''The Book of Nestor the Priest'', originally titled ''Account of the Disputation of the Priest'' (''Qissat Mujadalat al-Asquf'' ) or its Hebrew textual avatar Sefer Nestor Ha-Komer (written c. 900 CE) is thought to be the earliest surviving anti-Christian Jewish

polemic Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

. The original version of the book was written in

Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Arabic (; ; ) sometimes referred as Sharh, are a group of different ethnolects within the branches of the Arabic language used by jewish communities. Although Jewish use of Arabic, which predates Islam, has been in some ways distinct ...

(Arabic written in Hebrew script with religious terms in their original Hebrew.) and also a translation to Hebrew which confused an opening quote from

Nestorius Nestorius of Constantinople (; ; ) was an early Christian prelate who served as Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 11 July 431. A Christian theologian from the Catechetical School of Antioch, several of his teachings in the fi ...

with the name of the author of the book, who is actually unknown. It cites extensively and critically from the New Testament and Church sources. The title ''komer'' (כומר) describes a Christian priest (in modern Hebrew the word is used both for Catholic or Orthodox priests and for Protestant ministers), rather than a

kohen Kohen (, ; , ، Arabic كاهن , Kahen) is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic Priest#Judaism, priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakha, halakhically required, to ...

or Jewish priest. The text is written as the story of a Christian priest (wrongly named Nestor in the Hebrew translation) who converted to Judaism and wrote a critical account of the fundamental Christian doctrine regarding the nature of Jesus and the Trinity. The text uses the spelling

Yeshu Yeshu (Hebrew: ''Yēšū'') is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in rabbinic literature, thought by some to refer to Jesus when used in the Talmud. The name ''Yeshu'' is also used in other sources before and after the completio ...

(ישו) for Jesus.Daniel J. Lasker, Sarah Stroumsa, Nestor (proselyte.) - 1996 ( 138 ) והלא תדע כי ישו בא בגליל ובא אליו איש אחד ואמ׳ לו טבלני. אמ׳ לו ישו איני יכול לטבול אותך אלא לך לכהן והקרב קרבן ... תמיה נא לי למי היה מתפלל אם ישו אלוה? ואם תאמר שאינו אלוה כזבת בתפלתך שאתה מתפלל בכל יום האב והבן ורוח הקודש A modern edition פולמוס נסתור הכומר ''The Polemic of Nestor the Priest'' by Daniel J. Lasker and Sarah Stroumsa was published by the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 1996.

References

Books about Jesus Jewish medieval literature Jewish–Christian debate Hebrew manuscripts Books critical of Christianity Jewish apologetics 10th-century Arabic-language books Judeo-Arabic literature {{judaism-book-stub

See also

References