Who Were The Exilarches?

Before discussing the exilarches it’s beneficial to touch on the term “nasi”, and messianic prophesy. The noun nasi is generally translated in English as “prince”. The first use is for the twelve “princes” who will descend from Ishmael in Genesis 17:20: “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.” Later in the history of ancient Israel, the title of nasi was given to the political ruler of Judea. Similarly, Mishnah Horayot 3:3 defines the nasi of Leviticus 4 to mean "king".

The exilarches, leaders of the Jewish diaspora in Babylonia, trace their origins to the House of David and the Second Temple period. The nasi, head of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, emerged around 191 BC as a counterpart to the Babylonian exilarch. Both the exilarches and nasi were recognized by Romans and Jews as political and communal authorities. After the patriarchate ended in 425 AD with Gamaliel VI’s death, the exilarches, seen as kings-in-waiting from the Davidic line, held sway over the Jewish community in Babylon, wielding secular and spiritual power under Persian and later Arab rule until the Mongol invasion of 1258 AD. Messianic prophecy tied to the Davidic line, as in Psalm 89 and Genesis 49:10, framed the exilarches as precursors to the Messiah, expected to restore Israel, rebuild the Temple, and usher in peace, with figures like Hillel the Elder and Rabbi Rashi linked to this lineage. The exilarchate’s authority peaked under the Caliphate, with figures like Mar-Zutra II briefly establishing independence, though challenges arose in the 9th century as Talmudic academies gained influence.

Following the diaspora after the Roman-Jewish wars (66–135 AD), exilarch families split, with some remaining in Babylon and others migrating west as Sephardic Jews to Spain, southern Gaul, and Italy, or north as Ashkenazi Jews to Turkey, Greece, northern Gaul and Germany, establishing influential networks through trade, marriage, and schools like those in Cordoba and Troyes. The prophecy of Genesis 49:10 – that the Messiah would not come until the exilarchate and patriarchate ceased – was seen as fulfilled with the Second Temple’s fall and the execution of the last Babylonian exilarch, Hezekiah ben David, in 1058 AD. His great-grandson, Hugues de Payens, a Templar founder, emerged as a messianic figure, tied to the First Crusade’s sack of Jerusalem in 1099, where he aimed to unify the Jewish people, recover First Temple treasures such as Aaron's High Priest garments to validate his claim, and lead them to a “Second Promised Land” per 2 Samuel 7:10, establishing a legacy of exilarch influence across Europe, including in Templar-controlled regions like Portugal, northwestern Italy, and southern Gaul under Charlemagne’s lineage.