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Concept
Samuel of Nehardea
Summary
Samuel of Nehardea or Samuel bar Abba, often simply called Samuel (Hebrew: שמואל) and occasionally Mar Samuel, was a Jewish Amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea, Babylonia. He was a teacher of halakha, judge, physician, and astronomer. He was born about 165 CE at Nehardea, and died there in 254 CE. In the Talmud, Samuel is frequently associated with Abba Arikha ("Rav"), with whom he debated on many issues.
As in the case of many other great men, a number of legendary stories are connected with his birth.
His father, Abba bar Abba, subsequently known also by the Aramaic language designation Abuh di-Shemu'el ("father of Samuel"), was a silk-merchant. R. Yehuda ben Betheira ordered a silken garment from him, but refused to take it after Abba had procured it, and when the latter asked him the reason of his refusal, R. Yehuda answered, "The commission was only a spoken word, and was not sufficient to make the transaction binding." Abba thereupon said, "Is the word of a sage not a better guarantee than his money?" "You are right," said R. Yehuda; "and because you lay so much stress upon a given word you shall have the good fortune of having a son who shall be like the prophet Samuel, and whose word all Israel will recognize as true." Soon afterward a son was born to Abba, whom he named Samuel.
Even as a boy Samuel displayed rare ability. His first teacher was an otherwise unknown man, and Samuel, who knew more about a certain legal question than did his teacher, would not submit to ill treatment by him. Then Samuel's father, who was himself a prominent teacher of the Law, recognized as such even by Rav, undertook to instruct the boy. As he seems to have been unequal to this task he sent him to Nisibis to attend the school of the rabbi who had predicted the boy's birth, that he might there acquire a knowledge of the Law. Samuel seems to have remained only a short time at Nisibis. On his return to Nehardea he studied under Levi ben Sisi, who was in Babylonia before the death of Yehuda Ha-Nasi, and who exerted a great influence on Samuel's development.
Official source
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