Targum in the context of "Lower Mesopotamia"

The Septuagint (/ˈsɛptjuədʒɪnt/ SEP-tew-ə-jint), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (Koine Greek: Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα, romanized: Hē metáphrasis tôn Hebdomḗkonta), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into the Greek language at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BC) by seventy-two Hebrew translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel—though this story is considered to be pseudepigraphical by some scholars.

Biblical scholars agree that the first five books of the Hebrew Bible were translated from Biblical Hebrew into Koine Greek by Jews living in the Ptolemaic Kingdom, centred on the large community in Alexandria, probably in the early or middle part of the 3rd century BC. The remaining books were presumably translated in the 2nd century BC. Some targums translating or paraphrasing the Bible into Aramaic were also made during the Second Temple period.

Biblical Aramaic is the form of Aramaic that is used in the books of Daniel and Ezra in the Hebrew Bible. It should not be confused with the Targums — Aramaic paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Hebrew scriptures.

Binding and loosing is originally a Jewish Mishnaic phrase also mentioned in the New Testament, as well as in the Targum. In usage, to bind and to loose simply means to forbid by an indisputable authority and to permit by an indisputable authority. One example of this is Isaiah 58:5–6 which relates proper fasting to loosing the chains of injustice.

The poseks had, by virtue of their ordination, the power of deciding disputes relating to Jewish law. Hence, the difference between the two main schools of thought in early classical Judaism were summed up by the phrase the school of Shammai binds; the school of Hillel looses. Theoretically, however, the authority of the poseks proceeded from the Sanhedrin, and there is therefore a Talmudic statement that there were three decisions made by the lower house of judgment (the Sanhedrin) to which the upper house of judgment (the heavenly one) gave its supreme sanction. The claim that whatsoever [a disciple] bind[s] or loose[s] on earth shall be bound or loosed in heaven, which the Gospel of Matthew attributes to Jesus, and is still used commonly today in prayer, an effective method on account to Christianity.

A visionary, defined broadly, is one who can envision the future. For some groups, visioning can involve the supernatural.

Though visionaries may face accusations of hallucinating,people may succeed in reaching a visionary state via meditation,lucid dreams, daydreams, or art. One example of a visionary is Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century artist and Catholic saint. Other visionaries in religion include St Bernadette (1844-1879) and Joseph Smith (1805-1844), said to have had visions of and to have communed with the Blessed Virgin and the Angel Moroni, respectively. There is also the case of the Targum Jonathan, which was produced in antiquity and served as the targum to the Nevi'im. It described the significance of the turban or a diadem to indicate a capability on the part of Jewish priests to become agents of visionary experience.

Biblical paraphrase refers to the practice of restating scripture in new wording, in prose or verse, for purposes ranging from education and interpretation to devotion and literary artistry. Emerging from classical rhetorical traditions and Jewish interpretive practices such as the Targumim, Biblical paraphrase developed through the Middle Ages and Early Modern era into a genre that blended translation, commentary, and creative expansion. It served as a means of clarifying scripture, shaping theology, and engaging readers unable to access the Bible in its original languages. By the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, paraphrase had become a literary and devotional genre, enabling both men and women writers to interpret biblical texts, express personal or political convictions, and take part of sacred narratives through art.

Christian paraphrase was part of early Christian literature, and appeared in sermons, homilies, and poetic retellings. Early narrative retellings, like Cursor Mundi and the Historia scholastica, influenced later paraphrase works. The Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament paraphrased multiple Biblical narrative sources. Paraphrases that followed the Bible's text more closely, especially the Psalms, became popular in the 15th century. In the early modern era, humanist scholarship renewed interest in paraphrase as a form of commentary, exemplified by Erasmus’s influential paraphrases of New Testament books. English paraphrasers, including Thomas Wyatt, Philip Sidney, Mary Herbert, Anne Locke, and Anne Wheathill, used the form to clarify doctrine, express personal devotion, and engage with contemporary political and theological debates. Both Protestant and Catholic writers engaged in paraphrase in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when it was a venue for literary experimentation as well as spiritual reflection.

A Mikraot Gedolot (Hebrew: מקראות גדולות, lit. 'Great Scriptures'), often called a "Rabbinic Bible" in English, is an edition of the Hebrew Bible that generally includes three distinct elements:

• The Masoretic Text in its letters, niqqud (vocalisation marks), and cantillation marks
• A Targum or Aramaic translation
• Jewish commentaries on the Bible; most common and prominent are medieval commentaries in the peshat tradition

Numerous editions of the Mikraot Gedolot have been and continue to be published.

Targum Onkelos (or Onqelos; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תַּרְגּוּם אֻנְקְלוֹס‎, Targūm ’Unqəlōs) is the primary Jewish Aramaic targum ("translation") of the Torah, accepted as an authoritative translated text of the Five Books of Moses and thought to have been written in the early second century CE.