• Gentiles who wish to learn more about the Jewish Roots of Christianity
• Jews who are curious about the claims of Jesus, the Jewish messiah.
• All who love Israel and the Jewish people and are looking for reliable information and current news.

Graetz

• History of the Jews

R. Travers Herford

• Christianity in Talmud and Midrash

Theodore John

• Account of His Conversion

Kay

• Prophet of the Suffering Servant

Kellog

• Atonement in the Old Testament

Krummacher

• "It is Finished", and "Father, into Thy Hands I Commit My Spirit"

Lightfoot

• The Nativity

Alexander McCaul

• The Old Paths

Mishnah (These selections from the Mishnah, in English, also come with selected portions from the Babylonian Talmud on sections of especial interest to followers of Yeshua.)

• Mishnah Tractate Middoth
• Mishnah Tractate Sanhedrin
• Mishnah, Tractate Sukkah
• Mishnah, Tractate YOMA

Randolph Parrish

• Additional Notes and Commentary on the Gospels, from Jewish and Classical Sources

Joseph Priestly

• Letters to the Jews

William Ramsey

• Was Christ born at Bethlehem?

Ben Shalomoh

• Narrative of His Conversion

Solomon Schechter

• The Hebrew Collection of the British Museum

Spurgeon

• "The Crown of Thorns" and "The Shame and the Spitting".

Mark Twain

• Concerning the Jews

A series of answers given in discussions over the Internet, in answer to the challenges of anti-missionaries. These are sometimes polemic, given the nature of the forums in which they appeared; but they can frequently be informative, nevertheless.

Extract: The following questions were raised in discussions on the Internet during the course of the last year (1996). The answers offered here were either provided at the time, or else have been especially recreated for this book. Each of the respondents (which include both messianic Jews and gentile Christians) has chosen to be represented only by first and last initials.

Of course, no one "coverts" another person to the truth about Yeshua; the Holy Spirit does this. No amount of argument, "logic", or "analysis" is sufficient by itself to help people come to the fullness of understanding of the depth of G-d's chesed. Our task instead is merely to uplift Yeshua, who, if he is lifted up, has promised to draw all men unto himself.

A series of answers given in discussions over the Internet, in answer to the challenges of anti-missionaries. These are sometimes polemic, given the nature of the forums in which they appeared; but they can frequently be informative, nevertheless.

Extract: WE JEWS HAVE OUR OWN RELIGION! WE DON'T NEED YOURS!: Yes, Jews already follow a religion which is derived largely from scripture (and so, since we believe that scripture is the revelation of the truth to man, this religion is thereby closer to the truth than are the religions devised by men, such as Hinduism or Buddhism.) But HaShem also ordained that Yeshua should come to the Jewish people (and not to the Romans, or to the Greeks, or to the Anglo-Saxons). Yeshua said to Nicodemus, 'You must be born again.' Nicodemus was a master in Israel, well-versed in Jewish practice. Yet even to him, Nicodemus, Yeshua explained that traditional practices alone were not enough, there had to be something more. I believe that for a Jew to be most truly a Jew, he must also believe in his messiah. And that Faithfulness to the Torah and to G-d requires this. The Torah says that prophets whose prophecies come true are to be followed. Yeshua prophesied his own death and resurrection. IF he truly rose from the dead, then the Torah requires that his teaching be followed. Now, of course, you might dispute the premise that he rose from the dead. However, since we do believe this (if we didn't, we wouldn't be his followers), we must also believe as a logical consequence that the Torah commands us to follow Yeshua of Nazareth's teachings. Since you dispute the premise, you do not see this consequence.

"Israel's Advocate" was the monthly publication of the American Society for the Melioration of the Condition of the Jews. These excerpts are from issues for the years 1823-1827

Extract: As I had been advised to visit an Israelite in a place at ten English miles distance from M. I went there; and as it was the Sabbath day, I found him at home. He has a wife and eight children. He had formerly been singer in the synagogue, but now keeps a shop, by which he supports himself and his family very comfortably. But when the Jews found him to entertain Christian sentiments, which he took no care to conceal, they succeeded in alienating the mind of the lord of the manor towards him so far, as not to suffer him to remain in the place as a Christian convert. Not knowing, therefore, where to find another asylum with his numerous family, he is compelled to postpone his transition, to which he looks forward with a longing desire, until he has found an abode, where he can exist as an honest man. I conversed with another Israelite, a leather merchant, who also has an earnest desire to devote himself to Jesus Christ, but must first prepare his bride, whom he cannot forsake for that change. While I was conversing with these persons, the other Jews excited a terrible noise. As one of them knew me to be a convert, they all ran to the magistrate, desiring him to put me into prison as a vagabond. He came into the inn accompanied by a constable, and asked for my passport. The Jews meanwhile assembled in crowds to see me carried away. But the magistrate, after having attentively perused my passport, bade me go on travelling with God. Then turning to the Jews, he scolded and threatened them in the most opprobrious terms.

Sholem Asch was probably the world's greatest Yiddish-language novelist ("The Nazarene", "The Apostle", "Mary"). His "One Destiny; an Epistle to the Christians", was written in 1945, at the end of the war.

