Abba Saul ben Batnit ( he, אבא שאול בן בטנית, "''Abba Shaul ben Batnit''") was a Tanna of the latter period of the

Second Temple of Jerusalem The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherite ...

, approximately two generations before the temple's destruction. He used to take

questions A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammar, grammatical forms typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are inte ...

from the Jewish public and answer on matters of the

halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

, while working as a grocer. In his latter job he became known for being strict on not taking spoils and preserving a fellowman's finances, and for that reason, among others, he donated a significant amount of oil to the Jewish public, in order to revoke any suspicions about public exploitation. In the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

, Abba Jose Ben Hanin cites, on Abba Saul's behalf, a saying of criticism on the families of the high priests, who were identified with the

Sadducees The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio-religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Th ...

and their familiars, and who at this time were in charge of the Second Temple of Jerusalem: :"Woe is me because of the house of Boethus, woe is me because of their staves. Woe is me because of the house of Hanin, woe is me because of their whisperings. Woe is me because of the house of Kathros, woe is me because of their pens. Woe is me because of the house of Ishmael the son of Phabi, woe is me because of their fists. For they are High Priests, and their sons are empletreasurers, and their sons-in-law are trustees, and their servants beat the people with staves". The historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

makes note that during the high priesthood of Ishmael the son of Phabi, his servants would forcibly remove the tithes from the thrashing floors, what had been given voluntarily before him.

References

Mishnah rabbis 1st-century rabbis {{MEast-rabbi-stub