The_Book_of_Nestor_the_Priest
The Book of Nestor the Priest
Jewish polemic
The Book of Nestor the Priest, originally titled Account of the Disputation of the Priest (Qissat Mujadalat al-Asquf Arabic: قصة مجادلة الأسقف) or its Hebrew textual avatar Sefer Nestor Ha-Komer (written c. 900 CE)[1][2] is thought to be the earliest surviving anti-Christian Jewish polemic.[3][4] The original version of the book was written in Judeo-Arabic (Arabic written in Hebrew script with religious terms in their original Hebrew.) and also a translation to Hebrew which confused an opening quote from Nestorius with the name of the author of the book, who is actually unknown.[1] It cites extensively and critically from the New Testament and Church sources. The title komer (כומר) describes a Christian priest (in modern Hebrew the word is used both for Catholic or Orthodox priests and for Protestant ministers), rather than a kohen or Jewish priest. The text is written as the story of a Christian priest (wrongly named Nestor in the Hebrew translation) who converted to Judaism and wrote a critical account of the fundamental Christian doctrine regarding the nature of Jesus and the Trinity.[1]
The text uses the spelling Yeshu (ישו) for Jesus.[5]
A modern edition פולמוס נסתור הכומר The Polemic of Nestor the Priest by Daniel J. Lasker and Sarah Stroumsa was published by the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 1996.