Wednesday, April 7, 2010

targum


Another case of Finnegans Wake having gotten the better of me. Here's the sentence:

The quad gospellers may own the targum but any of the Zingari shoolerim may pick a peck of kindlings yet from the sack of auld hensyne.

As may be clear, with Joyce, you tend to rather seize upon the things that you think you may have a slight clue on, which in the case of 'targum' isn't saying all that much.

I did have a sense that 'targum' has a connection to Jewish teachings, probably commentary of some sort. We did discover that this was more or less right, but the most precise definition already eludes me, so I'll look it up again in a moment.

Here's the thing, though. Somehow, I have the idea in my head that the targum goes back to these little pieces of parchment or sheepskin or something that were then pasted together or glued in--I don't know. So my real curiosity here is, first, did I make that up out of whole cloth--or maybe sheepskin--and second, what is the origin of the word, since I am most likely totally wrong?

...Okay--whole cloth. What targums really are are translations, or at least explanations of Hebrew scriptures to those who had lost facility in the original language. They came into being in Jewish communities existing within larger communities where the lingua franca was Aramaic, and where people might use Hebrew only in worship. You can find a much deeper discussion of all this here. I am sorry to say it has nothing to do with sheepskin.

15 comments:

  1. The Targums are Aramaic translations of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, done by Jews, as the need arose for translations of the Tanakh in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. Targum means translation, so Targums is translation, and the Hebrew plural Targumim is also used.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Aramaic scholar! Anything else you would like to say about this would be much appreciated, as I am obviously in quite a bit over my head with this one.

    The etymology seemed to be a bit up for grabs according to the source I mentioned, though as you say, it all does seem to go back in one way or another to translation. .

    ReplyDelete
  3. My elementary education pays off; I knew this one. But the etymological guesses are new to me. One does not tend to explore such matter during one's elementary education, so thanks.
    ==========================
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. In retrospect, I believe Aramaic Scholar is a kind of benevolent, mayhap even divine spam.

    If God does exist, this is probably an insight into how the universe really works.

    ReplyDelete
  5. An exotic new hybrid, perhaps: knowledge-spam.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Seana -

    I envy you if targum was the only word you struggled with there!

    ReplyDelete
  7. No, it's more that I faintly discerned it as a raft in the sea of my confusion.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A distant lifeboat, glimpsed uncertainly on the swells, you mean?
    ================
     Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
     http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. No--as it was made out of my own scant knowledge, it was not as sturdy as a lifeboat.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your tossings will land you on the solid ground of knowledge one day.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It would be nice to think so, but somehow I doubt it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hmm, Christian-style allegorical moralism didn't work, so how about Buddhist-style enlightenment: You will realize one day, after years of blog posts, that the boundary between the solid land of knowledge and the tossing sea of confusion is an illusion.

    V-word: madinem (say it out loud)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Here's, I think, a closer metaphor, at least for me. Knowledge is like land reclaimed from the marsh. Sooner or later it's going to get reclaimed by the swamp of ignorance.

    ReplyDelete
  14. No matter how much land is reclaimed by the Army Corps of Engineers Jersey Shore beach replenishment program of knowledge, it will inevitably be washed away by the eroding forces of ignorance, you mean?
    ================
     Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
     http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, I was thinking more personally than politically, but yeah, kind of like that.

    ReplyDelete