Avot of Rabbi Natan, also known as Avot de-Rabbi Nathan (ARN) (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אבות דרבי נתן), the first and longest of the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era (c.700–900 CE).
Touching its original form, its age, and its dependence on earlier or later recensions of the Mishnah, there are many opinions, all of which are discussed in S. Schechter's introduction.
There are two recensions of this work, one of which is usually printed with the Babylonian Talmud in the appendix to Seder Nezikin [the sixteenth volume], preceding the so-called Minor Treatises, and another, which, until the late 19th century, existed in manuscript only.
In 1887 Solomon Schechter published the two recensions in parallel columns, contributing to the edition a critical introduction and valuable notes.
[2] In addition, MS Parma (Palatina) 2785 (de Rossi 327; Uncastillo/Spain, 1289), being a more precise copy of Avot de-Rabbi Nathan, has been used to correct errors in recension B.
The separate teachings of the Mishnah Avot are generally taken as texts, which are either briefly explained—the ethical lessons contained therein being supported by reference to Biblical passages—or fully illustrated by narratives and legends.
While looking upon the city and the ruins of the Temple, R. Joshua exclaimed, 'Woe unto us, that the holy place is destroyed which atoned for our sins!'
[6]The chapters of the two recensions of Avot de-Rabbi Nathan correspond with those of the Mishnah Avot as follows: Nathan the Babylonian, whose name appears in the title of the work under treatment, cannot possibly have been its only author, since he flourished about the middle of the 2nd century, or a generation prior to the author of the Mishnah.
Besides, several authorities are quoted who flourished a long time after R. Nathan; for instance, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi.