Mashiach Ben Dovid and Mashiach Ben Yosef

Some missionaries quote Talmudic and Midrashic writings of the rabbis, which allegedly support Jesus. The problem, however, is that they misquote, take out-of-context, or mistranslate these sayings.

It is hypocritical to quote some rabbinic teachings while ignoring the others. The Oral Torah clearly invalidates Jesus and his beliefs. This is in addition to the fact that Jesus himself—the one these missionaries are trying to prove—mocked at these very rabbis who allegedly support him.

The following along with the upcoming chapter are perhaps the two most common examples of such “proofs” (or “evidence”) they tend to bring:

The Talmud^[i] tells of two messiahs to be at the End of Days; one is the Mashiach Ben Dovid and the other is Mashiach Ben Yosef. Mashiach Ben Yosef’s role, the way the Christians claim, is to be a suffering individual whose death is an atonement for our sins, while Mashiach Ben Dovid’s role is to be a victorious redeemer and the final Messiah. They therefore claim that the rabbis in the Talmud were aware of the concept of Jesus, (even though they didn’t specifically refer to Jesus,) who came at first as Mashiach Ben Yosef (and died for our sins) and will afterwards return in a Second Coming as Mashiach Ben Dovid.

But there’s an obvious flaw at the very surface of the argument. The entire concept of Mashiach Ben Yosef was derived from Zechariah Ch. 12 and other biblical sources where it describes a war at the End of Days. This conflict embodies many nations of the world who lay siege on Jerusalem. At that time, says the Talmud based on the rabbis’ understanding of the verses, there will be a military general of the Jewish armed forces called Mashiach Ben Yosef who will ultimately get killed by an enemy general. There is no correlation between this narrative concerning Mashiach Ben Yosef and the historical account of Jesus.

[This that Isaiah 53 was interpreted by rabbinic Midrash to be referring to Mashiach Ben Yosef, is of no significance for two reasons: first, it isn’t the main role of this Mashiach Ben Yosef, and secondly, Jesus clearly doesn’t fit the Isaiah 53 Suffering Servant description—hence, yet another reason why he’s not the Mashiach Ben Yosef.]

[i] E.g. Sukkah 52b.