What Does The Talmud REALLY Say About Jesus?
Speaker: Sam Shamoun
Channel: Shamounian Explains
Date Analyzed: 2026-03-04
Video: YouTube Link
Overview
In this Bible study session, Sam Shamoun examines what the Babylonian Talmud (specifically Gittin 56b-57a) says about Jesus of Nazareth. Drawing heavily on the scholarly work of Peter Schaefer, a Princeton University professor of Judaic Studies, Shamoun walks through the Talmudic passage that describes the afterlife punishments of three figures -- Titus, Balaam, and Jesus -- and explains the theological significance of these rabbinic statements. He contrasts the Talmudic treatment of Jesus with how Islam's Quran treats Jesus (Isa), arguing that while both religions reject Christian claims about Christ, the Talmud is far more hostile and blasphemous toward Jesus than the Quran.
Main Points
1. The Scholarly Source: Peter Schaefer of Princeton
Shamoun establishes his source as a credible academic, not a polemicist. Peter Schaefer was the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religion at Princeton University (joined 1998, retired June 2013), later appointed director of the Jewish Museum in Berlin (September 2014). His research focused on Jewish history in late antiquity, rabbinic Judaism, and Jewish mysticism. His book examines what the Talmud says about Jesus from a purely scholarly perspective.
Key point: Schaefer was not writing to demonize Judaism; he was producing a scholarly work analyzing Talmudic references to Jesus.
2. The Talmudic Passage: Gittin 56b-57a
The passage is available on Sefaria (sefaria.org), an Orthodox Jewish website. The Gemara relates the story of Onkelos bar Kalonikos (Ankelos), the nephew of the Roman Emperor Titus, who wanted to convert to Judaism. Before converting, he practiced necromancy to consult three deceased figures about the afterlife:
- Titus (Roman general who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD)
- Balaam (the pagan prophet from Numbers 22-24)
- Jesus the Nazarene (Yeshu ha-Notzri)
Each figure is asked the same three questions:
- Who is most important in the next world?
- Should Onkelos attach himself to the Jewish people?
- What is the punishment of "that man" (a euphemism for the person being consulted)?
3. The Three Punishments -- Crime Matches Punishment
The Talmud presents a framework where the punishment in the afterlife corresponds directly to the sin committed:
Titus:
- Sin: Burned Jerusalem and the Temple
- Punishment: Every day his ashes are gathered, he is judged, burned, and scattered over the seven seas -- eternally
- Correspondence: Burning for burning
Balaam:
- Sin: Enticed Israel to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab (Numbers 25)
- Punishment: Boiling in semen
- Correspondence: Sexual sin matched with the substance of sexual sin
Jesus the Nazarene:
- Sin: "Mocked the words of the sages" (i.e., opposed the Pharisees and their oral traditions)
- Punishment: Boiling in excrement
- Correspondence: Peter Schaefer's theory (see Point 5 below)
4. The Talmud's Portrayal of Jesus
According to the Talmudic passage, when Onkelos raised Jesus through necromancy:
- Jesus affirmed that the Jewish people are "most important" in the next world
- Jesus told Onkelos: "Their welfare you shall seek; their misfortune you shall not seek"
- Jesus quoted: "Anyone who touches them is as though he were touching the apple of His eye" (cf. Zechariah 2:8)
- Jesus is classified as a "sinner of Israel" -- distinct from gentile enemies like Balaam
- Despite being a "sinner," Jesus still advocated for the welfare of Israel
- The Talmud contrasts Jesus favorably with Balaam: "Balaam who was a prophet wished Israel harm, whereas Jesus the Nazarene who was a Jewish sinner sought their wellbeing"
Shamoun's observation: The Talmudic Jesus sounds remarkably like the script of modern Christian Zionism -- advocating unconditional support for the Jewish people even while suffering eternal punishment himself.
5. Peter Schaefer's Theory on Why Jesus Is Punished with Excrement
Schaefer proposes that the specific punishment assigned to Jesus by the rabbis is a deliberate mockery of two sayings of Jesus, demonstrating that the rabbis were aware of Jesus's actual teachings:
A. Mark 7:18-23 -- Jesus's teaching on food and defilement:
Jesus taught that what goes into a person (food) does not defile them because it passes through the body and is eliminated. Rather, it is what comes out of the heart (evil thoughts, immorality, murder) that defiles.
The rabbis twisted this into: "You say food doesn't defile because it comes out? Then you will boil in what comes out."
B. John 6:53-56 -- The Holy Eucharist:
Jesus said: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you."
Schaefer believes the rabbis mocked this teaching as well: "If you eat his flesh and drink his blood, it will also come out as excrement." This constitutes a direct attack on the Christian doctrine of the Eucharist.
Significance: This demonstrates the rabbis were engaging with and responding to specific Gospel teachings, not merely inventing stories about Jesus.
