Targum Lamentations

The Targum of Lamentations (TgLam) is an Aramaic rendering of the biblical Book of Lamentations. Like all other targumim, TgLam renders the biblical book into Aramaic while incorporating rabbinic interpretations into the resultant text. TgLam probably originated in the early centuries of the Common Era as a result of Lamentations' use in the liturgical worship of Tisha b’Av, the day commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem. Reference to the use of a targum of Lamentations during Tisha b'Av services appears in the seventh-century text Soferim (42b). The extant versions of TgLam incorporate rabbinic traditions and may date to as late as the eighth century CE. The earliest manuscript of TgLam is Codex Solger MS 1-7.2∫, dated 1291 CE. TgLam's Aramaic mixes elements of eastern and western dialects. There are two primary textual traditions, that of western texts and those of Yemenite provenance.