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THE
JEWISH LIFE OF CHRIST
BEING THE
SEPIIER TOLDOTH JESHU.
nnSin iso
OB
BOOK
of
GENERATION
the
of
JESUS.
Translated from the Hebrew.
EDITED
Preface and Voluminous Notes)
(With an Historical
BY
G. W. FOOTE
&
J. M. WHEELER.
LONDON:
PROGRESSIVE
PUBLISHING
28 Stonecutter Street
1885
COMPANY,
�LONDON
PRINTED BY G. W. FOOTE,
AT 14 CLERKENWELL GREEN, E.V.
�PREFACE.
WHEN we first announced our intention of publishing a trans
lation of this work, we were unaware that it had ever
appeared in English before it was inserted in the New York
Truthseeker by “ Scholasticus.” This able and learned writer,
who has since published his translation, with other highly in
teresting matter, under the title of “ Revelations of Antichrist
concerning Christ and Christianity,”* supposed that he was the
first who introduced it to the English-speaking world. He
was, however, mistaken. We have quite recently lighted on
a translation published by Richard Carlile in 1823. It was
done by a Jew, who stated that it had “ never before been
wholly translated into any modern language.” He appears to
have been right in this statement, as the earliest continental
translation we can trace is in German, and was published at
Stuttgart in 1850, in a volume together with the Apocrypha}
Gospels, by Dr. R. Clemens. No copy of the Richard Carlilb
edition (the Hebrew translator does not give his name) is to
be found in the British Museum. It is a sixteen-page octavo
pamphlet, with an Editor’s Preface, probably by Carlile him
self, and a Dedication by the translator “ To the Clergy of the
Church of England.” His English text is substantially the
same as that now published. Some of its phrases are rough
• Boston: J. P. Mendum.—New York: D. M. Bennett; 1879
�iv
Preface.
and racy, possibly owing to his strict adherence to the
original; and instead of veiling in Latin the amours of Pandera
and Miriam, he relates them in plain English, with Biblical
naivety.
The Sepher Toldoth Jeshu was first published in Latin, with
the Hebrew text in parallel columns, by J. C. Wagenseil in
his “ Tela Ignea Satanee,” a collection of Jewish An$l
Christian tracts, all translated into Latin, with attempted
refutations. To collect these valuable tracts, Wagenseil
travelled widely through Spain and into Africa, where the
chief centres of Jewish learning then existed. His work was
published at Altdorf in 1681.
A later and widely different version, the Sepher Toldoth
Jeshu ha Nozri (History of Jesus of Nazareth), was published
by J. J. Huldrich at Leyden in 1705. It is certainly a more
modern version of the Jeshu story. Interpolations are found
referring to Worms and the people of Germany, and the
narrative abounds with capricious phantasies that belong to
the superstition of a later age.
A- shorter and earlier version of the Jeshu story was
probably used by Luther and condensed in his Schein Ham ■
phoras, although Mr. Gould considers that “ the only Toldoth
*
Jeshu he was acquainted with was that afterwards published
by Wagenseil.” Luther was stung by it into a characteristic fit
of vituperation, as the following passage will show:
“ The haughty evil spirit jests in the book with a threefold
mockery. First, he mocks God, creator of heaven and earth, with
his son, Jesus Christ, as you may see for yourself if you believe, as
a Christian, that Christ is the son of God. Secondly, he mocks all
Christendom, because we believe in such a son of God. Thirdly,
he mocks his own Jews by giving them such a scandalous, foolish,
doltish thing about brazen dogs and cabbage-stalks, etc., which
would make all dogs bark to death, if they could understand it, at
Buch raving, ranting, senseless, foaming mad fools. Is not this a
master of mocking, who can effect three such great mockeries ? The
* The Lost and Hostile Gospels. By Rev. S. Baring Gould, M.A.; 1874
�Preface.
v.
fourth mockery is that herewith he has mocked himself, as we shall
one day to our joy see, thank God! ”—Werke, Wittemberg, 1566,
vol. v., p. 515.
Long before the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu was published, in our
modern sense, it was known to the learned. The work came
to light in the dawning after the Dark Ages, but, says
Mr. Gould, “it was kept secret, lest the sight of it should
excite tumults, spoliation and massacre.” Those who know
how flamingly the evidences of Christianity have been written
on the tear-washed and blood-stained pages of Jewish history
will appreciate this cautious reserve.
It was doubtless the Jeshu story which was denounced and
prohibited by Pope Valentine in his Bull of May 11, 1514,
under the title of Mar Mar Jesu
*
Dr. G. B. de Rossi, in his
Dizionario Storico degli Autori Ebrei, catalogues a book en
titled
which he considers the same as the
Toldoth Jeshu, and which may also be the same as the pro
scribed work.
In the thirteenth century, Raymond Martini, a Dominican
friar, composed a work against the Jews and Mahommedans,
with the suggestive title of Pugione Fidei, the Dagger of
Faith. Without naming the Toldoth Jeshu, he gave long
extracts from it, or at least a good summary. A Latin ren
dering of Martini’s Jeshu story appears in a folio volume by
Porcheti de Salvaticis, published at Paris in 1520, and entitled
Porcheti victoria adversus impios Hebreos—Porcheti’s victory
over the impious Hebrews. As the Inquisition took part
with Porcheti, the impious Hebrews did not venture to dis
pute the victory.
The author of “Revelations of Antichrist” gives a com
plete translation of Porcheti’s Latin narrative. It is substan
tially the same as the one now published, although much
shorter. It ends with the hanging of Jeshu, and makes no
allusion to any of the matters in our fourth chapter.
Rodriguez de Castro,
Espana, tom i., p. 223
�ti.
Preface.
The learned Rossi, in his work already cited, after referring
X) Wagenseil and Huldrich, says that besides their editions
Several manuscript copies are to be found in various libraries.
Some, he says, bear the different title of Maasi Jesu, or that
of Storia di Gesu o del Crocifisso—The History of Jesus the
Crucified. Rossi goes on to say that the most pronounced
Deists, who have drawn from the Hebrew writings, and from
the Chissuk Emuna of Rabbi Isaac ben Abraham, arguments
against Christianity and its founder, agree that this book is a
mass of Rabbinical sophisms and revolting false inventions;
the celebrated Mendelssohn, whom he places among these
Deists, protesting that it is one of those books'which no
sensible Hebrew reads or knows. It may be remarked, how
ever, in opposition to Rossi, that the anonymous Jew who
translated Carlile’s edition of our work says “ it is considered
of authority by the wise men of our nation.” Even Mr. Gould
throws no doubt upon its having been widely and honestly
accepted by the chosen race.
Perhaps the Deist whom Rossi had principally in his mind
was Voltaire. The Heresiarch of Ferney, in his Lettres sur
les Juifs, says that “ Le Toledos Jesu est le plus ancien ecrit
Juif qui nous ait ete transmis contre notre religion. C’est une
vie de Jesus-Christ, toute contraire a nos Saints Evangiles: elle
parait etre du premier siecle, et meme ecrite avant les <5vangiles.”—“ The Toldoth Jeshu is the most ancient Jewish
writing that has descended to us against our religion. It
is a life of Jesus Christ, altogether different from our Holy
Gospels. It appears to be of the first century, and even to
have been written before the Gospels.” Voltaire’s error seems
to have arisen from his supposing that Celsus “cited” the
work, whereas he merely cites the story of Pandera, which
forms its nucleus. In his “ Philosophical Dictionary,” article
Messiah, Voltaire writes on the Toldoth Jeshu in a delicious
vein of grave irony, which appears to have deceived “Anti-
�Preface.
vil
*
christ ’ himself, who is certainly no fool, nor devoid of
humor.
Mr. Gould devotes a chapter to “ The Jew of Celsus.”
Celsus wrote, about A.D. 170, a work called “ The True Word
(Logos),” of which, as well as of the author, Mr. J. A. Froude
gives a very interesting account in his fourth volume of
Short Studies on Great Subjects.” The writings of this
early opponent of Christianity, like those of others, such as
Porphyry, who would not bow to the Nazarene, were ruth
lessly suppressed, so that nothing remains of them except the
extracts given by Origen in his refutation. In a passage
which will be found among our foot-notes, Celsus describes
Jesus as a bastard, born of a Jewish countrywoman and a
soldier named Panthera. The genealogy of Jesus, given by
St. Epiphanius, induces Mr. Gould to say that “ it shows that
in the fourth century the Jewish stories of Panthera had
made such an impression on the Christians that his name was
forced into the pedigree of Jesus.” Basnage, in his “ History
of the Jews” (Taylor’s translation) has an extremely inte
resting passage on this subject:
. “ .Celsus is excusable in having upbraided Christians with the
virgin being forced by a soldier called Pandera, but how can St.
Epiphanius [a.d. 367] be excused, who assures us that Jesus was
the son of Jacob surnamed Panthera? Or how can John of Da
mascus [a.d. 760] be justified, who is indeed of another opinion,
but for all that makes him come into the genealogy of J. Christ ?
for he maintains that Panthera was great-grandfather to Mary, and
Barpanther her grandfather. Raban Maur [a.d. 874] doth also
speak of these two men; and the learned Grotius [a.d. 1640] made
an advantage of this tradition, as if it had been well grounded, that
so the romance invented about the virgin might appear more prob
able. And indeed the name given here to the soldier, Panther, is a
Greek one ; how then can it be introduced into the genealogy of
J. Christ as the surname of a family? There is good reason to
believe that it was invented only to make the birth of the Messiah
more odious. The panther, or male of the panther, is a savage and
cruel beast that couples with a lioness, and from thence proceeds
the leopard. . . . The manuscript of a Rabbi is also quoted, wherein
it is said that as the leopard is produced by the mixture of different
�viix.
Preface.
species, so J. Christ sprung from a Greek soldier and a Jewish
woman. Those who reckon Panthera among Christ’s ancestors, fall
into the snare which the most inveterate enemies of the Christian
religion have laid for them. Emanuel de Tesauro is one of these,
for he blesses the fate of Marham and Panther because Jesus Christ
came from them.” (B. iv., ch. 27).
The learned Basnage rather hobbles than walks out of the
difficulty. We leave it to the Christians to explain satis
factorily why Panthera crept into the ancestry of their
Savior.
Mr. Gould’s treatment of Celsus we should be obliged to
consider disingenuous if we did not think it confused. Mr.
Gould, in fact, is far from being an accurate writer. He
sometimes forgets on one page what he has written on
another; his chronology is often full of gross and obvious
blunders; and his proofs have been read with remarkable
carelessness. For instance, through thirty-six successive
headlines he has allowed “ Jewish Ante-Gospels” to stand for
Anti-Gospels, which is exactly what he is laboring to disprove.
In short, with a great appearance of scholarship, Mr. Gould
is a very untrustworthy guide.
With respect to Celsus, Mr. Gould says it is “remarkable”
that “ living in the middle of the second century and able to
make inquries of aged Jews, whose lives had extended to the
first century, he should have been able to find out next to
nothing about Jesus and his disciples except what he read in
the Gospels.” Now there is no proof that Celsus ever saw
our Gospels, and his account of Jesus is very unlike theirs.
And is the story of Christ’s birth, which involves the centra!
doctrine of the Incarnation, “ next to nothing ?” Besides^
Mr. Gould had staring him in the face the declaration of Celsus,
as quoted by Origen, thathe “ could relate many things more con
cerning Jesus, all which are true, but which have quite a different
character from what his disciples relate touching him.” To
this Origen replies, in short, You cannot. But as Celsus had
�Preface.
ix
no opportunity of rejoining1, having- incontinently died a cen
tury before his opponent took the field, it is hardly fair to
assume that he was lying-.
Celsus’s contemporary, Justin Martyr, one of the early
Fathers, in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew, bitterly com
plains that the Jews had sent persons into all parts of the
world to publish blasphemies against Jesus. Of what
value, then, is Origen’s denial of these things a century later ?
In the Babylonian Gemara of the Talmud, which, although
not completed until about A.D. 500, represents the authorita
tive traditions of the Jews, the name of Pandera is given to
the father of Jeshu; and the same parentage is given in the
Jerusalem Gemara, which was compiled independently a cen
tury earlier. Amidst a great deal of confusion, by Mr. Gould
worse confounded, this one fact shines out incontestible and
unquestioned.
