Opinions vary on whether "bar Nappaha" (literally "son [of the] blacksmith") derives from his father's profession, from the name of his ancestral region, or perhaps represents a physical or psychological quality.
Johanan's early years were spent in Sepphoris in the Roman-ruled Galilee (then part of Syria Palaestina province).
It is said that initially he sat seventeen rows behind Abba Arikha in the school taught by Judah, and could not comprehend the discussions.
[10] Hanina bar Hama taught him homiletic Bible interpretation—except of the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes[11]—and probably medicine, in which he became skilled.
The two had disagreed on two points of ritual, and Johanan, not wishing to oppose his master at his home, decided to move.
He, too, moved from Sepphoris to Caesarea, where he opened a college and whither Johanan often went from Tiberias to consult him on difficult problems.
As many of his disciples accepted and taught his decisions, and as he himself visited and lectured at other places,[22] his fame spread far and wide.
In the Diaspora, whither his teachings were carried by his students, his authority was almost as great as in his native land, and few contemporary scholars in Babylonia opposed him.
But when Samuel transmitted to him a mass of disquisitions on the dietary laws, Johanan exclaimed, "I still have a master in Babylonia!"
Because of the principle of halacha k'battra'i (the halachic ruling being according to the rabbi with the latest ordination from the Land of Israel in those days, felt to be uninterrupted from the direct line from the Sanhedrin),[24] he is quoted so many times and one will notice that every 'participant' in that discussion attempts to align themselves with his opinion.
The bereft father preserved a joint of the victim's little finger, which he exhibited to mourners in order to inspire resignation.
[27] However, he himself was not resigned at the death of his brother-in-law Shimon ben Lakish, his fellow amora, whom he affectionately called "my counterpart".
[29] It is said that Johanan had an agreeable presence and a pleasing disposition; he was considered kind and considerate to the stranger as well as to his brethren; to the non-observant as to the pious; to the am ha'aretz as to the haver; for this he was beloved by his teachers and honored by all.
[30] He is believed to have never left Israel in all his life, a rare feat for rabbis in those days, who frequently visited Babylonia.
[32] On his death-bed he ordered that he should be dressed neither in white nor in black, but in scarlet, so that on awaking after death he would not feel out of place in the company either of the pious or of the wicked.
He sought to reconcile these, but as that could not always be done, he perforce rejected many laws adopted in the Mishnah, preferring the authority of baraitas taught by his former masters Hiyya and Hoshaiah.
All of them were collected in the geonic period in the "Order of the Tannaim and Amoraim" (סדר תנאים ואמוראים; abridged, סתו"א), which is ascribed to Nahshon ben Zadok of the ninth century.