Simeon ben Azzai
Encyclopedia
Simeon ben Azzai or simply Ben Azzai (Hebrew: שמעון בן עזאי) was a distinguished tanna
of the first third of the 2nd century. His full name was Simon ben Azzai, to which sometimes the title "Rabbi" is prefixed. But, in spite of his great learning, this title did not rightfully belong to him, for he remained all his life in the ranks of the "talmidim" or "talmide hakamim" (pupils or disciples of the wise). Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma were considered in the tannaitic school-tradition as the highest representatives of this degree in the hierarchy of learning (Tosef., Ḳid. iii.9; Bab. Ḳid. 49b; Ber.
Ḳid. 57b; Yer. Ma'as. Sh. ii.53d; Bab. Sanh. 17b).
Ben Azzai is especially named as an eminent example of a "pupil who is worthy of the hora'ah," of the right of independent judgment in questions of religious law (Hor. 2b). Ben 'Azzai stood in close relation to the leaders of the school of Jabneh. He handed down, "from the mouth of two-and-seventy elders," who were present on the occasion, a halakic decision, which was accepted in Jabneh on the day when Eleazar ben Azariah
was elected president in the place of Gamaliel II
(Yad. iv.2; Zeb. i.3); also another resolution of the same day, declaring the books Kohelet and Shir ha-Shirim to be as sacred as the other Scriptures, whereby the collection of the Biblical writings, or the canon, was officially closed (Yad. iii.5).
, whose opinions he expounded (Parah i.1), proved to be correct (Yeb. iv.13), or defended against Akiba (Yoma
ii.3; Ta'anit
iv.4; Tosef., Sheb. ii.13). Akiba himself was not really Ben Azzai's teacher, although the latter occasionally calls him so, and once even regrets that he did not stand in closer relation as pupil to Akiba (Ned. 74b); and he expressed the same regret in regard to Ishmael ben Elisha
(Ḥul. 71a). In his halakic opinions and Biblical exegesis, as well as in other sayings, Ben Azzai follows Akiba, and, from the tone in which he speaks of Akiba in the discourses that have been handed down, the Amoraim concluded that his relations with Akiba were both those of pupil and of colleague (Yer. B. B.
ix.17b; Bab. ib. 158b; Yer. Sheḳ. iii.47b; Yer. R. H. i.56d).
cxiv. 8) that in their perceptive faculty both had been as hard as rock; but, because they exerted themselves so greatly in their studies, God opened for the man entrance into the Torah, so that Ben Azzai could explain even those things in the Halakah that the schools of Shammai
and Hillel
had not understood. His love of study induced Ben Azzai to remain unmarried, although he himself preached against celibacy
, and even was betrothed to Akiba's daughter, who waited for years for him to marry her, as her mother had waited for Akiba. When Eleazar ben Azariah
reproved him for this contradiction between his life and his teachings, he replied: "What shall I do? My soul clings lovingly to the Torah; let others contribute to the preservation of the race".
Another characteristic of Ben Azzai was his great piety. It was said, "He who has seen Ben Azzai in his dreams is himself on the way to piety". Thanks to this piety he could, without injury to his soul, devote himself to theosophic speculations, when he, like Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Abuyah
, and Akiba, entered, as tradition has it, into the garden ("pardes") of the esoteric doctrine. Tradition says of him: "He beheld the mysteries of the garden and died; God granted him the death of His saints". With reference to this verse, Ben Azzai himself had taught that God shows to the pious, near the hour of their death, the rewards awaiting them. Other sayings of his concerning the hour of death have been handed down. According to a tradition not entirely trustworthy, Ben Azzai was among the first victims of the persecutions under Hadrian
; his name, therefore, is found on a list of the ten martyrs
.
, Rav Johanan, and the greatest amora of Babylonia
, Rab
, each said, in order to mark their authority as teachers of the Law: "Here I am a Ben Azzai" (Yer. Bik. ii.65a; Yer. Peah vi.19c). The name of Ben Azzai is applied in the same sense by the great Babylonian amora Abaye
(Soṭah
45a; Ḳid. 20a; Arakhin
30b) and Raba
(Er.
