Bar Kochba and the Evil Tenants

[Joseph D. L.]

Talmud Gittin, 57 A-B

Rev 14:14-20

His head was brought to Hadrian, who asked: “Who killed him?” A Cuthite came forward and said: “I did.” Hadrian told him: “Go and bring his body.” He went and brought it, and they found a snake curled around his neck. Hadrian declared: “Had his G‑d not killed him, who would have been able to do so?” Eighty thousand Romans entered Betar and slaughtered the men, women and children until blood flowed from the doorways and sewers. Horses sank up until their nostrils, and the rivers of blood lifted up rocks weighing forty se’ah [approximately 700 lb.], and flowed into the sea, where its stain was noticeable for a distance of four mil [approximately 2.5 miles]. Hadrian had a large vineyard, eighteen mil [approximately 11.5 miles] by eighteen mil—the distance between Tiberias and Tzippori—and he surrounded it with a wall made from the bodies of those slain in Betar. He also ordered that they not be brought to burial. The sages taught: for seven years the gentiles harvested their vineyards without having to fertilize them, because of the blood of Israel.

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

The similarities between Gittin 57 A-B, and Rev 14:14-20, is enough to show that they are both referring to the same event, and thus postdate the bar Kochba revolt. The detail about a horse’s bridal/horse’s nostrils appearing in both is highly unlikely unless this was a common reference to the slaughter Hadrian enacted on those at Betar.

But funny enough, this same event seems to be alluded to in the Synoptics as a parable:

Matthew 23:33-41	Mark 12:1-9	Luke 20:9-16
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”	And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.	And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

With the key to the parable being the bar Kochba revolt, we can decipher its meaning more clearly.

According to Gittin 57, it was a Samaritan (Cuthite) who killed bar Kochba. So that’s where we should start. The Samaritans are the tenants. Hadrian is the man who planted the vineyard, a grim metaphor for the dead bodies he used as a wall and the blood that issued forth. The Parable of the Tenants is anti-Samaritan and describes them as traitors, while also being somewhat anti-bar Kochba, the failed messiah, while still viewing the owner as above them. The parable is a cautionary tale about rebelling against the Empire.

As a side note: the Parable of the Sower also appears to be based on the bar Kochba revolt, so that knocks the Gospel of Marcion to the 140s ad.

[Ben C. Smith]

Talmud Gittin, 57 A-B

Rev 14:14-20

His head was brought to Hadrian, who asked: “Who killed him?” A Cuthite came forward and said: “I did.” Hadrian told him: “Go and bring his body.” He went and brought it, and they found a snake curled around his neck. Hadrian declared: “Had his G‑d not killed him, who would have been able to do so?” Eighty thousand Romans entered Betar and slaughtered the men, women and children until blood flowed from the doorways and sewers. Horses sank up until their nostrils, and the rivers of blood lifted up rocks weighing forty se’ah [approximately 700 lb.], and flowed into the sea, where its stain was noticeable for a distance of four mil [approximately 2.5 miles]. Hadrian had a large vineyard, eighteen mil [approximately 11.5 miles] by eighteen mil—the distance between Tiberias and Tzippori—and he surrounded it with a wall made from the bodies of those slain in Betar. He also ordered that they not be brought to burial. The sages taught: for seven years the gentiles harvested their vineyards without having to fertilize them, because of the blood of Israel.

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

The similarities between Gittin 57 A-B, and Rev 14:14-20, is enough to show that they are both referring to the same event, and thus postdate the bar Kochba revolt. The detail about a horse’s bridal/horse’s nostrils appearing in both is highly unlikely unless this was a common reference to the slaughter Hadrian enacted on those at Betar.

That is a very interesting correspondence. Thanks for that.

But funny enough, this same event seems to be alluded to in the Synoptics as a parable:

Matthew 23:33-41	Mark 12:1-9	Luke 20:9-16
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”	And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.	And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

With the key to the parable being the bar Kochba revolt, we can decipher its meaning more clearly.

