YOḤANAN BAR NAPPAḤAʾ (d. 279?), leading Palestinian amora. Yoḥanan's father and mother had both died by the time he was born (B.T., Qid. 31b), and his apparent patronymic refers either to his trade as a smith (nappaḥa') or to his legendary, "inflaming" good looks. Yoḥanan is always referred to either by his given name or by the epithet bar Nappaḥaʾ, never both.

Yoḥanan's studies began during the lifetime of Yehuda ha-Nasiʾ, known as "Rabbi," the redactor of the Mishnah. Later, Yoḥanan remembered having attended Rabbi's lectures and not understanding them (B.T., Ḥul. 137b). A native of Sepphoris, Yoḥanan began his studies there, but ultimately he became head of a prestigious rabbinic academy in Tiberias, where he spent the...