Rabbinic Constructions of the Past: The Patriarch

Around the beginning of the third century, a new form of Jewish administration emerged, headed by the patriarch (Hebrew: nasi), who functioned as an official representative of the Jewish community to the Roman Empire. In rabbinic memory, the first patriarch was R. Judah the Prince (ha-nasi), the rabbi credited with the redaction of the Mishnah, although it is not clear that the Romans accorded him this title and position.

Rabbinic literature also uses the title of nasi for earlier leaders. Mishnah Avot 1:4–12 lists a series of “pairs” of rabbis who presided over the Sanhedrin, the first of whom bore the title of nasi and the second of whom was called “head of the court” (av bet din). The last patriarch in this series is Hillel the elder (late first century BCE to first century CE), who presided over the Sanhedrin first with Menaḥem and then with Shammai as head of the court.