The word comes from the Hebrew word for five, ḥamesh (חמש). A more formal term is Ḥamishah Ḥumshei Torah, "five fifths of Torah". It is also known by the Latinised Greek term Pentateuch in common printed editions.[1]
The word ḥumesh is a standard Ashkenazicvowel shift of ḥomesh, meaning "one-fifth", alluding to any one of the five books; by synecdoche, it came to mean the five fifths of the Torah. The Modern Israeli Hebrew pronunciation ḥumash is an erroneous reconstruction based on the assumption that the Ashkenazic accent, which is almost uniformly penultimately stressed, had also changed the stress of the word. In fact, ḥumesh preserves the original stress pattern and both pronunciations contain a shifted first vowel.
In early scribal practice, there was a distinction between a Sefer Torah, containing the entire Pentateuch on a parchment scroll, and a copy of one of the five books on its own, which was generally bound in codex form, like a modern book, and had a lesser degree of sanctity. The term ḥomesh strictly applies to one of the latter. Thus, ḥomesh B'reshit strictly means "the Genesis fifth", but was misread as ḥumash, B'reshit and interpreted as meaning "The Pentateuch: Genesis", as if ḥumash was the name of the book and Bereshit the name of one of its parts. Compare the misunderstanding of "Tur" to mean the entirety of the Arba'ah Turim.[citation needed]
In the legal codes, such as Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, it is laid down that any copy of the Pentateuch which does not comply with the strict rules for a Sefer Torah, for example, because it is not a parchment scroll or contains vowel signs, has only the same sanctity as a copy of an individual book (ḥomesh). In this way, the word ḥomesh (or ḥumash) came to have the extended sense of any copy of the Pentateuch other than a Sefer Torah.[2]
Usageedit
The word ḥumash generally only refers to "book" bound editions of the Pentateuch, whereas the "scroll" form is called a sefer Torah ("book [of the] Torah").
In modern Jewish practice:
A printed ḥumash usually sets out the Hebrew text of the Torah with niqqud (vowel marks) and cantillation marks, separated into its 54 constituent weekly Torah portions (parashiyyot), together with the haftarah for each portion and, often, translations and notes.[3]
A ḥumash-Rashi also contains the Targum Onkelos and the commentary of Rashi, and may or may not have a vernacular translation of the text.
A Tikkun soferim or Tiqqun Qore'im sets out, in parallel columns, the unvocalized text of the Pentateuch as it would appear in a Torah scroll and the normal printed text as it appears in a Chumash; it sometimes includes haftarot and the Five Megillot. It exists as an aid for soferim (Torah scribes) and for those preparing to read from the sefer Torah in the synagogue.
A multi-volume set in Hebrew only, often but not always including the entire Tanakh with masoretic notes (sometimes), Targumim and several classical commentaries, is referred to as Mikraot Gedolot ("Great Scriptures").
The Torah: A Modern Commentary, Revised Edition. W. Gunther Plaut, ed. New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 2006: associated with American Reform movement
^Zaklikowski, Dovid. "What does Chumash mean?". Chabad.org. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
^. Archived from the original on 2022-01-17. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
^Levenson, Alan T. (2011). The Making of the Modern Jewish Bible: How Scholars in Germany, Israel, and America Transformed an Ancient Text. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 181–183. ISBN978-1-4422-0516-1.
