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Development of the usage of the term
Talmud and Tosefta
The earliest occurrences of the term Yeshu are found in five very brief anecdotes in the Talmud and Tosefta:
- Yeshu ben Pandera, cited as the teacher of a second century CE heretic (Chullin 2:22-24, Avodah Zarah 16b-17a)
- A sorcerer who had been stoned in Lod on the eve of one Passover. (Sanhedrin 43a)
- An example of a "son who burns his food in public" (Sanhedrin 103a, Berakhot 17b) identified as Manasseh of Judah son of Hezekiah in a corresponding account in the Shulchan Arukh.
- An idolatrous former student of the early first century BCE rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachiah. (Sanhedrin 107b).
Opinions differ over the meaning of the term in these early references:
The word looks similar to "Jesus" (Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). Due to this fact, along with the occurrence in several manuscripts of the Babylonian Talmud of the appellation Ha-Notzri, which some writers submit may refer to the Nazarene, some or most of the references to Yeshu have been traditionally understood to refer to the Jesus of Christianity [1], a view seen in several 20th century encyclopedia articles including The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) [2] and the Encyclopedia Judaica (1997) [3]. The early 20th century Christian historian R. Travers Herford, author of Christianity in Talmud and Midrash (1903) based his work on the very assumption that the term refers to Jesus[4]. It was also the understanding of Joseph Klausner [5], a Jewish scholar of early Christian history. More recent Jewish writers taking the same view include Steven Bayme, the American Jewish Committee’s director of Contemporary Jewish Life [6], and Dr. David Kraemer, professor of Talmud and rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary [7].
However noticeable differences are apparent between the Gospel accounts of Jesus and the brief references to Yeshu in the Talmud and Tosefta including the very era in which Yeshu lived [1]. The authors supporting the traditional view dismiss these as errors on the part of the Talmud and Tosefta but nevertheless see the accounts as references to an historical Jesus independent of the Gospels. Herford argues that writers of the Talmud and Tosefta had only vague knowledge of Jesus and embellished the accounts to discredit him while disregarding chronology. Klausner distinguishes between core material in the accounts which he argues are not about Jesus and the references to "Yeshu" which he sees as additions spuriously associating the accounts with Jesus. More recent scholars such as skeptical science writers Dennis McKinsey [8] and Frank R. Zindler [9] use the differences to support the view that Jesus is not a well defined historical personality, arguing that Jewish tradition knew of no historical Jesus matching the Gospel figure. Like Klausner they view the accounts as finally understood to be spurious legends combining Jesus with other individuals. Whereas Klausner sees "Yeshu" as a later addition undoubtedly referring to Jesus, McKinsey points out the possibility that in some cases "Yeshu" might not have even been a reference to Jesus despite the later interpretation as such and even Herford cautions similarly. Indeed several Jewish scholars of past centuries: Rabbi Jacob ben Meir (Rabbeinu Tam) (12th century), Nahmanides, Jehiel ben Joseph of Paris (13th century) [10] and Jehiel Heilprin (17th century) held that Yeshu the student of Yehoshua ben Perachiah was not Jesus. Jacob Emden's writings (18th century) also show an understanding that the Yeshu of the Talmud was not Jesus. More recently, Rabbi Gil Student [1], Rabbi David Rosen [7], American Jewish Committee director of interreligious affairs, and Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz [7], author of a prominent new Talmud commentary, all hold that Yeshu is not a reference to the Christian Jesus. Abraham Ibn Daud (12th century) held the view that the Jesus of Christianity had been derived from the Yeshu of the Talmud but that it is the Gospel accounts that are in error[11], a view investigated by Egyptologist Gerald Massey in his essay The historical Jesus and Mythical Christ (1886) [12] and by G.R.S. Mead in his work Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.? (1903)[13] and reiterated in more recent times by Rabbi Avraham Korman [14] and Alvar Ellegård [15].
