An Almost Unknown Hanina ben Dosa Story and Jesus: Exemplars of First-century Galilean Hasidic Judaism

Some time ago, I happened upon an amazing story about the miracle-worker Hanina ben Dosa that is almost unknown and sheds new light on the Jewish background of the Christian gospels. In the last 50 years or so, Gospel scholars, particularly Jewish scholars, have increasingly seen the importance of Jesus’ Jewish origins and his Galilean roots. Further, they have come to understand that Jesus was part of a Galilean branch of Judaism that was more rural and relaxed, and distinctively hasidic (pietistic).^[29] Different from the Judean Jews who were urban and scholarly, these Galilean hasidim preferred prayer to Torah study. They were not scholars but charismatic healers and miracle-workers, itinerant preachers and storytellers.^[30] Aside from Jesus himself, perhaps the most famous individual of that branch of Judaism was Hanina ben Dosa, a younger contemporary of Jesus.

Bibliography

Bin-Gorion, M. J. [Berdichevsky, Micah Joseph], 1865-1921. Der Born Judas: Legenden, Märchen und Erzählungen [The Well of Judah: Legends, Fairy Tales and Narratives]. 6 vols. Trans. by Rahel Bin-Gorion [Ramberg]. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1916-1923. See Vol. 2, pp. 31-32. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062217693&seq=39

בן-גריון [ברדיצ’בסקי, מיכה יוסף]. “מימים ראשונים; ספורי אגדה; ההגמון הפלאי.” התקופה; ספר שמיני ;תמוז-אלול תר”ף, העורך דוד פרישמן,Warszawa: Wydawnictwo-Sztybel, 1920, עמ’ 115–174. עמ’ 166.‏ [__________. “From Early Days; Fairy Tales; The Wonder Hegemon.” HaTekufah ⟨The Period⟩; Eighth Book; Tammuz-Elul 1920, ed. by David Fryszman, Warszawa, Wydawnictwo-Sztybel, 1920, pp. 115-174. See p. 166 for longer elaborated version of the story.] https://library.osu.edu/projects/hebrew-lexicon/99995-files/99995101/99995101-08.pdf

בן-גריון [ברדיצ′בסקי], מיכה יוסף. ממקור ישראל. כרך א-ו ,תרצ″ח-תש″ה. כרך ג, סעיף יח.‏
[__________. Mimekor Yisrael ⟨From Israel⟩. Vol. 1-6, ⟨ed. by Emanuel Bin-Gorion, Tel Aviv, Dvir,⟩ 1937-1945. See Vol. 3, section 18.]

בן-גריון [ברדיצ’בסקי], מיכה יוסף. “ההגמון הפלאי; סיפור מספר 255.” ממקור ישראל, מס”ע, מרכז סיפורי-עם ופולקלור.‏ [__________. “The Wonder Hegemon; story number 255.” Mimekor Yisrael ⟨From Israel⟩, C. F. F., The Center of Folktales and Folklore.] http://folkmasa.org/b/mi_sipurp.php?mishtane=255.

__________; Mimekor Yisrael. Classical Jewish Folktales, Abridged and Annotated Edition, ed. by Emanuel Bin-Gorion. Trans. by L. M. Lask. Introduction and headnotes by Dan Ben-Amos. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.

Büchler, Adolf, 1867-1939. Types of Jewish-Palestinian Piety, from 70 B.C.E. to 70 C.E.: The Ancient Pious Men. London: Oxford University Press, 1922. See pp. 90-91. https://archive.org/details/typesofjewishpal1922bc/page/90

Cook, John Granger, 1955-. “Matthew 5.39 and 26.67: Slapping Another’s Cheek in Ancient Mediterranean Culture,” Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 10, 2014: pp. 68-89.

Gaster, Moses, 1856-1939. Report for the Year 1894-1895: 1st Tammuz, 5654, to 30th Sivan, 5655; and, Report for the Year 1895-1896: 1st Tammuz, 5655, to 30th Sivan, 5656; Together with, The ancient Collections of Agadoth, The Sefer ha-Maasiyoth and two Facsimiles. Ramsgate: Judith Montefiore College (printed by W. Drugulin, Leipzig), 1896. See part 1, pp. 42-52 for comments about the manuscript; part 2, section CLXI [161], pp. 115-116 for Hebrew text. https://books.google.com/books?id=0t1EAAAAYAAJ

__________. The Exempla of the Rabbis: Being a Collection of Exempla, Apologues And Tales Culled From Hebrew Manuscripts And Rare Hebrew Books. London and Leipzig: Asia Publishing Co., 1924. See part 1 (The Exempla), section 1, pp. 39-49 for comments about the manuscript; p. 93 for English summary of the story; part 2 (ספר המעשיות), section CLXI [161], pp. 115-116 for the Hebrew text. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t7rp1pj3q&view=1up&seq=462; https://archive.org/details/exemplaofrabbisb00gast

__________. The Exempla of the Rabbis: Being a Collection of Exempla, Apologues And Tales Culled From Hebrew Manuscripts And Rare Hebrew Books. New York: Ktav Publishing House, Inc., 1968. See prolegomenon by William G. Braude, pp. XIX-XXX.

