Targum

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Aramaic translation or interpretive paraphrase of a book from the Hebrew Scriptures, made for use in synagogues
2. A rendering into Aramaic of a Hebrew biblical text, often expanded with commentary to explain its meaning
3. Any of the ancient Aramaic versions of the Hebrew Bible, produced to make scripture understandable to Jewish congregations

Etymology: The Hebrew word "targum" simply means "translation," and it came into English as a term for the Aramaic renderings of the Hebrew Bible that were made for Jewish communities who no longer spoke Hebrew in everyday life. The Aramaic versions were read aloud alongside the Hebrew text in synagogue, so the word named a whole tradition of interpretive translation rather than a single book. Because the Hebrew root behind "targum" is tied to the idea of rendering or explaining something in another language, the word carries that sense of translating as interpreting. Those Aramaic versions often expanded or clarified the original, so a targum was as much commentary as translation, a distinction that makes the English term more specific than a plain synonym for "translation" would suggest.

Synonyms: translation, paraphrase, interpretation, rendering, version