The Aramaic Bible · the Torah
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Exodus · chapter 35
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.
And Mosheh gathered together all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them: These are the things which the Lord hath commanded to be done.
Six days thou shalt do work, and on the seventh day there shall be to you the holy Sabbath of repose before the Lord. Whoever doeth work on the Sabbath day, dying he shall die by the casting of stones.
My people of the sons of Israel, ye shall not kindle a fire in any place of your habitations on the day of the Sabbath.
And Mosheh spake to all the assembly of the children of Israel, saying, This is the word which the Lord hath commanded, saying,
Take of you a separation before the Lord: whosoever is moved in his heart, let him present the separation for the Lord; gold, or silver, or brass,
or hyacinth, or purple, or scarlet, or fine linen, or goats' hair,
or rams' skins dyed red, or skins of seals, (purple skins), and woods of sitta;
or oil for the lights, aromatics for the anointing oil, and sweet incense;
the onyx stones, and stones for completing the enchasement of the ephoda and the breastplate.
And let all the wise-hearted among you give and make all that the Lord hath commanded:
The tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its hasps, and its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its bases.
The ark, with its staves, and the mercy seat, and the veil for the covering;
and the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, and the bread for the Presence;
and the candelabrum for illumination, with the lamps, and the oil for the light;
and the altar of sweet incense, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the curtain for the door of the tabernacle of ordinance;
the altar of burnt offering, and its brasen grate, with its staves, and its vessels, and the laver, with its base;
and the curtains of the court, with its pillars, and bases, and the hanging for the gate of the court,
and the pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords;
the vestments of ministration, for ministering in the sanctuary, and the holy vestments for Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his sons for ministering.
And all the congregation of the sons of Israel went out from before Mosheh.
And every man whose heart moved him, and every one who was filled with the Spirit of prophecy, came, and brought what he had for a separation before the Lord for the work of the tabernacle of ordinance, and for all its service, and for the holy vestments.
And with the men came the women, every one whose heart was moved, and brought chains, and necklaces, rings, bracelets, and every ornament of gold; every one offering up the offering of gold before the Lord.
And every one with whom was found hyacinth, or purple, or crimson, or fine linen, goats' hair, or purple skins, brought the separation before the Lord; ___
___ and all with whom were found woods of sitta for all the work of the service brought.
And every woman whose heart was wise spun with her hands, and brought the spun work of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen.
And all the women whose hearts were moved in wisdom spun goats' hair (while) upon their bodies, and sheared them, being alive.
And the clouds of heaven went to the Phison, and drew up from thence onyx stones, and stones for infilling, to enchase the ephod and the breastplate, and spread them upon the face of the wilderness; and the princes of Israel went, and brought them for the need of the work.
And the clouds of heaven returned, and went to the garden of Eden, and took from thence choice aromatics, and oil of olives for the light, and pure balsam for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
Every man, a son of Israel, and (every) woman, a daughter of Israel, who was moved in heart, brought for all the work which the Lord by Mosheh had commanded to be made; so brought the children of Israel the votive gift before the Lord.
And Mosheh said to the sons of Israel, See, the Lord hath ordained with a good name Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah,
and hath filled him with the Spirit of prophecy from before the Lord, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all handicraft;
and to instruct artificers to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
and in the cutting of precious stones, to perfect by them the work, and in the fabrication of wood, to work in all the work of artificers.
And to teach art-work to the rest of the artificers he imparted skill to his heart, and to (that of) Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of the tribe of Dan.
He filled them with wisdom of heart to make all the work of the carpenter and the embroiderer, in hyacinth, and in purple, and in crimson, and in fine linen; and of the sewer, to fashion all the work, and to teach the workmen.
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.