According to Gittin 57, it was a Samaritan (Cuthite) who killed bar Kochba. So that’s where we should start. The Samaritans are the tenants. Hadrian is the man who planted the vineyard, a grim metaphor for the dead bodies he used as a wall and the blood that issued forth. The Parable of the Tenants is anti-Samaritan and describes them as traitors, while also being somewhat anti-bar Kochba, the failed messiah, while still viewing the owner as above them. The parable is a cautionary tale about rebelling against the Empire.

As a side note: the Parable of the Sower also appears to be based on the bar Kochba revolt, so that knocks the Gospel of Marcion to the 140s ad.

This correspondence, however, is much less satisfying. The parable of the tenants has closer parallels and precedents elsewhere.

[Joseph D. L.]

That is a very interesting correspondence. Thanks for that.

Thank Xoroaster. His research still influences me, even though I fundamentally disagree with key components of it.

This correspondence, however, is much less satisfying. The parable of the tenants has closer parallels and precedents elsewhere.

I’ll be honest, I cannot make heads or tails of what you’re getting at here. The parable is not a throw-away passage and is meant to convey a very specific meaning. The fact that it parallels nicely with Gittin 57 and Rev 14, along with the fact that the Gospels are clearly after bar Kochba, making it the most relevant correspondent, clenches it.

[Joseph D. L.]

I will add the likelihood of the scene of Christ in Gethsemane may also refer to bar Kochba. Blood and wine is used interchangeably in the Jesus narrative. (The Eucharist for example).

[Ben C. Smith]

I’ll be honest, I cannot make heads or tails of what you’re getting at here. The parable is not a throw-away passage and is meant to convey a very specific meaning. The fact that it parallels nicely with Gittin 57 and Rev 14, along with the fact that the Gospels are clearly after bar Kochba, making it the most relevant correspondent, clenches it.

Completely agreed that there is a meaning, and it is not a throwaway. What I am saying is that both the form and the content of the parable of the tenants find better and closer parallels in other material than in Gittin 57. The rabbinic orchard parable, for example, is a much better match for the form, and the procession of the prophets (not to mention the "woe" that the rabbis attributed to the Canaanites as Israel marched back in from Egypt to reclaim the land) is a much better match for the content. The Hadrianic connection is unnecessary because it is outmatched on every point.

[Charles Wilson]

Talmud Gittin, 57 A-B:

"His head was brought to Hadrian, who asked: “Who killed him?” A Cuthite came forward and said: “I did.” Hadrian told him: “Go and bring his body.” He went and brought it, and they found a snake curled around his neck. Hadrian declared: “Had his G‑d not killed him, who would have been able to do so?” Eighty thousand Romans entered Betar and slaughtered the men, women and children..."

Talmud Gittin 56 B:

"Understanding that Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai was prepared to ask him not to destroy the Temple, Vespasian said to him: If there is a barrel of honey and a snake [derakon] is wrapped around it, wouldn’t they break the barrel in order to kill the snake? In similar fashion, I am forced to destroy the city of Jerusalem in order to kill the zealots barricaded within it. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai was silent and did not answer. In light of this, Rav Yosef later read the following verse about him, and some say that it was Rabbi Akiva who applied the verse to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: “I am the Lord…Who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:25). As Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai should have said the following to Vespasian in response: In such a case, we take tongs, remove the snake, and kill it, and in this way we leave the barrel intact. So too, you should kill the rebels and leave the city as it is.
***
"Vespasian then said to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: I will be going to Rome to accept my new position, and I will send someone else in my place to continue besieging the city and waging war against it. But before I leave, ask something of me that I can give you. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: Give me Yavne and its Sages and do not destroy it, and spare the dynasty of Rabban Gamliel and do not kill them as if they were rebels, and lastly give me doctors to heal Rabbi Tzadok. Rav Yosef read the following verse about him, and some say that it was Rabbi Akiva who applied the verse to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: “I am the Lord…Who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:25), as he should have said to him to leave the Jews alone this time..."