6. The Eternal Nature of the Punishment
Shamoun highlights a critical theological detail from rabbinic tradition:
- Ordinary evildoers in rabbinic eschatology burn in Gehenna (hell) for 12 months, then are removed and annihilated -- they cease to exist and have no share in the world to come
- Titus, Balaam, and Jesus receive eternal punishment -- they are never removed from their torment
- This places Jesus in the category of the worst sinners in all of Jewish history, alongside a pagan diviner and a Roman emperor who destroyed the Temple
7. Manuscript Censorship and the Substitution of Names
Shamoun explains an important textual-critical point:
- When the Catholic Church discovered these blasphemous Talmudic statements about Jesus, they demanded an explanation
- An edict was issued within Jewish communities to remove or replace Jesus's name in Talmudic copies
- In many manuscripts, "Jesus" was changed to "Balaam" to obscure the reference
- However, earlier manuscripts survive that preserve the original reading "Jesus the Nazarene" (Yeshu ha-Notzri)
- The Orthodox Jewish website Sefaria.org itself preserves and translates the reading "Jesus the Nazarene" in its version
8. Contrast with Islam
Shamoun makes a comparative religion argument:
- The Quran honors Jesus (Isa) and Mary (Maryam) -- affirming Jesus as a prophet, born of a virgin, a miracle worker
- The Talmud places Jesus in eternal torment, calls him a "sinner of Israel," and mocks his core teachings
- Shamoun's point: While he opposes both Islam and Talmudic Judaism theologically, the Talmud is far more hostile to the person of Jesus than the Quran is
- This serves as a corrective to Christians who are strongly anti-Islam but remain uncritical of rabbinic Judaism
Bible Verse Deep Dive
Lamentations 1:5
"Her adversaries have become the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions." (LSB)
- Context: This verse is from Jeremiah's lamentation over the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 BC
- Talmudic usage: Titus cites this verse to tell Onkelos that anyone who distresses Israel will "become the chief" -- implying that persecuting Israel leads to worldly power
- Theological significance: The Talmud uses this verse to establish a principle that Israel's enemies gain temporal authority through their opposition, but face eternal punishment for it
Mark 7:18-23
"And He said to them, 'Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?' (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, 'That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.'" (LSB)
- Context: Jesus is responding to Pharisaic criticism about His disciples eating with unwashed hands, challenging the oral tradition of ritual purity
- Talmudic response (per Schaefer): The rabbis took Jesus's biological analogy about food being eliminated and turned it into the basis for his punishment -- a grotesque inversion of His teaching
- Theological significance: This passage is one of the clearest instances where Jesus directly challenged Pharisaic oral law, declaring all foods clean. The rabbinic punishment appears to be a direct retaliation against this teaching, confirming the rabbis recognized Jesus was undermining their authority
John 6:53-56
"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.'" (LSB)
- Context: Jesus's Bread of Life discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum, which caused many disciples to leave Him (John 6:66)
- Talmudic response (per Schaefer): The rabbis mocked the Eucharistic teaching by combining it with the Mark 7 teaching -- if Jesus says eating food results in elimination, then eating His "flesh and blood" would have the same result
- Theological significance: This represents one of the earliest polemical responses to Christian sacramental theology. The rabbinic attack confirms awareness of distinctly Christian doctrines within the Talmudic period
Zechariah 2:8
"For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.'" (LSB)
- Context: A prophetic vision about God's protection of Jerusalem and the Jewish people
- Talmudic usage: The Talmud places this verse in Jesus's mouth, having Him warn Onkelos that anyone who harms the Jewish people is as one touching the apple of God's eye
- Theological significance: Shamoun notes the irony that the Talmud has Jesus advocating an extreme pro-Israel position (essentially Christian Zionism) while simultaneously being punished as one of history's worst sinners
Numbers 25:1-3 (Background for Balaam's punishment)
"While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel." (LSB)
- Context: Balaam, unable to curse Israel directly, advised Moab to use women to seduce Israelite men into idolatry
- Talmudic usage: This is the basis for Balaam's punishment matching his crime -- sexual immorality
- Theological significance: The Talmud establishes a clear pattern of "measure for measure" (middah k'neged middah) punishment, which it then applies to Jesus
Thematic Concept Analysis
Theme 1: Rabbinic Awareness of Gospel Teachings
The Talmudic punishment assigned to Jesus is not random but appears to be a direct, informed response to specific teachings recorded in the Gospels (Mark 7, John 6). This suggests:
- The rabbis had access to and were familiar with Gospel content
- The Talmudic passages about Jesus function as counter-polemic rather than mere slander
- The punishment was crafted to mock and undermine specific Christian doctrines
Theme 2: Measure-for-Measure Justice (Middah K'neged Middah)
The Talmud structures the three punishments on the principle that God punishes sinners with the very thing related to their sin:
- Titus burned the Temple, so he burns eternally
- Balaam caused sexual sin, so he suffers in the substance of sexual sin
- Jesus taught about food/elimination and the Eucharist, so he suffers in excrement
This framework reveals the rabbinic view that Jesus's "sin" was specifically his challenge to Pharisaic authority and his establishment of new religious practices (the Eucharist).
