The Aramaic Bible · the Torah
Targum Onkelos Genesis · chapter 10
Aramaic public domain · English 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.
This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.
From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.
The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
Cush was the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one on the earth.
He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; so it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.”
His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
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From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city of Calah.
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Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, the Anamites, the Lehabites, the Naphtuhites,
the Pathrusites, the Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites.
And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,
the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans were scattered,
and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
These are the sons of Ham according to their clans, languages, lands, and nations.
And sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth; Shem was the forefather of all the sons of Eber.
The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.
Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.
And Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.
Their territory extended from Mesha to Sephar, in the eastern hill country.
These are the sons of Shem, according to their clans, languages, lands, and nations.
All these are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their generations and nations. From these the nations of the earth spread out after the flood.
Aramaic. Targum Onkelos, Aramaic: 'Onkelos Genesis' (public domain), served by the Sefaria v3 API (sefaria.org)
English. The Masoretic Torah verse (Berean Standard Bible, public domain), shown for reference, Targum Onkelos 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.