This book has two purposes. The first is to provide an introduction to the Aramaic Targums, which preserve some of the most basic and popular elements of Jewish biblical interpretation; the second is to show how the Targums form a part of Jewish exegesis in general, and thus the book is also intended to be a brief introduction to rabbinic literature.

The need for such a guide has become increasingly urgent, particularly for students of the New Testament who are unlikely to become specialists in the field of rabbinic thought and literature, but for whom a knowledge of both is now essential. It is, for example, significant how many recent studies of the Gospels have relied heavily on Jewish background material—it is only necessary to mention B. Gerhardsson (on the transmission of oral material in rabbinic Judaism and the possible bearing this might have on the transmission of the teaching of Jesus), W. D. Davies (on the Sermon on the Mount), and C. H. Dodd (on John) to indicate how indispensable a knowledge of Jewish material has become.

The intention of this book is to provide, in the simplest and most manageable form, an introduction to that material, taking into account recent work and discoveries. The introduction most widely available at the present time is that of H. L. Strack (Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash), which first appeared in 1887 and was last revised in 1924.