Theme 3: Textual Censorship and Manuscript Evidence
The history of Talmudic censorship regarding Jesus passages reveals:
- Medieval Jewish communities were pressured to remove references to Jesus
- The substitution of "Balaam" for "Jesus" in later manuscripts is a documented phenomenon
- Pre-censorship manuscripts and the Sefaria translation confirm the original readings
- This censorship history itself testifies to the antiquity and authenticity of the Jesus references
Theme 4: Jesus as "Sinner of Israel" vs. Gentile Enemies
The Talmud's classification of Jesus as a "sinner of Israel" (as opposed to a gentile enemy like Balaam) is theologically significant:
- It implicitly acknowledges Jesus's Jewish identity
- It distinguishes Jesus from pagan enemies -- he is an insider who went wrong, not an outsider
- Even as a "sinner," the Talmudic Jesus still advocates for Israel's welfare
- This creates an internally contradictory portrait: Jesus cares for Israel but deserves eternal punishment
Theme 5: Comparative Blasphemy -- Talmud vs. Quran
Shamoun uses this material to challenge a common blind spot among Christians:
- Many Christians are passionately anti-Islam but remain ignorant of or sympathetic toward rabbinic Judaism
- The Quran actually honors Jesus as a prophet, born of a virgin, miracle worker, and the Messiah (though denying his divinity and crucifixion)
- The Talmud places Jesus in eternal torment and mocks his core teachings
- The comparison serves as a wake-up call for Christians who ally with rabbinic Judaism while opposing Islam
Theme 6: Eternal Punishment in Rabbinic Eschatology
The passage reveals important details about rabbinic views of the afterlife:
- Standard rabbinic teaching: evildoers suffer in Gehenna for 12 months, then are annihilated
- The worst sinners (Titus, Balaam, Jesus) receive eternal, unending punishment -- they are never annihilated
- This is significant because it places Jesus in the most extreme category of sinners in rabbinic theology
- The eternal nature of the punishment parallels (ironically) the Christian doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell
Key Quotes
"Peter Schaefer joined the faculty in 1998, appointed as the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religion. This man is a scholar. He's a professor. He didn't write a book trying to demonize the Jews. He was writing a scholarly tome on what the Talmud says about Jesus."
"According to the Talmud, Titus and Jesus will be punished forever. They will not be taken out of hell a year later and wiped out of existence. They will continue to suffer, which means the Talmud teaches Jesus will continue to burn forever and ever according to the rabbis."
"The Jesus of the Talmud is in hell burning and boiling and he's warning people, 'Hey, cling to Israel. Follow Israel because they're God's people and don't seek their harm.' That's exactly the script of Christian Zionism."
"As much as you hate Islam and Muhammad, you can't hate him enough. At least the Quran honors Isa and Maryam."
"There was an edict sent out to the Jews to expunge, remove all references to Jesus because the Catholic Church found out about these nasty blasphemous statements about Jesus and they were being called forth to give an answer."
"Peter Schaefer thinks it's because of two sayings of Jesus. That means the rabbis were aware of the teachings of Jesus."
"Come and see the difference between the sinners of Israel and the prophets of the nations of the world. So notice Jesus is a sinner of Israel."
Conclusion
This session provides a sobering examination of how the Babylonian Talmud (Gittin 56b-57a) treats Jesus of Nazareth. Through the scholarly lens of Peter Schaefer's academic work, Shamoun demonstrates that the Talmudic rabbis were not merely ignorant of Jesus -- they were actively engaging with and responding to His specific teachings (Mark 7:18-23 on food/defilement and John 6:53-56 on the Eucharist). The "measure for measure" punishment structure reveals a deliberate theological polemic against Christianity.
The passage places Jesus alongside Titus (who destroyed the Temple) and Balaam (who caused Israel's sexual apostasy) as figures deserving eternal torment -- the most severe category in rabbinic eschatology, exceeding even the punishment of ordinary evildoers who are annihilated after 12 months in Gehenna.
The textual history of censorship -- where Jesus's name was replaced with "Balaam" in later manuscripts to avoid Christian scrutiny -- paradoxically strengthens the case that these passages originally referred to Jesus, as pre-censorship manuscripts and the Orthodox Jewish Sefaria website confirm.
For Christian apologetics, this material is significant because it demonstrates that rabbinic Judaism's opposition to Jesus is not passive disagreement but active, hostile rejection of His person and teachings -- a reality that many Christians remain unaware of in their engagement with Jewish-Christian dialogue and Christian Zionism.
Sources & References
- Primary Talmudic text: Gittin 56b-57a (Babylonian Talmud)
- Translation source: Sefaria.org (Orthodox Jewish digital library)
- Scholarly source: Peter Schaefer, Jesus in the Talmud (Princeton University Press)
- Video: Sam Shamoun, "What Does The Talmud REALLY Say About Jesus?" (Shamounian Explains)
Analysis generated from video transcript on 2026-03-04.