JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

Akkadian noun itself has been connected by some scholars
with the verb ragāmu, “call out,” “summon,” “prophesy,” “sue”
(CAD R, 62–7), and with Ugaritic rgm, “speak,” “say.” Others
have argued for a non-semitic origin (details in Starke). In
Aramaic and Hebrew the word turgeman exists alongside a
more native-looking Hebrew adaptation, meturgeman. In tannaitic
and amoraic Hebrew tirgem is said of translating from
Hebrew into any other language (TJ, Kid. 1:1, 59a; TJ, Meg. 1:11,
71c), but the noun targum does not seem to occur with reference
to any but Aramaic versions of the Bible (Shab. 115a; TJ,
Kid. 1:1, 59a; TJ, Meg. 1:11, 71c). In fact, the Mishnah (Yad. 4:5)
refers to the Aramaic originals of certain sections of Daniel
and Ezra as targum.
ORIGIN OF THE TARGUMS. The Jewish diaspora in Babylonia
must have exchanged Hebrew for Aramaic as its vernacular
in only a few generations. In Palestine the process was much
more gradual, but Aramaic was probably the language of the
majority of Jews there before the end of the Persian period.
During the period of Persian domination (539–333 B.C.E.),
Aramaic was the language of the Persian administration and
the lingua franca of southwestern Asia. The bilingual character
of the books of Ezra and Daniel is due to the attempt to
make these books more “biblical” by providing them with Hebrew
beginnings, but they reflect a period of Aramaic dominance.
The practice of translating the Bible reading into Aramaic
in the synagogue is attributed to Ezra by *Rav (third
century C.E.), who interprets the word meforash in Nehemiah
8:8 to mean an interpretation of the Hebrew text of the
Bible in Aramaic translation (Meg. 3a; Ned. 37b; cf. TJ, Meg.
4:1, 74d), but both the meaning of the word and the reliability
of the account in Nehemiah 8 are subjects of controversy. At
any rate the custom of interpreting the synagogue reading of
the Bible text with the Targum after each verse (or after each
three verses) in the presence of the congregation, so as to
permit a translator to repeat it in Aramaic, is attested in the
Mishnah (Meg. 4:4).
MANNER OF USAGE. The professional translator of the Hebrew
Bible text in the synagogue was called meturgeman (Meg.
4:4). His oral explanations were given along with the reading
of the Sabbath lesson. The rules for reading the Targum
are formulated in the halakhah (Meg. 4:4–10; Meg. 23b–25b;
Tosef., Meg. 4:20–41). The Targum was to be read after every
verse of the parashah of the Pentateuch and after every third
verse of the reading from the Prophets. There is no mention in
this source of reading from a written Targum, and elsewhere
(TJ, Meg. 4:1, 74d) the use of such writings was forbidden, at
least for the Pentateuch, for the Sabbath worship service, but
the preparation and use of them by individuals for private
study and school instruction was permitted. Although certain
portions of the Bible were read but were not translated
(as Gen. 35:22), others were neither read nor translated (as
Num. 6:24–26; II Sam. 11–13). *Judah b. Ilai, a tanna, and a
bible
pupil of Akiva rhetorically expressed the difficulty faced by
all Bible translators in his declaration that whoever translates
(ha-metargem) a verse of Bible literally is is a fictionalizer,
while he who makes additions is a blasphemer (Tosef.,
Meg. 4:41; Kid. 49a). A later anonymous opinion (Kid. 49a)
cites Judah’s statement as proof that one may not translate the
Bible on one’s own but must translate only from “our targum,”
i.e., Onkelos (see below). In Sifrei (Deut. 161), the Targum is
mentioned as a branch of study that falls between the Bible
and the Mishnah. The Targums as a whole are not always primarily
literal translations of the corresponding Hebrew text;
they are often intermingled with various paraphrases and aggadic
supplements such as one meets in exegetical or homiletic
works like the Talmud and the Midrash. They also contain
explanations and alterations adapted to secure the sense
of the masoretic text current among the rabbinical authorities,
offering it to the people in an intelligible form. In this period
an important concern of Jewish criticism and exegesis was the
need to remove or tone down all references to God that could
lead to misunderstanding in the popular mind. The Targum
thus employs various devices to obviate the appearance of a
very distinct anthropomorphic character of God. These, however,
are not consistently applied. Indeed at times anthropomorphic
phrases are translated literally or even amplified, e.g.,
PT to Exod. 15:17 (Klein, 1982; 1986, xxxii).
DATE OF TARGUM. There are early indications that the Targum
was committed to writing, although for private use only.
A tannaitic tradition refers to an Aramaic translation of the
book of Job which existed in written form at the time of *Gamaliel
I (first century C.E.) and which, after being withdrawn
from use, reappeared in the lifetime of his grandson Gamaliel
II. Targum Onkelos, which was made the official Targum
of the Babylonian schools, was committed to writing and redacted
as early as the third century C.E., since there is a masorah
to it which dates from the first half of that century (see
below). The official recognition of a written Targum and the
final redaction of its text, however, belong to the post-talmudic
period, thus not earlier than the fifth century C.E.
LITURGICAL USE OF THE TARGUM. Two Palestinian amoraim
of the third century C.E. (Ber. 8a–b) urged that in private
worship the Hebrew text of the weekly parashah be read
twice and the Targum once, exactly as was done in public
worship. There are still pious Jews who do this before the
Sabbath, although Aramaic is no longer the vernacular of the
Jews. The Yemenite Jews have even retained the public reading
of Targum Onkelos (see below). Targums to all the books
of the Bible except Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah (this constituting
in Jewish tradition a single book of Ezra) have survived
to this day.
Targums to the Pentateuch
TARGUM ONKELOS. The official Targum to the Pentateuch,
the only such Aramaic version that was subjected to a unified
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 589