Gilyonim
Encyclopedia
Gilyonim is a term used by Jewish scribes flourishing between 100 and 135 CE to denote the Gospels.
, who flourished after 135, a descendant of Greek
proselyte
s, was the first to play upon the word ἐυαγγέλιον by translating it as Hebrew for "worthlessness of [i.e., written upon] a scroll
"). Although R. Meïr's words are generally interpreted in this sense, it is possible that, having had a Greek education, he simply intended to represent the sound of "evangelium" more exactly. Rabbi Johanan (d. 279
CE), on the other hand, calls the Gospel "sin
-scroll" in Shab.
116a. Only one Gospel is referred to, see also Jewish-Christian Gospels
. The Munich manuscript has in the decisive passage, Shab. 116a, the singular where the printed editions have the plural. The title may have been originally briefly ἀγγέλιον.
s—i.e., three or four different Gospels—but only several copies of one and the same work.
The principal passages are as follows:(Tosef., Shab. xiii. 5 [ed. Zuckermandel, p. 129]; comp. Shab. 116a; Yer. Shab. 15c, 52; Sifre, Num. 16).
"The 'Gilyon[im]' and the [Biblical] books of the "Minim" (Judæo-Christians
?) are not saved [on Shabbat
] from fire; but one lets them burn together with the names of God written upon them." R. Jose the Galilean
says: "On week-days the names of God are cut out and hidden while the rest is burned." R. Tarphon 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." Rabbi Ishmael says: "If God has said, 'My name that has been written in holiness [i.e., in the "jealousy roll" mentioned in Num. v. 21 et seq.] shall be wiped out by water, in order to make peace between husband and wife,' then all the more should the books of the Judæo-Christians, that cause enmity, jealousy, and contention between Israel and its heavenly Father. . . . As they are not saved from fire, so they are not saved when they are in danger of decaying, or when they have fallen into water, or when any other mishap has befallen them"
had a Gospel of their own, the so-called Hebrew Gospel, from which still later Church Fathers
quote. Matthew
was, likewise, originally written in Hebrew (Aramaic); 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
. Furthermore, the whole tenor of the passage shows that those who asked the question which elicited these remarks concerning the "Gilyon" were pious Jews, and they certainly used, and consequently inquired concerning, the Hebrew Gospel. Indeed, the correct reading in this passage has "Gilyon" in the singular; the gnostic 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
, did have a single book called evangelion, written in Aramaic, the Gospel of Mani
, which was one of their seven sacred writings. Mani
was a contemporary of Rav
, 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.
Another passage shows that the Gospels have not the sanctity of the Biblical books. "The Gilyonim and the [Biblical] books of the "Minim" (Judæo-Christians
?) do not render the hands unclean. The books of Ben Sira
and all books written from now onward do not render the hands unclean."
, preserved in Shab. 116b (beginning): "The patriarch Gamaliel II
[c. 100] and his sister, the wife of Rabbi Eliezer
, were living near a philosopher who had the reputation of rejecting bribes. Desiring to cast ridicule upon him, the woman took a golden candlestick to him and said: 'I desire to be a coheir.' He answered: 'Divide.' Then she said: 'It is written in the Torah
, "The daughter shall not inherit where there is a son."' He answered: 'Since you have been exiled from your country the Torah of Moses has been abrogated, and in its place the Gospel has been promulgated, in which it is written, "Son and daughter inherit together."' On the following day Gamaliel brought a Libyan
ass to him, whereupon the philosopher said: 'Observe the principle of the Gospel, where it is written, "I am not come to take away aught from the teaching of Moses, but to add to it"; and it is written in the Torah, "Where there is a son the daughter does not inherit."' The woman said to him: 'Let your light shine like a candle.' Then Gamaliel said: 'The ass came and overthrew the candlestick.'" It can not be ascertained whether the new law regarding the right of daughters to inherit was included in the original Hebrew Gospel. The Gospels are not otherwise mentioned in the Talmud or Midrash
.
(in "Milḥemet Ḥobah," and in his commentary on the Psalms
) quotes them several times. They were early rendered into Hebrew. Sebastian Münster
translated one.
.
The above material, drawn from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906), has been challenged by modern criticism. This criticism seeks to answer: who were the minim in the contexts to which Rabbi Tarfon spoke according to the Tosefta?; what were the gilyonim they possessed?; what was the intent of Tarfon’s wordplay?; to what period can the comments of Rabbi Tarfon be dated?; to what period should wordplay by other Rabbis (awen gilyon, avon gilyon) in Shabbat 116a be dated? did the earlier and later Rabbis have the same targets in mind?
It is not possible to draw a broad consensus on these questions from modern criticism, and so the following serves as a summary of some positions divergent from the Jewish Encyclopedia.
On the passage in the Tosefta where Rabbi Tarfon reportedly said that the gilyonim and the 'Books of the Minim' were not to be saved from the fire but burnt along with the divine names occurring in them, Moritz Friedlander made the observation that attempts to identify these books with Christian gospels in which divine names do not occur are strained. However R.T. Herford identified ‘gilyonim’ as gospels. 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.