Writers who connect Yeshu with Jesus typically assume without explanation that "Yeshu" is a Hebrew equivalent of "Jesus". McKinsey points out that the names are not identical and cannot simply be assumed to be equivalent and notes furthermore that even if equivalent one cannot assume that the Jesus of Christianity is intended as "Jesus" was a common name. Student makes the same point. Indeed in the Septuagint and Greek language Jewish texts such as the writings of Josephus and Philo of Alexandria, Jesus is the standard Greek translation of the common Hebrew name Yehoshua יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Joshua), Greek having lost the h sound, as well as of the shortened form Yeshua יֵשׁוּעַ which originated in the second temple period. (Jesus was also used for the name Hoshea in the Septuagint in one of the three places where it referred to Joshua son of Nun.) The term "Yeshu" is not attested at all prior to the Talmud and Tosefta, let alone as a Hebrew original for "Jesus". (In the case of the Jesus of Christianity, Clement of Alexandria and St. Cyril of Jerusalem claimed that the Greek form itself was his original name and that it was not a transliteration of a Hebrew form [16].) Adolf Neubauer (19th century), aware of the problem but believing the term to be a reference to Jesus, argued that it was a shortened form of Yeshua resulting from the final letter ayin no longer being pronounced. [17]. Hugh J. Schonfield argued similarly that it was the northern pronunciation resuting from a silent ayin [18]. This view was shared by Joachim Jeremias [19] and David Flusser [20] who argue that it was the Galilean pronunciation. The views of these theological scholars however are contradicted by the studies of Hebrew and Aramaic philologist E. Y. Kutscher [21], Professor of Hebrew Philology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and member of the Hebrew Language Academy, who noted that the although the ayin became a silent letter it is never dropped from written forms nor is its accompanying vowel (the patach genuvah denoting the change of the preceding "u" to the diphthong "ua") lost as would have had to occur if Yeshu were derived from Yeshua in such a manner. Kutscher noted moreover that the guttural ayin was still pronounced in most parts of Galilee. [22] Indeed the term may not be a name at all let alone a form the name "Jesus". Its letters correspond to the abbreviation (יש"ו) for the Hebrew expression ימח שמו וזכרו (yimmach shemo vezikhro), meaning "May his name and memory be blotted out" [23], an expression used for deceased enemies of the Jewish people [24]. The term is explained as such in the medieval Toldoth Yeshu narratives[23].
The Toldoth Yeshu narratives identify several of the Yeshus in the Talmud and Tosefta and expand on the anecdotes by drawing from several other sources including material resembling the Gospels thereby identifying "Yeshu" with Jesus despite the understanding of the term as an acronym for yimmach shemo vezikhro. Indeed they claim that it was a deliberate shortening of the character's real name "Yehoshua". This has led to the accusation first voiced by anti-Jewish writer Johann Andreas Eisenmenger (17th century) in his Entdecktes Judenthum that "Yeshu" was always such a deliberately insulting term for Jesus[21]. Eisenmenger claimed that Jews believed that they were forbidden to mention names of false gods and instead were commanded to change and defame them and did so with Jesus' name as they considered him a false god. He argued that Jesus' original name was "Yeshua" and as Jews did not recognize him as saviour (moshia`) or that he had even saved (hoshia`) himself, they left out the ayin from the root meaning "to save" [21]. However Eisenmenger's book against Judaism was denounced by the Jews as malicious libel[25]. Christian missionary, Kai Kjaer-Hansen, notes that many Jewish writers have assumed that "Yeshu" is a correct Hebrew name for Jesus and have used it without intending any disparagement, but advises against its usage due to its probable origin as a derogatory term [21]. Islamic counter-missionary writer and conspiracy theorist, Shibli Zaman takes the extreme view that not only did "Yeshu" originate as an acronym for yimmach shemo vezikhro but that the Greek Ἰησοῦς Iēsoûs was a transliteration of this acronym and that Jesus' real name was "Eesa" as recorded in the Koran [26].
The question has historically been a delicate one because Yeshu is portrayed in the Talmud in a negative light; and posterior negative portrayals of Jesus in Jewish literature have incited negative Christian reactions, even anti-semitism.
The references of Yeshu have been used as evidence for the Historicity of Jesus but also to dispute the theological principles of Christianity.
Currently, there are at least three approaches to the relationship of Yeshu and Jesus:
- that there is no relationship between Yeshu and Jesus
- that Yeshu refers to Jesus
- that Yeshu is a literary device used by Rabbis to comment on their relationship to and with early Christians.
Primary references to Yeshu
The primary references to Yeshu are found in older texts of the Talmud as a 1554 papal bull ordered the removal of those references, deemed offensive and blasphemous to Christians, from the Talmud and other Jewish texts.
The primary references to Yeshu are found in uncensored version of the Babylonian Talmud and the Tosefta.
No known manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud makes mention of the name although one translation (Herford) has added it to Avodah Zarah 2:2 to align it with similar text of Chullin 2:22 in the Tosefta. All later usages of the term Yeshu are derived from these primary references.
In all cases the references are to individuals who (whether real or not) are associated with acts or behaviour that are seen as leading Jews away from Judaism to minuth (a term usually translated "heresy" or "apostasy").
Tosefta
In Chullin 2:22-24 there are two anecdotes about a follower of Yeshu:
- Chullin 2:22-23 tells how Rabbi Eleazar ben Damma was bitten by a snake. A man named Jacob came to heal him (according to Lieberman's text [1]) "in the name of Yeshu ben Pandera". (A variant text used by Herford for example reads "Yeshua" instead of "Yeshu". This together with anomalous spellings of Pandera were found by Saul Lieberman who compared early manuscripts, to be erroneous attempts at correction by a copyist unfamiliar with the terms.)
Rabbi Ishmael tells Rabbi Eleazar that Jacob is not allowed to heal; Rabbi Eleazar insists that it is allowed, but dies before he is able to provide proof. Rabbi Ishmael comments that Rabbi Eleazar is fortunate to have died before breaking the law, and quotes Ecclesiastes 10:8, "He who breaks a fence will be bitten by a snake." ("Fence" is used to refer to decrees of the sages meant to protect Jews from situations where they may unwittingly break a commandment. Typically, Jews are allowed to break the law in order to save a life; here Rabbi Ishmael teaches that one should rather die than traffic with minim.)
According to Lieberman's text [2], Jacob came from the town of Sechania. (The same name is used in standard censored texts of the Tosefta such as the Mechon-Mamre [3].) Herford and others name Jacob's hometown as Sama (or Samma) strictly speaking the name of a town nine miles away. The account is also mentioned in corresponding passages of the Jerusalem Talmud (Avodah Zarah 2:2 IV.I) and Babylonian Talmud (Avodah Zarah 27b) where his home town is also named as Sama in the former but Sechania in the latter. (The name Yeshu is not mentioned in these passages.)
- Chullin 2:24 tells how Rabbi Eliezer was once arrested and charged with minuth. When the chief judge (hegemon) interrogated him, the rabbi answered that he "trusted the judge." Although Rabbi Eliezer was referring to God, the judge interpreted him to be referring to the judge himself, and freed the Rabbi. The remainder of the account concerns why Rabbi Eliezer was arrested in the first place. Rabbi Akiva suggests that perhaps one of the minim had spoken a word of minuth to him and that it had pleased him. Rabbi Eliezer recalls that this was indeed the case, he had met Jacob of the town of Sechania in the streets of Sepphoris who spoke to him a word of minuth in the name of Yeshu ben Pandera, which had pleased him. (A variant reading used by Herford has Pantiri instead of Pandera.)
As a result of the variant reading Sama for the name of the hometown of the Jacob in the earlier account, Herford and Zindler consider the question of whether this is the same Jacob or not, nevertheless they conclude that it is.
Babylonian Talmud
- Avodah Zarah, 16b-17a repeats the account of Chullin 2:24 about Rabbi Eliezer and adds additional material. It tells that Jacob quoted Deuteronomy 23:19: "You shall not bring the fee of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow." Jacob says that he was taught this by Yeshu. Jacob then asked Eliezer whether it was permissible to use a whore's money to build a toilet for the high priest. When Rabbi Eliezer did not reply, Jacob quoted Micah 1:7, "For they were amassed from whores' fees and they shall become whores' fees again." This was the teaching that had pleased Rabbi Eliezer.
- In Sanhedrin 43a, the execution of a certain Yeshu for sorcery, and enticing others to apostasy, is mentioned. A town crier was sent to call for witnesses in his favour for forty days before his execution. No one came forth and in the end he was stoned and hanged on the Eve of Passover. Sanhedrin 43a also mentions that a certain Yeshu (possibly intended to be the one it mentions earlier) had gathered five disciples Matai, Nekai, Netzer, Buni, and Todah who were executed. In the Florence manuscript of the Talmud (1177 CE) an addition is made to Sanhedrin 43a saying that Yeshu was hanged on the eve of the Sabbath. This is not found in the other manuscripts and is generally considered too late to have authority.
- In Gittin 56b, 57a a story is mentioned in which Onkelos summons up the spirit of a Yeshu who sought to harm Israel. He describes his punishment in the afterlife as boiling in excrement.
- Sanhedrin 103a and Berachot 17b talk about a Yeshu who burns his food in public, possibly a reference to pagan sacrifices. The account is part of a discussion of three kings and four commoners excluded from paradise. These are also discussed in the Shulkhan Arukh where the individual called Yeshu in the Talmudic accounts is instead explicitly named as Manasseh, the king of Judah infamous for having turned to idolatry and having persecuted the Jews.
