Aramaic is a member of the Semitic family of languages and is very closely related to Hebrew. In the time ofJesus, Aramaic (as well as Greek) was spoken in Palestine. Admittedly the transition from Hebrew to Aramaic as the common language of Judaism had already occurred in the Persian period, in the 5th/4th century B.C.E. Hebrew continued to be used as the literary language for the Holy Scriptures, but the population at large no longer understood it (Neh 13:24). As a result, when the Torah was read in the synagogue it became necessary to accompany it with a translation into Aramaic. This led to making Aramaic translations, which were called Targums (Heb. "explanation, commentary, translation").The earliest written Targums must have been made in the 4th/3rd century B.C.E., about the same time as the origin of the LXX or the Greek translation of the Pentateuch. It is generally assumed that the Targum grew from the oral practice of verse-by-verse interpreting. A verse of the appointed lesson from the Torah would be read in the synagogue, and a second person, the interpreter would repeat the verse in Aramaic. Meanwhile the use of written Targums in the synagogue worship service was expressly forbidden (m. Megillah 4:4). It is hard to tell whether this was the ideal or the actual practice, but the prohibition in the Mishnah suggests that written Targums may have been in circulation and perhaps also in use. The use of written Targums in rabbinic schools is also attested. Although some relationship between oral interpretation and written Targum could be suspected, no direct connection between the two can be established in either direction. In effect, the written Targums should be regarded as an independent literary genre alongside the oral interpretations.

What are the peculiar characteristics of the Aramaic Targums? They are not literal translations in the strict sense. Rather they are more deliberately oriented to an audience, attempting to present the biblical text as relevant and edifying. They could be said to tend toward sermonizing. Compared with translations, the Targums markedly stress the intent of biblical texts by paraphrasing, expanding with illustrations, modifying expressions about God that could be misunderstood, correcting passages that present difficulties, adapting the biblical text to contemporary religious perspectives, and so on. Thus they had a tremendous freedom in their handling of the text, ranging from relatively literal renderings to free haggadic or halakic expansions approaching midrash. They frequently exhibit an amazing degree of literary creativity over time in "transposing" the biblical text to a new age. Consequently, however, this lessens their value for textual criticism. In citing the Targums as witnesses to the Hebrew biblical text, one must always examine them for possible relationships to a Hebrew exemplar. Apart from probably the early Targums, in most cases it would be no surprise if the presumable exemplar is closely related to the MT. Nevertheless, in questionable cases the edition of the Targum in question should be consulted and the passage checked.