Scholarship on Literary text: JTS MS 8998.4–6

Folio 4v (first section)

1. This is the book of the sentencing that was decreed upon Yeshuʿa son of Pandera. And it was in the year
2. two of Tiberinus Caesar, the king of Edom (i.e., Rome), they decreed a trial upon
3. Yeshuʿa son of Pandera who rebelled against the God of Heaven, for he misled
4. the people of the world with deeds of magic. And he was from the town
5. Nazareth in the land of the town Rome, which this thing happened in the town
6. of the Jews. On this day, on the twenty-eighth of the month of Elul,
7. Petalus the governor approached and came into the market, and summoned Yehudah the orchard-man,
8. and he took him before Yehoshuʿa ben Peraḥiah the Nasi, and he brought him
9. before Marinus the elder of the Jews and in front of crowds of people.
10. And they asked this Yehudah, and they said to him: “A certain man whose name is Yeshuʿa, and he
11. is misleading the people of (the) world with a deed of magic—do you know him?”
12. And he said to them: “Yes, I know him (and) that he is misleading people, and he
13. is in magic, and also misleads the people of the world. And we discovered in his hand this deed,
14. and he chose a place there, and he is misleading the people of the world in a certain town.
15. Now, if my master wishes I will go and bring him and deliver him to you.”
16. Yehudah the orchard-man went and found him with many people sitting in front of him,
17. and he was saying to them that “I will heal you.” And he said to them:
18. “I am God.” And they were bowing down to him. And Yehudah the orchard-man
19. caught him and came with him before them. They asked Yeshuʿa the wicked, and they said to him:
20. “From which nation/place (?) are you?” And he said to them: “I am a Jew, and I am also a mamzer.”
21. “And your father too—what was his name, and what was he doing?” He said to them: “My father’s name is Pandera,
22. and he is a Gentile in Israel, and he is a man who plays.” They said to him: “What is the name 
23. of your mother and what are her doings?” He said to them: “Her name is Miriam, and she plaits the 
24. hair of women (into) plaits.” They also said to him: “What is the name of your mother’s husband, and what
25. is his profession?” He said to them: “His name is Yoseph, and he is a carpenter.”
26. They also said to him: “What is your name and what are your doings?” He said: “Me—my name is Yeshuʿa, and I am a
27. hunter;  I hunt the fish.” And they said to him: “You are empty (?) of all friend (?). Why
28. did you not chase (?) empty (?) the birds? (?).” They also said to him: “The books that are
29. in your hand— are they old or new?” He said to them: “They are old,

Folio 5r (second section)

1. and I found them in Egypt, from those that belonged to Balaam son of Beor, and I
2. heal the sick with them.” They said to him: “We know that you
3. roam the world, and you also do evil deeds, and you
4. sin and also mislead the people of the world with these books. Tell us
5. the truth, and if not— we will kill you.” He said to them: “You are my masters and I 
6. say to you (the) truth. Know that these books are by Yoḥanan
7. the Dyer, from whom I have learned.” Petalus the governor answered and said
8. to Rabbi Yehoshuʿa ben Peraḥiah the Nasi, and also to Marinus, the elder
9. of the Jews: “From which place is this Yoḥanan the Dyer?” They answered
10. him and said to him: “In truth did Yeshuʿa the wicked say to us that these books
11. belong to Yoḥanan the Dyer, and this wicked Yeshuʿa did not
12. write them, but Yoḥanan the Dyer (did). And they sinned with them, and they also
13. misled the people of the world.” And our rabbis answered and said to Petalus:
14. “If our master wishes authority, that we will kill these
15. wicked men, since they are dealing with magic and with writings of falsehood, and they mislead
16. people and say to them, ‘We have (the ability) to kill and also to revive’,
17. and they make their souls liable to being killed. And they think that they are equal with God.
18. Father, please see what these people have done—they rose and misled many people,
19. and led them to the desert, and now they will die of hunger; and also
20. the money which is with them—it is the law to give it to our master, (but) they will not let them give it.”
21. And Petalus the governor wrote and said to them: “If you wish, I too will send
22. for them, and will also bring Yoḥanan the Dyer, and we shall see what comes out of
23. the trial, and we will try them.” They answered him and said to him (i.e., Pilatus):
24. “Yes; send Yehudah, who wears torn (garments), and also Shimeʿon Kepha,
25. and Binyamin who is cursed in the army (?). He sent them, these (men), and they went to
26. the town Kephar Naḥum, and found Yoḥanan imprisoned in jail,
27. for Tiberinus Caesar had imprisoned him, since he had been misleading the people of the world.
28. And they brought Yoḥanan the Dyer, the teacher of Yeshuʿa the wicked, before
29. Yehoshuʿa ben Peraḥiah the Nasi and before Marinus the elder of the Jews, and before
30. Petalus the governor. They answered and said: “These books that we found
31. the hand of Yeshuʿa the wicked, your disciple—if you tell us in truth
32. we will release you, but if not, we will kill you by a double-edged sword.” Yoḥanan answered

Folio 5v (third section)

1. and said to them: “My masters! These books are books of magicians, and Yeshuʿa
2. the wicked wrote (them), and I was in jail, since Tiberinus Caesar
3. had imprisoned me. And I did not see Yeshuʿa the wicked, but he and his eleven
4. disciples wrote these books, and they are dealing with them
5. and mislead (the) people of the world. And they say about me that they (i.e., the books) are mine,
6. but he wrote them out of his own mind.” Then they said to Yoḥanan the Dyer that:
7. “The disciples of Yeshuʿa the wicked—what are their names?” Yoḥanan answered and said: “These are
8. their names—Naqi and Alqi and Zakai, Teini and Todah and Patros and Netzer and Situ. These are
9. their names.” They said to him: “Who will go and bring them to us?”
10. And Yehudah who wears the torn (garments) said to them, with Shimeʿon Kepha and with Binyamin the curse
11. of the army (?). And they summoned them, and said: “Will you go and bring them?” And they said: “We will go.”
12. They went and came to the town of Kephar Naḥum and were wandering after them, and they (i.e., the disciples) heard
13. and ran away to the town Africa, and hid under a certain tree, and they were dealing
14. with magic, which they learned from Yeshuʿa the wicked, and they were under the roots of the tree.
15. And Satai, and Altagius, and Alqi and Paulus and Petrus and Zakai ran away from them.
16. And those who remained—they brought them before Rabbi Yehoshuʿa ben Peraḥiah the Nasi,
17. and before Marinus the elder of the Jews, and before Petalus, and before the
18. crowd of people. And they (R. Yehoshuʿa ben Peraḥiah et al.) saw them; and he was standing—Yeshuʿa the wicked; 
19. and Yoḥanan the Dyer was also standing. They said to Naqi: “Why
20. is your name called Naqi?” He answered them and said to them: “About me David said, ‘Neqi hands
21. and a pure heart’.” They answered him and said to him: “You are light(-minded) and a fool who misled (?)
22. yourself from all living creature! Not thus said David about you, but in the Torah
23. it is written thus, ‘and He shall naqe not yenaqe’.” And they ordered about him and threw him into
24. a fiery furnace. And after him they summoned Matai, and said to him: “Why is
25. your name called Matai?” He answered and said to them: “About me David said, ‘Matai will I come and be seen
26. before God?’” They answered him and said to him: “You are (more) light(-minded) and a fool than all living creatures!
27. Not thus said David about you (in) the Bible, for it says afterwards, ‘Matai will he die,
28. and his name perish’” And they ordered about him, and they cut Matai’s head off from his body.
29. After him they summoned Beni, and they said to him: “Why is your name called
30. Beni?” He said to them: “About me the Bible says in the Torah, ‘Israel is beni, the firstborn’.”
31. And they answered him and said to him: “You are light(-minded) and a fool of all living creatures! Not thus did it speak

Folio 6r (fourth section)

