A Jewish leader who was important about AD 110–135. Akiba did not grow up wealthy and began training to be a scholar when he was 40 years old. Having gained recognition in rabbinical study, he taught at his own school in Bene-berak, near Jaffa.
In AD 132–135, the Jewish people fought against the Romans who ruled over them. During this time, Akiba was arrested for teaching the Jewish laws. He chose to die for his beliefs rather than stop teaching. He had strongly supported the revolutionary leader Bar-Kochba, holding him to be the long-awaited Messiah (God's promised savior). Akiba’s work as a rabbi can be divided into three categories:
participation in discussions about which books should be included in the Jewish Scriptures;
development of a unique method for interpreting the Bible; and
encouragement of a new, highly literal Greek translation of the Scriptures.
Discussions about the Jewish Scriptures
Around AD 90, discussions were held at Jabneh or Jamnia about books to be included in the Jewish Scriptures and those to be left out. Akiba was present for these discussions. They discussed which books should be included in the accepted scripture. Some were questioning if Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs should be included. They were less concerned with adding new books.
Interpreting the Bible
Akiba had a view of biblical interpretation that differed from other rabbis. For example, Rabbi Ishmael held that the language of Scripture was to be treated as ordinary human language. It followed the same grammar, word meanings, and so forth.
In contrast, Akiba insisted that Scripture was to be interpreted in a way that did not apply to ordinary language. Ordinary language might allow different spellings of the same word with no difference in meaning, for example. If such a thing happened in Scripture, Akiba believed there must be some reason.
A New Greek Translation of the Scriptures
Other schools of interpretation accused him of changed the meaning of words to fit his own ideas to force his own interpretations of Scripture. Akiba encouraged a scholar named Aquila to make a Greek translation of the Scriptures that would represent his principles of interpretation. Aquila’s translation was therefore overliteral. It ignored standard principles of grammar, so it cannot be said to be acceptable Greek.