Chumash (Judaism)
Printed book of the Five Books of Moses.
A Chumash is a printed and bound copy of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, used primarily for study. It differs from a Torah scroll, which is handwritten on parchment with strict production standards and used in synagogue. The term derives from the Hebrew word for five, reflecting the five books it contains.
Etymology
The word ḥumesh, meaning 'one-fifth', originally referred to any single book of the Torah. Through synecdoche, it came to denote the entire five books. The Modern Hebrew pronunciation ḥumash is considered an erroneous reconstruction based on assumptions about Ashkenazic stress patterns, while ḥumesh preserves the original stress. In early scribal practice, a distinction existed between a full Torah scroll and a codex copy of one book, the latter called a ḥomesh. This term was later misread as ḥumash, leading to its current usage. Legal codes like Maimonides' Mishneh Torah state that any copy of the Pentateuch not meeting the strict rules for a Sefer Torah—such as being a parchment scroll or lacking vowel signs—has only the sanctity of an individual book (ḥomesh). Thus, ḥumash came to mean any non-scroll copy of the Pentateuch.
Usage
The term ḥumash generally refers only to bound book editions of the Pentateuch, as opposed to the scroll form called a sefer Torah. A printed ḥumash typically includes the Hebrew text with vowel marks and cantillation marks, divided into 54 weekly Torah portions, along with the haftarah for each portion and often translations and notes. A ḥumash-Rashi also contains the Targum Onkelos and Rashi's commentary. A Tikkun soferim presents the unvocalized text as in a Torah scroll alongside the normal printed text, aiding scribes and readers. A multi-volume set in Hebrew with the entire Tanakh, masoretic notes, Targumim, and commentaries is called Mikraot Gedolot.
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