1. about you in the Torah, but it said like this, ‘Behold I will kill binkha, the firstborn’.”
2. And it was decreed upon him, and they burned him in the fire, and Beni died in the fire.
3. Afterwards they summoned Netzer, and they said to him: “Why is your name called Netzer?” And he said to them: “About me the
4. prophet Isaiah prophesied, as it is written, ‘and a netzer will grow from its roots’.” And they answered and said
5. to him: “You are (more) light(-minded) and a fool than all living creatures for speaking thus! Not thus did
6. Isaiah speak about you, but thus—‘And you were cast out of your tomb
7. like a detested netzer’.” And they ordered concerning him, and they stoned him—Netzer—with a stone.
8. Then they summoned Todah, and they said to him: “Why did they call your name Todah?” He said to them:
9. “For this (reason) they called me Todah, for about me David said, ‘Come to His gates with todah (=thanksgiving)’.”
10. They answered him and said to him: “You are light(-minded) and a fool of all living creatures!
11. For Scripture did not speak about you, and not thus did David speak; rather, it is written
12. in the Torah, ‘And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of todah (=thanksgiving)’. And David too said, ‘He who sacrifices todah
13. honors me’.” And they ordered upon him, and they executed Todah. After this Petalus the governor said
14. to Rabbi Yehoshuʿa ben Peraḥiah the Nasi and to Marinus the elder
15. of the Jews and to the crowds of people: “The disciples of Yeshuʿa the wicked
16. have been killed. And now, what shall we do with those whose names are Yeshuʿa and Yoḥanan?
17. What shall we judge concerning them, and what do they deserve by law?” (a few words are ommitted) “But we
18. will not try (them) until we send to King Tiberinus Caesar
19. that we caught people who were dealing with magic— (and) now command (us)
20. what to do to them.” And they sent a messenger to him. He sent to them and answered
21. them that: “Send them to me!” And they rose and sent [Yeshuʿa the wicked and Yo]ḥanan
22. the Dyer before King Tiberinus Caesar. And R.
23. Yehoshuʿa and Marinus and Petalus and crowds also went with them.
24. he said both to Yeshuʿa and to Yoḥanan: “What are your doings, and who are you?”
25. They answered him and said to him: “We are the sons of the God of Heaven, and we are dealing
26. with the [book] of the Torah.” Caesar said to them: “What healing can you perform?”
27. They said: “We can kill and revive, and grant children to a woman 
28. without intercourse (with a man).” When Caesar heard their words he laughed and said
29. to them: “I have a daughter—can you grant her a daughter (!) without sexual intercourse with a man?”
30. Both of them said to him: “Yes, we can produce a pregnancy for you.” Caesar ordered, 
31. and she was brought out to them. And they spoke in their sorcery words of magic, and he saw
32. with what she was pregnant. And he (Tiberinus) said: “What is she pregnant with?” They said: “It is with a male son. And thus we said,
33. that it will be male.” At that time Caesar commanded Petalus and said to him:
34. “Imprison them.” And before she reached (the time of) giving birth, the Lord made a great sign,

Folio 6v (fifth section)

1. and He commanded the angel who is in charge of the house of the child and of the womb, and he shaped the child
2. and placed and dropped a stone [there?].  And when the Lord confounded their counsel, the people of
3. the kingdom answered Yeshuʿa the wicked and said to him: “The woman who became pregnant—why
4. did she not give birth?” He answered and said to them: “There are among the people of the Jews men who
5. do not let the child leave his mother’s belly alive,
6. so that you will know, our master the king, that we are both the sons of the God
7. of Heaven.”  And they took iron tools, and tore up her belly, and extracted from
8. “the house of the child,” from the womb, a stone. And that virgin died.
9. King Tiberinus answered and said to the Jews: “Blessed are you, for your God revealed
10. the mysteries to you, and confounded the counsel of these magicians
11. who irritate Him every day.” Our teachers answered
12. and said to King Tiberinus: “What is due by law that we will judge
13. them?” He answered and said to them: “Do to them as you wish, so that they will not
14. destroy you from the world.” At that time they shackled both of them and he sent
15. them to Tiberias which is in the town of Yahud, and he set up a tree for them.
16. And they hung them—Yoḥanan the Dyer, the teacher of Yeshuʿa the wicked, and he died,
17. and they buried him. And after him (i.e., Yoḥanan) they raised Yeshuʿa the wicked up to the tree.
18. [He k]new that it is written for us, “Do not let his corpse remain overnight on the tree.” He said
19. [ ... ... to the p]eople who believed in him: “If you come
20. tomorrow and do not see [me nor] my body on the tree—know that I ascended to Heaven.
21. And we also heard that when they hung (him) on the tree, he was misleading
22. with magic, and he asked them for powerful vinegar and he drank (it). They stoned him 
23.  on the tree, and he died on the tree. They brought him down and buried him under the water-
24. pipe inside the orchard of Yehudah the orchard-man. In the morning of the Sunday, 
25. the people whom Yeshuʿa the wicked had misled gathered
26. together, and caught the Jews, and said to them: “In truth Yeshuʿa told
27. us that the Jews are dealing with a lie; where is the man
28. whom you hung? In truth, he ascended to Heaven.” Petalus the governor said
29. to Yehudah the orchard-man: “The man whom you (sg.) have hung—what did you (sg.) do
30. with his body?” He (i.e., Yehudah) answered and said to him that : “Yeshuʿa the wicked, before he was raised
31. upon the tree, was  calling the p[eople w]hom he was leading into sin, and said [to them...].”