The targumim (singular: "targum", Hebrew: תרגום‎), were spoken paraphrases, explanations, and expansions of the Jewish scriptures that a Rabbi would give in the common language of the listeners, which during the time of this practice was commonly, but not exclusively, Aramaic. This had become necessary near the end of the last century before the Christian era, 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.

Writing down the targum was prohibited, nevertheless some targumatic writings appeared as early as the middle of the first century AD . These were not recognized as authoritative by the religious leaders at that time, however . Some subsequent Jewish traditions (beginning with the Babylonian Jews) did accept the written targumim as authoritative, and eventually this became a matter of debate. Today, only Jews from the republic of Yemen continue to use the targumim liturgically.