Herford, R. Travers, 1860-1950. Pirke Aboth: The Ethics of the Talmud: Sayings of the Fathers. New York: Jewish Institute of Religion, 1945; reprint, New York: Schocken, 1962. https://archive.org/details/sayingsoffathers00unse

Safrai, Shmuel, 1919-2003. “Teaching of Pietists in Mishnaic Literature,” Journal of Jewish Studies 16, 1965, pp. 15-33. https://www.jjs-online.net/archives/article/516

__________. “Jesus and the Hasidim,” Jerusalem Perspective 42-44, 1994, pp. 3-22. https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2685

__________. “The Jewish Cultural Nature of Galilee in the First Century,” The New Testament and Christian-Jewish Dialogue: Studies in Honor of David Flusser, Immanuel (series) 24/25, ed. by Malcolm F. Lowe. Jerusalem: Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity in Israel, 1990, pp. 147-186. http://www.etrfi.info/immanuel/24/Immanuel_24_147.pdf; https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/4452

Vermes, Géza, 1924-2013. “Hanina ben Dosa: A controversial Galilean Saint from the First Century of the Christian Era,” Journal of Jewish Studies 23, 1972, pp. 28-50. https://www.jjs-online.net/archives/article/604

__________ “Hanina ben Dosa: A controversial Galilean Saint from the First Century of the Christian Era (II),” Journal of Jewish Studies 24, 1973, pp. 51-64. https://www.jjs-online.net/archives/article/633

__________. Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s reading of the Gospels. London: Collins, 1973.

I’d like to acknowledge the help I received in producing this article from Professor Brad Young and Ya’akov Love, each with his own contribution. And thanks to Shoshannah Brombacher for her fine artwork.

Notes

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• ^[1] This is my literal translation based on the Hebrew manuscript published by Gaster in Exempla, 115-116 §161 (on which, see under the subheading “The Story Source”). The “Commentary” section contains a more expansive translation including explanations of some elements. The Hebrew text of the story is as follows:

  מעשה בר′ חנינה בן דוסא שהלך לבקר את רבו. והשכים לבית המדרש ופתח לעולם הוי מקביל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות. בא הגמון אחד ועמד על פתח בית המדרש. ואמ′ מי בכם ירכיבני על כתיפו ויוליכני לביתו. ויעשה לי כל צרכי. קם ר′ חנינה בן דוסא ואמ′ לו אני. הרכיבו עד שהביאו לביתו והביא לו מים. עמד ונתפלש בעפר. אמ′ לו רבי מה רצונך. ובמה אדוני סועד. אמ′ לו דבש ואגוזים. יצא הוא לצד. ואשתו לצד. עד שהביאו לו. לקח השולחן חבטו. אמ′ לו ר′ בטוב עין מה רצונך. אמ′ לו מי ירכיבני ויוליכני עד מקומי. אמ′ לו אני. כיון שיצא לרחוב העיר. הרגיש בו שירד ממנו. וראה שלהבת עולה לרקיע. ושמע קולו שהוא אומ′ לו. חנינה חזור בך כבר נתנסיתה ונמצאת שלם. שוב אין אנו מצערים אותך. שכך שמעתי שאומרין עליך ואשים דברי בפיך ובצל ידי כסיתיך.‏

  The whole point of the story revolves around the phrase טוב עין (tōv ‘ayin), which literally means “with a good eye,” but idiomatically means judging someone favorably and/or being generous. Thus Hanina acts in an exceptionally loving way and judges the Roman favorably. To translate it properly one requires the correct punctuation. The original text with this phrase reads:

  אמ′ לו ר′ בטוב עין מה רצונך.‏

  The text with proper punctuation added and abbreviations expanded reads:

  אמר לו: ”רבי,“ בטוב עין, ”מה רצונך?“‏

  He addressed him as: “My master," with a good eye, saying "What is your desire?”

  Hanina twice calls the Roman commander רבי (rabi, here “Master,” not “Rabbi”), and once אדוני (’adōni, “Lord”).

  ↩

• ^[2] Namely, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai (cf. b. Ber. 34b). ↩
• ^[3] The text says “he went early to the Torah study hall and began preaching.” That this is one sentence in the Hebrew indicates that Hanina was the preacher. We are told that Hanina went to visit his teacher, but then he ends up preaching. The only explanation for this is if his teacher was not there, since a student would not normally teach in the presence of his teacher. There is a story where Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai forced his prime student Eliezer ben Hyrcanus to teach, but Eliezer would only do so when his master had left the room (Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer §2; cf. Avot de-Rabbi Natan §6). However, that story has different motives and is not applicable here.

