Biography
Antigonus of Sokho was among the earliest sages of the Zugot era, (Approx. 200 CE) standing in the chain of tradition recorded at the opening of Pirkei Avot. He received the Torah from Shimon the Tzaddik, and his most famous teaching is preserved there: “Do not be like servants who serve the master in order to receive a reward; rather, be like servants who serve the master not in order to receive a reward.”
This single statement became the focus of later discussion. In Cheshbon HaNefesh his words are cited in a treatment of how a teaching meant as guidance for those who need it can be misunderstood, raising the question of how anyone could come to doubt so plain and true a teaching. Tradition also connects his name to the breaking off of Tzadok and Baitos, after whom the Tzedukim and Baitusim were called; as noted in Yoreh De’ah, they are described as students who went astray and denied the Torah she-be’al peh, and the laws of their slaughter are treated accordingly.
Where traditions differ. The link between Antigonus's teaching and the founding of the Tzedukim and Baitusim is a tradition recorded in later sources rather than in his own words.
אנטיגנוס איש סוכו היה תנא בפתח תקופת הזוגות המוזכר במשנה. לפי הכתוב היה תלמידו של שמעון הצדיק ורבם של יוסי בן יועזר איש צרדה ויוסי בן יוחנן איש ירושלים וכן של צדוק ובייתוס.
Antigonus of Sokho was one of the first scholars of whom Jewish tradition has preserved not only the name but also an important theological doctrine. He flourished in the first decades of the second century BCE.
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