Found: New Testament Cause of Anti-Semitism: Judas Iscariot and Emperor Constantine

 Nadene Goldfoot                                     

   Joseph Caiaphas, High Priest of Jerusalem, c18-36 CE.  He was an appointed high priest by the procurator (governor) Valerius Gratus.  He also served under Pontius Pilate, another procurator.  The New Testament represents him and his father-in-law Annus as chiefly responsible for the prosecution of Jesus (Joshua) and the arrest of the Apostles.  He was removed by the Syrian governor, Vitellius.    

"Judas Iscariot Hebrew: יהודה איש-קריות‎ Yehûdâh ʾΚ-Qǝriyyôt;  died c. 30 – c. 33 CE) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane by kissing him and addressing him as "rabbi" to reveal his identity in the darkness to the crowd who had come to arrest him. His name is often used synonymously with betrayal or treason. Judas's epithet "Iscariot" most likely means he came from the village of Kerioth, but this explanation is not universally accepted and many other possibilities have been suggested. "  Another theory for his surname of Iscariot is that he was not a pacifist but one of 2 of the 12 disciples who were Jewish fighters, belonging to the Sicarii rebel group, meaning dagger, who had hidden daggers in their clothing.  This group was also found on the Masada in their last stand against the Romans. This shows up in his surname.  A Hebrew ending on words showing plural is "ot"-possibly designating the family of Sicarii zealots.                                         

The Sanhedrin was a group of 71 Jewish scholars serving as judges  of the Supreme Count and of legislature.  The leader or head, the NASI, met in the Temple chamber.  It was in  70 CE that the Romans burned down Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple.  The Sanhedrin was no more before the end of the 4th century.  Before the Romans, the high priests were Cohens, descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses.  They had to show their family tree to gain the right to serve, proving to be Cohens. This connection shows up today in DNA tests.   

Because of how manuscripts have been translated, the feeling projected by the final editing found in the New Testament, Judas is seen as a terrible person who turned in his leader to the Romans, and that feeling has been projected onto all Jews.  

Actually, that may not have been the case according to the Naked Archaeologist's theory.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL05yQj47sA.  He read the gospels and said that "actually Judas had turned in Jesus to the high priest, Caiaphas,  who was expected not to turn him into the Romans, and Annas, his father in law.  Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas (John 18:13), had been high-priest from CE 6 to 15, and continued to exercise a significant influence over Jewish affairs".  

" Annas and Caiaphas may have sympathized with the Sadducees, a religious movement in Judaea that found most of its members among the wealthy Jewish elite. The comparatively long eighteen-year tenure of Caiaphas suggests he had a good working relationship with the Roman authorities". 

 A Jew, (Judas), would not do anything to kill a fellow Jew (Jesus). So, the high priest shouldn't either.  Something must have happened to cause the high priest to lose hold of Jesus as he was given over to the  occupying Romans and Pontius Pilate made the judgement of death.  

John is the hardest on Jews in his gospel.  "In the Gospel of John (John 18), Jesus is brought before Annas, whose palace was closer. Annas questioned him regarding his disciples and teaching, and then sent him on to Caiaphas. Caiaphas makes a political calculation, suggesting that it would be better for "one man" (Jesus) to die than for "the whole nation" to be destroyed. Similar ideas can be found in Rabbinical discussion in Talmud and Midrash."

"Jesus is taken to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate tells the priests to judge Jesus themselves, to which they respond they lack authority to do so. Pilate questions Jesus, after which he states, "I find no basis for a charge against him." Pilate then offers the gathered crowd the choice of one prisoner to release—said to be a Passover tradition—and they choose a criminal named Barabbas instead of Jesus." 

Interesting name, Barabbas.  In Hebrew, Ben means "son" as in Moshe ben Nathan.  In Aramaic, Bar means "son."  Aramaic had become the language of the streets, of business.  Abba in Hebrew meant "father." "Barabbas' name appears as bar-Abbas in the Greek texts of the gospels. It is derived ultimately from the Aramaic בר-אבא, Bar-abbâ, "son of the father". However, Abba has been found as a personal name in a 1st-century burial at Giv'at ha-Mivtar, and it appears fairly often as a personal name in the Gemara section of the Talmud, dating from AD 200–400. Could  Barabbas mean son of the father?  Wasn't that what the followers of Jesus thought he was, being father was G-d?  Was the crowd the followers of Jesus and they were calling out his name they they knew: Jesus, son of G-d? Jesus Barabbas (/bəˈræbəs/; Aramaic: ישוע בר אבא‎ Yeshua Bar ʾAbbaʾ, literally "son of the father" or "son of the teacher") is a figure mentioned in the New Testament, in which he is an insurrectionary held by the Roman governor at the same time as Jesus, and whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem, while keeping Jesus as a prisoner.   I have not seen abba used as teacher.  Christians now refer to father or abba  as G-d.  I was a teacher in Israel and the Hebrew word for teacher was morah for a female, moreh for a male.   

