Bar Kokhba

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SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Bar Kokhba (works)

Shimon Bar Kokhba (2nd century CE) was the Jewish leader of the so-called Bar Kokhba revolt (or Third Jewish revolt) against the Roman rule in Judea around 132 CE.

Overview

Little is known about the origin of the figure Shimon Bar Kosiba and the causes of the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135/6 CE). The revolt is known from Rabbinic sources and from a brief excerpt of the third-century Roman historian Cassius Dio. Archaeological data dating from 1952 to the present help fill in some of the gaps, however, much is left to scholarly reconstruction.

Bar Kokhba in ancient sources

See Bar Kokhba (sources)

The discovery of letters in a cave near the Dead Sea, some apparently signed by Bar Kokhba himself, have provided some first-hand information about this historical character and the dramatic conclusion of the revolt.

Bar Kokhba Letters

Bar Kokhba in Rabbinic Literature

In the Jerusalem Talmud, Rabbi Akiba heralds Bar Kokhba as the messiah (y Ta’anit 4:8), citing Numb 24:17 (‘A star shall step forth from Jacob’) as a prooftext. The dictum is recited by Rabbi Akiba’s student Rabbi Shimon b. Yohai, whereas Rabbi Yohanan b. Torta responds to Akiba that ‘grass will grow between your jaws and still the son of David will not yet come!’

Midrash Lamentations Rabbah has a parallel legend (Lam. Rab. 2.5). Here, however, it is Rabbi Yohanan rather than Rabbi Shimon b. Yohai, who begins the tradition, “R. Yohanan said: Rabbi would expound A star shall step forth from Jacob thus: do not read “star” (kokhav) but “liar” (kozav).” Rabbi Akiba follows this with his statement of Bar Kokhba as the messiah, and Rabbi Yohanan b. Torta’s statement, as seen in y Ta’anit, follows.

Bar Kokhba in Non-Jewish Literature

Bar Kokhba in Scholarship

From ancient sources we know that his real name was Simon ben Kosiba. The Aramaic surname (Bar Kokhba = "son of a star") was given to him in reference to the messianic prophecy of Numbers 24:17. After the failure of the revolt, rabbinic writers would rather call him "Bar Kozeba" (= son of disappointment").

Bar Kokhba in Fiction

The rediscovery of Bar Kokhba as a Jewish hero and its transformation into a fearless champion of freedom and independence for his people coincide with the rise of Zionism in the second half of the 19th century. The memory of Bar Kokhba has accompanied the birth of the State of Israel and its struggle for independence and survival.