Eleazar ben Ja'ir

Eleasar ben Ja'ir , also Eleazar Ben Ya'ir and other name variants, († 73 ) was the last leader of the Jewish defenders Sicarii (group of Zealots ) of the high plateau fortress Masada in the year 73 AD shortly before taking the fortress through the Romans, Eleazar ben Ja'ir gave a speech in which he called for suicide. When the Romans reached the plateau, they found the bodies of the crew.

Details from the year 73

In his speech, Eleazar ben Ja'ir emphasized that it was better to die free and surrounded by women and children than to be enslaved by the Romans. He gave orders to have everything burned down except for the food supplies. Then the men slew their wives and children. Ten men were determined by drawing lots to kill the others. Then a man was again determined by lot to kill the other nine and himself. When the Romans entered the plateau, they found 960 dead and seven survivors. The survivors were two women and five children.

Excavations 1963

During excavations in 1963, a senior officer's armor and eleven shards were found at a strategic point. A name was written on each of the pieces. It has been suggested that these were the lots that led to the killing of the Jewish defenders of Masada Fortress. The name "Ben Ya'ir" was written on a shard.

Relatives of Eleazar ben Ja'ir

Eleazar ben Ja'ir was a relative of Menachem ben Ja'ir . Menachem, the son of the scribe Judas from Galilee , had taken over the siege of the temple districts occupied by the Romans in Jerusalem and then developed into a tyrant. Menachem died under torture after a popular uprising organized by temple captain Eleazar, son of the high priest who had been murdered by Menachem . Eleazar ben Ja'ir was able to escape by escaping.

Menachem ben Ja'ir's brothers, Simon and Jacob, consequently also relatives of Eleazar ben Ja'ir, were crucified as leaders of the rebellion between 45 and 48 AD under the procurator Tiberius Alexander .

swell

Flavius Josephus : History of the Jewish War ( De Bello Judaico ) I, 10.5 § 204; II, 4.1 § 56; II, 8.1 § 117; II, 17,8-10, § 433-450
Flavius Josephus: Jewish antiquities ( Antiquitates Judaicae ) XVII, 10.5; XVIII, 1.1; 1.6; XX, 5.2
Charles Horrowitz: The Jerusalem Talmud in German translation I: Berakhoth. 1975, 64f. = jBer II, 4 (fol.5a).

literature

Richard Gottheil , Samuel Krauss : Eleazar B. Jair. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.
Grätz : History of the Jews , 4th edition, Volume III. Pp. 460, 549

Web links

www.christen-und-juden.de

Remarks

↑ Klaus Dorn: MENAHEM. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 1243-1246. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

personal data
SURNAME	Eleazar ben Ja'ir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Eleazar Ben Ya'ir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Leader of the Sicarians (group of Zealots) in the Jewish defenders of the high plateau fortress of Massada
DATE OF BIRTH	1st century BC BC or 1st century
DATE OF DEATH	73

[1] Klaus Dorn: MENAHEM. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 1243-1246. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )