JEWISH RABBINIC TALMUD

​

The Talmud is the central source for Jewish law and theology and the predominant text used for Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud is comprised of two parts: the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Talmud contains the teachings of thousands of rabbis as faithful Jews shared them in spoken word for generations, then finally wrote them down. The Mishnah was completed during the second century, and the Gemara is the commentary on the Mishnah. 

 

One passage in Sanhedrin 43a references Jesus’s death. The text states, “On the eve of the Passover Yeshu [Jesus] 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 was practicing sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.’ But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover!”

 

This passage from the Talmud agrees with the Bible accounts that Jesus was taken to be crucified, or “hanged,” on the night of the Passover. The Talmud also confirms the judgment and disapproval that Jesus faced on earth, particularly for His miracles. 

 

Additionally, the Talmud identifies five of Jesus’s disciples and confirms that He had close followers. The Talmud states, “Our rabbis taught Jesus the Nazarene had five disciples, and these are they: Matthai, Naqqai, Netzer, Buni, and Todah.”