Targum

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A targum (Imperial Aramaic: תרגום, interpretation, translation, version; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (Hebrew: תַּנַ״ךְ, Tanakh) that a professional Jewish translator (מְתוּרגְמָן mǝṯurgǝmān) would give in the common language of the listeners when that was not Biblical Hebrew. This had become necessary near the end of the first century BCE, in cases where the common language was Aramaic, while Hebrew was used chiefly for schooling and worship. The translator frequently expanded his translation with paraphrases, explanations and examples, so it became a kind of sermon. Writing down the targum was initially prohibited; nevertheless, some targumitic writings appeared as early as the middle of the first century. They were not recognized as authoritative by the religious leaders. Some subsequent Jewish traditions, beginning with the Jews of Lower Mesopotamia, accepted the written targumim, what are now called Targum Onkelos and Targum Jonathan, as...

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