Jesus in the Talmud

90 Chapter 8therefore, to argue that in an earlier editorial layer Jesus was indeed thethird sinner, conjured up from the Netherworld by Onqelos, and that alater Bavli editor changed “Jesus” to the “sinners of Israel,” adding the twocomments by the “master” and the anonymous author. This also fits muchbetter with the logic of the narrative with three individuals punished inGehinnom (Titus, Balaam, Jesus) and the similar punishment for the lattertwo (sitting in boiling semen and excrement, respectively).This conclusion, however, does not yet solve the enigma of the crimecommitted by Jesus and the deeper meaning of his punishment (presumingthat there was one, as in the case of Titus and Balaam). If we followagain the Tosefta’s categorization, we have Balaam as the representative ofthe sinners of the nations and Titus as the representative of the destroyersof the Temple. This leaves us with either the sinners of Israel or theheretics as the appropriate category for Jesus. If we forgo the Bavli’s artificialand probably secondary identification of Jesus with the sinners ofIsrael, we can put Jesus into the category of the heretics and then haveTitus for the destroyers of the Temple, Balaam for the sinners of the nations,and Jesus for the heretics (the first and the third punished in Gehinnomforever, the second released into nonexistence after twelve months).With this solution we finally arrive at a crime for Jesus: he has no portionof the world to come and is accordingly punished in Gehinnom becausehe is one of the worst heretics that the people of Israel have ever produced.Moreover, according to the Tosefta’s taxonomy, he is punished inGehinnom forever (like Titus). And this is clearly the essence of theBavli’s statement about Jesus: it claims (as in b Berakhot, but much moreforcefully) that Jesus was not only never resurrected from the dead butthat he still sits in Gehinnom, together with the other sinners who are deniedan afterlife, and is punished there forever. This, of course, sends alsoa strong message to his followers, telling them that they better give up anyhope for an afterlife for themselves: as with their hero, there is no afterlifereserved for them; they will be punished in Gehinnom forever.But what then about the meaning of Jesus’ punishment—if there isany connection with his crime and if it is not merely modeled along theline of Balaam’s punishment with no deeper meaning? In Titus’ case wehave the link between burning the Temple and burning Titus’ body, andin Balaam’s case the link between enticing Israel into sexual orgies and