↑ Hezser, Catherine (1997). The Social Structure of the Rabbinic Movement in Roman Palestine. Mohr Siebeck. tr. 64–. ISBN978-3-16-146797-4. We suggest that the avoidance of the title "Rabbi" for pre-70 sages may have originated with the editors of the Mishnah. The editors attributed the title to some sages and not to others. The avoidance of the title for pre-70 sages may perhaps be seen as a deliberate program on the part of these editors who wanted to create the impression that the “rabbinic movement" began with R. Yochanan b. Zakkai and that the Yavnean "academy" was something new, a notion that is sometimes already implicitly or explicitly suggested by some of the traditions available to them. This notion is not diminished by the occasional claim to continuity with the past which was limited to individual teachers and institutions and served to legitimize rabbinic authority.
↑ Heinz-Josef Fabry entry Rab in Theological dictionary of the Old Testament Vol.13 p273-5 ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, sv:Helmer Ringgren, Fabry 2004 p273 "RAB... is also well attested in Phoenician.9 Here too rab functions as a title; its specific meaning can be determined only by its relationship to other offices and functions.10 Aramaic in all its dialects makes copious use of this root."
↑ This is evident from the fact that Hillel I, who came from Babylon, did not have the title Rabban prefixed to his name.
↑ The title Ribbi too, came into vogue among those who received the laying on of hands at this period, as, for instance, Ribbi Zadok, Ribbi Eliezer ben Jacob, and others, and dates from the time of the disciples of Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai downward. Now the order of these titles is as follows: Ribbi is greater than Rab; Rabban again, is greater than Ribbi; while the simple name is greater than Rabban. Besides the presidents of the Sanhedrin no one is called Rabban.
↑ Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament by Wigram, George V.; citing Matthew 26:25, Mark 9:5 and John 3:2 (among others)
↑ Catherine Hezser The social structure of the rabbinic movement in Roman Palestine 1997 -Page 59 "b – Rabbi as an Honorary Address... Since Jesus was called "Rabbi" but did not conform to the traditional image of post-70 Jewish rabbis, and since pre-70 sages do not bear the title "Rabbi" in the Mishnah,29 most scholars assume that the meaning and usage of the term "Rabbi" at the time of Jesus differed from the meaning which it acquired after the destruction of the Temple: in pre-70 times, "Rabbi" was used as an unofficial honorary address for any person held in high esteem; after 70 it was almost exclusively applied to ordained teachers of the Law."
