( ''nāśīʾ'') is a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
title meaning "
prince
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...
" in
Biblical Hebrew, "Prince
f the Sanhedrin">Sanhedrin.html" ;"title="f the Sanhedrin">f the Sanhedrin in Mishnaic Hebrew, or "President (government title), president" in Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Modern Hebrew.
Usage
Genesis and ancient Israel
The noun ''nasi'' (including its grammatical variations), occurs 132 times in the
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
of the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
, and in English is usually translated "prince," occasionally "captain." The first use is for the twelve "princes" who will descend from
Ishmael, in the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
, and the second use, in , is the
Hethites recognising Abraham as "a godly prince" (' ).
In the
Book of Leviticus (), in the rites of sacrifices for leaders who err, there is the special offering made by a "nasi".
In the
Book of Numbers (), the leader of each tribe is referred to as a ''nasi'', and each one brings a gift to the
Tabernacle. In , occurring 38 years later in the Biblical story, the ''nesi'im'' of each tribe are listed again, as the leaders responsible for apportioning tribal inheritances.
Later in the history of ancient Israel, the title of ''nasi'' was given to the political ruler of
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous south ...
(; ). Similarly, the
Mishnah defines the ''nasi'' of Leviticus 4 to mean the king.
Second Temple period
During the
Second Temple period
The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Jewis ...
( BCE – 70 CE), the ''nasi'' was the highest-ranking member and president of the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , '' synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...
, or Assembly, including when it sat as a
criminal court. The position was created in c. 191 BCE when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the ability of the
High Priest to serve as its head. The office of ''nasi'' in the
Land of Israel was comparable with the office of
exilarch in Babylonia. The
Romans recognized the ''nasi'' as Patriarch of the Jews, and required all Jews to pay him a tax for the upkeep of that office, which ranked highly in the Roman official hierarchy.
Late Roman empire
This position as patriarch or head of court was reestablished several years after the
Bar-Kokhba revolt. This made the ''nasi'' a power which both Jews and Romans respected. The Jewish community in
Babylonia also recognized him. The ''nasi'' had controlled leadership and served as a political representative to the authorities while the religious leadership was led by Torah scholars. The ''nasi'' had the power to appoint and suspend communal leaders inside and outside of Israel. The Romans respected the ''nasi'' and gave extra land and let control of own self-supported taxes. Under
Jewish law, the
intercalary thirteenth month in the
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...
,
Adar Bet, was announced by the ''nasi''.
Gamaliel VI was the last ''nasi''. He died in 425 CE, after which
Emperor Theodosius II
Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...
suppressed the office of the patriarchate. The patriarchal tax was diverted to the
Roman treasury from 426.
Middle Ages
The term ''nasi'' was later applied to those who held high offices in the Jewish community, and Jews who held prominence in the courts of non-Jewish rulers. Certain great figures from
Jewish history have used the title, including
Judah the Prince (Judah haNasi), the chief
redactor of the
Mishnah.
The ''nasi'' were also prevalent during the 8th-century
Frankish kingdom. They were a highly privileged group in
Carolingian France. The Jews collaborated with
King Pepin to end Muslim rule over their city in 759. The Jews accepted surrender and Pepin was able to hold off the Saracens in the Iberian peninsula. Pepin rewarded the Jews with land and privileges such as the right to judicial and religious autonomy under rule of their own leadership. The heirs of the King and ''nasi'' held a close relationship until the tenth century.
17th–20th-century Jewish community in Yemen
According to
ethnologist Erich Brauer, among the
Jews of Yemen, the title of ''nasi'' was conferred upon a man belonging to the community's most noble and richest family. There was no direct election for this post. In general, the ''nasi'' was also a scholar, well-versed in Torah, but this was not a condition for his office. Among his duties, he was a representative of the community in all its affairs before the government. He was also entrusted with the duty of collecting the annual poll-tax (''ğizya''), as also to settle disputes arising between members of the community.
Chabad
The term Nasi was used by
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn to refer to the spiritual leaders of the Chabad movement. In particular, he used the term "Nesi Hador" (; "the prince of the generation") or "Nesi doreinu" (; "the prince of our generation") to refer to his father-in-law,
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. This phrase was later adopted by the Rebbe's own followers to refer to Rabbi M. M. Schneersohn himself.
Modern Hebrew
In
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...
, ''nasi'' means "president", and is not used in its classical sense. The word Nasi is used, in Israel, as the title of the
Head of State
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state (polity), state#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international p ...
and
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In Hebrew, the word "prince" is now expressed by a
synonym: "nasi" (as in
Yehuda HaNasi) and ' ().
Much more recently,
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
Adin Steinsaltz took the title ''nasi'' in an attempt to re-establish the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , '' synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...
in its judicial capacity as the
Supreme Court of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
.
List of Nesi'im
During the Mishnaic period, the office of nasi was filled as follows:
List of presidents of Israel:
Rabban
''Rabban'' was a higher title than ''
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
'' and was given to the ''nasi'' starting with
Gamaliel the Elder.
The title ''rabban'' was restricted in usage to the descendants of
Hillel the Elder, the sole exception being Rabban
Yochanan ben Zakai (c. 30–90
CE), the leader in Jerusalem during the
Siege of Jerusalem in 70
CE and who safeguarded the future of the Jewish people after the
Great Revolt by pleading with the
Emperor Vespasian.
Rabbi
Eleazar ben Azariah, who was ''nasi'' between 118 and 120
CE, was not given the title ''rabban'', perhaps because he only occupied the office of ''nasi'' for a short while, after which it reverted to the descendants of Hillel.
Prior to Rabban Gamliel the Elder, no titles were used before anyone's name, in line with the
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 cen ...
ic adage "''Gadol miRabban shmo''" ("Greater than the title ''rabban'' is a person's own name"). For this reason, Hillel the Elder has no title before his name: his name is in itself a title. Similarly,
Moses and
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the Covenant (biblical), special ...
have no titles before their names, but an
epithet is sometimes used to differentiate between biblical and historic personages, hence ''Avraham Avinu'' (Abraham 'Our Father') and ''Moshe Rabbeinu'' (Moses 'Our Teacher').
Starting with Rabbi
Judah I ''haNasi'' (born 135
CE), not even the ''nasi'' was given the title ''rabban''. In its place, Judah ''haNasi'' was given the lofty accolade ''Rabbeinu HaKadosh'' ('Our Holy Teacher').
[Goldwurm and Holder, 322]
See also
*
Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin
References
{{reflist
Further reading
Jeremy Cohen, "The Nasi of Narbonne: A Problem in Medieval Historiography," AJS Review, 2 (1977): pp. 45–76,
Jones, Lindsay, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. Detroit: Gale, 2005. s.v. "Yehudah Ha-Nasi."
Pearl, Chaim, ed. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life and Thought. New York: Digitalia, Inc., 1996. s.v. "Judah the Prince (Judah Ha-Nasi)."
Pearl, Chaim, ed. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life and Thought. New York: Digitalia, Inc., 1996. s.v. "Prince (Heb. Nasi)."
External links
Sanhedrin historyJewish Encyclopedia: Nasi
Honorifics
Ancient Israel and Judah
Jewish royalty
Establishments in the Seleucid Empire
Jewish leadership roles
Sanhedrin