Fifteen Named Officials Who Served in Specific positions in the Late Second Temple, in the Context of Late Biblical Books (Mishnah, Shekalim 5:1)
A series of two parts, on connections between names mentioned in the late Biblical books, and the names in two separate Mishnahs: Ta'anit 4:5 and Shekalim 5:1. The previous piece is here. The references in this piece to ‘Appendices’, are the Appendices at the end of that piece.
Illustration from Dalle-e. Description: “An illustration focusing on historically accurate clothing specific to the 1st century, Second Temple period for the fifteen officials serving in the Late Second Temple, as described in the Mishnah, Shekalim 5:1. Each official is shown in their designated role”
Mishnah_Shekalim.5.1, I added bolding to highlight names, and numbering:
אלו הן הממנין שהיו במקדש:
יוחנן בן פנחס על החותמות,
אחיה על הנסכים,
מתתיה בן שמואל על הפיסות,
פתחיה על הקנין. פתחיה, זה מרדכי. למה נקרא שמו פתחיה. שהיה פותח בדברים ודורשן, ויודע שבעים לשון.
בן אחיה על חולי מעים,
נחוניא חופר שיחין,
גביני כרוז,
בן גבר על נעילת שערים,
בן בבי על הפקיע,
בן ארזה על הצלצל,
הגרס בן לוי על השיר,
בית גרמו על מעשה לחם הפנים,
בית אבטינס על מעשה הקטרת,
אלעזר על הפרוכות,
ופנחס על המלבוש
These are the officials who served in specific positions in the Temple:
Yoḥanan ben Pineḥas was responsible for the seals. One who paid for a specific type of sacrificial item received a seal, which he presented to the Temple official in exchange for that item.
Aḥiyya was responsible for the libations, i.e., the wine, oil, and flour prepared with the level of ritual purity necessary for the libation offerings and the meal-offerings, which accompanied many animal offerings. Aḥiyya supplied the libations to those who presented the appropriate seal.
Matya ben Shmuel was responsible for the lotteries, which were used to select priests for the various Temple services each day.
Petaḥya was responsible for the pairs of birds, i.e., the turtledoves or pigeons, brought by a zav, a zava, a woman after childbirth, and a leper. They placed the appropriate sum of money into the horn designated for this purpose, and each day Petaḥya oversaw the purchase of birds from that money and their sacrifice in the proper manner. Incidentally, the Gemara mentions: Petaḥya is Mordecai from the book of Esther. And why was he called Petaḥya, which resembles the word for opening [petaḥ]? The reason is that he would open, i.e., elucidate, difficult topics and interpret them to the people, and because he knew all seventy languages known at the time. The mishna resumes the list of officials.
Ben Aḥiyya was responsible for the care of the priests who suffered from intestinal disease.
Neḥunya was the well digger for pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the Festivals.
Gevini was the Temple crier who would awaken the priests and the Levites for their Temple duties.
Ben Gever was responsible for locking the Temple gates in the evening and for unlocking them in the morning.
Ben Bevai was appointed over the shreds of garments, which were formed into wicks for the Temple candelabra. He also supervised the twisting of those wicks into the appropriate thickness for the various nights during the different seasons of the year.
Ben Arza was responsible for the cymbal, which was rung as a signal that the Levites should commence their song.
Hugras ben Levi was responsible for the song. He taught and conducted the singers in the Temple.
The house of Garmu was responsible for the preparation of the shewbread;
the house of Avtinas was responsible for the preparation of the incense;
and Elazar was responsible for weaving the Temple curtains;
and Pineḥas was the valet, who assisted the priests in fitting their clothes and dressing themselves for their Temple service.
Analysis
For an overview of all these personalities, see this Hebrew Wikipedia entry of their respective entries: קטגוריה:חמישה עשר ממונים בבית המקדש
Two of the personal names are Greek: Gabini (#7 - גביני = properly pronounced Gabini = Gabineus) and Hugrus (#11 - הגרס).