Extract: I, as a Jew, whose every move is bound up with the God of Israel, want to know nothing of any historical wonder, of any faith, save only the wonder and the faith which radiate from the God of Israel. The wonder is revealed to me in two ways: first, the miracle of the preservation of Israel; second, the miracle of the spread of the Judaeo-Christian idea in the pagan world. The whole thing to me represents a single, divine event. I see in both phenomena the single will of the God of Israel. Not only because I consider my Christian brothers as the spiritual children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but also because I see in pure Christianity an entirely justified share of faith in the God of Israel--through the Messianic idea--equal to my own Jewish faith. The preservation of Israel and the preservation of the Nazarene are one phenomenon. They depend on each other. The stream must run dry when the spring becomes clogged, and Christianity would become petrified if the Jews, God forbid, should cease to exist. And just as the spring loses its value, becomes spoiled and moldy when it has lost its mission and does not water the stream, so would Jewry itself become petrified, barren, and dry if there were no Christendom to fructify it. Without Christendom, Jews would become a second tribe of Samaritans. The two are one. And notwithstanding the heritage of blood and fire which passionate enmity has brought between them, they are two parts of a single whole, two poles of the world which are always drawn to each other, and no deliverance, no peace, and no salvation can come until the two halves are joined together and become one part of God.

David Baron was a Hebrew-Christian writer of the late 19th century. His "Servant of Jehovah" is his commentary on Isaiah 53, focusing on the meaning of the Hebrew words in the text.

Extract: In fact, until Rashi (Rabbi Solomon Yizchaki, 1040-1105) applied it to the Jewish nation, the Messianic interpretation of this chapter was almost universally adopted by Jews, and his view, which we shall examine presently, although recieved by Ibn Ezra, Kimchi, and others, was rejected as unsatisfactory by many others, one of whom (R. Mosheh Kohen Ibn Crispin, of Cordova, and afterwards Toledo, fourteenth century, who says rightly, of those who for controversial reasons applied this prophecy to Israel, that “the doors of literal interpretation of this chapter were shut in their face, and that they wearied themselves to find the entrance, having forsaken the knowledge of our teachers, and inclined after the stubborness of their own hearts and of their own opinions.” According to Ibn Crispin, the interpretation adopted by Rashi “distorts the passage from its natural meaning”, and that in truth “it was given of God as a description of the Messiah, whereby, when any should claim to be the Messiah, to judge by the resemblance or non-resemblance to it whether he were the Messiah or not.” cease to exist. And just as the spring loses its value, becomes spoiled and moldy when it has lost its mission and does not water the stream, so would Jewry itself become petrified, barren, and dry if there were no Christendom to fructify it. Without Christendom, Jews would become a second tribe of Samaritans. The two are one. And notwithstanding the heritage of blood and fire which passionate enmity has brought between them, they are two parts of a single whole, two poles of the world which are always drawn to each other, and no deliverance, no peace, and no salvation can come until the two halves are joined together and become one part of God.

Full Title : "Convincement for the Jews, and confirmation for the Christians. Or that, Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, and is already come. Proved from, and by the sacred Scriptures, the unerring rule of truth, and by other undeniable arguments. Together with the principles and most weighty Objections of the Jews answered All being a loving exhortation to the Jews, by him that earnestly desireth the salvation of all weary and thirsty souls, both Jews and Gentiles written by John Blacklach London 1656"

Extract: Dearly beloved (I would willingly call you Brethren, but I believe you will not yet accept so much; let me call you ) Men and Fathers, unto you that are the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, men whose memories I highly esteem, and men forever blessed by the Lord. The occasion of my writing to you these following lines, is as follows: My business-leading (and God’s divine providence to disposing) me, I was lately in another part of the world, where many Israelites (otherwise called Jews) dwelt. There I grew somewhat familiarly acquainted with them, and such was their favor towards me (though I deserved not to be so much respected by them) that they entertained diverse solemn, or deliberate Conferences with me, touching the worship and service of God. And principally our Conference was touching or concerning the true Messiah, and touching the Gentile nations. And as love was the first, and principal, and the only moving cause of our meetings, and conferences, so we parted in love. And this further favor some of them showed to me, that they wrote Letters testimonial, or in favor of me, and sent by me to some other of your Nation dwelling in the place wither I was bound from thence.

Gustav Dalman was probably the greatest Aramaic scholar of his day. His "Jesus Christ in the Talmud, Midrash, and the Zohar" was first published in 1894.

Extract: Jesus is commonly referred to in the Talmud and in Talmudic literature by the expressions "Son of Stada (Satda)", and "Son of Pandera" These are so accepted that they appear constantly in the Babylonian Talmud (cp. the Targum Sheni on Esther VII 9) even without the name Jesus. It might seem to be a question as to who it is that is to be understood by these. But in the Jerusalem Talmud (Avodah Zarah II. 40d), the full name is given as Yeshu ben Pandera (for which Shabbath XIV 14d has more briefly, Yeshu Pandera); and in the Tosephta on Hullin II, the full name is given as Yeshu ben Pantera and Yeshu ben Pantere. So then Ben Pandera or ben Pantere also bears the name Yeshu. Further, the Jesus the Nazarene who is "hanged on the evening before Passover" (Sanhedrin 43a) is on the other hand (Sanhedrin 67a) also called the "son of Stada (Satda)". It is evident that in both these places the same person is spoken of. Here these two passages may be considered conclusive, since they repeat each other using the similar language, and in a section of the text which is chiefly concerned about Jesus; and so we see that Jesus was also referred to as Ben Stada.

Here is an abridgment of Gustav Dalman's "The Words of Jesus in the Light of Post-Biblical Jewish Writings and the Aramaic Language".

