HILLEL B. SAMUEL B. NAḤMAN:
Palestinian haggadist of the fourth century. It may be assumed that his father was his teacher; but he had other instructors also, among them being Levi b. Ḥama (Ber. 28b). According to Hillel, the merits of the teacher are, in the sight of heaven, five times as great as those of the pupil; for the Bible says, "Thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred" (Cant. viii. 12; Cant. R. ad loc.). Elsewhere he adduces Neh. viii. 17 to prove that contemporary authorities must be accorded the same respect as was shown to the ancients in their days (Eccl. R. i. 4; comp. Yer. Ḳid. i. 61c).
Bibliography:
- Bacher, Agada der Palästinensischen Amoräer, iii. 703.
