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Joshua ben Perachya
(Hebrew: יהושע בן פרחיה) was Nasi of the Sanhedrin in
the latter half of the second century BCE. He and his
colleague Nittai of Arbela were the second of the five
pairs (Zugot) of scholars who received and transmitted
the tradition (Avot i.6; Haggigah 16a). At the time of
the persecution of the Pharisees by John Hyrcanus (r.
134-104 BCE), Joshua was deposeda disgrace to which
his words in Men. 109b apparently allude. (According
to the entry on Yeshu, it was Alexander Jannaeus, not
John Hyrcanus whose persecution he fled: In Sanhedrin
107b and Sotah 47a a Yeshu is mentioned as a student
of Joshua ben Perachiah who was sent away for judging
a woman by her physical appearance. This happened
during their period of refuge in Egypt during the
persecutions of Pharisees 88-76 BCE ordered by
Alexander Jannĉus.) He fled to Alexandria, Egypt; but
he was recalled to Jerusalem when the persecutions
ceased and the Pharisees again triumphed over the
Sadducees (Sotah 47a). The same passage refers to a
pupil of Joshua's who according to some scholars may
have been Jesus (comp. Krauss, "Das Leben Jesu," p.
182, Berlin, 1902). Only a single halakhah of Joshua's
has been preserved (Tosef., Maksh. iii. 4), besides
the following ethical maxim which shows his gentle
judgment of his fellow men and his eagerness to spread
knowledge among the people: "Get thee a teacher; win
thee a friend; and in judging incline toward the side
of innocence" (Avot i. 6). |
