TARPHON, RABBI. - Tannaite of the third generation, also mentioned by St. Jerome (In Is., 8, 11 ff.; PL 24, 122), who calls him Telphon (ed. Vallarsi). He was of priestly stock and, according to rabbinic tradition, would also have seen the Temple destroyed in A.D. 70. His identification with Tryphon, against whom St. Justin wrote his Dialogue, is problematic.

T. belonged to the school of Shammai, but with a marked tendency toward a benign interpretation of the legislative texts. He is much praised for his affection toward his parents. T. is cited 49 times in the Mishnah and often also in other writings. In Pirqé 'Abhōth (II, 20 ff.; ed. Goldschmidt, VII, p. 1157) fine maxims of his on the necessity of studying the Law are reported. In the discussion between practice and theory, T. spoke in favor of the former.

(phot. Ruit)

TARQUINIA and CIVITAVECCHIA, DIOCESE of - Aerial view of the Etruscan necropolis - Tarquinia.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: S. Ochsner, Tarfon, in Jew. Enc., XII, pp. 56-57; H. Strack, Einleitung in Talmud und Midrasch, 5th ed., Munich 1921, pp. 125-26.

@incollection{ec11_tarphon_rabbi, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Tarphôn, rabbî}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {1764--1765}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/tarphon-rabbi} }

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Tarphon, Rabbi

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