The Aramaic Bible

The Aramaic Bible · the Prophets

Targum Jonathan on the Prophets Isaiah · chapter 63

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.

Hebrew, Greek & the Aramaic Bible, when to use each →

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.

  1. :

    Who hath spoken these things? He who shall bring the blow upon Persia, the mighty vengeance upon Bozrah, to execute vengeance of judgment of His people, as He hath sworn unto them by His Word. He hath said, Behold, I shall reveal myself as I have spoken in righteousness, great is my power to save.

  2. :

    Wherefore are the mountains red from the blood of the slain? yea, the valleys shall flow as the wine from the winepress.

  3. :

    Behold, as the grapes are trodden in the vat, thus He shall increase the slaughter in the camps of the nations; they shall have no strength before me: yea, I will slay them in my anger, and tread them down in my fury; and I will break the strength of their mighty ones before me, and all their wise men will I consume.

  4. :

    For the day of vengeance is before me, and the year of the salvation of my people hath come.

  5. :

    And it is revealed before me, that there is no man whose works are good, and it is known to me, that there is no man who will stand up and pray in behalf of them; yea, I will redeem them by the arm of my strength, and by the WORD of my delight I will help them.

  6. :

    And I will slay the nations in my anger, and I will tread them down in my fury, and I will cast the slain of their mighty ones into the lowest parts of the earth.

  7. :

    The prophet said, I will mention the lovingkindness of the Lord; the praise of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath dealt bountifully with us, and His great goodness toward the house of Israel which He hath bestowed upon them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving-kindnesses.

  8. :

    And He said, Surely, they are my people, children that will not lie: and His WORD became their salvation.

  9. :

    Whenever they sinned against Him, that He might have brought upon them distress, He did not distress them; but an angel was sent from Him, who in His mercy redeemed them; and in His compassion, behold, He delivered them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

  10. :

    But they rebelled against the word of His holy prophets, and blasphemed, and His WORD became their enemy, and He waged war against them.

  11. :

    And He had compassion for the glory of His name, because of the remembrance of His goodness of old, the mighty works which He did by the hands of Moses for His people; lest the Gentiles should say, Where is He that brought them up out of the sea? Where is He that led them through the wilderness, as a shepherd his flock? Where is He that made the word of His holy prophets to dwell amongst them?

  12. :

    That led them by the right hand of Moses, the arm of His glory, dividing the waters of the Red Sea before them, to make Himself an everlasting name?

  13. :

    That led them through the depths, as a horse that stumbleth not in the plain? thus also they stumbled not.

  14. :

    As a beast is led in a plain, the WORD of the Lord led them; so didst Thou lead Thy people to make Thyself a glorious name.

  15. :

    Look down from heaven, and reveal Thyself from the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory: where is Thy vengeance, and Thy great might? the multitude of Thy mercies and Thy compassion towards me are restrained.

  16. :

    For Thou art He, whose mercies towards us are as many as a father's towards his children: for Abraham hath not brought us up out of Egypt, and Israel hath not wrought for us wonderful works in the wilderness; Thou art the Lord; Thy mercies towards us are many, like a father's towards his children, O, our Redeemer; Thy name is from everlasting.

  17. :

    Why hast Thou cast us off, O Lord, that we should go astray from the paths which are right in Thy sight, as the nations which have no part in the instruction of Thy law? Our heart is not turned away from Thy fear: return Thy Shekinah unto Thy people, for the sake of Thy righteous servants, unto whom Thou hast sworn by Thy WORD to make the tribes amongst them Thine inheritance.

  18. :

    The people of Thy holiness have possessed Thy sanctuary but a little time, our adversaries have trodden it down.

  19. :

    We are Thy people that were of old: not unto the Gentiles hast Thou given the doctrine of Thy law, neither is Thy name invoked upon them; not unto them hast Thou inclined the heavens and revealed Thyself; the mountains quaked before Thee.

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.

Targum Jonathan Isaiah 63: word by word · Bubble Bible