Talmudic literature, but Nachmanides (d.1270) refers to one which he calls either Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai,[1]Mekhilta Achǝrita de-Rabbi Shimon,[2] or simply Mekhilta Acheret.[3]Todros ben Joseph Abulafia (d.1285) also refers to Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai.[4]
References by later writers
Passages from this Mekhilta are cited in later works, especially by
(assertive command no. 157), also cites from the Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai.
Until the early 1900s, aside from these quotations and some given by certain authors of the 16th century (such as
Meir ibn Gabbai in his Tola'at Ya'akov[7]), the only known extract of any length from Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon was the one published by R. Isaac Elijah Landau from a manuscript of R. Abraham Halami, as an appendix to his edition of the Mekhilta.[8]
This assumption of Friedmann's was subsequently confirmed by the publication of a
Nahmanides from the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, in his commentary on Exodus 22:12. This extract designates the work of R. Ishmael as the "Mekhilta of Palestine," in contradistinction to Shimon ben Yochai's midrash. It is clear, therefore, that the Mekhilta of R. Shimon was implied in the title Sifre de-Bei Rav;[15] and it is mentioned in the Midrash Tehillim[16]
under the Hebrew name Middat Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai.
It is possible also that Shimon himself intended to refer to his midrash in his saying: "My sons, learn my middot; for my middot are the finest of the finest middot of
Talmud Bavli, where this midrash ranks as one of the "Sifre de-Bei Rav".[19] Many sentences of Shimon are quoted there in the name of his son Eleazar, so that Hoffmann has very plausibly concluded[20]
that Eleazar edited his father's midrash.
Current status
The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon had disappeared, but some extracts from it were preserved in the collection known as
Midrash haGadol, as Israel Lewy first pointed out.[21] These fragments were collected by David Zvi Hoffmann and published under the title Mechilta de R. Simon b. Jochai.[22]
This Mekhilta compiled from
Arukh, and Maimonides in midrashic garb and presenting them as ancient maxims.[25]
A critical version, using newly discovered fragments of texts, was later published by Yaakov Nahum Epstein and his student Ezra Zion Melamed.[26] The publication is an attempt to reconstruct the original Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, based on all extant sources.
English editions
Nelson, David (2006), Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai: Translated into English, with Critical Introduction and Annotation, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. 
