76
CHRISTIANITY IN TALMUD
precisely is the meaning of
5re in= is open to
question, and is for the O.T. commentators to
decide. But by no rules of grammar or syntax
could the words be made to mean, `Who maketh
himself live by the name of God.' This is a haggadic
variation of the text, such as the Rabbis often per-
mitted themselves to make (see above, p. 13) for
a homiletic purpose. And it is hard to see what
purpose there could be, in the present example, other
than that of making a covert allusion to Jesus, who
had declared -
according to the Gospels -
that he
should rise from the dead, of course by the power
of God. The words do not apply to Balaam, at
least there is nothing recorded about him that would
give occasion for any such remark. Rashi, in his
note on the passage, does indeed refer it to Balaam,
but seems to be well aware that some one other than
Balaam is really intended. He says, " Balsam,
who
restored himself to life by the name of God, made
himself God." With this passage should be compared
the saying of Abahu, (10) above, which is a somewhat
similar haggadic variation of a text of Scripture.
R. Shim'on ben Laqish, often called Resh Laqish,
was the colleague and friend of R. Johanan already
mentioned. He died somewhere about 279 A.D.
THE CHAPTER CONCERNING BALAAM
(17) b. B. Bathr. 14b.-Moses wrote his book and
the section [Parashah] about Balaam.
Commentary.-The
book which Moses wrote is, of
course, the Pentateuch, with the exception of the
last eight verses, which the Talmud attributes to
 |  |  |