PASSAGES RELATING TO JESUS
73
states in so many words that Jesus was as much as
thirty-three years old. If, however, it was believed
that his ministry lasted three years, and that he was
about thirty years old' when he began to preach,
the statement of the Christian is sufficiently borne
out, though not verbally correct. R. Hanina must
have had fairly good grounds for his opinion as to
the age of Jesus, or he would not have quoted a text
which would only apply to the case of a man about
thirty-three or thirty-four years old.
It is curious that Balaam is here called
'
the lame,'
and that this epithet is mentioned, not by the Rabbi
but by the Christian. It was, however, a Rabbinical
opinion that Balaam was lame, and also blind of one
eye. This is stated in the Gemara, b. Sanh. 10511, in
the same chapter from which is taken the extract at
present under notice. This opinion about Balaam is
taught by R. Johanan, on the strength of a fanciful
interpretation of two texts-Num. xxiii. 3, xxiv. 15.
It is quite possible that this is simply a fancy, without
any reference to Jesus. But we may at least com-
pare Mark. ix. 45, 46.
There remains to be noticed Pinhas the Robber,
or
Pinhas Listaah,' who is said to have killed Balaam.
It has been suggested by Perles (Gratz, Monatsch.,
1872, p. 267, quoted by Bacher) that, assuming
Balaam to represent Jesus, Pinhas Listaah is a cor-
ruption of Pontius Pilatus.l The corruption is, it
' Cf. the story given below (p. 87), according to which a certain person,
presumably Jesus, `took to robbery' (listaia), and further, p. 95, where it is
suggested that the allegation of robbery in reference to Jesus is due to a con-
fusion of him with a certain robber chieftain Ben Netzer. It is worth
noting that according to Matt. xxvi. 55,
Jesus said, Are ye come out as
against a robber (ibs
&I apcralr) ; Apor4s is in the Talmud D'IMDS, listis.
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