Targum

A Targum is an Aramaic translation of biblical texts that took shape as Jewish communities gradually shifted away from fluent Hebrew and adopted Aramaic as the language of everyday life. Rather than reproducing the Hebrew text word for word, a Targum typically explains, clarifies, or gently expands the language so it can be understood more easily when read out loud. In doing so, it combines its unique interpretation directly into translation. These texts therefore preserve not only the biblical material itself, but also the ways it was taught, explained, and received within Jewish communal life over time. Each distinct family of Targum incorporates its own degree of interpretation verses original text, and each incorporates a varying degree of interpretation, some simple and others more midrashic and creative.