Simon bar Kokhba

Simon bar Kokhba
שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כּוֹכְבָא
Prince of Israel
Watercolour and gouache impression of Bar Kokhba by Polish-Jewish artist Arthur Szyk (1927)
Reign132–135[1]
BornSimon bar Koseba (שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כֹסֵבָא)[2]
Died135
Betar, Judea, Roman Empire
ReligionJudaism
OccupationMilitary leader

Simon bar Kokhba (Hebrew: שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כּוֹכְבָא Šīm‘ōn bar Kōḵḇāʾ‎) or Simon bar Koseba (שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר כֹסֵבָא Šīm‘ōn bar Ḵōsēḇaʾ‎), commonly referred to simply as Bar Kokhba,[a] was a Jewish military leader in Judea. He lent his name to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which he initiated against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. Though they were ultimately unsuccessful, Bar Kokhba and his rebels did manage to establish and maintain a Jewish state for about three years after beginning the rebellion. Bar Kokhba served as the state's leader, crowning himself as nasi (lit.'prince').[3] Some of the rabbinic scholars in his time imagined him to be the long-expected Messiah of Judaism. In 135, Bar Kokhba was killed by Roman troops in the fortified town of Betar. The Judean rebels who remained after his death were all killed or enslaved within the next year, and their defeat was followed by a harsh crackdown on the Judean populace by the Roman emperor Hadrian.

  1. ^ "Simeon Bar Kochba". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  2. ^ Derman, Ushi (3 May 2018). "Who's A Real Hero? An Historic Glimpse on Simon Bar Kokhba". Beit HaTfutsot. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  3. ^ KANAEL, B. (1971). "Notes on the Dates Used During The Bar Kokhba Revolt". Israel Exploration Journal. 21 (1): 39–46. ISSN 0021-2059. JSTOR 27925250.; BOURGEL, J. (2023). "Ezekiel 40–48 as a Model for Bar Kokhba's Title "Nasi Israel"?". Journal of Ancient Judaism. 1 (aop): 1–36.;


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