Zugot (Lit. "Pairs")

Name given to the leading teachers of the Law in the time preceding the Tannaim. The period of the Zugot begins with Jose b. Joezer and ends with Hillel. The name "Zugot" (comp. Latin "duumviri") was given to these teachers because, according to the tradition in Ḥagigah, two of them always stood at the same time at the head of the Sanhedrin, one as president ("nasi") and the other as vice-president or father of the court ("ab bet din"; see Sanhedrin). There were five pairs of these teachers: (1) Jose b. Joezer and Jose b. Johanan, who flourished at the time of the Maccabean wars of independence; (2) Joshua b. Peraḥyah and Nittai of Arbela, at the time of John Hyrcanus; (3) Judah b. Ṭabbai and Simeon b. Sheṭaḥ, at the time of Alexander Jannæus and Queen Salome; (4) Shemaiah and Abtalion, at the time of Hyrcanus II.; (5) Hillel and Shammai, at the time of King Herod.

J. J. Z. L.