— Amora
THE JEWISH EN'CYCLOPEDIA
Amorites
Gemam
witc properly
ciillcil
Aiiioraiin:
i'.
e.. iiitor-
Tlioy were preters or cxpoiiiulcrs (of the .Mislumh), not as iiidepcndciit in tlieir Icpil opinions and decisions as tlieir ]>rede(essors. tlie Taniiaini and seniiTannaim. as they had not thi' uiitliority to eontradiet decisions and principles unanimously accepted in the Jlishuah itself or in the Barailol. The Palestinian Anioraiin. liavinj; Ijeen ordained, as a jreneral rule, by the iiuki. had the title of "rabbi"; while the Babylonian teachers of that period had only the title of "rab" or of "mar." The Palestinian Anioraim are distinjruished by their simple method of teachinirand cxjioundins; the MisliTlie Babylonians indul>;ed more in dialectical nah. discussions. This was especially the case in the Academy of Pumbedita. where the dialectical method
reached
its hiirlicst
III
Kabbah bar Htma, in Sura, Kabbah bar Nal.imau, i
Joseph bar
in Pumbedita. (Nal.imani), ) I{aba, son of Joseidi bar llama, in Mahuza.
IV
of the most distinguished among them, especially those that presided over the great academies, are given here in chronological order. I r. First generation of Palestinian Amoraim (from the year 219-279): Jannai, the Elder; Jonathan, the Elder. Oshay'a. the Elder; Levi bar Sisi. Hanina bar Hama; Ilezekiah. Jobauan bar Najipaha; Simon b. Lakish. Jo.sliua ben Levi; Simlai. I B. First generatiouofBabvlonian Amoraim (219257): Shila. in
Nehardea.
Kab Al)ba Areka), in Sura. Mar Samuel, in Nehardea. Mar 'I'kba, chief-justice in Kafri. (
n p.
Second generation of Palestinian Amoraim
(279-320): j;ieazar ben Pedat. in Tiberias. Ammi and Assi, in Tiberias.
Zcra (or Zeira). II B. Second generation of Babylonian
Amemar. in Nehardea. Zebid bar Oshay'a, Dimi bar Hineua, "j
Kafram
Mar
Amoraim
(320-359): 1
in Tiberias,
)
These three Amoraim were the last authorities in Palestine. The compilation of the Palestinian Talmud was probably accomplished in their time.
Pumbedita.
in
Zutra,
Judah Mani
b.
Eliezer
Jose
V
b.
Shalom.
Abiu.
b.
Jose.
Tanl.iuma. li. Fifth generation of Babylonian
Amoraim
(427-t()H):
.Mar
Yemar
(contracted to Maremar), in Sura.
bar Abiu, Mar bar Ashi,
[-
Aha
Idi
of Difta,
Kafram
VI
H.
II., in
i
in Sura,
Pumbedita.
generation of Babylonian
Si.th
Amoraim
(468-500):
Kabbina bar Huna, the
Amora
of Sura. of Pumbedita and the last
Jose, the last Amora first of the Saboraim.
The Amoraim were followed by the Saboraim, who gave to the Talnuid its finishing touch. For particulars of the
and work of each of the
life
above-mentioned Amoraim see respective names.
articles
under their
For the older literature on the Amoraim SheHellprin, rira (iaon. In his /(/(/ r* 7 ; VavwVk in his I'H/i^ijtoj in his Seder ha-TJurnl. Modem literature: Furst, Ktilturuiid Ijiteraturijcitch, tLJiulen in Axieii, which treats es(H»cially of the Babylonian academics and t<*achers durinp tin* im»riod of the Amoraim. I>eipsic. 1S49: llajioport. 'Krek Milliti^ Frankel. 3/('/>o ha-yenishalini^ Bn*slau, ls,'i2. article Amora; 1S70; (rriitz, iieseh. d. Jmlen, ii.. chaps, xviii.-xxii. ; Wei.ss, iJor. iil.; HainliurpiT. Realtiictikliii>(ldic. ii.; Jlielziner, liilmduelian to the Tidmud, chap. Iv,. Cincinnati, 1S!>4; strack, KiideititUiiUi den Talmud: Bacher^ Au-Bttb. Amor.; idem,
BiBi.iOfJR.^PHV
.4!/. I'al.
Amor.
M. M.
Data:
The descend-
ants of the fourth son of Canaan ((ien. ..l(i. It'hron. They form jiart of the ancient inhabitants of i. 14). Palestine (Gen. x v. 21 Ex. iii. 8, 17. xxiii. 23 Joshua, I Kin,ss, ix. 20; Ezck. xvi. 3, 45: also iii.lO. xxiv. 11 Isa. xvii. 9. where we ought probably to follow the Septuagint reading. " the forsiiken places of the As representatives of Amorites and the llivites" the whole pre Israelitisli po])nlation. they are mentioned in (Jen. xv. l(i. xlviii. 22; Joshua, v. 1, xxiv. I Sam. vii. 14; I Kings, xxi. 26; 15, 18: Judges, x, 11 II Kings, xxi. 11; Amos, ii. 9, etc. Some scholars claim that (I Sam. vii. 14) Philistines and Amorites are synonymous, so that the latter expression would include all uon-IsGeograph- raclitish inhabitants of Palestine. I'suical Dis- ally, however, the passage in (jucstion tribution. is interpreted to mean the isolated remnants of the Amorites. who in pre Philistine and iirc-lsraclitish times had occupied a large part of the country west of the Jordan. Their territory is more exactly defined as follows: (it) In the south" they inhabit the hill-country of
Nal.iman ben Jacob, in Nehardea. Other distingtiished teachers belonging to this generation were Rabba bar Bar-Hana and 'UUa ben Ishmael. III p. Third generation of Palestinian Amoraim
'-
'-
I.,
Kaliana bar Talilifa,
(257-320): Iluna, in Sura. Judah lien Ezekicl, in Pumbedita. Hisda. in Sura. Shcshet. in Shilhi.
Jeremiah, Jonah, Jose bar Zabda,
Sura, compiler of the Babylonian
AMORITES.— Biblical
Hiyya bar Abba; Simeon bar Abba. Abbahu. in Ciesarea.
Amoraim
Talmud.
shorter than that of the Babylonian, ends with the third generation of the latter. Krankel, in his " Mebo
The Chief Amoraim The Amoraim mentioned The names in the Talmud numbermany hundreds.
|-
Nal.iman bi'n Isjiac. in Pund)edita. Papa bar Hanan, in Narash. It. Fourth generation of Babylonian
(375-427): Ashi, in
proverb: "In Pumbedita they know how to ])ass an elephant through a needle's "eye"; that is, by their dialectical arjfumentatiou they can |)rove even that which is absolutely impossible (B. M. 38/;). The period of the Babylonian Amoraim is pener-
Yeruslialmi." treating especially of the Palestinian Amoraim, divides them also into si. generations.
I.liyya,
Abayc
The hairspliltini; academy is satirized in the
ally divitled into si. minor i)eriods or jrcnerations, which arc determined by the bejiinninir and the end of the activity of their most j)romineut teachers. The period of the Palestinian Amoraim, beins: much
Third generation of Babylonian An<oraim
II.
(320-375):
development.
dialectic prevailinij in that
528
).
