Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
xii[3] See Lightfoot in Lost Books, p. 36, n. 1, who references Taanit 69 of
the Jerusalem Talmud.
[4] Cf. Sanhedrin 96b (Babylonian Talmud); Ginzberg, Legends,
vol. 4, p. 304; vol. 6, pp. 396 f, or Legends of the Bible, p. 610; SEI,
p. 654.
[5] Protevangelion 16:9f (Lost Books), p. 36; cf. SEI, p. 654.
[6] Tabari, History, vol. 4, pp. 104-111.
[7] II Chr. 24 is certainly the oldest of the works mentioned in this regard.
[8] In Tabari, History, vol. 4, pp. 103-107, it is Nebuchadnezzar who
avenges John the Baptist's death, but after reasoning that Nebuchadnezzar
had fought the Israelites much earlier than this (Ibid., vol. 4, p. 107), Tabari
gives a tradition from Ibn Ishaq whereby it is Nebuzaradan (cf. Jer. 39:9f
and the Talmudic references in nn. 3 and 4, above), who was sent by the
Babylonian king "Khardus" (Herod!) who avenges John's death (Tabari,
History, vol. 4, pp. 108-111). Cf. SEI, p. 640.
[9] Qur'an 17:4-8 appears to refer to the two destructions of the Temple at
Jerusalem, and in his History (vol. 4, p. 111), Tabari shows that the first
destruction of the Temple was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar and that the
second was in the time of Nebuzaradan (see n. 8, above). Whereas the Jews
do not seem to have had a good "explanation" for the destruction of the
second Temple (cf. Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 39b; Josephus, Wars of the
Jews, 6, 5, 4), Christian doctrine shows that the second Temple was
destroyed because of the rejection and execution of Jesus Christ (Dan.
9:25f; Lk. 19:41f; 20:13f). However, since at least the later Muslim Qur'an
exegetes did not believe that Jesus was killed, they seem to have claimed
that the vengeance for John the Baptist's death was the reason for the
second destruction which is mentioned in Qur'an 17:4-8. This passage in
the Qur'an is moreover thought to be similar to the works of early Christian
writers (see p. 102, n. 263, below).
[10] Horovitz, Untersuchungen, p. 86; cf. Brinner in Tabari, History,
vol. 3, p. 31, n. 167; and p. 393, below.