Footnote 5 – Return to the Cave of Letters: What Still Lies Buried?

During the Second Revolt against Rome, some saw Bar Kosiba as a messianic leader and referred to him as Bar-Kokhba. That name means “Son of a Star,” an allusion to Numbers 24:17, which says that “a star [kokhab] shall come forth from Jacob.” The phrase was interpreted as referring to a messianic figure.