Toward the end of a passage discussing the punishment of one who incites to idolatry, the Talmud records this curious story:
And the court did the same to an inciter named ben Setada, from the city of Lod, and they hanged him on Passover eve. Why did they call him ben Setada, when he was the son of Pandeira? Rav Hisda says: Perhaps his mother’s husband, who acted as his father, was named Setada, but his mother’s paramour, who fathered this mamzer, was named Pandeira. But his mother’s husband was Pappos ben Yehuda, not Setada. Rather, perhaps his mother was named Setada, and he was named ben Setada after her. But his mother was Miriam, who braided women’s hair. That is not a contradiction; Setada was merely a nickname, as they say in Pumbedita: This one strayed (setat da) from her husband.
We know little about this ben Setada who incited idolatry and was executed for that crime: It seems that he was a product of his mother’s adultery and that ben Setada was not his real name, perhaps an insulting nickname.
I want to invite you to pause and take a look at today’s daf in whatever edition you are using for your studies. Does this story appear just before the mishnah about 2/3 of the way down the page? It may or may not. For example, it appears in the online Sefaria version that I just quoted, but not in the Artscroll English/Hebrew hardbound volume I typically study from. If you don’t see it in your text, you’re looking at a version of the Talmud that has excised this passage.
Some scholars believe the inciter to idolatry mentioned on today’s daf, who may or may not have been named ben Setada, is none other than Jesus. Why would they think this? Let’s look at the arguments for and against identifying ben Setada as Jesus.
On the one hand, ben Setada is described as being hanged on Erev Passover. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus was likewise crucified on Erev Passover. (The same verb is used in Hebrew for hanging and crucifixion.) Ben Setada’s mother was Miriam; Jesus’ mother was Mary — a name derived from Miriam. Curiously, ben Setada’s mother is described as Miriam migadla nashim — Miriam who “braids women’s hair.” That sounds an awful lot like Mary Magdalene, who is associated with Jesus. Ben Setada is also called a mamzer, which means his mother’s husband was not his biological father.
On the other hand, ben Setada was hanged in Lod while Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. Some gospels place the crucifixion on Passover, not Erev Passover. Jesus’ mother’s husband was named Joseph, not Pappos ben Yehuda. And, of course, Jesus’ name was not ben Setada (slur or no). Plus, the dates of Pandeira and ben Setada, who are both mentioned elsewhere in the Talmud, do not line up with the dates of the historical Jesus.
While I personally do not think there’s enough to definitively identify ben Setada with the historical Jesus, the fact remains that the similarities to Jesus have aroused Christian suspicion and outrage, leading to censorship of the passage. The most famous case of this type of suppression was the sordid Disputation of Paris in 1240 that put the Talmud “on trial” for blasphemy, inciting attacks on Christians and obscene folklore — based on this and other passages. This affair culminated in the burning of the Talmud and other sacred Jewish books. It also contributed to the incitement of violence against Jews over the ensuing centuries.
Read all of Sanhedrin 67 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on February 22, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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