Yeshu

This article is about an individual or individuals found in Jewish literature. For the similar-sounding Hebrew or Aramaic name, see Yeshua (name). For references to Jesus of Nazareth in the Talmud, see Jesus in the Talmud.

Yeshu (Hebrew: יֵשׁוּ‎ Yēšū) is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in rabbinic literature,[1] thought by some to refer to Jesus when used in the Talmud. The name Yeshu is also used in other sources before and after the completion of the Babylonian Talmud. It is also the modern Israeli spelling of Jesus.

The identification of Jesus with any number of individuals named Yeshu has numerous problems, as most of the individuals are said to have lived in time periods far detached from that of Jesus; Yeshu the sorcerer is noted for being executed by the Hasmonean government which lost legal authority in 63 BCE, Yeshu the student is described being among the Pharisees who returned to Israel from Egypt in 74 BC, and Yeshu ben Pandera/ben Stada's stepfather is noted as speaking with Rabbi Akiva shortly before the rabbi's execution, an event which occurred in c. 134 AD. During the Middle Ages, Ashkenazi Jewish authorities were forced to interpret these passages in relation to the Christian beliefs about Jesus of Nazareth. As historian David Berger observed,

Whatever one thinks of the number of Jesuses in antiquity, no one can question the multiplicity of Jesuses in Medieval Jewish polemic. Many Jews with no interest at all in history were forced to confront a historical/biographical question that bedevils historians to this day.[2]: 36 

However, a probable answer is that rabbinic literature is often not literal but allegorical, thus stories can be made up to conjure a deeper meaning or a secret message that requires insider knowledge to fully understand.[3]

In 1240, Nicholas Donin, with the support of Pope Gregory IX, referred to Yeshu narratives to support his accusation that the Jewish community had attacked the virginity of Mary and the divinity of Jesus. In the Disputation of Paris, Yechiel of Paris conceded that one of the Yeshu stories in the Talmud referred to Jesus of Nazareth, but that the other passages referred to other people. In 1372, John of Valladolid, with the support of the Archbishop of Toledo, made a similar accusation against the Jewish community; Moses ha-Kohen de Tordesillas argued that the Yeshu narratives referred to different people and could not have referred to Jesus of Nazareth.[4][2] Asher ben Jehiel also asserted that the Yeshu of the Talmud is unrelated to the Christian Jesus.[5]

There are some modern scholars who understand these passages to be references to Christianity and the Christian figure of Jesus,[6] and others who see references to Jesus only in later rabbinic literature.[4][7] Johann Maier argued that neither the Mishnah nor the two Talmuds refer to Jesus.[8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference individuals was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Berger, David (1998). "On the Uses of History in Medieval Jewish Polemic against Christianity: The Quest for the Historical Jesus". In Carlebach, Elishiva; Efron, John M.; Myers, David N. (eds.). Jewish History and Jewish Memory: Essays in Honor of Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (Google Books preview). The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry. Vol. 29. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-87451-871-9. LCCN 98-14431. OCLC 44965639. It is well known that when R. Yehiel of Paris was confronted in 1240 with the argument that the Talmud should be banned partly because of blasphemies against Jesus, he maintained that the Jesus of the Talmud and the Jesus of the Christians are two different people.…Whatever one thinks of the sincerity of the multiple Jesus theory, R. Yehiel found a way to neutralize some dangerous rabbinic statements, and yet the essential Ashkenazic evaluation of Jesus remains even in the text of this disputation.…In the fourteenth century, Moses ha-Kohen de Tordesillas made much stronger use of the theory of two Jesuses in defending Judaism and the Talmud against renewed attack.
  3. ^ Kister, Menahem (1991). Allegorical Interpretations of Biblical Narratives in Rabbinic Literature, Philo and Origen: Some Case Studies. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Theissen, Gerd; Merz, Annette (1998). The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress. pp. 74–76. ISBN 978-0-8006-3122-2. LCCN 98016181. OCLC 38590348.
  5. ^ Tosafot HaRosh (Sotah 47a)
  6. ^ Robert E. Van Voorst. Jesus outside the New Testament. 2000 ISBN 978-0-8028-4368-5. p. 124. "This is likely an inference from the Talmud and other Jewish usage, where Jesus is called Yeshu, and other Jews with the same name are called by the fuller name Yehoshua, "Joshua""
  7. ^ Meier (1991), p. 98.
  8. ^ Johann Maier, Jesus von Nazareth in der talmudischen Uberlieferung (Ertrage der Forschung 82; Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1978)