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the second verse of the same chapter lias been handed down in a tannaitic tradition (Tosel, Hag. ii. 5, 6; compare Hag- 15a), together with the following anecdote Joshua b. Hananiah was walking one day, when he met Ben Zoma, who was about to pass him without greeting. Thereupon Joshua asked: "Whence and whither, Ben Zoma?" The latter replied: "I was lost in thoughts concerning the account of the Creation." And then he told Joshua his interpretation of Gen. i. 2. When speaking to his disciples on the matter, Joshua said, " Ben Zoma is outside," meaning thereby that Ben Zoma had passed beyond the limit of permitted research. As a matter of fact, Ben Zoma was one of the four who entered into the " garden " of esoteric knowledge (see Ben Azzai). It was said of him that he beheld the secrets of the garden and " was struck " with mental aberration (Hag. 14b). The disciples of Akiba applied to the limitless theosophic speculations, for which Ben Zoma had to suffer, the words of Prov. xxv. 16, "Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it" (Tosef., Hag. I.e.; Bab. Hag- I.e. •compare Midr. Mishle on xxv. 16). Even the few sentences of Ben Zoma that have come down to us show the depth of his thoughts

'

as, for instance, his reflections

of people (Tosef., Ber.

on seeing large crowds Ber. 58a):

vii. [vi.] 2;

"

'

Ben-Ze'eb

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ben Zoma, seeing the crowds on the Temple mount, said, Blessed be He who created all these to attend to my needs.

How much had Adam

Not a mouthful to weary himself with could he taste before he plowed and sowed, and cut and bound sifted the grain, and .sheaves, and threshed and winnowed and ground and sifted the flour, and kneaded and baked, and then be ate but I get up in the morning and And all this ready beNot a fore me. How much had Adam to weary himself with shirt could he put on before he sheared and washed the wool, and hatcheled and dyed and spun and wove and sewed, and then he clothed himself ; but I rise in the morning and find all this ready before me. How many trades are anxiously busy •early in the morning ; and I rise and And all these things before me!"' !



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Also his reflections on man as the guest of God in this world (ib.) " A grateful guest says, That host he remembered for good How many wines he brought up before me how many portions how many cakes he offered me All that ihe placed before me le did, he did for my sake.' But the ill-willed guest says, ' his ? A piece of bread, a bite of meat. What I eat of What did did I drink ? A cup of wine. Whatever he did, he did for the sake of his wife and his children.' Thus the Scripture says [Job xxxvi. 24], 'Remember that thou magnify His work, whereof men have sung.' '





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Again, take his fourfold motto (Ab. iv. 1) on the truly wise, the truly rich, the truly powerful, and the truly esteemed. In the closing words of Ecclesiastes, "for this is the whole man," he finds the thought expressed, that the pious man is the crown and end of mankind the whole race (" the whole world ") was created only to be of service to him who fears God and respects His commandments Ben {Ber. 6b; Shab. 30b; see 'Aruk, s.v. riYlX, 5)Zoma is also the originator of the beautiful sentence,

BENAIAH

Beuaiab

"Benayahu"

(Hebrew,

or "Bena-

yah," "the Lord hath built").— Biblical Data: 1. One of the Bene Parosh who took foreign wives (Ezra x. 25); in I Esd. ix. 26 he is called "Baanias."

One

2.

of the

Bene Pahath-moab in the same

list

(Ezra x. 30), called "Naidus" in I Esd. ix. 81. 3. One of the Bene Bani in the same list (Ezra x. 35); he is called "Mabdai" in I Esd. ix. 34. 4. One of the Bene Nebo in the same list (Ezra x. 43) he is called " Banaias " in I Esd. ix. 35. 5. Simeonite chief (I Chron. iv. 36). 6. Son of Jeiel, and grandfather of the Jahaziel who brought a message of encouragement to Jehoshaphat (II Chron. xx. 14). 7. Father of Pelatiah, the prince of the people denounced by Ezekiel (Ezek. xi. 1, 13). 8. The Pirathonite, one of the thirty valiant men of David (I Chron. xi. 31 II Sam. xxiii. 30), commanding the army in the eleventh month (I Chron.

A



xxvii. 14). 9. Levite singer (I Chron. xv. 18), who also played in the Temple service (I Chron. xv. 20, x vi. 5).

A

A priest,

10.

one of those

the trumpets before xvi.

who "did blow with

the ark"

Chron. xv. 24,

(I

6).

11

A Levite

.

sisted in

in the reign of Hezekiah, who askeeping the offerings brought to the Tem-

ple (II Chron. xxxi. 13). 12. Son of Jehoiada, a priest (I Chron. xxvii. 5) who distinguished himself in military affairs under David, and later on in Solomon's reign. Three of his exploits are particularly mentioned: (1) the slaughter of the two Ariels of Moab (2) the killing

of a lion that had been trapped in a pit: Benaiah descended into the pit and there battled with the beast; (3) the overthrow of an Egyptian or a Mizri, from whom he wrenched his weapon and slew him with it (II Sam. xxiii. 20-22 = I Chron. xi. 22-25). Officially Benaiah held various positions. He commanded the Cherethites and Pelethites (II Sam. viii. 18, xx. 23); was placed by David over the guard (I Chron. xi. 25; II Sam. xxiii. 23) and commanded the army in the In Adonijah's atthird month (I Chron. xxvii. 5). tempt at the kingship, Benaiah sided with Solomon (I Kings i. 8 et seq.) and took part in proclaiming the On the death of David, Benaiah, by latter king. order of Solomon, put Joab and Adonijah to death (I Kings ii. 25).. Later Benaiah succeeded to the supreme command of the army (I Kings ii. 35). Along with the other priest Abiathar, Benaiah acted as one of the counselors of King David (I Chron. xxvii. 34; the reading "Jehoiada ben Benaiah" is evidently wrong).

j.

G. B. L.

je.



in repentance, been ashamed in this world, thou wilt not need to be ashamed before God in the next " (Ex. R. xxx. 19). Bibliogkaphy Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten, i. 439; Frankel, Darke ha-Mishnah, pp. 134-138 Graetz, Bistoni of the Jens, Weiss, Dor, ii. 126 Braunschweiger, Lelirer der ii. 358, 381

"Hast thou,







liischnah, pp. 257-259. j. sk.



W.

B.

In Rabbinical Literature: The Kabbis taught was president of the Sanhedrin under David (Ber. 4a). His position as leader of the Jewthat Benaiah

ish scholars is declared to be indicated in II Sam. xxiii. 20, the verse being expounded as follows:

Benaiah was a man, <n E^N p (" son of a valiant man, A. V. Hebr., " son of a man living "), who could be called " alive " even after his death " who had done many acts " of " Kabzeel, " i. e. he was very active in behalf of theTorah ("kabaz,"he collected; "el," for " He slew two sons of Ariel." There was no God).





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