Extract: There is no doubt that Jesus solemnly acknowledged as his own the position which prophecy ascribes to the Messiah of Israel. He affirmed his Jewish kingship before Pilate; and before the Sanhedrin he gave to his Messianic confession such a form as offered them a pretext for delivering him up to death according to Jewish law. If the assertion of a Messiahship could not, per se, have led in itself to a death sentence, the following procedure suggests another way such a case may be seen. A legend related in Sanhedrin 93b says, “Bar Koziba held sway for two and a half years. When he said to the Rabbis, ‘I am Messiah’, they answered him, ‘It is written of the Messiah that he discerns and judges; let us see whether he can do so.’ When they perceived that this was beyond his power, they then put him to death.” [Recall the incident when the soldiers struck a blindfolded Jesus, and asked him to prophesy, and tell them who had struck him.--ed.] A verdict such as we are dealing with would therefore not result from any stipulation of law, but from the duty of a law court to take precautions according to circumstances for the well-being of the people, even by inflicting an exceptional sentence of death. A mere claim to the Messianic title would never have been construed as “blasphemy”. [However, it is possible that Jesus pronounced the Divine Name when he said that he came “at the right hand of Power”--Matt. 26:64); that is, that “Power” here is only a euphemism for the tetragramaton, which Jesus actually employed. Immediately after this the High Priest declared that he had heard blasphemy--of which unauthorized speaking of the Divine Name was one example.-ed.]

Driver and Nebuaer's "The Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters" was intended to be a complete collection of everything said about this passage in Jewish classical literature. First published in 1876, it included an introduction by E.B. Pusey, Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford for nearly 50 years, discussing various objections to interpreting the passage of the messiah. The material here has been vastly abridged; but it includes a cross-section of views, including some who think the passage refers to Hezekiah, or Isaiah, or to the nation of Israel as a whole. But a surprising number of commentators favor an interpretation which sees in the passage references to a messiah who suffers for the sins of his own generation and of Israel.

Extract: A suffering messiah? The belief that the messiah was to be an object of contempt survives in the prayers of the German Jews for the first day of the Passover ( c. 1876). It survived also in the belief of a Messiah ben Joseph, to whom were allotted the sufferings foretold of the messiah. Those who date the mystical books [about this Messiah ben Joseph] to a later time must also bring down to a later date the period during which belief in such a messiah continued. But a suffering messiah, and a messiah who should deliver them from their enemies, were humanly incompatible in the same person. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews looked for the coming of a messiah to save it; afterwards, to restore it. Every token of increasing evil made Rabbi Akiva expect the more the messiah, whom he later found in Bar Kochba. In the rebellion against Antoninus Pius, Shimon ben Yohai said, in expectation of a Parthian invasion, "When you see a Persian (Parthian) horse fastened at the gravestones in the land of Israel, then hope for the messiah".

Edersheim's "Brief Outline of Ancient Jewish Theological Literature" is taken from his book, "Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the days of Christ"

Extract: Probably most readers would wish to know something more of those "traditions" to which our Lord so often referred in His teaching. We have here to distinguish, in the first place, between the Mishnah and the Gemara. The former was, so to speak, the text, the latter its extended commentary. At the same time, the Mishnah contains also a good deal of commentary, and much that is not either legal determination or the discussion thereof; while the Gemara, on the other hand, also contains what we would call " text." The word Mishnah (from the verb " shanah ") means " repetition "--the term referring to the supposed repetition of the traditional law, which has been above described. The Gemara, as the very word shows, means "discussion," and embodies the discussions, opinions, and sayings of the Rabbis upon, or a propos of, the Mishnah. Accordingly, the text of the Mishnah is always given in the pages of the Talmud, which reproduce those discussions thereon of the Jewish theological parliament or academy, which constitute the Gemara. The authorities introduced in the Mishnah and the Gemara range from about the year 180 B.C. to 430 A.D. (in the Babylon Talmud).

Edersheim's "The Creation"; "The Flood", "Thoughts on the Identity of the Pharaoh of the Exodus and Israel in Egypt"; and "Jephthah"; are from his "Bible History".

Extract: It is scarcely possible to imagine a greater contrast than between the heathen accounts of the origin of all things and the scriptural narrative. The former are so full of the grossly absurd that no one could regard them as other than fables; while the latter is so simple, and yet so full of majesty, as almost to force us to "worship and bow down," and to " kneel before the Lord our Maker." And as this was indeed the object in view, and not scientific instruction, far less the gratification of our curiosity, we must expect to find in the first chapter of Genesis simply the grand outlines of what took place, and not any details connected with creation. On these points there is ample room for such information as science may be able to supply, when once it shall have carefully selected and sifted all that can be learned from the study of earth and of nature. That time, however, has not yet arrived; and we ought, therefore, to be on our guard against the rash and unwarranted statements which have sometimes been brought forward on these subjects.

Alfred Edersheim's "At Night in the Temple" and "The Morning and Evening Sacrifice" are taken from his book, "The Temple"

Extract: When the priests were gathered for 'the first lot' in the 'Hall of Polished Stones,' as yet only the earliest glow of morning light streaked the Eastern sky. Much had to be done before the lamb itself could be slain. It was a law that, as no sacrifice might be brought after that of the evening, nor after the sun had set, so on the other hand, the morning sacrifice was only to be slain after the morning light had lit up 'the whole sky as far as Hebron,' yet before the sun had actually risen upon the horizon.' The only exception was on the great festivals, when the altar was cleansed much earlierp to afford time for examining before actual sunrise the very numerous sacrifices which were to be brought during the day. Perhaps it was on this ground that, on the morning of the Passover, they who led Jesus from Caiaphas thronged so 'early' 'the judgment-hall of Pilate.' Thus, while some of them would be preparing in the Temple to offer the morning sacrifice, others were at the same moment unwittingly fulfilling the meaning of that very type, when He on whom was 'laid the iniquity of us all' was 'brought as a lamb to the slaughter.''

