Rare word #7: Targum

Targum (from Chaldee/Aramaic meaning 'interpretation'): an Aramaic translation, interpretation, or paraphrase of the Old Testament, made after the Babylonian captivity, at first preserved by oral transmission, and committed to writing from about 100 A.D. onwards when Hebrew was declining as a spoken language.

After the return from exile Aramaic gradually won the ascendancy as the colloquial language over the slowly decaying Hebrew until, from probably the last century before the Christian era, Hebrew was hardly more than the language of the schools and of worship. As the majority of the population ceased to be conversant with the sacred language it became necessary to provide translations for the better understanding of the passages of the Bible read in Hebrew at the liturgical services. Thus to meet this need it became customary to add to the portions of the Scriptures read on the Sabbath an explanatory oral translation — a Targum.

At first this was probably done only for the more difficult passages, but as time went on, for the entire text. The directions also state which portions are to be read aloud but not translated, and a warning is given against translations that are either to free, palliative, allegorical, etc. Another regulation was that the Targum was not to be written down. This prohibition, however, probably referred only to the interpretation given in the synagogue and did not apply to private use or to its employment in study.