As for the robber, Barabbas that was saved,  also with the Hebrew name of "son of Father," perhaps he was also promoted by the crowd to be saved.  After all, the crowd didn't necessarily have but one person in mind to save.  When Jesus (Joseph)son of Father) didn't get a response from the Romans, the other Barabbas was called out, the Romans didn't understand either Hebrew or Aramaic.  They wouldn't have known.  

NIV 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” (Matthew 27 from Tyndale House--Greek to English)

"There is also an interesting difference between the Latin and Greek version of the scholion in question. The Latin states that ‘in many copies it is not included that Barabbas is also called Jesus’, whilst the Greek says, ‘But in many old copies I have encountered, I found also Barabbas himself called Jesus’. There is a difference in perspective, in the Latin the reading assumed is Jesus Barabbas with the alternative being just Barabbas, in the Greek it is the other way around (incidentally, Streeter in his The Four Gospels, 94-95 knows only the Latin version – and yes, Jesus Barabbas is of course a ‘Caesarean reading’ in his eyes)." This shows there is much to think about when the writer or writers are dealing with Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Greek into English translation.  

Jesus Barabbas is a figure mentioned in the New Testament, in which he is an insurrectionary held by the Roman governor at the same time as Jesus, and whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem, while keeping Jesus as a prisoner.  The text says that someone was freed.  They didn't free Jesus, but what the people called out, I think, was Jesus, son of the father.  It would figure.  So often government officials don't know what they should.  The people should have taken their fury out on the Procurator, Pontius Pilate, Roman rule.   Instead, they took it out on  another Jew.    By painting such a bad picture of Judas, he became the focal point of reason to hate all Jews.                                                             

The Acts of the Apostles tell us that Judas Iscariot died in the field called Hakeldama. 

The ending was that Judas felt so betrayed by the high priest that he hung himself.  Where he did this was most impressive.  It was in front of the Annas family tombs, like putting a curse on this family, hanging in front of them. The place where he died obviously still exists, but we cannot be sure of the exact location. A Roman Catholic Church has placed a monastery there. Here is a photograph of the location.

The name, Jesus, is not in any Jewish writings.  Josephus mentioned it once., who wrote for a Roman audience.   Using these methods, most scholars assume a date of birth of Jesus was between 6 and 4 BCE, and that Jesus' preaching began around AD=(CE)  27–29 and lasted one to three years. They calculate the death of Jesus as having taken place between  30 and 36 CE.  .Like the rest of the New Testament, the four gospels were written in Greek. The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous and most scholars agree that none were written by eyewitnesses.  

Constantine ruled from 312 to 337 CE.  The so called edict of toleration which he issued at Milan in 312 in effect established the supremacy of Christianity.  By 315, his decree took an anti-Jewish turn, canceling Jewish exemptions from municipal office and prohibiting proselytization or interference with Jewish converts to Christianity.  His legislation initiated the legal degradation of Jews characteristic of the Middle Ages.  

In 313 CE, the emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which granted Christianity—as well as most other religions—legal status. While this was an important development in the history of Christianity, it was not a total replacement of traditional Roman beliefs with Christianity.

"In 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, which was a gathering of Christian leaders to determine the formal—or orthodox—beliefs of Christianity. The result of this council was the Nicene Creed, which laid out the agreed upon beliefs of the council."  Jews were discussed and outlawed.  " All the brethren in the East who have hitherto followed the Jewish practice will henceforth observe the custom of the Romans and of yourselves and of all of us who from ancient times have kept Easter together with you".(Easter went back into Roman pagan practice). Any Easter practice was not practiced by Jews.   

                                                                                                                "In 380 CE, the emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which made Christianity, specifically Nicene Christianity, the official religion of the Roman Empire. Most other Christian sects were deemed heretical, lost their legal status, and had their properties confiscated by the Roman state." 

Edited 6;40pm 6/24/21 and 8am 6/25/21

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barabbas

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?extid=SEO----&v=264535634554119,  Smithsonian channel, Judas Iscariot: video

https://academic.tyndalehouse.com/research/the-greek-new-testament/jesus-barabbas-matthew-27/

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL05yQj47sA Naked Archaeologist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaeahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel#:~:text=Like%20the%20rest%20of%20the,none%20were%20written%20by%20eyewitnesses.

https://esefarad.com/?p=60949

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/christianity/a/roman-culture

https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/does-the-place-where-judas-hung-himself-hakeldama-still-exist/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiaphas

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-first-christian-empire-and-nicene.html