- In Sanhedrin 107b and Sotah 47a a Yeshu is mentioned as a student of Joshua ben Perachiah who was sent away for misinterpreting a word that in context should have been understood as referring to the Inn, he instead understood it to mean the inkeeper's wife. His teacher said "Here is a nice Inn", to which he replied "Her eyes are crooked.", and then from his teacher "Is this what your are occupied in?". (This happened during their period of refuge in Egypt during the persecutions of Pharisees 88-76 BCE ordered by Alexander Jannæus. The incident is also mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud in Chagigah 2:2 but there the person in question is not given any name.) After several returns for forgiveness he mistook Perachiah's signal to wait a moment as a signal of final rejection, and so he turned to idolatry (described by the euphemism "worshipping a brick"). The story ends by invoking a Mishnaic era teaching that Yeshu practised black magic, deceived and led Israel astray. This quote is seen by some as an explanation in general for the designation Yeshu.
In the Munich (1342 CE), Paris, and Jewish Theological Seminary manuscripts of the Talmud, the appellation Ha-Notzri is added to the last mention of Yeshu in Sanhedrin 107b and Sotah 47a as well as to the occurrences in Sanhedrin 43a, Sanhedrin 103a, Berachot 17b and Avodah Zarah 16b-17a. Student [4], Zindler and McKinsey [5] note that Ha-Notzri is not found in other early pre-censorship partial manuscripts (the Florence, Hamburg and Karlsruhe) where these cover the passages in question.
Although Notzri does not appear in the Tosefta, by the time the Babylonian Talmud was produced, Notzri had become the standard Hebrew word for Christian and Yeshu Ha-Notzri had become the conventional rendition of "Jesus the Nazarene" in Hebrew. For example, by 1180 CE the term Yeshu Ha-Notzri can be found in the Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (Hilchos Melachim 11:4, uncensored version). Maimonides' reference is clearly intended to indicate Jesus the Nazarene.
Ben Pandera and ben Stada
ben-Pandera
In the Tosefta reference to Yeshu, the title ben-Pandera (son of Pandera) is added after the name.
The surname Pandera is not known from any graves or inscriptions, but the surname Pantera (the Latin form of Pantheras, literally meaning Panther) is known, though it is uncommon. For example, a first century tombstone in Bingerbrück, Germany has an inscription which reads: "Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera of Sidon, aged 62, a soldier of 40 years' service, of the 1st cohort of archers, lies here".
Robert Eisler considers Pandera not as a real name but instead as a generic name for a betrayer. He notes that in the Iliad, Pandaros betrays the Greeks by hurling a lance at Menelaus thus breaking an armistice confirmed by solemn oath. His name came to be used a generic name for a betrayer similar to the use of the name Benedict Arnold within the U.S. today. It was borrowed by Hebrew as Pandar and is found in Genesis Rabba 50 in the expression qol Pandar (literally "voice of Pandar" denoting false promises of a betrayer). The form Pandera can be understood to be the Aramaic equivalent. The term "son of Pandera" may therefore be not a patronymic but rather a designation of a class of person, similar to the expression son of Belial. The name also resembles that of Pandareus in Greek mythology and the Toledot Yeshu narratives contain elements resembling the story of Pandareus.
ben Stada
Another title found in the Tosefta and Talmud is ben Stada (son of Stada). However in Shabbat 104b and Sanhedrin 67a in the Babylonian Talmud, a passage is found that some have interpreted as equating ben Pandera with ben Stada. The passage is in the form a Talmudic debate in which various voices make statements, each refuting the previous statement. In such debates the various statements and their refutations are often of a Midrashic nature, sometimes incorporating subtle humour and should not always be taken at face value. The purpose of the passage is to arrive at a Midrashic meaning for the term Stada.
Shabbat 104b relates that a ben Stada brought magic from Egypt in incisions in his flesh. Sanhedrin 67a relates that a ben-Stada was caught by hidden observers and hanged in the town of Lod on the Eve of Passover. The debate then follows. It begins by asking if this was not ben Pandera rather than ben Stada. This is refuted by the claim that it is both, his mother's husband was Stada but her lover was Pandera. This is countered with the claim the husband was Pappos ben Yehuda (a second century figure elsewhere remembered as having locked up his unfaithful wife and visiting R. Akiva in jail after the Bar-Kokhba Revolt) and that the mother was named Stada. This is then refuted by the claim that the mother was named Miriam, the dresser of women's hair, but that she had gone astray from her husband (a Miriam the daughter of Bilgah, is mentioned elsewhere as having had an affair with a Roman soldier). In Aramaic, "gone astray" is satat da, thus a Midrashic meaning for the term Stada is obtained. Real historical relationships between the figures mentioned cannot be inferred due to the Midrashic nature of the debate. Pappos and Miriam might have been introduced simply as a result of their being remembered in connection with a theme of a woman having gone astray.
