The arguments, answered
Why we believe the case against Yeshua falls short
The main reasons rabbinic Judaism gives for rejecting Yeshua, stated fairly, then answered from the Hebrew text, the JPS 1917 and the oldest Jewish sources. Where scholars genuinely disagree, we say so.
Swipe through the cards, or open any one for the full answer with the Scripture quoted word for word.
The Oral Torah and the authority of the Talmud
The Tanakh never mentions an oral Torah given to Moses. It says Moses wrote the words down.
Read the answer →2 of 13"The servant of Isaiah 53 is Israel"
The servant is innocent and suffers for "my people". Isaiah calls Israel sinful, and Israel is the people he suffers for.
Read the answer →3 of 13"Daniel 9 isn't about the Messiah"
Whatever the count, the order is fixed: an anointed one is cut off, then the city and sanctuary are destroyed. The Temple fell in 70 CE.
Read the answer →4 of 13"Psalm 22 says like a lion, not pierced"
The oldest witnesses to the verse read a verb, and the psalm's whole scene matches a crucifixion.
Read the answer →5 of 13"Micah 5 only means the Messiah is from David's family"
Micah names a town and a ruler "whose goings forth are from of old, from ancient days".
Read the answer →6 of 13"Zechariah 12:10 is about someone else who was killed"
God is the speaker: "they shall look unto Me", and then "they shall mourn for him". The one pierced and the one speaking are tied together.
Read the answer →7 of 13"Almah means young woman, not virgin"
Every clear use of almah is an unmarried young woman, and the Jewish translators of the Septuagint chose "virgin".
Read the answer →8 of 13"Prayer and repentance replaced the sacrifices"
The Torah says "it is the blood that maketh atonement". The sacrifices stopped forty years after Yeshua, and the Talmud records that the signs of atonement stopped too.
Read the answer →9 of 13"Genesis 49:10 doesn't set a deadline"
Ancient Jewish readers took Shiloh as the Messiah, and the sceptre left Judah in the first century.
Read the answer →10 of 13"The prophet like Moses means any true prophet"
The Torah itself closes by saying no such prophet had yet arisen.
Read the answer →11 of 13"The Torah is eternal and can never change"
God himself promised a new covenant "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers".
Read the answer →12 of 13"The Shema proves God is one, so no Trinity"
The Shema says echad, a word used for compound unity, and Messianic Jews say the Shema too.
Read the answer →13 of 13"The Tanakh knows nothing of a divine Son"
The Tanakh itself has God speaking in the plural, the LORD raining fire "from the LORD", an angel who carries God's name, and a son of man given an everlasting kingdom.
Read the answer →These pages argue with ideas, not people. Jewish readers who disagree are welcome to read every source we cite and decide for themselves.