Toledot Yeshu - Composition and Dating

Composition and Dating

A recent study reports that more than 100 manuscripts of the Toledot exist, almost all of them late medieval (the oldest manuscript being from the 11th century). The earliest stratum of composition was probably in Aramaic. There are recensions extant in Hebrew, and later versions in Judeo-Persian and Arabic as well as Yiddish and Ladino (Judeo-Spanish).

The date of composition cannot be ascertained with certainty, but the earliest source is unlikely to be prior the 4th century, far too late to include authentic remembrances of Jesus. For instance, the Toledot refers to Christian festivals and observances that only originated after the 4th century. It is unlikely that one person is the author, since the narrative itself has a number of different versions, which differ in terms of the story details and the attitude towards the central characters. Even individual versions seems to come from a number of storytellers.

Some scholars claim that the source material is no earlier than the 6th century, and the compilation no earlier than the 9th century. Although the individual anecdotes that make up the Toledot Yeshu may all come from sources dating before the sixth century, there is no evidence that their gathering into a single narrative is that early. Some scholars, such as Jeffrey Rubenstein, favour a late composition date, posterior to the seventh century. The earliest known mention is an oblique mention by Agobard, archbishop of Lyons, circa. 826, and then another mention by his successor, Amulo, circa 849. However, since Agobard does not refer to the source by name it cannot be certain that this is the Toledot.

The source material for the Toledot can be said to derive from four sources: (1)Jewish rabbinic literature; (2)canonical Christian scriptures; (3)noncanonical Christian writings; (4)non-Jewish anti-Christian writings of the Roman period.

The largest source of input to the Toledot seems to be anecdotes gathered from various parts of the Talmud and Midrash. These appear to be popular adaptions of material aimed against two Christian doctrines, the virgin birth and the ascension. Some of the Talmudic anecdotes are clearly fictitious or absurd, and some seem incompatible with each other or with known historical fact. In some instances, the Talmudic source of the Toledot is very obscure or of doubtful authenticity, and may not originally have been relevant to Jesus.

Significantly, the Toledot seems to know (though sometimes only superficially) of the miracles of the canonical Gospels, and does not deny their occurrence, but instead attributes them to Yeshu's use of Egyptian magic, or his misuse of the secret Divine Name - though not to diabolical influences.

Some of the anecdotes recounted in the Toledot seem to have been drawn from non-canonical early Christian writings known as apocryphal gospels, datable to the 4th – 6th centuries CE.

The attribution of Yeshu’s paternity to a soldier named Pandera or Pantera can be traced to the second-century Greek philosopher Celsus, though Celsus himself may have picked up this detail from a Jewish source. Jews apparently polemicised actively against the new Christian religion, as can be inferred from the 2n century Christian writer Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, a fictional dialogue between a Christian and a Jew. In chapter 17 Justin claims that the Jews had sent out "chosen men" throughout the Roman Empire to polemicize against Christianity, calling it a "godless heresy".