Nittai of Arbela ( he, נתאי הארבלי) was ''
av beit din
The ''av beit din'' ( ''ʾabh bêth dîn'', "chief of the court" or "chief justice"), also spelled ''av beis din'' or ''abh beth din'' and abbreviated ABD (), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period, ...
'' or vice-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), ap ...
under the
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 ...
Joshua ben Perachyah
Joshua ben Perahiah or Joshua ben Perachya ( he, יהושע בן פרחיה, Yehoshua Ben Perachia) was Nasi of the Sanhedrin in the latter half of the 2nd century BCE.
With Nittai of Arbela, second of five pairs of scholars
He and his colleague ...
at the time of
John Hyrcanus
John Hyrcanus (; ''Yōḥānān Hurqanōs''; grc, Ἰωάννης Ὑρκανός, Iōánnēs Hurkanós) was a Hasmonean ( Maccabean) leader and Jewish high priest of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until his death in ...
(r. 134–104 BCE).
Name
In
Yer. Hag. II 76d he is called Mattai of Arbela, which is also found in ancient and linguistically reliable manuscripts of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
, such as
Codex Kaufmann,
Codex Parma A and the
Cambridge Codex (edited by W. H. Lowe). The confusion in the rendering of his name seems to be due to faulty textual transmission, i.e. the Hebrew mem being separated graphically into two parts, which looked, respectively as a nun and a yod, thus Mattai became Nittai.
Arbela was a city of the
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
not far from
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...
.
Teachings
No
halakhot
''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 ...
of his are extant, but some of his
apothegm
An adage (; Latin: adagium) is a memorable and usually philosophical aphorism that communicates an important truth derived from experience, custom, or both, and that many people consider true and credible because of its longeval tradition, i.e. ...
s have been preserved in such sources as
Pirkei Avot
Pirkei Avot ( he, פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth''), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethics, ethical teachings and Maxim ...
; these afford a glimpse of his character, to wit: "Distance thyself from a bad neighbor; consort not with an evil man, nor despair at tribulation."
[ Avot i.7.] These bitter utterances contrast sharply with the gentle
maxims of his colleague Joshua ben Perachyah. Nittai seems to have spoken thus after
John Hyrcanus
John Hyrcanus (; ''Yōḥānān Hurqanōs''; grc, Ἰωάννης Ὑρκανός, Iōánnēs Hurkanós) was a Hasmonean ( Maccabean) leader and Jewish high priest of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until his death in ...
had deserted the party of the
Pharisees
The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs bec ...
and joined 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 ...
, persecuting his former friends. The phrase "renounce not the hope of retribution" was perhaps intended to comfort the Pharisees with the thought that Hyrcanus himself would not escape punishment, while the other two injunctions were designed maybe to keep them from joining the Sadducees.
See also
*
Mount Nitai
Mount Nitai ( he, הר נתאי, ''Har Nitai''), sometimes spelled Nitay, is a mountain in Israel situated west of the Sea of Galilee and north of the city of Tiberias. Har Nitai is named after Nittai of Arbela. The cliffs of Nitai and Arbel a ...
References
Bibliography
*
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
*Weiss, ''Dor,'' i. 132;
*Z. Frankel, in ''Monatsschrift,'' 1852, pp. 410–413;
*''id.'', ''Hodegetica in Mischnam'', pp. 33–34, Leipzig, 1859.
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2nd-century BCE rabbis
Mishnah rabbis
Pirkei Avot rabbis
Zugot
Sanhedrin