The Messiah in Jewish Thought [1] – Bar Nafle

The Messiah in Jewish Thought

This series explores what the rabbis of the Talmud believed about the Messiah — his coming, his names, his suffering, and Israel's long hope of redemption. It follows the great messianic passages of the tractate Sanhedrin, roughly pages 96 to 105, and reads them alongside the New Testament, where the same questions and the same Scriptures return again and again. The Talmud also speaks directly about Yeshua himself — the accounts of his birth, his trial, the healing done in his name — but that material is treated on its own in our study Yeshua in the Talmud, and here we begin with the wider concept of the Messiah in the Talmud.

I would like to reiterate the fact that the whole concept of the Messiah is a Jewish concept, that deals with the aspirations and the promises of God to the nation of Israel to have an era of redemption, that will bring worldwide redemption to all humanity. It evolved from the need, that is both visible and biblical, to bring salvation into God's creation, that seemingly, at least for a while, has gone awry and has brought humanity to a state of alienation and separation from the Creator who created the heavens and the earth.

A Mystery in the Hebrew Scriptures

Jewish literature is full of passages and texts that allude to the Messiah. In the Bible itself, at least in the Hebrew Scriptures, the concept of the Messiah is present. But to some degree it is a mystery, and not overly open and exposed in the texts. You have to look into them with an understanding that the Messiah is a mystery in the Hebrew Scriptures. Although it is clear that the concept of the redeemer is present, it is not so clearly delineated. It starts already with the Garden of Eden after the fall, where God promises that the seed of a woman will crush the head of the serpent, as recorded in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, and continues all the way to the last prophet that prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The rabbis over the years before Yeshua, during Yeshua's time, and of course in the rabbinical literature that we are dealing with in the Talmud, tried to decipher, to understand, to define, and to refine the whole concept of the Messiah. Now we come to a block of text that starts from the tractate Sanhedrin p. 96b that deals with the Messiah. I think that most readers will be amazed to read these texts and to try to put them into perspective. The discussions on p. 96b, at the bottom of the page, start after dealing with the prophet Zechariah.

Bar Nafle — The Son of the Clouds

Notice that it is the play on words between the word Nafle and the Hebrew word for fallen, nofelet, in "Sukkat David ha-nofelet." Let's stop here, and go back and understand what is going on in the context. Two rabbis are sitting and discussing prophetic passages — or the Talmud edits it that way, at least — within the context of the rabbinical discussion of the prophetic promises to Israel in Zechariah, in Isaiah, and in Ezekiel.

Then this question is brought by Rabbi Nahman, who said to Rabbi Isaac: 'Have you heard when Bar Nafle will come?' You must know that the word Nafle is not an easy word. It is a word that means cloud in Aramaic, which is taken from the Greek nefelei, which means cloud. In Hebrew it comes from the root of "fallen," at least in this context. So Bar Nafle could mean the son of the fallen, or it could mean the son of the clouds, as it is taken and translated from Daniel chapter 7 verse 13, "There came with the clouds of heaven one like the son of man."

That is the connection that Rabbi Nahman gave in the Hebrew; in other words, he asked when the son of the clouds will come. And, of course, Rabbi Isaac had never heard of it and asked, who is the son of the clouds? — and the answer is, he is the Messiah. The verse that is brought to prove it, from the Hebrew, not from the Aramaic, is one from Amos chapter 9, that talks, in verse 11, about: "In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, that is fallen." Fallen is ha-nofelet, which plays on the word Nafle. That is what Rabbi Nahman replied, and in Hebrew it is another passage to prove his point.

When the Son of David Comes

He is bringing now an answer to the first question: 'Have you heard when Bar Nafle will come?' The answer is brought from Rabbi Johanan, who is probably a first-century rabbi — because we have a number of Johanans, and the Talmud doesn't say which Johanan. However, it is a section in Hebrew, not in Aramaic, which tells us that it is a Baraita, which means an outside source, i.e. outside of the Mishnah. So it is a passage that is not in the Mishnah, and is attributed to Rabbi Johanan, probably the same Rabbi Johanan who during the fall of Jerusalem escaped and left Jerusalem with his disciples to establish the academy in Jamnia [modern Yavne].

So, here is Rabbi Johanan's answer to when the Son of Nafle, the son of the clouds, will come. It will be in a generation where scholars will be few. The rabbis, in other words, will be few; the rest of the population will cry so much that their eyes will fail from sorrow and grief; much trouble will be brought by the political system; evil decrees will be promulgated; and each new evil or trouble will come before the other one has ended. In other words, when it rains, it pours trouble. That is the answer that Rabbi Johanan brings as to when the Messiah will come. Later, the Talmud brings the official position with the phrase "Our rabbis taught," that is, the tradition.

The Seven-Year Cycle

This is the official tradition, talking about the seven-year cycle. Now, where did the rabbis get the seven-year-cycle idea? They got it, of course, from the prophet Daniel, who talks about seventy years, and the last seven years are the cycle. They divided this cycle into two halves of three and a half years, and at the end of the last three and a half years, redemption will come and the Messiah will come. One half of the cycle is famine, and the second half is of plenty, at the end of which will be a war, and after the war, at the end of the seventh year, the son of David will come.

We know from the New Testament also that this is alluded to; however, this allusion has caused a lot of division in the Christian world over the whole concept of the millennium — pre- and post- — and in dispensationalism, which has caused sects to emerge all over the Christian world. Discussing this issue of when the son of David will come, when the Messiah will come, can cause these divisions. But we see here that the rabbis include in the cycle suffering, even for the righteous, wars, and famines — things that Yeshua in the New Testament himself alluded to as being present and existent in the world until he comes. Rabbi Joseph, a later rabbi, retorted to this official rabbinical position.

