Editing Aramaic (section)

== Aramaic in Holy Books ==

==== Aramaic in Tanach ====
The first Aramaic speaker in the Tanach is Lavan the Aramean, who is mentioned in the Torah speaking two words in Aramaic - "Yegar Sahadusa". Indeed, the Aramaic language is named after his land of origin, Aram.

In the Book of Kings, when Ravshakeh, the messenger of Sancheriv, king of Assyria, arrives in Jerusalem and calls for its residents to surrender; Ravshakeh is requested by Chizkiyahu's ministers to speak in Aramaic: "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it, and do not speak to us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

In the books of Ezra and Daniel, there are chapters written in Biblical Aramaic, as well as one verse in the book of Jeremiah.

==== Aramaic in the Talmud ====
The language of the Jews of Babylon was Aramaic, and in it the Babylonian Talmud was written. This dialect is referred to by scholars as 'Babylonian Aramaic'.

The Jews of the Galilee also spoke Aramaic, but in a dialect slightly different from the Babylonian dialect. The Jerusalem Talmud and some of the Midrashim were written in this language. This dialect is referred to by scholars as 'Galilean Aramaic'.

==== Targum Onkelos ====
The translation of the five books of the Torah into Aramaic, written by Onkelos the Convert. Onkelos studied (after converting) with the Tannaim Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua (the teachers of Rabbi Akiva).