  The adage about receiving everyone is found elsewhere in the name of Shammai and also in the name of Rabbi Ishmael, see further on. ↩

• ^[4] The term that appears in the Hebrew text is הֶגְמוֹן (hegmōn). This refers to a high-level Roman army commander or general in charge of thousands of soldiers (Brad Young, private conversation). This term is used frequently in early Jewish sources with that meaning but without exactitude. This term is a transliteration of the Greek (Jastrow, 331). ↩
• ^[5] Cf. Jesus’ criticism of a man who hosted him for a meal, “When I entered your house, you gave me no water to wash my feet” (Luke 7:44). ↩
• ^[6] The pronouns in this final paragraph are theologically complex. What is important to know is that the speaker in Isaiah 51:16 is God. ↩
• ^[7] See m. Shab. 16:7. The name of this town has many alternative spellings. See also Safrai, “The Jewish Cultural Nature of Galilee in the First Century,” under the subheading “Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai,” 149-150. ↩
• ^[8] Some gospel usages of the word “receive”: Matt. 10:40; Mark 6:10-11; Luke 16:4; 19:6. ↩
• ^[9] The Hebrew text of Rabbi Ishmael’s saying reads:

  רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי קַל לְרֹאשׁ, וְנוֹחַ לְתִשְׁחֹרֶת, וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּשִׂמְחָה

  ↩

• ^[10] The teaching about receiving every person בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת (“with a smiling face”) is found in the mouth of Shammai (ca. 50 B.C.E.-30 C.E.; m. Avot 1:15); Hanina ben Dosa (first century C.E.) in our story; and Rabbi Ishmael (second century C.E.), who uses the phrase בְּשִׂמְחָה (“with joy”) instead of “with a smiling face.” ↩
• ^[11] Herford, Pirke Aboth, 82-83. ↩
• ^[12] In the context of the story these items are chosen because they have some meaning. In a contemporary version, which is an elaboration of the original, the author uses the word מטעמים (“delicacies”; Berdichevsky, “From Early Days,” 166). In a parable by Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach criticizing Honi the circle drawer he said that he was like a spoiled child who asked for many different fruits and nuts and his father indulged him (b. Taan. 23a). ↩
• ^[13] “Hanina is satisfied with a small portion of carobs from one Sabbath to the next” (b. Ber. 17b). See also Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son: “He would gladly have fed on the [carob] pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything” (Luke 15:16). ↩
• ^[14] Jesus looked at the rich young man with love (Mark 10:21). In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good your whole body will be full of light” (Matt. 6:22). Only if your eye is “good” will you be able to love the other person fully. Cf. m. Avot 2:9. ↩
• ^[15] The Romans crucified 2,000 Jewish rebels in Jerusalem in 4 B.C.E. (Josephus, J.W. 2:75; Ant. 17:295); 3,600 in 66 C.E. (J.W. 2:307); 500 per day in 70 C.E. (J.W. 5:450-451). ↩
• ^[16] The rabbis say, “Who is strong? One who makes an enemy into a friend” (Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, §23). ↩
• ^[17] Cf. m. Bab. Kam. 8:6, which has a list of increasingly serious physical insults. ↩
• ^[18] It was common in Jewish texts of this era to stylistically prefer the right limb. For example, "If your right eye causes you to sin..." (Matt. 5:29). There is no particular guilt associated with the right eye, it is simply a stylistic usage, similar to the right cheek. See Cook, “Matthew 5.39 and 26.67.” ↩
• ^[19] This same lesson was learned by Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai in y. Shev. 9:1. ↩
• ^[20] Büchler, Types of Jewish-Palestinian Piety, from 70 B.C.E. to 70 C.E.: The Ancient Pious Men, 90-91. ↩
• ^[21] Gaster, Report for the Year 1894-1895 ... and the Year 1895-1896, Together with, The ancient Collections of Agadoth, The Sefer ha-Maasiyoth. ↩
• ^[22] Gaster, Report for the Year 1894-1895, 46-47; idem, Exempla, 43-44. ↩
• ^[23] The summary translation from Gaster is as follows (Exempla, 93, §161):

  “R. Hanina b. Dosa who had preached on the text, ‘Receive every man as a friend’ carried a Hegemon on his shoulders to his house; he washed his feet, fed him well and then carried him back again. It was an angel sent to try him, whether he would carry out his own teaching and he was found perfect.”

  ↩

• ^[24] Braude, Prolegomenon to Exempla (1968), XXV-XXVI, XXIX. ↩
• ^[25] See n. 26. ↩
• ^[26] See n. 26. ↩
• ^[27] Vermes, “Hanina ben Dosa (II),” 61: “the most likely reading of the evidence points to a person active in the middle of the first century A.D.” ↩
• ^[28] See Vermes, Jesus the Jew, 72-73. ↩
• ^[29] See Safrai, “Jesus and the Hasidim.” ↩
• ^[30] Vermes puts material about Hanina into three categories: “Healer, Miracle-worker, Teacher” (see Vermes, “Hanina ben Dosa,” 28). Safrai notes that rabbinic literature mentions explicitly “the teaching of hasidim” משנת חסידים (see Safrai, “Teaching of Pietists in Mishnaic Literature,” 25). ↩