Mark 14.61b-64 | Mishnah, Sanhedrin 7.6 |
| 61b Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest says, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. | MISHNA VI: A blasphemer is not guilty, unless he mentioned the proper name of God. Said R. Jehoshua b. Karha: Through the entire trial the witnesses are examined pseudonymously -- i.e. (the blasphemer said): "Jose shall be beaten by Jose." When the examination was ended, the culprit was not executed on the testimony under the pseudonym; but all are told to leave the room except the witnesses, and the oldest of them is instructed: "Tell what you heard exactly." And he does so. The judges then arise, and rend their garments, and they are not to be mended. The second witness then says: "I heard exactly the same as he told." And so also says the third witness. |
Capital blasphemy consists precisely of speaking the name, according to the Mishnah. Ordinarily the witnesses to the blasphemy would testify at the trial, but in the passion narrative Jesus cuts right to the chase and speaks the name on his own, thus prompting the priest to declare that witnesses are unnecessary. This Marcan passage thus parallels the Mishnaic instructions magnificently, and the unusual circumlocution for the right hand of God, "the right hand of Power" (which mirrors the unusual circumlocution for God in the Mishnah, "Jose"), glosses over Jesus' actual words at the trial, which could not be repeated either orally or in written form. I know others disagree, but I have found this explanation to be quite convincing.
And now I wonder whether there is something to the possible parallel to be found in the Toledot Yeshu, in which Jesus derives his seemingly magical powers from having stolen the ineffable name of God from the foundation stone of the temple in Jerusalem. It is through the speaking of this holy name that Jesus works his miracles, and eventually his reputation comes to the attention of Queen Helene, probably a corruption of Queen Salome Alexandra, wife of the deceased Alexander Jannaeus, during whose time the Jewish tradition tends to locate Jesus. She summons him before her, and he utters the name in the course of working a miracle to prove his messianic identity:
Yeshu spoke up: "Madam, I am the Messiah and I revive the dead." A dead body was brought in; he pronounced the letters of the Ineffable Name and the corpse came to life. The Queen was greatly moved and said: "This is a true sign." She reprimanded the Sages and sent them humiliated from her presence. Yeshu's dissident followers increased and there was controversy in Israel.
Obviously, in this story the ruler, unlike the high priest in the gospels, does not immediately condemn him to death. But Jesus uttering the divine name at his trial in the gospels and Jesus having stolen the divine name from the temple in the Toledot Yeshu before uttering it during his audience with Queen Helene is an interesting parallel, IMHO.