person · P0209
Rabbah רבה
Head of Pumbedita for over two decades (third generation, Bavel), called "Oker Harim" — uprooter of mountains — for his dialectical power. Student of Rav Huna and Rav Yehudah, teacher and foster-guardian of the orphaned Abaye. Under him Pumbedita's study conventions drew thousands; the aggadah gives him a fugitive's death in the reeds, summoned to the heavenly academy.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבה
- Also known as
- Rabbah bar Nachmani, Oker Harim
- Era
- amoraim
- Generation
- A3
- Received the mesorah from
- Rav Huna, Rav Yehudah
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Abaye, Rava
- Teachers
- Rav Huna, Rav Yehudah
- Colleagues
- Rav Yosef
- Students
- Abaye, Rava
II. When
- Traditional
- d. c. 4081 AM
- Academic
- c. 270–321 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈51 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Pumbedita
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Among the sages who received from Rav Huna and from Rav Yehudah were Rabbah and Rav Yosef" — the Rambam's reception statement; the Iggeret likewise places Rabbah and Rav Yosef at Pumbedita with Rav Yehudah. | rabbinic tradition | ★★★★★ | |
| "Abaye and Rava were sitting before Rabbah" as boys when he tested them on where God resides — the Talmud's own picture of the next generation being raised at his table ("you will both become rabbis"). | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| After Rav Yehudah died, Rabbah and Rav Yosef each said to the other "you reign," and neither accepted the office; only "at the end of the days of Rav Chisda, when Rabbah saw that the matter was greatly needed at Pumbedita, he accepted the authority and reigned twenty-two years, and died in the Seleucid year 631" (320/321 CE).
The Iggeret's own numbers strain: acceptance at Rav Chisda's death (Sel. 620) to Sel. 631 is eleven years, not twenty-two; the twenty-two apparently count from Rav Yehudah's death (Sel. 610), overlapping Rav Huna bar Chiya's interim headship (Rav Huna bar Chiya).
|
tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| Rabbah bar Nachmani belonged to a priestly family that claimed descent from Eli the priest.
This is a rabbinic lineage claim.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| After the sages chose between Rabbah and Rav Yosef, Rabbah headed the Pumbedita academy for twenty-two years.
The tenure is explicitly stated.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★★ | |
| The Bavli states that Rabbah lived forty years and contrasts his poverty and repeated bereavements with Rav Chisda's prosperity.
The age and household comparison are explicit.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★★ | |
| Persian authorities pursued Rabbah after informers accused him of enabling twelve thousand Jews to escape the royal head tax during the academy months.
The narrative reflects taxation and state pressure but does not name the Sasanian ruler.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| While fleeing, Rabbah hid in a marsh or reed-covered area (agma) and died there.
The geographic term agma does not identify a modern site.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ |