Corpus-Paul

["Hyam Maccoby" <h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk>]

Matthew A. Eby wrote:

    >However, it may be significant that Jesus did not die as a martyr in
> the cause of Judaism, but rather was condemned first and foremost by
> Jewish leaders themselves.  Deut 21:22-23 is undoubtedly concerned with
> those condemned within the Israelite community, not simply with the
> mode of death in general.<


It was precisely my point that Deut. 21:22-23 deals with those condemned by
the Israelite community.  What it says is that such executed persons should
not be hung up (after death) for any length of time (as was the practice of
ancient nations, to strike fear in spectators) but taken down after a brief
period.  The reason was because of a 'curse', and the question is 'Who
undergoes this curse?'  Paul apparently thought the executed person
underwent the curse (presumably in the next world) if left to hang.   All
other Jewish commentators thought that the curse was upon those who left him
to hang, thus offending against human dignity.
    Whether Jesus was condemned under Jewish law is a separate issue.  My
view is that Jesus did not offend against any Jewish law.  By claiming to be
the King of Jews (the charge written on the Cross) he incurred a charge of
rebellion against the Roman Occupation (for detailed arguments see my books
REVOLUTION IN JUDAEA ,THE MYTHMAKER and JESUS THE PHARISEE).  He was not
condemned by a Jewish court (the Gospel of John omits the alleged Sanhedrin
trial altogether) but by the Roman procurator, to whom he was handed over as
a rebel by the quisling High Priest, who was a Roman appointee and had no
religious authority among the Jews.  The Jewish religious leader was
Gamaliel (as Jewish sources make clear), who intervened to save Peter from
the High Priest (Acts 5) and would have done the same for Jesus, if given
the chance by a Sanhedrin trial.  Jesus was thus in exactly the same
position as the thousands of other martyrs who died by the Roman punishment
of crucifixion.

Hyam Maccoby

Dr.Hyam Maccoby
Research Professor
Centre for Jewish Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds.LS2
Direct lines: tel. +44 (0)113 268 1972
                   fax +44 (0)113 225 9927
e-mail: h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk
               hyam.maccoby AT btopenworld.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew A. Eby" <ebymatt AT yahoo.com>
To: "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 2:23 AM
Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Deut 21:22-23


> --- Hyam Maccoby <h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk> wrote:
> > An important point to bear in mind is that this interpretation of
> > Deut. 21:22-23 is not found in any Jewish source of the period.  The
> > only person who seems to have understood the verses in this way is
> > Paul.  Thousands of Jews died by the Roman punishment of crucifixion,
> > and not one of them was ever regarded as accursed by reason of the
> > manner of his death.  On the contrary, they were regarded as martyrs
> > in the cause of Judaism.
>
> However, it may be significant that Jesus did not die as a martyr in
> the cause of Judaism, but rather was condemned first and foremost by
> Jewish leaders themselves.  Deut 21:22-23 is undoubtedly concerned with
> those condemned within the Israelite community, not simply with the
> mode of death in general.
>
> Matthew A. Eby
> Student
> Wheaton College
> Illinois
>
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