There is a Gemara on Amud Aleph which describes Rabbi Yochanan acting in a seemingly improper manner that is difficult to understand.

⁦Rabbi Yoḥanan suffered from the illness Tzefidna, which first affects the teeth and gums and then the intestines. He went to a certain gentile matron [matronita] who was a well-known healer. She prepared a medicine for him on Thursday and Friday. He said to her: What shall I do on Shabbos, when I cannot come to collect the medicine from you? She said to him: You will not need it. He asked her: If I do need it, what shall I do? She said to him: Swear to me that you will not reveal the remedy; then I will tell you, and you can prepare it yourself should you need it. He swore: To the God of the Jews, I will not reveal it. She told him the remedy. Rabbi Yoḥanan then went out and taught it publicly, revealing the secret of the remedy. 

⁦The Gemara is surprised at this: But he swore to her that he would not reveal it. The Gemara answers that in his vow he declared: I will not reveal it to the God of the Jews. However, his words imply: I will reveal it to His people, the Jews. 

The Gemara asks: Still, there is a desecration of God’s name, as the matron now thinks that a great man of Rabbi Yoḥanan’s stature broke his vow. The Gemara answers: He revealed it to her at the outset. As soon as she revealed the remedy to him, he told her that his vow would not prevent him from publicizing the remedy.

This Gemara is hard to accept. True, Rabbi Yochanan showed how it wasn’t a violation of an oath but what about violation of trust? And it seems especially galling that she did an extra kindness of telling Rabbi Yochanan the secret formula, in case he needed the medicine on Shabbos. This is even more perplexing when we take into account what we saw in Yesterday’s daf, that is the importance of treating and respecting the perception of the person who is ill.  This professional healer did not even believe that rabbi Yochanan would need any more medicine by the time Shabbos came along, and as a special kindness to him so he shouldn’t feel anxious, she gave him the secret  formula. And this is how Rabbi Yochanan repays  all this kindness, by giving away trade secrets using a legal loophole despite making what appeared to be a legitimate oath?

Actually this case is discussed in Shulkhan Arukh YD:232:14 see Shach. However again, the issue of Chilul Hashem for lying under oath is neutralized because the technical disqualification of the oath or the reinterpretation, however nothing is said to address the feeling that she must have had of being betrayed and tricked.

The simple but difficult explanation is that Rabbi Yochanan felt that this secret formula was essential for public safety and the lack thereof represented life and death matters.  Thus Rabbi Yochanan was not going to let her feelings get in the way of life and death.  Yes, he could try to minimize the violation as he did, but in the end, he let the cards fall as they may.  To better understand this, can you imagine if there was a terrible plague killing people and there was an individual who knew of a secret cure? Would you not promise anything in order to get it, even if later you would betray that person?  It is sad, but it must be so. 

There are two fascinating versions of this same story found in Yerushalmi Avodah Zara (Ch. 2., Halacha 2).  In one version, when the woman finds out that Rabbi Yochanan gave away her secret, she commits suicide. In another version, she converts.  Clearly, in the second version at least, she gets the idea that Rabbi Yochanan was motivated not by greed but by a sense of responsibility and brotherhood for his community.  Apparently, she figured, this is a society I want to join.

Source: Rav Azriel Ariel quoting Rav Yitschok Zilberstein https://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/86756 

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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