person · P0131
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel I רבן שמעון בן גמליאל הזקן
Son of Rabban Gamliel HaZaken and Nasi of the Sanhedrin during the years of the Great Revolt against Rome. In Pirkei Avot he teaches that he found nothing better for a person than silence, and that the deed — not the exposition — is the essential thing. Famed for his bold ruling that slashed the price of bird-offerings for the poor; traditionally counted among the sages martyred in the era of the destruction.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבן שמעון בן גמליאל הזקן
- Also known as
- Shimon ben Gamliel HaZaken, Simeon ben Gamaliel I
- Era
- tannaim
- Generation
- T1
- Received the mesorah from
- Rabban Gamliel HaZaken
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh
- Parents
- Rabban Gamliel HaZaken
- Colleagues
- Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai
- Children
- Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3770–3830 AM
- Academic
- c. 10–70 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈60 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Jerusalem
IV. What
- Events
- Destruction of the Second Temple
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taught: "All my days I grew up among the sages and found nothing better for the body than silence; the exposition is not the essential thing but the deed; and whoever multiplies words brings sin."
Attributed to "Shimon his son" following Rabban Gamliel in the chain of Avot chapter 1, traditionally identified as Shimon ben Gamliel the Elder.
|
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| When the price of a pair of birds in Jerusalem rose to a golden dinar, he swore, "By this dwelling! I will not sleep tonight until they cost a silver dinar," and taught leniently that one birth- offering can cover multiple births; the price fell to a quarter- dinar that very day. | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Was seized together with Rabbi Yishmael for execution; tradition counts him among the sages martyred in the era of the destruction.
Aggadic martyrology; the "Ten Martyrs" traditions are composite and chronologically layered, and the identification and timing of this Shimon ben Gamliel are debated.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★☆☆☆ | |
| Josephus describes Simon son of Gamaliel as a Jerusalemite of illustrious family, of the school of the Pharisees, a man of great judgment who was influential in the wartime leadership during the Great Revolt.
Direct external attestation by a contemporary; Josephus writes as a political rival. The research input's uchicago.edu URL was dead and was replaced with Wikisource at ingest.
|
external | ★★★★☆ | |
| The Bavli relates that at the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah he would juggle eight flaming torches without one touching another.
Aggadic report; the Bavli names "Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel" without specifying which, but the Temple-era setting points to the first.
|
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ | |
| Traditional placement c. 3770–3830 AM (c. 10–70 CE), as the last Nasi of the hundred-year Hillelite line that served while the Temple stood; he led during the Great Revolt and is presumed to have perished around the destruction.
Schematic traditional dating. Josephus (Life 38) independently describes Shimon ben Gamliel as a leading figure in wartime Jerusalem.
|
tradition reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |