ABSTRACT
The decision regarding which books would be part of the Jewish foundational collection represented as the Hebrew Bible was largely settled by the end of the second century bce, although debates over the inclusion of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Esther, and Job are reported as late as the first century ce. In all, Targums exist to all the books of the Writings except for Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel. Ezra and Daniel contain major Aramaic sections, which did not require an Aramaic translation. The Targums to Proverbs and Chronicles are literal. The Targums to Psalms and Job contain large expansions. Rabbinic tradition mentions that one should study the Targum as well as the Torah during the week to prepare for the public reading of the Torah on Shabbat. The rabbis mandated the oral recitation but not reading of the Targum on Shabbat.
