Imperial Aramaic language in the context of "Minor prophets"

A targum (Imperial Aramaic: תרגום, interpretation, translation, version; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the Hebrew: תַּנַ״ךְ, romanized: Tana"kh) that a professional translator (מְתוּרגְמָן mǝṯurgǝmān) would give in the common language of the listeners when that was not Biblical Hebrew. This had become necessary near the end of the first century BCE, as the common language was Aramaic, while Hebrew was used for little more than schooling and worship. The translator frequently expanded his translation with paraphrases, explanations and examples, so it became a kind of sermon.

Writing down the targum was initially prohibited; nevertheless, some targumitic writings appeared as early as the middle of the first century. They were not recognized as authoritative by the religious leaders. Some subsequent Jewish traditions, beginning with the Jews of Lower Mesopotamia, accepted the written targumim as authoritative translations of the Hebrew scriptures into Aramaic. Today, the common meaning of targum is a written Aramaic translation of the Bible. Only Yemenite Jews continue to use the targumim liturgically.

Aram (Imperial Aramaic: 𐡀𐡓𐡌, romanized: ʾĀrām; Hebrew: אֲרָם, romanized: ʾĂrām; Syriac: ܐܪܡ) was a historical region mentioned in early cuneiforms and in the Bible. The area did not develop into a larger empire but consisted of several small states in present-day Syria. Some of the states are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, Aram-Damascus being the most outstanding one, which came to encompass most of Syria. In the Bible, Aram-Damascus is simply commonly referred to as Aram.

After the final conquest by the rising Neo-Assyrian Empire in the second half of the 8th century and also during the later consecutive rules of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (612–539 BCE) and the Achaemenid Empire (539–332 BCE), the region of Aram lost most of its sovereignty. During the Seleucid period (312-64 BCE), the term Syria was introduced as Hellenistic designation for this region. By the beginning of the 5th century, that practice also started to affect terminology of Aramean ecclesiastical and literary elites, and Syrian labels started to gain frequency and acceptance not only in Aramean translations of Greek works, but also in original works of Aramean writers.

Christianity (Hebrew: נצרות, romanized: Natsrút; Arabic: المسيحية, romanized: al-Masīḥiyya; Imperial Aramaic: ܢܘܨܪܝܐ ܕܐܪܥܐ ܕܝܣܪܐܝܠ) is the third largest religion in Israel, after Judaism and Islam. At the end of 2022, Christians made up 1.9% of the Israeli population, numbering approximately 185,000. 75.8% of the Christians in Israel are Arab Christians. Christians make up 6.9% of the Arab-Israeli population.

Ten Christian churches are formally recognized under Israel's confessional system, for the self-regulation and state recognition of status issues, such as marriage and divorce: the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Latin Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Maronite Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church. However, the practice of religion is free, with no restrictions on the practice of other denominations. Approximately 300 Christians have converted from Islam according to one 2014 estimate, and most of them are part of the Catholic Church. About 20,000 Israelis practice Messianic Judaism, usually considered a syncretist form of Christianity.

The Twelve Minor Prophets (Hebrew: שנים עשר, Shneim Asar; Imperial Aramaic: תרי עשר, Trei Asar, "Twelve"; Ancient Greek: δωδεκαπρόφητον, "the Twelve Prophets"; Latin: Duodecim prophetae, "the Twelve Prophets"), or the Book of the Twelve, is a collection of prophetic books, written between about the 8th and 4th centuries BCE, which are in both the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament.

In the Tanakh, they appear as a single book, "The Twelve", which is the last book of the Nevi'im, the second of three major divisions of the Tanakh. In the Christian Old Testament, the collection appears as twelve individual books, one for each of the prophets: the Book of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Their order, and position in the Old Testament, varies slightly between the Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles.

Simon bar Giora (alternatively known as Simeon bar Giora or Simon ben Giora or Shimon bar Giora, Imperial Aramaic: שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר גִּיּוֹרָא or Hebrew: שִׁמְעוֹן בֵּן גִּיּוֹרָא; died 71 CE) was the leader of one of the major Judean rebel factions during the First Jewish–Roman War in 1st-century Roman Judea, who vied for control of the Jewish polity while attempting to expel the Roman army, but incited a bitter internecine war in the process.

Nehardea or Nehardeah (Imperial Aramaic: נהרדעא, romanized: nəhardəʿā "river of knowledge") was a city from the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka (the Royal Canal), one of the earliest and most prominent centers of Babylonian Judaism. It hosted the Nehardea Academy, one of the most prominent Talmudic academies in Babylonia, and was home to great scholars such as Samuel of Nehardea, Rav Nachman, and Amemar.

A mohel (Hebrew: מוֹהֵל‎ [moˈhel], Ashkenazi pronunciation [ˈmɔɪ.əl], plural: מוֹהֲלִים‎ mohalim [mo.haˈlim], Imperial Aramaic: מוֹהֲלָא‎ mohala, 'circumciser') is a Jewish man trained in the practice of brit milah, the 'covenant of male circumcision'. A woman who is trained in the practice is referred to as a mohelet (pl. mohelot).

Shin-Lamedh-Mem is a triconsonantal root of many Semitic words (many of which are used as names). The root meaning translates to "whole, safe, intact, unharmed, to go free, without blemish". Its earliest known form is in the name of Shalim, the ancient god of dusk of Ugarit. Derived from this are meanings of "to be safe, secure, at peace", hence "well-being, health" and passively "to be secured, pacified, submitted".

• Central Semitic Š-L-M
  • Arabic: س-ل-م, S-L-M
    • Maltese: S-L-M
  • Imperial Aramaic: ܫ-ܠ-ܡ, Š-L-M
  • Canaanite: Š-L-M (cf. Shalem)
    • Hebrew: ש-ל-ם‎, Š-L-M (Paleo-Hebrew 𐤔-𐤋-𐤌; Samaritan Hebrew ࠔ-ࠋ-ࠌ)
• East Semitic S-L-M
• South Semitic "S-L-M"
  • Ge'ez: ሰ-ላ-ም, S-L-M

Arabic salām (سَلاَم), Maltese sliem, Hebrew šālōm (שָׁלוֹם‎), Ge'ez sälam (ሰላም), Syriac šlama (pronounced Shlama, or Shlomo in the Western Syriac dialect) (ܫܠܡܐ), Mandaic šlama (ࡔࡋࡀࡌࡀ) are cognate Semitic terms for 'peace', deriving from a Proto-Semitic *šalām-.

A get, ghet, or gett (/ɡɛt/; Imperial Aramaic: גט, plural gittin גטין) is a document in Jewish religious law which effectuates a divorce between a Jewish couple. The term is also used to refer to the divorce itself. The get is a 12-line document written in Aramaic. The requirements for a get include that the document must be presented by a husband to his wife. The essential part of the get is a very short declaration: "You are hereby permitted to all men." The effect of the get is to free the woman from the marriage, and consequently, she is free to marry another, and that the laws of adultery no longer apply. The get also restores to the wife the legal rights that her husband held over her.