Mr. Gould’s theory of the origin and development of the
Jeshu story supposes on the part of the Jews a flagrant
ignorance of their own language, traditions and history; and
what, except the necessity of supporting a theory, could lead
him to state that “The Jew of Celsus had already fused
■Jesus of Nazareth with the other two Jehoshuas” of the
Talmud ? The Jew of Celsus relates nothing of Jesus at
all resembling the later Talmudic confusions of the two
Jehoshuas ; and those confusions probably arose through the
■discordant opinions of different rabbis of various ages being
■cited indifferently. In his anxiety to prove that the Sepher
Toldoth Jeshu is entirely a production of the Middle Ages,
Mr. Gould maintains that “ the Jews in A.D. 500, when the
Babylonian Gemara was completed, had no traditions what■ever concerning Jesus of Nazareth.” But his contention may
be-opposed by the weightier opinion of Gardner and Light
foot, that the Talmudic references to Jeshu clearly point to
Jesus Christ.
�X.
Preface.
In discussing the date of the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, Mrr
Gould says (p. 69) that neither Wagenseil’s nor Huldrich’s
version “ can boast of a greater antiquity than, at the outside,
the twelfth century. It is difficult to say with certainty which
is the earlier of the two. Probably both came into use about
the same time.” But with his usual laxity he advances a very
different opinion later on (p. 115), where he says “ That this
second version of the Life of Jeshu is later than the first one,
I think there can be little doubt.” He even goes to the
length of suggesting that the Huldrich version may have
“ been composed after the Reformation.”
The centre of Mr. Gould’s theory, around which his orbit is
extremely eccentric, may be found in the following passage
“ The persecution to which the Jews were subjected in the
Middle Ages from the bigotry of the rabble or the cupidity of
princes, fanned their dislike fo? Christianity into a flame of intense
mortal abhorrence of the Founder of that religion whose votaries
Were their deadliest foes. The Toledoth Jeschu is the utterance of'
this deep-seated hatred,—the voice of an oppressed people exe
crating him who had sprung from the holy race, and whose blood
was weighing on their heads.”
In our opinion the
it
narrates everything with an air of candor; and we confi
dently leave the reader to judge for himself. We perceive
in this work many marks of antiquity, and evidences of a far
closer acquaintance with the manners, customs and opinions
of the Jews in Palestine than is betrayed in our Greek
gospels.
This appears to us a very lame theory.
Sepher Toldoth Jeshu betrays no vehement malignity;
If we except the fourth chapter, which forms no part of
the Life of Jeshu, but is related to it very much as the Actsof the Apostles is related to the Gospels, the only indication
of a late authorship is the reference to the Talmud. But that
may have been originally a marginal gloss, afterwards incor
porated with the text, like so many “interpolations” in ths
*
�Preface.
New Testament. Even, however, if the date of the work
was slightly subsequent to the compilation of the Talmud,,
we are still within measurable distance of the earliest Chris
tian manuscripts.
If, as Mr. Gould maintains, the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu is a
* Counter-Gospel,” written to asperse the character of JesusChrist, it is a singular thing that the authors did not keep
eloser to the gospel story ? How, for instance, came they to
place the birth of Jeshu in the reign of Janneus, at least ninety
years before the alleged birth of Christ ? How came they to
make him contemporary with Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach, whoflourished about 90 B.O. ? Satire is futile unless it adheres to
familiar features, and we can scarcely imagine sane men so
stupid as the satirists of the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu must havebeen if Mr. Gould’s theory be true.
The reader perhaps may say “ But, if Jesus Christ was born inthe first year of our era, and Jeshu was born ninety years before,
how can they have been one and the same person ?” To which
we reply, that there is no proof of Jesus Christ having been born
in the first year of our era, and many indications to the contrary.
Christian chronology has been arbitrarily established. There was
great uncertainty among the early Christians, who reckoned
like all Roman subjects from the reign of the Caesars, not
only as to the birth, but also as to the age of their Savior.
Irenaeus, the first Christian Father who mentions the four
gospels, maintains that Jesus was fifty years old at hisdeath, and the chronology of Luke is absolutely inconsistent
with Roman history, as well as being at variance with that
of Matthew. It might likewise be effectively argued from,
the only chronological reference in Paul’s Epistles (ii. Cor.,
xi., 32) that the Great Apostle himself flourished at least
sixty-two years before our era. According to his own state
ment, he escaped arrest at Damascus while the city was
“ under Aretas the King,” who must have ruled there before-
�<iL
Preface.
the city was captured by Pompey (B.C. 62) and made a part
•of the Roman empire.
We would not dogmatise, but we venture to think that the
Christian legend of Jesus may have originated in the Jewish
story of Jeshu. This theory at any rate accounts for the
hero’s introduction to the world. The two Hebrew versions
of a career similar to that of Jesus, as well as the Talmud,
agree in making Jeshu the illegitimate son of Pandera and a
• Jewish maiden; and Celsus flung the same charge at the
Christians before our present Gospels can be proved to have
■existed. That both the Jewish and the Christian story are
largely fabulous, we cheerfully concede, but no advantage
•can be derived to either from that fact. We now leave the
question with the reader. It is for him to decide whether it
■is more probable that the father of Jesus was a human being
«or the intangible third person of a hypothetical Trinity.
G. W. Foote.
March. 1885,
J M. Wheeler
�THE JEWISH LIFE OF CHRIST
OHAPTEB I.
In the year 671, of the fourth
millenary1*[of the world], in the
days of janneus, the king, a great
misfortune happened to the ene
mies of Israel.
2. There was a certain idle and
worthless debauchee named Jo
seph Pandera2, of the fallen tribe
of Judah.
8. He was a man of fine figure
and rare beauty, but spent his
time in robbery and licentious
1 “ In the year 671 of the fourth
millenary.” The Rev. S. Baring
Gould translates it “in the year
4,671,” which, he says, would be
910 b.c. We cannot understand
this computation; it agrees with
no chronology known to us, neither
the _ Samaritan, the Septuagint,
Josephus nor Usher. According
to the established Jewish chrono
logy the world was 3,761 years old
at the beginning of our era. The
year 3,671 would therefore be
90 b.c. This fairly harmonises
with what Gibbon says of “ the
anachronism of the Jews, who
place the birth of Christ near a
century sooner.” It also agrees
with the date of Janneus, the
Sadducee king of Judsea, who
reigned from 106 b.c. to 79 B.c.
If we suppose, with the author of
“ Revelations of Antichrist,” that
the Olympiad of Iphitus is meant
in the text, the year 671 of that
era, which began 884 b.c., would
be 1.06 b.c. This brings the birth
of Jeshu barely within the reign
of Janneus. On the whole we
prefer to regard the Jewish
chronology as the one the writer
employed. He wrote for Jews and
would naturally use it.
2 Pandera, according to the
Jewish Gemara (compiled between
the fourth and sixth centuries of
our era, but containing ancient tra
ditions orally transmitted), was the
paramour of a wanton who went
astray from her husband. The Tal
mudic references to Miriam and Pan
dera may be found fully cited in the
works of Lightfoot and Lardner.
These scattered accounts of Jesus,
when brought together, give us the
following Inthe time of Janneus
the Sadducee, one Mary, a plaiter
of woman’s hair, was false to her
husband, and had, by a person
named Pandera, a son called Jesus
This son was taken in tutorship
by Rabbi Joshua ben Perachia
President of the Sanhedrim, and,at
the time when the rabbis were
persecuted by Janneus, accom
panied him to Alexandria in Egypt,
where he learnt how to charm
diseases, and other magic arts.
On his return with his master they
fell out because Jesus praised a
woman’s beauty. Jesus © then
taught new doctrines, defamed the
�14
The Jewish Life of Christ.
ness. He lived at Bethlehem of
Judea.11
4. Near bythere lived a widow,
who had a daughter named Miri
am*, of whom mention is several
4
3
times made in the Talmud as a
dresser of women’s hair.
5. This daughter was betrothed
by her mother to a very chaste,
gentle, and pious youth named
Jochanan.
6. Now it happened that Jo
seph occasionally passed by Miri
am’s door and saw her. Then he
*began to have an unholy affection
for her.
7. So he went to and fro about
the place, and at length the mo-
ther said to him, What maketh
thee so thin ? He replied, I am
madly in love with Miriam.
8. Then, said the mother, I
would not deny thee the favor;
see if she is willing, and do with
her as thou pleasest.
9. Obeying her counsel, Jo
seph Pandera went frequently
by the house, but did not find a
suitable time until one Sabbath
evening, when he happened to
find her sitting before the door.
10. Then he went into the
house with her, and both sat
down in a dormitory near the
door, for she thought he was her
betrothed, Jochanan.
rabbis and gave himself up to
■magical practices. He had five
chief disciples, Mathai, (Mat
thew ?), Nezer, Boni and Thodah
(Thaddeus ?). They were put to
death, and Jesus himself was
stoned at Lud or Lydda, twentytwo miles north-west of Jerusalem,
-and then hanged on the evening
■before the passover.
Celsus, writing in the second
century, as quoted by Origen who
“ refuted ” him a hundred years
later, says that Jesus was born of
a countrywoman, and that “ when
she was pregnant she was turned
out of doors by the carpenter to
whom she had been betrothed, as
having been guilty of adultery, and
that she bore a child to a certain
soldier named Panthera ” (“ Origen
against Celsus,” book 1, ch. xxxii.,
p. 431.—“ Ante-Nicene Christian
Library ”).
This calumny the
Christian Father easily confuted
by such powerful arguments as
that God would not make a teacher
of a bastard, and that some animals
—for instance vultures—conceived
without any connection with a
male.
Celsus, speaking on behalf of the
Jews, further says, as reported by
his opponent, “that he (Jesus)
having been brought up as an
illegitimate child, and having
served for hire in Egypt, and then
coming to the knowledge of certain
miraculous powers, returned from
thence to his own country, and by
means of those powers proclaimed
himself to be God ” (book 1,
ch. xxxviii., p. 488).
3 Pandera’s living at Bethlehem
might account for the gospel tradi
tion of Jesus being born there.
According to the Apocryphal Gos
pel of Mary, she lived at Jerusalem
before Joseph married her, and
Bethlehem is not far from the h«ly
city. Actually, it is more probable
that Jesus was born at Nazareth,
where Joseph lived. The Rabbini
cal writers refer to him as Ha
Notzri, a native of Nazareth ; his
disciples were called Nazarenes
before they received the name of
Christians ; and a Nazarene is still
the designation for a Christian
throughout the East.
4 Miriam is the Hebrew word
for Mary, and signifies lritternes*.
�The Jewish Life of Christ
15
11. 4* ,mtzi ea homine ait: Ne me
7
attingio; in menstruis sum. Sed
is morem illi non gerebat, cumque
circa earn voluntati suse obsequutus
fuisset, in domum suam obit.
12. Circa medium noctis iterum
in eo exardescere desiderium ma
lum. Ergo somno levatus ad do
mum Miriamis viam affectans, ad
cellarn se confert, factumque repetit.
13. Valde autem exhorruit pu■ella, et quid hoc, ait, tibi vult,
Domine, quod eadem nocte bis me
convenisti? idque non passa sum
ab eo inde tempore quo sponsam
me tibi elegisti.
14. Verum in silens repetit, nec
verbum ullum proloquitur. Ergo
Miriam queri: Quousque tu peccato scelus addis? annon pridem
tibi dixi esse me menstruatam ?
15. Verum ille non attendebat
ad ejus verba, sed desiderio satisfaciebat, ac tumpostea iter pergehat suum.
16. After three months, Jochanan was told that his betrothed
was with child.
17. In great agitation, he went
to his preceptor, Simon Ben
Shetach6, and, telling him about
the matter, asked him what he
ought to do.
18. The preceptor inquired,
Dost thou suspect anyone ? Jochanan said, Nobody, except Jo
seph Pandera, who is a great
debauchee, and Hveth near her
house.
19. The preceptor said, My
son, take my advice, and keep
silent; for if he hath been there
he will surely go there again.
