Abaji, Ben-cajlil

Abaji, Ben-Cajlil, surnamed Nachmani, belonged to that class of Jewish teachers who were styled Amoraim, and occupied the presidency at the school of Pumbaditha from 333 to 338. He is said to have been tolerant of the heathen, and defended the book of Ben Sira, i.e. Ecclesiasticus, against his colleague Rab Joseph, who regarded it as heretical. In the exposition of the Scriptures, he adopted the simple against the customary artificial mode. His maxim was, "One and the same verse may be explained in a different sense, but the same sense cannot refer to different verses." See Hamburger, Real- Enyklopadie fur Bibel und Talmud, s.v.; Bacher, Die Agada der babylonischen, Amoraim (Strasburg, 1878), p. 107 sq. (B.P.)