Four don’t have given names, and are only known by nickname/clan name, “ben X” (#5; 8-10): Ben Aḥiyya; Ben Gever; Ben Bevai; Ben Arza. It’s likely that “ben X” simply means “a member of X clan” (see more on this below, and in my previous piece). The clan of B’nei Bevai is explicitly mentioned in the late biblical books (and said to have 628 members).
Two are explicitly house/family names of priests (#12-13): House of Garmu (בית גרמו) and House of Avtinas (בית אבטינס).
The house name "Avtinas” ( אבטינס = properly pronounced Evtinus = Eutinus) is Greek.
(On all of these naming formats, see my paper ‘Abba’, in their respective sections. On Greek, see my pieces on Greek loan words)
Petaḥya (#4 - פתחיה)
Petaḥya is quite intriguing. The Hebrew name “Petaḥya” (פתחיה) appears four times, all in late biblical books. Like many of the names in the late Biblical books, it has the theophoric ending “ya” (on theophoric names in the Bible, see my previous piece).
Petaḥya is one of the 24 priestly families/clans/divisions (mishmerot kehunah - משמרות כהונה, see on these 24 divisions, listed in the late biblical books, in the Wikipedia English and Hebrew entries.)
The gloss on the Mishnah claims that this Petaḥya in the Mishnah is Mordechai (it’s not explicitly stated if this is the famous Mordechai of the Book of Esther). The idea that Mordechai “knew all seventy languages known at the time” is based on homiletically reading the two names “Mordechai Bilshan” (מרדכי בלשן) in the list of signatories in Nehemiah 7 as one. (See my appendix, #7-8.) And then conflating this Biblical “Mordechai Bilshan” with “Petahya”. (On the Talmudic conflation of different Biblical personalities, see my previous piece.)
Matitya (#3 - מתתיה)
Matitya (מתתיה , #3- pronounced Matitya, according to the traditional Tiberian nikud of the Bible, but likely properly pronounced Matatya) is a Hebrew name that first appears in the late biblical books, appearing there four times.
It later became quite popular, since it was later the name of the founder of the Hasmonean dynasty, Matityahu.
(See Tal Ilan, that the most popular names in late Second Temple and tannaitic period were the names of the Hasmoneans.)
Its most famous bearer was Matthew, student of Jesus, who is mentioned elsewhere in the Talmud (see my previous piece citing the Talmudic passage that describes his execution, where there are a few word plays on his name.)
Bevai (#9 - בבי)
Regarding Ben Bevai (#9 - בבי), the name Bevai appears six times, all in the late Biblical books, five of them are “sons of Bevai”. Similar to the Mishnah, where it’s “son of Bevai”.
As an aside, the name BYBY (ביבי) is the name of a number of amoraim, and it’s possible that the correct pronunciation is “Bevai”, as in the traditional Tiberian nikud of the Bible, instead of the traditional pronunciation of the “Bibi”. (This is a question that’s already discussed by traditional commentators of the Talmud.)
This name appears in the list of signers in Nehemiah 10 (see my Appendix, #43), and in Nehemiah 10 (see my Appendix, #21).1
Ahiya (#2 and #5 - אחיה)
The name Ahiya (אחיה) appears twice, once as a personal name (#2), and once in the format of “Ben Ahiya” (#5). This name appears in the list of signers in Nehemiah 10 (see the Appendix, #74).
Aḥiya (like Petaḥya above) is the name of one of the 24 priestly clans.
It’s likely that — like Garmu and Avtinas — Aḥiya, Petaḥya, Bevai were clan names, and the Mishnah is not referring to a specific person with that name, but is saying that someone from that clan was responsible for that activity.2
Cf. Safrai commentary (my translation):
The name Ben Bevai is not strange; many people called themselves "son of so-and-so". Sometimes one is called 'ben' after his father, sometimes after his extended family (like Beit Garmu or Beit Avtinas), and sometimes after his profession or place of origin. This phenomenon is common in sources and inscriptions of the period. Bavi could be the place of origin of the man […]
Cf. Safrai commentary on this Mishnah (my translation):
These two individuals [=Yoḥanan ben Pineḥas and Aḥiya] are not mentioned in other sources. The name Yohanan is very common and is among the six most common names of the period. Pinchas is also a fairly common name.