The Aramaic Bible · the Torah
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Deuteronomy · chapter 10
Aramaic public domain · English by Etheridge (1862)What is the Aramaic Bible?
After the exile, most Jews spoke Aramaic, not Hebrew, so in the synagogue each Scripture reading was followed by an Aramaic translation read aloud, so ordinary people could follow. Those translations are the Aramaic Bible. Scholars call them the Targums.
Why it’s worth reading: a Targum doesn’t just translate, it quietly explains as it goes. So it’s a window into how the first Jewish readers actually understood a passage. Famously, the Aramaic of Isaiah 53 names the servant “the Messiah” outright.
Why it reads differently from your Bible: a Targum doesn’t just translate, it interprets as it goes, so its wording often expands or differs from the plain Hebrew. That difference is the window into how the first readers understood it.
Tap any Aramaic word to trace it to its Jastrow dictionary entry.
At that time did the Lord say to me: Hew thee two tables of marble according to the form of the first; and ascend before Me into the mountain, and make thee an ark of wood.
And I will write upon the tables the words which were upon the former ones, which thou didst break with thy entire strength; and thou shalt put them within the ark.
And I made an ark of sitta wood, and hewed two marble tables according to the form of the first, and went up into the mountain, having the two tables in my hand.
And He wrote upon the tables according to the former writing, the Ten Words which the Lord spake with you from the mount in the midst of the fire on the day that the congregation was gathered together, and the Lord gave them to me.
And I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables into the ark which I had made, and there are they laid up (hidden) as the Lord commanded me.
And the children of Israel journeyed from the villages of the wells of the Beni Jahakan to Mosera. There Amalek, who reigned in Arad, and who had heard that Aharon was dead, and that the Cloud of Glory had gone up, (came and) fought with them. And those of Israel who were distressed by that war sought to go back into Mizraim, and returned (towards it) six journeys; (but) the sons of Levi followed after them, and slew eight families of them, and the remainder returned. Of the sons of Levi also four families were slain. And they said one to another, What hath been the cause of this slaughter? Because we have been remiss in the mourning for Aharon the Saint. Therefore all the children of Israel observed there a mourning for Aharon’s death; and there was he buried, and Elazar his son ministered in his stead.
Thence they journeyed to Gudgod, and from Gudgod to Jotbath, a land flowing with streams of water.
At that time the Lord distinguished the tribe of Levi, because they had been zealous (even) to slay for His honour; that they should bear the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and stand before the Lord to minister unto Him and to bless in His Name until this day.
Therefore the tribe of Levi hath not a portion or inheritance with his brethren; the gifts which the Lord giveth him are his inheritance, as the Lord your God hath spoken to him.
But I stood in the mount praying and interceding as in the former days (of the) forty days and nights, and the Lord received my prayer at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy you.
And the Lord said to me, Arise, go, lead forth the people, that they be brought in, and possess the land which I promised to their fathers to give them.
And now, Israel, what doth the Lord your God require of you, but that you fear the Lord your God, to walk in all the ways that are right before Him, and that you love Him, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you this day, that it may be well with you?
Behold, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens, are be Lord’s your God, and the hosts of angels are in them to minister before Him, and the earth, and whatsoever is therein.
Only the Lord had pleasure in your fathers, and because He would love you He hath had favour to their children after them, as you, above all the nations upon the face of the earth, at the time of this day.
Put away folly, therefore, from your heart, and be not stiff-necked any more;
for the Lord thy God is God, the Judge, and the Monarch of kings, a Great God, mighty and terrible, before whom there is no respect of persons, and who taketh no bribe;
He doeth judgment for the orphan and widow, and hath compassion upon the stranger to give him food and raiment.
Have pity then (yourselves) upon the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Mizraim.
Revere the Lord your God, and worship before Him, and cleave closely to His fear, and swear by His Name.
He is your praise, and He is your God, who hath done for thee these great and mighty acts which thou hast beheld with thy eyes.
With seventy souls your fathers went down into Mizraim, and now hath the Lord your God set you as the stars of the heavens for multitude.
Aramaic. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Aramaic: 'Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy' (public domain), served by the Sefaria v3 API (sefaria.org)
English. English: J. W. Etheridge (1862) (Public Domain) — an established translation of the Targum itself, joined by verse number. Never an AI rendering (BB-42).
We show the license-cleared original Aramaic and an established English translation, each Aramaic word traceable to a public-domain lexicon. We never machine-translate a primary text.