Avodah Zarah, Daf Daled, Part 2
משתבח להו ר’ אבהו למיני ברב ספרא דאדם גדול הוא שבקו ליה מיכסא דתליסר שנין. יומא חד אשכחוהו אמרו ליה כתיב (עמוס ג, ב) "רק אתכם ידעתי מכל משפחות האדמה על כן אפקוד עליכם את כל עונותיכם" מאן דאית ליה סיסיא ברחמיה מסיק ליה.
אישתיק ולא אמר להו ולא מידי.
רמו ליה סודרא בצואריה וקא מצערו ליה.
R. Abahu commended R. Safra to the minim as a learned man, and he was thus exempted by them from paying taxes for thirteen years. One day, on coming across him, they said to him; It is written: You alone have I singled out of all the families of the earth That is why I will call you to account for all your iniquities (Amos 3:2). If one is in anger does one take it out on one’s friend? He was silent and could give them no answer; so they wound a scarf round his neck and tortured him.
R. Abahu tells the minim that R. Safra is a great man. It is hard to identify who exactly the minim are here, but it seems to be simply non-Jews, those with the authority to impose or exempt others from taxes. There are many scholars who interpret these people to be some type of Jewish-Christians, those who would care about biblical interpretation. So they ask him to interpret a verse, but he does not know how to explain it to them. This disappoints them tremendously.
אתא רבי אבהו אשכחינהו. אמר להו אמאי מצעריתו ליה? אמרו ליה ולאו אמרת לן דאדם גדול הוא [ולא ידע למימר לן פירושא דהאי פסוקא]. אמר להו אימר דאמרי לכו בתנאי בקראי מי אמרי לכו?
אמרו ליה מ"ש אתון דידעיתון? אמר להו אנן דשכיחינן גביכון רמינן אנפשין ומעיינן אינהו לא מעייני.
R. Abbahu came and found him. He said to them: Why are you torturing him? They said to him: Did you not tell us that he is a great man? Yet he cannot explain to us the meaning of this verse!
He said: Say that I told you [that he was learned] in tannaitic traditions; did I tell you [he was learned] in Scripture?
They said to him: How are you different that you know [Scripture]?
He replied: We who are frequently with you, set ourselves the task of studying it thoroughly, they do not study it carefully.
Many historians have taken this exchange as evidence of the difference between rabbis living in Palestine, where Christianity was strong and those from Babylonia, where Christianity was weaker. Those rabbis living among early Jewish-Christians, like R. Abahu, had to study verses so that they would know how to respond to Christological interpretations of Bible. But R. Safra, who was from Babylonia, knew tannaitic traditions, but did not know Bible nearly as well. Thus, he could not respond.
אמרו ליה לימא לן את אמר להו אמשול לכם משל למה"ד לאדם שנושה משני בנ"א אחד אוהבו ואחד שונאו אוהבו נפרע ממנו מעט מעט שונאו נפרע ממנו בבת אחת
They said to him: So you tell us the meaning?
He said to them: I will draw you a parable. To what may it be compared? To a man who is the creditor of two persons, one of them a friend, the other an enemy; of his friend he will accept payment little by little, whereas of his enemy he will exact payment in one sum!
R. Abahu explains the meaning of the verse through a parable. God does exact payment from Israel for its sins, but he does so in a kind way. In contrast, when exacting payment from the non-Jews, the entire payment may come at once.
It should be noted that these traditions may, at least in part, be an attempt to explain the poor political state in which the Jews were in during this period (and throughout most of political history). If God loves the Jews so much, then why are the non-Jews ruling the world? The answer, at least one answer, is that God is holding back His revenge on the nations of the world. This is a common notion in both Judaism and early Christianity.