Bible Dictionaries
Targum

Holman Bible Dictionary

(tar' guhm) Early translations of the Bible into Aramaic, the native language of Palestine and Babylon in the first century A.D. Targum, in its verbal Hebrew form, means “to explain, to translate.” The most important of these translations still in existence is Targum Onkelos which was probably read weekly in synagogue services from a relatively early date. The targums are not simply translations but seem to include a large amount of biblical commentary that perhaps reflects sermons in Jewish Palestinian synagogues. Therefore, the material is of interest to New Testament scholars who attempt to understand the Judaism of which Jesus was a part. See Aramaic .

Stephenson Humphries-Brooks