Rabbi (scholar)
As a rabbi ( Hebrew רַבִּי, German literally "my teacher" or "my master", plural : rabbis or rabbis ), Jewish scholars who interpret the rules of the Torah have been referred to since ancient times. The word comes from the Hebrew noun Raw or Rav (רַב) and means “great, great” in the Tanach . It does not appear there as a title or with the possessive suffix -i (י-). It was not until 70 AD that rabbi was also used as an honorary title and salutation for scholars who were particularly literate.
The rabbi as the spiritual head of a Jewish community known today did not emerge until the Middle Ages .
antiquity
The ancient Torah scholars since Ezra , especially the Tannaites and Amoreans , are called rabbis in the narrower sense . They were interpreters of the written and oral Torah and also pursued an ordinary job with which they earned their living. In the first century until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (70 AD), these Torah interpreters in Palestine belonged predominantly to the Jewish school of the Pharisees . This is how they are described by the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius and in the New Testament (NT). The Jewish tradition traces them back to Moses by calling him Moshe Rabbenu ("Moses our teacher").
Talmudic time
In the Mishnah , Raw designates a master, as opposed to a slave . The oldest evidence for the name Rabbi - the Sephardic spelling and pronunciation is Ribbi (רִבִּי) - meaning "my teacher", "my master" comes from the time shortly after the destruction of the second temple by the Romans in 70. Soon afterwards the meaning of the word changed, in which the possessive suffix "mein" (-i) lost its meaning and the title rabbi was used as a title for scholars without any reference between pupil and teacher. In Assyrian cuneiform texts around 1800 BC BC rabi denotes a high function, sometimes translated as great .
In Talmudic times, the title Rabbi was only bestowed on ordained scholars in Eretz Israel and consequently denotes either a Tannaite or a Palestinian Amora , while the scholars in Babylonia who were not ordained carried the title Raw . The rabbis of the Talmudic period interpreted the written and oral laws and also pursued a professional activity with which they earned their living.
New Testament
In early Christianity wears Jesus the title of Rabbi , for example in Mk 9.5 LUT and Jn 1.38 LUT . Usually, the Greek translation for this is ancient Greek διδάσκαλος didáskalos , German 'teacher' , accordingly his followers are called pupils (Sing. Ancient Greek μαθητής mathäthäs , German 'pupil' ). Instead of “teachers” and “pupils”, however, most German Bible translations like Luther translate with “master” and “disciple”.
The passage in Mt 23,7-8 LUT , in which the Pharisees and scribes are criticized, among other things, for the fact that they like to be “greeted at the market and called rabbi by the people”, could indicate that rabbi was only a short time before introduced title was.
present
In today's German usage, rabbi is used as an honorary title for a Torah and Talmud scholar, in modern Hebrew also with the meaning "Lord". In English, rabbi (pronounced [ˈræbaɪ]) means both rabbi and rabbi . Therefore, in German is often rabbi English-language as Rabbi called.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Louis Isaac Rabinowitz: Rabbi, Rabbinate . In: Encyclopaedia Judaica. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds). Volume 17. 2nd edition, Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit 2007, p. 11. online online: Gale Virtual Reference Library (English).
- ^ A b Günter Stemberger : The Talmud: Introduction - Texts - Explanations . 4th edition, C. H. Beck, Munich 2008, p. 17 ISBN 978-3-406-08354-9, extracts online . Retrieved January 27, 2011
- ↑ Gerhard Müller (ed.): Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Volume 28. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1997, p. 80 f. ISBN 3-11-015580-X online in extracts . Retrieved January 27, 2011
