Jeremiah b. Abba

For the 1st-generation Amora sage of the Land of Israel, see Jeremiah (I).
For the 3rd-generation Amora sage of the Land of Israel, see Jeremiah (II).
For the 4th-generation and 4th-century Amora sage of the Land of Israel, see Jeremiah (III) (Also known as Jeremiah ben Abba).
For the 3rd-generation Babylonian Amora, see: Raba Bar Jeremiah (also called Abba; his son)

Rav Jeremiah b. Abba(or Rav Yirmeyah b. Abba ; Hebrew: רב ירמיה בר אבא) was a second generation Jewish Babylonian Amora sage (Around the midst of the 3rd century). He was the pupil of the famous Amora R. Abba Arika. He is cited many times in the Jerusalem Talmud, where he is mentioned simply as R. Jeremiah, without his patronymic name. Some are in the opinion that he was also called R. Jeremiah Rabbah (Rabbah = "the Great").

As noted, Jeremiah b. Abba was primarily a student of Abba Arika, and usually acted in accordance with his rulings. However, he was considered as a Fellow Student of his, and would address him in a second, and third Grammatical person form as is common among students and Rabbis.

R. Jeremiah debates many known contemporary scholars: Rav Huna, Judah ben Ezekiel and more. Rav Nachman who was a known Dayan (religious judge), once addressed him in a matter of a Jewish law. Most of his references in the Talmud are laws delivered by him in the name of the most prominent scholars of his generation: Abba Arika, Samuel of Nehardea, and Yochanan bar Nafcha. Several times he stated on the questions submitted from the Beth midrash of R. Samuel, associated with the period after the death of Abba Arika.

Little is known about his family: His father was named "Abba", and was a famous Baal teshuva of his generation. (According to another version: the brother of his father, called "Aha" was the famous Baal teshuva). R. Huna b. Hiyya (of Pumbdita) was his son-in-law, and his son and grandson are also mentioned as sages. For a certain period of time he lived in a place called Shumtamya, which is not known from any other sources.

As mentioned above, some identify Jeremiah b. Abba with R. Jeremiah Rabbah who is only cited once in the Talmud, a sage living in the city of Basra. According to this assertion he also lived in Basra.

Some are in the opinion that there were two sages named Jeremiah b. Abba, one in the second Amora generation, and the other in the third generation, and it is based on the words of Ulla, that Rabbi Jeremiah b. Abba was the student of Rav Huna, the pupil of Abba Arika. According to that opinion, the statements of Jeremiah b. Abba in the name of R. Yochanan bar Nafcha belong to the latter one.