The Aramaic Bible · the Torah
Targum Onkelos Numbers · chapter 17
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.
And the LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,
and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.
Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you.
The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”
So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff — one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.
Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.
The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.
Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.
The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”
So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.
Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!
Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”
Aramaic. Targum Onkelos, Aramaic: 'Onkelos Numbers' (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.