'AQIBĀ' (or 'Aqibā') ben JOSEF, Rabbī. — One of the principal tannaitic doctors, born in Judea around 40, died in 137. Legend has adorned his life with marvels (a lowly shepherd, he married the daughter of his wealthy master, and, in order to please his bride, learned to read at the age of forty). Because of his knowledge of the tōrāh and of legal tradition, he became the undisputed master of the halakhāh (v.). He belonged to the school of Jamnia; but he lived and taught at Lidda and Bēnē Bērāq.
'A. is the father of Talmudism. A casuist, he treated legal prescriptions in themselves, detaching them from biblical exegesis; he thus separated the halakhāh from the midhrās, defining the respective method of each. The result was the systematic arrangement of legal traditions by subject matter; 'A. was the first collector of the halakhic material that later constituted the Mišnāh (v.), whose spirit and plan he taught. 'A.'s disciple, R. Meir, continued the collection and arrangement. The Talmud often speaks of the « Mišnāh of Rabbī 'A. »: this does not seem to refer to a distinct work, but to 'A.'s authorship of the well-known Mišnāh. The halakhic midhrāsīm Sifrā and Sifrē, attributed to his disciples R. Jehudāh ben Ilaj and R. Simeon ben Jobaj, contain much material deriving from 'A. For biblical exegesis, 'A. established hermeneutical principles (« rules of 'A. ») suited to bringing out the significance of every element of the sacred text. He upheld the divine inspiration of the Song of Songs.
He took an active part in the political fortunes of his people after the destruction of the Temple (in the year 70). He is said to have visited the Jews scattered throughout Arabia and Africa, and to have come to Rome several times, entering into personal relations there with the emperor Hadrian. He was the soul of the revolt of Bar Kokhebā, whom 'A. anointed and proclaimed liberator and Messiah. When the movement failed, the aged 'A. spent three years in prison and was then executed amid tortures at Caesarea. The conception of martyrdom prevailing in Judaism is traced back to him (Babylonian Talmud, Bērākhōth 61 b).
The two cabalistic works that arose eight to ten centuries later were attributed to him: Séfer jēširāh (Book of Creation) and Séfer 'ōthijōth (Book of Letters), called the « Alphabet of 'A. » (ed. Venice 1556; in G. Bartolocci, Biblioteca rabbinica, IV, Rome 1693).