Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:3, NOT regarding the Ten Tribes of Israel

You’ll find several scholars reference the Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:3, connecting it to the Ten Tribes of Israel, but looking at the scripture verse referenced within the passage, it simply isn’t referencing Israel or her dispersions at all.

“The generation of the Dispersion have no share in the world to come, for it is written, So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; So the Lord scattered them abroad-in this world; and the Lord scattered them from thence-in the world to come.” - Danby, Herbert. The Mishnah, translated from the Hebrew. pg.397 (Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:3)

This particular passage is referencing Genesis 11:8, which in context is plainly speaking of the “Dispersion” of peoples at the Tower of Babel, not the “Dispersion” of the Jews to Babylon or the “Dispersion” of the ten tribes of Israel/Joseph by the Assyrians.

Genesis 11:6-9:
6 And YHVH said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do.
7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So YHVH scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.
9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because YHVH did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did YHVH scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

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Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 147b, Too much wine and luxury, the Northern Kingdom forgot Torah and forgot herself

This passage from Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 147b gives a very good illustration of what the Jewish impression was of the non-Jewish Northern Kingdom of Israel (they were Hebrew, but they weren’t “Jewish” as we generally think today):

“R. Helbo said: The wine of Perugitha and the water of Diomsith cut off the Ten Tribes from Israel. R. Eleazar b. ‘Arak visited that place. He was attracted to them, and [in consequence] his learning vanished. When he returned, he arose to read in the Scroll [of the Torah]. He wished to read, Hahodesh hazeh lakem [This month shall be unto you, etc.], [instead of which] he read haharesh hayah libbam. But the scholars prayed for him, and his learning returned.”

Read the entire tractate here: Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 147b

Perugitha was a region in the Northern Kingdom of Israel known for it’s wine. Although not all agree:

“When he returned to Palestine, he could no longer read Hebrew properly! Perugitha was identified by Neubauer as Phrygia; the editors of the Soncino edition of the Talmud in English identify it with Pelugta, or Pethugta, a place apparently in northern Palestine, mentioned in Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 5.3 as producing wine which led Jews astray. However, the anecdote about Rabbi Eleazar is more appropriate to an area of non-Semitic speech outside Palestine; I prefer to retain Neubauer’s original identification.” -Sheppard, A.R.R. Anatolian Studies, Vol. 29, 1979 (1979), pp. 169-180

If Sheppard truly understood how far the Northern Kingdom had drifted from her original nature and culture, he would not feel so compelled to interpret Perugitha as Phrygia. The rabbis of the Southern Kingdom believed it was the luxuries and pleasures of the Northern Kingdom which turned their hearts away from the Most High and His Torah, ultimately leading to their exile and loss of identity in Media and else where. It has been the House of Jewdah’s fierce hold on the Torah which has helped maintain her identity as a people for the last 3500 years. Without the Torah, Ephraim quickly became a melting pot within the cultures of numerous surrounding peoples.

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10 Reasons the Jews are from Judah

Brief History:
Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel). His tribe became one of the more important tribes of the twelve, the tribe of Kings (Genesis 49:10; Psalm 60:7; 108:8). After King Solomon died, the united Kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, sometimes called Israel (Joseph) and Judah respectively. The Southern Israelite Kingdom of Judah did not consist of only the tribe of Judah, but also Benjamin and a portion of Levi (Levi was also scattered in the midst of the northern ten tribes).

See History and Timeline of Israel and Judah.

Now the ten points:
1. The 1st Century Historian Josephus records the ten tribes of Israel as an “immense multitude” remaining “beyond the Euphrates River” (Antiquities of the Jews - Book XI Ch. 5), which would indicate “the Jews”, the two tribes in the Land of Israel controlled by the Romans at that time, were of the Kingdom or House of Judah, the House that historically returned from Babylonia, from their Babylonian Captivity.

2. Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezer (c.117-138 C.E.) argued about the return of the ten lost tribes as though it hadn’t happened yet (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 110b), indicating “the Jews” of the 2nd Century C.E. were not representative of all twelve tribes, but instead, they represented the Kingdom of Judah alone.

3. The people commonly known as “the Jews” never became a “multitude of nations”, but Ephraim of the Northern Kingdom of Israel was promised to become so (See Genesis 48:19). Judah simply wasn’t promised “multitudes” or “nations”, but he was promised the scepter or “Kings” (See Genesis 49:10).

4. Many contemporary rabbis and talmudic scholars have clearly indicated that the Jews predominantly represent only the Ancient Kingdom of Judah.

