Akiva
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Akiba ben Joseph (ca.50–ca.135 C.E.) (Hebrew: עקיבא) or simply Rabbi Akiva was a Judean tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century (3rd tannaitic generation). He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha. He is referred to in the Talmud as "Rosh la-Chachomim" (Head of all the Sages). Although a full history of Akiba, based upon authentic sources, will probably never be written, he—to a degree beyond any other—deserves to be called the father of rabbinical Judaism[1].
Parentage and youth
Akiba ben Joseph, usually called simply Akiba, was of comparatively humble parentage. Akiba was a shepherd (Yeb. 86b). His wife's name was Rachel, the daughter of a man named Joshua.
At the age of 40when he was already the father of a large family, Akiva attended the academy of his native town, Lydda, presided over by Eliezer ben Hyrcanus. Besides Eliezer, Akiba had other teachers—-principally Joshua ben Hananiah (Ab. R. N. l.c.) and Nahum of Gimzo (Hag. 12a). In reputation he was on equal footing with the great Rabban Gamaliel II, whom he met later. Akiba probably remained in Lydda (R. H. i. 6), as long as Eliezer dwelt there, and then removed his own school to Bene Berak, five Roman miles from Jaffa (Sanh. 32b). Akiba also lived for some time at Ziphron, the modern Zafrân, near Hamath.
Akiba and his wife
According to the Talmud, it would appear that Akiva owed almost everything to his wife. Akiba was a mere shepherd when she consented to secret betrothal on the condition that he devote himself to study. When his wealthy father-in-law learned of this betrothal, he drove his daughter from his house and swore that he would never help her while Akiva remained her husband. Akiva and his young wife so poverty-stricken that the bride had to sell her hair to enable her husband to pursue his studies. But these difficulties only served to bring out Akiba's greatness of character. It is related that once, when a bundle of straw was the only bed they possessed, 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!" Legend has it that this supposedly poor man was none other than the prophet Elijah, who had come to earth to test Akiva (Ned. 50a).
By agreement with his wife, Akiva spent 12 years away from her, pursuing his studies under Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah. Returning at the end of that time, he was just about to enter his wretched home, when he overheard his wife replying to a neighbor who was bitterly censuring him for his long absence: "If I had my wish, he should stay another 12 years at the academy." Without crossing the threshold, Akiva turned about and went back to the academy, to return at the expiration of another 12 years. The second time, however, he came back as a most famous scholar, escorted by 24,000 disciples, who reverently followed their beloved master. When his poorly clad wife was about 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." (Ned. 50a, Ket. 62b et seq.)
His Relations with Bar Kokba
The greatest rabbis of the middle of the second century came from Akiva's school, notably Rabbi Meir, Judah ben Ilai, Simeon ben Yohai, Jose ben Halafta, Eleazar ben Shammai, and Rabbi Nehemiah. Besides these, who all attained great renown, Akiva undoubtedly had many disciples whose names have not been handed down. Their number is variously stated at 12,000 (Gen. R. lxi. 3), 24,000 (Yeb. 62b), and 48,000 (Ned. 50a). These figures are likely exaggerations, but they are also indicated of his unquestioned renown.
Akiva's reputation played an important role in the acceptance of Simon Bar Kochba as a messianic figure who led a major revolt against Rome and briefly established an independent Jewish state. That the venerable teacher declared the patriot as the promised Jewish Messiah (Yer. Ta'anit, iv. 68d), is clear, but his role in the revolt beyond that is uncertain.
After the failure of the Bar Kochba revolt, Akiva was arrested by the Roman authorities for disobeying the ban against Jews returning to Jerusalem. Akiva's died after several years of imprisonment. Legends concerning the date and manner of Akiva's death are numerous. Jewish sources relate that he was subjected to a Roman torture where his skin was flayed with iron combs. As this was happening, he recited the Shema prayer.
His having supported the apparently false Messiah in no way diminished his reputation, and he remains one of the most honored of the the tannaim—the great rabbis of the early Talmudic period.
Akiba and Gamaliel II
Modesty is a favorite theme with Akiba, 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.). Another of his sayings on humility is interesting in that Gospel of Luke, 14:8-12, is almost literally identical with it: "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'."
