Home›Open Questions›When was Shimon bar Yochai born, and when did he die?Open QuestionsWhen was Shimon bar Yochai born, and when did he die?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "When was Shimon bar Yochai born, and when did he die?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/when-was-shimon-bar-yochai-born-and-when-did-he-die.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). When was Shimon bar Yochai born, and when did he die?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/when-was-shimon-bar-yochai-born-and-when-did-he-dieCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-when-was-shimon-bar-yochai-born-and-when, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {When was Shimon bar Yochai born, and when did he die?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/when-was-shimon-bar-yochai-born-and-when-did-he-die}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionRabbinic sources record his teaching, his hiding from Rome, and his tomb at Meron, but no source gives an actual birth or death year, and the later literary Shimon bar Yochai of the Zohar complicates any single dating further.What would resolve this A datable inscription or external documentary record naming a birth or death year for the historical tanna, independent of the devotional yahrzeit tradition and of the Zohar's own literary framing.OpenRabbinics, history of the Mishnaic and Talmudic periodGershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish MysticismCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnShimon bar Yochai, Historical Figures Well-attested Source Major Trends in Jewish MysticismGershom Scholemtier 1SourcesMajor Trends in Jewish Mysticismtier 1Gershom Scholem, Schocken Books, 1961View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year