“The captives of Israel exiled beyond the Euphrates did not return as a whole to Palestine along with their brethren the captives of Judah; at least there is no mention made of this event in the documents at our disposal… In fact, the return of the ten tribes was one of the great promises of the Prophets, and the advent of the Messiah is therefore necessarily identified with the epoch of their redemption.” -D.A. Neubauer [Ref. Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. I -1888, p. 15,17]

Rabbi Rafael Eisenberg believed the majority opinion of the ancient Sages was this:

…the Ten Tribes which disappeared in Assyria shall return. Their decision is quoted in the Tosefta, … “As it is this day” is explained as meaning that “if their deeds remain as they were this day, they will not return. On the other hand, if they are not—that is, if they have repented for and corrected their actions—they will return.” [Ref. Will the Lost Tribes Return? An Analysis of the Lost Tribes in Rabbinic Literature]

5. The modern Jewish nation of Israel traces its history back to the Babylonian Captivity. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs says this: “The exile to Babylonia, which followed the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE), marked the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora.” (see the MFA timeline here.) Did you see it? They call it their “FIRST EXILE”. But WAIT! The First Israelite Exile happened more than a hundred years earlier with the Assyrian Captivity! Jewish scholars simply know the Assyrian Captivity was NOT a Jewish captivity, but it was the captivity of the Ancient Northern Kingdom, who were Hebrew, but they were NOT “Jewish”. Also, consider another official Israeli government “Jewish History” timeline: Jewish Agency for Israel (Aliyah.org). They are not hiding the two house reality folks. It is primarily “One-Houser” Messianic Jewish and Christian scholars who cannot swallow it for their own theological treasons. That’s right: “treasons“. The biblical record plainly displays the two houses in history and in End-Time events, but the loyalty of these “scholars” isn’t founded on the biblical record. It is founded on their own theological doctrinal paradigm which turns a blind eye to the biblical and historical record of Israel and Judah (which happens to be a massively important reality in the Last Days). This is paramount to family treason because they are basically ignoring a brother that the Father would otherwise have them search for and rescue (consider the older brother’s behavior toward his lost younger brother in the Prodigal Son parable).

6. From Jews I have personally known, spoken with, or read about, they predominantly trace their lineage back to Benjamin, Judah, or Levi (the tribes of the Southern Kingdom of Judah), not to the House of Joseph (10-Israel). If you know of a Jew who traditionally traces his/her “Jewish” family lineage back to a tribe of 10-Israel, please leave a comment below.

7. It is traditionally believed the ancient tribe of Judah would always go into battle first, before the other tribes (See Judges 1:2 and 20:18). And interestingly, the Jews of Judah returned to the land of Israel first (early last century) and everyone knows it has been nothing but a battle for them ever since, even before 1948. The Israeli Jews are a Lion the whole Middle East is fearful to go to war with… at least until PM Olmert’s recent Hezbollah debacle last summer. Yet inspite of suicidal liberals like Olmert, the Lions of Judah will roar again.

8. Ancient Jewish tradition forbids all Jews from speaking the Divine Name of the Creator. Interestingly, the Prophet Jeremiah (sent to the Kingdom of Judah before her captivity) foretold the Divine Name would be removed from Judah’s mouth. See: Jeremiah 44:26 “Therefore hear the word of יהוה, all Judah who are dwelling in the land of Mitsrayim, ‘See, I have sworn by My great Name,’ declares יהוה, ‘My Name shall no longer be called upon by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Mitsrayim, saying, “As the Master יהוה lives…”

9. The Prophets Ezra and Nehemiah succinctly numbered the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi as those who returned from the Babylonian Captivity. The other tribes were not mentioned (Read Ezra and Nehemiah). Even so, some Israelites likely returned later from the Assyrian Captivity, such as the Asherite prophetess of Luke 2:26, but many other factors indicate NO LARGE representation ever returned.

10. And finally, if the people known today as “the Jews” are representative of all twelve tribes of Israel, if both Israelite Kingdoms reunited in antiquity, then how does one explain the “Last Days” Two Sticks prophecy of Ezekiel 37? The whole book of Ezekiel would simply be confused and discombobulated if the above “if” statements were a reality (a reality One-Housers would like you and I to believe).

The truth of this matter should be simple and easy to see, unless one has a biased and emotionally charged reason not to see or if he/she is being intellectually lazy and/or just doesn’t care. Or even, maybe the Elohim of Israel has blinded the world until His plan is fulfilled, until the “fullness of the peoples have come in”. I can’t be sure of the cause of one’s blindness, yet I must admit, it sure tests my patience from time to time. But how refreshing it is, when my brothers from both Houses finally do see.

Shalom Aleichem.

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A Tool to Search the Talmud

Go here: Come and Hear to search the Talmud. The entire Talmud isn’t indexed and viewable, but much of it is.

The Jewish Talmudic writings (so-called “Oral Torah”) have much good to offer, but they also contain things which directly contradict/reverse precepts plainly WRITTEN in the Tanakh. Use the Talmud for insight, but do not use it to add to or take away commandments which are WRITTEN. See the article: Laws that Set men Free.

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