Therefore be wise, and get a
witness, so that thou mayest
bring him before the great
Sanhedrim.
20. The young man went homo
and was sorely troubled during
the night. He thought to him
self, When this thing becometh
known the people will say it was
my doing.
21. Therefore, to avoid the
shame and disgrace, he ran away
to Babylon7 and there took up his
abode.
Lardner says, “ In several other
places of these Talmudical writers,
Mary is called a ‘ plaiter of woman’s
hair ’; as may he seen in Lightfoot
p. 270. And from some things alleged
just now it seems that thereby
they denote a transgressor 'of the
laws of purity. And we are led
to think that by this description
they intended to represent not her
outward condition, but her moral
character ” (“Jewish Testimonies.”
Works, vol. vi., p. 524; 1838).
* We are obliged to keep these
passages veiled in Latin. There
are worse things in the Bible, but
we do not feel at liberty to emulate
the indecency of the inspired
writers. A reference to Leviti
cus xx., 18, will give a fair idea of
the meaning of Miriam’s exclama
tion in the first sentence.
• This rabbi is undoubtedly an
historical character He flourished
about 90 B.c., and is mentioned in
the Talmud. It was customary
for rabbis,
like the Greek
sophists, to take pupils, who gene
rally became their disciples. Paul
tell us (Acts xxii., 3), that he was
“brought up at the feet of
Gamaliel.”
7 Ever since the captivity there
had been an extensive Jewish
colony at Babylon, where the chief
part of the Gemara was compiled,
and whither many Hebrews re
paired after the fall of Jerusalem.
I This reference to Babylon seems an
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The, Jewish Life of Christ.
22. In due time Miriam
brought forth a son and named
him Jehoshua, after her mother’s
brother.
23. She sent the boy to a
teacher named Elchanan, with
whom he made progress in
learning, for his mind was very
bright8.
24. And it came to pass byand-bye that he met the senators
of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem.
25. It was then the custom
that whoever met those senators
should cover his head and bow
down.
26. But this boy as he walked
past them bared his head, and
touching his forehead saluted the
principal only.
27. Then all began to say,
What impudence 1 probably he
is a bastard. And one of themsaid, Indeed he is a bastard, and
the son of an adulteress9*
.
28. Presently Simeon Ben
Shetach said, I remember now
that not many years ago my
pupil Jochanan came to me and!
said,
29. Alas! what a shame and!
disgrace has happened to me 1
for Miriam my betrothed is with
child, not by me, but by some
one else. This is the son of that
Miriam.
30. And when I inquired if lie
suspected anyone, he said, Jo
seph Pandera1, who was a near
neighbor of hers.
31. And soon afterwards Jo
chanan went in shame to Baby
lon, where he dwelleth even now.
32. Then they all said, If these
unmistakeable touch of authentic
history.
8 The apocryphal Gospel of the
Infancy and the History of Joseph
both give Jesus a schoolmaster,
and both praise his bright parts.
Luke (ii., 40) also says that “ the
child grew, and waxed strong in
spirit, filled with wisdom.” The
only indication, however, that Jesus
could write is furnished by John
(viii., 8). But this story of his
writing on the ground is wanting
in the earliest manuscripts.
9 Verses 24-27.—Jesus in our
Gospels argues with the rabbis,
and bestows all his impertinence on
his mother; but Jeshu offers it
all to the doctors.—The same story
is thus told in the Talmud:—
“ As once the elders sat at the gate
there passed two boys before them.
One uncovered his head, the other
did not. Then said Rabbi Elieser,
The latter is certainly a bastard;
but Rabbi Jehoshua said, He is a
son of an adulteress. Akiba said,
He is both a bastard and a son of
an adulteress. They said to him,.
How canst thou oppose the opinion
of thy companions ? He answered*
I will prove what I have said.
Then he went to the boy’s mother,
who was sitting in the market
selling fruit, and said to her, My
daughter, if you will tell me the
truth I will promise you eternal
life. She said to him, Swear to me.
And he swore with his lips, but in
his heart he did not ratify the
oath.” Gardner notes that** though
no person is here named, there
can be no doubt who is intended.”
1 “ Joseph Pandera.” R. von der
Alm conjectures that the Christian
story kept the first name of Pan
dera—Joseph—as that of the father
of Jesus. According to Luke iv., 22,
the Jews inquired of Jesus “Is not
this Joseph’s son?” They obviously
knew or suspected nothing of his
divine parentage. The passage jn
brackets in Luke’s genealogy, iii,
23, representing Jesus as the “ sup-
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17
things are so, this boy is indeed
a bastard and the son of an adul
teress*
2.
33. Then they published him
as such by the blowing of three
hundred trumpets3, declaring
him not fit to come into the
congregation, and called his
name Jeshu, signifying that his
name and memory deserved to
perish4*
.
34. When it became known
that he was declared unworthy
to he admitted into the congre
gation, Jeshu with a sad heart
fled to upper Galilee, where he
dwelt many years56
.
*
35. In those days there was a
stone in the Temple on which
was inscribed the inexpressible
name of God8.
36. For when David laid the
posed” son of Joseph is the lan
guage of the evangelist himself,
who was not a contemporary. The
friends and countrymen of Jesus
allude to him as a man, a carpenter,
and the son of a carpenter. See
Mark vi., 3; Matthew xiii., 55. In
the face of these texts, it is aston
ishing that Origen, in reply to
Celsus, should assert that “ in none
of the gospels current in the
churches is Jesus himself ever
described as being a carpenter.”
This sweeping denial can only be
explained on one of three hypo
theses : Origen’s unscrupulous au
dacity, his ignoranofeof our gospels,
or the subsequent interpolation of
the passage he contradicts.
2 Bastard is a strong word, but
it is accurate of Jesus as well as of
Jeshu. There was a Jewish law
against bastards entering the con
gregation until the tenth generation
(Deuteronomy xxiii., 2).
salvation.” Rabbi Abraham Farrissol, in his DmiN 3^ (Megan
Abraham) Ch. 59, says “His name
was Jeshua, but as Rabbi Moses
Maimonides has written it, and as
we find it throughout the Talmud,
it is written Jeshu. They have
carefully left out the ain, because
he was not able to save himself.”
So Elias in Tishbi, under the word
Jeshu, says “ Because the Jews
will not acknowledge him (Jesus)
to be the savior, they do not call
him Jeshua, but reject the am
and call him Jeshu.” By omitting
this letter a peculiar significance
was given to the name. In the
curtailed form it is composed of
the letters jod, shin, van, which are
taken to stand for;
— “ his name and remem
brance shall be extinguished,” the
meaning which is given in the text.
5 Jesus also returned from Jeru
salem and dwelt in Galileo, from
which district all his disciples were
chosen. It was just the place for
prophets and demagogues. Renan
remarks very justly that “Palestine
was one of the countries most in
arrear in the science of the day;
the Galileans were the most ig
norant of all the inhabitants of
Palestine, and the dfeci^les of
Jesus might be reckoned among
the most stupid Galileans.”
6 This was the Shem Haw
B
3 Proclamations among
the
Jews were made by the sound of
trumpets. See many places in the
Old Testament. The same cere
mony has been performed in more
modern times. The blowing of
rams’ horns was a conspicuous
feature in the excommunication of
Spinoza.
4 Jehoshua, which we shorten
into Joshua, is a common Jewish
name, of which Jesus is the Greek j
m. It means “ Jehovah is his
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The Jewish Life of Christ.
foundation* he found a certain
7
1
stone at the mouth of an abyss
on which the name was engraved,
and taking it up he deposited it
in the Holy of Holies.
37. But when the wise men
feared that perchance studious
youths might learn this name
and bring destruction upon the
world (which calamity may God
forbid), they made by magic two
brazen lions8, and placed them
at the entrance of the Holy of
Holies, one on the right and the
other on the left.
38. If, therefore, anyone drew
near and learned the hidden
name, as he went away the lions
■Would roar, so that in his fright
he would forget the name for
ever.
39. Now when the report that
Jeshu was a bastard had spread
abroad, he left upper Galilee
and, coming secretly to Jerusa
lem, he went into the Temple
and there learned the sacred
letters.
40. And when he had written
the hidden name on a piece of
parchment, and spoken it, that
he might feel no pain, he cut
open his flesh and enclosed there
in the mysterious parchment.
Then, having again pronounced
the name, he closed up the flesh9.
41. But to enter the Temple
it was necessary to use magic
and incantations; otherwise how
could the most holy priests, the
descendants of Aaron, have al
lowed him to go therein.
phoras —
the
Sacred Ineffable Name, by which ex
pression the Jews name Jehovah
.r Jahveh, the correct pronunciation
f which is lost, the word Adonai
'Lord') being substituted. The rab
bis affirm that the decadence of Is
rael is due to the loss of this sacred
name, and that, if any one were able
to pronounce it, he might thereby
create or destroy worlds. Nume
rous wonders are ascribed to it.
By its aid Moses slew the Egyptian,
and it was engraved on Solomon’s
seal. The great prophet must,
however, have forgotten it during
his residence with Jethro; for
according to the Kabbalists he
spent forty days on Mount Sinai,
learning it afresh from the angel
Sax a el.
7 Mr. Gould considers that
this verse shows the writer’s
“ amazing ignorance ” of Jewish
history,which represents Solomonas
the builder of the Templo. Bu^ the
remark rather shows Mr. Gould’s
amazing ignorance; for, according
to Rabbinical tradition, although
Solomon erected the Temple, its
foundation was laid by David ; and
this tradition is corroborated by
1 Chronicles xxii., 1—4.
Tha
foundation stone of the Temple is
said to have been the same block
that Jacob reposed on (Genesis
xxviii., 22), and which he pro
phesied “ shall be God’s house.”
8 The Talmud calls them “ braaen dogs,” and Luther appears
to have thought them of this
species. Alm refers to Ezekiel i.,
containing a description of the
Cherubim, Jehovah’s four-faced
body-guard, one aspect being leo
nine. Madame Blavatsky thinks
the text refers unmistakeably to
these Hebrew chimeras, or, to use
her own phrase, “ symbolical mon
strosities ” (“ Isis Unveiled,” vol. it,
p. 201; 1877).
9 The Talmud refers to *
similar performance in the query
“Did not Ben Stada bring en
chantment out of Egypt in the
cutting which was in his flesh?”
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19
42. Therefore it is manifest
that Jeshu did all this by the art
of magic and the power of an im
pure name1.
43. As he was coming out of
the door the lions roared and he
forgot the name.
44. So he went outside the
city, and, having reopened his
flesh, drew forth the writing, ex
amined well the characters, and
got full retention of the name.
45. Then he went to the place
of his nativity, and with loud
voice cried out,
46. Who are these bad men
who report me to be a bastard
and of impure birth ?
They
are themselves bastards and im
pure.
47. Did not a virgin bear me ?
Did not my mother conceive me
in the top of her head**
2?
48. Indeed I am the Son of
God, and concerning me the
prophet Esaias spoke, saying,
Behold, a virgin8 shall conceive,
etc.
Ben Stada (the son of Stada) of
course is Jesus, who according to
our Gospels went into Egypt. It
is curious that Revelation (xix.,
12,16) ascribes to Jesus “ a name
written, that no man knew but he
himself;” and this, or an equiva
lent name, was “ on his thigh;” but
whether tattooed or sewn in we are
not informed.
1 According to several pas
sages in our Gospels, the Pharisees
charged Jesus with casting out
devils through Beelzebub, the
prince of devils. There are many
illustrations in the Bible of the
superstition of using the divine
name as a spell. When Jacob
wrestled with the angel he de
manded his name (Genesis xxii.,
29).
Manoah made the same
request to the angel who predicted
the birth of Samson (Judges xiii.,
18).
The third commandment
prohibits the taking of God’s
name in vain (see also Lev xxiv.,
16). Jesus (Mark xvi., 17) says
of his disciples “ in my name
they shall cast out devils.” Ac
cording to Acts iii., 16. his
name made a lame man strong;
and Peter in answer to the
question “ By what power or by
what name have ye done this ? ”
replies (Acts iv„ 12) that there
is non* other name under heaven
given whereby we must be saved.”
