Tap-to-trace · the Targums
The Aramaic Bible, word by word
The ancient Aramaic translations of the Scriptures, the Targums, read in the synagogue beside the Hebrew, and the same Aramaic world the Gospels echo when Jesus speaks. Read the public-domain Aramaic and tap any word for its entry in Jastrow’s dictionary, with the exact passages it cites, beside the English. Truth you can trace; never machine-translated.
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.
Targum Onkelos
The authoritative, relatively literal Aramaic Torah, read in the synagogue beside the Hebrew.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
The expansive Palestinian Targum, it weaves in midrash and legend not found in the plain text.
Targum Jonathan on the Prophets
The authoritative Aramaic of the Prophets, how the synagogue heard Isaiah, Jeremiah and the Twelve, with its famous messianic readings.