Commentary for Sanhedrin 217:1
מאן נשדר נשדר בהדי נחום איש גם זו דמלומד בנסים הוא
whom shall we send it? We will send it by Nahum of Gimso, who is well versed in miracles.' On arriving at a certain inn, he wished to lodge there. 'What hast thou with thee,' they asked him? He replied. 'I am bearing tribute to the Emperor.' So they arose at night, untied his box, removed all its contents, and refilled it with earth. When he arrived there<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the Emperor's presence. ');"><sup>1</sup></span> it was found to be earth. 'The Jews mock me!' he exclaimed. So they led him out to execution. 'This too is for good.' said he. Then Elijah came, disguised as one of theirs [the Romans], and suggested to them, 'Perhaps this is the earth of Abraham, the patriarch, who threw earth which turned to swords, and chaff which became arrows!' So they examined it, and found it to be even so: and a district which they had been unable to conquer, they threw this earth at it and conquered it. Thereupon they led him to the treasury and said to him, 'Take what thou pleasest!' So he filled his box with gold. On his return, the inmates [of the inn where he had previously been robbed] asked him, 'What didst thou take to the king?' 'What I took away from here I carried there,' was his reply. So they took [the same] and brought it there, [as a result of which] these folk were executed.
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