Paul also (Phillipians ii, 9) say*
“ Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him 3
name which is above every other
name: That at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth.”
2 Jeshu boasts of his virgin
mother; the Christians claim the
same glory for Jesus, and probably
with equal truth. Mary did not,
however, conceive at the top of
her head, although according to
St. Ambrose she was impregna
ted through the ear—Maria per
aurem impregnata est. Dr. Clemens
mentions an early Christian belief
that Jesus was bora from his
mother’s head. Both these notions
are plagiarisms from the Greek
mythology,
which represents
Minerva as springing full-armed
from the brain of Jove. Justin
Martyr, indeed, in his First
Apology (Ch. 21) places the
miraculous births of Jesus and the
offspring of Jove in the same cate
gory. In the legends of the birth
of Buddha, the Indian savior is
born from the side of his mother
Maya.
* The claims of J*shu and
49. Did I not form myself, and
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The Jeivish Life of Christ.
the heaven, earth, sea, and all
things contained therein ?
50. Then they all answered
and said, Make known by some
sign, and show by a miracle that
thou art God.
51. He, answering, said, Bring
hither to me a dead man, and I
will restore him to life.
52. The people made haste,
and having dug into a certain
sepulchre, found there nothing
but dry bones.
53. And when they told him
that they had found only bones,
he said, Bring them hither.
54. And when they were
brought, he put all the bones
together and covered them with
skin, flesh, and nerves, so he
that had been a dead man stood
up on his feet alive.
55. The people seeing this>
marvelled. .Then he said, Do
ye wonder at this ? Bring hither
a leper and I will cure him4.
56. And when they had
brought a leper he restored him
to health in like manner through
the Shem Hamphoras.
57. When the people saw
this, they fell down and wor
shipped him, saying. Verily thou
art the Son of God5.
58. And it came to pass, after
the fifth day, that the dismal tid-
ings were brought to Jerusalem,
the most holy city, and there all
the things were told which J eshu
had done.
59. Then the profligates re
joiced greatly ; but the old men,
the devout, and the wise wept
bitterly; and in the greater and
the lesser Sanhedrim there was
sore lamentation.
60. At length they all resolved
to send messengers to Jeshu, say
ing among themselves, It may
be that by the help of the Lord
we shall capture him, bring him,
to judgment, and condemn him
to death.
61. Therefore they stfnt Ana
nias and Achasias, most honor
able men of the lesser Sanhedrim,
who went and fell down before
Jeshu in adoration, thereby aug
menting his wickedness.
62. Therefore, thinking that
they were sincere, he received
them with a smiling face and
appointed them leaders of his
wicked flock.
63. Then they thus began to
appeal to him: Lo, the leading
citizens of Jerusalen have sent
us ambassadors to thee, praying
that thou wouldst deign to come
to them, for they have heard that
thou art the Son of God.
64. Then said Jeshu, What
they have heard is true, and lo,
Jesus are equally founded on a
false interpretation of Isaiah. The
World almah (vii., 14) means any
young woman, whether single or
wedded. Besides, Isaiah took care
to fulfil his own prediction by the
aid of a female colleague, leaving
nothing to be added by the labor
of his successors (viii., 3).
4 Jeshu’s readiness to wofi4 a
miracle is in striking contrast to
the reluctance of Jesus. Instead oi
calling people evil, wicked and
adulterous, for seeking a sign, he
promptly acquiesces in their re ■
quest, and at once calls for a good
subject.
5 Matthew puts a similar ex
clamation into the mouth of th*
centurion at the Crucifixion.
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21
I will do all that ye ask, but to Jerusalem, reported all that
upon this condition :
65. That all the senators of
the greater and lesser Sanhe
drim, and those also who have
defamed my nativity, shall come
forth and worship me, receiving
me even as servants receive their
lords.
66. The messengers, returning
had been said.
67. The elde»s and devout men
answered, We will do all that he
asketh.
68. Therefore the men went
again to Jeshu and declared that
they would do whatever he de
sired. Then Jeshu said, I will go
with you at once.
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The Jewish Life of Chritt.
CHAPTER H.
And it came to pass that when rending of garments, and the
Jeshu came to Nob1, which is
near Jerusalem, he said to them
Have ye here a good and comely
ass?
2. And when they replied that
one was at hand, he said, Bring
him hither.
3. And a beautiful ass being
brought, he mounted upon him
and went to Jerusalem.
4. As he entered the city all
the people sallied out to meet
him.
5. And raising his voice he
said to them, Concerning me the
prophet Zacharias testified, say
ing, Behold thy king cometh to
thee, just and having salvation,
lowly and sitting upon an ass,
and a colt the foal of an ass1
2.
6. These things being known,
there was great weeping and
devout men went and complained
to the Queen.
7. (Bhe was Queen Helena,
the wife of King Janneus men
tioned above ; she reigned after
the death of husband. She is
otherwise called Oleina, and
had a son Nunbasus, the king,
otherwise called Hyrcanus, who
was slain by his subordinate
Herod)3.
8. The devout men said to the
Queen, This fellow deserveth the
worst punishment, for he is a se
ducer of the people. Prithee,
grand us the power, and we will
take him by subtlety.
9. The Queen answering, said,
Call him hither that I may under
stand the accusation.
10. But she thought to save
him from their hands, because
1 The story here is marvel
lously like that of Matthew (xxi.,
9). No one has been able to de
termine the position of Bethphage,
where Jesus obtained his asses;
but the situation of Nob is well
known. It lies near Jerusalem,
and is mentioned in the Old Testa
ment and in Josephus.
2 Zechariah’s prophecy (ix., 9)
is understood hy this writer, but
misunderstood by Matthew, who
was evidently unacquainted with
Jewish idioms. Hebrew authors
often gained emphasis by iteration;
witness especially the song of
Deborah on Jael and Sisera.
Zechariah, therefore, intended only
one donkey; but Matthew stu
pidly puts him on two. Jeshu’s
biography, with better Hebrew
and better taste, puts him on one.
* This parenthesis is probably
an interpolation. The widow of
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23
she was related to him by
blood.
11. Now the wise men per
ceiving her design, said to her,
Do not, O royal mistresss, under
take to do this lest thou shouldest become his abettor; for by
his sorceries he leadeth men into
error and crime.
12. At the same time they ex
plained to her the whole matter
®f the Shem Hamplioras, and then
added, It is for thee to impose
punishment, for he deserveth the
worst.
18. Then they narrated the his
tory of Joseph Pandera.
14. Wherefore the Queen said,
X have heard you and will con*nt to this : Bring him to me and
let me hear what he saith, and see
what he doeth ; for everybody
telleth me of the great miracles
he performeth.
.15. The wise men replied, We
will do as thou sayest.
16. Therefore they sent for Je
shu, and placed him before the
Queen.
17. Then thus the Queen
spoke : I have heard that thou
performest
many wonderful
miracles: now do one in my
presence.
18. Jeshu replied, Whatever
thou commandest, I will do.
Meanwhile I pray this one thing:
that thou wilt not give me into
the hands of these wicked men
who have pronounced me a bas
tard.
19. The Queen replied, Fear
nothing.
20. Then Jeshu said, Bring
hither a leper and I will heal him.
21. And when a leper was
brought he laid his hand upon
him, and invoking the Almighty
name restored him to health, so
that the flesh of his face became
like that of a boy4.
22. Furthermore Jeshu said,
Bring hither a dead body.
23. And a dead body being
brought, he straightway put hie
hand upon it, and pronounced
the name, and it revived and
stood upon its feet.
Alexander Janneus is called Alex
andra by Josephus (Antiq., bk.
xiii., ch. 1G).
She reigned nine
years after the death of her hus
band, leaving two sons, Hyrcanus
and Aristobulus, both of whom
reigned after her. Hyrcanus was
killed by Herod (Antiq., xv., 2).
The interpolator has possibly con
founded Queen Alexandra with
Helena, Queen of Adiabene, noted
among the Jews as a Gentile pro
selyte who visited Jerusalem
(Antiq., xx., 2). Mr. Gould thinks
that the Helena referred to in the
text “ is probably the mother of
Constantine, who went to Jerusa
lem in a.d. 326 to see the holy sites,
and, according to an early legend,
discovered the three crosses on
Calvary,” This supposition, how
ever, is gratuitous and absurd.
Constantine’s mother was a pro
selyte to Christianity. It was the
more ancient queen Helena, who
was a famous proselyte to Juda
ism, that a Hebrew writer would
probably bear in mind.
4 Jesus healed lepers as well as
Jeshu; see Luke vii., 22, and
many other passages.
Leprosy
appears to have been a prevalent
disease among the chosen people,,
and Jehovah spent a great deal of
his time in legislating for its treat
ment. Compare 2 Kings v., 14,
where Naaman’s flesh “ became
again like unto the flesh of a little
cmld.”
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The Jewish Life of Christ.
24. Then said Jeshu, Esaias56
prophesied concerning me, Then
shall the lame man leap as a hart,
etc.
25. Then the Queen turning to
the wise men said, How can ye
affirm that this man is a sorcer
er ? Have I not seen him with
mine own eyes performing mir
acles as if he were the Son of
God ?
26. But the wise men answer
ing, said, Let not the Queen
speak thus, for most certainly
this man is a sorcerer.
27. But the Queen said, Get
ye hence from my sight, and
never again bring a like accusa
tion before me®.
28. Therefore the wise men
left the presence of the Queen,
sad at heart, and conferring one
with another they said, Let us
>how ourselves crafty, so that
this fellow may fall into our
hands7*
.
29. Moreover a certain one of
them said, If it seemeth good to
you, let one of us also learn the
name, as he did, and perform the
miracles, and perchance we may
take him.
30. The wise men approved of
this device, and said, Whoever
shall learn the name and shall
secure this fellow, to him shall
be given a double reward in the
world to come.
31. Forthwith a certain one of
the wise men named Judas’ arose
and said, If ye will answer for
the blame of the offence by which
T shall speak the Almighty name,
1 will learn it.
32. And peradventure God in
his mercy and great goodness
will bless me, and bring into
my hands this bastard and son
of an adulteress.
33. Then all with one voice
cried out, On us be the guilt8:
do as thou hast proposed, and
may thy work prosper.
34. Therefore he also went in
to the Holy of Holies, and did the
same that Jeshu had done.
35. Then going through the
city he cried out, Where are they
who report that this bastard is
the Son of God ? Am not I, who
am only flesh and blood, able to
do the things which Jeshu hath
done ?
36. The Queen and her minis
ters having heard of this, Judas
was brought before her, accom
a See Isaiah xxxv., 6.
6 Queen Helena’s reluctance to
meddle with Jeshu is very similar
to the legend of Pilate’s wife in
Matthew. “ Have thou nothing to
Jo with that just man,” says the
wife of the Roman governor. See
xxvii., 19.
7 Compare Matthew xxvi„ 3-4—
“ Then assembled together the
chief priests. . . . and consulted
♦hat they might take Jesus by
subtlety and kill him.” It may be
remarked that while our narrative
allows ample time for the capture
of Jeshu, the Gospel narratives
huddle up that of Jesus in the
crudest manner; the plot, the be
trayal, the seizure all happening in
one evening, or in an incredibly
short space of time.
8 Judas is here one of the “ wise
men ” or rabbis. It is remarkable
that the opponent of Jeshu and the
betrayer of Jesus bore the same
name, and the presumption is
that both characters are founded
on a common legend.
8 Compare Matthew xxvii., 25—
“ Then answered all the people
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panied by the elders and wise
men of Jerusalem.
37. But the Queen summoned
Jeshu and said to him, Show us
what thou hast lately done. And
he began to perform his miracles
before the people.
38. Then Judas spoke these
words to the Queen and all the
people : Nothing that this fellow
doeth is wonderful to us. Let
him nestle among the stars and
I will hurl him down1.
39. Then Jeshu thus addressed
the whole people: Have ye not
been from the beginning, from
the time when I first knew you,
a stiff-necked people* ?
2
1
40. Judas answered, Is it not
true that thou dost practise
wickedness, thou bastard and son
of an adulteress ?
