TARGUM. A name applied to each of several early somewhat paraphrastic translations of portions of the OT into Aram.
1. Definition and origin. Targum is Aram. for “translation.” The root occurs once in the Bible (Ezra 4:7). Targumanu, “interpreter” or “translator,” occurs in Akkad. as early as the El-Amarna tablets (c. 1400-1350 b.c.). The attempt has been made, quite without warrant, to derive it from the Heb. root ragamu, “to stone.” Although the word targum has occasionally been used for other translations, such as the LXX, it came to be used exclusively for a particular group of translations of the OT into Aram.
Nehemiah 8 describes a great gathering in Jerusalem at which Ezra and his associates publicly read the Torah to the people who had recently come back from exile. Verse 8 says: “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (KJV). In view of this statement, the question needs consideration why it was necessary, at this time, instead of simply reading the law, to add an explanation? Was it because in the natural course of events the Heb. language had changed enough to make the language of the Torah seem a bit archaic and in need of explanation, particularly to the younger members of the population? Was it because the people needed to have ideas and terms that had become somewhat unfamiliar during the long period of exile explained, and their interrelations pointed out? Or was it that many of the people, during the Exile, had adopted the Aram. language of those around them, and therefore needed a tr. into their common speech? A few years ago most scholars agreed that this third suggestion was the principal reason for the need of explanation, and that a tr. into Aram. was the greatest need. In recent years question has been raised about this, and some scholars suggest that the change to Aram. did not come until somewhat later. In any event, before the time of Christ, Aram. had become the common language of the Jewish community, and it had become customary, in each Sabbath synagogue service, when reading a portion of the law, to read one v. of the Heb. at a time, after which a second person would give a tr. into Aram., with a certain amount of explanation of the meaning of the passage.
It became customary in the synagogue services to read a v. from the Torah and then to have an explanation given orally in Aram. Although for many centuries it was not considered proper to read in the synagogue service anything except the actual Scripture itself, and the translations were given extemporaneously, usually from memory, in the course of the years these translations or interpretations naturally tended to become rather fixed. However, translations into Aram. were written down for use by people at home. By the 2nd or 3rd cent. a.d., many synagogues had adopted the custom of actually reading the tr. in the service, an innovation at which some of the rabbis were horrified.
As time went on and Jews in various areas began to speak Arab. or other languages, the targum ceased to be read in the services, but continued to be studied for help in interpretation.
2. Targums of the Pentateuch. Since the Pentateuch in its entirety was read consecutively in the successive weekly synagogue services, the targums of the Pentateuch were particularly important. The best known of these is the so-called Targum of Onkelos, which was one of the earliest targums to be written down. Like most of the targums it had its origin in Pal. However, it was carried to Babylonia where there were great centers of Jewish learning in the 2nd and 3rd centuries a.d. Its dialect is fundamentally Palestinian, but at many points it was conformed to the Aram. dialect of Mesopotamia, and its text was changed at places, in view of the altered situation. It tends on the whole to be more literal than other targums, but it frequently expresses definite views such as the Messianic interpretation of Genesis 49:10 and Numbers 24:17. A considerable number of copies of the Targum of Onkelos have been preserved.
Other targums of the Pentateuch were considerably longer than the Targum of Onkelos. One which has been preserved in rather complete form has been called the Pseudo-Jonathan Targum because at one time it was thought to have been written by the author of the best-known targum on the books of the prophets (see below).
There are other MSS which contain portions of a targum of the law. On the assumption that they represent a different targum tradition they have been called the Fragmentary Targum. They, as well as the Pseudo-Jonathan Targum, have often been designated as the Palestinian Targum, or the Jerusalem Targum.
In 1956 Professor A. Diez-Macho reported that he had discovered that a palimpsest in the Vatican Museum, known as Neofiti I, was actually a complete copy of the Palestinian Targum.
3. Targums of the Prophets. The bestknown targum of the prophets was attributed to Jonathan Ben Uzziel, a pupil of the great rabbi Hillel. On the whole it presents a fairly good tr. of the books in the second section of our present Heb. Bible, but it contains many paraphrases or interpretative additions. It is thought that this targum, like the Targum of Onkelos, was carried to Babylon and there worked over to some extent.
An interesting illustration of the interpretative method of the Targum of Jonathan is found in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 where the Servant of the Lord is designated as the Messiah, but where, except for one v., all the statements that refer to His sufferings are either dropped out or so interpreted as to make the suffering described in them apply to the nation of Israel or to its enemies, rather than to the Servant Himself.
4. Targums of the Hagiographa. In their present form the latest targums that have been preserved are those on the Hagiographa. However, there may well have been earlier targums on these books, which have disappeared. The Talmud refers to a targum of Job as having been used by rabbis of the 1st cent., and a portion of such a targum has been found at Qumran.
Targums exist for all of the Biblical books except Ezra-Nehemiah and Daniel. The lack of a targum in these two cases is understandable since Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26 and Daniel 2:4b-7:28 are already written in Aram. in the original.
5. Uses of the Targums. The targums are not of any great value for fixing the text, since they so often use paraphrase instead of direct tr. However, they are of great interest for showing certain aspects of Jewish interpretation in the centuries immediately after the time of Christ. This value is somewhat lessened by the fact that most of them contain many additions or changes from later periods. The Palestinian Targum contains a specific reference to the city of Constantinople, which was not founded until a.d. 325, and attributes to Ishmael a wife and daughter with the same names as a wife and daughter of his famous descendant, Mohammed, who did not become prominent until the 7th cent. Sometimes a targum may give definite evidence as to the meaning of a rare Heb. word as used at the beginning of the Christian era, but such evidence must be used with great caution.
Bibliography P. de Lagarde, Hagiographa Chaldaice (1873); M. Ginsburger, Das Fragmententhargum (1899); W. H. Brownlee, The Dead Sea Habaqquq Midrash and the Targum of Jonathan (1953); Biblia Polyglotta, Madrid (1957ff.); A. Sperber, The Bible in Aramaic (1959ff.); A. Diez-Macho, “The Recently Discovered Palestinian Targum,” suppl. to Vetus Testamentum (1960); J. Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature (1969).