The Aramaic Bible

The Aramaic Bible · the Torah

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Exodus · chapter 31

Aramaic public domain · English by Etheridge (1862)
Compare this chapter in Targum Onkelos
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.

Hebrew, Greek & the Aramaic Bible, when to use each →

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.

  1. And the Lord Spake with Mosheh, saying,

  2. Look, Mosheh, I have called by name the good Bezalel: bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah,

  3. and have fulfilled him with the Spirit of holiness from before the Lord, in wisdom and in intelligence, in knowledge, and in all workmanship;

  4. to think in their thoughts so as to work (perfectly) in gold, and in silver, and in brass;

  5. and in the cutting of jewels for their insetting, and in the carving of woods, to make all manner of work.

  6. And, behold, I have appointed with him Ahaliab bar Achisamah, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of every one wise hearted I have added the Spirit of wisdom, that they may perform all whatever I have commanded thee.

  7. The tabernacle of ordinance, and the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat which is over it; and all the vessels of the tabernacle;

  8. and the table, and all its vessels; and the altar of sweet incense,

  9. and the altar of burnt offering, and all its vessels; and the laver, and its foot;

  10. and the vestments for ministration, the holy vestments of Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his sons for ministry;

  11. and the oil of anointing; and the sweet incense for the sanctuary; even all whatever I have commanded thee, they shall make.

  12. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying,

  13. Also, speak thou with the sons of Israel, saying, Ye shall keep the day of My Sabbaths indeed; for it is a sign between My Word and you, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctify you.

  14. Ye shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy to you; whosoever profaneth it, dying he shall die; whoso doeth work therein, that man shall be destroyed from his people.

  15. Six days ye shall do work; but the seventh day is Sabbath, the holy Sabbath before the Lord. Whoso doeth work upon the Sabbath, dying he shall die, by the casting of stones.

  16. The sons of Israel shall therefore keep the Sabbath, to perform the delightful exercises of the Sabbath; (it is) for your generations an everlasting statute;

  17. between My Word and the sons of Israel it is a sign for ever. For in six days the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth; and in the seventh day He rested and refreshed.

  18. And He gave to Mosheh, when He had finished to speak with him in Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of sapphire-stone from the throne of glory, weighing forty sein, inscribed by the finger of the Lord.

Aramaic. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Aramaic: 'Targum Jonathan on Exodus' (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.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Exodus 31: word by word · Bubble Bible