Though modest, when an important matter was concerned Akiva could not be cowed by, as is evidenced by his attitude toward the great Gamaliel II. Convinced of the necessity of a central authority for Judaism, Akiva became a devoted adherent and friend of Gamaliel, who was recognized by Rome as the Jewish patriarch. But Akiva was just as firmly convinced that the power of the patriarch must be limited both by the written and the oral law, the interpretation of which lay in the hands of the learned rabbis. Accordingly he intentionally acted in ritual matters in Gamaliel's own house contrary to the decisions of Gamaliel himself (Tosef., Ber. iv. 12).
Akiva intellectual capacity was unequaled, and he secured an enduring influence upon his contemporaries and upon posterity. He is credited with being rabbi who definitely fixed the canon of the Old Testament books. He protested strongly against the canonicity of certain of the Apocrypha— Ecclesiasticus, for instance (Sanh. x. 1).
Although he forbade the reading of such books public in the synagogue service, he had no objection to the private reading of the Apocrypha. His antagonism to the Apocrypha, is apparently related to a desire to undermined the arguments of the Christians—especially Jewish Christians—who drew many of their proofs from the Apocrypha.
Akiva as Systematizer
Akiva's true genius, however, is shown in his work in the domain of the halakah—Jewish law—both in his systematization of its traditional material and in its further development. It was Akiva who systematized the Mishnah, or halakic codex; the Midrash, or the exegesis of the Torah; and the halakot, the logical amplification of the Mishnah (Yer. SheḲ.)
The Talmud quotes Rabbi Johanan bar Nappaḥa (199–279) relative to Akiva's role in the the composition and editing of the Mishnah and other halakic works: "Our Mishnah comes directly from Rabbi Meir, the Tosefta from R. Nehemiah, the Sifra from R. Judah, and the Sifre from R. Simon; but they all took Akiva for a model in their works and followed him" (Sanh. 86a).
What was Rabbi Akiva like? - A worker who goes out with his basket. He finds wheat - he puts it in, barley - he puts it in, spelt - he puts it in, beans - he puts it in, lentils - he puts it in. When he arrives home he sorts out the wheat by itself, barley by itself, spelt by itself, beans by themselves, lentils by themselves. So did Rabbi Akiva; he arranged the Torah rings by rings.
Avot deRabbi Natan ch. 18
Akiva's Hermeneutic System
Convinced both of the unchangeableness of Holy Scripture and of the necessity for development in Judaism, Akiva succeeded in reconciling these two apparently hopeless opposites by means of his remarkable method. The following two illustrations will serve to make this clear:
- The high conception of woman's dignity, which Akiva shared in common with most other Pharisees, induced him to abolish the Oriental custom that banished women at certain periods from all social intercourse. He succeeded, moreover, in justifying his policy on the basis of the very scriptural passages that had formerly been used to ostracize women during their monthly periods (Sifra, Meẓora, end, and Shab. 64b).
- The biblical legislation in Ex. 21:7 concerning Jewish slaves could not be reconciled by Akiva with his view of ethics: for him a "Jewish slave" is a contradiction in terms, for every Jew is to be regarded as a prince (B. M. 113b). Akiva therefore teaches, in opposition to the old halakah, that the sale of a daughter under age by her father conveys to her purchaser no legal title to marry her until she comes of age.
- How little he cared for the "letter of the Law" whenever he conceives it to be antagonistic to the spirit of Judaism, is shown by his attitude toward the Samaritans. He considered friendly intercourse with these semi-Jews as desirable on political as well as on religious grounds, and he permitted—in opposition to tradition—not only eating their bread (Sheb. viii. 10) but also eventual intermarriage (ḳid. 75b).
Religious Philosophy
Akiba's utterances (Abot, iii. 14, 15) present the essence of his religious conviction. They run:
- How favored is man, for he was created after an image; as Scripture says, "for in an image, Elohim made man" (Gen. ix. 6).
- Everything is foreseen; but freedom [of will] is given to every man.
- The world is governed by mercy... but the divine decision is made by the preponderance of the good or bad in one's actions.
Akiba's anthropology is based upon the principle that man was created not "in the image of God" but "after an image"—after a primordial type; or, philosophically speaking, after an Idea. Strict monotheist that Akiva was, he protested against any comparison of God with the angels.
Freedom of Will
Akiva insists emphatically on the freedom of the will, to which he allows no limitations. This insistence is in opposition to the Christian doctrine of the sinfulness and depravity of man. He derides those who find excuse for their sins in this supposed innate depravity (ḳid. 81a). Akiva says, "Happy are ye, O Israelites, that ye purify yourselves through your heavenly Father, as it is said, 'Israel's hope is God'" (Mishnah Yoma, end).
