person · P0140
Rabbi Tarfon רבי טרפון
Kohen of the Yavneh generation who in his youth served in the Second Temple, and a leading colleague and interlocutor of Rabbi Akiva. Famed for his aphorism "the day is short and the work is much," he sat in the deliberation at Lod on whether study or action is greater, holding that action is greater — against the conclusion that study is greater because it leads to action.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבי טרפון
- Also known as
- Tarfon
- Era
- tannaim
- Generation
- T3
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai
- Colleagues
- Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yose HaGlili
- Students
- Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3810–3880 AM
- Academic
- c. 50–120 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈70 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taught: "The day is short, the work is much, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Master of the house presses"; and: "It is not upon you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it." | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| A kohen who served in the Second Temple: he recounted ascending the platform after his mother's brother and inclining his ear toward the Kohen Gadol, hearing him make the divine Name indistinct in the melody of his brother kohanim.
The Yerushalmi version has him standing among his brother kohanim. First-person Temple memories anchor his birth before the destruction.
|
rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| In the deliberation in the upper chamber of Nitza's house in Lod, answered that action is greater than study; Rabbi Akiva answered that study is greater, and all concluded that study is greater because study leads to action. | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| A midrash relates that Rabbi Akiva moved the wealthy Rabbi Tarfon to invest in charity: taking his money ostensibly to buy an estate, Akiva distributed it to the poor and showed him his purchase in the verse "He has scattered, he has given to the needy."
Aggadic narrative. |
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ | |
| Famed for honoring his mother: the Bavli relates that whenever she wished to climb into bed he would bend down so she could ascend upon him — and the sages told him he had not reached even half the honor due her.
Aggadic narrative. |
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ | |
| Traditional placement c. 3810–3880 AM (c. 50–120 CE), anchored before the destruction by his first-person memories of Temple service and extending through the Yavneh generation as a colleague of Rabbi Akiva.
Schematic traditional dating. |
tradition reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ |