ADDENDUM 1

AVOT HA-OLAM: THE (EMINENT) (FORE)FATHERS OF YORE

1.1 The Hebrew expression avot ha-olam, the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore, literally the
(fore)fathers of the age(s), is often rendered the fathers of the world, but this is based on a later
medieval understanding. When Jews saw themselves along with Christians and Muslims as the bulk
of the civilized world, the Patriarchs could readily be regarded as the (spiritual) (Fore)fathers of the
world. This would clearly be incongruous in the pagan world of Antiquity.
1.2 Both elements of this word pair have a wide semantic range. Hebrew avot can mean fathers,
forefathers, ancestors, (eminent) forefathers, progenitors, originators, chiefs, leaders, advisors,
counselors, patricians, nobles, or fundamentals. Hebrew olam can mean eternity, eon/age, lifetime,
world, cosmos, (civilized) society, or (Jewish) community.1
1.3 Most of the possible permutations are, of course, impossible. So, for example, if the phrase
referred only to contemporary sages, it might mean the (eminent) masters/fathers of the (current
Jewish) community/world. What then would the fathers of the world mean? Since it refers to
people of the past, it cannot mean the (fore)fathers who are (currently) in the world or the
worlds fathers (all the fathers in the world). Unlikely, too, is the everlasting (fore)fathers or the
(fore)fathers of the Eternal (God).2 If it referred primarily to the Biblical figures from Adam to
Noah, it might mean the (fore)fathers/ancestors of the (entire) world. But it generally refers to the
Patriarchs, and sometimes even to early rabbinic sages (see below). Perhaps it should be taken in an
extremely elliptical sense meaning the (eminent) (fore)fathers (in the history) of the (whole) world.
But this seems quite a stretch.
2.1 The most obvious meaning of this expression would be the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore.
This is the typical meaning of similar expressions in the Bible.3 Normally in Biblical Hebrew such
constructions use olam without the definite article (ha-olam). But already in the Bible ha-olam is
equivalent to olam, eternity/eon.4 In Rabbinic Hebrew the definite article typically appears in the
second element of the word pair (for example, avot ha-olam) when emphasis is placed on both
elements.5
2.2 Such an understanding is corroborated by the alternation in Rabbinic sources of avot ha-olam,
the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore, and avot ha-rishonim, the (eminent) (fore)fathers of
1

See note 482 to Avot 2:7a; note 47 to Avot 1:2; note 587 to Avot 2:11; note 940 to Avot 3:15; note 262 to
Avot 4:16; note 8 to Avot 6:1; note 184 to Avot 6:11. See Wassen, Women in the Damascus Document, 184188.
2

Compare Daniel 12:7.

Compare Isaiah 44:7, 58:12, 63:9; Jeremiah 6:16, 18:15; Malachai 3:4; Job 22:15; Psalm 143:3.

See Psalm 106:48, 1 Chronicles 16:36, from eternity unto eternity (min ha-olam ve-ad olam), literally
from the eon/age and unto the eon/age, and on this note 263 to Avot 4:16. Compare the Aramaic loan
translation with the definite article (see below).
5

See Sarfatti, Definiteness in Noun-Adjective Phrases in Rabbinic Hebrew, 164-165; Segal, A Grammar
of Mishnaic Hebrew, 183.

yesteryear, when referring to the Patriarchs (avot).6 A similar alternation also occurs when these
expressions refer to the Schools of Shammai and Hillel.7 See also below on the evidence from Ben
Sira.
2.3 Further confirmation for understanding avot ha-olam as the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore
comes from the Aramaic Targums, which reproduce the Hebrew expression exactly as amlo tbha,
ahavat alma.8 While the Targums render Hebrew olam in various ways, the Aramaic alma is often
used to translate Hebrew olam, of yore.9 This cannot possibly be understood as the (fore)fathers
of the world, since that would be expressed in Aramaic by amlod Nbha, ahavan de-alma, as it
actually appears in one much later source.10 This last example is clearly the exception which proves
the rule: the original Targums all correctly understood avot ha-olam as the (eminent) (fore)fathers
of yore.
2.4 Some scholars reject this interpretation because several rabbinic texts use avot ha-olam in
reference to great sages of the recent past, possibly in living memory. But such concern seem baseless
so long as the reference is not to contemporary sages. Consider the related expression ha-tzadiqim
ha-rishonim,11 the righteous of yesteryear, which apparently includes the Patriarchs as well as a

See Sifre Zuta to Numbers 15:23 (edition Horovitz, 284), (Interpreting Numbers 15:23) All that the
Lord commanded (you) through Moses. Which is the (precept) about which the (eminent) (fore)fathers of
yesteryear were commanded and (then) Moses came and (re)stated it? This is circumcision. Similarly, the
Patriarchs are called avot ha-rishonim in Palestinian Talmud Berakhot 1:1, 2c (edition Sussmann, 3); the
parallel in Yoma 6:6, (edition Sussmann, 591) is a later addition to the Manuscript. Sometimes the two
expressions interchange. See Leviticus Rabbah 36:3 (edition Margulies, 845), where the Patriarchs are called
the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yesteryear, but Manuscript Munich reads: the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore
(avot ha-olam), while Manuscripts Oxford (Neubauer 147), Oxford (Neubauer 2335), Paris, and Jerusalem
read simply: Patriarchs (avot). In Numbers Rabbah 2:1, the three stanzas of the Priestly Blessing correspond
to the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yesteryear, but in Midrash Chaserot ve-Yeteirot, Parashat Naso 97
(Wertheimer, Batei Midrashot, 2:273), they correspond to the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore.
7

