Zugot

As Zugot (Hebrew זוגות pairs; well Sugot or Suggot ) or the five pairs of the Mishnah and other literature on the history of Jewish tradition designates a total of ten Jewish scribes in the era of the second temple. According to this literature, they have the oral law weitertradiert in this period. They lived after the time of the Jewish prophets, but even before the so-called Tannaim, who recorded the oral law.

In the sayings of the fathers of the two most eminent scholars of their generation are assembled in pairs. The one of them said to have been President ( Nasi ), the other deputy head ( Ab Beth Din ) of the Sanhedrin. Institutions History of this report, however, is probably not reliable, but rather an anachronism.

1st pair:

  • Jose ( Josse / Joseph) ben Joezer from Tsereda (city in the tribe of Manasseh ), allegedly martyred. He reportedly said: Let your house a meeting-house of the wise, and you pollinate with the dust of their feet and drink their words with thirst.
  • Jose ( Josse ) ben Yochanan ( from Jerusalem). From him the saying narrated: Let your house open of relief, and there were arms your housemates, and not too much chatting with the woman. Regarding his own wife ..., how much more with the wife of another.

Both lived at the time of the Maccabean War of Independence.

2nd pair:

  • Joshua ben Perahya / Joshua, son of Perahya ( Jewish tradition, according to teachers of Jesus), and
  • Nittai ( another reading: Mattai ) the Arbelite (r ) / Nittai from Arbela ( Irbid near Tiberias ).

Joshua and Nittai lived in the time of John Hyrcanus I.

3rd pair:

  • Judah ben Tabbai ( Yehuda, son of Tabbai )
  • Shimon ben Shetach ( Simeon ben Shetach ) ( brother of Salome Alexandra ); Simon, son Schetachs prevailed, impartially and without regard to the person of his office as president of the Sanhedrin, was in a legal case the King Jannaeus personally appear in court, instructed him as a defendant ( " before God, not before the judge " ) are owned by instead of sitting; about his great honesty following story is told: Simon had bought a donkey from an Arab; the students had noticed a precious gem on the neck of the donkey, and brought this with joy their teacher; but the latter declared that he had only the donkey and not bought the gem, and ordered to immediately return the gem to the Arabs, the receipt of which the Arabs had exclaimed: Blessed be the God Simons!

They lived in the time of Alexander Jannaeus and Salome Alexandra.

4 pair:

  • Shemaiah / Shemaiah and
  • Abtalion / Abtaljon / Ptollion mentioned in Abot I, 10.

Shemaiah and Abtalion may correspond Samaias and Pollion at Flavius ​​Josephus. They lived to the time of John Hyrcanus II and came of men from the progeny of the Assyrian king Sennacherib from, who had converted to Judaism and had then married Israelite.

5 pair:

  • Hillel ( Hillel, " the old man " ), the traditions about his life are completely cliched, contrasting the "gentle " Hillel with the " strict " Shammai ( and have a lot with the topoi of Hellenistic scholarly biography shared); Hillel the sayings are handed down: Be one of the students of Aaron, peace striving loving and peace, people loving and she the Torah bringing closer ... Who spread his name, loses its name quite who does not increase, decreases, who does not teach, is worthy of death, and who uses the crown fades away ... If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
  • Shammai / Šammaj (sometimes also " the old man " called ); by him of the statement is handed down: Make your Torah to a fixed employment, say little and do much, and receive every man with a friendly face.

Hillel and Shammai both lived at the time of Herod the Great. They handed down the tradition of Johanan ben Zakkai.

Literature (selection )

  • Zacharias Frankel: Hodegetica. Leipzig 1859, pp. 29 ff
  • Johann Krengel: Sugot. In: Jewish Encyclopedia, Berlin 1927, 770-771 Sp
  • Sugot. In: Julius H. Schoeps (ed.): New Encyclopedia of Judaism, Gütersloh 2000, p 787
  • Zugot. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed [ text components from A. 1 ], vol 21, p 680
Hillel the Elder Johanan ben Zakai Zecharias Frankel
14861
de