External linksedit
April 09, 2024
chumash, judaism, chumash, also, Ḥumash, hebrew, חומש, pronounced, χuˈmaʃ, pronounced, ħuˈmaʃ, yiddish, pronounced, ˈχʊməʃ, plural, Ḥumashim, torah, printed, book, bound, form, codex, opposed, sefer, torah, which, scroll, chumash, from, basel, 1943, jewish, mu. Chumash also Ḥumash Hebrew חומש pronounced xuˈmaʃ or pronounced ħuˈmaʃ or Yiddish pronounced ˈxʊmeʃ plural Ḥumashim is a Torah in printed and book bound form i e codex as opposed to a Sefer Torah which is a scroll Chumash from Basel 1943 in the Jewish Museum of Switzerland s collection The word comes from the Hebrew word for five ḥamesh חמש A more formal term is Ḥamishah Ḥumshei Torah five fifths of Torah It is also known by the Latinised Greek term Pentateuch in common printed editions 1 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Usage 3 Various publications 4 References 5 External linksEtymology editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message nbsp The Artscroll ChumashThe word ḥumesh is a standard Ashkenazic vowel shift of ḥomesh meaning one fifth alluding to any one of the five books by synecdoche it came to mean the five fifths of the Torah The Modern Israeli Hebrew pronunciation ḥumash is an erroneous reconstruction based on the assumption that the Ashkenazic accent which is almost uniformly penultimately stressed had also changed the stress of the word In fact ḥumesh preserves the original stress pattern and both pronunciations contain a shifted first vowel In early scribal practice there was a distinction between a Sefer Torah containing the entire Pentateuch on a parchment scroll and a copy of one of the five books on its own which was generally bound in codex form like a modern book and had a lesser degree of sanctity The term ḥomesh strictly applies to one of the latter Thus ḥomesh B reshit strictly means the Genesis fifth but was misread as ḥumash B reshit and interpreted as meaning The Pentateuch Genesis as if ḥumash was the name of the book and Bereshit the name of one of its parts Compare the misunderstanding of Tur to mean the entirety of the Arba ah Turim citation needed In the legal codes such as Maimonides Mishneh Torah it is laid down that any copy of the Pentateuch which does not comply with the strict rules for a Sefer Torah for example because it is not a parchment scroll or contains vowel signs has only the same sanctity as a copy of an individual book ḥomesh In this way the word ḥomesh or ḥumash came to have the extended sense of any copy of the Pentateuch other than a Sefer Torah 2 Usage editThe word ḥumash generally only refers to book bound editions of the Pentateuch whereas the scroll form is called a sefer Torah book of the Torah In modern Jewish practice A printed ḥumash usually sets out the Hebrew text of the Torah with niqqud vowel marks and cantillation marks separated into its 54 constituent weekly Torah portions parashiyyot together with the haftarah for each portion and often translations and notes 3 A ḥumash Rashi also contains the Targum Onkelos and the commentary of Rashi and may or may not have a vernacular translation of the text A Tikkun soferim or Tiqqun Qore im sets out in parallel columns the unvocalized text of the Pentateuch as it would appear in a Torah scroll and the normal printed text as it appears in a Chumash it sometimes includes haftarot and the Five Megillot It exists as an aid for soferim Torah scribes and for those preparing to read from the sefer Torah in the synagogue A multi volume set in Hebrew only often but not always including the entire Tanakh with masoretic notes sometimes Targumim and several classical commentaries is referred to as Mikraot Gedolot Great Scriptures Various publications editFurther information Jewish English Bible translations The Pentateuch and Haftorahs London 1937 known as the Hertz Chumash containing the commentary of former British Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz Soncino Chumash 1st of the 14 volume Soncino Books of the Bible series ed Abraham Cohen containing notes summarizing the traditional commentaries Mikraot Gedolot Torah and Haftarot translation by Philip Birnbaum Hebrew Publishing Company 1983 ISBN 0 88484 456 0 Etz Hayim Humash Published by the Jewish Publication Society of America ISBN 0 8276 0712 1 associated with Conservative movement Gutnik Chumash with Onkelos Rashi and commentaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe The Torah A Modern Commentary Revised Edition W Gunther Plaut ed New York Union for Reform Judaism 2006 associated with American Reform movement The Torah A Women s Commentary edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L Weiss Union for Reform Judaism Women of Reform Judaism 2008References edit Zaklikowski Dovid What does Chumash mean Chabad org Retrieved 2016 12 03 Torah versus Talmud Archived from the original on 2022 01 17 Retrieved 2019 01 10 Levenson Alan T 2011 The Making of the Modern Jewish Bible How Scholars in Germany Israel and America Transformed an Ancient Text Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers pp 181 183 ISBN 978 1 4422 0516 1 External links editJudaism 101 Chumash Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chumash Judaism amp oldid 1212946239, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
