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HILLEL

(Heb. hillēl)

1. The father of Abdon, the judge who immediately preceded Samson (Judg. 12:13-15).

2. Hillel the Elder (ca. 60 b.c.–a.d. 20), clearly the single most influential figure in postbiblical Jewish history. Born in Babylonia, he came to Israel to pursue Torah study under the greatest teachers of the time, Shemaiah and Avtalion. Hillel was eventually promoted to the presidency of the Sanhedrin and thus became the de facto head of the Pharisees (30 b.c.–a.d. 10). A contemporary of Herod and Jesus, he was surely among, if not the head of, the “chief priests and teachers of the Law” (Matt. 2:4) whom Herod consulted about the birthplace of the Messiah.

In rabbinic tradition he is compared to Moses and Ezra, and it is said that he was the only one since Malachi to be worthy of the Holy Spirit resting upon him “as it did on Moses” (t. Soa 13:3; y. Sanh. 11a).

Hillel founded a dynasty of presidents (nĕśîʾîm) who ruled Israel through the Sanhedrin for more than 400 years, including his grandson Gamaliel I and Yoanan ben Zakkai, Hillel’s star pupil who almost single-handedly preserved Judaism after the destruction of a.d. 70. It is said that Hillel left a core group of 80 disciples, undoubtedly the foundation of the “School of Hillel,” the pharisaic group responsible for the formation of “rabbinic Judaism.” Rabbi Judah the Prince, a direct descendant of Hillel, produced the Mishnah, the basis of both Talmuds, assuring Hillel’s permanent influence on Judaism.

Hillel radically transformed the pharisaic movement. He standardized methods of interpretation and application of Scripture; emphasized leniency in judgment and in halakhic responsibilities; sought out the poor, sinners, and Gentiles, and threw open to them the way to God; and sanctified all of life by teaching that even the most mundane activities are sacred when done unto God. The influence of these general emphases is readily seen in the NT.

Within Hillel’s lifetime, he came to be viewed as the ideal rabbi. Not only did Hillel preach, but he practiced what he preached, and teachers were commanded to imitate his piety (Sanh. 11a), humility, patience, and approachability (Šabb. 31a), and teaching style.

Although the impact of Hillel on rabbinic Judaism was more direct, his influence on early Christianity is in another sense equally remarkable. Owing to chronological, ethnic, ideological, and geographical proximity, it should come as no surprise that Hillel’s influence reached to NT teachers such as Jesus and Paul. For example, Hillel taught the principle of the “Golden Rule” (Šabb. 31a; cf. Matt. 7:12), that one should “Love and pursue peace” (ʾAbot 1:12; 2:8; cf. Matt. 5:9), as well as a view of divine judgment which within the Academy came to be called “measure for measure” (ʾAbot 2:7; Sukk. 53a; cf. Matt. 7:2). Moreover, most of the seven hermeneutical rules (middô) which Hillel canonized for systematic interpretation and application of Scripture are used in the NT by Jesus and Paul (t. Sanh. 7:11; ʾAbot R. Nat. 37, 110).

Bibliography. Y. Buxbaum, The Life and Teachings of Hillel (Northvale, N.J., 1994); “Hillel (the Elder),” EncJud 8:482-85.

W. E. Nunnally







Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)

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