Literature. — Herford, Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, 1904 ; Laible-Dalman, Jesus Chriatus vm Talmud [Eng. tr. by Streane] ; also, Mead, Did Jesus live 100 years B.C. ?
ii. Christ in Mediaeval Jewish Literature. — There are to be distinguished a popular and a serious treatment of tlie subject by Jewish writers in the Middle Ages. On the one hand, there is the book called the ToVcloth Jeshu, whicli relates the story of Jesus as of a vulgar impostor ; on the other liand, there are references to Jesus by Jews of repute which are dignified and respectful in tone, and show a real desire to be fair towards the Founder of that Christian religion whose adher- ents had inflicted such injuries on Jews.
(a) The ToVdoth Jeshu. — In the printed editions this is a small book of some 24 pages, in which is told the story of the birth, public; career, and death of Jesus, and the origin of the Christian Church. It makes no preten.sion to be a serious history, though it certainly does not deserve the torrent of abuse ^vhich its Christian editors have poured out upon it. It is merely a rather stupid and silly tale intended to tickle the ears of ignor- ant Jews, and to satisfy their contempt and hatred of the Christian religion by mockery of its F'ounder. To Christian readers it is, of course, highly offens- ive. But it sliould be remembered that the book was not written for Christians, and also that Christian treatment of Jews made such retaliation only natural.
What the origin of the book was is not certainly known. Traces of statements contained in it are found in the writings of TertuUian and Eusebius ; but the first evidence of the exist- ence of a distinct book of this character appears only in the 9th century. In the work de Judaicis stipe rst it ionibun, written about A.D. 830 by Agobard of Lyons, there is an extract from a written Life of Jesus, which has considerable likeness to the Tol'doth ; and a similar writing, perhaps the same, is men- tioned by Rabanus Maurus in 847. The Pugio Fidei of Ray- mundus Martinus (13th cent.) contains the whole of the Tol'dof/i as known to him. From this time onwards the Tol'doth has never wholly disappeared ; but it was, naturally, never pub- lished by Jews, or even acknowledged by them. Christian writers who succeeded in finding a copy speak of it as being jealously secreted by Jews, and to be obtained only by bribery. Buxtorf in 1696 (Bibliotheca Rabbinica, p. 148) says : "' We pro- cured a copy from a friend who bought it from " verpo quodam " for some Hungarian gold pieces.' The copies so obtained were written in Hebrew, but it would seem that the original language was German, or at all events the vernacular of the country where the book first appeared. The translation into Hebrew was presumably made in order to render the book accessible to all Jews.
In the case of a work which existed only in manuscript, it is
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inevitable that there should be considerable differences in different copies. S. Krauss, who is the chief authoritj' on the subject, enumerates 22 complete MSS and 6 fragments of the Tol'doth, which he arranges in five groups, according to their points of resemblance. It seems likely that these were not all derived from a sinjjle original, but rather that the story, founded on the scanty notices in the Talmud, was told and circulated orally, and in course of time written down by several hands in different countries. With the exception of the fragments, no existing MS of the Tol'doth appears to be older than the IGth century. There are five printed editions, the best known being those of Wagenseil (in Tela Jgnea i^atance, 1(581) and Huldreich, 1705.
A short summary may suflBce to indicate the contents of the book ; and for this purpose the Wagenseil edition will be followed. Johanan, a pious youth in Jerusalem, is betrothed to Miriam, the daughter of a widow. Joseph Pandira, of the tribe of Judah, forms a plan to seduce Miriam, and eflects his purpose on a Sabbath eve. Three months afterwards, Johanan, learning the con- dition of Miriam, consults R. Simeon b. Shetah, and accuses Joseph Pandira. Having, however, no proof, Johanan deserted Miriam and went to Babylonia. In course of time Miriam bears a son, who is Jesus. The boy is placed under the tuition of R. Elhanan, and by his conduct causes the Rabbis to suspect his birth. R. Simeon b. Shetah reveals the story, and Jesus is expelled from the community. He first went to Upper Galilee, and thence to Jerusalem, where he contrived to learn the secret of the Ineffable Name (of God). By the help of this he worked miracles, and proclaimed himself the Son of God, born of a virgin. The queen of Jerusalem, Helena, believed in him, by reason of the miracles. The leaders of the Jews, becoming alarmed, set up Judas, one of themselves, as an antagonist to Jesus. They allowed him to learn the Name, and arranged a trial of strength between him and Jesus. The latter was defeated, and condemned to death, but made his escape. Judas followed him, disguised as one of his dis- ciples, and contrived to steal from him the Divine Name, which Jesus kept written on paichment and hidden in an incision in his flesh. Jesus, in order to obtain possession of it again, went once more to Jerusalem. There Judas betrayed him to the rulers. He was captured, scourged, stoned, and hung — upon the stalk of a cabbage, because no tree would consent to bear him. After he was dead, Judas stole the corpse and flung it in the ditch of his garden. The disciples, not finding the body, said that Jesus had risen from the dead. The queen believed this, and the Jews were again alarmed. The corpse, however, was discovered, and dragged before the queen at the tail of a horse. The Christians were furious against the Jews. One of the latter, Simon Kepha, undertook to solve the problem by completely separating the Christians from the Jews. He learned the Name, worked miracles ; and, having thus gained the con- fidence of the followers of Jesus, proclaimed to them, in his name, new laws of religion. They accepted his teaching. Thereupon he withdrew into a town, built especially for him, where he remained, sitting upon a stone, until his death. After his death another Christian teacher arose in Rome, who annulled the laws given by Simon Kepha, and gave new ones, instituting baptism instead of circumcision, and the Sunday in place of the Sabbath. The new teacher, however, in trying to perform a miracle, was killed by a stone falling upon his head. ' So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord.'