The Jesus the Jews Never Knew

Table of Contents
Preface  xiii 
Introduction  1 
PART I Early Sources
 Philo Judaeus and Others Who Never Knew Jesus 13 
 Justus of Tiberius 14 
 Philo Judaeus 15 
 Eusebius' Account of Philo 18 
 The Church History of Eusebius, Book 2b19 
 St. Jerome's Account of Philo 24 
 Philo in Photius 25 
 The Loud Silence of Philo 26 
 Faking Flavius 31 
 Forgery as a Christian Commonplace 31 
 Tampering with the Texts of Flavius Josephus 37 
 Known Forgeries 37 
 Silence in the Wars 39 
 The Testimonium Flavianum 41 
 Loud Arguments from Silence Concerning the Testimonium 44 
 St. John Chrysostom 45 
 The Patriarch Photius 48 
 An Ancient Table of Contents 50 
 Evolution of the Testimonium Flavianum 51 
 Attempts to Trace the Testimonium to Josephan Text 51 
 The Evidence of Translations and Text History 53 
 Agapius of Manbij 54 
 Michael the Syrian, Patriarch of Antioch 56 
 Did Eusebius Do It? 58 
 Further Evolution of the Testimonium: The Old Russian Version of the Wars of the Jews 60 
 Josephus the Trophy 71 
 James the Just, John the Baptist, and Other Perversions of Josephus 75 
 James the Just, the Brother of Jesus? 75 
 James and Josephus in Origen 76 
 James and Josephus in Eusebius 78 
 James in Josephus Today 79 
 James and Josephus in Photius 80 
 Evolution of James in Josephus 84 
 John the Baptist in Josephus' Antiquities 88 
 The Baptist in Mark and Q 89 
 The Baptist in the Antiquities 95 
 Other Christian Interpolations in Josephus 99 
 Conclusion 101 
PART II The Rabbinical Literature
 The Rabbis and the Mishnah 105 
 The Nature of the Rabbinical Literature 106 
 Jesus in the Mishnah? 111 
 That Mamzer So-and-So 113 
 Balaam without His Ass 118 
 Apostles in the Mishnah? 130 
 Doeg the Edomite 130 
 Ahithophel 131 
 Gehazi 132 
 Two Jesuses in the Tosefta? 137 
 The Panther's First Appearance 140 
 Ben Damah and Jacob of Chephar Sama 140 
 R. Eliezer Arrested for Minuth 141 
 Ben Stada in the Tosefta 147 
 What's in a Name? 148 
 Ben Stada Equations 151 
`That Egyptian'' 152 
 The Two Tosefta Ben Stada Passages Examined 155 
 Crucifixion of a Nameless Twin 157 
 The Palestinian Talmud 161 
 Ben Pandira in the Jerusalem Talmud 163 
 Ben Stada in the Jerusalem Talmud 164 
 Son of Man in the Jerusalem Talmud 167 
 Balaam in the Jerusalem Talmud 171 
 Quoting the Mishnah 172 
 The Evil Balaam 175 
 Doeg, Ahithophel, and Gehazi 177 
 Doeg 179 
 Ahithophel 180 
 Gehazi 183 
 Saved or Sacked? 185 
 Knowing Christians Instead of Christ? 186 
 EXCURSUS: The Legend of Balaam: The Seer Whose Ass Could Talk 189 
 Is Balaam a Cipher for Jesus in the Bavli? 189 
 The Balaam Inscription from Deir 'Alla 195 
 Balaam in the Hebrew Bible 198 
 Balaam in Numbers 22-24 198 
 Balaam in Numbers 31 202 
 Balaam in Micah 6:5 205 
 Balaam in Deuteronomy 23 205 
 Balaam in Nehemiah 13:2 207 
 Balaam in the Book of Joshua 208 
 Balaam Among the Samaritans 208 
 Balaam and Philo Judaeus 212 
 Balaam and Josephus 220 
 Balaam in the Bavli: A Final Reprise 224 