[Ben C. Smith]

Talmud Gittin, 57 A-B

Rev 14:14-20

His head was brought to Hadrian, who asked: “Who killed him?” A Cuthite came forward and said: “I did.” Hadrian told him: “Go and bring his body.” He went and brought it, and they found a snake curled around his neck. Hadrian declared: “Had his G‑d not killed him, who would have been able to do so?” Eighty thousand Romans entered Betar and slaughtered the men, women and children until blood flowed from the doorways and sewers. Horses sank up until their nostrils, and the rivers of blood lifted up rocks weighing forty se’ah [approximately 700 lb.], and flowed into the sea, where its stain was noticeable for a distance of four mil [approximately 2.5 miles]. Hadrian had a large vineyard, eighteen mil [approximately 11.5 miles] by eighteen mil—the distance between Tiberias and Tzippori—and he surrounded it with a wall made from the bodies of those slain in Betar. He also ordered that they not be brought to burial. The sages taught: for seven years the gentiles harvested their vineyards without having to fertilize them, because of the blood of Israel.

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

The similarities between Gittin 57 A-B, and Rev 14:14-20, is enough to show that they are both referring to the same event, and thus postdate the bar Kochba revolt. The detail about a horse’s bridal/horse’s nostrils appearing in both is highly unlikely unless this was a common reference to the slaughter Hadrian enacted on those at Betar.

The following parallels seem relevant:

Isaiah 18.4-6: 4 For thus the Lord has told me, “I will look from My dwelling place quietly like dazzling heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches. 6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, and for the beasts of the earth; and the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, and all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

Isaiah 63.1-6: 1 Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save." 2 Why is Your apparel red and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? 3 "I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. 5 I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me. 6 I trod down the peoples in My anger and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

Joel 3.11-16 (4:13 OG): 11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down, Yahweh, Your mighty ones. 12 Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness. 16 Yahweh roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble. But Yahweh is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel.

2 Maccabees 12.16: 16 And took the city by the will of God, and made unspeakable slaughters, insomuch that a lake two furlongs broad near adjoining thereunto, being filled full, was seen running with blood.

1 Enoch 100.1-3: 1 And in those days in one place the fathers together with their sons shall be smitten, and brothers one with another shall fall in death till the streams flow with their blood. 2 For a man shall not withhold his hand from slaying his sons and his sons' sons, and the sinner shall not withhold his hand from his honored brother: from dawn till sunset they shall slay one another. 3 And the horse shall walk up to the breast in the blood of sinners, and the chariot shall be submerged to its height.

4 Ezra 15.35-36: 35 They shall dash against one another and shall pour out a heavy tempest upon the earth, and their own tempest; and there shall be blood from the sword as high as a horse's belly 36 and a man's thigh and a camel's hock.

[Joseph D. L.]

The following parallels seem relevant:

Isaiah 18.4-6: 4 For thus the Lord has told me, “I will look from My dwelling place quietly like dazzling heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches. 6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, and for the beasts of the earth; and the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, and all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

Isaiah 63.1-6: 1 Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save." 2 Why is Your apparel red and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? 3 "I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. 5 I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me. 6 I trod down the peoples in My anger and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

Joel 3.11-16 (4:13 OG): 11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down, Yahweh, Your mighty ones. 12 Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness. 16 Yahweh roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble. But Yahweh is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel.

2 Maccabees 12.16: 16 And took the city by the will of God, and made unspeakable slaughters, insomuch that a lake two furlongs broad near adjoining thereunto, being filled full, was seen running with blood.

1 Enoch 100.1-3: 1 And in those days in one place the fathers together with their sons shall be smitten, and brothers one with another shall fall in death till the streams flow with their blood. 2 For a man shall not withhold his hand from slaying his sons and his sons' sons, and the sinner shall not withhold his hand from his honored brother: from dawn till sunset they shall slay one another. 3 And the horse shall walk up to the breast in the blood of sinners, and the chariot shall be submerged to its height.

