Rabbi Elazar Honors Rabbi Yochanan and Lips That Murmur in the Grave

"And Samuel did that which the LORD spoke, and came to Bethlehem; and the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said: 'Comest thou peaceably?'" (I Samuel 16:4). Rabbah inquired into the welfare of Rabbah. Once Rabbi Yochanan was leaning upon Rabbi Yaakov bar Idi, and Rabbi Elazar saw him and hid himself from before him. He said: "This Babylonian has done two things to me. One, that he did not rise before me; and the other, that he did not report a teaching in my name." He said to him: "Such is the custom in Babylon, that the lesser does not stand before the greater, for they uphold this verse: 'The young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged rose up and stood' (Job 29:8)." He said to him: "And why did he not report the teaching in my name?" "You pass before the image of Ridos." He said to him: "What is it to pass before it?" He said to him: "How do you apportion it honor—pass before it and put out its eye." "You pass before a certain house of study." He said to him: "Here Rabbi Meir used to sit and expound, and he would report a teaching in the name of Rabbi Yishmael, but he would not report a teaching in the name of Rabbi Akiva." He said to him: "All the world knows that Rabbi Meir was the disciple of Rabbi Akiva." He said to him: "And all the world knows that Rabbi Elazar is the disciple of Rabbi Yochanan." He said to him—Rabbi Yaakov bar Idi: "You know how to appease him! Is it possible that Rabbi Yochanan would be particular about these matters? Even David sought mercy concerning them: 'I will dwell in Thy tent for ever' (Psalms 61:5)." Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Yirmiyah in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: David said, "May I merit that my words be spoken in synagogues and houses of study." What benefit is it to him? Bar Nazira said: Whoever reports a teaching in the name of its sayer, his lips murmur in the grave, as it is written: "moving gently the lips of those that are asleep" (Song of Songs 7:10)—like this cluster of grapes that flows of its own accord. Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa and Rabbi Simon: one said, like one who drinks spiced wine, and one said, like one who drinks old wine—although he has drunk it, its taste remains in his mouth.