Akiva teaches that God combines goodness and mercy with strict justice (Ḥag. 14a). The idea of justice, however, so strongly dominates Akiva's system that he will not allow God's grace and kindness to be understood as arbitrary. Hence his maxim, referred to above, "God rules the world in mercy, but according to the preponderance of good or bad in human acts."
Eschatology and Ethics
As to the question concerning the frequent sufferings of the pious and the prosperity of the wicked —truly a burning one in Akiba's time—this is answered by the explanation that the pious are punished in this life for their few sins, in order that in the next they may receive only reward; while the wicked obtain in this world all the recompense for the little good they have done, and in the next world will receive only punishment for their misdeeds (Gen. R. xxxiii.; PesiḲ. ed. S. Buber, ix. 73a). Consistent as Akiba always was, his ethics and his views of justice were only the strict consequences of his philosophical system. Justice as an attribute of God must also be exemplary for man. "No mercy in [civil] justice!" is his basic principle in the doctrine concerning law (Ket. ix. 3), and he does not conceal his opinion that the action of the Jews in taking the spoil of the Egyptians is to be condemned (Gen. R. xxviii. 7).
From his views as to the relation between God and man he deduces the inference that he who sheds the blood of a fellow man is to be considered as committing the crime against the divine archetype (דמות) of man (Gen. R. xxxiv. 14). He therefore recognizes as the chief and greatest principle of Judaism the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18; Sifra, ḳedoshim, iv.). He does not, indeed, maintain thereby that the execution of this command is equivalent to the performance of the whole Law; and in one of his polemic interpretations of Scripture he protests strongly against the contrary opinion of the Christians, according to whom Judaism is "simply morality" (Mek., Shirah, 3, 44a, ed. I.H. Weiss). For, in spite of his philosophy, Akiba was an extremely strict and national Jew.
The Messianic Age and the Future World
His doctrine concerning the Jewish Messiah was the realistic and thoroughly Jewish one, as his declaration that Bar Kochba was the Messiah shows. He accordingly limited the messianic age to 40 years, as being within the scope of a man's lif—similar to the reigns of David and [[Solomon]—against the usual conception of a millennium (Midr. Teh. xc. 15). A distinction is, however, to be made between the messianic age and the future world. This latter will come after the destruction of this world, lasting for 1,000 years (R. H. 31a). To the future world all Israel will be admitted, with the exception of the generation of the wilderness and the ten lost tribes (Sanh. xi. 3, 110b). But even this future world is painted by Akiva in colors selected by his nationalist inclinations, for he makes the Messiah the judge of all the heathen world (Ḥag. 14a).
Legends
A man like Akiba would naturally be the subject of many legends. The following examples indicate in what light the personality of this great teacher appeared to later generations.
His innovative method
"When Moses ascended into heaven, he saw God occupied in making little crowns for the letters of the Torah. Upon his inquiry as to what these might be for, he received the answer, "There will come a man, named Akiba ben Joseph, who will deduce Halakot from every little curve and crown of the letters of the Law." Moses' request to be allowed to see this man was granted; but he became much dismayed as he listened to Akiba's teaching; for he could not understand it" (Men. 29b). This story gives in naive style a picture of Akiba's activity as the father of Talmudical Judaism.
His transformation
The Aggadah explains how Akiba, in the prime of life, commenced his rabbinical studies. Legendary allusion to this change in Akiba's life is made in two slightly varying forms, of which the following is probably the older:
- Akiba, noticing a stone at a well that had been hollowed out by drippings from the buckets, said: "If these drippings can, by continuous action, penetrate this solid stone, how much more can the persistent word of God penetrate the pliant, fleshly human heart, if that word but be presented with patient insistency" (Ab. R. N. ed. S. Schechter, vi. 28).
His martydom
Akiba's martyrdom—which is an important historical event—gave origin to many legends. The following account of his martyrdom is on a high plane and contains a proper appreciation of his principles: When Rufus—"Tyrannus Rufus," as he is called in Jewish sources—who was the pliant tool of Hadrian's vengeance, condemned the venerable Akiba to the hand of the executioner, it was just the time to recite the Shema. Full of devotion, Akiba recited his prayers calmly, though suffering agonies; and when Rufus asked him whether he was a sorcerer, since he felt no pain, Akiba replied, "I am no sorcerer; but I rejoice at the opportunity now given to me to love my God 'with all my life,' seeing that I have hitherto been able to love Him only 'with all my means' and 'with all my might,'" and with the word "One!" he expired (Yer. Ber. ix. 14b, and somewhat modified in Bab. 61b).
