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''Gilyonim'', or ''avon gilyon'', are terms used by the
Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
and
Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
to refer to certain heretical works.


Disputed identity

The Jewish Christians of
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
had a Gospel of their own, the so-called Hebrew Gospel, from which still later
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...
quote. Matthew was, likewise, often thought to have been originally written in Hebrew (that is, Aramaic); if so, many copies must, therefore, have been in circulation, and doubts must naturally have arisen concerning the manner in which they were to be disposed of, since they contained mention of the
divine name There are various names of God, many of which enumerate the various qualities of a Supreme Being. The English word ''god'' (and its equivalent in other languages) is used by multiple religions as a noun to refer to different deities, or speci ...
. Indeed, the correct reading in this passage has ''gilyon'' in the singular; the
gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...
writings (which were sometimes called ''gilyonim'' also), however, were many; and had reference to these been intended here the plural would have been used. However, the 3rd century Aramaic writings of the religion of
Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...
, did have a single book called ''evangelion'', written in Aramaic, the Gospel of Mani, which was one of their seven sacred writings.
Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...
was a contemporary of
Rav ''Rav'' (or ''Rab'', Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (in the Talmud) states (1:6) that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi ...
, and from the same area of Babylonia. The central doctrine of Manichaeism was a belief in two powers (a good god versus an evil god), and in Aramaic they were called ''Maninaya'', which in Hebrew would have been ''Manim''. Regarding the Tosefta passage, Moritz Friedlander argued that attempts to identify these books with Christian gospels in which divine names do not occur are strained. Even R. T. Herford identified the word ''gilyon'' as "the unwritten portion of a ereticalbook, the margin ... used for annotations; and it is reasonable to suppose that these annotations would include texts of scripture, quoted as illustrations." Birger Pearson cites Herford as an example of flawed attempts after Friedlander to interpret all occurrences of ''gilyonim'' and ''gilyon'' as references to Jewish Christianity. Rabbinic discussion of gilyonim does not always rely on identifying it with Christians or any other heretics in particular. Nonetheless Friedlander (following Krochmal and Grätz) set out a thesis that those labelled as ''minim'' by the Rabbis were Gnostics who originated in Jewish circles pre-dating Christianity, and that ''gilyonim'' were 'tablets' bearing a gnostic "Ophite diagram" as described by Celsus and Origen. This would explain the opposition from Rabbi Tarfon. However, this thesis has not found wide acceptance, as noted in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906). Pearson claims that Gnostics and something like the Ophite diagram were known to the Rabbis, and that M. Joel had made this point before Friedlander. Pearson dates this evidence to the early second century, and possibly earlier, in the anti-heretical polemics in the Talmud and Midrash. Daniel BoyarinDaniel Boyarin, Border Lines - The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity (2006) pg 57-58 lists a number of problems with that thesis, citing Karen King’s argument that Gnostic influences in Judaism are entwined with Christian influences. Boyarin is no more prepared to identify ''minim'' with Christians than with Gnostics. Amongst the following scholars, there is a consensus that ''gilyonim'' cannot be too readily identified with gospels. William David Davies and Louis Finkelstein consider that ''gilyonim'' would not necessarily be Jewish-Christian ‘gospels’. Davies and James Paget cite Karl Georg Kuhn (‘Judentum Urchristentum Kirche’, 1964), and also Maier (1982) to this effect. Kuhn argues that: * the Talmud passage (Shabbat 116a) is clearly later than the passages from the Tosefta, and too late to be used as a source for the Jamnian period; * in the Tosefta passages citing Rabbi Tarfon, ''sifrei minim'' should be understood not as gospels but as Old Testament texts belonging to heterodox Jewish groups such as those at Qumran as well as to Jewish Christians; and ''gilyonim'' should be understood not as gospels but as Marginalia cut off from Biblical texts; * Rabbi Tarfon is unlikely to have made a pun on books being called ‘gospels’ earlier than Christians were known to have called their books ‘gospels’; * Rabbi Tarfon is unlikely to have punned ''gilyonim'' on merely the second half of the word ‘euangelion’, and there are other grammatical problems making it unlikely that a pun on ‘euangelion’ is in play. Daniel Boyarin, in line with Kuhn, understands the books to which Rabbi Tarfon referred to be Torah scrolls. Marvin R. Wilson takes the term 'minim' in the Talmud as originally denoting all “dissidents, apostates and traitors” rather than Christians in particular.
Margaret Barker Margaret Barker (born 1944) is a British Methodist preacher and biblical scholar. She studied theology at the University of Cambridge, after which she has devoted her life to research in ancient Christianity. She has developed an approach to b ...
notes that Rabbi Tarfon’s ''gilyonim'' referred to “an empty space or a margin” and suggests Tarfon punned on ''galah'' meaning "reveal" and hence ‘revelation’, rather than on ‘euangelion’. Barker nonetheless has Christian revelation in view rather than gnosticism. Barker applies her thesis to Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Meir’s ''aven gilyon'' and ''avon gilyon'', interpreting them as “worthless revelation” and “iniquitous revelation” respectively. FF Bruce translates the same as 'Sin of the Writing tablet' and 'Iniquity of the Margin'. Barker and Bruce are however agreed on identifying them as puns on euangelion (Christian gospels), whereas Daniel Boyarin has other Jewish heretics in view. Boyarin interprets Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Meir’s ''aven gilyon'' and ''avon gilyon'' as “gilyon of wretchedness” and “gilyon of sin” and identifies them with Jewish ‘apocalypses’, i.e. revelations, such as Enoch.


