from there to medieval Ashkenaz and Sepharad. The targumim to Ketuvim were unknown in Yemen, so no living tradition of pronunciation was preserved for them. Jump to: navigation, search Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... Neviim [נביאים] or Prophets is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). ... Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). ... Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). ... Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). ... The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) is the land that made up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) is the land that made up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. ... Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). ... Ashkenazi (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, Standard Hebrew Aškanazi, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzî) Jews or Ashkenazic Jews, also called Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, Standard Hebrew Aškanazim, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzîm), are Jews who are descendants of Jews from Germany, Poland, Austria and Eastern Europe. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from... Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). ...

Other Targumim on the Torah

There are also a variety of western targumim on the Torah, each of which was traditionally called Targum Yerushalmi ("Jerusalem Targum"). An important one of these was mistakenly labeled "Targum Jonathan" in later printed versions (though all medieval authorities refer to it by its correct name). The error crept in because of an abbreviation: The printer interpreted ת"י to stand for תרגום יונתן instead of the correct תרגום ירושלמי. Scholars refer to this targum as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. To attribute this targum to Jonathan ben Uzziel also contradicts the talmudic tradition (Megillah 3a), which quite clearly attributes the targum to Nevi'im alone to him, while stating that there is no official targum to Ketuvim. Jump to: navigation, search Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western (Land of Israel) targum on the Torah. ... Jonathan ben Uzziel is known for Targum Jonathan. ... Neviim [נביאים] or Prophets is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). ... Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). ...

In the same printed version, a similar fragment targum is correctly labeled as Targum Yerushalmi. Another important full western Targum on the Torah is Targum Neofiti.

The Peshitta

The Peshitta is the traditional Bible of Syriac-speaking Christians (those who speak a dialect of Eastern Aramaic). Its 'Old Testament' has been shown to be based on rabbinic targumim. The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible in the Syriac language. ... Jump to: navigation, search Syriac is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. ...

External links:

• The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon - contains critical editions of all the targumim along with lexical tools and grammatical analysis.