Rabbi Elazar his son stood, took his hands, and kissed them; and I licked the dust under his feet. The companions wanted to cry but could not speak. The companions began weeping, and Rabbi Elazar his son fell three times, unable to open his mouth. He then started saying, Father, father, there were three that now became one.
That is, there were three great men in the world – Rabbi Elazar, his father Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair his father-in-law. Now Rabbi Elazar remained orphaned of both and remained alone in the world. Now that the great tree is gone, under which the animals of the field roamed and on which branches fowl perched, and it had food for all (as said in section 167). Now the animals migrate and the fowl that sat on its branches sink into the abysses in the great see. And the companions, instead of the food they received from him, will drink blood.