INTRODUCTION
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in the order of their occurrence in the Talmudic
treatises and the several Midrashim. But such an
arrangement would not afford the slightest help to
the reader who wished to find what was said upon
a given subject, e.g. the Christian scriptures. The
same objection would apply to a chronological classif i
cation, according to which the passages should be
arranged under the dates of the several Rabbis
responsible for them.
I have thought it best to make a classification accord-
ing to the main subject dealt with in each passage. I
place first of all the passages referring to
Jesus;
then,
the much larger group of those relating to followers
of Jesus. Each passage or series of passages will have
its title, indicating the main subject to which it refers;
and an index of all the titles will be found in the table
of contents. Under each title will be given the trans-
lation of one or more passages, bearing upon the
particular topic, together with sufficient commentary
to explain its meaning and its connexion with the
main subject. The Hebrew and Aramaic texts,
numbered consecutively to correspond with the trans-
lated passages, will be collected in an appendix.
Following upon the translations and commentaries,
a concluding chapter will sum up the general results
of the inquiry, under the two main heads of the
Tradition concerning Jesus and the Tradition concern-
ing the Minim.
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