The Aramaic Bible · the Prophets
Targum Jonathan on the Prophets Isaiah · chapter 53
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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Who hath believed this our report? and to whom is now the power of the arm of the Lord revealed?
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The righteous shall be great before him, behold, like branches that bud; and like a tree which sends forth its roots by the streams of water, thus shall the generation of the just multiply in the land, which hath need of him. His visage shall not be the visage of a common person, neither his fear the fear of a plebeian; but a holy brightness shall be his brightness, that every one who seeth him shall contemplate him.
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Although he shall be in contempt; yet he shall cut off the glory of all the wicked, they shall be weak and wretched. Lo, we are in contempt and not esteemed, as a man of pain and appointed to sickness, and as if He had removed the face of His Shekinah from us.
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Therefore he shall pray for our sins, and our iniquities for his sake shall be forgiven us; for we are considered crushed, smitten of the Lord, and afflicted.
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He shall build the house of the sanctuary, which has been profaned on account of our sins; it was delivered over on account of our iniquities, and through His doctrine peace shall be multiplied upon us, and through the teaching of His words our sins shall be forgiven us.
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All we like sheep have been scattered, every one of us has turned to his own way; it pleased the Lord to forgive the sins of all of us for His sake.
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He shall pray and he shall be answered, yea, before he shall be heard; he shall deliver over the mighty of the nations as a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep before her shearers is dumb, none shall in His presence open his mouth, or speak a word.
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He shall gather our captives from affliction and pain, and who shall be able to narrate the wonderful works which shall be done for us in his days? He shall remove the rule of the nations from the land of Israel, the sins which my people have committed have come upon them.
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And he shall deliver the wicked into hell, and the riches of treasures which they got by violence unto the death of Abaddon, that they who commit sin shall not remain, and that they should not speak folly with their mouth.
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And it was the pleasure of the Lord to refine and to purify the remnant of His people, in order to cleanse their souls from sin, that they might see the kingdom of their messiah, that their sons and daughters might multiply, and prolong their days, and those that keep the law of the Lord shall prosper through His pleasure.
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He shall deliver their souls from the servitude of the nations, they shall see the vengeance upon their enemies; they shall be satisfied with the spoil of their kings. By His wisdom he shall justify the righteous, in order to make many to keep the law, and he shall pray for their sins.
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Therefore I will divide to him the spoil of many people, and the treasures of strong fortifications; he shall divide the spoil; because he has delivered his life unto death, and he shall make the rebellious to keep the law; he shall pray for the sins of many, and as for the transgressors, each shall be pardoned for his sake.
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.