Rabbinic sources


Destruction of gilyonim

The principal passage in the
Tosefta The Tosefta ( "supplement, addition") is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the '' Tannaim''. Background Jewish teachings of the Tannaitic period were cha ...
is as follows: :The ''gilyonim'' (גליונים, "scrolls") and the iblicalbooks of the '' minim'' are not saved n Shabbat">Shabbat.html" ;"title="n Shabbat">n Shabbatfrom fire; but one lets them burn in their places, together with the names of God written upon them. R. Jose the Galilean says: "On weekdays the names of God are cut out and hidden while the rest is burned." R. Tarfon says: "I swear by the life of my children that if they fall into my hands I shall burn them together with the names of God upon them. For even if I were being chased by an attacker, I would enter a house of idolatry o escapebut would not enter one of their houses, as idolaters do not know of Him odand deny Him, while these know of Him but deny him. As Scripture said: And behind the doors and the posts you have set up your symbol, or you have uncovered (גִּלִּית, ''gilita'') and gone up from Me"
Rabbi Ishmael Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא, “Master of the Outside Teaching”), was a rabbi of ...
says: "If God has said, 'My name that has been written in holiness shall be wiped out by water, in order to make peace between husband and wife,' then all the more should the books of the ''minim'', that cause enmity between Israel and its heavenly Father. ... Just as they are not saved from fire, so they are not saved from a rockslide, or when they have fallen into water, or from ny otherform of destruction." The same passage is quoted with minor variations in the
Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...
,
Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...
, and
Sifre Sifre (; ''siphrēy'', ''Sifre, Sifrei'', also, ''Sifre debe Rab'' or ''Sifre Rabbah'') refers to either of two works of '' Midrash halakha'', or classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. ...
. The word ''gilyonim'' in the plural, means several copies of a single work, not multiple different
gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
. The Munich manuscript of the Talmud has here ''hagilyon'' (the
ingle Ingle may refer to: People * Ingle (surname), includes a list of people with the name * Ingle Martin (born 1982), American former football quarterback Places in the United States * Ingle, California, a community * Ingle, Florida, an unincorporate ...
scroll) where the printed editions have the plural. The title may have been originally briefly ἀγγέλιον (Greek for " Evangelion").


Avon gilyon

Later in the same passage of the Babylonian Talmud, the following appears: :
Rabbi Meir Rabbi Meir () was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was one of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139–163), and a disciple of Rabbi Akiva. He is the second most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah and is mentioned ...
would call he books which are left to burn''aven gilyon'' (אוון גליון, "false scroll").
Rabbi Yochanan :''See Johanan (name) for more rabbis by this name''. Johanan bar Nappaha ( Yoḥanan bar Nafḥa or Napaḥa), also known simply as Rabbi Yochanan or Johanan bar Nafcha (180–279 CE), was a leading rabbi and second-generation '' Amora'' duri ...
would call them ''avon gilyon'' (עוון גליון, "sin scroll"). The terms ''aven gilyon'' and ''avon gilyon'' are derogatory puns on ἐυαγγέλιον (" evangelion"). As
Rabbi Meir Rabbi Meir () was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was one of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139–163), and a disciple of Rabbi Akiva. He is the second most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah and is mentioned ...
was the descendant of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
proselyte The biblical term "proselyte" is an anglicization of , as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the Novum Testamentum Graece for a first-century convert to Judaism. It is a transla ...
s, it is possible that he, having had a Greek education, simply intended to represent the sound of ἐυαγγέλιον more exactly. However, this explanation would not apply to Rabbi Johanan's comment.


The philosopher

Next, the Talmud tells the story of Rabban
Gamaliel II Rabban Gamaliel II (also spelled Gamliel; ; before –) was a rabbi from the second generation of tannaim. He was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as '' nasi'' after the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE. He was the son of Shimon ben G ...
's dispute with a philosopher (פילוסופא) who said to Gamaliel, "Since the day that you were exiled from your land, the
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
of
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
was taken away, and the ''avon gilyon'' was given n its place and written in it s the law thatson and daughter inherit equally" (in contrast to the Torah's rule that daughters do not inherit if a son is alive). Later the philosopher said, "I reached the end of the ''avon gilyon'', and it is written: 'I he authordid not come to subtract from the Torah of Moses, or to add to the Torah of Moses.' And it is written there: In a situation where there is a son, the daughter does not inherit." The philosopher's statements in this story reflect Christian beliefs; it cannot be determined whether the new law regarding the right of daughters to inherit was included in the original Hebrew Gospel.
Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

Gilyonim
/ref>


Sanctity of scrolls

Another passage shows that the Gospels have not the sanctity of the Biblical books: :The Gilyonim and the iblicalbooks of the " Minim" ( Judæo-Christians?) do not render the hands unclean. The books of
Ben Sira Ben Sira or Joshua ben Sirach (; ) was a Hellenistic Jewish scribe, sage, and allegorist from Seleucid-controlled Jerusalem of the Second Temple period. He is the author of the Book of Sirach, also known as "Ecclesiasticus". Ben Sirach w ...
and all books written from now onward do not render the hands unclean.
Tosefta The Tosefta ( "supplement, addition") is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the '' Tannaim''. Background Jewish teachings of the Tannaitic period were cha ...
Yadayim 2:13, ed. Zuckermandel, p. 683
The Gospels are not otherwise mentioned in the Talmud or Midrash. However, from the Talmudic narratives about Jesus it appears that the contents of the Gospel were known to the Talmudic teachers.


See also

* Tetragrammaton in the New Testament


References

{{Jewish Encyclopedia, url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6677-gilyonim, article=Gilyonim


External links


Discussion of gilyonim
Early Christianity and Judaism Heresy in Judaism