Jeremiah bar Abba should not be confused with Jeremiah ben Abba.
Jeremiah bar Abba [1] (or Rav Yirmeyah bar Abba ;[1] Hebrew: רב ירמיה בר אבא) was a Babylonian rabbi who lived around the mid-3rd century (second generation of amoraim). He is cited many times in the Jerusalem Talmud, where he is mentioned simply as Rav Jeremiah, without his patronymic name.[2]
Some[3] identify Jeremiah bar Abba with Jeremiah Rabbah (Rabbah = "the Great"),[4] a sage who lived in Basra. According to this assertion he also lived in Basra.
Little is known about Jeremiah's 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).[5] Huna b. Hiyya (of Pumbdita) was his son-in-law,[6] and his son and grandson are also mentioned as sages.[7] For a certain period of time he lived in a place called Shumtamya, which is not known from any other sources.
His son was the rabbi Raba Bar Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was primarily a student of Rav, and usually acted in accordance with his rulings.[8] 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.[9]
Jeremiah debates many known contemporary scholars: Rav Huna, Judah ben Ezekiel and more. Rav Nachman once addressed him in a matter of a Jewish law.[10] Most of his references in the Talmud are laws delivered by him in the name of the most prominent scholars of his generation: Rav, Samuel of Nehardea, and Yochanan bar Nafcha. Several times he reports that the beit midrash of Rav asked questions to Samuel after the death of Rav, and gives Samuel's answer.[11]
Some are of the opinion that there were two sages named Jeremiah bar Abba, one in the second Amora generation, and the other in the third generation,[12] This is based on the words of Ulla, that Jeremiah was the student of Rav Huna, the pupil of Rav.[13] According to that opinion, the statements of Jeremiah in the name of Yochanan bar Nafcha belong to the latter one.