Everything about Yeshu totally explained
» This article is about references to the designation Yeshu in classical Jewish rabbinic literature. See Yeshua for the similar sounding Hebrew name.
Yeshu (ישו in Hebrew), and slight variations thereof such as
Jeshu (Bible English transliteration) or
Yeishu (Yiddish pronunciation), is the name of at least a few persons in various works of classical Jewish rabbinic literature, including the Babylonian
Talmud (redacted before 600) and the classical
midrash literature (written between 200 and 700).
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)
- An enemy of Israel whose spirit was summoned by Onkelos. (Gittin 56b, 57a).
- A sorcerer who had been stoned in Lod on the eve of one Passover. (Sanhedrin 43a)
- One of three kings excluded from paradise who in other accounts is identified as Manasseh of Judah. (Sanhedrin 103a, Berachot 17b, Shulkhan Arukh)
- An idolatrous former student of the early first century BCE rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachiah. (Sanhedrin 43).
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, a view seen in several 20th century encyclopedia articles including
The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) and the
Encyclopedia Judaica (1997) . 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. It was also the understanding of
Joseph Klausner, 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, and Dr. David Kraemer, professor of Talmud and rabbinics at the
Jewish Theological Seminary .
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 . 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 embelished 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 and Frank R. Zindler use the differences to support the view that Jesus isn't 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) and
Jehiel Heilprin (
17th century) held that Yeshu the student of Yehoshua ben Perachiah wasn't Jesus.
Jacob Emden's writings (
17th century) also show an understanding that the Yeshu of the Talmud wasn't Jesus. More recently, Rabbi
Gil Student, Rabbi
David Rosen, a view investigated by Egyptologist
Gerald Massey in his essay
The historical Jesus and Mythical Christ (1886) and by
G.R.S. Mead in his work
Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.? (1903) and reiterated in more recent times by Rabbi
Avraham Korman and
Alvar Ellegård .
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 can't simply be assumed to be equivalent and notes furthermore that even if equivalent one can't 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 (Joshua), Greek having lost the
h sound, as well as of the shortened form
Yeshua 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" isn't 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 wasn't a transliteration of a Hebrew form .)
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. .
Hugh J. Schonfield argued similarly that it was the northern pronunciation resuting from a silent
ayin . This view was shared by
Joachim Jeremias and
David Flusser 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, 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's 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. 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 (
yemach shemo vezichro), meaning "May his name and memory be blotted out", an expression used for deceased enemies of the Jewish people . The term is explained as such in the medieval
Toldoth Yeshu narratives
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 existed that differ in attitudes towards the central characters and in story details; it's 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's raped by a neighbour. After Miriam is raped, she's 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
yemach shemo vezichro but justify its usage by claiming that it's wordplay on his real name Yehoshua.
Accounts of the execution of Yeshu in the Toledot Yeshu don't 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're much later than the primary references in the Talmud and Tosefta upon which they're based and can't 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 didn't have the same impact as it did in the Mediterranean Basin. As such, it wasn't 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's 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, for example, the appellation could only be applied to converts from Judaism.
The Talmud was essentially the writing down of the basics of the Oral Law - despite its great size, it's still a very condensed form compared to the knowledge that existed originally, therefore, due to the limited space, only the necessities were discussed that might otherwise be forgotten.
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 (for example 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.
Criticism of the identification of Yeshu with Jesus
Critics of the identification of Yeshu with Jesus point to inconsistencies between the Talmudic references to Yeshu and ben-Stada and the stories about Jesus in the New Testament. The oppression by King Jannæus mentioned in the Talmud occurred about 87 BCE, which would put the events of the story about a century before Jesus. The Yeshu who taught Jacob of Sechania would have lived a century after Jesus. The forty day waiting period before execution is absent from the Christian tradition and moreover Jesus didn't have connections with the government. Jesus was crucified not stoned. Jesus was executed in Jerusalem not Lod. Jesus was executed on the eve following passover according to John not the eve of passover. Jesus didn't burn his food in public and moreover the Yeshu who did this corresponds to Manasseh of Judah in the Shulkhan Arukh. Jesus didn't make incisions in his flesh, nor was he caught by hidden observers. In addition, the information cited from the Munich, Florence and other manuscripts in support of the identification are late comments written centuries after the original redaction of the Talmud.
There are significant phonetic difficulties in seeing the epithet son of Pandera as a corruption of parthenos, and this interpretation ignores the understandable meaning of "betrayer" as explained above. Moreover, Jesus wasn't commonly referred to as son of the Virgin making an intentional play on such an expression very unlikely. Regarding the names of the disciples, the accepted origins of Thaddaeus is Thaddai, Todah, and the identification of John and Andrew with Buni and Netzer isn't considered tenable by linguists.
Furthermore, many critical historical scholars hold that for a variety of reasons, early Christianity was simply one of many factions competing with rabbinical Judaism, and the early sages of the Talmud paid no special attention to Jesus or Christianity.
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