Birth
His father, who subsequently was known only by the Aramaic language designation Abuh di-Shemu'el ("father of Samuel"), was a silk-merchant. R. Judah ben Bathyra ordered a silken garment from him, but refused to take it after Abba had procured it, and when the latter asked him the reason of his refusal, R. Judah answered, "The commission was only a spoken word, and was not sufficient to make the transaction binding." Abba thereupon said, "Is the word of a sage not a better guarantee than his money?" "You are right," said R. Judah; "and because you lay so much stress upon a given word you shall have the good fortune of having a son who shall be like the prophet Samuel, and whose word all Israel will recognize as true." Soon afterward a son was born to Abba, whom he named Samuel (Midr. Shemu'el, x. ).
Read more about this topic: Samuel Of Nehardea
Famous quotes containing the word birth:
“The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying.”
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