The character of Miriam the dresser of woman's hair is of interest. (Her name is also mentioned briefly in Chagigah 4b in the Babylonian Talmud where it is used together with Miriam the teacher of children simply as an arbitrary choice of names in illustrating a point.) Some suggest that the expression "dresser of women's hair" is a euphemism for a woman of ill repute. The original Aramaic for her name is Miriam megadela neshaya in which many see Mary Magdalene. Some have thus identified her with Mary Magdalene while others are more cautious merely suggesting dresser of women's hair as a possible meaning of Magdalene alternate to the traditional understanding of the name as a toponymic surname (Migdolit, from the town of Migdol).
Ben-Stada is also mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud. In Shabbat 12:4 III he is mentioned as having learnt by cutting marks in his flesh. In Sanhedrin 7:12 I he is mentioned as an example of someone caught by hidden observers and subsequently stoned. This information is paralleled in the Tosefta in Shabbat 11:15 and Sanhedrin 10:11 respectively.
The literal meaning of the term Stada is no longer known. It does not correspond to any known name, suggesting that son of Stada might also be a designation of a class of individuals rather an a patronymic, or perhaps an invented title like that of the Jewish general Bar Kochba (son of the star). The only known parallel to the term is found in the apocryphal Christian text the Acts of Peter where the villain Simon Magus describes himself as `uios `o stadios - the son who remains standing. The Toledot Yeshu narratives combine elements from the Talmud about ben-Stada with elements resembling the account of Simon Magus in the Acts of Peter suggesting that there is indeed a connection. As a result of the difficulty in understanding the name some attempt to explain it by focusing on variant spellings in certain manuscripts containing an r (resh) instead of the d (dalet), however these variants are generally regarded as copyist errors.
Jesus Connection?
In 178 CE, the Greek writer Celsus, in a polemic against Christianity, claimed that he had heard from a Jew that Mary had been divorced by her husband after having an affair with a Roman soldier named Pantheras who was the real father of Jesus. The similarity between Pantheras and Pandera as well as the detail of the lover being a Roman soldier, suggests that Celsus' claim has its origins in material later incorporated in the Talmud. But whereas the Talmud presents separate anecdotes, in Celsus' version they are conflated. The Toledot Yeshu narratives similarly conflate the various anecdotes, and this may be the source for the later common Jewish description of Jesus as Yeshu ben Pandera.
The Greek Septuagint, the oldest of several ancient translations of the Jewish Bible, uses the word Parthenos to translate the Hebrew word Almah. Some scholars claim that it is easy to see that Pantheras is a metathesis of Parthenos, meaning "virgin maiden" in Greek, and that early followers of Jesus could have called him Yeshu ben Parthenos, referring to a virgin birth.
According to the Christian apologist Epiphanius, Origen (c. 248 CE) responded to Celsus' claim by saying that Pantheras was the patronymic of Joseph the husband of Mary on account of his father, Jacob, being called Panther. An alternative claim was made in the Teaching of Jacob (634 CE) where Panther is said to be the grandfather of Mary.
Egyptologist Gerald Massey considered ben-Pandera to have been a real individual who existed in the second century BCE, and upon whom the stories of Jesus were based. He states
The personal existence of Jesus as Jehoshua Ben-Pandira can be established beyond a doubt. One account affirms that, according to a genuine Jewish tradition 'that man (who is not to be named) was a disciple of Jehoshua Ben-Perachia.' It also says, 'He was born in the fourth year of the reign of the Jewish King Alexander Jannæus, notwithstanding the assertions of his followers that he was born in the reign of Herod.' That would be more than a century earlier than the date of birth assigned to the Jesus of the Gospels! But it can be further shown that Jehoshua Ben-Pandira may have been born considerably earlier even than the year 102 BC, although the point is not of much consequence here. Jehoshua, son of Perachia, was a president of the Sanhedrin — the fifth, reckoning from Ezra as the first: one of those who in the line of descent received and transmitted the oral law, as it was said, direct from Sinai. There could not be two of that name. This Ben-Perachia had begun to teach as a Rabbi in the year 154 BC. We may therefore reckon that he was not born later than 180-170 BC, and that it could hardly be later than 100 BC when he went down into Egypt with his pupil. For it is related that he fled there in consequence of a persecution of the Rabbis, feasibly conjectured to refer to the civil war in which the Pharisees revolted against King Alexander Jannæus, and consequently about 105 BC If we put the age of his pupil, Jehoshua Ben-Pandira, at fifteen years, that will give us an approximate date, extracted without pressure, which shows that Jehoshua Ben-Pandira may have been born about the year 120 BC.[27]
Massey's identification of this character as the Jesus of the New Testament is, however, radically outside of the scholarly mainstream and enjoys no support from any New Testament scholar of any stature.
