Yeshua (Jesus) in the Talmud

The Sanhedrin is, of course, the top Jewish legal court. In this text they have been explaining court procedure and defending their decisions where they have departed from their own rules. Keep in mind that this is not a Christian document (which would be bias towards Christ) but a Jewish one. The following quotation is taken from Sanhedrin Tractate 43b:

“On the eve of the Passover Yeshu [the Nazarean] was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried. ‘He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any who can say anything for his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.’ But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of Passover. ‘Ulla retorted: Do you suppose that he was one for whom a defense could be made? Was he not an enticer, concerning whom Scripture says, Neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him?”

We could spend forever discussing this passage; however, there are four things I’d like to note:

1. This is pretty strong non-Christian evidence for the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth. This Jewish record corresponds in many ways to the Gospel accounts.

2. Jesus is accused of sorcery. This contradicts the modern tendency to call him a great teacher but claim that he never did anything supernatural. The Sanhedrin acknowledges that supernatural things were taking place, but just as the New Testament claims, they ascribed his work to the devil instead of God (see Matthew 12:24).

3. He is accused of apostasy. In other words, he wasn’t just teaching nice stuff. He was really stirring the waters. The Sanhedrin felt that he was changing their religion.

4. They quote Deut 13:8: “ Neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him,” as a justification for seeking capital punishment. This is in a larger section of the law dealing with what to do to a Jewish person who entices people to follow other gods (Deut 6-10). In other words, they felt like he was encouraging people to follow another god (Who do you suppose was the other god?). The law is very clear. You have to kill the person.

Just a quick qualification: I know that this is a touchy subject. If you perceive this at all as in anyway anti-semitic, I apologize. That is not at all my intent. This is just an interesting historical insight, getting the other side of the crucifixion story if you will.