What are the origins of Messiah ben Joseph? Some people think he originated after the Romans sacked Jerusalem. But actually Messiah ben Joseph is first found in the Book of Genesis. Read on to find out why…
What is the greatest secret of rabbinic Judaism? Is it the resting place of the holy ark? No.
Is it the explicit vowels of the Ineffable Name? No.
Is it the golem that walks by night? No, that’s not it either.
The greatest secret of rabbinic Judaism is Messiah ben Joseph.
MESSIAH BEN JOSEPH
Messiah ben Joseph appears throughout rabbinic literature. He is a Messiah who comes from Galilee to die, pierced by wicked foes, at the gate of Jerusalem. After he dies, Israel are scattered among the nations. But his death confounds Satan, atones for sin, and abolishes death itself. Then he rises to life again.
Now anyone with the least idea of what divides the Abrahamic faiths must find it remarkable that such a figure exists in Jewish literature. Yet he is there. In hundreds of passages, in scores of documents of every kind. He is in the Targums and Talmud; in the homiletic and exegetic midrashim; in the apocalyptic midrashim and the Zohar. He appears in Jewish literature of every genre and period.
But where did this Messiah ben Joseph come from? Well, he arises from three prophecies in the books of Moses, that is, in Genesis chapters 3 and 49, and in Deuteronomy 33. Let’s see, first, how Genesis foretells Messiah ben Joseph.
GENESIS 3.15: THE SEED OF THE WOMAN
Genesis 3.15 is the mother prophecy of all the messianic prophecies in the Bible.[1] The Holy One appears to Adam and Eve, after their disobedience, in the Garden of Eden. He foretells the serpent’s doom.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (Gen. 3.15).
It’s a picture of one walking through open country. He sees a serpent, stamps on its head, but is struck by its fangs. Now this one who is called ‘Seed of the Woman’ should make us pause. For it points to a single, unique man. For Hebrew thought recognizes children as the seed of the male, whereas the female is the soil in which the seed is planted. So the ‘Seed of the Woman’ is one born of woman, but of undisclosed paternity. That may seem strange to us. But it’s not so strange in Genesis, where women bear children to the sons of the gods, and gods and men walk, talk, and wrestle together.
THE SEED OF THE WOMAN IS THE MESSIAH
This ‘Seed of the Woman’ will crush the serpent’s head. In so doing, he will liberate mankind and restore their rightful dominion over the earth. But he will suffer in the conflict. How much he will suffer is not said: a serpent’s strike can be fatal or just painful. But he will be struck in his conflict with evil. Ancient Israelite interpretation sees the Messiah in this prophecy. The Targum Yerushalmi says:
Nevertheless there shall be a remedy for the sons of the woman, but for you, serpent, there shall be no remedy. But it shall be that for these [for the sons of the woman] there shall be a remedy for the heel in the days of the King Messiah.
In other words, the King Messiah, by his sufferings, shall save those who have been bitten by the serpent. So this prophecy foretells that the Messiah is to suffer. But it does not say that he is to come from Joseph. For that, we must go to the end of Genesis.
GENESIS 49.22–24: MESSIAH BEN JOSEPH
On our way through Genesis, we read the story of Joseph, the blameless youth, beloved by his father. His jealous brothers throw him into a pit and sell him into virtual death. But he rises again to be vizier of Egypt and to save his people.
His father Jacob foretells, on his deathbed, the future of his sons. He says, “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in the last days.” (49.1) His prophecy to Judah is well-known. Kings will come from Judah until one called Shiloh appears to rule the nations. But his prophecy to his darling Joseph is less familiar.
22 A fruitful shoot [or son] is Joseph, a fruitful shoot upon a spring, whose branches run over the wall.
23 They attacked him and shot at him; they hated him, the bowmen.
24 But his bow remained steady and the arms of his hands became supple,
from the hands of the Might of Jacob; from thence [will come] a Shepherd, Rock of Israel;
25 from the God of your father, who shall help you,
and from Shaddai, who shall bless you.
SO WHAT WAS JACOB SAYING
Now note three things here. First, Joseph will be exceedingly fruitful. His branches—his offspring—will climb over the wall. This is what Jacob had already said to Joseph’s son, Ephraim: His seed shall fill the nations. This happened when Joseph’s children, scattered by Assyria in 722 BC, really did fill the nations. Second, Jacob recalls the bitter arrows of Joseph’s fate—his brothers’ treachery, the slavers’ whips, Potiphar’s wife’s lies. And he says that Joseph overcame these things by the hand of the Mighty God of Jacob. Third, Jacob foretells that “from thence”—that is, from the God of Jacob, from Shaddai—there will arise to Joseph a great hero, a “Shepherd Rock” of Israel. This hero is called a Shepherd because he will be a just and good ruler, and he is called a Rock or Stone, because he will be a strong defence forever.
Now it does not actually say that the Shepherd-Rock will be Joseph’s biological son, just as it is does not actually say that Shiloh will be Judah’s biological son. They are heroes which Jacob promises to each tribe. But since the patriarchs typologically portray their tribes, we may infer that what happened to Joseph will happen also to his Shepherd-Rock. Just as Joseph was beloved, blameless, betrayed, buried, and exalted, so will it be with the Shepherd-Rock. He too, beloved by his father, will be betrayed by his brothers and buried, but will rise again to be vizier of the world. Therefore, whether or not he is Joseph’s biological son, he is still a son of Joseph, for he is made in Joseph’s image.
RAMBAN’S VIEW
Finally, lest anyone imagine that I am making all this up, I refer you to Ramban’s comments at Deuteronomy 32.4. He says:
And he [Moses] said: Let my teaching fall like rain. For that which he brought from the heavens, and his speech on the earth, will fall upon Israel, and settle upon them like dew (Deut. 32.2). For I will proclaim the name of Ha-Shem in the heavens; come, declare the greatness of our God (Deut. 32.3) in the earth. [The Rock, his work is perfect, etc. (Deut. 32.4)].
And all Israel will say also the rock is Joshua, a sign about this land, for, From thence a Shepherd-Rock of Israel (Gen. 49.24). And it was interpreted long ago: The rock rejected by the builders has become the capstone; this is from Ha-Shem, etc. (Ps. 118.22–23). And that is why Joshua said, This rock will be a witness between us (Josh. 24.27). Also, For behold the rock which I have set before Joshua: upon one rock are seven eyes (Zech. 3.9). Let the wise understand.
In other words, Joseph’s Shepherd Rock is the Holy One himself, and the Rock-rejected-by-the-builders of Psalm 118, and a great commander like Joseph’s son, Joshua. And Ramban himself is hoping for this second Joshua to come, even in the 13th century, and restore the Holy Land to Israel. So Ramban thought the Shepherd-Rock was to be a Messiah, a second Joshua.
For much more on this subject, see my book Messiah ben Joseph (2016).
MESSIAH BEN JOSEPH IN GENESIS
So Genesis 3.15 foretells the coming of a hero, the ‘Seed of the Woman’ who will suffer to redeem mankind from the power of the serpent. And, in Genesis 49, Jacob promises Joseph that this hero, now called the ‘Shepherd-Rock’, will suffer like Joseph himself and then be a second conquering Joshua. As a result, all this points to a Messiah like Joseph in the Book of Genesis. But later Moses joins all these ideas permanently together in his prophecy about the tribes of Joseph, as we shall see in our next post: Messiah ben Joseph: Origins #2 (Deuteronomy).
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