| Rabbinical eras |
|---|
Jeremiah bar Abba[1] (orRav Yirmeyah bar Abba;[1]Hebrew:רב ירמיה בר אבא) was aBabylonian rabbi who lived around the mid-3rd century (second generation ofamoraim). He is cited many times in theJerusalem Talmud, where he is mentioned simply asRav Jeremiah, without his patronymic name.[2]
Some[3] identify Jeremiah bar Abba with Jeremiah Rabbah (Rabbah = "the Great"),[4] a sage who lived inBasra. According to this assertion he also lived in Basra.
Little is known about Jeremiah's family: His father was named "Abba", and was a famousBaal teshuva of his generation. (According to another version: the brother of his father, called "Aha" was the famousBaal teshuva).[5]Huna b. Hiyya (ofPumbdita) was his son-in-law,[6] and his son and grandson are also mentioned as sages.[7] For a certain period of time he lived in a place calledShumtamya,[8] which is not known from any other sources.
His son was the rabbiRaba Bar Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was primarily a student ofRav, and usually acted in accordance with his rulings.[9] However, he was considered as aFellow Student of his, and would address him in a second, and thirdGrammatical person form as is common among students and rabbis.[10]
Jeremiah debates many known contemporary scholars:Rav Huna,Judah ben Ezekiel and more.Rav Nachman once addressed him in a matter of a Jewish law.[8] Most of his references in the Talmud are laws delivered by him in the name of the most prominent scholars of his generation:Rav,Samuel of Nehardea, andYochanan bar Nafcha. Several times he reports that thebeit midrash of Rav asked questions to Samuel after the death of Rav, and gives Samuel's answer.[11]
Some are of the opinion that there were two sages named Jeremiah bar Abba, one in the second Amora generation, and the other in the third generation,[12] This is based on the words ofUlla, that Jeremiah was the student ofRav Huna, the pupil of Rav.[13] According to that opinion, the statements of Jeremiah in the name ofYochanan bar Nafcha belong to the latter one.