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Skilled persons have been translating the Bible for more than two millennia. With the exception of the LXX translation, some version of the (proto-)MT has been the basis of virtually every translation of the Hebrew Bible,⁶¹ whether those translations were Jewish or not. Since the proto-MT was the central Jewish text from the first century CE onwards, several ancient translations were based on that text, reflecting minor differences. This is the case for the Latin Vulgate translation, subsequently used by the Catholic Church, and the Syriac Peshitta subsequently used by the Syrian Orthodox Churches (although the latter deviates occasionally from the proto-MT). With some exceptions, especially in the Qumran Targum of Job from cave 11 and the Samaritan Targum, all the Targumim reflect the proto-MT, and this is also the case for the early medieval Arabic translation (tafsir) of parts of Scripture by Saʿadia Gaon (882–942).

Of the ancient translations, the Targumim especially came to be identified with Judaism since they reflected, more or less officially, the exegetical views of the rabbis on the Bible. Most of the (later) Targumim offered expanded readings, as opposed to translations.