The version in the Babylonian Talmud (Berachot 61b) tells it as a response of Akiva to his students, who asked him how even now—as he is being tortured—he could yet offer prayers to God. He says to them, "All my life I was worried about the verse, 'with all your soul,' (and the sages expounded this to signify), even if He takes away your soul. And I said to myself, when will I ever be able to fulfill this command? And now that I am finally able to fulfill it, I should not? Then he extended the final word Echad ("One") until his life expired with that word. A heavenly voice went out and announced: "Blessed are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your life expired with "Echad." Pure monotheism was for Akiba the essence of Judaism: he lived, worked, and died for it.
Contrary to the vision (Men. 29b), which sees Akiba's body destined to be exposed for sale in the butcher's shop, legend tells how Elijah, accompanied by Akiba's faithful servant Joshua, entered unperceived the prison where the body lay. Priest though he was, Elijah took up the corpse—for the dead body of such a saint could not defile—and, escorted by many bands of angels, bore the body by night to Cæsarea. The night, however, was as bright as the finest summer's day. When they arrived there, Elijah and Joshua entered a cavern which contained a bed, table, chair, and lamp, and deposited Akiba's body there. No sooner had they left it than the cavern closed of its own accord, so that no man has found it since (Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrash, vi. 27, 28; ii. 67, 68; Braunschweiger, Lehrer der Mischnah, 192-206).
His students
Akiva taught thousands of students; twenty four thousand students of his died in a plague.[2] His five main, last remaining students were Judah bar Ilai, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Nehemiah, Jose ben Halafta and Shimon bar Yochai.
His wealth and influence
Akiba's success as a teacher put an end to his poverty; for the wealthy father-in-law now rejoiced to acknowledge a son-in-law so distinguished as Akiba. There were, however, other circumstances which made a wealthy man of the former shepherd lad.
It appears that Akiba, authorized by certain rabbis, borrowed a large sum of money from a prominent heathen woman—a matrona, says the legend. As bondsmen for the loan, Akiba named God and the sea, on the shore of which the matrona's house stood. Akiba, being sick, could not return the money at the time appointed; but his "bondsmen" did not leave him in the lurch. An imperial princess suddenly became insane, in which condition she threw a chest containing imperial treasures into the sea. It was cast upon the shore close to the house of Akiba's creditor, so that when the matrona went to the shore to demand of the sea the amount she had lent Akiba, the ebbing tide left boundless riches at her feet. Later, when Akiba arrived to discharge his indebtedness, the matrona not only refused to accept the money, but insisted upon Akiba's receiving a large share of what the sea had brought to her (Commentaries to Ned. l.c.).
The Talmud also enumerates six occasions in which Akiva gained his wealth (Nedarim, 50a-b). Akiba's many journeys brought numerous adventures, some of which are embellished by legend. Thus in Ethiopia he was once called upon to decide between the swarthy king and the king's wife; the latter having been accused of infidelity because she had borne her lord a white child. Akiba ascertained that the royal chamber was adorned with white marble statuary, and, basing his decision upon a well known physiological theory, he exonerated the queen from suspicion (Num. R. ix. 34). It is related that during his stay in Rome Akiba became intimately acquainted with the Jewish proselyte ḳeṭia' bar Shalom, a very influential Roman—according to some scholars identical with Flavius Clemens, Domitian's nephew, who, before his execution for pleading the cause of the Jews, bequeathed to Akiba all his possessions (Ab. Zarah, 10b).
Another Roman, concerning whose relations with Akiba legend has much to tell, was Tinnius Rufus, called in the Talmud "Tyrannus" Rufus. One day Rufus asked: "Which is the more beautiful—God's work or man's?" "Undoubtedly man's work is the better," was Akiba's reply; "for while nature at God's command supplies us only with the raw material, human skill enables us to elaborate the same according to the requirements of art and good taste." Rufus had hoped to drive Akiba into a corner by his strange question; for he expected quite a different answer from the sage, and intended to compel Akiba to admit the wickedness of circumcision. He then put the question, "Why has God not made man just as He wanted him to be?" "For the very reason," was Akiba's ready answer, "that the duty of man is to perfect himself" (Tan., Tazri'a, 5, ed. S. Buber 7).
