Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: rblack@shemtaia.weeg.uiowa.edu (Roger Black) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Jesus' physical appearance Message-ID: Date: 30 Jun 91 19:12:56 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA Lines: 38 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , jhpb@garage.att.com (Joseph H Buehler) writes: |> In article schiller@src.sony.co.jp (Christoph SCHILLER) writes: |> |> I recenly found a book in which it was stated that there is an |> old tradition that Jesus was born with a bad leg, had |> curved shoulders and was in general of ugly appearance. |> |> Obviously incorrect, but: Where did you read this? One of the |> non-canonical books of the early centuries, perhaps? |> |> Please provide us with your source. In the Talmud (Sanhedrin 106b) there is a passage which has been taken by scholars to be a covert slam at Jesus along the same lines: "Balaam the lame was thirty years old when Phinehas the Robber slew him." This is based on the fact that "Balaam" is one of several pseudonyms used in the Talmud for Jesus, and the Hebrew words translated "Phinehas the Robber" are a tolerable pun on "Pontius Pilate". There is a later tradition (preserved in the "Toldoth Jesu", Jewish anti-Christian tracts compiled during the Middle Ages) that Jesus became lame when he fell from a great height while performing acts of sorcery; but this is considered to be a derivative story based on the earlier language in the Talmud. Some scholars think the ascription is a reference to Jesus' stumbling under the weight of the crossbeam on the way to Golgotha, or to the fact that his feet were pierced during his crucifixion. [Source: "Jesus Christ in the Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, and the Liturgy of the Synagogue" by Gustav Dalman (1893), reprinted as part of the series "The Jewish People: History, Religion, Literature", Jacob B. Agus, editor, Arno Press, New York (1973).] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger Black rblack@shemtaia.weeg.uiowa.edu Disclaimer: My employer doesn't even know I have any opinions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------