Hutzpit the Interpreter
Hutzpit the Interpreter (Hebrew: חוּצְפִּית הַמְּתוּרְגְּמָן, Ḥūṣpīṯ hamMəṯūrgəmān) was a rabbi from the third generation of tannaim.
Biography[edit]
His title comes from his position as the interpreter of Rabban Gamaliel II: Gamaliel would speak softly, and Hutzpit would announce Gamaliel's words to the listeners.[1] At one point he lived in Tzippori and had contact with rabbis Eleazar ben Azariah, Jeshbab the Scribe, Halafta, and Johanan ben Nuri.[2]
He is described as one of the Ten Martyrs in the Midrash Eleh Ezkerah, where he is said to have been murdered and dismembered "one day short of his 130th birthday".[3] According to one story, Elisha ben Abuyah lost his faith after seeing Hutzpit's detached tongue lying in the dust after the murder.[4]
References[edit]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Smaller Midrashim". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. It has the following bibliography:
- Zunz, G. V. p. 142;
- A. Jellinek, B. H. 2:23 et seq.; 5:41; 6:17 et seq.;
- Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, p. 299.
- On the problem of the synchronism of the ten martyrs see Heinrich Grätz, Gesch. iv. 175 et seq., and Monatsschrift, i. 314 et seq.
- A German translation by P. Möbius appeared in 1845.