Friday, April 20, 2007

Jesus In The Talmud

Peter Schafer, Princeton University Press, 2007

Peter Schafer has compiled a history of the life of Jesus as he believes it is seen by the rabbis of the Talmud. With painstaking care, he pieces together scattered references in the Talmud to build up a picture of the Jesus known to the Jewish sages of old. Some are less than complimentary. I found this book interesting on two accounts. First, the content itself: although the book is not the easiest of reads, Schafer presents a convincing picture of the ‘Talmudic Jesus’. This is especially interesting in the light of the fact that many scholars reject the very notion of a ‘Talmudic Jesus’, assuming that the remarks in our literature refer to someone else. Schafer demonstrates that the sages had a robust attitude to various aspects of Jesus’ existence: his conflict with the sages, his followers’ claim that he was the Messiah and his execution. Second, the author offers an invaluable English-language appendix, in which he provides comparative manuscripts for the sections of the Talmud dealing with Jesus. It is evident that our Vilna editions have been heavily censored. A good addition to my library.

Jesus In The Talmud