The Aramaic Bible · the Prophets
Targum Jonathan on the Prophets Hosea · chapter 6
Aramaic public domain · English where it exists, else the Bible (BSB)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.
Tap any Aramaic word to trace it to its Jastrow dictionary entry.
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Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
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After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
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So let us know — let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.
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What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.
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Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and My judgments go forth like lightning.
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For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
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But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
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Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with footprints of blood.
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Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.
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In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.
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Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore My people from captivity.
Aramaic. Targum Jonathan to the Prophets, Aramaic: 'Mikraot Gedolot' (public domain), served by the Sefaria v3 API (sefaria.org)
English. The Masoretic verse (Berean Standard Bible, public domain), shown for reference, Targum Jonathan is the ancient Aramaic rendering of this verse.
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.