Every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.
- Matthew 13:52
Part III. Discovering that the Talmud is Judeo-Christian
As always, a collection of Talmud/Gospel comparisons. Right or wrong, agree or disagree, the sheer volume of clear and obvious parallels shows that the quiet Jewish and Gentile Christian scholars who have discovered the clear links between the Talmud and the New Testament in the past have also been silenced for centuries, for far too long. In their memory, the Good News Talmud, Part III. is dedicated.
Potential Rabbis study Talmud
TALMUD: God pairs- in marriages, and appoints all destinies. (Leviticus Rabba 8)
GOSPEL: ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. (Mark 10:7-9)
TALMUD Amongst the heavenly bodies and beings there is no envy, jealousy, hatred or contention. Yet it is said (Job 25:2), 'He maketh peace in his high places.' How much more, then, is peace needed amongst God's creatures in this lower sphere. (Leviticus Rabba 9)
GOSPEL: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and goodwill towards men!' So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into Heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.' (Luke 2:13-15)
The Talmud, an Eastern European Opera
TALMUD: 'The merciful man,' says King Solomon, 'doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubles his own flesh' (Prov. 11. 17). Solomon meant by this, the rich who disdain to invite their poor relatives to their festive tables.(Leviticus Rabba 34)
GOSPEL: Then Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.' (Luke 14:12-14)
TALMUD: Sweet is the attainment of the evil inclination at the start, but bitter, very bitter in the end. (Leviticus Rabba 16)
GOSPEL: For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37)
TALMUD: If thou hast done any meritorious act, do not ask at once for the reward thereof, if you receive it not, your offspring after you will receive it. (Exodus Rabba 44)
GOSPEL: At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who then is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?' And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you...become like children...Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.' (Matthew 18:1-4)
Orthodox Jewish students study the same books 2,000 years later
TALMUD: Moses considered the breaking of the Tablets preferable to delivering them to the people, after they had made the golden calf. He was like a man commissioned by a king to convey the marriage contract to his future bride, who learns on his way that the would-be bride has rendered herself guilty of a serious indiscretion. He decides--in the woman's own interest--not to proceed further with the nuptial contract, but to tear it up, as she will thus still be unmarried and her guilt less serious than if she were guilty of her misdeed after she had received her marriage lines. (Exodus Rabba 43 and 46)
GOSPEL: This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.'...When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:18-20,24)
TALMUD: Ninety-nine out of a hundred evils which overtake man can be traced to his own acts. (Leviticus Rabba 16)
GOSPEL: For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones perish. (Matthew 18:11-14)
TALMUD: Israel is the most arrogant among nations, like the dog amongst beasts and the cock amongst fowls. (Exodus Rabba 42)
GOSPEL #1: The (non-Jewish) woman came and knelt before Him (Jesus) . 'Lord, help me!' she said. Joshua (Jesus) replied, 'It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.' 'Yes it is, Lord,' she said. 'Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.' (Matthew 15:25-27)
GOSPEL #2: Peter answered and said unto Him, 'Though all men be offended because of You, yet I will never be offended.' Jesus said unto him, 'Indeed, I say unto you that this night, before the cock crows aloud, you shall deny me three times.'...Peter sat outside in the palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, 'You also were with Jesus of Galilee." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I know not what you're saying.' And when he had gone out onto the porch, another maid saw him and said unto those who were there, "This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.' And again he denied with an oath, 'I do not know the man!' And after a while...those who stood by, said to Peter, "Surely you are also one of them.'...Then he began to curse and to swear, saying, "I know not the man!" And immediately the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, when He said unto him, "Before the cock crows aloud, you shall deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:33-34,69-75)
A Talmudic Homeless shelter, with no wickedness lurking anywhere nearby
GOSPEL: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11)
A Talmud with Diamonds and Gold
TALMUD: The human tongue is not free, like some other members of the human body, but is confined in the mouth, and moreover is constantly in moisture: yet how many burns can it cause with its sharp edge and its fire. How much worse then would it have been, were that dangerous member of the human body possessed of more facilities. (Leviticus Rabba 16)
GOSPEL: Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. (Matthew 15:17-19)
TALMUD: If speech is silver, then silence is gold. (Leviticus Rabba 16)
GOSPEL: Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, 'Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?' But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. (Mark 14:60-61)
TALMUD: Better for you to have no more than two coins (about a shilling) as the means with which to gain a livelihood, than to be a man of large capital and employ it in usury. (Leviticus Rabba 3)
GOSPEL: Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out...These were his instructions: 'Take nothing for the journey except a staff-no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.' (Mark 6:7-8)
Even Former President George W. Bush, the Evangelical Protestant Christian from Texas studies Talmud now and then.
May the LORD God bless you the name of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
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