Ketubot 106A

האי עשה והאי עשה ⁠— עשה דכבוד תורה עדיף. סלקיה לדינא דיתמי ואחתיה לדיניה, כיון דחזא בעל דיניה יקרא דקא עביד ליה, איסתתם טענתיה.

This is a positive mitzva, for judges to judge cases properly, and this is a positive mitzva, to honor Torah scholars and their families. Rav Naḥman concluded that the positive mitzva of giving honor to the Torah takes precedence. Therefore, he put aside the case of the orphans and settled down to judge the case of that man, under the mistaken assumption that he was a relative of Rav Anan. Once the other litigant saw the honor being accorded to that man by the judge, he grew nervous until his mouth, i.e., his ability to argue his claim, became closed, and he lost the case. In this manner, justice was perverted by Rav Anan, albeit unwittingly and indirectly.

רב ענן הוה רגיל אליהו דאתי גביה, דהוה מתני ליה סדר דאליהו. כיון דעבד הכי, איסתלק. יתיב בתעניתא ובעא רחמי ואתא. כי אתא, הוה מבעית ליה בעותי.

Elijah the Prophet was accustomed to come and visit Rav Anan, as the prophet was teaching him the statements that would later be recorded in the volume Seder deEliyahu, the Order of Elijah. Once Rav Anan did this and caused a miscarriage of justice, Elijah departed. Rav Anan sat in observance of a fast and prayed for mercy, and Elijah came back. However, when Elijah came after that, he would scare him, as he would appear in frightening forms.

ועבד תיבותא ויתיב קמיה עד דאפיק ליה סידריה. והיינו דאמרי: סדר דאליהו רבה, סדר אליהו זוטא.

And Rav Anan made a box where he settled himself down and he sat before Elijah until he took out for him, i.e., taught him, all of his Seder. And this is what the rabbis mean when they say: Seder deEliyahu Rabba, the Major Order of Elijah, and Seder Eliyahu Zuta, the Minor Order of Elijah, as the first order was taught prior to this incident and the second came after it.