TOLEDOT YESHU

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The Toledot Yeshu, written from a Jewish perspective, is known as “The book of the Life of Jesus.” There are several versions of the text that were widely spread across Europe during the Medieval period. The Toledot Yeshu was intended to support Jewish resistance to Christianity, but the book contains information that confirms the life of Jesus. 

 

For example, one passage states, “He [Yeshu] [or Jesus] then gathered around himself three hundred and then young men of Israel and accused those who spoke ill of his birth of desiring greatness and power for themselves. Yeshu proclaimed, ‘I am the Messiah. Concerning me Isaiah prophesied and said, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel"... Then his followers brought to him a lame man who had never walked. Yeshu spoke over him the letters of the Ineffable Name [God], and he was healed... Then they worshiped him as the Messiah, the Son of the Highest.” 

 

This quote affirms that Jesus was a man who performed miracles. The passage stated that Jesus taught to large groups of people and claimed to be the Messiah, fulfilling ancient prophecies. The passage also named Jesus as the Son of the Highest, or the Son of God. 

 

The Toledot Yeshu also states, “When word of these things came to Jerusalem the Sanhedrin decided to arrest Yeshu... Yeshu was put to death on the sixth hour on the day before the Passover, which that year was also the Sabbath… He was hanged on it [a tree] until the hour for afternoon prayer, for it is written in Scripture, ‘His body shall not remain all night upon the tree.’ They buried him outside the city.” 

 

The quote above alludes to Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion. He was hung “on a tree,” a common reference to crucifixion on a cross, and buried outside of the city. The text even mentioned that it was around the time of the Passover, which aligns with biblical accounts stating that Jesus was arrested on the night of the Passover.