Jesus in the Talmud

Notes to Chapter 5 1639. The parallel in b AZ 27b introduces the story as follows: “No man shouldhave any dealings with heretics, nor is it allowed to be healed by them even [inrisking] an hour’s life” (emphasis added).10. This may refer to Aqiva’s noncanonical books in the Mishna.11. Interestingly enough, the Mishna (AZ 2:2) not only distinguishes betweenhealing of property (permitted) and of individuals (prohibited); it alsospeaks unambiguously about non-Jews (goyim) and not about heretics (minim).12. Parallels y AZ 2:2/12, fol. 40d–41a; y Shab 14:4/13, fol. 14d–15a; QohR1:24 on Eccl. 1:8 (1:8 [3]); b AZ 27b.13. In QohR and the Bavli he is the son of R. Ishmael’s sister.14. QohR and Bavli: Kefar Sekhaniah/Sikhnaya, as in the first Jacob story(see above). The “Kefar Sama” version is not only a pun with “Eleazar b. Dama,”but also with sam/samma—literally “medicine” or “poison.”15. y Shab: “and Jacob ...came in the name of Jesus Pandera to heal him”;y AZ: “and Jacob ...came to heal him. He [Jacob] said to him: We will speak toyou in the name of Jesus son of Pandera” (QohR has also Pandera); the explicitreference to Jesus is missing in the Bavli (in all the manuscripts that I couldcheck), but in Ms. Munich 95, Jacob is called “Jacob the heretic (min) fromKefar Sekhaniah/Sikhnaya.” Jacob Neusner (The Talmud of the Land of Israel:An Academic Commentary to the Second, Third, and Fourth Divisions, vol. 26:Yerushalmi Tractate Abodah Zarah, Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1999, p. 50)tacitly omits the reference to Jesus. One may only speculate why: most likely becauseit is not in some of the traditional editions of the Yerushalmi, and Neusnerdid not bother to check the Leiden manuscript and the editio princeps where itdoes appear. To make things worse, Neusner claims to have checked his translationagainst the German translation by Gerd Wewers and to have found only minordifferences (ibid., p. xv). In fact, however, Wewers was fully aware of all thevariants in the available manuscripts and the editio princeps and translates accordingto Leiden and the editio princeps; see Gerd A. Wewers, Avoda Zara.Götzendienst, Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1980, p. 49.16. Or “But R. Ishmael did not allow him (Eleazar b. Dama) [to accept thehealing].”17. y AZ and QohR: “He [R. Ishmael] said to him. ...”18. In the Bavli the following sentence is preceded by: “R. Ishmael, mybrother, let him, so that I may be healed by him!”19. QohR and Bavli: “from the Torah.”