Primary source
Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 52a
Talmudic discussion of the mourning in Zechariah 12, including the view that it is for Messiah son of Joseph, who is killed.
- Publisher
- Sefaria
- Tradition
- Jewish rabbinic literature
- Accessed
- 2026-10-06
Citation
Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 52a, William Davidson Edition, Sefaria, accessed October 6, 2026.
Where this source is used
- The Messiah cannot die before reigningThe Tanakh and the rabbis both speak of an anointed one who suffers or is killed. The Christian claim joins suffering and reign in one person, and rests on the resurrection.
- The New Testament misuses the Hebrew BibleSome citations fail as predictions. Read as the pattern-reading Jewish interpreters also practiced, they make a different claim, one you can test against the Hebrew.
- Jesus and messianic prophecyIsolated proof texts do not settle the question. A pattern of suffering and reign runs through Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Micah, and the Psalms.
- The resurrection as messianic vindicationA crucified Messiah looked like a contradiction to Jesus' own followers. They read his resurrection as God overturning that verdict, and argued it from the Psalms and Isaiah.