Nahum the Mede (,

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

: ''Nahum HaMadi'') was a first-century tanna of the first generation who came to the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

from

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

. He lived in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and according to

Nathan the Babylonian Nathan the Babylonian (Hebrew: רבי נתן הבבלי), also known as Rabbi Nathan, was a '' tanna'' of the third generation (2nd century). Biography Nathan was the son of a Babylonian exilarch. For reasons that are unclear he left Babylonia, ...

, he was one of the three most renowned criminal judges in the city. He was one of the seven great contemporaries of

Johanan ben Zakai Yohanan ben Zakkai (; 1st century CE), sometimes abbreviated as for Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, was a tanna, an important Jewish sage during the late Second Temple period during the transformative post-destruction era. He was a primary cont ...

who had survived the

destruction of Jerusalem The siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), a major rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Judaea. Led by Titus, Roman forces besieged the Jewish capital, which had beco ...

by the Romans and who probably became members of the

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...

Rulings

Only six of his laws have been preserved in the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

, three of which were said not to have been recognized. Some, however, attribute to him four other and anonymous teachings. The opposition to the decisions of Nahum, according to the view of a later

amoraim ''Amoraim'' ( , singular ''Amora'' ; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 CE, who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral Torah. They were p ...

, seems to have been due to the dislike of the scholars of the Land of Israel for those of other countries. Nahum's teachings include: * "Nahum the Mede says one may use melted tallow for the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

lamp, and the sages prohibit it." * "If a man sold an ass, he has not sold its trappings, but Nahum the Mede says he has sold the trappings."

Bava Batra Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; ) is the third of the three Talmudic tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of property. It is part of Judaism's oral law. Originally it, to ...

5:2

Jacob Neusner Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books. Neusner's application of form criticism� ...

holds that there is no evidence that Nahum came from

Parthia Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemeni ...

or was in fact a Medean, because the suffix "the Medean" may be indicative of the origins of his family before him. 15th-century scholar

Abraham Zacuto Abraham Zacuto (, ; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Sephardic Jewish astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian. Born in Castile, he served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal before fleeing to Tunis. His astrolabe of cop ...

in his ''Sefer Yuchasin'' (1498) speculates that mention of a certain "Nahum the Elder" in the ''

Baraita ''Baraita'' ( "external" or "outside"; pl. ''bārayāṯā'' or in Hebrew ''baraitot''; also baraitha, beraita; Ashkenazi pronunciation: berayse) designates a tradition in the Oral Torah of Rabbinical Judaism that is not incorporated in the Mi ...

'' refers to Nahum the Mede.

References

Sources

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: Grätz, Gesch, iv. 22; Frankel, Darke ha-Mishna, p. 63, Leipsic. 1859.E. C. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nahum the Mede Talmud rabbis of Syria Palaestina Rabbis in Jerusalem 1st-century rabbis Median people