Alfred Edersheim's "Did the Lord Institute his Supper on the Paschal Night" is taken from the appendix of his "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah".

Extract: THE QUESTION, whether or not the Saviour instituted His Supper during the meal of the Paschal night, although not strictly belonging to the subject treated in this volume [The Temple], is too important, and too nearly connected with it, to be cursorily passed over. The balance of learned opinion, especially in England, has of late inclined against this view. The point has been so often and so learnedly discussed that I do not presume proposing to myself more than the task of explaining my reasons for the belief that the Lord instituted His ‘Supper' on the very night of the Paschal Feast, and that consequently His crucifixion took place on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the 15th of Nisan. unwittingly fulfilling the meaning of that very type, when He on whom was 'laid the iniquity of us all' was 'brought as a lamb to the slaughter.''

Edersheim's "The Fraternity of the Pharisees"; and "Relation of the Pharises to the Sadducess and Essenes, and to the Gospel of Christ"; are from his "Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Time of Christ".

Extract: The Pharisees themselves delighted in tracing their history up to the time of Ezra, and there may have been substantial, though not literal truth in their claim. For we read in Ezra 6:21; 9:1; 10: 11; and Neh. 9:2 of the "Nivdalim," or those who had "separated " themselves "from the filthiness of the heathen;" while in Neh. 9:29 we find, that they entered into a "solemn league and covenant," with definite vows and obligations. Now, it is quite true that the Aramaean word "Perishuth" also means "separation," and that the "Perushim," or Pharisees, of the Mishnah are, so far as the meaning of the term is concerned, "the separated," or the "Nivdalim" of their period. But although they could thus, not only linguistically but historically, trace their origin to those who had "separated" themselves at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, they were not their successors in spirit; and the difference between the designations "Nivdalim" and "Perushim" marks also the widest possible internal difference, albeit it may have been gradually brought about in the course of historical development. All this will become immediately more plain.

This "List of Old Testament Passages Messianically Applied in Ancient Rabbinic Writings" comes from the appendix to Edersheim's "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah".

Extract: THE following list contains the passages in the Old Testament applied to the Messiah or to Messianic times in the most ancient Jewish writings. They amount in all to 458, thus distributed : 75 from the Pentateuch, 243 from the Prophets, and 138 from the Hagiographa, and supported by more than 658 separate quotations from Rabbinic writings. Despite all labor and care, it can scarcely be hoped that the list is quite complete, although, it is hoped, no important passage has been omitted. The Rabbinic references might have been considerably increased, but it seemed useless to quote the same application of a passage in many different books. Similarly, for the sake of space, only the most important Rabbinic quotations have been translated in extenso. The Rabbinic works from which quotations have been made are : the Targumirn, the two Talmuds, and the most ancient midrashim, but neither the Zohar (as the date of its composition is in dispute), nor any other Kabbalistic work, nor yet the younger Midrashim, nor, of course, the writings of later Rabbis.

Edersheim's "The Later Parables" is taken from his "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah".

Extract: The special warning intended to be conveyed by the Parable of the Barren Fig-tree (Luke 13:6-9) sufficiently appears from the context. As explained in a previous chapter, the Lord had not only corrected the erroneous interpretation which the Jews were giving to certain recent national occurrences, but pointed them to this higher moral of all such events, that, unless speedy national repentance followed, the whole people would perish. This Parable offers not merely an exemplification of this general prediction of Christ, but sets before us what underlies it: Israel in its relation to God; the need of repentance; Israel's danger; the nature of repentance, and its urgency; the relation of Christ to Israel; the gospel; and the final judgment on impenitence. nor, of course, the writings of later Rabbis.

Edersheim's "The Talmudic Sabbath Law" is taken from an appendix of his "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah".

Extract: "Thus, supposing a number of small private houses to open into a common court, it would have been unlawful on the Sabbath to carry anything from one of these houses into the other. This difficulty is removed if all the families deposit before the Sabbath some food in the common court, when 'a connection' is established between the various houses, which makes them one dwelling. This was called the 'Erubh of Courts.' Similarly, an extension of what was allowed as a 'Sabbath journey' might be secured by another ‘commixture,' the ‘Erubh' or 'connection of boundaries.' An ordinary Sabbath day's journey extended 2,000 cubits beyond one's dwelling. But if at the boundary of that 'journey' a, man deposited on the Friday food for two meals, he thereby constituted it his dwelling, and hence might go on for other 2,000 cubits. Lastly, there was another 'Erubh,' when narrow streets or blind alleys were connected into 'a private dwelling' by laying a beam over the entrance, or extending a wire or rope along such streets and alleys. This, by a legal fiction, made them 'a private dwelling,' so that everything was lawful there which a man might do on the Sabbath in his own house.

Graetz completed the final revision of his work about 1870. He was irascible, opinionated, but loaded with data. His original work in German ran to eleven volumes. For the English edition, this was reduced to six volumes. This file is a further abridgment of the last four volumes, covering the period from Maimonides to the mid-19th century.

