Shemayah and Avtalyon

(1st cent. BCE). The fourth of the five Zugot, the pairs of sages who linked the Maccabean era with that of the tannaim. Traditionally, Shemayah and Avtalyon were either converts or descendants of converts, tracing their ancestry back to the Assyrian king Sennacherib (Git. 57b). Shemayah was president of the Sanhedrin (Nasi), while Avtalyon was the head of the law court (av bet din).. No halakhic dicta are recorded in their names, but both are quoted in Avot. Shemayah stated, "Love labor and shun power, and do not become close to the authorities" (1:10); this may well be a reference to Herod, during whose reign Shemayah lived. Avtalyon declared, "O sages, be careful with your words, lest you incur the penalty of exile, and you will be exiled to the place of bad waters [i.e., heresy]. Then the students who follow you will drink and die" (1:11).

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