Joshua ben Hananiah

Who is Joshua ben Hananiah?

Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent, and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers. His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas, relates, she carried the child in his cradle into the synagogue, so that his ears might become accustomed to the sounds of the words of the Torah. It was probably with reference to his pious mother that Johanan b. Zakkai thus expressed himself concerning Joshua ben Hananiah: "Hail to thee who gave him birth". According to another tradition Johanan b. Zakkai praised him in the words from Eccl. iv. 12: "And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." Perhaps he meant that in Joshua the three branches of traditional learning, Midrash, Halakah, and Aggadah, were united in a firm whole; or possibly he used the passage in the sense in which it was employed later, to show that Joshua belonged to a family of scholars even to the third generation. He is the seventh most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.