“Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya is his name”: The Name of the Messiah and the Infant Potential Messiah in the Post-Destruction (Bavli Sanhedrin 98b; Yerushalmi Berakhot 2:4, #12)
Various opinions on the name and identity of the Messiah (Bavli, Sanhedrin 98b); Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya: The Infant Potential Messiah in the Post-Destruction According to the Yerushalmi
Various opinions on the name and identity of the Messiah (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b)
This Talmudic passage, in the Babylonian Talmud, discusses various opinions on the name and identity of the Messiah. Each interpretation associates the Messiah’s name with its own name, with proof from a Biblical verse.
School of R' Sheila (1st generation amora, Babylonia): They believe the Messiah's name is “Shiloh”, based on Genesis 49:10 which mentions the coming of Shiloh.
School of R' Yannai (1st generation amora, Eretz Yisrael): They argue the Messiah's name is “Yinnon”, referring to Psalms 72:17 where the name Yinnon is associated with enduring as long as the sun.
School of R' Ḥanina (probably R’ Hanina bar Hama, 1st generation amora, Eretz Yisrael) : They propose the name “Ḥanina” for the Messiah, linked to the word for favor in Jeremiah 16:13.
Another opinion (ויש אומרים): Suggests the Messiah is “Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya”, deriving from Lamentations 1:16 where the term for comforter -- menaḥem -- appears.
The Rabbis (ורבנן אמרי): They claim the Messiah is known as “the leper of the house of R' Yehuda HaNasi” (חיוורא דבי רבי), interpreting Isaiah 53:4 (Isaiah 53 is the famous Biblical chapter of the messiah who’s the “suffering servant”)1 as describing someone who bears illnesses and pains, yet is misunderstood as afflicted by God.
Rav Naḥman: He proposes that if the Messiah is present in his generation, it could be someone like himself, already ruling over the Jewish people, as suggested in Jeremiah 30:21.
Rav: He posits if the Messiah is currently alive, it could be someone as venerable as R' Yehuda HaNasi (רבינו הקדוש), noted for his sanctity. If the Messiah is deceased, Rav considers the Biblical Daniel (דניאל איש חמודות)2 to be the Messiah.3
The Passage
מה שמו?
דבי רבי שילא אמרי: "שילה" שמו, שנאמר (בראשית מט, י) "עד כי יבא שילה"
דבי רבי ינאי אמרי: "ינון" שמו, שנאמר (תהלים עב, יז) "יהי שמו לעולם לפני שמש ינון שמו"
דבי רבי חנינה אמר: "חנינה" שמו, שנאמר (ירמיהו טז, יג) "אשר לא אתן לכם חנינה"
ויש אומרים: "מנחם בן חזקיה" שמו, שנאמר (איכה א, טז) "כי רחק ממני מנחם משיב נפשי"
ורבנן אמרי: "חיוורא דבי רבי" שמו, שנאמר (ישעיהו נג, ד) "אכן חליינו הוא נשא, ומכאובינו סבלם, ואנחנו חשבנוהו נגוע, מוכה אלהים, ומעונה"
אמר רב נחמן: אי מן חייא הוא, כגון אנא, שנאמר (ירמיהו ל, כא) "והיה אדירו ממנו, ומושלו מקרבו יצא"
אמר רב: אי מן חייא הוא, כגון רבינו הקדוש, אי מן מתיא הוא, כגון דניאל איש חמודות
Apropos the Messiah, the Gemara asks: What is his name?
The school of R' Sheila says: “Shiloh” is his name, as it is stated: “Until when Shiloh shall come” (Genesis 49:10).
The school of R' Yannai says: “Yinnon” is his name, as it is stated: “May his name endure forever; may his name continue [yinnon] as long as the sun; and may men bless themselves by him” (Psalms 72:17).
The school of R' Ḥanina says: “Ḥanina” is his name, as it is stated: “For I will show you no favor [ḥanina]” (Jeremiah 16:13).
And some say that “Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya” is his name, as it is stated: “Because the comforter [menaḥem] that should relieve my soul is far from me” (Lamentations 1:16).
And the Rabbis say: “The leper of the house of R' Yehuda HaNasi” is his name, as it is stated: “Indeed our illnesses he did bear and our pains he endured; yet we did esteem him injured, stricken by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4).
Rav Naḥman says: If the Messiah is among the living in this generation, he is a person such as me, who already has dominion over the Jewish people, as it is stated: “And their prince shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from their midst” (Jeremiah 30:21), indicating that the redeemer is already in power.
Rav says: If the Messiah is among the living in this generation, he is a person such as our saintly R' Yehuda HaNasi, who was renowned for his sanctity, piety, and Torah knowledge. If the Messiah is among the dead he is a person such as Daniel, the beloved man.
Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya: The Infant Potential Messiah in the Post-Destruction According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 2:4, #12)
R’ Yudan the son of R’ Aivu (an obscure talmudic sage) tells of a Jewish farmer whose ox bellowed ominously while plowing in the valley of Arbel (בקעת ארבל, in the Lower Galilee). An Arab passerby interpreted the bellowing as an omen, first announcing the destruction of the Second Temple (which occurred in the year 70 CE), and then, upon a second bellow, the birth of the Messiah, named Menahem, son of Hezekiah.
Inspired by these proclamations, the Jew sold his possessions and ventured to Bethlehem (בית לחם יהודה), where he attempted to sell baby linens to the Messiah's mother. Despite her initial refusal due to grief over the Temple's destruction coinciding with her son's birth, the vendor persisted, seeing the child's birth as a sign of future redemption. Tragically, the woman later told the vendor that her child was swept away by strong wind (possibly meaning that was raised to heaven alive, like Eliyahu, or a metaphor for an untimely death).4
Jerusalem_Talmud_Berakhot.2.4.12:
[...]
דמר רבי יודן בריה דרבי אייבו:
עובדא הוה, בחד יהודאי, דהוה קאים רדי בהדי בקעת ארבל
געת תורתיה קומוי
עבר חד ערביי, ושמע קלה.
אמר ליה: בר יודאי, בר יודאי, שרי תורך, ושרי קנקנך, דהא חריב בית מוקדשא.
גאת זמן תניינות.
אמר ליה: בר יודאי, בר יודאי, קטור תורך, וקטור קנקנך, דהא יליד מלכא משיחא.
אמר ליה: מה שמיה?
מנחם.
אמר ליה: ומה שמיה דאבוי?
אמר ליה: חזקיה.
אמר ליה: מן הן הוא?
אמר ליה: מן בירת מלכא דבית לחם יהודה.
אזל זבין תורוי, וזבין קנקנוי, ואיתעביד זבין לבדין למיינוקי
והוא עייל קרייה, ונפקא קרייה.
עד דעל לההוא קרתא, והויין כל־נשייא זבנן, ואימה דמנחם לא זבנה.
שמע קלן דנשייא אמרין: אימיה דמנחם, אימיה דמנחם, אייתי זובנין לברך!
אמרא: בעייא אנא מיחנקוניה, סנאיהון דישראל, דביומא דאיתיליד, איחרוב בית מוקדשא.
אמר לה: רחיציא אנן, דברגליה חריב, וברגליה מתבניי.
אמרה ליה: לית לי פריטין.
אמר לה: ומה איכפת ליך?! אייתי זובנין ליה, אין לית קומך יומא דין, בתר יומי אנא אתי ונתיב.
בתר יומין, עאל לההוא קרתא
אמר לה: מהו מיינוקיך עביד?
אמרה ליה: מן שעתא דחמיתני, אתון רוחין, ואלעוליה, וחטפיניה מן ידיי.
[...] Rebbi Yudan the son of Rebbi Aivu said:
it happened to a Jew who was plowing in the valley of Arbel
that his ox was bellowing.
An Arab passed by, and heard the bellowing of the ox.
He said to him: Jew, Jew, unharness your ox, unharness your plow because the Temple was destroyed.
The ox bellowed a second time.
He said: Jew, Jew, harness your ox, fix your plow because King Messiah has been born.
He said to him: What is his name?
Menaḥem.
He said to him: What is his father’s name?
Ḥizqiah.
He said to him: Where is he?
He said to him: At the king’s palace in Bethlehem in Judea.
He went and sold his ox and plow and made himself a vendor of baby linens.
He went to towns and left towns until he came to that town.
All the women bought from him but the mother of Menaḥem did not buy.
He heard the women say: Menaḥem’s mother, Menaḥem’s mother, come and buy for your son!
She said: I would rather strangle him like a hater of Israel, because he was born on the day the Temple was destroyed.
He said to her: I like him, because for him it was destroyed and for him it will be rebuilt.
She said to him, I have no money.
He said to her, that does not bother me, come and buy for him! If you have nothing with you today, I shall return another day and I will take it then.
After some time he went up to that town and said to her: How is your baby doing?
She said to him: After you had seen me there came strong wind and raised him and tore him from my hands.
See also the Wikipedia entry, “Servant songs”.
This monicker was already given to to Daniel in the Book of Daniel (10:11), by a voice in a vision:
ויאמר אלי:
דניאל, איש־חמדות
[…]
He said to me:
“O Daniel, precious man […]”
A major theme of the Book of Daniel is the future apocalypse and the “future deliverance of the people of Israel from their present oppression”.
For previous analysis of this story, in Hebrew, see:
יונה פרנקל, עיונים בעולמו הרוחני של סיפור האגדה (1981), עמ' 158 – 163
אגדות התלמוד הירושלמי - "מלך המשיח פ"ב ה"ד (ה"ג בכ"י ליידן) דף ה ע"א עמ' 18 – 19"