41. Did-not our master Moses
say concerning thee, If thy bro
ther, the son of thy mother, en
tice thee, saying, Let us, etc.,
thou shalt bring the man out,
and stone him with stones that
he die3* etc.?
,
and said, His blood be on us, and
on our children.”
1 This phrase, like many in our
Gospels, is misappropriated and
spoiled from the Old Testament.
Obadiah 4, says “ though thou
exalt thyself as the eagle, and
though thou set thy nest among
the stars, thence will I bring thee
down, saith the Lord.” The author,
like our Gospel writers, could mis
quote the Old Testament and blas
pheme at the same time.
2 Compare.. Matthew xiii., 15.
See also Exodus xxxii., 9.
3 See Deuteronomy xiii., 6-10,
containing the malignant law of
heresy, with which the Jews justify
the death of Jesus. If the hero of
©ur Gospels was indeed the son of
25
42. But the bastard answering,
said, Did not Esaias prophesy
concerning me ?
43. And are not these the
words of my great forefather
[David] concerning me: The
Lord said unto me, Thou art my
son; this day have I begotten
thee4 ?
44. And in like manner in an
other place he said, The Lord
said unto my lord, sit thou at
my right hand56
.
45. And now I will ascend to
my heavenly father and will sit
at his right hand, and ye shall
behold it with your eyes®. But
thou, Judas, shall not attain to
this.
46. And,now Jeshu uttered the
Almighty name, and there came
a wind and lifted him up be
tween heaven and earth. ■_
47. Forthwith Judas invoked
the same name, and the wind
also suspended him between
heaven and earth ; and thus both
soared round about through the
air7._______________________
Jehovah, his fate was a remarkable
instance of poetical justice.
4 Psalms ii., 7.—“My beloved
son ” was said of Jesus by the holy
dove at his baptism, and “ this day
have I begotten thee ” is added in
the ancient gospel according to the
Hebrews. This
latter clause
would of course be inconsistent
with the story of Matthew, who
represents Jesus as having been
miraculously conceived thirty yean
earlier.
5 Psalms ex., 1. It is likewise
quoted by Jesus. See Matthew
xxii., 44.
6 Compare John xx., 17, and
especially Mark xiv., 62, and xvi., 19.
7 The “ Acts of the Holy
Apostles Peter and Paul ” narrate*
�26
The Jewish Life of Christ.
48. At the sightof these things
all were astonished. But Judas
again recited the name, and seiz
ing the wretch sought to hurl
him down to the earth.
49. Then Jeshu also invoked
the name for the purpose of
bringing Judas down, and thus
they wrestled together.
50. But Judas seeing that his
strength was not equal to that of
Jeshu, moistened him with the
sweat of his body.
51. Wherefore being rendered
impure, they were both deprived
of the use of the Shem Hamphoras until they were washed8.
52. Then a death sentence was
brought against Jeshu, and they
said to him, If thou wouldst be
free, do the things which thou
hast been wont to do hitherto®.
53. But Jeshu, when he found
himself unable to do them
raised his voice in lamentation
saying,
54. David, my forefather, pro
phesied concerning me, saying,
Yea, for thy sake we are killed
all the day long1, etc.
55. When his disciples and the'
wicked crowd that adhered to
him saw these things, being ex
posed to the danger of death,
they fought with the elders and
the wise men of Jerusalem, and
enabled Jeshu to escape from the
city9.
56. So Jeshu went speedily to
Jordan* ; and when he had
3
2
1
washed and purified himself, he
declared again the name and re
peated his former miracles.
57. Moreover, he went and
took two millstones, and made
them float upon the water, and
seating himself on them he
caught fishes4 before the multi-
a similar contest between Peter and
Simon Magus, under which desig
nation Paul is clearly aimed at in
the Clementine Recognitions. Simon
Magus, by the power of sorcery,
flew through the air, and seemed
to be going to heaven ; and straight
way Peter (of course not by sorcery)
invoked the name of Jesus Christ,
when down fell Simon in quarters
(Ante Nicene Christian Library
vol. xvi., p. 273). Mr. Gould, after
a slight reference to this legend,
adds that “it reminds one of the
contest in the Arabian nights
between the Queen of Beauty and
the Djin in the story of the Second
Calender.”
• The sacred name could only
be pronounced in a state of perfect
purity, which may account for its
being lost among the Jews.
9 Compare Matthew xxvii., 40,
where Jesus is invited to work a
miracle in his own favor by de
scending from the cross; but'
Jesus, like Jeshu, was unable torespond.
1 Psalms xliv., 23. Quoted also
in Romans viii., 36.
2 Jeshu’s disciples stick by him,
and he escapes. The disciples of'
Jesus “ all forsook him and fled.”
Jeshu appears to have made a
better selection.
3 The Jordan where Jesus was
baptised, was a sacred river,
a miniature Ganges.
Naaman
washed in it to remove his leprosy,
and Jeshu purifies himself in its
waters.
4 Readers will remember the
miraculous draught of fishes in
our Gospels, and the walking on
water, which may be considered
equivalent to floating the mill
stones.
In miraculously feeding
the multitude, Jeshu took the
precaution to furnish himself with '
fish.
�The Jewish Life of Chrtsr.
sude, whicn they then did
eat.
58. When the report of this
thing reached Jerusalem, all the
wise and devout men began to
w< ep, uid to say,
59. Who will dare to risk death
by going and taking away from
this bastard the Almighty name ?
2?
Lo, we pledge ourselves that
he shall enjoy eternal happi
ness.
60. Then Judas offered him
self to go; to whom the wise
men said, Go in peace.
61. Therefore Judas went in
disguise, and mingled among the
wicked fellows.
�The Jewish Life of Christ,
CHAPTER III.
About the middle of the night
'God put the bastard into a deep
sleep, and Judas enchanted him
■in his sleep.
2. Then Judas entered into
Jeshu’s tent, and with a knife cut
his flesh and took out therefrom
the sacred parchment.
3 Jeshu awoke out of sleep
affrighted by a great and horrid
demon.
4. Wherefore he said to his
■disciples, Ye shall know now
that my heavenly Father hath
commanded me to come to him ;
I go because he seeth that I have
-no honor among men1.
5. Then his disciples said,
What is to become of us ?
6. He answered, O blessed
•ones, great will be your reward
if ye keep my words, for ye shall
■sit at my right hand with my
•heavenly Father1
2.
7. Then they all lifted up their
voices and wept.
8. But Jeshu said, Do not
'weep, for a great reward is in
store for your piety; only beware
lest ye transgress my words.
9. To which all responded,
Whatsoever thou coinmandest
we will do, and whosoever proveth disobedient to thy commands,
let him die.
10. Then said Jeshu, If ye lis
ten to my words and obey my
commands ye will treat me with
favor and justice. As ye go to
fight for me at Jerusalem I will
hide myself by mingling with you
so that the citizens of Jerusalem
may not know me3.
11. These things Jeshu spoke
deceitfully, that he might go to
Jerusalem and enter the Temple
and again obtain the knowledge
of the name.
12. Not in the least suspecting
his evil intent, they all respon
ded, All things that thou comman dest we will do, nor will we
depart therefrom a finger’s
breadth, either to the right or to
the left.
13. Again he said, Make oath
1 Compare John v., 41.
2 Jesus equals and exceeds this
(presumption. See Matt he w xix., 28.
A remarkably similar passage
occurs in John vii., 8-10. Acording to this Gospel, although it is
■not mentioned by either of the
others, Jesus sends his brethren
up to Jerusalem, and remains
behind in Galilee himself, because
his “ time was not yet come.”
But as soon as they are gone, he
follows them “ not openly, but, M
it were, in secret ”
�The Jewish Life oj Christ.
2ft-
to me. So they all from the
least to the greatest, bound
themselves by an oath.
14. And they did not know
that Judas was among them, be
cause he was not recognised.
15. Afterwards Judas said to
the attendants, Let us provide for
ourselves uniform garments, so
that no one maybe able to know
our master.
16. This device pleased them,
and they carried it out.
17. Then they journeyed to
Jerusalem, there to celebrate the
feast of unleavened bread .
18. Now when the devout men
saw Judas they rejoiced with
great joy, and said to him, Point
out to us we pray thee, what remaineth to be done.
19. (For he had secretly with
drawn himself and come to the
elders and wise men of the city).
20. Then Judas related all that
had happened, and how he had
obtained the name from the bas
tard.
21. Wherefore they rejoiced,
and Judas said to them, If ye
will obey my orders, to-morrow
I will deliver this fellow into
your hands.
22. Then said the wise men,
Hast thou enough knowledge of
his going and coming?
23. Judas replied, Everything
is known to me. Lo, he goeth
to the temple to attend the sao-ifice of the Paschal victim, but I
have sworn to him by the ten
commandments not to deliver
him into your hands.
24. And he hath with him twotbousand men5* Be ye prepared
.
therefore to-morrow, and know
that the man before whom I bow
down in adoration, he is the bas
tard. Act bravely, attack his fol
lowers, and seize him.
25. Simeon Ben Shetach and
all the rest of the wise men,
danced for joy, and they pro
mised Judas to obey his orders.
26. The next day came Jeshu
with all his crowd, but Judas
went out to meet him, and falling
down before him he worshipped
him.
27. Then all the citizens of
Jerusalem, being well armed and
mailed, captured Jeshu.
28. And when his disciples
saw him held captive, and that
it was vain to fight, they took to
their legs8 hither and thither,
and gave themselves up to bitter
weeping.
29. Meanwhile the citizens of
Jerusalem, waxing stronger, con
quered the bastard and his
crowd, killing many of them,
while the rest fled to the moun
tains.
30. Then the elders of Jerusalem brought Jeshu into the city,
and bound him to a marble pillar,
and scourged him, saying, Where
now are all the miracles thou hast
wrought ?
4 See Luk® xxii., 1. “ Now the
feast of unleavened bread drew
nigh, which is called the Passover.”
5 Jesus also must have had a
large following, probably consist
ing for the most part of fanatical
Galileans. They doubtless assisted
him in clearing the precincts of the
Temple, and they were dreaded by
the high priests who seized him
suddenly by night, “ for they feared
the people.”
8 Jeshu's disciples only leavo
him when they see that further re
sistance to the authorities is useless
�so
The Jewish Life of Christ.
31. Then they took thorn the grave, nor wilt thou at last
branches, and weaving a crown convert gall into good fruit.
out of them, put it on his
37. But Jesus weeping bitter
head.
ly, said, My God, my God, why
32. Then the bastard becoming
thirsty, said, Give me some water
to drink.
33. So they offered him vine
gar. Having tasted it, he cried
out with a loud voice,
34. My forefather David pro
phesied concerning me, saying,
And they gave me gall- for meat,
and in my thirst they gave me
vinegar to drink.
35. They answering, said, If
thou art God, why didst thou not
■make known before thou didst
drink that vinegar was offered to
thee ?
36. Then they added, Thou
dost stand now upon the verge of
hast thou forsaken me7 ?
38. Then the elders said, If
thou art the son of God, why
dost thou not deliver thyself out
of our hands?
39. Jeshu replied, My blood is
shed for mortals, for thus Esaias
prophesied, And from his wounds
we are healed8*
.
40. Afterwards they brought
Jeshu before the greater and
lesser Sanhedrim, where sentence
was pronounced that he should
be stoned and hanged
.
*
41. The same day was the
preparation for the Sabbath and
also the preparation for the Passover1.
7 The scourging, the crown of
thorns, the mocking, and the
vinegar for drink, are such familiar
features of our Gospel story that it
is unnecessary to cite particular
texts.
Jeshu’s exclamation is
also exactly the same as that of
Jesus. It is the first verse of the
twenty-second Psalm—Eloi, Etoi,
lama sabacthani—“ My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me ?”
8 Isaiah liii., 5. This misinter
preted prophecy of the suffering
Messiah has largely contributed to
the Christian doctrine of the atone
ment. Matthew (xxvi., 28) makes
Jesus say at the last supper, “ this
is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the re
mission of sins.”
* Jeshu’s trial and sentence are
strictly according to Jewish law
and practice, while that of Jesus
outrages it in every particular.