29a). A haggadic legend from Israel relates of him the following:
to Ber.
22a; Tos. to Eruvin 53b).
In a sentence that recalls a fundamental thought of Akiba, Ben Azzai gives the characteristic features of a kind of deterministic view of the world: "By thy name they shall call thee, at the place where thou belongest shall they see thee, what is thine they shall give to thee; no man touches that which is destined for his neighbor; and no government infringes even by a hair's breadth upon the time marked for another government" (Yoma
38a et seq.). Following Hillel
, Akiba had declared the commandment "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix.18) to be the greatest fundamental commandment of the Jewish doctrine; Ben Azzai, in reference to this, said that a still greater principle was found in the Scriptural verse, "This is the book of the generations of Adam [origin of man]. In the day that God created man [Adam], in the likeness of God made he him" (Gen. v.1; Sifra
, Ḳedoshim, iv; Yer. Ned. ix.41c; Gen. R. xxiv). The commandment to love God with all the soul (Deut. vi.5), Ben Azzai explained in the same manner as Akiba: "Love him even to the last breath of the soul!" (Sifre
, Deut. 32). Several of Ben Azzai's haggadic sentences, having been called forth by those of Akiba, are introduced by the words, "I do not wish to oppose the interpretation of my master, but will only add to his words" (Sifra
, Vayiḳra, ii; Mek., Bo, Introd.).
Ben Azzai's observations on sacrifices (Sifre
, Num. 143) are obviously directed against Gnosticism
. As against the doctrine of the Gnostics, that the part of the Law containing the rules of sacrifice could have originated only with a secondary god, the demiurge, who is merely just, not beneficent, Ben Azzai maintains, that in connection with the sacrificial laws, not any one of the various names of God in Judaism
is there used, but precisely the distinctive name, the Tetragrammaton
, in which especially the goodness of God is emphasized, in order that the "minim" (disbelievers) might not have an opportunity to prove their views by the Bible
. Ben Azzai's symbolic interpretation of the first word of Lamentations
(איכה) is also polemical and probably directed against Pauline Christianity
. He holds that in the numerical value of the four letters of this word is indicated that the Israelites did not go into exile until after they had denied the one God (א), the ten commandments (י), the law of circumcision, given to the twentieth generation after Adam (כ), and the five (ה) books of the Torah (Lam. R. i.1).
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
of the first third of the 2nd century. His full name was Simon ben Azzai, to which sometimes the title "Rabbi" is prefixed. But, in spite of his great learning, this title did not rightfully belong to him, for he remained all his life in the ranks of the "talmidim" or "talmide hakamim" (pupils or disciples of the wise). Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma were considered in the tannaitic school-tradition as the highest representatives of this degree in the hierarchy of learning (Tosef., Ḳid. iii.9; Bab. Ḳid. 49b; Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
Ḳid. 57b; Yer. Ma'as. Sh. ii.53d; Bab. Sanh. 17b).
Ben Azzai is especially named as an eminent example of a "pupil who is worthy of the hora'ah," of the right of independent judgment in questions of religious law (Hor. 2b). Ben 'Azzai stood in close relation to the leaders of the school of Jabneh. He handed down, "from the mouth of two-and-seventy elders," who were present on the occasion, a halakic decision, which was accepted in Jabneh on the day when Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah , was a 1st-century CE Palestinian tanna . He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b. Hananiah, and senior of Akiba...
was elected president in the place of Gamaliel II
Gamaliel II
Rabban Gamaliel II was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as Nasi after the fall of the second temple, which occurred in 70 CE. Gamliel was appointed nasi approximately 10 years later. Gamaliel II was the son of Shimon ben Gamaliel, one of Jerusalem's foremost men in the war against the...
(Yad. iv.2; Zeb. i.3); also another resolution of the same day, declaring the books Kohelet and Shir ha-Shirim to be as sacred as the other Scriptures, whereby the collection of the Biblical writings, or the canon, was officially closed (Yad. iii.5).
