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Megillah 18a states

אִילֵּימָא דִּכְתִיבָה מִקְרָא וְקָרֵי לַהּ תַּרְגּוּם, הַיְינוּ עַל פֶּה

If we say that the Megilla was written in the original biblical text, i.e., in Hebrew, and he read it in Aramaic translation, then this is the same as reading it by heart

Why is translating on the fly the same as reading it by heart?!

When you read by heart you are relying on your memory; here you are relying on your knowledge of two languages which seems to be very different (from the cog sci POV).

sds
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The point the Gemara is making is that by translating, you are not reading what it says in the scroll, so that is already included in the Mishna's ruling that the Megillah must be read from the scroll. The cog sci aspect is not really relevant; the point is there is a rule that the Megillah must be read from the scroll, and this should be included. The Gemara answers that the Megillah was written in Aramaic, so he is reading from a scroll.

N.T.
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I suspect you misunderstand "read it in Aramaic translation" as "on the fly free-style translation". When the Gemmorah says "תרגום" it refers to the fixed text of the translation (similarly to Targum Onkelos on the Torah).

In Babylon, very few knew Micraic Hebrew, so translations were well-established and well-known texts. So one who "reads translation" actually "reads the fixed translation by heart".

Al Berko
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  • I don't think it makes sense that "very few knew Micraic Hebrew" but everyone knew the targum. If your native language is Aramaic and hear both Hebrew and Aramaic in shul every week, you'll pick up Hebrew pretty fast. I learned Aramaic by doing shnayim mikra every week and I'm pretty sure most people who do shnayim mikra have the same experience. There's no reason the same thing wouldn't happen in reverse. – Heshy Dec 30 '21 at 14:29
  • Was there an official targum of ketuvim? From megillah 3a it sounds like there wasn’t – Joel K Dec 30 '21 at 19:50
  • @JoelK Doesn't have to be "official", but simply "known", the same way people memorized the scriptures, they had the Targum memorized. – Al Berko Dec 30 '21 at 20:54
  • @Heshy A lot of people don't do shnayim mikra one passuk at a time, so they never pick it up. – N.T. Dec 31 '21 at 01:17
  • @n.t. I don't either, I go by the parsha breaks. Anyway when they read the targum in shul they did read one pasuk at a time. – Heshy Dec 31 '21 at 10:53
  • @AlBerko That's my point. It doesn't seem like there was an known, memorized Targum of ketuvim. Certainly not one that was written down or ever used formally in the synagogue – Joel K Jan 02 '22 at 13:09
  • @JoelK In my understanding, back then, the Torah wasn't so monumental as it is perceived today's (letter tight, so to speak), this tradition developed toward the end of the millennium by the Geonim, and the translations were not only common but far more "legit". Because a few knew Biblical Hebrew, it was much easier to memorize the Targum than the Torah. We have to understand their reality instead on imposing ours or that of our late commentaries. – Al Berko Jan 03 '22 at 07:15
  • @AlBerko I agree with you that the targumim of Torah and Neviim were probably very well known and memorized. I'm talking specifically about Ketuvim, where the gemara records a strong tradition of it not having a targum – Joel K Jan 03 '22 at 08:09
  • @JoelK By Ketubim you mean the Meggila? IMHO it was originally the Babylonian parable, which was adopted and Judaized. So the source was originally in Aramaic anyway. – Al Berko Jan 03 '22 at 08:15