Gamaliel Iv.:

By: Solomon Schechter , Wilhelm Bacher

Son and successor of the patriarch Judah II., and father of the patriarch Judah III. The period of activity of these patriarchs can not be determined. Grätz puts Gamaliel IV. in the last third of the third century. According to Halevy, he was a contemporary of Hoshaiah, of whom it is related that he prevented Gamaliel from introducing into Syria an ordinance referring to tithing the fruits of the field (Yer. Ḥal. 60a). In the Jerusalem Talmud ('Ab. Zarah 39b) is mentioned a question of religious law addressed to Gamaliel by Abbahu. In answering it the teacher describes himself as an unimportant person and of little learning ("adam ḳaṭon") in comparison with Abbahu.