Jonathan ben Uzziel

Jonathan ben Uzziel (Hebrew: יונתן בן עוזיאל) was one of the 80 tannaim who studied under Hillel the Elder during the time of Roman-ruled Judea. Jonathan ben Uzziel is mentioned several times in the Talmud. Jonathan rendered an Aramaic translation (targum) of the Major and Minor Prophets which still survives today. When he wished to procure a translation of the Ketuvim, a Divine voice (Hebrew: bat ḳol) was heard telling him that what he had done was sufficient for humanity. "Yonatan ben Uziel is most famous for Targum Yonatan—his Aramaic translation and elucidation on the Prophets. When he composed it, tradition tells us, the Land of Israel trembled, and a heavenly voice called out, “Who has revealed My secrets to mortals?” Yonatan humbly responded that he had done so not for his own honor, but to help the Jewish people understand the words of the Prophets. He wanted to do the same for the Writings (Ketuvim), but was stopped by Heaven, as those secrets are reserved for the Messianic era." Hillel the Elder had eighty disciples: thirty of them were worthy that the Divine Presence should rest upon them as upon Moses our teacher, but their generation was not worthy of it; thirty of them were worthy that the intercalation of the years should be determined by them; and twenty were average. The greatest of them all was Jonathan b. ’Uzziel[.]