If so, why that instead of the traditional hebrew cantillations and prayers? Is Aramaic a part of the liturgical tradition of any group within judaism? Is it still sort of a vernacular language but only for religious purposes? Do most practicing Jewish people fluent in Hebrew understand it?
I am a gentile, who is genuinely curious as to the Targums and as to why some Jewish Scriptures still include them in the side with English and the Hebrew text. I can understand why some old polyglot Christian Bibles included the Peshitta, the Septuagint and the Vulgate alongside the Hebrew text, but I gather the reasoning behind printing those different versions of text ( Aramaic and Hebrew) is quite different from that of the religious Jews in regards to the Tanakh. It may well be a gross mistake on my part, but I have been lead to believe that the Targums in of themselves have some weight in explaining the Hebrew text, as opposed to the comparative character of most Christian editions of the Tanakh.
EDIT:
submitted by /u/Pombalian
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Source: Reditt
