person · P0110
Rabbi Meir רבי מאיר
Leading student of Rabbi Akiva and the greatest mishnaic formulator of his generation. Anonymous mishnayot follow his formulation, making him — through his teacher Akiva — a structural pillar of the Mishnah. Husband of the scholar Beruriah.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבי מאיר
- Era
- tannaim
- Generation
- T4
- Received the mesorah from
- Rabbi Akiva
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar
- Teachers
- Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yishmael, Elisha ben Avuyah
- Spouses
- Beruriah
- Colleagues
- Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel II, Rabbi Natan, Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai, Rabbi Yose ben Chalafta, Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua, Rabbi Nechemiah
- Students
- Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3870–3925 AM
- Academic
- c. 110–165 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈55 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| An unattributed (stam) opinion in the Mishnah is Rabbi Meir, following the tradition he received from Rabbi Akiva. | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Named among the five later students of Rabbi Akiva who revived Torah in the south after the death of the first students. | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| Eruvin says Rabbi Meir served both Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva; the next page explains that he was called Meir because he illuminated the eyes of the sages in halakhah.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| At Beruriah's request, Rabbi Meir rescued her sister from Roman captivity by testing that she had resisted sin, bribing the guard, and giving him the formula "God of Meir, answer me"; the narrative ends with Rabbi Meir fleeing.
Aggadic narrative; later popular use of "Meir Baal HaNes" develops beyond the precise wording of this passage.
|
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ | |
| Rabbi Meir worked as a professional scribe (lavlar) who wrote Torah scrolls.
He explicitly identifies his vocation as lavlar, a scribe. |
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| After the rescue of Beruriah's sister became known, the Roman authorities circulated his likeness and he fled to Babylonia.
The Bavli gives two explanations for his flight, one of which connects it to an otherwise unexplained "incident of Beruriah."
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| Under Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel II, Rabbi Meir held the institutional rank of Chakham, while Rabbi Natan was Av Beit Din.
The hierarchy is explicit in the narrative. |
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| After Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Natan plotted to depose Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel II, they were expelled from the study hall and later readmitted, but statements by Rabbi Meir were thereafter cited under the designation Acherim, "Others."
Institutional-conflict narrative preserved by the Bavli. |
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| Rabbi Meir was ordained twice: "whoever says that Rabbi Akiva did not ordain Rabbi Meir is simply mistaken" — Rabbi Akiva ordained him but it was not accepted; Rabbi Yehudah ben Bava ordained him (among the five, between Usha and Shefaram, under the Roman ban) and it was accepted. The atlas draws the accepted ordination as a semicha edge from Yehudah ben Bava, and Akiva's as a contested semicha edge — the act happened, the ratification did not.
Both ordinations are explicit in the sugya. |
rabbinic | ★★★★★ |