Abstract:
This article surveys the beliefs of Jewish scholars who have written about the historical
Jesus. Specifically, it explores the modern Jewish scholarship on the person and role of the
Messiah and how this relates to the study of the resurrection of Jesus. Many of the traditional
beliefs about the messiah preclude a discussion of the resurrection of Jesus. However, with
more understanding of the background of Second-Temple Judaism, many long-held beliefs
about the messiah are being re-evaluated. The three main issues discussed in this article
are the concept of a pagan messiah, the death of the messiah and the possibility of a divine
messiah.
Description:
This article is a reworked
version of a chapter of
David Mishkin’s PhD thesis,
titled: ‘Jewish scholarship
on the resurrection of
Jesus’, completed for the
Department of Biblical and
Religious Studies, Faculty of
Humanities, University of
Pretoria, with Prof. Dr Ernest
van Eck as supervisor. (http://hdl.handle.net/2263/50702)