Nonethelesss 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 but 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 Boyarin 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:
i) 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;
ii) in the earlier 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;
iii) 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’;
iv) 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 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 “awen 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 “awen Gilyon” and “avon Gilyon” as “gilyon of wretchedness” and “gilyon of sin” and identifies them with Jewish ‘apocalypses’, i.e. revelations, such as Enoch.
Play upon words
The designation as used by them did not imply any mockery; Rabbi MeïrRabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
, who flourished after 135, a descendant of Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
proselyte
Proselyte
The biblical term "Proselyte", derives from the Koine Greek προσήλυτος/proselytos, as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism from Paganism...
s, was the first to play upon the word ἐυαγγέλιον by translating it as Hebrew for "worthlessness of [i.e., written upon] a scroll
Scroll
A scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper, which has been drawn or written upon.Scroll may also refer to:*Scroll , the decoratively curved end of the pegbox of string instruments such as violins...
"). Although R. Meïr's words are generally interpreted in this sense, it is possible that, having had a Greek education, he simply intended to represent the sound of "evangelium" more exactly. Rabbi Johanan (d. 279
279
Year 279 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Paternus...
CE), on the other hand, calls the Gospel "sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
-scroll" in Shab.
Shabbat (Talmud)
Shabbat is first tractate in the Order of Moed, of the Mishnah and Talmud. The tractate consists of 24 chapters.The tractate primarily deals with laws relating to Shabbat , and the activities prohibited on Shabbat and distinguishes between Biblical prohibitions and Rabbinic prohibitions...
116a. Only one Gospel is referred to, see also Jewish-Christian Gospels
Jewish-Christian Gospels
Jewish-Christian Gospels are non-canonical Gospels used by various Jewish Christian groups that were declared heretical by other members of the Early Church. They are mentioned by Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius and Jerome...
. The Munich manuscript has in the decisive passage, Shab. 116a, the singular where the printed editions have the plural. The title may have been originally briefly ἀγγέλιον.
Examples
In the first passage quoted below ("Gospels") does not mean several recensionRecension
Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author...
s—i.e., three or four different Gospels—but only several copies of one and the same work.
The principal passages are as follows:(Tosef., Shab. xiii. 5 [ed. Zuckermandel, p. 129]; comp. Shab. 116a; Yer. Shab. 15c, 52; Sifre, Num. 16).
"The 'Gilyon[im]' and the [Biblical] books of the "Minim" (Judæo-Christians
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
?) are not saved [on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
] from fire; but one lets them burn together with the names of God written upon them." R. Jose the Galilean
Jose the Galilean
Jose the Galilean was a Jewish sage who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries of the common era. He was one of the Tannaim, the rabbis whose work was compiled in the Mishna. Jose was a contemporary and colleague of Rabbis Akiba, Tarfon, and Eleazar ben Azariah...
says: "On week-days the names of God are cut out and hidden while the rest is burned." R. Tarphon 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." Rabbi Ishmael says: "If God has said, 'My name that has been written in holiness [i.e., in the "jealousy roll" mentioned in Num. v. 21 et seq.] shall be wiped out by water, in order to make peace between husband and wife,' then all the more should the books of the Judæo-Christians, that cause enmity, jealousy, and contention between Israel and its heavenly Father. . . . As they are not saved from fire, so they are not saved when they are in danger of decaying, or when they have fallen into water, or when any other mishap has befallen them"
Contention of meaning
Moriz Friedländer has contended that this passage does not treat of the Gospel. The Jewish Christians of PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
had a Gospel of their own, the so-called Hebrew Gospel, from which still later Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
quote. Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
was, likewise, originally written in Hebrew (Aramaic); 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
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
. Furthermore, the whole tenor of the passage shows that those who asked the question which elicited these remarks concerning the "Gilyon" were pious Jews, and they certainly used, and consequently inquired concerning, the Hebrew Gospel. Indeed, the correct reading in this passage has "Gilyon" in the singular; the gnostic 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
Manichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...
, did have a single book called evangelion, written in Aramaic, the Gospel of Mani
Gospel of Mani
The Living Gospel was a 3rd century gnostic gospel written by Mani. It was originally written in Syriac and called the Evangelion , from the Greek: Ευαγγελιον and one of the seven original scriptures of Manichaeism...
, which was one of their seven sacred writings. Mani
Mani (prophet)
Mani , of Iranian origin was the prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a gnostic religion of Late Antiquity which was once widespread but is now extinct...
was a contemporary of Rav
Abba Arika
Abba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...
, 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.
Another passage shows that the Gospels have not the sanctity of the Biblical books. "The Gilyonim and the [Biblical] books of the "Minim" (Judæo-Christians
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
?) do not render the hands unclean. The books of Ben Sira
Ben Sira
Jesus ben Sirach , commonly known simply as ben Sirach or Sirach and also rendered "Jesus son of Sirach" or "Jesus Siracides", was the author of the deuterocanonical Wisdom of Sirach and possibly the rabbinical Alphabet of Sirach...
and all books written from now onward do not render the hands unclean."