4 Ezra 15.35-36: 35 They shall dash against one another and shall pour out a heavy tempest upon the earth, and their own tempest; and there shall be blood from the sword as high as a horse's belly 36 and a man's thigh and a camel's hock.

While those parallels are interesting and point to a common expression, the focus of Gittin 57 specifically, as well as its parallels with Rev 14, signifies a greater connection between the two, and thus a greater significance for the rebellion of 132-135 ad on Christianity and its emergence.

This goes for the Parable of the Tenants. It's a parable for not rising up against the Empire.

[Ben C. Smith]

While those parallels are interesting and point to a common expression, the focus of Gittin 57 specifically, as well as its parallels with Rev 14, signifies a greater connection between the two, and thus a greater significance for the rebellion of 132-135 ad on Christianity and its emergence.

What is that shared focus between Gittin 57 and Revelation 14.14-20 which is lacking from the other parallels?

ETA 1: Indeed, the apocalyptic parallels share a key trait with Revelation 14.14-20 which is lacking in Gittin 57, do they not? In the apocalyptic texts, the whole point of the vineyard is the grape harvest, which is symbolic of God's wrath against humankind. In the Talmudic text, the vineyard is not even the site of the slaughter; it is simply the place where Hadrian publicly deposited the bodies of the slain afterward; the symbolism (harvest = wrath) is missing.

ETA 2: Here is the passage again:

Talmud Gittin, 57 A-B

Rev 14:14-20

His head was brought to Hadrian, who asked: “Who killed him?” A Cuthite came forward and said: “I did.” Hadrian told him: “Go and bring his body.” He went and brought it, and they found a snake curled around his neck. Hadrian declared: “Had his G‑d not killed him, who would have been able to do so?” Eighty thousand Romans entered Betar and slaughtered the men, women and children until blood flowed from the doorways and sewers. Horses sank up until their nostrils, and the rivers of blood lifted up rocks weighing forty se’ah [approximately 700 lb.], and flowed into the sea, where its stain was noticeable for a distance of four mil [approximately 2.5 miles]. Hadrian had a large vineyard, eighteen mil [approximately 11.5 miles] by eighteen mil—the distance between Tiberias and Tzippori—and he surrounded it with a wall made from the bodies of those slain in Betar. He also ordered that they not be brought to burial. The sages taught: for seven years the gentiles harvested their vineyards without having to fertilize them, because of the blood of Israel.

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

I just want to point out that this Talmudic passage appears to come from the Jerusalem/Palestinian Talmud. The Babylonian Talmud has the following instead:

Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 57a: ‘Through the shaft of a litter Bethar was destroyed.’ It was the custom when a boy was born to plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born to plant a pine tree, and when they married, the tree was cut down and a canopy made of the branches. One day the daughter of the Emperor was passing when the shaft of her litter broke, so they lopped some branches off a cedar tree and brought it to her. The Jews thereupon fell upon them and beat them. They reported to the Emperor that the Jews were rebelling, and he marched against them. He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel. R. Zera said in the name of R. Abbahu who quoted R. Johanan: These are the eighty [thousand] battle trumpets which assembled in the city of Bethar when it was taken and men, women and children were slain in it until their blood ran into the great sea. Do you think this was near? It was a whole mil , away. It has been taught: R. Eleazar the Great said: There are two streams in the valley of Yadaim, one running in one direction and one in another, and the Sages estimated that [at that time] they ran with two parts water to one of blood. In a Baraitha it has been taught: For seven years the Gentiles fertilized their vineyards with the blood of Israel without using manure.

No mention of Hadrian piling up bodies around his own vineyard. The only vineyards in view are those belonging to the gentiles in general. (I have no idea offhand which version, if either, might be considered the more original.)