Targum Onkelos is the official eastern (Babylonian) targum

Targum

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

 to the Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

. However, its early origins may have been western, in Israel

Land of Israel

The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

. Its authorship is attributed to Onkelos

Onkelos

Onkelos is the name of a famous convert to Judaism in Tannaic times . He is considered to be the author of the famous Targum Onkelos .-Onkelos in the Talmud:...

.

Some identify this translation as the work of Aquila of Sinope

Aquila of Sinope

Aquila of Sinope was a 2nd Century CE native of Pontus in Anatolia known for producing an exceedingly literal translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek around 130 CE. He was a proselyte to Judaism and a disciple of Rabbi Akiba...

 in an Aramaic translation (Zvi Hirsch Chajes

Zvi Hirsch Chajes

Zvi Hirsch Chajes was one of the foremost Galician talmudic scholars. He is best known for his work Mevo Hatalmud , which serves both as commentary and introduction...

), or believe that the name "Onkelos" originally referred to Aquila but was applied in error to the Aramaic instead of the Greek translation. The translator is unique in that he avoids any type of personification. Samuel D. Luzzatto suggests that the translation was originally meant for the "simple people". This view was strongly refuted by Nathan Marcus Adler

Nathan Marcus Adler

Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler was the Orthodox Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1845 until his death, probably the most prominent 19th century rabbi in the English-speaking world.-Life:...

 in his introduction to Netinah La-Ger.
In Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ic times, and to this day in Yemenite Jewish communities, Targum Onkelos was recited by heart as a verse-by-verse translation alternately with the Hebrew verses of the Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

 in the synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

.

The Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

 states that "a person should complete his portions of scripture along with the community, reading the scripture twice and the targum once

Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum

Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum , translated as "Twice Torah and once Targum " is the Jewish practice of reading the weekly Torah portion in a prescribed manner.- Source :...

." This passage is taken by many to refer to Targum Onkelos.

External links

• English Translation of Targum Onkelos at the Newsletter for Targumic and Cognate Studies - English translations by J.W. Etheridge
• Mechon Mamre has the entire Aramaic text of Targum Onkelos with vowels according to Yemenite manuscripts. The Targum appears as digital text in two different user-friendly versions: (1) The Aramaic targum text with vowels can be viewed in its entirety on its own, either book-by-book or chapter by chapter. (2) The Aramaic targum can be viewed verse-by-verse parallel to the Hebrew text, within files that contain one weekly portion (parshat ha-shavua) at a time. The index to both versions is here; there is also an older version without vowels.