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Bible Encyclopedias
Bebai B. Abba, R.
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
A Palestinian haggadist, of uncertain date and rarely cited, whose name appears also as "Bebai Rabbah," "Beba Raba," and "Beba Abba" (Lev. R. 29:9; Yer. Ta'an. 2:65d; Pesiḳ. Baḥodesh, 154a; Yalḳ., Lev. 645). He is cited (Lev. R. ) as having commended the following form of confession for the Day of Atonement, which is partly adopted in the ritual for the evening service of that day: "I confess before Thee all the evil I have committed. I have indeed stood in the path of evil; but as I have done, I shall do no more. May it please Thee, O my God, to forgive all my sins, pardon all my iniquities, and remit all my errors" This, Bebai states, is in accordance with what the prophet teaches in saying (Isaiah 55:7), "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts," etc. (compare Yer. Yoma end, 45c).
In the Wilna (1878) edition of the Midrash the patronymic is "Abia"; in the ed. Warsaw (1850) it is "Abaye." "Yuḥasin" and "Sed. ha-Dor.," however, read "Abba"; and Heilprin ("Seder ha-Dor.," s.) suggests the identity of Bebai b. Abba with Bebai b. Abin, identifying the latter with the Bebai generally cited without patronymic. But "Abin" seems to be a misreading of "Abaye."
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Bebai B. Abba, R.'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tje/​b/bebai-b-abba-r.html. 1901.