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Later, in passage 1:32, Origen supports the Jewish records and confirms that the paramour of the mother of Jesus was a Roman soldier called Panthera, a name he repeats in verse 1:69. Some time during the 17th century, those sentences were erased from the oldest Vatican manuscripts and other codices under Church control.” The traditional Church writings of St Epiphanius, the Bishop of Salamis (315-403), again confirm the ben Panthera story, and his information is of a startling nature. This champion of Christian orthodoxy and saint of Roman Catholicism states: Jesus was the son of a certain Julius whose surname was Panthera."* These apparently contradictory assertions can be ironed out when read in context. In summary, Stada was Yeshu'a (Jesus) ben Panthera's mother. The Gemara goes on to record that Yeshu'a ben Panthera "was hanged on the day before the Passover". That is to say, apparently, that after the stoning, ben Panthera's body was hung or exposed on a vertical stake. Crucifixion was an unused mode of execution amongst the Jews, who favoured stoning as the main form of capital punishment. To shorten the cruelty of death by stoning, the victim was first rendered unconscious by a soporific drink, and subsequently the stoned body was exposed on a vertical stake as a warning to others. This is an extraordinary declaration, simply recorded in ancient records as accepted Church history. The ben Panthera legend was so widespread that two early stalwarts of the Christian Church inserted the name in the genealogies of Jesus and Mary as a mat- ter of fact. Enlarging on that statement, this passage from the Talmud: Rabbi Shiemon ben Azzai has said: I found in Jerusalem a book of genealogies; therein was written that Such-an-one [Jesus] is the bastard son of an adulteress.'° This is an extraordinary declaration, simply recorded in ancient The Evidence of the Safed Scroll records as accepted Church history. The ben Panthera legend was The name "ben Stada", given to Jesus in the Talmud, was found so widespread that two early stalwarts of the Christian Church to be paralleled in the ancient Mehgheehlla Scroll, which was dis- inserted the name in the genealogies of Jesus and Mary as a mat- covered by Russian physician D. B. de Waltoff near Lake ter of fact. Enlarging on that statement, this passage from the Tiberius in 1882 and is now called simply "the Safed Scroll". Talmud: In this old text, there were two brothers called Yeshai and Judas Rabbi Shiemon ben Azzai has said: I found in Jerusalem a ben Halachmee who were the illegitimate twin sons born of a fif- book of genealogies; therein was written that Such-an-one teen-year-old girl called Stadea. The closeness of the name [Jesus] is the bastard son of an "Stada" in the Talmud to the "Stadea" adulteress.'° in the Safed Scroll is extraordinary, and the slight difference in spelling "Such-an-one" was one of the well- can be explained by variations in known substitutes for Jesus in the translations. The interesting point Talmud, as has been proved and admit- The story of Mary's pregnancy here is that the name "ben ted on either side. Shiemon ben Azzai Halachmee" was the name of Stadea's flourished at the end of the first century by a Roman soldier also later husband, not the biological father and beginning of the second. He was appears in the sacred book of her sons. Unfortunately, no men- one of four famous Rabbis who, tion is made of the real father's name, according to Talmudic tradition, of the Moslems, the Koran. but ben Halachmee was the name "entered Paradise". He was a Chassid (the pious Jews of Palestine), most probably an Essene, and remained a celibate and rigid ascetic until his Yeshai and his brother Judas ben death. Halachmee were taken in, raised and The story of Mary's pregnancy by a Roman soldier also appears educated by the religious order of Essene monks. The Essenes in the sacred book of the Moslems, the Koran. It states that "a were a perennial Jewish colony that particularly flourished in full-grown man" forced his attentions on Mary, and in her fear of | Judea for some centuries previous to the time ascribed to the New the disgrace that would follow she left the area and bore Jesus in Testament stories. Subsequently, one of the boys became a stu- secret. This story was supported in the Gospel of Luke, with the dent of Rabbi Hillel's school of philosophy and the other became description of the departure of Joseph and Mary from their home _ the leader of the Essenes. An older Essene named Joseph was prior to the birth. Rape was a common event in Palestine during assigned as Yeshai's "religious father" and guardian. the Roman occupation, and soldiers were notorious for their treat- The Safed Scroll suggests that, eventually, Yeshai ben ment of young women. It would be unthinkable for Mary to Halachmee's outspoken religious views angered the Jewish admit such an event had occurred, for under the Law of Moses a __ priests. He was tried by a Roman court on a charge of inciting the betrothed virgin who had sex with any man during the period of _ people to rebel against the Roman Government. He was found given to Stadea's illegitimate twin boys. According to the Safed Scroll, her betrothal was to be stoned to death by the men of the city guilty and sentenced to death, but escaped, left the area and (Deut. 22:21). Simply put, Mary faced the death penalty unless travelled to India. she could prove her innocence." The Mehgheehlla Scroll mirrors aspects of the hidden story in the Gospels and provides external evidence that the conclusion The Mother's Name reached in this volume was known in ancient tradition. The story of Mary's pregnancy by a Roman soldier also appears in the sacred book of the Moslems, the Koran. The Mother's Name There is another, lesser-known name Jesus was called during those early years, and that is "Yeshu'a ben Stada" (son of Stada). This name is recorded in the records of the Sanhedrin and also in the Talmud. What can also be found in the Gemara, and has embarrassed Christian authorities for centuries, is this: Ben Stada was ben Panthera, Rabbi Chisda said; the hus - band was Stada, the lover Panthera. Another said the hus - band was Paphos ben Jehuda; Stada was his mother...and she was unfaithful to her husband." Who was Stada/Stadea? One of the most popular aspects of etymology is the history of names—those words or phrases which uniquely identify persons, animals, places, concepts or things. The earlier forms of a name are often uncertain, and different dialect pronunciations have led to divergent spellings of the same name. The social pressure to use a standard spelling did not emerge until the 18th century, and earlier writers saw no problem presenting a person's name in a variety of ways. In one study, for example, over 130 variants of 44 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com DECEMBER 2001 — JANUARY 2002