Bible Encyclopedias
Eleazar B. Mahbai

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

Probably identical, according to Bacher ("Ag. Tan." 2:553), with Eleazar b. Mahbai or Maḥbai, a tanna of the second century, contemporary of Judah b. Bathyra and Aḥa I. (Tosef., Yeb. 14:4). He is cited but twice under this name. His most important remark is with regard to the Pentateuchal expression ("saying"; literally, "to say"), which frequently follows the statement, "God spake to Moses," and which he explains as implying that God spake to Moses not in Moses' interest, but in that of Israel: He spake to Moses to say to the people (Sifra, Wayiḳra, 2:13; compare Yalḳ., Lev. 431, where the patronymic is "Dehabai").

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Bibliography Information
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Eleazar B. Mahbai'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tje/​e/eleazar-b-mahbai.html. 1901.