Rabbi Wise, in his “ Martyrdom of
Jesus of Nazareth ” (p. G6), has the
following trenchant remarks on this
subject: “ The whole trial, from
the beginning to the end, is con
trary to Jewish law and custom as
in force at the time of Jesus. No
court of justice with jurisdiction
in penal cases could or ever did
hold its session in the place of the
high priest. There were three legal
bodies in Jerusalem to decide penal
cases: the great Sanhedrim of
•eventy-one members, and the two
minor Sanhedrim, each of twentythree members. The court of priests
had no penal jurisdiction except in
the affairs of the temple service,
and then over priests and Levites
only.”
1 This agrees with John, but not
with Matthew, Mark and Luke,
who all represent Jesus as having
already eaten of the Passover. The
fourth Gospel is a later production,
and its author had an opportunity
to correct silently some of his pre
decessors’ mistakes. Rabbi Wise,
in his “ Origin of Christianity ”
(p. 30), writes : “ In the first place
�The Jewish Life- of Christ.
31
42. Thence, taking him out to
the place of punishment they
etoned him to death'-. .
43. Then the wise men com
manded him to be hanged on a
tree, but no tree was found that
would support him for all being
frail were broken.
44. Ilis disciples seeing this,
vailed and cried out, Behold the
goodness of our ma ter Jeshu,
whom no tree will sustain.
45. But they knew not that
he had enchanted all wood when
he was in possession of the name3.
46. But he knew that he would
surely suffer the penalty of hang
ing, as it is written, When any
man shall be judged to death for
an offence and shall be put to
the Jews did no public business on
that day; had no court sessions,
no trials, and certainly no execu
tions on any Sabbath or feast day.
And in tho second place, the first
day of the Passover never was on
a Friday, and novel' can bo, accord
ing to the established principles of
tho Jewish calendar.”
These
statements, which could be amply
justified by Biblical and Talmudic
references, put Matthew, Mark and
Luke out of court; for they clearly
assert that Jesus was crucified on
the first day of the Passover.
Rabbi Wise sensibly concludes that
they “ adopted the first day of the
Passover because they taught the
dogma that Jesus died to redeem
all sinners. Tho fact concerning
the day was shaped to suit the
dogma. Israel was redeemed from
Egyptian bondage on the day cele
brated ever after that event as tho
feast of the Passover; therefore
tho death of Jesus, the second re
demption, must have taken place
on the self-same day. . . . But
this is impossible."
* The punishment for blasphemy
is prescribed in Leviticus xxiv.,16,
and that for perverting to the wor
ship of false gods in Deuteronomy
xiii., 10. Stoning was the method
of execution in both cases. Jeshu
therefore died according to the
Jewish law. The subsequent hang
ing was perhaps equivalent to the
exposure of traitors’ heads on
Temple Bar. Jesus, according to
our Gospels, was crucified; but
there was a diversity of opinion on
this point among tho early Chrijt
tians. Paul preached “ Christ an$
him crucified,” but his great riwd
Peter, in Acts v., 30, speaks &
“ Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged
on a tree,” and again in Acts x.,33
“ whom they slew and hanged on a
tree,” Peter further says (xii., 29)
“ they took him down from the
tree, and laid him in a sepulchre
and again in bis first Epistle, “ Who
his own self bare our sins in his
own body on the tree.” When Peter
and Paul differ as to the execution
of Jesus, it is not difficult to decide
which should bo believed. Peter
had, as Paid had not, the advant age
of being present. Peter does, in
deed, refer twice in Acts ii. to Jesus
as “ crucified,” but it is in a long
speech which was probably com
posed for him by the author. In
any case, these references do not
destroy the force of his froquont
allusions to “ hanging.” Paul him
self, too, in Galatians iii., 13, ap
pears to side for once with Peter.
Christ,” he says, “ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being
made a curso for us: for it is
written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree.” On the whole
it is not improbable that Jeshu and
Jesus died the same death.
s Deut. xxi., 22-8. Jeshu’s en
chantment of the wood appears a
masterly stroke of anticipation.
�32
The Jewish Life of Christ.
death, then thou shak hang him
etc.
47. Then Judas, when he saw,
that no wood would hold him up,
said to the wise men. Behold the
subtlety of this fellow, for he hath
enchanted the wood that it might
not sustain him.
48. But there is in my garden
a great stem of a cabbage4* I will
;
go and bring it hither; perhaps
it will hold the body,
49. To whom the wise men
said, Go and do so. So Judas
went at once and brought the
stalk, and on it Jeshu was
hanged.
50. Toward night the wise
men said, It is not lawful for us
to break one letter of the divine
law in regard to this fellow; we
must do to him what the law de
mands, even though he did se
duce men.
51. Therefore they buried him
where he was stoned.
52. Now about the middle of
the night his disciples came and
sat down by the grave and wept
and mourned for him.
53. Judas seeing this, took
away the body and hid it in his
garden under a brook. Diverting
the water elsewhere, he buried
the body in the channel and then
brought the water back.
54. On the morrow, when the
disciples came again and sat
down to weep, Judas said to
them, Why do ye weep ? Look
and see if the buried man is
there.
55. And when they looked and
found he was not there, the mis
erable crowd cried out, He is not
in the grave but hath ascended
to heaven5.
56. For he foretold this him
self when alive, and as if con
cerning himself the saying -was
interpreted, [But God will re
deem my soul from the power of
the grave] ; for he shall receive
me; Selah.
57. Meanwhile the Queen
finding out what had been done,
commanded the wise men of
Israel to appear; and when they
came she said to them,
58. What have ye done with
this man whom ye have accused
of being a sorcerer and a seducer
of men ?
59. They answered, We have
buried him according to the re
quirement of our law.
60. Then she said, Bring him
hither to me.
61. And they went and sought
for him in the grave, but did not
find him.
62. Then returning to the
Queen, they said, We know not
who hath taken him from the
grave.
63. The Queen answered and
said, lie is the Son of God and
hath ascended to his Father in
heaven ; for thus it is prophesied
of him, For he shall receive me ;
Selah.
64. Then the wise men said,
Do not allow these thoughts to
come into thy mind, for verily he
was a sorcerer; and they gave
proof by their own testimony
4 It must have been an immense Toldoth Jeshu for Richard Carlile,
cabbage. Perhaps it was a Jeru says the plant was a small specie®
salem artichoke. The anonymous of palm tree.
Jew. who translated the Sepher
5 Compare Ma*thew xxviii.. 6.
�33
The Jewish Life of Christ.
that he was a bastard and the son grave, and none of us know who
of an adulteress.
65. The Queen replied, Why
do I exchange words with you
in vain? For if ye bring him
hither, ye shall be found inno
cent, but if not, none of you
shall survive.
66. They all responded in these
words : Give us time that we may
discover the upshot of this affair.
Peradventure we may find him
there, but if we do not succeed,
do unto us whatever pleaseth thee.
67. She allowed them three
days’ time, and they departed
grieved at heart, lamenting, and
not knowing what to do.
68. Therefore they ordered a
fast, and when the appointed
time came and they had not
found the body, many left Jeru
salem to escape the sight of the
Queen.
69. Among the rest went a
certain old man named Rabbi
Tanchuma. He in great sorrow
wandering through the fields,
saw Judas sitting in his own
garden, eating.
70. Coming up to him, Rabbi
Tanchuma said, How is this?
Why dost thou take food when
all the Jews fast and are in sore
distress ?
71. Judas, greatly astonished,
inquired wherefore they fasted.
72. Rabbi Tanchuma replied,
It is because of this bastard who
hath been hanged and buried
near the place of stoning; he
nath been taken away from the
8 An analogous story is found in
Matthew xxviii., 11-15 But M atthew’s story is incredibly absur 1.
7 This is perhaps a later a Idition. It is no part of the st >ry,
but merely a speculation of the
hath taken him.
73. But his worthless disciples
declare that he hath gone up to
heaven, and the Queen threateneth all of us Israelites with
death unless we find him.
74. Then Judas asked, If this
fellow shall be found, will it
bring safety to the Israelites ?
75. Rabbi Tanchuma said, In
deed it will.
76. Then said Judas, Come,
and I will show thee the man,
for I took him away from the
grave because I feared less per
chance his impious followers
might steal him from the tomb8,
and I hid him in my garden,
andmade the brook run over him.
77. Then RabbiTanchuma
hastened to the wise men of
Israel and related the matter.
78. Therefore they all assem
bled, and tying the body to a
horse’s tail, brought it and threw
it down before the Queen, say
ing, Behold the man of whom
thou hast said, He hath gone up
to heaven.
79. When the Queen saw him,
she was overwhelmed with shame
and unable to speak.
80. Moreover, while the body
was thus dragged about forsome
time, the hair of the head was
pulled out.
81. And this is the reason why
now the hair of a monk is shaved
off in the middle of the head ; it
is done in remembrance of what
happened to Jeshu*
7.
author. As a matter of fact, he
was mistaken; for the tonsure was
inuse among Buddhistmonks before
the Christian era; Guatama him
self being represented as perform
ing the ceremony on his son Rahula.
0
�The Jewish Life of Christ
CHAPTER IV.
After these things the strife
between the Nazarenes and
Judeans grew so great that it
caused a division between them,
and a Nazarene meeting a Ju
dean would kill him1.
2. The trouble increased more
and more for thirty years, when
the Nazarenes, having increased
to thousands and myriads, pro
hibited the Israelites from com
ing to the greater festivals in
Jerusalem1*
2.
3. Then there was great dis
tress among the Israelites, like
what it was in the day when the
{golden] calf was forged, so that
no one knew what to do.
4. ’The pernicious faith in
creased and spread abroad, and
there came forth twelve men3
(bad offspring of foul ravens),
who wandered through twelve
kingdoms and spread false doc
trines among mankind.
5. Some of the Israelites fol
lowed them, and these being of
high authority, strengthened tho
Jeshuitic faith; and because
they gave themselves out to be
Apostles of him who was hanged,
the great body of the Israelites
followed them.
6. The wise men seeing this
desperate state of things were
sorely distressed, for wicked
ness abounded among the
Israelites.
7. Therefore everyone turning
to his companion said, Woe unto
us; what sins have we committed
that in our time so shameful a
thing should happen in Israel,
such as neither we nor our an
cestors ever before heard of ?.
8. Therefore with great sad
ness and weeping they sat down,
and with their eyes turned to
wards heaven said:
9. We pray thee, O Lord, God
1 The later, and more volumi
nous Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, edited
by Huldrich, makes Joseph Pandera a Nazarene, and represents
him as settling at Nazareth with
Miriam and Jeshu after their return
from Egypt, whither they had gone
on account of a famine in Palestine.
2 Probably an anachronism. It
perhaps alludes to an actual occur’tt>»ce in the early part of the second
century of our era. Archdeacon
Farrar says that “in a.d. 120.
TElia Capitolina was built by
Hadrian on the ruins of Jerusalem,
and Christians were allowed free
access to it, while no Jew was
suffered to approach it ” (“ Early
Days of Christianity,” p. 491).
3 Christian legends likewise re
present the twelve apostles as going
to various countries.
�The Jewish Life of Christ.
35
of heaven, to give us counsel
what to do, for we are entirely
ignorant as to what ought to be
done. We lift our eyes to thee.
10. In the midst of the people
of Israel innocent blood is shed
on account of this bastard and
son of an adulteress.
11. Wherefore are we stret
ched on tenter-hooks while the
hand of the Nazarene prevaileth
against us and great numbers of
us are killed4 ?
12. But few of us are left, and
on account of sins in which the
house of Israel is implicated
these things have happened.
13. Do thou indeed for thy
name’s sake give us counsel
what to do that we may be de
livered from the wicked crowd
of N azarenes.
14. When they had thus
prayed, a certain aged man from
among the elders, whose name
was Simeon Kepha [Simon Ce
phas]5 who frequented the Holy
of Holies, said to the rest,
15. My brethren and people,
hear me : If ye approve my
counsel I will root out these
wicked men from the society of
Israel, and they shall have no
more any part or heritage with
the Israelites.
16. But is it necessary that ye
shall take upon you the guilt of
an offence.
17. All responded saying, The
sin be upon us; carry out thy
purpose.
