text · B0045
She'iltot DeRav Achai שאילתות דרב אחאי גאון
The first book of the Oral Torah composed after the Talmud's sealing — a genuine authored work, not a redacted corpus. Rav Acha of Shabcha recast the Bavli's law as parashah-cycle discourses for the community, and in doing so opened the era in which the chain writes books.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- שאילתות דרב אחאי גאון
- Also known as
- Sheiltot, She'iltot DeRav Achai Gaon
- Era
- geonim
II. When
- Traditional
- composed by Rav Acha (Achai) of Shabcha after he left Bavel for Eretz Yisrael, c. 4510s AM
- Civil (computed)
- 4500–4520 AM · 740–760 CE
- Academic
- c. 750 CE
- Duration
- ≈20 years
- Precision
- approximate
IV. What
- Language
- Babylonian Aramaic
- Redaction
- Composed by Rav Acha of Shabcha (Rav Acha of Shabcha) — the great scholar of Pumbedita whom the exilarch passed over for the gaonate in favor of his own attendant Natronai Kahana (Rav Natroi Kahana bar Ahnai), whereupon he left for Eretz Yisrael. On the ambiguity in the Iggeret's wording of who was whose attendant, see Rav Acha of Shabcha.
- Structure
- About 171 she'iltot ("inquiries") arranged on the Torah's parashah cycle: each is a structured public discourse that sets a halakhic theme from the parashah, weaves in the Bavli's sugyot and aggadah, and resolves the question posed.
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Iggeret records the author and his moment: in the days of Rav Natroi Kahana bar Ahnai, "Mar Rav Acha of Shabcha went up to the Land of Israel" after the exilarch set his own attendant over him — the tradition's account of why the She'iltot's author never held the gaonate. | tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| The She'iltot is generally reckoned the earliest post-talmudic book transmitted under its author's name — c. 750 CE — and its text is an independent early witness to the Bavli's wording, which is why talmudic text-critics cite it constantly. | tradition reconstruction | ★★★★☆ |
|
| The discourses are built on the parashah cycle and address the public rather than the academy — halakhah taught through the week's Torah reading — a form with no earlier parallel and few later imitators.
The person-entity gap flagged here is now closed: Rav Acha of Shabcha is tracked as Rav Acha of Shabcha, and this work carries his authorship edge.
|
reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |
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