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The Story of Rabbi Eliezer Ben Hyrcanus:
Talmudic Sage and Nazarene
By
James Scott Trimm
Rabbi Eliezer Ben Hyrcanus was one of the most prominent tannaim
of the first and second
centuries and the sixth most frequently mentioned Rabbi in the
Mishnah.
The Talmud says of his Beit Din
Our Rabbis taught: Justice, justice shalt thou follow, means,
Thou shalt follow an eminent Beth
din, as for example, [follow] R !lie"er [b #$r%anus] to
&$dda or R Johanan b 'a%%ai to Beror
#ail
(b)anhedrin *+b
He was one of the !reatest of the fi"e students of Rabbi
#ochanan ben $a%%ai who was a
student of Hillel the &reat 'm.("ot )*+.
Rabbi #ochanan ben $a%%ai said of his student Rabbi Eliezer
-f all of the sages of -srael were on one side of the scale,
and Rabbi !lie"er ben #$rcanus were on the other,
he would outweigh them all
(m./ot +:0
,o Rabbi Eliezer was one of the most important Rabbis in the
Talmud- He was also a azarene/
The Talmud records that Rabbi Eliezer was arrested for
0Minuth1
Our Rabbis taught: 1hen R !lie"er was arrested because of 2inuth
the$ brought him up to the
tribune to be judged )aid the go/ernor to him, 3#ow can a sage
man li%e $ou occup$ himself
with those idle things45 #e replied, 3- ac%nowledge the Judge as
right5 The go/ernor thought
that he referred to him 6 though he reall$ referred to his
7ather in #ea/en 6 and said,
3Because thou hast ac%nowledged me as right, - pardon8 thou art
ac9uitted5 1hen he came
home, his disciples called on him to console him, but he would
accept no consolation
(b./odah 'arah ;b
(s the story continues
)aid R .%iba to him, 32aster, wilt thou permit me to sa$ one
thing of what thou hast taught
me45 #e replied, 3)a$ it5 32aster,5 said he, 3perhaps some of
the teaching of the 2inim had been
transmitted to thee [eshua the ?a"arene] Jacob of @efar=
)e%aniah b$ name, who said to me: -t is written in $our Torah,
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a
harlot into the house of the &ord th$ Aod 2a$ such mone$ be
applied to the erection of a
retiring place for the #igh riest4 To which - made no repl$ )aid
he to me: Thus was - taught[b$ >eshua the ?a"arene], 7or of the
hire of a harlot hath she gathered them and unto the hire
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burnt in fire Then the$ too% a /ote and excommunicated him )aid
the$, 31ho shall go and
inform him45 3- will go,5 answered R .%iba, 3lest an unsuitable
person go and inform him, and
thus destro$ the whole world5 1hat did R .%iba do4 #e donned
blac% garments and wrapped
himself in blac%, and sat at a distance of four cubits from him
3.%iba,5 said R !lie"er to him,
3what has particularl$ happened to=da$45 32aster,5 he replied,
3it appears to me that th$
companions hold aloof from thee5 Thereupon he too rent his
garments, put off his shoes,
remo/ed [his seat] and sat on the earth, whilst tears streamed
from his e$es The world was
then smitten: a third of the oli/e crop, a third of the wheat,
and a third of the barle$ crop )ome
sa$, the dough in womenDs hands swelled up
. Tanna taught: Areat was the calamit$ that befell that
da$, for e/er$thing at which R !lie"er
cast his e$es was burned up R Aamaliel too was tra/elling in a
ship, when a huge wa/e arose
to drown him 3-t appears to me,5 he reflected, 3that this is on
account of none other but R
!lie"er b #$rcanus5 Thereupon he arose and exclaimed, 3)o/ereign
of the ni/erseH Thou
%nowest full well that - ha/e not acted for m$ honour, nor for
the honour of m$ paternal house,
but for Thine, so that strife ma$ not multipl$ in -sraelH 3.t
that the raging sea subsided
(bBaba 2et"ia GIb
9t was only after his death that his excommunication was
re"ersed by 2oshua ben Hananiah.
The fact that Eliezer was actually a azarene is also supported
by a halacha which he teaches
concernin! "ows
R !liea"ar sa$s: the$ open a /ow for a man
b$ reference to the honor of his father or mother
(m?edarim I:
This clearly echoes the teachin! of #eshua
* But #e answered them and said: .nd wh$ do $ou transgress the
commandments of !lohim==
b$ means of $our decrees4
K -s it not written in $our Torah from the mouth of !lohim,
#onor $our father and $our mother4
.nd moreo/er written, .nd he that curses his father and
his mother will surel$ die4
G But $ou sa$, 1hoe/er sa$s to father and mother, -t is all an
offering== whate/er of mine might
profit $ou,
; .nd he honors not his father and his mother Thus ha/e $ou made
/oid the commandments of
!lohim, on account of $our judgments
(2att G:*=; #RE
This parallel is especially si!nificant when we realize that
Rabbi Eliezer was also quoted assayin! 09 ha"e ne"er tau!ht
anythin! which 9 had not learned from my masters1 'b. ,u%%ot
)*a+.
(t the approach of his death it is reported that he was
surrounded by his former companions
and pupils who remained with him to the end discussin! with him
questions related to Torah
'b,an. @*a- AAa+. Rabbi (%i"a in his eulo!y stated- :,ince the
death of Rabbi Eliezer ben
Hyrcanus- the Boo% of the Torah is concealed:
')otah Cb+.
