person · P0157
Rabban Gamliel III רבן גמליאל ברבי
Son and successor of Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) as Nasi, appointed by his father's deathbed testament even though his brother Shimon was the greater scholar, since Gamliel held the seniority of the patriarchal line. His teachings open the second chapter of Pirkei Avot — Torah study combined with derech eretz, and wariness toward the ruling power — marking the patriarchate's passage from the tannaitic to the amoraic age.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבן גמליאל ברבי
- Also known as
- Rabban Gamliel beRabbi, Rabban Gamliel son of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi
- Era
- tannaim
- Generation
- T6
- Received the mesorah from
- Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi
- Parents
- Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi
- Teachers
- Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3940–4000 AM
- Academic
- c. 180–240 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈60 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taught in Avot: "Beautiful is Torah study together with derech eretz (worldly occupation), for the toil of both makes sin forgotten; and all Torah without work ends in nothing and drags sin along" — followed by his charges that communal workers act for the sake of Heaven and his warning to be careful with the ruling authorities, who befriend a person only for their own benefit. | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Appointed Nasi by Rebbi's deathbed testament — "Shimon my son is the sage, Gamliel my son is the Nasi" — and given the orders of the patriarchate with the charge "conduct your patriarchate with the exalted, and cast fear upon the students."
The baraita itself reads "although Shimon my son is the sage, Gamliel my son is the Nasi." When Levi asks why this needed stating, the Gemara answers that Gamliel did not fill his father's place in wisdom — so the appointment required saying — but Rebbi made it because Gamliel filled his father's place in fear of sin.
|
rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| Traditional placement c. 3940–4000 AM (c. 180–240 CE): raised in Rebbi's house and succeeding him as Nasi around the close of the Mishnah's redaction (c. 3979 AM / c. 219 CE).
Schematic traditional dating. |
tradition reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |