Horayot 11B

מה להלן שאין על גביו אלא ה׳ אלהיו, אף נשיא שאין על גביו אלא ה׳ אלהיו.

Just as there, in the passage with regard to the king, the reference is to one over whom there is only YHWH his God, so too, with regard to a nasi, the reference is to one over whom there is only YHWH his God.

בעא מיניה רבי מרבי חייא: כגון אני, מהו בשעיר? אמר ליה: הרי צרתך בבבל. איתיביה: מלכי ישראל ומלכי בית דוד, אלו מביאים לעצמם, ואלו מביאים לעצמם! אמר ליה: התם לא כייפי אהדדי, הכא אנן כייפינן להו לדידהו.

R' Yehuda HaNasi raised a dilemma before R' Ḥiyya: In a case where I perform an unwitting transgression, what is the halakha: Would I be liable to atone with a goat as a sin-offering because I am the Nasi, or is my atonement with a ewe or a female goat, like a commoner, because I am not the king? R' Ḥiyya said to him: Your rival, the Exilarch in Babylonia, is as great as you; therefore, you are not akin to a king. R' Yehuda HaNasi raised an objection to R' Ḥiyya from a baraita: If kings of the kingdom of Israel and kings of the house of David perform an unwitting transgression, these bring a sin-offering for themselves as kings, and those bring a sin-offering for themselves as kings. This indicates that even if a king has a counterpart who is as powerful as he is, he brings a male goat as his sin-offering. R' Ḥiyya said to R' Yehuda HaNasi: There, the kings were not subject to each other’s authority. Here, in Eretz Yisrael, we are subject to their authority, as the authority of the Exilarch is greater than the authority of the Nasi.

רב ספרא מתני הכי. בעא מיניה רבי מרבי חייא: כגון אני מהו בשעיר? אמר ליה: התם ״שבט״, הכא ״מחוקק״, ותניא: ״לא יסור שבט מיהודה״⁠ – זה ראש גולה שבבבל, שרודה את ישראל במקל. ״ומחוקק מבין רגליו״⁠ – אלו בני בניו של הלל שמלמדים תורה לישראל ברבים.

Rav Safra taught the exchange in this manner: R' Yehuda HaNasi raised a dilemma before R' Ḥiyya: In a case where I perform an unwitting transgression, what is the halakha: Would I be liable to atone with a male goat as a sin-offering because I am the Nasi, or is my atonement with a ewe or a female goat, like a commoner, because I am not the king? R' Ḥiyya said to him: There, the Exilarch has authority that is represented by a scepter; here, in Eretz Yisrael, we have lesser authority, which is represented by a staff. And it is taught in a baraita: “The scepter should not depart from Judah” (Genesis 49:10); this is a reference to the Exilarch in Babylonia, who reigns over the Jewish people with a rod, as he is authorized by the non-Jew monarchy to impose his will. “Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” (Genesis 49:10); these are the descendants of Hillel, who serve in the role of the Nasi and teach Torah to the Jewish people in public, but who are not authorized by the government to impose their will.