Aramaic–English Dictionary with Targum Verses: the Same Aramaic, in Three Lines
If you read English, you should not have to pass through Hebrew to reach Aramaic. This page stacks three lines on top of one another — the Hebrew verse, the Aramaic of Targum Onkelos, and a plain English rendering — so an Aramaic word is decoded out of something you already understand instead of memorised.
Who this page is for
An Aramaic–Hebrew dictionary is a superb tool if Hebrew is already fluent. If it is not, it adds a step instead of removing one: you decode the Aramaic into Hebrew, then the Hebrew into English, and the second translation quietly loses the first.
So here every term is given with its English meaning and with the job it does inside the sugya, and every Targum verse appears in three lines — Hebrew, Aramaic, English. From there the links continue to the full entry in the dictionary, to the verse in our Tanakh reader, and to the daf itself in our Gemara reader.
Aramaic–English dictionary: the terms that return in every tractate
First column — the Aramaic term. Second column — what it means in English. Third column — what it does in the sugya, with a place to watch it work.
| Aramaic term | English | Role and source |
|---|---|---|
| תָּא שְׁמַע — ta shema | come and hear | Opens a proof from a baraita or a mishnah (Bava Metzia 2a) |
| אִי הָכִי — i hachi | if so | Raises a difficulty out of the assumption just stated (Berakhot 3a) |
| מְנָא הָנֵי מִילֵּי — mena hanei milei | from where are these things derived | Demands a source for a law (Berakhot 3a) |
| גַּבְרָא — gavra | a man | One of the most common nouns in the entire Talmud (Bava Metzia 2a) |
| אַרְעָא — ar'a | the land, the earth | Runs straight from the Targum into the Gemara unchanged (Genesis 1) |
| חַד — chad | one, one of them | Both the numeral and 'one said' in the language of the sugya (Deuteronomy 6) |
| מְמַלֵּל — memalel | speaks | The central verb of speech, from the Targum to the sugya (Genesis 2) |
| לֵימָא — leima | let us say | Floats a possibility before it is tested (Berakhot 4a) |
| דילמא — dilma | perhaps | Casts doubt on the proof that was just brought (Berakhot 4a) |
| שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ — shema mina | learn from it | Draws the conclusion out of the proof (Bava Metzia 2b) |
| אָן — an | where | The interrogative behind the Talmudic heicha (Genesis 4) |
| סָהֲדוּתָא — sahaduta | testimony | Aramaic written inside the Torah itself; the root behind sahadei (Genesis 31) |
Targum verses: Hebrew, Aramaic and English — line under line
Each verse is given in three lines — the Hebrew verse, the Aramaic of Targum Onkelos and a plain English rendering — with key words linked to their dictionary entries and a link to the verse itself in our Tanakh reader.
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
בְּקַדְמִין בְּרָא יְיָ אֵת שְׁמַיָּא וְאֵת אַרְעָא
Three words are enough to see the system: shemaya and ar'a carry the Aramaic definite ending — a final alef where Hebrew puts the article in front — and bekadmin replaces bereshit with a plain word for 'at first'.
- אַרְעָאthe earth
- שְׁמַיָּאthe heaven
- בְּקַדְמִיןin the beginning
וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
And the man became a living soul.
וַהֲוָת בְּאָדָם לְרוּחַ מְמַלְּלָא
Here Onkelos interprets rather than translates: 'a living soul' becomes 'a speaking spirit', memalela — from the same root as memalel, 'speaks', which runs right through Talmudic Aramaic.
- מְמַלְּלָאspeaking
- הֲוָתbecame
אֵי הֶבֶל אָחִיךָ
Where is Abel your brother?
אָן הֶבֶל אֲחוּךְ
Two of the most useful pieces of Aramaic grammar in one short question: an as the interrogative 'where', and the final kaf of achuch carrying 'your'.
- אָןwhere
- אֲחוּךְyour brother
וְלָבָן קָרָא לוֹ יְגַר שָׂהֲדוּתָא
And Laban called it Yegar Sahaduta — the mound of testimony.
וְלָבָן קְרָא לֵיהּ יְגַר סָהֲדוּתָא
Aramaic inside the Hebrew Torah itself. The root s-h-d is the very one behind sahadei, 'witnesses', in the Talmudic laws of testimony.
- סָהֲדוּתָאtestimony
- לֵיהּto it, to him
הַעוֹד אָבִי חָי
Is my father still alive?
הַעַד כְּעַן אַבָּא קַיָּים
Ke'an means 'now'; Babylonian Aramaic fills the same slot with hashta. Kayam opens a root you will meet constantly in the sugya — 'standing', 'established'.
- כְּעַןnow
- קַיָּיםalive, standing
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ ה׳ אֶחָד
Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְיָ אֱלָהָנָא יְיָ חַד
Elahana shows the Aramaic possessive for 'our', and chad is exactly the word behind the Gemara's chad amar, 'one said'.
- חַדone
- אֱלָהָנָאour God
How to work with the three lines
- Step 1
Read the English line first
The English rendering is your foothold. Once the content of the verse is clear, the Aramaic becomes a parallel rather than a riddle.
- Step 2
Line the words up one against one
Walk through the Aramaic and find the English counterpart of each word. Wherever the Targum departs from the plain sense, that is where the commentary is hiding.
- Step 3
Extract the recurring rules
A final alef marks the definite article, a final kaf means 'your', the letter dalet joins clauses. Three rules like these already unlock hundreds of words in the Gemara.
- Step 4
Test the word on a real daf
Open the word in the dictionary, then follow it to the sugya where it appears. One verification on a real page is worth ten repetitions.
An English translation is not a shortcut — it is a handhold
A student who only reads the translation stays dependent on it forever. A student who sets the translation against the Aramaic and extracts rules from it is building an ability that will hold on a page where no translation exists.
That is why this page is arranged as a work map and not as a list of answers: every verse leads to words, every word to a dictionary entry, and every entry to the sugya where it operates. The language of the translation is only the door — the Aramaic behind it is identical.
A good tool is not the one that answers the most questions — it is the one you need to ask less and less.
Frequently asked questions about the Aramaic–English dictionary and Targum verses
- How is this different from the Hebrew–Aramaic dictionary page?
- Same method, different bridge language. There the counterpart of the Aramaic word is given in Hebrew; here it is given in English, so a student who does not read Hebrew fluently gets a direct counterpart instead of a translation of a translation.
- Is the Aramaic of the Targum the same as the Aramaic of the Talmud?
- Not entirely. Targum Onkelos is written in biblical/Palestinian Aramaic while the Babylonian Talmud uses Babylonian Aramaic. The vocabulary and grammatical rules overlap in most cases, which is what makes the Targum such a comfortable gateway.
- How many verses before it makes a difference?
- A few dozen. After that the recurring rules become visible — definiteness, possession, connectives — and that is the point where a student moves from decoding single words to reading whole sentences.
- Where do I continue from here into the Gemara?
- Through the Gemara sources page and the theoretical sources page: there the same words appear inside real sugyot, each linked to its dictionary entry and to the folio itself in our reader.
Aramaic–English dictionary — where to continue
Sources in the Gemara
Every folio by tractate, with dictionary and verse links.
Guide for Gemara readers
What to know before your first daf.
Hebrew–Aramaic dictionary with Targum verses
The same method, with a Hebrew counterpart.
The full dictionary
Two-way search in English, Hebrew and Aramaic.
Aramaic grammar
The stems and forms behind every entry.
The Tanakh reader
The verses themselves, with a direct link to each verse.