Hanina b. Papi

For another Jewish Amora sage also of the Land of Israel, same 3d Amoraic generetion & with a similar name, see Hanina ben Pappa.
For the Babylonian Amora sages of the 5th generetion, see Rav Papi or Rav Papa.

Hanina b. Papi (or Hanina bar Papi;Other uses: instead of Papi - Pappai, or instead of Hanina - Chanina or Haninah) was a third generation Jewish Amora sage of the Land of Israel. He was among the young students of R. Yochanan bar Nafcha.^[1]

He was considered an example of a righteous man who is not suspected of any sin. Once when Abba Arika was walking with his pupil Judah ben Ezekiel, he told his student: Let's move away from that woman walking in front of us, so we will not be punished in hell. Then his pupil protested: But you yourself said that in the case of respectable people it is well? and his Rabbi replied: And who says that the intention is to us, that is to mean to a person such as Hanina Bar Papi.^[2]

The righteous deed he became known for was when a certain royal minister urged him into illicit relations with her, and since she was able to kill, him, he pronounced a certain magical formula, whereupon his body was covered with boils and scabs, but the woman removed it by magic and he fled and hid himself in a bath-house with demons, knowing that the minister would not chase after him to such a place, since it was a place which whomever entered it was would suffer harm, even if two entered together, and even during daytime. After this his colleagues asked him: Who guarded you? and he replied: Two angels guarded me all night.^[3]

His colleagues were R. Abbahu, R. Isaac the Smith (Isaac Nappaha),^[4] Rabbi Ammi,^[5] and Rav Zeira.^[6] Among his pupils were R. Elai ^[7] and R. Adda b. Abimi.^[8] It is possible that he is the same Amora sage named Hanina ben Pappa who is always mentioned in Haggadot HaShas^[9]

References