What is "targum"

Targum \Tar"gum\, n.; pl. Targums. Heb. Targumim. [Chald. targ[=u]m interpretation, fr. targ[=e]m to interpret. Cf. Truchman, and Dragoman.] A translation or paraphrase of some portion of the Old Testament Scriptures in the Chaldee or Aramaic language or dialect.

n. (context Judaism English) An Aramaic translation of the Tanakh written or compiled between the Second Temple period and the early Middle Ages.

The targumim (singular: "targum", ) were spoken paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Jewish scriptures (also called the Tanakh) that a Rabbi would give in the common language of the listeners, which was then often Aramaic. That had become necessary near the end of the 1st century BCE, as the common language was in transition and Hebrew was used for little more than schooling and worship. Eventually, it became necessary to give explanations and paraphrases in the common language after the Hebrew scripture was read. The noun Targum is derived from early semitic quadriliteral root 'trgm', and the Akkadian term 'targummanu' refers to "translator, interpreter". It occurs in the Hebrew Bible in Ezra 4:18 "The document which you sent us has been read in translation (Aramaic 'mepares') before me". Besides denoting the translations of the Bible, the term Targum also denote the oral rendering of Bible lections in synagogue, while the translator of the Bible was simply called as hammeturgem (he who translates). Other than the meaning "translate" the verb Tirgem also means "to explain". The word Targum refers to " translation" and argumentation or " explanation".

Writing down the targum was prohibited; nevertheless, some targumatic writings appeared as early as the middle of the first century CE. They were then not recognized as authoritative by the religious leaders, however. Some subsequent Jewish traditions (beginning with the Babylonian Jews) accepted the written targumim as authoritative, and eventually, it became a matter of debate. Today, only Jews from the republic of Yemen continue to use the targumim liturgically.

As translations, the targumim largely reflect midrashic interpretation of the Tanakh from the time they were written and are notable for eschewing anthropomorphisms in favor of allegorical readings. ( Maimonides, for one, notes this often in The Guide for the Perplexed.) That is true both for those targumim that are fairly literal as well as for those that contain many midrashic expansions.

In 1541, Elia Levita wrote and published Sefer Meturgeman, explaining all the Aramaic words found in the Targum.

An Aramaic Bible is also used in the Syriac Church (see Peshitta). In addition, targumim are used today as sources in text-critical editions of the Bible ( BHS refers to them with the abbreviation ????).

Targum is used by the Jews of northern Iraq and Kurdistan to refer to a variety of Aramaic dialects spoken by them till recent times. For details of these dialects, see Judeo-Aramaic language. The word "targum" simply means "translation" in Hebrew, and the primary reference of the term is the Aramaic Bible translations of that name. The Jewish use of "Targum" to mean the Aramaic language in general dates back to the early Middle Ages. An analogy is the use of " Ladino" to mean Judeo-Spanish, and of sharħ to mean Judeo-Arabic.

Targum may mean:

• any of the Aramaic translations of the Bible known as Targumim.
• in medieval Jewish usage, the Aramaic language in general.
• Targum (Aramaic dialect), sometimes used as a term for certain modern dialects of Judaeo-Aramaic, including that spoken by the Jews of Kurdistan.
• The Daily Targum, official student newspaper of Rutgers University.
• Targum Press, an Orthodox Jewish publishing house.

Targum is a fictional sensible alien species. It was first introduced in 1980 in Croatian science fiction magazine Sirius in a short story The Murder of a Targum Diplomat ( Slovenian: Umor targumskega diplomata) by Slovenian science fiction writer Franci Cerar. Targums are short, salad-looking species, they fed like plants by photosynthesis. They are about one meter tall and they have green skin color. The only known Targum is a diplomat Thar Ketope.