The Review of Rabbinic Judaism 20 (2017) 235–250 brill.com/rrj © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/�5700704-� �34�3�8 The Death of Honi the Circle Maker Zvi Ron 17/3 Elonei Mamre Street, Neve Daniel, Gush Etzion 90909 zvijbq@gmail.com Abstract Ancient literature preserves two accounts of the death of Honi the Circle Maker. One is in Josephus, where Honi is murdered by Jews after failing to participate in the Hasmonean civil war; the other is found in B. Ta. 23a, where Honi prays for death when nobody recognizes him after he awakes from sleeping for seventy years. While these two accounts seem to have no relation to each other, upon comparing the Bavli story to other tales of saintly long sleepers it appears that the Bavli story is a negative twist on the classic plot. The Bavli story is now understood as an aggadic version of the Josephus story, in the same category as the Bar Kamtza story and other similar explan- atory narratives meant to highlight the reasons for tragedies in Jewish history. Keywords Honi – Circle Maker – Josephus – long sleeper Honi the Circle Maker (Honi haMeagel) is a well known figure in Jewish folk- lore. He is named after an episode recounted in M. Ta. 3:8,1 where during a se- vere drought he drew a circle and, placing himself within it, prayed: “Creator of the Universe! Thy children have always looked up to me as being like a son of Thy house before Thee. I swear, therefore, by Thy Great Name, that I will not move from this place until Thou wilt have compassion on Thy children.” It began raining lightly, and Honi prayed for a strong rain. When the rain was too 1  For this derivation, see Rashi, B. Men. 94b, d’agil; Emil Schurer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2014), p. 235, n. 6. There is an alternative approach, that he is named after a place; see Herschell Filipowski, ed., Abraham Zacuto, Sefer Yuchsin haShalem (London: Chevrat Meorerei Yeshenim, 1858), p. 63.