Extract: From his father, Maimuni learned the Bible, the Talmud, the Jewish branches of learning, mathematics and astronomy; he attended lectures on science and medicine by Mahometan professors, and was introduced into the temple of philosophy. Through reading and contacts, he obtained a fund of solid information, and his clear intellect regulated his knowledge, however various and diverse it was. His was a thoroughly logical and systematic mind, which had the power of grouping and arranging the greatest and the smallest things, and he was a sworn enemy of disorder and chaotic confusion. In this respect he may justly be called the Jewish Aristotle. Perhaps no one before Maimuni had so thoroughly absorbed and assimilated Aristotle’s philosophical system. He made it a part of his own intellectual possession.

R. Travers Herford wrote what is probably the standard work on "Christianity in Talmud and Midrash" in 1903.

Extract: The passage in the Gemara which we are examining shows plainly enough that only a very dim and confused notion existed as to the parentage of Jesus in the time when the tradition was recorded. It rests, however, on some knowledge possessed at one time of the story related in the gospels. That story undoubtedly lays itself open to the coarse interpretation put upon it by enemies of Jesus, namely, that he was born out of wedlock. The Talmud knows that his mother was called Miriam, and knows also that Miriam of Magdala had some connection with the story of his life. Beyond that it knows nothing, not even the meaning of the names by which it refers to Jesus. The passge in the Talmud under examination cannot be earlier than the beginning of the fourth century, and is moreover a report of what was said in Babylonia, not Palestine. along such streets and alleys. This, by a legal fiction, made them 'a private dwelling,' so that everything was lawful there which a man might do on the Sabbath in his own house.

by Sir William Ramsay (abridged);

Extract: If we claim--as I have elsewhere in the most emphatic terms claimed--a high rank for Luke as regards trustworthiness, we must look fairly and squarely at the serious errors that are charged against him. If the case is proved against him in any of these, we must fairly admit the inevitable inference. If, on the other hand, we hold that the case is not proved, it is quite justifiable and reasonable, in a period of history so obscure as the first century, to plead, as many have done, that while we cannot in the present dearth of information solve the difficulty completely, we are obliged, in accordance with our perception of the high quality of the author’s work as a whole, to accept his statement in certain cases where he is entirely uncorroborated.

Theodore John's "Account of His Conversion" was published in 1699.

Extract: I was born in Prague in Bohemia, and lived thirty years in ignorance and abnegation of Christ. I studied the Talmud of the Jews, and the rest of their Fabulous Comments, and I became a Teacher among them at Treves in Germany. When the blind lead the blind, should they not both fall into the ditch? But God meant for good the evil I wrought against myself, as it is brought to pass this day, to the saving of my soul. I had strong convictions within myself from the Scriptures of the Old Testament (for those of the New Testament I had never studied then, and that is the reason why the principal Proofs in my Confession are taken thence) against those principles taught me from childhood, and maintained by me when I came to years of discretion, although some Precious Pearls discovered themselves unto me, even in the Jewish Fables; I would say, some marks of Divine Truth consonant to the Word of Everlasting Truth I met with among their Blasphemies; and although for several years I was doubtful whether to bury in oblivion, or to improve with solid management, these thoughts, yet so prevalent was the Grace of God upon me, that finding the former impossible, I attempted the latter, with fervent prayers imploring God’s assistance to guide me into the way of saving Truth.

Kay's "Prophet of the Suffering Servant" is his commentary on the background and unity of the book of Isaiah.

Extract: The book of Isaiah ranges over the whole field of prophetic vision. It begins with a reiteration of the terms of the Mosaic Covenant. When that elicits no sign of repentance, it proceeds to record against the people a sentence of reproach. Then the instrument, by which God's chastisement should be inflicted, is declared. Assyria shall overthrow Samaria and bring Judea into the extremity of peril. But the prophet is instructed to assure the faithful remnant of safety, not only during the Assyrian crisis, but for all future time. he promises the birth of one whose name should be, "Immanuel"; "Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God". This dying world shall be rescued; and "death swallowed up forever". In Zion would be laid a "sure foundation" , for the believer's faith to be built upon. The "Servant of the Lord" should take away the burden of human sin upon him, and bear it away. He should found a new Covenant, under which the glory of the Lord should be revealed to all nations, and "a new heaven and a new earth" should be created, the eternal abode of holiness. whether to bury in oblivion, or to improve with solid management, these thoughts, yet so prevalent was the Grace of God upon me, that finding the former impossible, I attempted the latter, with fervent prayers imploring God’s assistance to guide me into the way of saving Truth.

Kelllog's "Atonement in the Old Testament" is taken from his Commentary on Leviticus.

Extract: Both in the burnt offerings and in the peace offerings, Israel was taught--as we are taught--that all consecration and all fellowship with God must begin with, and ever depends upon, atonement made for sin. But this was not the dominant thought in either of these two offerings; neither did the atonement, as made in these, have reference to particular acts of sin. For such, these offerings were never prescribed. They remind us therefore of the necessity of atonement, not so much for what we do or fail to do, as for what we are. But the sin of believers, whether then or now, is more than a sin by nature. The true Israelite was liable to be overtaken in some overt act of sin; and for all such cases there was ordained, in this section of the Law (Leviticus 4:1-13), the sin-offering; an offering which should bring out into prominence the thought which has already been revealed in the other sacrifices, though less fully, that in order to obtain pardon from sin, there must be expiation.

