“The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan” is a post-talmudic elaboration and commentary on Pirkei Avot. Its substance is varied and includes folklore, historical traditions, and ethical teachings. The date of its composition and its relationship to Pirkei Avot are matters of debate. Rabbinic authorities of the Middle Ages knew and referred to the work, and printers published the text with the minor tractates of the Talmud as early as 1550. The work has a complex transmission history. The two versions of this text have come to be known as recensions A and B and were first published side-by-side by Dr. Solomon Schechter in 1887. Recension A is very close to the traditional printed text. Both recensions likely descend from a common earlier version. Recension B was preserved in manuscript until Schechter published it for the first time in 1887.