The Book of Nestor the Priest

The opening to the Hebrew version of The Book of Nestor the Priest (Sefer Nestor ha-komer), in contrast with the Judeo-Arabic original (see Account of the Disputation of the Bishop), provides significantly more background on Nestor and his supposed conversion to Judaism. Like most polemics, this work is explicitly addressed to adherents of the tradition that it seeks to defend, and in any case, hardly any Christian would have been able to read the Hebrew. The criticism of Jesus’ incarnation, with its misogynistic overtones, was common in Jewish anti-Christian polemic, while the philosophical terminology, even in the rudimentary form included here, was important for the transfer of Greek philosophical learning to Jews in Christian Europe. This text is also striking for its strongly worded attacks on Christianity. Over the medieval period, Jews became increasingly reluctant to present harsh assaults on Christianity.