Job and theodicy The fall of Bar Kokhba’s besieged city occurred in 135 c.e Only the west “wailing” wall of the temple was preserved Kokhba (Shimon bar Kosiba) Bar Kokhba was at first remarkably successful: He defeated the Tenth Legion in Jerusalem and then chased the Romans out of the important areas of Judaea He attracted some 400,000 Jewish recruits, who then defeated the Roman military reinforcements brought in from Syria, Egypt, and Arabia Within one year he recaptured 985 villages and constructed 50 fortresses Bar Kokhba proved himself an able bureaucrat in the early days of his government, setting up administrative systems and land division He also restamped Roman coins with the mottos “Freedom of Jerusalem” and “Freedom of Israel.” In the face of such an emerging state Hadrian had to send in his best general, Sextus Julius Severus, recalling him from Britain Because Bar Kokhba had learned techniques of guerrilla warfare, Severus had to fight patiently and slowly Severus put down the insurgency largely by starvation, siege warfare, and propaganda, because the Jews had taken refuge in isolated terrains and in rugged natural strongholds, such as caves and cliffs When Jerusalem was taken in 135 c.e., the insurgents made their last stand in Beth-Ter, a well-protected town southwest of Jerusalem Though they withstood the Romans for a long time, in the end the townspeople ultimately turned on Bar Kokhba and killed him After the siege Hadrian razed Jerusalem and made good on his promise to put a Roman temple on the Temple Mount And he decreed that no Jew could ever 223 again enter the city or even lay eyes on it from afar After the Bar Kokhba war, Jewish and Roman relations entered into a long period of mutual enmity In the beginning of the third revolt Bar Kokhba was so impressive in battle that messianic speculation swirled about him Many rabbis apparently openly embraced him as the messiah Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph, who approved of the revolt, applied to his name a messianic title: Bar Kokhba, “the son of the star.” Probably most of the Palestinian sages had similar views at first One noted rabbi demurred, saying, “Akiba, grass will sooner grow on your chin, before the Messiah comes.” Akiba died along with an estimated 500,000 others in Palestine when Bar Kokhba was defeated Countless others, including many rabbis, were sold into slavery Rarely is the name Bar Kokhba used in Jewish sources, while it is the normal name given in Christian sources Rabbinic texts bitterly refer to him as Bar Koziba (son of the lie), a pun on his name bar Kosiba See also Hellenization; Herods; Israel and Judah; Roman Empire; Rome: government; Zakkai, Yohanan ben Further reading: Reznick, L The Mystery of Bar Kokhba Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1996; Schwartz, Seth Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200 B.C.E to 640 C.E Princeton, NJ, and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2001; Smallwood, E M The Jews under Roman Rule Leiden, Netherlands: E J Brill, 1981 Mark F Whitters Jezebel See Ahab and Jezebel Job and theodicy Job (c 600–400 b.c.e.) is the principal character of the biblical book that bears his name A prologue introduces the book’s readers to Job and describes decisions made in a parallel universe, that of a celestial court in which Yahweh, the head of the pantheon according to ancient Israelite belief, holds ultimate power The heart of the book consists of a series of dialogue cycles between Job and three friends in which Job appeals to Yahweh for vindication, the responses by Yahweh to Job’s appeals, followed by a brief response by Job Speeches by a young interloper, Elihu, serve as a kind of intermezzo before Yahweh’s response to Job’s appeal