Commentary for Berakhot 57:7
אמר אביי הוא ינאי הוא יוחנן רבא אמר ינאי לחוד ויוחנן לחוד ינאי רשע מעיקרו ויוחנן צדיק מעיקרו הניחא לאביי אלא לרבא קשיא
Abbai said : Johanan is the same person as Januaeus. Raba said : They are different persons ; and Jannaeus was originally wicked, but Johanan originally righteous. That is quite right according to Abbai ; but it is in contradiction with Raba's view.
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
There is confusion between Johanan, i.e. John Hyrcanus, and Jannaeus (=Jonathan, see Derenbourg, op. cit. p. 95 n.), i.e. Alexander Jannaeus. The former was at first favourably disposed towards the Pharisees, but in the latter part of his life opposed them (Schurer, i.i. pp. 288f.) ; but the latter was throughout his reign hostile to them and massacred numbers of them ; ibid. pp. 300 ff.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
In holding that Johanan and Jannaeus were identical, he assumes that he had been originally wicked and that accounts for his later lapse.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
If Johanan was originally righteous, how could he have become a Sadducee ?
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