Information AboutTargum |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TARGUM | |
| targums | |
| aramaic texts | |
|
( Targum is also the name used for a dialect of Hebrew that was spoken by Jews in Kurdistan .) As translations, the ''targumim'' largely reflect rabbinic (i.e. Midrash ic) interpretation of the Tanakh . This is true both for those ''targumim'' that are fairly literal, as well as for those which contain a great many Midrash ic expansions. Aramaic was the dominant language or Lingua Franca for hundreds of years in major Jewish communities in the Land Of Israel and Babylonia . In order to facilitate the study of Tanakh and make its public reading understood, authoritative translations were required. THE TWO "OFFICIAL" TARGUMIM The two most important ''targumim'' for liturgical purposes are:
These two ''targumim'' are mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud as ''targum didan'' ("our Targum"), giving them official status. In the synagogues of talmudic times, Targum Onkelos was read alternately with the Torah , verse by verse, and Targum Jonathan was read alternately with the selection from Nevi'im (i.e. the Haftarah ). This custom continues to this day in Yemenite Jewish synagogues. The Yemenite Jews are the only Jewish community to preserve this tradition as well as the pronunciation for the Aramaic of the ''targumim'' (according to a Babylonian dialect). Besides its public function in the synagogue, the Talmud also mentions ''targum'' in the context of a personal study requirement: "A person should always review his portions of scripture along with the community, reading the scripture twice and the ''targum'' once." This too refers to Targum Onkelos on the public Torah reading and to Targum Jonathan on the Haftarot from Nevi'im . Medieval biblical manuscripts of the Tiberian Mesorah sometimes contain the Hebrew text interpolated, verse-by-verse, with the official ''targumim''. This scribal practice has its roots both in the public reading of the Targum and in the private study requirement. The two "official" ''targumim'' are considered eastern (Babylonian). Nevertheless, scholars believe they too originated in the Land Of Israel because of a strong linguistic substratum of western Aramaic. Though these ''targumim'' were later "easternized," the substratum belying their origins still remains. In post-talmudic times, when most Jewish communities had ceased speaking Aramaic, the public reading of Targum along with the Torah and Haftarah was abandoned in most communities. In Yemen, however, rather than ''abandoning'' the Aramaic targum during the public reading of the Torah, it was ''supplemented'' by a third version, namely the translation of the Torah into Arabic by Saadia Gaon (called the ''Tafsir''). Thus, in Yemen each verse was read three times. The private study requirement to review the Targum was never entirely relaxed, even when Jewish communities had largely ceased speaking Aramaic, and the Targum never ceased to be a major source for Jewish Biblical Exegesis . For these reasons, the Targum is still almost always printed alongside the text in Jewish editions of the Bible with commentaries. Nevertheless, later halakhic authorities argued that the requirement to privately review the ''targum'' might also be met by reading a translation in the current vernacular in place of the official Targum, or else by studying an important commentary containing midrashic interpretation (especially that of Rashi ). TARGUM KETUVIM The Talmud explicitly states that no official ''targumim'' were composed besides these two on Torah and Nevi'im alone, and that there is no official ''targum'' to Ketuvim ("The Writings"). An official ''targum'' was in fact unnecessary for Ketuvim because its books played no fixed liturgical role. It is stated in the Talmud (Megilah 3a) that Jonathan ben Uzziel wanted to compose a targum to the Ketuvim, however a ''bat kol'' (voice from heaven) came forth and forbid it. The reason given is that the Ketuvim foretell the date of the Messiah's coming, which was not permitted to be revealed. Nevertheless, most books of Ketuvim have ''targumim'', whose origin is mostly western ( Land Of Israel ) rather than eastern ( Babylonia ). But for lack of a fixed place in the liturgy, they were poorly preserved and less well known. From the Land Of Israel , the tradition of ''targum'' to Ketuvim made its way to Italy, and from there to medieval Ashkenaz and Sepharad . OTHER TARGUMIM ON THE TORAH There are also a variety of western ''targumim'' on the . To attribute this ''targum'' to Jonathan Ben Uzziel also contradicts the talmudic tradition (Megillah 3a), which quite clearly attributes the ''targum'' to Nevi'im ''alone'' to him, while stating that there is ''no'' official ''targum'' to Ketuvim . In the same printed version, a similar fragment ''targum'' is correctly labeled as ''Targum Yerushalmi''. Another important full western Targum on the Torah is ''Targum Neofiti''. THE PESHITTA The Peshitta is the traditional Bible of Syriac -speaking Christians (those who speak a dialect of Eastern Aramaic ). Its 'Old Testament' has been shown to be based on rabbinic targumim. EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|