Bet ?erifa

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BET ?ERIFA

BET ?ERIFA , Jewish family of the Second Temple period. According to the Mishnah "there was a family of Bet ?erifa in Transjordan and Ben-Zion rejected it by force" (Eduy. 8:7; see also tj, Yev. 8:3, 9a: tj, Kid. 4:1, 65c). Scholars are divided as to whether this implies that Ben-Zion (of whom nothing more is known) had it ejected from the priesthood because he questioned its legitimacy. Possibly the learned Judah, son of Sariphaeus (?erifa), who – according to Josephus – incited his disciples to pull down the golden eagle erected by Herod the king over the temple gate, belonged to this family, as well as R. Judah son of ?ipporai, also known as Ben ?erifa.

bibliography:

Jos., Ant., 17:149; Jos., Wars, 1:648; Buechler, in: Festschrift A. Schwarz… (1917), 137ff.; S. Klein, in: mgwj, 64 (1920), 180ff.; J.N. Epstein, ibid., 65 (1921), 89–90.

[Isaiah Gafni]

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