The Dead Sea Scrolls While the
Dead Sea Scrolls do not explicitly refer to a Messiah ben Joseph, a plethora of messianic figures are displayed. • The poly-messianic Testimonia text
4Q175 presents a prophet like Moses, a messianic figure and a priestly teacher. The fourth testimonium is about
Joshua and is generally viewed as non-messianic. However Alan Avery-Peck suggests that given its placement the text concerning Joshua should be read as referencing a war messiah from Ephraim. It is dated to the early 1st century BCE. •
1QS lists a Messiah of Israel, a prophet and a priestly Messiah of Aaron. 1QS dates from around 100 BCE.
Gabriel's Revelation Gabriel's Revelation is a stone tablet with its text written in ink. Although the inscription is in a poor state of preservation, the meaning of the legible text is still a matter of scholarship. The text seems to talk about a messianic figure from Ephraim who will break evil before righteousness by three days. The
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a composition of twelve texts one for each patriarch. The Testament of Benjamin was probably expanded later to include a reference to Messiah ben Joseph by Jewish sources. The Testament of Joseph on the other hand was probably altered by Christians to read that the virgin born Lamb of God from the tribe of Judah rather than the lamb son of Joseph would conquer.
Talmud • In the Jerusalem Talmud Brachot 2:4, 5a an Arab tells a Jew that the messiah is born. His father's name is Hezekiah and he will be named Menahem. He is not referred to as the Messiah ben Joseph. However some have linked this passage to Messiah ben Joseph. Selling his cow and plough he buys some swaddling cloth and travels from town to town. He travels to Bethlehem where the child is born. All the women are buying their children clothing except Menahem's mother. She says her son is an enemy of Israel because he is born on the day the
second temple was destroyed. He tells her that if she does not have money today she can pay later. He says that the child is surely the messiah who will rebuild the temple. When he returns she tells him that Menahem has been carried by a divine wind up to heaven. He will later return as Israel's messiah. • In the Babylonian Talmud
Sanhedrin 98b
Menahem ben Hezekiah is also mentioned along with a list of other names of the messiah suggested by different rabbis. Again he is not referred to directly as the Messiah ben Joseph. Menahem's name translates as
"the comforter". The Rabbis also called the messiah the leper scholar, using a pun related to a disciple of Rabbi
Judah ha-Nasi who was smitten by leprosy. • Babylonian Talmud
Sukkah 52a records of a dispute between Rabbi
Dosa ben Harkinas and other unnamed rabbis. Rabbi Dosa takes to apply to the mourning for Messiah ben Joseph, while the rabbis think the mourning is for the evil inclination. The talmudic
redactor sides with Rabbi Dosa: the mourning is for Messiah ben Joseph. (Mourning the Evil Inclination, he adds, would be absurd.) It then speaks of how Ben Joseph's death frightens Messiah ben David, so that he urgently prays for his life to be spared. In the Islamic era
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Exodus 40.9-11, three messiahs Messiah ben David, Messiah ben Ephraim and Elijah are listed. Messiah ben Ephraim's death is not mentioned. The Targum on Song of Songs 4.5 compares Messiah ben David and Messiah ben Ephraim to Moses and Aaron. All of these Targumim refer to Messiah ben Ephraim rather than Messiah ben Joseph in the style of biblical visions (e.g. Daniel, Ezekiel) placed into the mouth of
Zerubbabel. It narrates the struggle between
Armilus and the Messiah whose name is
Nehemiah ben Hushiel ben Ephraim ben Joseph. He will proceed
Menahem ben Ammiel identified as the future Messiah ben David. Armilus is thought to be a cryptogram for
Heraclius and the events described in the Sefer Zerubbabel coincide with the
Jewish revolt against Heraclius. The Sefer Zerubbabel mentions Gog and Armilos rather than
Gog and Magog as the enemies. In the Sefer Zerubbabel a celestial Temple is built in heaven and then lowered to earth.
Otot HaMashiah "Signs of the Messiah" Another medieval Hebrew apocalypse, the
Otot HaMashiah or "Signs of the Messiah", also casts Nehemiah ben Hushiel as the Messiah ben Joseph. It gives a less historically linked account but is also thought to be dated to the beginning of the 7th century. and Ten Signs
The Secrets of Shimon bar Yohai Dated after the fall of the
Umayyad Caliphate in the 8th century, the midrashic
The Secrets of Rabbi Simon ben Yohai is generally positive towards
Islam.
Midrash Messiah ben Joseph is established in the apocalypses of later centuries and the
midrash literature. •
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 5:9 here the four craftsmen are listed as Elijah, the King Messiah, Melchizedek and the Anointed for War. •
Pesikta Rabbati 15.14/15 likewise the four craftsmen are listed as Elijah, the King Messiah,
Melchizedek, and the Anointed for War. The
Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer is often thought to have had Christian and Muslim influences. The text is often dated from the eighth or ninth century. • The Isawiyya were an important Jewish sect founded by
Abu Isa and sometimes linked with the rise of
Shia Islam.
Al-Shahrastani appears to have identified with the Isawiyya. The writer of Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer is also thought by some to have identified with the Isawiyya. The description Al-Shahrastani gives of
Abu Isa is very similar to the one given to Menahem ben Ammiel in Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer. Thus it has been suggested that Abu Isa may have thought himself the Messiah ben Joseph. Similarities with the Sefer Zerubbabel suggest that it is likely that Saadia Gaon knew of that work. •
Midrash Tehillim also refers to the Messiah ben Ephraim. again Messiah ben Joseph will be found in the Upper Galilee where Israel will assemble. • Also from the eleventh century the
Midrash Wayosha mentions Messiah ben Joseph. •
Numbers Rabbah 14.1 here the Righteous Priest has been replaced. The four craftsmen are listed as Elijah, Redeemer from David, War Messiah from Ephraim, Messiah from Manasseh.
Zohar Following the apocalyptic battles the Messiah enters a pillar of fire which will hide him for twelve months. Some view this figure as the Messiah ben Joseph who has been killed. The text in the
Zohar probably does not reflect
Moses de Leon's views. The suffering messiah was marginal in his Hebrew writings. == Ten Lost Tribes ==