18. Therefore Simeon Ben
Kepha went into the sanctuary
and wrote out the Almighty
name, and cut his flesh with a
knife and placed it therein.
19. Then going from the Tem
ple he drew forth the writing,
and when he had learned the
name he went away to the chief
city of the Nazarenes.
20. And raising his voice he
cried out, Whosoever believeth
in Jeshu let him come unto me,
for I am sent by him.
21. Soon a great multitude
drew near to him, as many as
the sands of the sea, and said
4 Another anachronism, pro
bably referring to the same period
as verse 2. The Christians enjoyed
immunity from persecution, but
there is no doubt that the Jews
suffered dreadfully from Pagan and
Christian after the fall of Jerusalem.
5 The whole of this chapter,
which is no part of the life of Jeshu
but merely an addendum, is terribly
confused; and Mr. Gould’s at
tempted elucidations only leave it
in greater obscurity. He seeks to
explain it by events that occured
many centuries later. But a more
obvious and satisfactory explana
tion may be given. Simeon Kepha
is probably Peter, whose Judaising
proclivities are well known; and
Elias (verse 46) is perhaps^ Paul,
who withstood him, and preacned
the gospel to the Gentiles. Chris
tianity was originally nothing but a
Jewish sect, and there were greater
differences between the Sadducees
and the Pharisees than between
the Pharisees and the Christians.
The Book of Revelation shows
how intensely Jewish was the spirit
of the early Church, and at the
same time it indicates the intrusion
of foreign elements. Peter and
Paul represented respectively these
opposing tendencies. It may be
added that the miracles hew
ascribed to Simeon Kepha are
somewhat similar to those recoil
**
of Peter in the Acta
�Sv
The Jewish Life of Christ,
to him, Show us something to
confirm to us that thou art sent
by him.
22. And when he asked what
sign they required of him, they
replied, The miracles which
Jeshu when alive performed do
thou also exhibit to us.
23. Therefore he commanded
them to bring hither a leper;
and when they had brought him,
he laid his hand upon him and
he was healed
24. Again he asked them to
bring to him a dead man, and
when one was brought he laid
his hand upon him and he re
vived and stood upon his feet.
25. The wicked men seeing
this fell down to the ground,
before him, saying, Without
doubt thou art sent by Jeshu,
for when he was alive he did
these things for us.
26. Simeon Kepha then said,
I am sent by Jeshu, and he hath
commanded me to come to you.
Give me an oath that ye will do
all things that I command.
27. So at once they all ex
claimed, We will do all that
thou commandest.
28. Then Simeon Kepha said,
Know ye that he who was
hanged was the enemy of the
Israelites and their law, because
of the prophecy of Esaias, say
ing, Your new moons and
appointed holidays my soul
nateth.
29. Moreover, be it known to
you, that he did not delight in
the Israelites, even as Hosea
prophesied, Ye are not my
people,
• Compare Matthew xix., 28.
* Verses 36-37. The Christian
30. And although it be in his
power to sweep them from the
earth in one moment, never
theless he did not wish to utterly
destroy them, but desired that
there should ever be in your
midst witnesses of his hanging
and stoning.
31. Moreover, he underwent
those great sufferings and sor
rows that he might redeem us
from hell.
32. And now he exhorteth
and commandeth you no longer
to ill-treat any of the Judeans;
but if a Judean saith to a Naza
rene, Go with me one mile, let
him go with him two miles.
33. And if a Judean striketh
a Nazarene on his left cheek,
let him turn to him the right
also; that in this world they
may have their reward, but in
the world to come may be pun
ished in hell.
34. If ye do these things, ye
shall be worthy to sit with him
in his seats8.
35. Lo this also he require th
of you, that ye do not celebrate
the feast of the Passover, but
that ye hold sacred the day on
which he died.
36. And that instead of the
feast of Pentecost ye keep holy
the fortieth day after the ston
ing, in which he ascended to
heaven.
37. Instead of the feast of
tabernacles let the day of the
nativity be made holy; and on
the eighth day afterwards ob
serve the memory of his cir
cumcision7.
38. All responded to these
festivals of Good Friday, Ascension
Day, Christmas, and the Circum-
�The Jewish Life of Christ.
words, Whatsoever thou sayest
we will do ; remain with us
now.
39. To which he said, I will
abide with you if ye will allow
me to abstain from all food ac
cording to his precept, and only
eat the bread of misery and
drink the water of sorrow.
40. But ye must build me a
tower in the midst of the city
on which I may sit even till the
day of my death.
41. The people answered, We
will do as th ou sayest.
42. Therefore they built a
tower and put him thereon ; and
every day they brought him his
allowance of miserable bread
and scanty water, even up to
the hour of his death, he staying
there all the time.
43. For truly he served the
God of our fathers Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and composed
many beautiful hymns, which he
published through all the region
of Israel, that they might be a
perpetual monument to him;
and he repeated all the hymns
to his masters.
44. 'This Simeon lived on
that tower six years, and when
he came to die he commanded
that he should be buried within
it; and that request they
obeyed.
45. Afterwards they devised
a most abominable fraud, and at
this very time that tower is to
be seen at Rome, and they call
it Peter—that is, the name of a
stone, because he sat on a stone
even to the day of his death.
46. After the death of Rabbi
Simeon Kepha there arose a man
named Elias8, a wise man but of
corrupt mind, who went to
Rome and publicly said: •
47. Know ye that Simeon
Kepha hath deceived you, for
your Jeshu gave to me his com
mands, saying, Go and tell
them.
48. Let no one believe that I
despise the law; for whoever
wishes to be initiated by cir
cumcision I will allow him.
49. But he who refuses to
observe this, let him be plunged
in foul water ; nor indeed if he
abstains from this shall he incur
danger.
•
50. This also he requireth:
that not on the seventh day but
the first on which the heavens
and the earth were created ye
shall worship.
51. And he added many other
bad instructions.
eision, are here plainly described.
Peter was “ of the circumcision,”
and it is natural to represent Simeon
Sepha as enjoining its observance
on the Nazarenes. The inclusion
of the festival of the Circumcision
in this list also points to the anti
quity of the text; for it was com
memorated in the early Church
until its suppression by Pope
Gelasius (a.d. 492-496).
Christianity”) considers Paul to
be the Acher (Alias) of the Talmud,
who was also called Elisha ben
Abuah. He was an apostate
disciple of Gamaliel, and was
alleged to have visited Paradise,
as Paul was lifted into “the seventh
heaven.” The views of Elias on
the unimportance of ceremonies
*
agree with those expressed by Paul
in his Epistles; and Paul, like Elias
is supposed to have met a violent
death at Rome
Rabbi
Wise
(“ Origin
of
�38
The Jewish Life of Christ.
52. But the people said, Con
firm to us by a miracle that
Jeshu hath sent thee.
53. And he said, What miracle
do ye expect ?
54. Scarcely had he spoken
when a stone fell from a huere
wall and crushed his head.
55. So perish all thine ene
mies, O Lord ; but let those who
love thee be even as t’>e sun
when it shineth in its strength
Selah, selah, selah.
�APPENDIX..
JESUS IN THE
TALMUD.
The references to Jesus in the Talmud being binding on
every orthodox Jew, we think it well to transcribe from
Lightfoot’s “ Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations ” (Ox
ford, 1859), the following passages upon Matt, ii., 14 :
“ There are some footsteps in the Talmudists of this
journey of our Savior into Egypt, but so corrupted with
venomous malice and blasphemy (as all their writings are),
that they seem only to have confessed the truth, that they
might have matter the more liberally to reproach him; for
as they speak: ‘ When Jannia [Bab. Sanedr., fol. 107, 2],
the King, slew the Rabbins, R. Joses ben Perachiah and Jesus
went away into Alexandria, in Egypt. Simeon ben Shetah
sent thither, speaking thus: “ From me, Jerusalem, the holy
city, to thee, 0 Alexandria in Egypt, my sister, health. My
husband dwells with thee, while I, in the meantime, sit alone.”
Therefore he rose up and went.’ And, a little after, ‘ He
brought forth four hundred trumpets, and anathematised’
(Jesus). And, a little before that, ‘ Elisaaus turned away
Gehazi with both his hands.’ ‘ And R. Joshua Ben Perachiah
thrust away Jesus with both his hands.’ ”
“Did [Schabb., fol. 164, 2] not Ben Stada bring enchant
ments out of Egypt in the cutting which was in his flesh ? ”
Under the name of Ben Stacla they wound our Jesus with
their reproaches, although the Glosser upon the place, from
the authority of R. Tam, denies it: for thus he, R. Tam saith,
�40
Appendix.
This was not Jesus of Nazareth, because they say here, Ben
Stada was in the days of Paphus, the son of Judah, who was
in the days of R. Akiba : but Jesus was in the days of R.
Josua, the sou of Perachiah, etc.
Wagenseil continues the story from the Gemara. While
Jesus and Joshua Ben Perachiah were at Alexandria,
they were hospitably treated by a rich and learned lady,
who, in Madame Blavatsky’s opinion, personifies Egypt.
Joshua praised her hospitality, and Jesus found her beautiful,
notwithstanding a “defect in her eyes.” Upon declaring so
to his master, Joshua cursed and drove him away, it being
forbidden by the Rabbis to look with admiration on female
beauty.
Lightfoot, upon Matt, xxvii., 31, says: “These things
are delivered in Sanhedrim (cap. vi., hal. 4) of one that is
guilty of stoning. If there be no defence found for him, they
led him out to be stoned, and a crier went before, saying
aloud thus : ‘ N., the son of N., comes out to be stoned, be
cause he hath done so and so. The witnesses against him
are N. and N.; whosoever can bring anything in his de
fence, let him come forth and produce it.’ On which
the Gemara of Babylon: “The tradition is, that on the
evening of the Passover Jesus was hanged, and that a
crier went before him for forty days, making this proclamat ion : ‘ This man comes forth to be stoned, because he
dealt in sorceries, and persuaded and seduced Israel; whoso
ever knows of any defence for him, let him come forth and
produce it.’ But no defence could be found, therefore they
hanged him on the evening of the Passover. Ulla saith, ‘ His
case seemed not to admit of any defence, since he was a
seducer, and of such God hath said, Thou shalt not spare him,
neither shalt thou conceal him ’ (Deut. xiii., 8).”
On v. 56, which speaks of Mary Magdalene and Mary the
nother of James and Joses, Lightfoot notes that the name
Magdalene, which is several times applied in the
Talmud to Miriam, the mother of Jeshu, means a plaiting or
curling of the hair, a profession which it appears was resorted
to by harlots, so that the word, like Stada, was used as an euphem
ism fora coarser term. Bab. Sandhr., fol. 67, 1 : ‘ They stoned
the son of Stada in Lydda, and they hanged him up on the
evening of the Passover. Now this son of Stada was son of
�41
Appendix.
Pandira.’
“ As they say in Pombedetha, she departed
from her husband.”
In the Jerusalem Talmud the following occurs: “ A child of
a son of Rabbi Joses, son of Levi, swallowed something
poisonous. There came a man who pronounced some words
to him in the name of Jesus, son of Pandera, and he was
healed. When he was going away Rabbi Joses said to him :
‘ What word did you use ?’ He answered, such a word. Rabbi
Joses said to him : ‘Better had it been for him to die, than
to hear such a word.’ And so it happened that he instantly
died.” Upon which Lardner remarks : “ Another proof this
of the power of miracles inherent in the disciples of Jesus,
and at the same time a mark of the malignity of the Jewish
rabbins.”
In another place the Jerusalem Gemara Avoda Sara, fol. 27,
says: “A son of Dama was bitten by a serpent. There came
to him James of Sechania to cure him in the name of Jesus,
son of Pandera, but the Rabbi Ismael would not suffer it.”
The Gemara Tract, Sanhedrm, fol. 43, mentions that Jeshu
had five disciples, Matthai, Nakai, Nezer, Boni, and Thoda.
Mr. Gould remarks, “ That there really lived such a person
■as Jeschu Ben-Pandira. and that he was a disciple of the Rabbi
Jehoshua Ben-Perachia, I see no reason to doubt. That he
escaped from Alexander Jannaeus with his master into Egypt,
and there studied magical arts; that he returned after awhile to
Judaea, and practised his necromantic arts in his own country,
is also not improbable.