See Tosefta Tevul Yom 1:4 (following Manuscript Vienna), Rabbi Yosi said: See, this law, how (come)
the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yesteryear (avot ha-rishonim) were divided over it. Yet note the nearly
identical turn of phrase in other sources (see below): Rabbi Shimon son of Yochai said: I am astonished (at)
how (come) the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore were divided over it.
8

See Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Exodus 14:21 refers to the Patriarchs as the three (fore)fathers of yore
(amlo tbha, ahavat alma). Similarly in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Deuteronomy 28:15. The Second
Targum to Esther 1:2 refers to the seven (fore)fathers of yore, identified as Adam, Noah, Shem, Job, and the
three Patriarchs. The Targumic texts are based on the online database of the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon
Project.
9

See Targums to Isaiah 58:12, 63:9; Malachai 3:4; Job 22:15; and Psalm 143:3. Compare Sokoloff, A
Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, 31-32, 409-410.
10

In a work dated to the seventh-eighth century, the Targum to Song of Songs 5:14, the Yemenite recension
does refers to the Patriarchs as the three (fore)fathers of the world (amlod Nbha, ahavan de-alma). But the
generally superior Western recension reads: the three (fore)fathers. In addition, this phrase appears in what
Alexander considers a secondary insertion. See Alexander, The Targum of Canticles, 210.
11

Some sources read: tzadiqim ha-rishonim.

first-century sage who appears in Avot 3:9a. 12 In the case of Ben Sira 44:1, while the the
superscription the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore appears to include a contemporary of Ben Sira,
the superscription does not appear to be part of the authots original Hebrew work (see below).
3.1 In Rabbinic texts, the expression the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore usually refers to the
Biblical Patriarchs. The use of avot ha-olam in reference to the Biblical Patriarchs is quite
common. 13 The term the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore sometimes refers to many Biblical
saints.14
3.2 The expression avot ha-olam also appears in the superscription to Ben Siras paean for the
pious saints of Biblical times (Ben Sira 44-49). While it seems that he intends to include the
contemporary High Priest Simon son of Onias II (author of Avot 1:2) as one of the (eminent)
(fore)fathers of yore (Ben Sira 50), this is not absolutely certain. Ben Sira 44:1-2, Praise of the
(fore)fathers of yore. Let me praise men of piety, our (fore)fathers in their generations, (to whom)
the Most High apportioned much glory/honor and prestige/ greatness from days of yore.15 The
12

See Avot deRabbi Natan Version A 8 (edition Schechter, 38; edition Becker, 104-107; following
Manuscript Oxford, Oppenheimer 95), Just as the righteous of yesteryear (ha-tzadiqim ha-rishonim) were
saintly (chasidim), so (too) were their beasts saintly. The examples provided include the Patriarch Abrahams
camels and a donkey belonging to Chaninah son of Dosah (about 20-110 CE). While still in living memory of
the second/third century (?) creators of this tradition, presumably Chaninah is already deceased before being
termed one of the righteous of yesteryear. Compare Berman (Beck-Berman), Hasidim in Rabbinic
Traditions, 17-18 and 26 note 50-51.
13
See Palestinian Talmud Sanhedrin 10:1, 27d, (edition Sussmann, 1316); Lamentations Rabbah Proem 24
(edition Buber, 26); Pesiqta deRav Kahana Supplement 1:1, 5:2 (edition Mandelbaum, 437, 464), cited in
Excursus ?? ??; Pesikta Rabbati 37:2, 50:7, Supplement 3:8 (edition Ulmer, 838, 1072, 1121; edition
Friedmann, 2a); Seder Eliyahu Zuta 20 (edition Friedmann, Supplement, 31); Ecclesiastes Rabbah 4:3; Exodus
Rabbah 25:8, 32:2, 44:9; Numbers Rabbah 9:13; Midrash Samuel 21:1 (edition Buber, 108); Esther Rabbah
7:13; Midrash Proverbs 6 (edition Visotzky, 43); Midrash Psalms 7:6, 8:4, 13:1, 16:2, 16:3, 65:2, 77:3 (edition
Buber, 66, 76, 109 and see his note 3, 120, 121, 291, 343); Midrash Zuta Lamentations 1:26 (edition Buber,
65); Midrash Zuta Lamentations Version B 20 (edition Buber, 83); Manuscript of Midrash Yelammedenu,
Toldot (in Wertheimer, Magazin fr Haggadische Midraschim aus antiquaren Manuscripten, 1:80); 3 (Hebrew
Apocalypse of) Enoch 44:7. This list is not exhaustive. See also Ginzberg, An Unknown Jewish Sect, 204-208.
Compare Mishnah Rosh Ha-Shanah 4:5, where the first blessing of the Amidah prayer referring to the
Patriarchs is termed Avot. Similarly in the expression zekhut avot, merit of the (fore)fathers. See note 41 to
Avot 2:2; Schechter, Aspects of Rabbinic Theology, 170-198. The Patriarchs are called the (eminent)
(fore)fathers of yore in Deuteronomy Rabbah 11:1 (beginning with the first printed edition), but according to
Deuteronomy Rabbah 11 (edition Lieberman, 128) Manuscript Oxford 147 reads here: the (fore)fathers.
The reading the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore in Genesis Rabbah 54:4 (edition Theodor and Albeck, 622;
see variant readings) is also spurious. This is also true in Midrash Psalms 2:9 and 16:4 (edition Buber, 28 and
see his note 57, 121), as can be seen from the parallel in Midrash Samuel 19:1 (edition Buber, 101; avot is the
reading in all witnesses).
14

