Antoninus the God-Fearer

There are (some) things which indicate (lit., say) that Antoninus converted. There are (other) things [that—Ed.] indicate (lit., say) that Antoninus did not convert. They saw him go out with a torn (or broken) shoe on the Day of Atonement. What do you learn from that [incident]? That even God-fearers go out thus [wearing such a shoe on the Day of Atonement]. Antoninus said to Rabbi, “Would you feed me from the Leviathan in the world to come?” [Rabbi] told him, “Yes.” Antoninus said to him, “From the Paschal lamb you would not feed me, but from the Leviathan you would feed me?” [Rabbi] told him, “What can I do for you? Regarding the Paschal lamb, it is written [in Scripture]: No uncircumcised person shall eat of it (Exodus 12:48, NRSV).” When he (Antoninus) heard that, he went and circumcised [himself]. He came [back] to [Rabbi] and told him, “Rabbi (or ‘my master’), see my circumcision.” He told him, “Never in my life have I looked at mine, so [would I look] at yours?”

And why was [Rabbi Judah the Patriarch] called “our holy rabbi”? Because he did not look at his circumcision in his entire life (lit., in [all] his days). And why was he (another sage) called “Naḥum the man of the Holy of Holies”? Because he never looked at a figure (tzurah) on a coin in his entire life (lit., in [all] his days).

This [episode] indicates (lit., says) that Antoninus converted. The words of our sages (rabanan) are: Antoninus did (not) convert. For R. Ḥizqiya [and] R. Abbahu in the name of R. Eleazar: If true converts (girey tzedeq) come in the future (in the world to come), Antoninus comes first (or as their leader; lit., “at their head”).