Quoted By:
>The discoverer himself is more optimistic. “It could very well be a reference to Jesus Christ, in that he was once the primary exponent of white magic,” said Goddio in the NBC News article
>The canonical gospels never actually refer to Jesus as a magician, although the Gospel of Matthew does say that it was three Magi from the East who visit Jesus while he is an infant. The titular identification of Jesus as a magician can instead be linked to the Talmudic tradition. The Mishnah, the early part of the Talmud that is dated to the early third century, also refers to Yeshu as “the Nazarene” and one who “practiced magic and deceived and led Israel astray.”
>However, the Mishnah does not date Yeshu to the early first century CE. Instead, it provides two contradictory dates: the second century BCE and the first century BCE. Yeshu is the student of Joshua ben Perachiah, a rabbi who is said to have fled with Yeshu from Jerusalem to Alexandria to escape religious sectarian persecution from either John Hyrcanus from the second century BCE, or his son, Alexander Jannaeus from the first century BCE. The Gospel of Matthew also tells a story of Jesus being taken to Egypt by parental figures, only in the gospel version, Jesus is just a baby at the time. The Talmud claims that Jesus was a memzer, a word that is typically translated into English as bastard but in actuality describes a form of illegitimacy that includes children born from adultery or incest but does not include children born outside of marriage. Other stories about Yeshu in the Mishnah tells stories of him being excommunicated by Joshua ben Perachiah for one minor misunderstanding or another, which is then said to have been the reason why Yeshu subsequently becomes an idolater. But the stories come off as unrealistic rationalizations
>In other Jewish magical traditions, Joshua ben Perachiah was himself an exorcist. In fact, his name is also used on magic bowls just like this one
