Commentary for Shabbat 230:7

ת"ר (במדבר י, לה) ויהי בנסוע הארון ויאמר משה פרשה זו עשה לה הקב"ה סימניות מלמעלה ולמטה לומר

— If the section, 'And it came to pass, etc.,' is defective [through effacing], I have no problem, for since it contains the Divine Name, even if it does not contain eighty-five letters we must rescue it. My only problem is about a Scroll of the Law wherein [this number] cannot be gathered: what then? We may not save it, he answered. He refuted him: If <i>Targum </i>is written as Mikra,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., if the Biblical passages which are in Aramaic in the original are written in Hebrew, as practically the whole of the Pentateuch (mikra — lit., 'reading') is. ');">¹⁷</span> or Mikra is written in <i>Targum </i>or in Hebrew characters,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Samaritan script. V. p. 66, n. 9. ');">¹⁸</span> they must be saved from a fire, and the <i>Targum </i>in Ezra, Daniel and the Torah [the Pentateuch] go without saying. Now, what is the <i>Targum </i>in the Torah? [The words], Yegar sahadutha;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. XXXI, 47 q.v. ');">¹⁹</span> and though it does not contain eighty-five letters [it must be saved]? — That was taught in respect of completing [the number].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., if the Scroll contains eighty-five uneffaced letters including yegar sahadutha, it must be saved. ');">²⁰</span> The scholars asked: These eighty-five letters, [must they be] together or [even] scattered? R. Huna said: [They must be] together; R. Hisda said: Even scattered. An objection is raised: If a Scroll of the Law is decayed, if eighty-five letters can be gathered therein, such as the section, 'and it came to pass when the ark set forward etc.,' we must save it; if not, we may not save it. This refutes R. Huna?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because 'can be gathered' implies that they are scattered. ');">²¹</span> — R. Hisda expounded it on the basis of R. Huna's [ruling as referring] to words.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It contains complete words scattered about which total to eighty-five letters. They differ where all the eighty-five letters are scattered, the Scroll containing no complete words at all. ');">²²</span> Our Rabbis taught: 'And it came to pass when the ark set forward that Moses said, [etc.]': for this section the Holy One, blessed be He, provided signs above and below,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., at the beginning and at the end. — In the Scrolls the section is preceded and followed by a reversed nun, which distinguishes and divorces it from the adjoining passages. ');">²³</span> to teach

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