Akiva ben Joseph (
Hebrew:
עקיבא בן יוסף; ca. 40 – ca. 137 AD), widely known as
Rabbi Akiva (
Hebrew:
רבי עקיבא), was a
tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century (3rd
tannaitic generation). Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to the
Mishnahand
Midrash Halakha. He is referred to in the
Talmud as
"Rosh la-Chachamim" (Head of all the Sages).
Biography[edit]
Akiva ben Joseph (written עקיבא in the
Babylonian Talmud, and עקיבה in the
Jerusalem Talmud — another form for עקביה) came of humble parentage.
[1] When he married the daughter of Kalba Savua, a wealthy citizen of
Jerusalem, Akiva was an uneducated shepherd in Kalba Savua's employ. His wife's name is not given in the earlier sources, but a later version of the tradition gives her name as Rachel (
Ab. R. N. ed.
S. Schechter, vi. 29). She stood loyally by her husband during that critical period of his life in which Akiva dedicated himself to the study of Torah. Rabbi Akiva has many famous quotes in the Babylonian Talmud.
A different tradition (
Ab. R. N. l.c.) narrates that at the age of 40, Akiva attended the academy of his native town,
Lod, presided over by Eliezer ben Hyrcanus. Hyrcanus was a neighbor of Joseph, the father of Akiva. The fact that Eliezer was his first teacher, and the only one whom Akiva later designates as "rabbi", is of importance in settling the date of Akiva's birth. These legends set the beginning of his years of study at about 75–80. Besides Eliezer, Akiva studied under
Joshua ben Hananiah (
Ab. R. N. l.c.) and Nahum Ish Gamzu (
Hag. 12a). He was on equal footing with Rabban
Gamaliel II, whom he met later.
Tarphon was considered as one of Akiva's masters (
Ket. 84b), but the pupil outranked his teacher and he became one of Akiva's greatest admirers (
Sifre,
Num. 75). Akiva remained in Lod (
R. H. i. 6) as long as Eliezer dwelt there, and then removed his own school to
Beneberak, five Roman miles from
Jaffa (
Sanh. 32b;
Tosef.,
Shab. iii. [iv.] 3). Akiva also lived for some time at Ziphron (
Num. xxxiv. 9), the modern Zafrân (Z. P. V. viii. 28), near Hamath.
According to the
Talmud, Akiva was a shepherd when Kalba Savu'a's daughter took a liking to him. She consented to a secret betrothal on the condition that he thenceforth devote himself to study. When the wealthy father-in-law learned of their betrothal, he drove his daughter from his house and swore that he would never help her while Akiva remained her husband. Akiva and his wife lived in such poverty that she sold her hair to enable Akiva to pursue his studies. A story tells that once, when they had only a bundle of straw for a bed, a poor man came to beg some straw for a bed for his sick wife. Akiva at once divided with him his scanty possession, remarking to his wife, "Thou seest, my child, there are those poorer than we!"
[2] This pretended poor man was none other than the prophet
Elijah, who had come to test Akiva (
Ned. 50a).
By agreement with his wife, Akiva spent twelve years away from home, pursuing his studies. Returning at the end of that time and on the point of entering his home, he overheard his wife say to a neighbor who was critical of his long absence: "If I had my wish, he should stay another twelve years at the academy." Without crossing the threshold, Akiva went back to the academy, returning twelve years later as a famous scholar, escorted by 24,000 disciples. When his wife went to embrace him, some of his students, not knowing who she was, sought to restrain her. But Akiva exclaimed, "Let her alone; for what I am, and for what you are, is hers" (she deserves the credit) (
Ned.50a,
Ket. 62b et seq.).
The greatest
tannaim of the middle of the 2nd century came from Akiva's school, notably
Rabbi Meir,
Judah ben Ilai,
Simeon bar Yohai,
Jose ben Halafta, Eleazar ben Shammai, and
Rabbi Nehemiah. Besides these, Akiva had many disciples whose names have not been handed down, but the
Aggadah variously gives their number as 12,000 (
Gen. R. lxi. 3), 24,000 (
Yeb.62b), and 48,000 (
Ned. 50a).
Akiva allegedly took part in the
Bar Kokba revolt of 132-136. In 95–96 Akiva was in
Rome (
H. Grätz,
Gesch. d. Juden, iv. 121), and some time before 110 he was in
Nehardea (
Yeb. xvi. 7). During his travels, it is believed he visited important Jewish communities,
[3] The
Baraita (
Ber. 61b) states that he suffered martyrdom on account of his transgression of
Hadrian's edicts against the practice and the teaching of the Jewish religion. Jewish sources relate that he was subjected to a
Roman torturewhere his skin was
flayed with
iron combs.
Modesty[edit]
An example of his modesty is his funeral address over his son Simon. To the large assembly gathered on the occasion from every quarter, he said (
Sem. viii.,
M. ḳ. 21b): "Brethren of the house of Israel, listen to me. Not because I am a scholar have ye appeared here so numerously; for there are those here more learned than I. Nor because I am a wealthy man; for there are many more wealthy than I. The people of the south know Akiva; but whence should the people of
Galilee know him? The men are acquainted with him; but how shall the women and children I see here be said to be acquainted with him? Still I know that your reward shall be great, for ye have given yourselves the trouble to come simply in order to do honor to the Torah and to fulfill a religious duty."
Modesty is a favorite theme with Akiva, and he reverts to it again and again. "He who esteems himself highly on account of his knowledge," he teaches, "is like a corpse lying on the wayside: the traveler turns his head away in disgust, and walks quickly by" (
Ab. R. N., ed.
S. Schechter, xi. 46). Another of his sayings, quoted also in the name of
Ben Azzai (
Lev. R. i. 5)is: "Take thy place a few seats below thy rank until thou art bidden to take a higher place; for it is better that they should say to thee 'Come up higher' than that they should bid thee 'Go down lower'" (see
Prov. xxv. 7).
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