See Pirqei Rabbenu ha-Qadosh 3 (edition Grnhut, Sefer ha-Likkutim, 3:59); possibly also Song of Songs
Rabbah 1:60 (edition Dunsky, 46). The Aramaic loan translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to
Deuteronomy (see above) also takes it to refer to Biblical saints.
15
The translation follows Hebrew Manuscript B, with minor corrections from the Masada scroll, the best
ancient witness of Ben Sira, which unfortunately is defective at this point. The Old Greek (Septuagint) reads:
A Hymn of the (fore)fathers (patern). Let us now praise famous men, and our (fore)fathers by generations
3

superscription, however, is missing in the Syriac version and several Greek witnesses, and due to a
lacuna in the scroll, it is uncertain whether or not it originally appeared in the Masada scroll.
Furthermore, the Greek reads: the (fore)fathers, not the (fore)fathers of yore. But for our
purposes, it is significant that a Jewish scribe in Antiquity considered the superscription Praise of
the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore as a fitting title to a paean for the pious saints of Biblical times.
Note the use in the following verse of the expression the days of yore (mi-yemot olam), which adds
weight to the interpretation of avot ha-olam as the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore.
3.3 In several Tannaitic sources, however, the expression avot ha-olam, the (eminent)
(fore)fathers of yore, is also understood to refer to the greatest sages of previous generations. Some
traditions refer to the Schools/Houses of Shammai and Hillel (about 50 BCE30 CE), 16 some
specifically to Hillel and Shammai as the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore,17 while still others apply
this term to the eminent second-century Rabbis Yishmaeil and Aqivah.18 These are all sages cited in
Avot.

(descent), (to whom) the Lord created much glory, His majesty from eternity. The Syriac (Peshita) reads:
And indeed I shall praise men of piety/goodness, our (fore)fathers who have been in their generations; much
honor let us apportion to them, and all their glory is from generations of yore. Compare Yadin, The Ben Sira
Scroll From Masada, 34-35; Skehan and Di Lella, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, 498; Segal, The Complete Book of
son of Sira, 302-303; Dihi, The Morphological and Lexical Innovations in the Book of Ben Sira, 497-499;
Friedman, The Transformation of Mlwo.
16

See Palestinian Talmud Chagigah 2:1, 67d (edition Sussmann, 787), Rabbi Shimon son of Yochai
(about 90-170 CE) said: I am astonished (at) how the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore were divided over the
creation of heaven and earth. Genesis Rabbah 1:15 (edition Theodor and Albeck, 13-14; following
Manuscript London), Rabbi Shimon son of Yochai said: I am astonished (at) how the (eminent) (fore)fathers
of yore were divided about this matter/thing the creation of heaven and earth.... Genesis Rabbah 12:14
(edition Theodor and Albeck, 112; following Manuscript London), Rabbi Shimon son of Yochai said: I am
astonished (at) how the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore the School/House of Shammai and the
School/House of Hillel (about 50 BCE30 CE) were divided over the creation of heaven and earth.
Leviticus Rabbah 36:1 (edition Margulies, 835), Rabbi Shimon son of Yochai said: I am astonished (at) how
the (eminent) (fore)fathers of yore the School/House of Shammai and the School/House of Hillel were
divided over the creation of heaven and earth. Note that avot ha-olam is missing in Manuscripts London
and Paris of Leviticus Rabbah, and in Manuscript Jerusalem it is replaced with yesodei olam, the worlds
foundations or eternal foundations. See also Ginzberg, An Unknown Jewish Sect, 204-208.
17
See Mishnah Eduyot 1:4, Tosefta Eduyot 1:2, and parallels.
18

See Palestinian Talmud Rosh ha-Shanah 1:1, 56d (edition Sussmann, 663; and parallels), Who are the
(eminent) (fore)fathers of yore? Rabbi Yonah (about first half of the fourth century CE) taught (a Tannaitic
tradition) before Rabbi Yirmiyah: (They are) Rabbi Yishmaeil and Rabbi Aqivah.