His relationship with his wife
Akiva was the shepherd of a rich man nicknamed Kalba Savua because anyone who entered his house hungry like a dog (kalba) went out satiated (savua) (a reference to his hospitality toward guests). Kalba Savua's daughter, whose name was Rachel, noticed his modesty and good nature. She saw that he had a great mind, and that if he would put his mind to The Almighty's Divine Torah, he would flourish into a great teacher in Israel. She spoke with Akiva about G-d and the role of the Jewish people, and it sparked his interest. One day Akiva came to Rachel by a river, and asked her why the Jewish people, if they were G-d's Chosen people, had to suffer so much. She replied,
- "The greater, the higher a man's task is, the more he must endure, the more he must fight and suffer. An ordinary simple man who doesn't bother about anything usually lives a quiet an undisturbed life. The man who wants to do something, who is concerned with the general welfare has troubles and worries. When G-d elevated Israel and chose us from all the nations, He placed us in the midst of every conflict. Wherever something great is being fought for, Israel must be there. Few peoples rise above the others, to put their foot on the neck of the nations. The various generations come up, grow, flourish and disappear. Israel must play its part in all of them. Of course, that involves suffering and sorrow. Sometimes we are hurled down to earth, and the ploughs are drawn across our backs and we are marked by long furrows. But G-d has always raised us up again. He has never punished us as He has punished those who torment us. He has never doomed us to die like those nations who oppress us. If we must suffer more than other peoples, G-d has also given us the strength to bear our troubles; to endure." [citation needed]
Rachel's words moved Akiva, and he told her that he could only dedicate himself to Torah if he had a wife like her by his side. She said that she would accept his "wooing" if he would devote himself to the study of G-d's law. He said he would, and they married in secret. Her father, hearing this, drove her out of his house and prohibited her by vow of having any share in his assets.
Rachel brought Akiva to Gamzu, a small place near Lod, to learn from the Torah sage Nochum of Gamzu. He learned with him until he died, at which point he moved to Yavneh to study at the feet of ben Zakkai, as well as Gamliel II HaNasi (the Prince), and Yehoshua ben Chananya. After 12 years, he returned to his home with twelve thousand disciples following him. He overheard a neighbor saying to his wife Rachel: "How long will you live as a widow while still married? Your husband has probably forgotten all about you!" She answered her: "If he would listen to me, he should go study another twelve years." Hearing this, Rabbi Akiva said: "So I'm doing it with her approval!" and went and studied another twelve years.
When he came back this time, he had twenty-four thousand disciples with him. Hearing this, his wife was about to go out and greet him. Her female neighbors said to her: "Go borrow garments and dress yourself!" She replied: "A righteous man knows the spirit of his domestic beast" (Proverbs 12:10). When she reached him she prostrated herself and started kissing his feet. His servants started pushing her away. He said to them: "Let her be! What both I and you have is hers."
Her father heard that a great man had arrived in town. He said: "Let me go to him, perhaps he may annul my vow." Rabbi Akiva asked him: "Had you known that her husband would become a great man, would you have vowed?" Kalba Savua answered: "Why, if he even knew one chapter, even one Halakha!" Rabbi Akiva then said: "I am him." He prostrated himself and kissed him on his feet, and gave him half his assets (Ketubot 62b-63a).
His Favorite Maxim
This was not the only occasion on which Akiba was made to feel the truth of his favorite maxim ("Whatever God doeth He doeth for the best"). Once, being unable to find any sleeping accommodation in a certain city, he was compelled to pass the night outside its walls. Without a murmur he resigned himself to this hardship; and even when a lion devoured his ass, and a cat killed the cock whose crowing was to herald the dawn to him, and the wind extinguished his candle, the only remark he made was, "This, likewise, must be for a good purpose!" When morning dawned he learned how true his words were. A band of robbers had fallen upon the city and carried its inhabitants into captivity, but he had escaped because his abiding place had not been noticed in the darkness, and neither beast nor fowl had betrayed him (Ber. 60b).
