the Week of Proper 27 / Ordinary 32
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Bible Encyclopedias
Nahum ben Simai
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Palestinian amora of the third century; a son of the tanna Simai. He is cited as "Menahem" in Pes. 104a and in M. Ḳ. 25b. Nahum was called "the most holy man" (Yer. Meg. 1:72b; Yer. 'Ab. Zarah 3:42c) and "the son of the saints (Pes. 104a), the reason given for these designations being that during his whole life he never looked at the portrait on a coin. At his funeral all the statues were covered up so that even in death he might not see the likeness of any person (Yer.'Ab. Zarah 3:42c, above). A few of his halakic sayings have been preserved (Yer. Ber. 8:7; Yer. Ma'as. 1:2,48d; Pes. 104a). He is said to have preached a sermon at Tarsus in which he gave an allegorical explanation of Exodus 12:3 (Pesiḳ. R. 15 [ed. Friedmann, p. 78b]). Nothing further is known concerning the circumstances of his life.
- Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. 3:616;
- Frankel, Mebo, pp. 116a, b.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Nahum ben Simai'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/n/nahum-ben-simai.html. 1901.
