Zugot

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The Zugot (

Etymology

In Hebrew, the word zuḡoṯ indicates pairs; it is the plural of zuḡ, one half of a pair. Like

The zugot were five pairs of scholars who ruled a supreme court of the Jews as nasi (נָשִׂיא or "prince", i.e. president) and Av Beit Din (אָב בֵּית דִּין‎, "chief of the beth din"), respectively. After this period, the positions nasi and av bet din remained, but they were not zugot. The title of av beit din existed before the period of the zugot. His purpose was to oversee the Sanhedrin. The rank of nasi was a new institution began during this period.

List of zugot

There were five pairs of these teachers:

1. Jose ben Joezer and Jose ben Jochanan, who flourished at the time of the Maccabean revolt
2. Joshua ben Perachiah and Nittai of Arbela, at the time of John Hyrcanus
3. Judah ben Tabbai and Simeon ben Shetach, at the time of Alexander Jannaeus and Salome Alexandra
4. Shmaya and Abtalion, at the time of Hyrcanus II
5. Hillel the Elder and Shammai, at the time of King Herod the Great

Other uses of term zugot

Zugot refers to pairs generally. The

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Zugot". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.