כְּבָר קְדָמוּךָ חֲכָמִים, כְּבָר קְדָמוּךָ רַבָּנָן

ביטוי (אנגלית)

The sages have already preceded you; the rabbis have already preceded you./ our Rabbis have long anticipated (preceded) you

הגדרה (אנגלית)

The Sages had already dealt with this subject before you; it has already been thought about.

("He said to him: 'What are these for?' He said to him: 'My heart is troubled [to the house of the rabbi].' He said to him: 'The rabbis have already preceded you'" - Hullin 105a; and likewise: "And had you not taught me that we have no business with hidden matters, I would have said that someone else had already preceded me in this" - Agnon, Only Yesterday, 209)