Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BAR KOKHBA

(Aram. bar kôḵbāʾ)

Title given by his supporters to Simon bar Kosiba, leader of the Second Jewish Revolt (132-135 c.e.). Most frequently used in early Christian writings, this epithet sometimes appears in rabbinic texts. According to rabbinic tradition, Bar Kokhba (“son of the star”) was a pun on Bar Kosiba’s name, coined by Rabbi Akiba in allusion to Num. 24:17, “A star shall arise from Jacob, and a scepter shall go forth from Israel” (y. Taʿan. 68d). Rabbinic literature interpreted this passage as a messianic prophecy, so the title implied that bar Kosiba was the Messiah. His detractors, however, concocted a similar pun, calling him Bar Koziba, “son of the lie,” which he is usually called in rabbinic literature.

According to rabbinic tradition, he was of Davidic descent, the nephew of a certain Rabbi Eleazar of Modein. Tradition depicts Bar Kosiba as a man of great strength and impetuosity. He was acclaimed messiah by Rabbi Akiba, but other rabbis opposed his aspirations. Texts discovered at the Wadi Murabaʿat, including some of Bar Kosiba’s personal correspondence, have revealed his actual name and also indicate that he did indeed use the messianic title “prince of Israel.” They also show him to have been illiterate, dependent on others to write his letters.

The causes of the Bar Kokhba revolt are uncertain and probably complex. According to the 3rd-century Roman historian Dio Cassius, the Jews revolted on hearing rumors that the emperor Hadrian planned to convert Jerusalem into a Roman colony. Another Roman source attributes the revolt to Hadrian’s attempt to ban “mutilation of the genitals,” which would have meant a ban on circumcision. Eusebius seems to have attributed the revolt to simple messianic fervor. The course of the war, however, reveals that the Jews were well prepared to fight, and did not spontaneously erupt into violence as they had in the First Revolt. By virtue of their preparations, the Jewish forces inflicted heavy damage on the Roman legions before being subdued in 135. Bar Kosiba was killed in the siege of Bethar, near Jerusalem, the last remaining center of Jewish resistance.

Bibliography. E. Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 b.c.-a.d. 135), rev. ed. (Edinburgh, 1973-1987); Y. Yadin, Bar-Kokhba (New York, 1971).

Anthony J. Tomasino

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BAR KOKHBA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)