Targum

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈtɑːɡəm/

Origin

Hebrew תרגום‎, "translation, interpretation".

Full definition of targum

Noun

1. (Judaism) An Aramaic translation of the Tanakh written or compiled between the Second Temple period and the early Middle Ages.
• 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, V.10:Jonathan who compiled the Thargum, conceives the colours of these banners to answer the pretious stones in the breastplate, and upon which the names of the Tribes were engraven.
• 2011, David Bellos, Is That a Fish in Your Ear?, Penguin 2012, p. 141:Eventually, the words of such Aramaic whisper-translations (called chuchotage in the modern world of international interpreters) were written down, mostly in small fragments, and these targums now provide precious linguistic and historical records for scholars of Judaism.