Krummacher's "It is Finished", and "Father, into Thy Hands I Commit My Spirit" are from his "The Suffering Savior" (sermons)

Extract: THESE ARE THE GREATEST and most momentous words that were ever spoken upon earth since the beginning of the world. Who does not find in them a cry of victory? It is a shout of triumph, which announces to the kingdom of darkness its complete overthrow and to the kingdom of heaven upon earth its eternal establishment. How wonderful! At the very moment when, for the Hero of Judah, all seems lost, His words declare that all is won and accomplished! Our Lord's exclamation is like the sound of a heavenly jubilee-trumpet, and announces to the race of Adam, which was under the curse, the commencement of a free and sabbatic year, which will ever more extensively display its blessing, but never come to an end. Listen, and it will appear to you as if in the words, "It is finished!" you heard fetters burst, and prison-walls fall down. At these words, barriers as high as heaven are overthrown, and gates which had been closed for thousands of years, again move on their hinges.

"The Nativity" is excerpted from Lightfoot's "Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and the Hebraica" (17th century)

Extract: CHRIST WAS BORN in the month of Tishri; somewhat answering to our September. This we conclude, omitting other things, by computing backwards from his death. For if he died in his third-and-thirtieth year and a half, at the feast of the Passover, in the month Nisan, you must necessarily lay the time of his birth in the month Tishri. But that he died at that age, not to make any delay by mentioning more things, appears hence, that he was baptized now beginning his thirtieth year, and that he lived after his baptism three years and a half; as the space of his public ministry is determined by the angel Gabriel (Daniel 9:27): “In the half of a week” (that is, three years and a half), “he shall make the sacrifice to cease”, etc.

Alexander McCaul was a professor at Kings College in the early part of the 19th century, and the author of many tracts appealing to the Jews. Many of these were later compiled into "The Old Paths", from which this file is excerpted. McCaul was later proposed for the position of first Protestant Bishop of Jerusalem, but stood aside so that this post could be filled by a descendant of Abraham, Michael Solomon Alexander.

Extract: Among all the religions existing in the world, there are only two deserving of careful consideration, and they are both of Jewish origin, and were both once confined exclusively to the Jewish nation. They are now known by the names of Judaism and Christianity; but it must never be forgotten that the second is as entirely Jewish as the first. The founder of Christianity was a Jew. The first preachers of Christianity were Jews. The first Christians were all Jews; so that, in discussing the truth of these respective religions, we are not contrasting a gentile religion with a Jewish one, but comparing one Jewish creed with another Jewish creed. Neither in defending Christianity, do we wish to diminish anything from the privileges of the Jewish people; on the contrary, we candidly acknowledge that we are disciples of the Jews, converts to Jewish doctrines, partakers of the Jewish hope, and advocates of that truth which the Jews have taught us. We are fully persuaded that the Jews whom we follow were in the right--that they have pointed out to us the “old paths”, “the good way”, and “we have found rest to our souls”. And we, therefore, conscientiously believe, that those Jews who follow the opposite system are as wrong as their forefathers who, when God commanded them to walk in the good old way, replied, “We will not walk therein”.

Extract: 1. The priests kept watch in the Temple in three places: in the house Avtinas, and in the house Nitsuts, and in the house of Moked ; and the Levites in twenty-one places : 5 at the five gates leading into the Temple (the Mountain of the House), 4 in the four angles within, 5 at the five gates of the court, 4 in its four angles without, and 1 in the chamber of offering, and 1 in the chamber of the vail, and 1 behind the Most Holy Place (the House of Atonement). 2. The Captain of the Temple (the man of the Temple Mount) visited each guard, and burning torches were carried before him. And every guard which did not stand up (which was not standing), the Captain of the Temple said to him: "Peace be to thee." If he observed that he slept, he smote him with his stick, and he had authority to bum his dress. And they said, " What is the noise (voice) in the court ? " " It is the noise of a Levite who is beaten, and his clothes are set on fire, because he slept upon his watch." Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Jacob, said: "On one occasion they found the brother of my mother sleeping, and they burned his dress." 3· There were five gates to the Temple inclosure (Temple Mount) : the two gates of Huldah from the south, which served for entrance and for exit; Kipponos from the west; Tadi from the north--it did not serve for anything; the eastern gate, upon which was a representation of the city of Shushan, and by it the high-priest who burned the Red Heifer, and all who assisted, went out upon the Mount of Olives.

Extract: [1.6] The Great [Sanhedrin] consisted of seventy-one, and the small of twenty-three. From where do we deduce that the great council must be of seventy-one? From [Num. 11:16]: “Gather unto me seventy men.” And add Moses, who was the head of them--hence seventy-one? And from where do we deduce that the small one must be twenty-three? From [Num. 35:24,25]: “The congregation shall judge” ; “And the congregation shall save”. We see that one congregation judges, and the other congregation saves--hence there are twenty, as a congregation consists of no less than ten persons, and this is deduced from [Num. 14:27]: “To this evil congregation,” which was of ten spies, except Joshua and Caleb. And from where do we deduce that three more are needed? From [Ex. 23:2]: “You shall not follow a multitude to do evil.”--from which we infer that you shall follow them to do good. But if so, why is it written at the end of the same verse, “Incline after the majority, to wrest [change] judgement”? This means, the inclination to free the man must not be similar to the inclination to condemn; as to condemn a majority of two is needed, while to free, the majority of one suffices. And a court must not consist of an even number, as, if their opinion is halved, no verdict can be established; therefore one more must be added. Hence it is of twenty-three. How many shall a city contain that it shall be fit for a supreme council? One hundred and twenty-families. R. Nehemiah, however, maintains: two hundred and thirty--so that each of them should be the head of ten families, as we do not find in the bible rules of less than ten.

