Joshua ben Perahiah or Joshua ben Perachya () was

nasi Nasi may refer to: Food Dishes Nasi Goreng is an Indonesian and Malay word for ''cooked rice'', featured in many Southeast Asian dishes *Nasi goreng, a popular rice dish often simply called ''nasi'' *Other Southeast Asian ''nasi'' dishes: ** Nasi ...

of the

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

in the latter half of the 2nd century BCE.

With Nittai of Arbela, second of five pairs of scholars

He and his colleague

Nittai of Arbela Nittai of Arbela () was '' av beit din'' or vice-president of the Sanhedrin under the nasi Joshua ben Perachyah at the time of John Hyrcanus (r. 134–104 BC). Name In Yer. Hag. II 76d he is called Mattai of Arbela, which is also found in ancie ...

were the second of the five pairs (

Zugot The ''Zugot'' (; ), also called Zugoth or ''Zugos'' in the Ashkenazi pronunciation, refers both to the two hundred year period ( 170 BCE – 30 CE, ) during the later Second Temple period, in which the spiritual leadership of the Jews ...

) of scholars who received and transmitted

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish tradition. At the time of the persecution of the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

John Hyrcanus John Hyrcanus (; ; ) was a Hasmonean (Maccabee, Maccabean) leader and Jewish High Priest of Israel of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until he died in 104 BCE). In rabbinic literature he is often referred to as ''Yoḥana ...

(c. 134-104 BC), Joshua was deposed — a disgrace to which his words in Menachot 109b allude. However, in Sanhedrin 107b and Sotah 47a, it was during the persecutions of Pharisees 88-76 BC by

Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( , English: "Alexander Jannaios", usually Latinised to "Alexander Jannaeus"; ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE. ...

, not John Hyrcanus whose persecution he fled. He fled to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, but returned to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

when the persecutions ceased and the Pharisees again triumphed over the Sadducees.

Teachings and advice

The following ethical maxim found in the ''

Ethics of the Fathers Pirkei Avot (; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth'', also ''Abhoth''), which translates into English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewis ...

'' shows his gentle judgment of his fellow men and his eagerness to spread knowledge among the people: Only a single

halakhah ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

of Joshua's has been preserved: he objected to the import of wheat from Alexandria as impure because, with no rain falling on it, it was watered by still water in conflict with . In other traditions he was known in

Jewish magical papyri Jewish magical papyri are a subclass of papyri with specific Jewish magical uses, and which shed light on popular belief during the late Second Temple Period and after in Late Antiquity. A related category of contemporary evidence are Jewish magica ...

as an exorcist, and his name was used in incantations inscribed on magical bowls.

Yeshu

In another tradition he is also the teacher of

Yeshu Yeshu (Hebrew: ''Yēšū'') is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in rabbinic literature, thought by some to refer to Jesus when used in the Talmud. The name ''Yeshu'' is also used in other sources before and after the completio ...

(in uncensored manuscripts of the Talmud), where he and Yeshu flee to Egypt. In other manuscripts his student is

Judah ben Tabbai Judah ben Tabbai ( ''Yehuda ben Tabbai'') was a Pharisee scholar, av beit din of the Sanhedrin, and one of "the Pairs" (''zugot'') of Jewish leaders who lived in the first century BCE. He lived approximately from 120 BCE to 50 BCE. Av beit din ...

. The account as it appears in the Talmud is as follows: Dunn (1992) considers this to be a story of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

from the late

Amoraic ''Amoraim'' ( , singular ''Amora'' ; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 CE, who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral Torah. They were pr ...

period, which contains old polemical elements that were already current in New Testament times. His story is parallel to that of

Elisha Elisha was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a Jewish prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, Ełishe (Yeghishe/Elisha) via Armenian or Alyasa via Arabic, a ...

and Gehazi. However:

Gustaf Dalman Gustaf Hermann Dalman (9 June 1855 – 19 August 1941) was a German Lutheran theologian and orientalist. He did extensive field work in Palestine before the First World War, collecting inscriptions, poetry, and proverbs. He also collected physica ...

Joachim Jeremias Joachim Jeremias (20 September 1900 – 6 September 1979) was a German Lutheran theologian, scholar of Near Eastern Studies and university professor for New Testament studies. He was abbot of Bursfelde, 1968–1971. He was born in Dresden and s ...

(1935, 1960), and others do not consider the Yeshu mentioned as Joshua's pupil to be Jesus. *

Roger T. Beckwith Roger Thomas Beckwith was an English church historian and liturgist who served from 1973 to 1994 as the Warden of Latimer House, Oxford. Among his works were Priesthood and Sacraments', Elders in Every City: The Origin and Role of the Ordained Min ...

, ''Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian'',

Brill Academic Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South Holland city of Leiden, ...

, 2005, p. 294. "... the rest of the baraita, which states he was first stoned, and that his execution was delayed for forty days while a herald went out inviting anyone to say a word in his favour, suggest that it may refer to a different Yeshu altogether." footnote citing Jeremias 1966. *Mark Allan Powell, ''Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee'',

Westminster John Knox Westminster John Knox Press is an American publisher of Christian books located in Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southea ...

, 1998
p. 34
"Scholars debate whether there may be obscure references to Jesus in some of the collections of ancient Jewish writings, such as the Talmud, the Tosefta, the targums, and the midrashim... 'On the eve of Passover, they hanged Yeshu Jesus?and the herald went before him 40 days... (Sanhedrin 43a)." *

Amy-Jill Levine Amy-Jill Levine (born 1956) is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. She works in biblical studies and is a self described "critic of anti ...

, ''The Historical Jesus in Context'',

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, 2008, p. 20. "Similarly controversial is the Babylonian Talmud's account of Jesus' death (to the extant that some Rabbinic experts do not think the reference is to the Jesus of the New Testament!)". *

John P. Meier John Paul Meier (August 8, 1942 – October 18, 2022) was an American biblical scholar and Roman Catholic priest. He was author of the series ''A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'' (5 v.), six other books, and more than 70 articles ...

, ''A Marginal Jew'', p. 98. "…I think we can agree with Johann Maier ">Johann Maier (talmudic scholar)">Johann Maier on one basic point: in the earliest rabbinic sources, there is no clear or even probable reference to Jesus of Nazareth."

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua Ben Perachyah 2nd-century BC clergy 2nd-century BCE rabbis Pirkei Avot rabbis Talmud rabbis of Syria Palaestina Zugot Sanhedrin