Akiba and the Dead
A legend according to which the gates of the infernal regions opened for Akiba is analogous to the more familiar tale that he entered paradise and was allowed to leave it unscathed (Ḥag. 14b). There exists the following tradition: Akiba once met a coal-black man carrying a heavy load of wood and running with the speed of a horse. Akiba stopped him and inquired: "My son, wherefore dost thou labor so hard? If thou art a slave and hast a harsh master, I will purchase thee of him. If it be out of poverty that thou doest thus, I will care for thy requirements." "It is for neither of these," the man replied; "I am dead and am compelled because of my great sins to build my funeral pyre every day. In life I was a tax-gatherer and oppressed the poor. Let me go at once, lest the demon torture me for my delay." "Is there no help for thee?" asked Akiba. "Almost none," replied the deceased; "for I understand that my sufferings will end only when I have a pious son. When I died, my wife was pregnant; but I have little hope that she will give my child proper training."
Akiba inquired the man's name and that of his wife and her dwelling-place; and when, in the course of his travels, he reached the place, Akiba sought for information concerning the man's family. The neighbors very freely expressed their opinion that both the deceased and his wife deserved to inhabit the infernal regions for all time—the latter because she had not even initiated her child into the Abrahamic covenant. Akiba, however, was not to be turned from his purpose; he sought the son of the tax-gatherer and labored long and assiduously in teaching him the word of God. After fasting 40 days, and praying to God to bless his efforts, he heard a heavenly voice (bat Ḳol) asking, "Wherefore givest thou thyself so much trouble concerning this one?" "Because he is just the kind to work for," was the prompt answer. Akiba persevered until his pupil was able to officiate as reader in the synagogue; and when there for the first time he recited the prayer, "Bless ye the Lord!" the father suddenly appeared to Akiba, and overwhelmed him with thanks for his deliverance from the pains of hell through the merit of his son (Kallah, ed. Coronel, 4b, and see quotations from Tan. in Isaac Aboab's Menorat ha-Maor, i. 1, 2, § 1, ed. Jacob Raphael Fürstenthal, p. 82; also Maḥzor Vitry, p. 112). This legend has been somewhat elaborately treated in Yiddish under the title, Ein ganz neie Maase vun dem Tanna R. Akiba, Lemberg, 1893 (compare Tanna debe Eliyahu Zuṭṭa, xvii., where Johanan ben Zakkai's name is given in place of Akiba).
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
. The JE cites the following sources:
- Z. Frankel, Darke ha-Mishnah, pp. 111-123;
- J. Brüll, Mebo ha-Mishnah, pp. 116-122;
- Weiss, Dor, ii. 107-118;
- H. Oppenheim, in Bet Talmud, ii. 237-246, 269-274;
- Isaac Gastfreund, Biographie des R. Akiba, Lemberg, 1871;
- J. S. Bloch, in Mimizraḥ u-Mima'Arab, 1894, pp. 47-54;
- Heinrich Grätz, Gesch. d. Juden, iv. (see index);
- Ewald, Geschichte der Volkes Israel, vii. 367 et seq.;
- Joseph Derenbourg, Essai, pp. 329-331, 395 et seq., 418 et seq.;
- Hamburger, R. B. T. ii. 32-43;
- W. Bacher, Ag. Tan. i. 271-348;
- Isaak Markus Jost, Gesch. des Judenthums und Seiner Sekten, ii. 59 et seq.;
- Landau, in Monatsschrift, 1854, pp. 45-51, 81-93, 130-148;
- Dünner, ibid. 1871, pp. 451-454;
- Neubürger, ibid. 1873, pp. 385-397, 433-445, 529-536;
- D. Hoffmann, Zur Einleitung in die Halachischen Midraschim, pp. 5-12;
- H. Grätz, Gnosticismus, pp. 83-120;
- F. Rosenthal, Vier Apokryph. Bücher . . . R. Akiba's, especially pp. 95-103, 124-131;
- S. Funk, Akiba (Jena Dissertation), 1896;
- M. Poper, PirḲe R. Akiba, Vienna, 1808;
- M. Lehmann, Akiba, Historische Erzählung, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1880;
- J. Wittkind, Ḥuṭ ha-Meshulash, Wilna, 1877;
- Braunschweiger, Die Lehrer der Mischnah, pp. 92-110.
Notes
See also
External links
- A biography of Rabbi Akiva
- OU.org: Rabbi Akiva, Master of Teshuvah
- Photos of Rabbi Akiva's tomb in Tiberias
- A collection of articles on Rabbi Akiva's teaching from Chabad Knowledge Base
- Jewish Encyclopedia article on Akiba, by Louis Ginzberg.
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