Extract: The rabbis taught: The Messiah ben David who (as we hope) will appear in the near future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to him: Ask something of Me and I will give it to you, as it is written {Psalm 2:7]: “I will announce the decree. . . Ask it of Me, and I will give”, etc. But as the Messiah ben David will have seen that the Messiah ben Joseph was killed, he will say before the Lord: Lord of the Universe, I will ask nothing of You but life. And the Lord will answer: This was prophesied already for you by your father David [Psalm 21:5]: “Life has he asked of You, You gave it to him.”

Extract: Why has the first Temple fallen? Because there were three things: idolatry, adultery, and bloodshed. Idolatry, as it is written [Jeremiah 28:20]: “For the bed shall be too short for a man to stretch himself out on it; and the covering too narrow to wrap himself in.” And R. Johanan said: The bed is too narrow that there should be two, God and the idols. R. Samuel b. Nahmoni said: When R. Jonathan used to come to this verse, he used to cry, saying: That the Lord, of whom it is said [Ps. 33:7], “He gathers together like heaps the waters of the sea”, should feel too little space because of an idol! Adultery, as it is written [Is. 3:16]: “Forasmuch as the daughters of Zion are fraud, and walk with stretched forth necks and casting about their eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet.” R. Yitzchak said to this: What is meant by tinkling? They used to fill the shoes with spices, and when a young man went by, they pressed the spices with the feet, to attract his attention.

Parrish, R. , "Additional Notes and Commentary on the Gospels, from Jewish and Classical Sources"; (my own--humble?--contribution); principally a reference where to locate references in Jewish and Classical sources which shed light on the gospel accounts. (size 253k)

Extract: Matt 5:17 Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy but to fulfill. [The words here have the meaning of 'to fill up', 'to complete', 'to fill to the brim'; in other words, to bring out the full, complete, final meaning of the Law. The messiah's message here extends the traditional code to its limit: if someone argues with you about a lost garment, don't contend with him about it, but let him have the garment. If someone needs forgiveness, don't forgive him only a set number of times, but keep on forgiving him. It is not enough only not to murder, one must not hate anyone, either. And so on. In the teachings of Jesus the moral ethics of Judaism are raised to their ultimate peak, and thus, 'filled up to the brim'.]

Joseph Priestly was a deist who did not believe in the divinity of Christ nor in the Virgin Birth; but in his "Letters to the Jews" (written in 1794) he makes an eloquent argument for recognizing the divine mission of Jesus.

Extract: To you, the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God has promised the possession of the land of Canaan. But your greatest and honorable distinction is that, when all the rest of the world was fallen into idolatry, and the abominable and horrid vices connected with it, God instructed you in the knowledge and pure worship of himself, so that by means of your nation, the most important doctrine of the divine unity, has, together with the spirituality of his worship, been preserved in the world through even to this day. You have been the salt of the earth, and by the knowledge which has been diffused form you to other nations, it has been preserved from universal corruption. From your nation God has made choice of his prophets, by whom he has revealed his will, not to yourselves only, but to all his offspring of mankind. By Jesus Christ and his apostles, who were all Jews, he has taught his will to the whole world, calling upon all men everywhere to repent (Acts. 17:30), not that they may share in your peculiar privileges and honors here, but that they may obtain immortal happiness, together with all the virtuous of your nation, hereafter.

Ben Shalomoh's "Narrative of His Conversion" was published in the year 1692. (35k)

Extract: I, Shalome Ben Shalomoh, was born of Jewish parents, my father’s name Shalomoh, my mother’s Leah, was circumcised the eighth day in Pusnony in Poland, where I lived till I was twelve years of age, at which time it pleased God (who works all things for the good of his Elect) that all our Family (myself alone excepted) died in a great Plague, which had universally spread itself through that Land. Being left thus destitute, I had an inclination to travel, and in my travels, a Boy, who was in the Duke of Brandenburg’s Army, came and said to me, “Why do you not turn a Christian?” “A Christian?” said I. “Why think you I will worship images?” “Do you,” said I, “believe the Bible, the Old Testament, the Books of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Song of Solomon?” “Yes,” said he, “we have all these.” “Do you,” said I, “worship images?” “We believe,” said he, “no other savior, but Jesus Christ alone.” “Well,” said I, “carry me to a Minister”; who accordingly brought me to the Duke of Brandenburg’s Minister, who opened to me something concerning Jesus Christ, from the five books of Moses, as first, that in Gen. 3:15: And I will put enmity between thee, and the Woman, and between thy Seed, and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel; which appeared to me, when God opened my Eyes (for I could not see it before), a lively Representation of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Solomon Schechter, who also brought back the Cairo Geniza documents, here describes "The Hebrew Collection of the British Museum". (33k)

Extract: All sorts of legends circulate among them about the “millions” of books which belong to the “Queen of England” [Victoria]k. They speak mysteriously of an autograph copy of the Book of Proverbs, presented to the Queen of Sheba on the occasion of her visit to Jerusalem, and brought by the English troops as a trophy from their visit to Abyssinia, which is still ruled by the descendants of that famous lady. They also talk of a copy of the Talmud of Jerusalem which once belonged to Titus, afterwards to a Pope, was presented by the latter to a Russian Czar, and taken away from him by the English in the Crimean war; of a manuscript of the book “Light is Sown”, which is so large that no shelf can hold it, and which therefore hangs on iron chains. How they long to have a glance at these precious things! Would not a man get wiser only by looking at the autograph of the wisest of men?