Somewhat later the Jews were
famous, or infamous, throughout the Roman world as con
jurors and exorcists. Egypt was the head-quarters of magical
studies. That Jeschu, son of Pandira, was stoned to death
in accordance with the law, for having practised magic, is
.also probable. The passages quoted are unanimous in stating
that he was stoned for this offence. The law decreed this
as the death sorcerers were to undergo.”
WAS
JESUS
HANGED?
Lightfoot and Lardner, our two great English authorities,
translating from the Talmud, say that Jeshu was hanged We
�42
Appendix.
have ourselves, in a footnote, shown that stoning was the
Jewish method of execution, and that numerous passages in
the New Testament refer to Jesus as having been hung on a
tree, and therefore accursed. Mr. Gould arbitrarily changes
“hung” into “ crucified,” in order to bolster up his theory
that the Jews confused their Jeshu with the Christian Jesus.
Far more probable theories of the origin of the Crucifixion
legend may be ventured. Rabbi Wise considers that it may
have arisen from the story of Antigonus. He writes :—“ Dion
Cassius says ‘ Antony now gave the Kingdom to a certain
Herod, and having stretched Antigonus on the cross and
scourged him, which had never been done before to a king by
the Romans, he put him to death.’ The sympathies of the
masses for the crucified King of Judaea, the heroic son of so
many heroic ancestors, and the legends growing, in time, out of
this historical nucleus, became, perhaps, the source from which
Paul and the Evangelists preached Jesus as the crucified King
of Judaea.” (History of the Hebrew’s Second Commonwealth,
p. 206 ; Cincinnatti, 1880.)
The Roman cross was not, as Christian painters have uni
versally represented it, shaped thus | . Its real form was a-
T, the upright portion being a fixture in the place of execution,
and the cross-piece, or patibulum, being carried from the court
or prison by the culprit, less as a burden than as a mark of
ignominy. The true Cross was an ancient phallic symbol,,
and it was used in Egyptian hieroglyphics as the sign of life..
Derived from immemorial ages before Christianity, its exten
sive use in religious symbolism would naturally prompt the
founders and propagators of new creeds and sects to adopt
it in their systems. The early Christians, beginning with'
Paul, deserted the story of Jesus being hung, and transferred
the rope to Judas. Then by developing the story of the
Crucifixion, and slightly varying the form of the Roman'
Cross, they elevated their Savior to a position whence he
radiated the mysticism of all religions.
LARDNER ON THE TOLDOTH JESUIT.
Dr. Lardner, in his “ Jewish Testimonies ” (chap, vii., p. 558,
Works, vol. vi.; 1838) after citing from the Talmud, says in »
�Appendix.
‘l.'T
note, “ Some learned men have of late appealed to a work
entitled Toldoth Jeschu. I am of opinion that Christianity
does not need such a testimony nor witnesses. I have looked
over it several times, with an intention to give some account
of it ; but, after all, I could not persuade myself to attempt
it; for it is a modern work, written in the fourteenth or
fifteenth century, and is throughout, from the beginning to the
end burlesque and falsehood; nor does the shameless writer
acknowledge anything that has so much as a resemblance
to the truth, except in the way of ridicule.”
We have shown in our Preface that the Jeshu story is very
ancient, and in substance was quoted by a Christian author in
the thirteenth century, and even then without being referred
to as a recent composition. As for “ridicule,” the miracles
of the New Testament are fully as absurd as those of the
Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, only we are accustomed to them, and
this is one of those instances in which familiarity does not
breed contempt. How Dr. Lardner would have laughed at
finding in the Jeshu story a lively narrative of devils’ adven
tures in men and pigs, or of the hero’s being lugged through
the air by the Devil and perched on a pinnacle. Such fables
are “ burlesque,” “ false” and “shameless ” to every man who
finds them in another’s faith.
CELSUS
We have already in our Preface referred to Mr. Froude’s
essay on Celsus. The famous “infidel’s” reflections on the
birth of Jesus have also been dealt with in one of our foot
notes. The title of his work was Logos Alethes, which Dr.
Donaldson translates as “The True Discourse” and Mr.
Froude as the “ True Account.” “ The book is now lost to
us,” says Professor Luthardt, “ having been destroyed by the
Christian zeal of the following centuries.” Mr. Froude says
of it: “ The book was powerful and popular, and it proved a
real obstacle to the spread of Christianity among the edu
cated classes. Origen’s answer decided the controversy in
the Church’s favor; but in the reconsideration of the theo
logical position which has been forced upon the modern world,
�44
Appcndix.
what Celsus had to say has become of peculiar interest to us,
and I have endeavored to reconstruct, in outline, his principal
positions. His arguments lie under every disadvantage ; the
order is disarranged, the objections are presented sometimes
in his own words, sometimes in paraphrases and epitomes,
and are brought forward in the attitude in which they could
be most easily overthrown. Often we are left to discover
what he must have said from details of the rejoinder.”
Mr. Froude likewise gives a summary of the charge
against Jesus which Celsus puts into the mouth of a Jewish
adversary of Christianity. Apostrophising Jesus, he says:
“ You were born in a small Jewish village. Your mother
was a poor woman who earned her bread by spinning.
Her husband divorced her for adultery. You were born
in secret, and were afterwards carried to Egypt, and were
bred up among Egyptian conjurors. The arts which you
there learnt you practised when you returned to your own
people, and you thus persuaded them that you were God.
It was given out that you were born of a virgin. Your real
father was a soldier, named Panther.”
It may be added that from his reference to St. Epiphanius,
John of Damascus, and the Talmud, Mr. Froude appears to
attach some weight to these taunts of Celsus.
Celsus was a man of learning, acuteness and wit, and
writing in the second century, he was in a much better posi
tion than any modern apologist of Christianity to judge of
its originality and its miraculous pretensions. He knew that
it was primarily an offshoot of Judaism, afterwards strength
ened and improved by large derivations from Greek theo
sophy ; and he pointed out what the early Fathers never
denied, that the Christian miracles were intellectually on a
level with the prodigies of Paganism, the only dispute being
as to the character of the supernatural power they manifested.
Unfortunately, nothing of this great sceptic’s work survives,
■except the extracts preserved in Origen’s refutation; and
however honest this celebrated Father may have been, it is
impossible, especially in view of Mr. Froude’s objections, to
take his reply as a complete statement of his opponent’s
positions.
Mr. Gould starts an original argument on this subject
“ Had,” he says, “ any of the stories found in the Toldoth
Jeschu existed in the second century, we should certainly
�Appendix.
45
nave found them in the book of Celsus.” Our answer to this
is threefold. First, Christian bigotry has left us no copy of
“ the book of Celsus,” which is therefore an unappealable
authority. Second, Celsus does twit the Christians with wor
shipping as God a bastard Jew, born of Pandera and a
Jewish woman, and who worked miracles by magic, which is
the very nucleus of the Jeshu story. Third, where the
Christian Father distinctly challenges another “calumny” as
to Jesus being a carpenter, Celsus is right and Origen
clearly wrong. Had the Sceptic himself been able to perusethe Father’s answer, it is probable that, instead of being
converted, he would have found fresh food for mirth, and
been convinced of the hopelessness of attempting to turn
Christians from their favorite superstition.
JESUS AND MAGIC.
Strange as the charge of magic may sound to us, it was
common to both sides in the early controversy between
Christianity and its opponents. That was not an age in
which miracles were denied. The modern habit of criticism,
resulting from long acquaintance with the methods of
physical science, scarcely existed then. Miraculous stories
were not investigated, but accepted or rejected as they
favored or opposed existing beliefs.
Gibbon satirically
remarks than an Athanasian is obdurate to the force of an
Arian miracle ; and neither the Christians, the Jews, nor the
Pagans could succeed in convincing each other by the
greatest display of miraculous power. When Tertullian, in
the name of the Trinity, challenged the deities of Paganism
to a public contest, ’-e was only attesting the universal belief
in magic. Jesus himself, as we read in the gospels, was
accused by the Jews of casting out devils by the power of
Beelzebub ; and in reply, he simply retorted the charge on
his adversaries.
From this time until the Christianity was victorious and
Paganism finally suppressed, the charge of magic was con
stantly preferred against Jesus. According to the Apocry
�46
Appendix,
phal gospel of Nicodemus, the Jews “said to Pilate, Did
we not say unto thee, Fie is a conjuror?” Justin Martyr,
in the middle of the second century, says the Jews of his
time still asserted that the miracles of Jesus were performed
by magical arts. This charge he also, like his master,
retorted on his opponents. lie even appeals to “ necro
mancy . divination by immaculate children, dream-senders
and assistant spirits ” in proof of another life. We may
safely assert that all the Christian Fathers, as well as Justin
Martyr, believed in magic and necromancy. The Clementine
Recognitions allude to the same charge against Jesus ; and
Arnobiys, writing at the end of the third century or the
beginning of the fourth, says : “ My opponents will perhaps
meet me with many other slanderous and childish charges
which are commonly urged.
Jesus was a magician
(sorcerer) ; he effected all these things by secret arts. From
the shrines of the Egyptians he stole names of angels of
might, and the religious system of a remote century.”*
JESHU’S CONTEMPORARIES.
King Janneus, in whose reign Jeshu is placed, was a
Sadducee. He persecuted the Rabbis, and Joshua ben Pera-chiah, the President of the Sanhedrim, fled to Egypt, leaving
Simeon ben Shetach as his deputy. With respect to this per
secution, Rabbi Wise writes:—“ The Pharisees being perse•cuted in the days of Alexander Jannai, the number of
Nazarites increased. Three hundred of them came at one
time to Jerusalem to fulfil their vows. Simon [ben Shetach]
was enabled so to construe the law that it was unnecessary
for one half of them to make the prescribed sacrifices.”
Can these Nazarites have been the Nazarenes referred to
in the Jeshu story ? Such a confusion of names is more than
possible, for the author of our first Gospel has actually per
petrated it. He sends Jesus home to Nazareth to fulfil the
prophecy “ He shall be called a Nazarene.” But the only
* Ante-Niceno Christian Library, Vol xix., p. 34.
�Appendix.
47
prophecy of that kind in the Old Testament is in the angel’s
prediction of the birth of Samson, who was neither to shave
nor to drink strong drink, but to be “ a Nazarite from the
womb.” The Nazarite was an ancient teetotaller, and had
no connexion whatever with Nazareth.
On the death of Janneus, his wife succeeded him on the
throne. Josephus gives her name as Alexandra. She may,
however, have had the second name of Helena. She was
perhaps the Queen Helena of the Jeshu story; for the Martini
version represents this personage as “ governing all Israel,”
a function which was never performed by Helena of Adiabene
nor by Helena the mother of Constantine. It is, however,
quite possible, as we have said in a footnote, that the tradi
tion confused her name with that of the celebrated proselyte.
Simeon ben She tach was of great repute among the Jews,
being called a second Ezra. He restored the traditional law,
and made attendance at public schools compulsory. He is
said to have refused to save his own son, condemned on the
testimony of false witnesses, because it had been done
according to the letter of the law.
��
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The Jewish life of Christ : being the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu or Book of the generation of Jesus, edited (with an historical preface and voluminous notes) by G.W. Foote & J.M. Wheeler
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Foote, G. W. (George William) [1850-1915] (ed)
Wheeler, J. M. (Joseph Mazzini) [1850-1898] (ed)
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Place of publication: London
Collation: xii, [13]-47 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Translated from the Hebrew. Preface discusses earlier translations: "We ...recently lighted on a translation published by Richard Carlile in 1823." (p. [Iiii]). Printed in double columns, with the Appendix in a single column.||(WIT) Publisher's list on unnumbered page at the end. Includes Appendix on Jesus in the Talmud, Was Jesus hanged?, Lardner on the Toldoth Jeshu, Celsus, Jesus and magic, and Jeshu's contemporaries. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
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1885
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N248
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The Jewish life of Christ : being the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu or Book of the generation of Jesus, edited (with an historical preface and voluminous notes) by G.W. Foote & J.M. Wheeler), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Jesus Christ-Biography
NSS