The medieval Toledot Yeshu narratives
Toledot Yeshu, literally "Generations of Yeshu", is the title of several mediaeval manuscripts containing legends and folktales concerning "Yeshu". These manuscripts are not part of rabbinic literature and are not considered canonical or normative.
There is no one authoritative Toledot Yeshu story; various medieval versions existedcitation needed that differ in attitudes towards the central characters and in story details; it is considered unlikely that any one person wrote it. Each version seems to be from a different set of storytellers.
The main elements of this story begin with an explanation that Miriam comes from a good family, and marries a decent man who can trace his line back to King David. However, she is raped by a neighbour. After Miriam is raped, she is left by her husband and left to raise her child alone. Her child, Yeshu is depicted as being of unusual intelligence and wit, but shows disrespect to those older than him and to the sages. The story holds that Yeshu had some supernatural powers, which he obtained by using the name of God written on scroll; Toledot Yeshu also accepts that other rabbinic sages of Yeshu's era could display similar supernatural powers. A struggle emerges between Yeshu and one or more of the sages, and Yeshu is left powerless. The Queen has Yeshu executed and trouble ensues for many decades. Eventually, mysterious sages appoint Simon Caipha to re-establish order.
In the more developed versions of the narrative, the story contains other motifs. Many details were added, secondary characters were developed, and the story became a romance about the tragic fate of a young man mistaken in his ways.
The Toledot Yeshu stories generally show a confounding of the Talmud accounts of the individuals titled Yeshu, ben-Stada and ben-Pandera with the Greek myth of Pandareus, Gospel elements about Jesus and elements resembling the account of Simon Magus in the Acts of Peter, all conflated into a single character called Yeshu. An element concerning the role of the sanctae crucius lignum in the death of Germanic God Balder even seems to have filtered through into the Yiddish versions. The stories typically understand the name Yeshu to be the acronym yimmach shemo vezikhro but justify its usage by claiming that it is wordplay on his real name Yehoshua.
Accounts of the execution of Yeshu in the Toledot Yeshu do not merely resemble the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus but in some points appear more detailed. Zindler argues that this is evidence of a very early interplay between the developing story of Yeshu and the Christian accounts of Jesus before the Gospels reached their final form.
Although the Toledot Yeshu stories seem to identify Yeshu with Jesus they are much later than the primary references in the Talmud and Tosefta upon which they are based and cannot be used to infer that the writers of the Talmuds intended Yeshu to mean Jesus.
Identification of Yeshu with Jesus
Many Jews and Christians have traditionally assumed that the term Yeshu in the Talmud and Tosefta refers to Jesus. Since at least the 12th century the standard Hebrew name for Jesus has been Yeshu. As well, according to articles in The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), by professor of Hebrew literature Joseph Dan in the Encyclopedia Judaica (1972), and the Encyclopedia Hebraica (Israel) many of the stories about Yeshu in rabbinic literature are understood to be about the Christian Jesus. This is also the view of Steven Bayme, the American Jewish Committee’s director of Contemporary Jewish Life, and Dr. David Kraemer, professor of Talmud and rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary and R. Travers Herford, author of Christianity in Talmud and Midrash.
The argument that Yeshu is the Christian Jesus is based on the observation that the name Yeshu, is similar to Yeshua, which is often believed to be the Aramaic or Hebrew name of Jesus. Certain manuscripts of the Tosefta in fact render the name as Yeshua instead of Yeshu. Moreover it can be argued that the form Yeshu might result from the final consonant of Yeshua (the guttural ayin) becoming a silent letter.
Like Jesus (according to the Gospel of John), Yeshu was executed during Passover. The Florence manuscript says in addition that this was the Eve of the Sabbath, which resembles the day of crucifixion according to all four gospels. The term Notzri used in the Munich, Paris, and JTS manuscripts resembles Nazarene.
Some see the Greek for virgin parthenos in the word "Pandera" either as a corrupted pronunciation or an intentional play on words. Others see the names of Jesus' disciples amongst the five disciples of Yeshu; principally Matai and Todah as Matthew and Thaddaeus, though some have gone further and see the names John and Andrew in Buni and Netzer.