Spurgeon's "The Crown of Thorns" and "The Shame and the Spitting". (sermons)

Extract: And now let us press into the guard-room, and look at our Savior wearing His crown of thorns. I will not detain you long with any guesses as to what kind of thorns He wore. According to the Rabbis and the botanists there would seem to have been from twenty to twenty-five different species of thorny plants growing in Palestine; and different writers have, according to their own judgments or fancies, selected one and another of these plants as the peculiar thorns which were used upon this occasion. But why select one thorn out of many? He bore not one grief, but all; any and every thorn will suffice; the very dubiousness as to the peculiar species yields us instruction.

Here is an abridged version of Mark Twain's "Concerning the Jews"

Extract: In the present paper I shall allow myself to use the word Jew as if it stood for both religion and race. It is handy; and, besides, that is what the term means to the general world. In the above letter one notes these points: 1. The Jew is a well-behaved citizen. 2. Can ignorance and fanaticism alone account for his unjust treatment? 3. Can Jews do anything to improve the situation? 4. The Jews have no party; they are non-participants. 5. Will the persecution ever come to an end? 6. What has become of the golden rule?

Excerpts from a series of letters by Joseph Frey, to his brother, Benjamin, concerning the Messiah (First printed 1835)

Extract: The Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Angel of the Covenant, having preserved me in my journey, and brought me safely back to my family, I now, agreeably to my promise in the last letter, resume with pleasure our correspondence, in a second series of letters, on some of the most important and interesting subjects respecting the Messiah. . . That the Messiah was to rise from the dead on the third day, was indicted by example in many sundry instances: Isaac rescued from the jaws of death, on the third day from the time Abraham had the order to sacrifice his son, and from which time he was looked upon by him as a dead man; Joseph being taken from prison and promoted to the court of Pharaoh; David, after being hunted by Saul, raised to the throne of Israel; Jonah raised again the third day from the belly of the fish; the scapegoat let go into the wilderness, when the other taken with it was slain; and the living bird let loose after having been dipped in the blood of the bird that had been slain. All these fitly represent the resurrection of the Messiah, after his painful and ignominious death. Dr. Pierson considers the sheaf of the first fruits on the second day of the feast of unleavened bread to be also an example of the resurrection of the Messiah, who rose up that very day, and became the first fruits of them that sleep. (Lev. 23:10-12).

Answers to Objections to the Christian Religion; Remarks on his answer to the Letters which Dr. Priestly addressed to the Jews (Newbury, June 11, 1787)

Extract: Your sufferings from the Christians, you say, is one great argument with you against Christianity’s being the peaceable kingdom of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets; but you confess that the doctrines of Christianity do not teach, or authorize, to shed the blood of Jews (and you might have added of any people) and that you carefully distinguish between the doctrine and its professors. Is the doctrine of Jesus Christ in itself peaceful, so that if all men were to live under its influence, would the prophecies in this particular meet with accomplishment? And who can say, in that case, they would not? Here then is a strong presumptive evidence in its favor. Have the prophets anywhere said that the doctrine of the Messiah’s kingdom would instantaneously produce its great effects, in enlightening the gentiles, in taming the ferocity, and subduing the wickedness of men, so that they should no longer hurt nor destroy? No,. The stone which was cut off the mountain without hands, and which smote the image (Daniel chapter 2) that figured the monarchies of the earth, and broke it in pieces, and afterwards became a great mountain, so that it filled the earth, at first was small; time brought it to perfection. . . It is no argument against Christianity, because all the good foretold by the prophets is not at once produced, if in its own nature it be calculated to produce it; and especially if the same authority which demands our cordial reception of it informs us, that this kingdom of God is as a grain of mustard seed, and that before the glorious days of righteousness and peace it promises, iniquity shall prevail, and the man of sin deceive the nations.

(Newbury, 1787)

Extract: But however great and numerous the proofs of the Messiah’s mission, yet they are not to be attended with that terror which prevailed at Sinai. Hear Moses: “The Lord your God will raise up to you a Prophet, from the midst of you, of your brethren, like unto me; to him you shall hearken. According to all that you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire anymore, that I die not.” This is clearly a promise of the Messiah, and a prophetic description of his character. For the people fear another Sinai; they do not wish to be subjected once more to the terrors of the Presence of God. So God promises to send them instead a gentle Prophet. He will send such a prophet. He does have more to say to them. His promise here is absolute, and not conditioned upon their conduct. And how perfectly does the story of Jesus’ doctrines, and his works, agree with this prediction! Here are no thunderings, no lightnings, nor the voice of the trumpets, to make even a Moses fear and quake. The lowest may approach to learn of Jesus, for he is meek and lowly in heart; and what he has heard from his Father, that he speaks in language which does not terrify, but invites attention. His doctrine is at once full of grace, and full of truth. Though it astonishes, it does not affright. His wonders are wonders of compassion and kindness. “All they that had any sick with diverse diseases, brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, saying, You are the Messiah, the son of God!”. He raised the dead, but he never called for fire to come down from heaven to destroy men’s lives. He stilled, but he never raised a tempest. He is in all things according to the desire of Israel in Horeb. “And whosoever will not hearken to my words, says the Lord, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” God foresaw that some would not hearken to this Prophet, whom he promises. Search the scriptures, and see whether they do not testify of Jesus, and prove him to be the promised Prophet.