[6][7][8] This made him very unpopular, and one of the rabbis remonstrated with him, saying, "Vinegar product of wine [= "Degenerate son of a distinguished father"], how long will you continue to deliver the people of God to the hangman?"
His wife even divorced him because the financial cost of caring for his ailments was draining her family wealth, though after this Eleazar was able to support himself due to the timely arrival of sixty sailors bearing gifts for him.
As Eleazar lay dying, worrying that resentment over his government work would lead the rabbis to deny him a proper burial, he enjoined his wife to preserve his remains under her roof rather than burying him immediately.
The inhabitants of Akbara (variant: Gush Halav), believing that the sage's remains miraculously protected them against incursions of wild beasts, refused permission to remove the body.
[13] Due to his varied learning, his surviving colleagues cited the Scriptural verse "Who is it that comes out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
"[14] and answered, "It is Eleazar ben Simon, who united in himself all noble qualities, he having been well versed in Scripture and in traditional law, and having been a [liturgical] poet, a leader in prayers, and a preacher".