878
CHRIST IN JEWISH LITERATURE
time was thirty-three years old (Bab. Sank. 1066). He was punished in Gehenna by means of boiling filth (Bab. Gitt. 566, SI a). He was ' near to the kingdom ' (Bab. Sanh. 43a). He had five disciples (ib. ). Under the name of Balaam he was excluded from the world to come (M. Sanh. x. 2).
The several items of the foregoing tradition about Jesus are of various date. The Mishna does not contain the names Jeshu, B. Stada, or B. Pandira ; so that it is not absolutely certain that Jesus is referred to in the Mishna at all. The Tosefta contains all three names, but not Jeshu ha-Notzri. Neither Siphre, Siphra, nor Mechilta contains any allusion to Jesus. The main author- ities, therefore, for such allusions in the Tannaite period, are Tosefta and the Baraithcis embedded in the Gemaras. The Baraithas contain the state- ments that Jesus brought magic from Egypt, that he deceived and led astray Israel, that He was tried at Lydda and hung on the eve of Passover which was also the eve of Sabbath, that a herald proclaimed the approaching execution and invited evidence in his favour, and that he had five dis- ciples. The statements contained in Tosefta liave been noted above.
The tradition concerning Jesus appears to have started with R. Eliezer b. Horkenos; at least it cannot be traced earlier. R. Eliezer was the chief disciple of R. Johanan b. Zaccai, who died about A. D. 80, and was living in Jerusalem at the time when Jesus was crucified. R. Eliezer was an old man in A.D. 109, and died probably in A.D. 117. Both he and his brother-in-law R. Gamaliel (grand- son of the Gamaliel of Acts) had dealings with Christians. The tradition passed from R. Eliezer to R. Akiba and from him to R. Meir, in each case from teacher to disciple. The tradition represented by R. Gamaliel passed to his grand.son R. Judah the Holy, who gathered in also the tradition of R. Akiba and R. Meir. This completes the Tannaite period.
In tlie Amoraite period the tradition is twofold, Palestinian and Babylonian. The former contains very little that is new. R. Johanan was a disciple of R. Judah before mentioned, and his disciple R. Abahu uttered the famous dictum : ' If a man say to thee " I am God," he is a liar,' etc. On the whole, the Palestinian Rabbis took very little interest in the tradition about Jesus.
The Babylonian tradition starts with Rab, who was a disciple of R. Judah ; and though Rab him- self did not add anything concerning Jesus, his disciple R. ^isda gave the explanation of the rela- tion of Jesus to Stada and Pandira. It was he also who quoted the saying that ' Jeshu ha-Notzri burned his food in i^ublic,' i.e. was tainted with heresy. A contemporary of R. IJisda and, like him, a disciple of Rab, R. Judah. b. Ezekiel handed on the tradition to R. Joseph, who corrected the explanation of the name Stada, and mentions 'Miriam Megaddelah,' evidently supposing that Mary of Magdala was the mother of Jesus. R. Papa, disciple of Abaji, who received the tradition from R. Joseph, added the remark about ' her who was descended from princes,' etc. A few of the statements concerning Jesus in the Gemaras are anonymous, notably the story of His excommunica- tion by His teacher R. Joshua b. Perahiah, and His punishment in Gehenna.
The Talmudic references to Jesus aftbrd no ground for correcting the narrative of the Gospels. There is sufficient likeness between the general outlines of the Jewish and the Christian traditions to show that the same person is referred to ; but it is very doubtful if the Jewish tradition rests upon a know- ledge of the Gospels. It is hardly more than a careless memory, retained in unfriendly or in- different minds. There is also no warrant for
arguing, from the Talmudic allusions, that Jesus actually lived a hundred years before the time usually accepted as the date of His birth. An equally good case might be made out for placing Him a century after that date. Rabbinical chrono- logy is to be used only with great caution ; and the statement that Jesus was the disciple of R. Joshua b. Perahiah (who did live about 100 B.C.), is made in the Talmud without the support of any authority. Moreover, the story, as referring to Jesus, appears only in the Babylonian Gemai-a ; the Palestinian version does not give tlie name of the disciple who was excommunicated. There is nothing to show how Jesus came to be associated, in the tradition, with the famous Rabbi of a century before His time.
It is from the Talmudic allusions to Jesus that the mediaeval caricature of Him was elaborated, which will be described in the following section. It is therefore important to note that the chief points in the Talmudic tradition which furnished the base for that caricature were His alleged ille- gitimate birth, and His character as a magician and a deceiver. The former is a coarse interpretation of the Christian assertion that Jesus was not the son of Joseph, while the latter is due to His reputa- tion as a worker of miracles, and to the undoubted fact that He had created a serious dissension amongst the adherents of the Jewish religion.