To explain the dearth of references to Jesus in the Talmud, it has been argued that
- The Talmud was subject to censorship, as passages deemed blasphemous by the Church were expurgated as of 1264 (The entire Talmud was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by Pope Paul IV in 1559).
- Although restoring these passages still produces only a few mentions of Yeshu, the Mishnah, which forms the skeleton of the Talmud, was written at a time when Christianity was first emerging. The Christians were just one sect with which the authors contended (others included Sadducees, Samaritans, and Gnostics).
- The final redaction of the Talmud, the Babylonian Talmud was created in Babylonia, where Christianity did not have the same impact as it did in the Mediterranean Basin. As such, it was not perceived of as a particularly noticeable phenomenon.
- The Talmud may mention Jesus and Christianity in coded terms, such as min (מין, sometimes translated "apostate" or "heretic"), though this term refers to various sectarian groups. In terms of labeling Christians as minim it is important to note the adage of Rav Nahman in the name of Rava bar Avuha in Tractate Chullin 13b: There are no minim among the gentiles, i.e., the appellation could only be applied to converts from Judaism.
- The Talmud was essentially the writing down of the basics of the Oral Law. Its 2,711 folio pages represent only part of the Jewish tradition. Midrash Rabbah and Midrash Halachah run to hundreds more pages and similarly fail to reference Jesus.
Yeshu as a literary device
Recently, some scholars have argued that Yeshu stories provide a more complex view of early Rabbinic-Christian interactions. Whereas the Pharisees were one sect among several others in the Second Temple era, the Amoraim and Tannaim sought to establish Rabbinic Judaism as the normative form of Judaism. Like the Rabbis, early Christians claimed to be working within Biblical traditions to provide new interpretations of Jewish laws and values. The sometimes blurry boundary between the Rabbis and early Christians provided an important site for distinguishing between legitimate debate and heresy. Scholars like Rabbi Jeffrey Rubenstein (PhD. in Religion from Columbia University; professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University) and Dr. Daniel Boyarin, a professor of Talmud at the University of California, Berkeley, argue that it was through the Yeshu narratives that Rabbis confronted this blurry boundary.
Jeffrey Rubenstein has argued that the accounts in Chullin and Avodah Zarah reveal an ambivalent relationship between rabbis and Christianity. In his view the tosefta account reveals that at least some Jews believed Christians were true healers, but that the rabbis saw this belief as a major threat. Concerning the Babylonian Talmud account in Avoda Zarah, Dr. Boyarin views Jacob of Sechania as a Christian preacher and understands Rabbi Eliezer's arrest for minuth as an arrest by the Romans for practising Christianity (the text uses the word for heretic). When the Governor (the text uses the word for chief judge) interrogated him, the Rabbi answered that he "trusted the judge." Boyarin has suggested that this was the Jewish version of the Br'er Rabbit approach to domination, which he contrasts to the strategy of many early Christians, who proclaim their beliefs in spite of the consequences (i.e. martyrdom). Although Rabbi Eliezer was referring to God, the Governor interpreted him to be referring to the Governor himself, and freed the Rabbi. According to them the account also reveals that there was greater contact between Christians and Jews in the second century than commonly believed. They view the account of the teaching of Yeshu as an attempt to mock Christianity. According to Dr. Rubenstein, the structure of this teaching, in which a Biblical prooftext is used to answer a question about Biblical law, is common to both the Rabbis and early Christians. The vulgar content, however, may have been used to parody Christian values. Dr. Boyarin considers the text to be an acknowledgment that Rabbis often interacted with Christians, despite their doctrinal antipathy.
According to Dr. Rubenstein, the account in Sanhedrin 107b recognizes the kinship between Christians and Jews, since Jesus is presented as a disciple of a prominent Rabbi. But it also reflects and speaks to an anxiety fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism. Prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70, Jews were divided into different sects, each promoting different interpretations of the law. Rabbinic Judaism domesticated and internalized conflicts over the law, while vigorously condemning any sectarianism. In other words, rabbis are encouraged to disagree and argue with one another, but these activities must be carefully contained, or else they could lead to a schism. Although this story may not present a historically accurate account of Jesus' life, it does use a fiction about Jesus to communicate an important truth about the Rabbis (see Jeffrey Rubenstein, Rabbinic Stories). Moreover, Rubenstein sees this story as a rebuke to overly harsh Rabbis. Boyarin suggests that the Rabbis were well aware of Christian views of the Pharisees and that this story acknowledges the Christian belief that Jesus was forgiving and the Pharisees were not (see Mark 2:1-2), while emphasizing forgiveness as a necessary Rabbinic value.
