Joshua ben Gamla (Hebrew:יהושע בן גמלא), also calledJesus the son of Gamala (Greek:Ἰησοῦς υἱὸς Γαμάλα), was a Jewishhigh priest in about 64-65 CE. He was killed during theFirst Jewish–Roman War. While theTalmud refers to Joshua ben Gamla, the earlier Greek works ofJosephus Flavius call himΓαμάλα μὲν υἱὸς Ἰησοῦς (Gamala men huios Iesous) asemitism for:The son of Gamala, Jesus.^[1]

Joshua married the rich widowMartha of the high-priestly familyBoethus^[2] and was appointed High Priest byHerod Agrippa II.^[3] According to Talmudic sources,^[4] Martha bribed a "King Jannai" into appointing Joshua High Priest with a tarkab of denarii.^[5] This cannot refer toAlexander Jannaeus, who reigned 150 years earlier and was himself the High Priest, but may refer to King Agrippa II as is mentioned in the Talmudic notes.^[6] The two lots used onYom Kippur, previously of boxwood, he made of gold.^[7] Joshua did not remain long in office, being forced, after a year, to give way toMattathias ben Theophilus.^[8]

Although Joshua was not a scholar, he cared for the instruction of the young and provided schools in every town for children over five years of age, earning thereby the praises of posterity.^[9] The Talmud states, "Joshua b. Gamala came and ordained that teachers of young children should be appointed in each district and each town, and that children should enter school at the age of six or seven.".^[9] He is therefore regarded as the founder of the institution of formal Jewish education.

Although no longer High Priest, Joshua remained one of the leaders of Jerusalem. Together with another former high priest,Ananus ben Ananus, and other prominent men, he unsuccessfully opposed the election ofPhinehas b. Samuel (68) as high priest.^[10]Josephus reports that Joshua was an "intimate friend", who reported a plot to replace Josephus as general of Galilee to Josephus' father. Because his father wrote to him of the plot, Josephus was able to resist it.^[11]

Joshua attempted peaceably to prevent theIdumeans from enteringJerusalem during theZealot coup. After they came into possession of the city, they killed both Joshua and Ananus as traitors to their country (68).^[12]

Scholars have argued that Joshua ben Gamla of the Talmud is the same high priest from the days of the destruction, and that the priesthood was acquired fromHerod Agrippa II.^[13]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Joshua ben Gamla".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

• 1st-century high priests of Israel
• Mishnah rabbis
• 1st-century rabbis
• People of the First Jewish–Roman War
• Leaders ousted by a coup
• People from Roman Judea

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