Jesus in the Talmud

Jesus’ Execution 67curse against God (qilelat elohim), etc. (Deut. 21:23). That is to say,on what account has this [man] been hanged? Because he cursed 22the Name, and the Name of Heaven 23 turned out to be profaned.The Mishna systematically, and in its usual beautifully structured way,sets out to clarify the procedure of “hanging”: who is hanged, how ishe/she hanged, and for how long? The question of “who” is answered differentlyby R. Eliezer and the Sages: whereas R. Eliezer, as a rule, haseverybody hanged who has been stoned to death, the Sages limit this procedureto the capital crimes of blasphemy and idolatry. Both R. Eliezerand the Sages, however, presuppose that “hanging” is a postmortem punishment(after the convicted criminal has been stoned to death), followingthe biblical instruction, which, after relating the stoning of the rebelliousson, continues: “If someone is convicted of a crime punishable bydeath and is executed (namely by stoning), and you hang him on a tree”(Deut. 21:22, continuing with v. 23: “you must not leave his corpse on thetree”). In a similarly broader definition, R. Eliezer extends the hanging afterstoning equally on men and women (distinguishing between the sexesonly with regard to whether or not they face the crowd witnessing the execution),whereas the Sages exclude women from hanging altogether.As to the “how,” the Mishna defines the “tree” and the way the convictedcriminal is hanged on it. The biblical “tree” is ambiguous and canmean a “pole” (e.g., Gen. 40:19) or “gallows” or even impalement upon astake (e.g., Esth. 9:13). The Mishna gives two explanations of the “tree”:the first (anonymous) description comes closest to gallows—a post driveninto the ground and a beam jutting from it, presumably close to the top—whereas R. Yose has a post in mind, the lower end of which rests on theearth and the upper end leans against a wall. Accordingly, in the first casethe criminal is hanged on the beam and in the second case he/she hangson the post like butchers do with slaughtered animals—presumably hangingupside down, with their feet attached to the top of the post.The third question, how long, is answered unequivocally and with referenceto the biblical command: the public exposure of the corpse of theexecuted criminal must be terminated by the end of the day of the executionbecause he/she must be buried the same day; the corpse must notstay on the “tree” overnight. And then, in an interpretation of the second