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Nittai of Arbela (Hebrew:נתאי הארבלי) wasav beit din or vice-president of theSanhedrin under thenasiJoshua ben Perachyah at the time ofJohn Hyrcanus (r. 134–104 BC).
InYer.Hag. II 76d he is calledMattai of Arbela, which is also found in ancient and linguistically reliable manuscripts of theMishnah, such asCodex Kaufmann,Codex Parma A and theCambridge Codex (edited by W. H. Lowe). The confusion in the rendering of his name seems to be due to faulty textual transmission, i.e. the Hebrew mem being separated graphically into two parts, which looked, respectively as a nun and a yod, thus Mattai became Nittai.Arbela was a city of theGalilee not far fromTiberias.
Nohalakhot of his are extant, but some of hisapothegms have been preserved in such sources asPirkei Avot; these afford a glimpse of his character, to wit: "Distance thyself from a bad neighbor; consort not with an evil man, nor despair at tribulation."[1] These bitter utterances contrast sharply with the gentlemaxims of his colleague Joshua ben Perachyah. Nittai seems to have spoken thus afterJohn Hyrcanus had deserted the party of thePharisees and joined theSadducees, persecuting his former friends. The phrase "renounce not the hope of retribution" was perhaps intended to comfort the Pharisees with the thought that Hyrcanus himself would not escape punishment, while the other two injunctions were designed maybe to keep them from joining the Sadducees.
| Preceded by | Av Beth Din | Succeeded by |
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Nittai of Arbela".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.