The Aramaic Bible · the Prophets
Targum Jonathan on the Prophets Isaiah · chapter 20
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.
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.
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In the year that Tharthan marched to Ashdod, (when Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent him,) and he waged battle against Ashdod, and subdued it;
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At that time the Lord decreed by Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go and remove the sackcloth which is on thy loins, and put off thy sandals from off thy feet: and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
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And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and Cush:
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So shall the king of Assyria lead the captives, and the captivity of Cush, the young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their shame uncovered, to the disgrace of Egypt.
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And they shall be afraid and confounded because of Cush, the place of their confidence, and because of Egypt, their boasting.
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At that time the inhabitant of this island shall say: Such is become the place of our trust, to which we were hoping to flee for help to be delivered from before the king of Assyria, if hitherto they could not deliver themselves, how shall we be delivered?
Aramaic. Targum Jonathan to the Prophets, Aramaic: 'Mikraot Gedolot' (public domain), served by the Sefaria v3 API (sefaria.org)
English. English: London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871 (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.