Rav Zevid and Talmud Pumbediti

In today’s daf (Kiddushin 59) there was a lengthy repetition. The magid shiur of our chaburah, Elchanan, said that this was a perfect daf for Daf Yomi, since we get to essentially go through 20 lines again in one shot.

That is, at the bottom of amud aleph:

This sets up the dispute between Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish. And they argue at length.

Then, on amud bet:

Rav Zevid applies the collected dispute and argumentation to a different halacha. But the back and forth is more or less the same, and proceeds from there, again at length. To cite the Koren translation:

רַב זְבִיד מַתְנֵי לְהָא שְׁמַעְתְּתָא אַהָא: וְכֵן הִיא שֶׁנָּתְנָה רְשׁוּת לִשְׁלוּחָהּ לְקַדְּשָׁהּ, וְהָלְכָה הִיא וְקִדְּשָׁהּ אֶת עַצְמָהּ, אִם שֶׁלָּהּ קָדְמוּ – קִידּוּשֶׁיהָ קִידּוּשִׁין, וְאִם שֶׁל שְׁלוּחָהּ קָדְמוּ – אֵין קִידּוּשֶׁיהָ קִידּוּשִׁין.

The Gemara presents another version of the discussion: Rav Zevid taught this dispute with regard to this halakha: And similarly, in a case where she gave permission to her agent to accept betrothal for her and she subsequently went and accepted betrothal herself from someone else, if her betrothal came first, her betrothal is a valid betrothal, but if the betrothal of her agent came first, her betrothal is not a betrothal.

Who is Rav Zedid? Without patronymic, there are two, but this is presumably Rav Zevid II, who is Rava’s student (as well as Abaye’s). As Rav Hyman explains in Toledot Tannaim vaAmoraim, quoting Rav Saadia Gaon:

That is, after Rava’s death, the yeshva split. Rav Pappa presided over Naresh. Meanwhile, in Pumbedita first was headed by Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, and afterwards, Rav Zevid II.

Upon that time (Rav Hyman continues), we see in Kiddushin 72b:

אַמֵּימָר שְׁרָא לֵיהּ לְרַב הוּנָא בַּר נָתָן לְמִינְסַב אִיתְּתָא מְחוּזְיָיתָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב אָשֵׁי: מַאי דַּעְתָּיךְ – דְּאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: זוֹ דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר, אֲבָל חֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: כׇּל אֲרָצוֹת בְּחֶזְקַת כְּשֵׁרוֹת הֵן עוֹמְדוֹת? וְהָא בֵּי רַב כָּהֲנָא לָא מַתְנוּ הָכִי, וּבֵי רַב פָּפָּא לָא מַתְנוּ הָכִי, וּבֵי רַב זְבִיד לָא מַתְנוּ הָכִי! אֲפִילּוּ הָכִי לָא קַיבְּלַהּ מִינֵּיהּ, מִשּׁוּם דִּשְׁמִיעַ לֵיהּ מֵרַב זְבִיד דִּנְהַרְדְּעָא.

The Gemara comments: Ameimar permitted Rav Huna bar Natan to marry a woman from Meḥoza, which is outside the borders of Babylonia as pertains to lineage. Rav Ashi said to Ameimar: What is your reasoning in allowing him to do so? Is it because Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: This is the statement of Rabbi Meir, but the Rabbis say all lands retain a presumptive status of unflawed lineage. The halakha follows the opinion of the Rabbis, but the school of Rav Kahana did not teach like this, and the school of Rav Pappa did not teach like this, and the school of Rav Zevid did not teach like this. The Gemara comments: Nevertheless, despite hearing of all these reports, Ameimar did not accept this halakha from him, because he had heard this halakha directly from Rav Zevid of Neharde’a, upon whom he relied.

Note the word matnu, just like our matni. Do a search also for Rav Zevid matni.

Thus, there are multiple versions of sometimes self-contained sugyas during the fifth Amoraic generation, and they were available to sixth-generation Rav Ashi, a Talmudic Redactor.

So just as some people study the Talmud Yerushalmi and compare to Talmud Bavli, here we have a Pumbeditan account vs. an account from Sura or Naresh.