In other words, Rabbi Joseph says: "Hey, we have seen seven-year cycles like this over and over and over in history, and yet we haven't seen the Messiah come." Over the generations, people have run around and said, here he comes, this is a sign of the time, this is a sign of the time, this is what's going to happen, that is what's going to happen — and he hasn't come. Our Rabbi Joseph is questioning this ruling. Abaye, a rabbi that lived in the fourth century in Babylon, retorts, answering this question of Rabbi Joseph.

In other words, Abaye, a rabbi living in Babylon, is retorting to Rabbi Joseph's statement, saying: Listen, yes, there's always trouble in the world, but has this trouble been in the order that we are talking about? Has it been in the order that is prescribed in this case for the seven years? Have there been the heavenly sounds in the sixth and wars in the seventh? Has there been a cessation of rain in the first year on some cities and not on others; has there been sorrow and hunger in the second year; in the third and fourth years, famine, with even the righteous experiencing the famine?

Because the issue of the righteous experiencing famine is an issue of biblical promises. It says, as you know, in the book of Psalms: "I have never seen the righteous man hungry and stretching out his hands for bread." And yet here it says that the righteous and the saints will experience hunger. We know that God blesses the righteous, and there are many passages of blessing for the righteous.

The Heavenly Sound and the Trumpet

Now we have to explain what it means that in the sixth year there will be a heavenly sound. The heavenly sound here is taken from Isaiah 27 verse 13. The same concept is found in the book of Revelation, that when the Messiah comes, the heavens will announce his advent by the blast of the great trumpet. We read about this in the book of Revelation many times — of the angels blowing a great trumpet and announcing the advent and the appearance of the Messiah. Well, of course, the Talmud doesn't satisfy itself with this response by Abaye, and continues to deal with the issue.

A quotation is brought from Psalms 89 verse 52. That quotation says: "they have reproached the footsteps of Thine Anointed One." Anointed One in Hebrew is, of course, the Messiah. The Talmud now responds to this verse.

The Generation of the Messiah's Coming

That's a long section; let's go back and try to understand it. The quotation is brought from Psalms 89:52, which basically says that not only will the men of that generation be suffering, but even the footsteps of thy Anointed One will be reproached. It says that the Messiah himself will be persecuted, and now this is expanded on by Rabbi Judah, who says that in the generation when the son of David comes, either the assembly of scholars, or the Sanhedrin itself, will be for harlots — that there will be no scholarship, no justice, no judgment in the courts of Israel. The Galilee will be in ruins, the Golan will be desolate, and the border inhabitants — the people that live on the borders or in the unwalled cities — will be wandering from place to place in the Land. They will receive no hospitality, and the wisdom of the scribes will be in disfavor. In other words, God-fearing men will be hated, people will be dog-faced, meaning brazen, without shame for one another, and the truth entirely lacking. Even the righteous of God will be persecuted and fall as prey.

A pretty bad situation is described here; of course, it fits the concept that was already given by the rabbis in the earlier passage that deals with the issue of the time of the coming of the Messiah. It proves that there will be tribulation and persecution, and this only enhances the picture. Now somebody enters from the school of Rabbi Shila and says: In the generation when the Messiah comes, if somebody departs from evil, tries to be righteous, tries to do things in a moral and godly and upright way, he will be considered a fool by his fellow men. In other words, the world will be kind of upside down in its moral view: the righteous will be called fools, and those who steal and rob and cheat and kill will be considered honorable members of society.

Of course, if one looks at what is happening today, this is almost a fulfilled prophecy. One could certainly say two things. He could say that we are living in the days of the coming of the Messiah; but one could also agree with Rabbi Joseph, that we have seen this cycle of unrighteousness so many times, and evil generations have fallen upon us so often, that it is now difficult to discern if this is the one. It is difficult to know whether the Messiah is coming or not, because we have already seen this phenomenon take place in the history both of Israel and of the whole world.

Expectancy and Realism

Now, the importance of these passages is that we see that throughout the generations — the first, second, third, and fourth centuries — the rabbis have continued to discuss the question, when is the son of man coming? What are the signs, and how can we know that the Messiah is coming soon? For us today, it is essential to continue this discussion, but not to fight over it. Maimonides says that those who argue over the end times gain only discord in the world. In his tractate Hilchot Melachim, the Rules of the Kingship, chapters 11 and 12, where he deals with the Messiah, Maimonides states very clearly that what the prophets promised will come to pass, but it is not delineated and stated clearly enough to be able to argue and fight over it.

To some degree, the prophets purposely didn't give us a clear picture of the coming of the Messiah, lest we say, "Oh, we've got time, and we don't have to worry about it right now." He is coming, and the time to prepare for his coming is now. So part of the tension is because God has wanted us to always be ready, every hour and every day, to receive the Messiah. However, it is important not to calculate, and not to be dogmatic, about the coming of the Messiah, but to keep that fire of expectancy and waiting for him burning, and to try to be always ready for his appearance.

These rabbinic discussions reflect two things. They reflect that discussion, that fervor, that expectation over the coming advent of the Messiah; but they also reflect a certain degree of realism — somebody might call it pessimism — that the world, and the scholarly world, and the righteous, are destined to continue to suffer until the coming of the Messiah is actually accomplished.