not difficult to infer. But from that day, laments a Rabbi, the glory of the Jews decreased!46
37. Rosh. haSh. ii. 4; comp. the Jer. Gemara on it, and in the Bab. Talmud 23 b.
38. Rosh. haSh. i. 4.
39. Shev. vi. passim; Gitt. 8 a.
40. Ohol. xxiii. 7.
41. Kidd. 69 b.
42. Cheth. 111 a.
43. As comments upon the genealogies from `Azel' in 1 Chr. viii. 37 to `Azel' in ix. 44. Pes. 62 b.
44. Chs. ix. x.
45. Life i.; Ag Apion i. 7.
46. Pes. 62 b; Sachs, Beitr. vol. ii. p. 157.
Nor was it merely purity of descent of which the Eastern dispersion could boast. In truth,
Palestine owed everything to Ezra, the Babylonian,47 a man so distinguished that, according to
tradition, the Law would have been given by him, if Moses had not previously obtained that
honor. Putting aside the various traditional ordinances which the Talmud ascribes to him,48 we
know from the Scriptures what his activity for good had been. Altered circumstances had
brought many changes to the new Jewish State. Even the language, spoken and written, was
other than formerly. Instead of the characters anciently employed, the exiles brought with them,
on their return, those now common, the so-called square Hebrew letters, which gradually came
into general use.49 50 The language spoken by the Jews was no longer Hebrew, but Aramæan,
both in Palestine and in Babylonia;51 in the former the Western, in the latter the Eastern dialect.
In fact, the common people were ignorant of pure Hebrew, which henceforth became the
language of students and of the Synagogue. Even there a Methurgeman, or interpreter, had to
be employed to translate into the vernacular the portions of Scripture read in the public
services,52 and the addresses delivered by the Rabbis. This was the origin of the so-called
Targumim , or paraphrases of Scripture. In earliest times, indeed, it was forbidden to the
Methurgeman to read his translation or to write down a Targum, lest the paraphrase should be
regarded as of equal authority with the original. It was said that, when Jonathan brought out his
Targum on the Prophets, a voice from heaven was heard to utter: `Who is this that has revealed
My secrets to men?'53 Still, such Targumim seem to have existed from a very early period,
and, amid the varying and often incorrect renderings, their necessity must have made itself
increasingly felt. Accordingly, their use was authoritatively sanctioned before the end of the
second century after Christ. This is the origin of our two oldest extant Targumim : that of
Onkelos (as it is called), on the Pentateuch; and that on the Prophets, attributed to Jonathan the
son of Uzziel. These names do not, indeed, accurately represent the authorship of the oldest
Targumim, which may more correctly be regarded as later and authoritative recensions of what,
in some form, had existed before. But although these works had their origin in Palestine, it is