 The Babylonian Talmud 231 
 Panther Becomes Jesus 232 
 Panther Becomes Ben Stada 236 
 And Mary Is His Mother 241 
 Jesus the Mamzer 245 
 Jesus the Nazarene 248 
 The Excommunication of Jesus 249 
 Jesus Burns His Food 251 
 Hanging Jesus 254 
 Disciples of Jesus (not ha-Notzri) 255 
 Box: Disciples and Apostles -- How Many and Who? 258 
 Conclusion 260 
PART III Sepher Toldoth Yeshu
 The Toldoth Yeshu as an Evolving Document 267 
 Introduction 267 
 A Christian Forgery? 268 
 Text Types 272 
 The Toldoth Minor 273 
 Reconstructing the Urtext 274 
 Knowledge of the Toldoth Yeshu as a Connected Work 277 
 Toldoth Traces amongst the Church Fathers 279 
 Justin Martyr [c100-114--c 165 CE] 279 
 Tertullian [c160--c220 CE] 281 
 Origen [c160--c254 CE]: The Toldoth Yeshu and the Jew of Celsus 285 
 The Parentage of Jesus 286 
 The Miracles of Jesus 293 
 The Double-Arrest Motif 297 
 Arnobius of Sicca [d. 330 CE] 301 
 The Toldoth Yeshu and the Clementine Literatureb 305 
 The Epistula Petri 306 
 The Clement Romance 310 
 Jesus in the Clement Romance 310 
 Peter in the Clement Romance 311 
 Simon Magus in the Clement Romance 312 
 The Acts of Peter 315 
 When Was the Toldoth Yeshu Composed? 323 
 The External Evidenceb 323 
 The Internal Evidence 326 
 Jewish Gospels, Jewish Christianity, and Christian Origins 329 
 The Gospel of the Nazaraeans 333 
 The Gospel of the Ebionites 334 
 The Gospel of the Hebrews (The Gospel According to the Hebrews) 335 
 The Testimony of Sa'adia 337 
 What's Wrong with the Standard Model of Christian Origins? 338 
 Did the Jews Know Jesus? 341 
 The Altercatio Simonis et Theophili 342 
 Envoi 345 
APPENDIX A 347 
 The Jewish Life of Christ, Being the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu 351 
 G. W. Foote
 J. M. Wheeler
 Introduction by Madalyn Murray O'Hair 353 
 Preface 355 
 Chapter 1 365 
 Chapter 2 379 
 Chapter 3 389 
 Chapter 4 401 
 Appendix: Jesus in the Talmud 409 
 Was Jesus Hanged? 412 
 Lardner on the Toldoth Yeshu 413 
 Celsus 414 
 Jesus and Magic 415 
 Jeshu's Contemporaries 417 
APPENDIX B 419 
 A Jewish Life of Jesus 421 
 (Reprinted from Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.? By G. R. S. Mead)
 The Seduction 423 
 How the Bastardy of Jeschu Was Made Public 426 
 The Robbing of the Shem 428 
 Jeschu Claims to be Messiah and Works Miracles with the Shem 430 
 Jeschu and Queen Helene 431 
 Jeschu's Miracles in Galilee 432 
 The Magic Contest with Judas 434 
 Jeschu Is Condemned to Death 435 
 Jeschu Is Rescued by His Disciples 437 
 The Betrayal of Jeschu 438 
 Proofs from Scripture 439 
 Jeschu Is Hanged on a Cabbage Stalk 440 
 The Body Is Stolen from the Grave 441 
 The Proclamation of the Queen 442 
 The Body is Recovered 443 
 The Disciples of Jeschu Make Strife in Israel 443 
 How Elijahu Removed Them from Israel 444 
 The Commandments of Jeschu 445 
 The Heresy of Nestorius 446 
 Shimeon Kepha 447 
 The Scriptures of Shimeon 449 
Reference Notes  451 
Bibliography  475 
Scripture Index  479 
Subject Index  487