Ravina II

Ravina II or Rabina II (Hebrew: אבינא בריה דרב הונא or רבינא האחרון; died 475 CE or 500 CE)^[1] was a Babylonian rabbi of the 5th century (seventh and eighth generations of amoraim). Rabina is a traditional portmanteau of the title Rav and the personal name Abina, a form of the Aramaic word for "father" (compare Abuna, Abaye, Abin, Abahu, Abba, Rava, Rabin).

The Talmud says that "Ravina" and Rav Ashi were "the end of instruction",^[2] which is traditionally interpreted to mean that the two were responsible for redacting the Babylonian Talmud. Most scholars agree that this "Ravina" was Ravina II, the son of Huna bar Abin HaKohen, and not Ravina I, the colleague of Rav Ashi who died before Rav Ashi.^[3]

^ The discrepancy in the date of death stems from the author of Dorot HaRishonim who puts Ravina's death at 475 CE, and Rabbi Sherira Gaon who, in his Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon (original Aramaic text), puts his death in 811 of the Seleucid era, a year corresponding to anno 500 CE. According to Sherira Gaon, the end of the Talmudic redaction is marked by the death of Ravina II (see: Gaon, Sherira (1988). The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon. Translated by Nosson Dovid Rabinowich. Jerusalem: Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press - Ahavath Torah Institute Moznaim. p. 116. OCLC 923562173.).
^ Bava Metzia 86a
^ Sherira Gaon (1988). The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon. Translated by Nosson Dovid Rabinowich. Jerusalem: Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press - Ahavath Torah Institute Moznaim. p. 79. OCLC 923562173., s.v. Ravina, who cites Rabbi HaLevi, vol. 6, chaps. 4-7, who, in turn, cites Rabbi Sherira Gaon in ch. 11, p. 116.

[1] The discrepancy in the date of death stems from the author of Dorot HaRishonim who puts Ravina's death at 475 CE, and Rabbi Sherira Gaon who, in his Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon (original Aramaic text), puts his death in 811 of the Seleucid era, a year corresponding to anno 500 CE. According to Sherira Gaon, the end of the Talmudic redaction is marked by the death of Ravina II (see: Gaon, Sherira (1988). The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon. Translated by Nosson Dovid Rabinowich. Jerusalem: Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press - Ahavath Torah Institute Moznaim. p. 116. OCLC 923562173.).

[2] Bava Metzia 86a

[3] Sherira Gaon (1988). The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon. Translated by Nosson Dovid Rabinowich. Jerusalem: Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press - Ahavath Torah Institute Moznaim. p. 79. OCLC 923562173., s.v. Ravina, who cites Rabbi HaLevi, vol. 6, chaps. 4-7, who, in turn, cites Rabbi Sherira Gaon in ch. 11, p. 116.

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