I thought Hillel was a contemporary? I'm reading an older book "A History of the Jewish Experience" by Rabbi Leo Trepp. I could have sworn I read that he was an opponent of King Herod.-I'll have to re-check, but I've always thought about 100 years before.-Just did a wiki check, Hillel 60 BC to 20 A.D., Jesus 3-5 BC to about 29-30 AD. They overlap and Jesus was considered part of the Hillel group of teachers. I've learned something new.