Jonathan ben Uzziel (Hebrew: יונתן בן עוזיאל) was one of the 80 tannaim who studied under Hillel the Elder during the time of Roman-ruled Judea.[1]
Jonathan ben Uzziel is mentioned several times in the Talmud.[2] Jonathan rendered an Aramaic translation (targum) of the Major and Minor Prophets which still survives today.[3] When he wished to procure a translation of the Ketuvim, a Divine voice (Hebrew: bat ḳol) was heard telling him that what he had done was sufficient for humanity.[3]
Hillel the Elder had eighty disciples: thirty of them were worthy that the Divine Presence should rest upon them as upon Moses our teacher, but their generation was not worthy of it; thirty of them were worthy that the intercalation of the years should be determined by them; and twenty were average. The greatest of them all was Jonathan b. ’Uzziel[.][4]
- ^ Sukkah 28a
- ^ Sukkah 28a, Bava Batra 133b, Megillah 3a
- ^ a b Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 3a
- ^ Avot of Rabbi Natan, 14