Notes
- ^ a b c Gil Student, The (alleged) Jesus Narrative In The Talmud
- ^ The Jewish Encyclopedia, article Jesus of Nazareth
- ^ Encyclopedia Judaica CD-ROM Edition 1.0 1997, article Jesus
- ^ R. Travers Herford, Christianity in Talmud and Midrash (London: Williams & Norgate, 1903)
- ^ Joseph Klausner, Jesus of Nazareth (Beacon Books), 1964
- ^ Steven Bayme, Understanding Jewish History (KTAV), 1997
- ^ a b c Eric J. Greenberg, Jesus' Death Now Debated by Jews, The Jewish Week, USA, Oct. 3, 2003
- ^ Dennis McKinsey, Biblical Errancy, A Reference Guide, Prometheus Books, (2000)
- ^ Frank R. Zindler, The Jesus The Jews Never Knew, Sepher Toldoth Yeshu and the Quest of the historical Jesus in Jewish Sources (AAP), 2003
- ^ Jehiel ben Joseph of Paris, Vikuakh, ed. R. Margaliot, Lemberg (1928)
- ^ G. Cohen, A critical Edition with a Translation and Notes of the Book of Tradition (Sefer haKabbalah) by Abraham Ibn Daud
- ^ Gerald Massey , The Historical Jesus and Mythical Christ, Star Publishing Company, Springfield, Mass., 1886
- ^ G.R.S. Mead, Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.?, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1903
- ^ Avraham Korman, Zeramim VeKitot Bayahdut, Tel Aviv, 1927
- ^ Alvar Ellegård Jesus – One Hundred Years Before Christ: A Study In Creative Mythology, London, 1999
- ^ Origin of the Name Jesus Christ in The Catholic Encyclopedia
- ^ A. Neubauer, Jewish Controversy and the Pugio Fidei, in The Expositor, no. 7, 1888, p. 24)
- ^ Hugh J. Schonfield, The History of Jewish Christianity, From the First to the Twentieth Century London, Duckworth, 1936
- ^ J. Jeremias, Neutestamentliche Theologie, Gütersloh, 1973, vol. I, p. 13
- ^ David Flusser, Jewish Sources in Early Christianity, Israel Ministry of Defense Publishing House, 1989
- ^ a b c d Kai Kjaer-Hansen, An Introduction to The Use Of The Names: Joshua, Jeshua, Jesus, Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, 1992
- ^ E.Y. Kutscher, Studies in Galilean Aramaic, Ramat-Gan, 1976
- ^ a b George Howard, Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, Mercer University Press, 1995
- ^ John J. Parsons, Zola's Introduction to Hebrew, Zola Levitt Ministries Inc., 2002
- ^ The Jewish Encyclopedia, article Eisenmenger, Johann Andreas
- ^ Shibli Zaman, "Jesus" - Remembering his true name: An Etymological Analysis of the Historical Sources(Second Edition) updated Dec. 18,2000
- ^ Massey, Gerald. "The Historical Jesus and Mythical Christ." (HTML). Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
References
- Steven Bayme, Understanding Jewish History (KTAV), 1997
- Daniel Boyarin, Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999
- Robert Goldenberg, The Nations Know Ye Not: Ancient Jewish Attitudes towards Other Religions New York: New York University Press 1998
- Mark Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity trans. Baya Stein. Albany: SUNY PRess 1996
- Joseph Klausner, Jesus of Nazareth (Beacon Books), 1964
- Jacob Neusner, Judaism in the Matrix of Christianity Philadelphia: Fortress Press 1986
- Jeffrey Rubenstein Rabbinic Stories (The Classics of Western Spirituality) New York: The Paulist Press, 2002
- R. Travers Herford, Christianity in Talmud and Midrash (KTAV), 1975
- Frank R. Zindler, The Jesus The Jews Never Knew, Sepher Toldoth Yeshu and the Quest of the historical Jesus in Jewish Sources (AAP), 2003
External links
- The Sepher Toldoth Yeshu and it's Links to the Gospel Jesus
- (Refutations about) Jesus in the Talmud by Gil Student
- The (alleged) Jesus Narrative In The Talmud by Gil Student
- Did Jesus of Nazareth Exist? (The Talmud) by Dennis McKinsey
- Toledoth Yeshu One version of the Toldoth Yeshu commonly dated to approximately the sixth century.
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