Talmudic Quotations from Gospels
The Gospel is twice quoted in an anecdote, apparently from BabyloniaBabylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
, preserved in Shab. 116b (beginning): "The patriarch Gamaliel II
Gamaliel II
Rabban Gamaliel II was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as Nasi after the fall of the second temple, which occurred in 70 CE. Gamliel was appointed nasi approximately 10 years later. Gamaliel II was the son of Shimon ben Gamaliel, one of Jerusalem's foremost men in the war against the...
[c. 100] and his sister, the wife of Rabbi Eliezer
Eliezer ben Hurcanus
Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Eliezer ben Hyrcanus , a Kohen, was one of the most prominent tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries, disciple of R. Johanan ben Zakkai and colleague of Gamaliel II, whose sister he married , and of Joshua ben Hananiah...
, were living near a philosopher who had the reputation of rejecting bribes. Desiring to cast ridicule upon him, the woman took a golden candlestick to him and said: 'I desire to be a coheir.' He answered: 'Divide.' Then she said: 'It is written in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, "The daughter shall not inherit where there is a son."' He answered: 'Since you have been exiled from your country the Torah of Moses has been abrogated, and in its place the Gospel has been promulgated, in which it is written, "Son and daughter inherit together."' On the following day Gamaliel brought a Libyan
Libyan
A Libyan is a person or thing of, from, or related to Libya in North Africa.The term Libyan may also refer to:* A person from Libya, or of Libyan descent. For information about the Libyan people, see Demographics of Libya and Culture of Libya. For specific persons, see List of Libyans.* Libyan...
ass to him, whereupon the philosopher said: 'Observe the principle of the Gospel, where it is written, "I am not come to take away aught from the teaching of Moses, but to add to it"; and it is written in the Torah, "Where there is a son the daughter does not inherit."' The woman said to him: 'Let your light shine like a candle.' Then Gamaliel said: 'The ass came and overthrew the candlestick.'" It can not be ascertained whether the new law regarding the right of daughters to inherit was included in the original Hebrew Gospel. The Gospels are not otherwise mentioned in the Talmud or Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
.
In the Middle Ages
From the Talmudic narratives about Jesus it appears that the contents of the Gospel were known to the Talmudic teachers. In post-Talmudic days the Jews were often led to study the Gospels through controversy with Christians (see Polemics). David ḲimḥiDavid Kimhi
David Kimhi , also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK , was a medieval rabbi, biblical commentator, philosopher, and grammarian. Born in Narbonne, Provence, he was the son of Rabbi Joseph Kimhi and the brother of Rabbi Moses Kimhi, both biblical commentators and grammarians...
(in "Milḥemet Ḥobah," and in his commentary on the Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
) quotes them several times. They were early rendered into Hebrew. Sebastian Münster
Sebastian Münster
Sebastian Münster , was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and a Hebrew scholar.- Life :Münster was born at Ingelheim near Mainz, the son of Andreas Munster. He completed his studies at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen in 1518. His graduate adviser was Johannes Stöffler.He was appointed to...
translated one.
In modern times
In modern times they have been translated into classical Hebrew by Salkinson, and into Mishnaic Hebrew by Franz DelitzschFranz Delitzsch
Franz Delitzsch was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Born in Leipzig, he held the professorship of theology at the University of Rostock from 1846 to 1850, at the University of Erlangen until 1867, and after that at the University of Leipzig until his death...
.
The above material, drawn from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906), has been challenged by modern criticism. This criticism seeks to answer: who were the minim in the contexts to which Rabbi Tarfon spoke according to the Tosefta?; what were the gilyonim they possessed?; what was the intent of Tarfon’s wordplay?; to what period can the comments of Rabbi Tarfon be dated?; to what period should wordplay by other Rabbis (awen gilyon, avon gilyon) in Shabbat 116a be dated? did the earlier and later Rabbis have the same targets in mind?
It is not possible to draw a broad consensus on these questions from modern criticism, and so the following serves as a summary of some positions divergent from the Jewish Encyclopedia.
On the passage in the Tosefta where Rabbi Tarfon reportedly said that the gilyonim and the 'Books of the Minim' were not to be saved from the fire but burnt along with the divine names occurring in them, Moritz Friedlander made the observation that attempts to identify these books with Christian gospels in which divine names do not occur are strained. However R.T. Herford identified ‘gilyonim’ as gospels. 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.
Nonethelesss 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 but 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 Boyarin 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:
i) 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;
ii) in the earlier 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;
iii) 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’;
iv) 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
Marvin R. Wilson
Marvin R. Wilson is an American evangelical Biblical scholar, and Harold J. Ockenga Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.-Education:...
takes the term 'minim' in the Talmud as originally denoting all “dissidents, apostates and traitors” rather than Christians in particular.
Margaret Barker 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 “awen 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 “awen Gilyon” and “avon Gilyon” as “gilyon of wretchedness” and “gilyon of sin” and identifies them with Jewish ‘apocalypses’, i.e. revelations, such as Enoch.