Simeon ben Gamliel

For the grandson of Simeon ben Gamliel (I), see Shimon ben Gamliel (II).

Simeon ben Gamliel (I) ( or רשב"ג הראשון, c. 10 BCE – 70 CE) was a Tanna sage and leader of the Jewish people. He served as President of the Great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem during the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt, succeeding his father in the same office after his father's death in 52 CE and just before the destruction of the Second Temple.

He was a direct descendant of King David and the great-grandson of Hillel the Elder. He was a contemporary of the high priests Ḥanan ben Ḥanan and Yehoshua ben Gamla.

He is one of the Ten Martyrs mentioned in Jewish liturgy. According to the chronological tables brought down by Rabbi Sherira Gaon, he was beheaded, along with Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha the high priest, prior to the Temple's destruction, although the historian Josephus Flavius mentions only the execution of "Ishmael" in Cyrene during the war with Rome (ca. 66-68 CE).  The account is mentioned in, both, Tractate Semachot ch 8, and in Avot de-Rabbi Nathan (38:3), where Simeon ben Gamliel is given the title of nasi, along with the dignitary title of "Rabban" ("our Master"). Before his death, he and his fellow jurists opposed the appointment of Josephus as military governor of the Galilee and sought to remove him from that post, but to no avail.

His tomb is traditionally located in Kafr Kanna, in the lower Galilee of northern Israel.

Quotes
All my life have I been reared among the Sages, but I have found nothing better for the body than silence; 'Tis not the conveyance of teachings which is the principal [aim], but rather the discharge of one's duty (i.e. action). Whosoever is verbose brings on sin.

By three things is the world sustained: by judgment, by truth, and by peace.

References

Category:Mishnah rabbis
Category:Jewish martyrs
Category:10s BC births
Category:70 deaths
Category:Pirkei Avot rabbis
Category:People executed by the Roman Empire
Category:1st-century BCE Jews
Category:1st-century rabbis
Category:People of the First Jewish–Roman War