Relations with Akiba
Chief among Ben Azzai's teachers was Joshua ben HananiahJoshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent , and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers . His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas,...
, whose opinions he expounded (Parah i.1), proved to be correct (Yeb. iv.13), or defended against Akiba (Yoma
Yoma
Yoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
ii.3; Ta'anit
Ta'anit
A ta'anit or taanis or taʿanith in Classical Hebrew is a fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water...
iv.4; Tosef., Sheb. ii.13). Akiba himself was not really Ben Azzai's teacher, although the latter occasionally calls him so, and once even regrets that he did not stand in closer relation as pupil to Akiba (Ned. 74b); and he expressed the same regret in regard to Ishmael ben Elisha
Ishmael ben Elisha
Rabbi Ishmael or Ishmael ben Elisha was a Tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries . A Tanna is a rabbinic sage whose views are recorded in the Mishnah.-Disposition:...
(Ḥul. 71a). In his halakic opinions and Biblical exegesis, as well as in other sayings, Ben Azzai follows Akiba, and, from the tone in which he speaks of Akiba in the discourses that have been handed down, the Amoraim concluded that his relations with Akiba were both those of pupil and of colleague (Yer. B. B.
Bava Batra
Bava Batra is the third of the three tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of property. It is part of Judaism's oral law...
ix.17b; Bab. ib. 158b; Yer. Sheḳ. iii.47b; Yer. R. H. i.56d).
Piety and devotion to study
Ben Azzai's most prominent characteristic was the extraordinary assiduity with which he pursued his studies. It was said of him afterward, "At the death of Ben Azzai the last industrious man died". A later tradition says of the zealous studies of Ben Azzai and Akiba (by way of reference to Ps.Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
cxiv. 8) that in their perceptive faculty both had been as hard as rock; but, because they exerted themselves so greatly in their studies, God opened for the man entrance into the Torah, so that Ben Azzai could explain even those things in the Halakah that the schools of Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
and Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
had not understood. His love of study induced Ben Azzai to remain unmarried, although he himself preached against celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
, and even was betrothed to Akiba's daughter, who waited for years for him to marry her, as her mother had waited for Akiba. When Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah , was a 1st-century CE Palestinian tanna . He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b. Hananiah, and senior of Akiba...
reproved him for this contradiction between his life and his teachings, he replied: "What shall I do? My soul clings lovingly to the Torah; let others contribute to the preservation of the race".
Another characteristic of Ben Azzai was his great piety. It was said, "He who has seen Ben Azzai in his dreams is himself on the way to piety". Thanks to this piety he could, without injury to his soul, devote himself to theosophic speculations, when he, like Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Abuyah
Elisha ben Abuyah
Elisha ben Abuyah was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim and betrayed his people, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the...
, and Akiba, entered, as tradition has it, into the garden ("pardes") of the esoteric doctrine. Tradition says of him: "He beheld the mysteries of the garden and died; God granted him the death of His saints". With reference to this verse, Ben Azzai himself had taught that God shows to the pious, near the hour of their death, the rewards awaiting them. Other sayings of his concerning the hour of death have been handed down. According to a tradition not entirely trustworthy, Ben Azzai was among the first victims of the persecutions under Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
; his name, therefore, is found on a list of the ten martyrs
Ten Martyrs
The Ten Martyrs refers to a group of ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Romans in the period after the destruction of the second Temple...
.
His Reputation
Ben Azzai's posthumous fame was extraordinary. The greatest amora of IsraelLand of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
, Rav Johanan, and the greatest amora of Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
, Rab
Abba Arika
Abba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...
, each said, in order to mark their authority as teachers of the Law: "Here I am a Ben Azzai" (Yer. Bik. ii.65a; Yer. Peah vi.19c). The name of Ben Azzai is applied in the same sense by the great Babylonian amora Abaye
Abaye
Abaye was a rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia [בבל], known as an amora [אמורא] born about the close of the third century; died 339 . His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his...
(Soṭah
Sotah
Sotah deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery as described and prescribed in the Book of Numbers in...
45a; Ḳid. 20a; Arakhin
Arakhin
Arakhin is the fifth tractate in Seder Kodashim .Only chapters 1–6 based on Leviticus 27:1–8, deals with the vows of donating one's prescribed value as part of the dedication to the Temple, as well as other gifts to bedek habayis, or the treasury of the Temple...
30b) and Raba
Rava (amora)
For the third generation Amora sage of Babylon, with a similar name, see: Joseph b. Hama .Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama, who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava , was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270. He is one of the most often-cited Rabbis...
(Er.
Moed
Moed is the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the Oral Torah of the Jewish people . Of the six orders of the Mishna, Moed is the third shortest. The order of Moed consists of 12 tractates:# Shabbat: or Shabbath deals with the 39 prohibitions of "work" on the Shabbat...
29a). A haggadic legend from Israel relates of him the following:
The Greatest Principle
Under Ben Azzai's name, traditional literature has preserved many sentences, with and without Biblical foundation. Two of these have been taken over into the Sayings of the Fathers (Ab. iv.2, 3). After a saying of Ben Azzai, at the beginning of the third chapter of Derek Ereẓ Rabbah, this little book—which began originally with that chapter—is called "Pereḳ Ben Azzai" (RashiRashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
to Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
22a; Tos. to Eruvin 53b).
In a sentence that recalls a fundamental thought of Akiba, Ben Azzai gives the characteristic features of a kind of deterministic view of the world: "By thy name they shall call thee, at the place where thou belongest shall they see thee, what is thine they shall give to thee; no man touches that which is destined for his neighbor; and no government infringes even by a hair's breadth upon the time marked for another government" (Yoma
Yoma
Yoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
38a et seq.). Following Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
, Akiba had declared the commandment "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix.18) to be the greatest fundamental commandment of the Jewish doctrine; Ben Azzai, in reference to this, said that a still greater principle was found in the Scriptural verse, "This is the book of the generations of Adam [origin of man]. In the day that God created man [Adam], in the likeness of God made he him" (Gen. v.1; Sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, Ḳedoshim, iv; Yer. Ned. ix.41c; Gen. R. xxiv). The commandment to love God with all the soul (Deut. vi.5), Ben Azzai explained in the same manner as Akiba: "Love him even to the last breath of the soul!" (Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Deut. 32). Several of Ben Azzai's haggadic sentences, having been called forth by those of Akiba, are introduced by the words, "I do not wish to oppose the interpretation of my master, but will only add to his words" (Sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, Vayiḳra, ii; Mek., Bo, Introd.).
Ben Azzai's observations on sacrifices (Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Num. 143) are obviously directed against Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
. As against the doctrine of the Gnostics, that the part of the Law containing the rules of sacrifice could have originated only with a secondary god, the demiurge, who is merely just, not beneficent, Ben Azzai maintains, that in connection with the sacrificial laws, not any one of the various names of God in Judaism
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
is there used, but precisely the distinctive name, the Tetragrammaton
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
, in which especially the goodness of God is emphasized, in order that the "minim" (disbelievers) might not have an opportunity to prove their views by the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Ben Azzai's symbolic interpretation of the first word of Lamentations
Book of Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
(איכה) is also polemical and probably directed against Pauline Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. He holds that in the numerical value of the four letters of this word is indicated that the Israelites did not go into exile until after they had denied the one God (א), the ten commandments (י), the law of circumcision, given to the twentieth generation after Adam (כ), and the five (ה) books of the Torah (Lam. R. i.1).
External links
- Jewish Encyclopedia article for Simeon ben Azzai, by Marcus JastrowMarcus JastrowMarcus Jastrow was a renowned Talmudic scholar, most famously known for his authorship of the popular and comprehensive A Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature....
and Wilhelm BacherWilhelm BacherWilhelm Bacher was a Jewish Hungarian scholar, rabbi, Orientalist and linguist, born in Liptó-Szent-Miklós, Hungary to the Hebrew writer Simon Bacher. Wilhelm was himself an incredibly prolific writer, authoring or co-authoring approximately 750 works in an unfortunately short life...
.