This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
By Ray Konig
Published: August 12, 2024
Question: A reader asks: "Was Jesus actually unique as a miracle worker? Were there not other people during ancient times credited with miracle working in the region of Galilee?"
Response: Yes, there are claims that there were religious figures, other than Jesus and his apostles, who performed miracles in Galilee, in or about the time of Jesus. But, a review of these claims shows both the uniqueness of Jesus as a miracle worker and provides evidence that these accounts borrowed from the Gospel accounts of the miracles that Jesus performed.
When the Gospels were written during the first century of this era, they comprised far and away the most detailed record that had ever existed about a miracle worker.
Together, the Gospels recorded more than 40 occasions in which Jesus performed miracles that showed his divine command over disease, disability, death, and the forces of nature. These miracles are discussed in more detail in the book Jesus the Miracle Worker, by Ray Konig. Online summaries of Jesus' miracles can be found at Aboutbibleprophecy.com and About-Jesus.org.
The record of Jesus' miracles is more detailed, comprehensive and impactful than that of any other person in the record of history. The impact of his miracles, uniquely, has reverberated throughout the world, with the worldwide spread of Christianity. Jesus is uniquely associated with miracle working.
Even so, history does provide other examples of people, outside of the Bible, who were said to have performed miracles during ancient times. And some of these people were religious figures in Galilee. Three of the best known examples are Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, who is credited with two healings through prayer, Rabbi Honi the Circle Drawer, who is linked with a rain miracle, and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who is associated with an exorcism.
Their stories can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, which is a collection of writings from exiled Jewish rabbis, who lived in the region of Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem, which was in AD 70.
The writing of the Talmud spanned from about the second century of this era until the fifth or sixth century. It contains opinions of ancient rabbis in regard to the laws of Judaism.
The three rabbis mentioned above lived within a century of Jesus' public ministry and are associated with the region of Galilee, where Jesus performed many of his miracles. Galilee is a region in northern Israel.
As is true for many of the ancient people for whom miracle-working claims are made, these three rabbis are associated with only a few miracles. And the record of their claimed miracles was written long after their deaths -- and long after the apostles had been evangelizing Christianity.
Through no fault of their own, these three rabbis sometimes are brought up as comparisons to Jesus, in an attempt to claim that there is nothing unique about Jesus as a miracle worker. Even so, a review of their stories will show that Jesus is indeed unique as a miracle worker.
Jesus carried out his public ministry from about late AD 26 to early AD 30, during the early part of the first century of this era. Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa is believed to have lived decades later, in the latter part of the first century of this era.
Like Jesus, Hanina is associated with miracles of healing. One key difference is that Jesus performed miracles under his own authority, whereas Hanina is said to have accomplished his deeds through prayer. Hanina is depicted as having the gift of knowing, ahead of time, whether his prayers would be answered.
The Babylonian Talmud records at least two stories in which Hanina intervened for people in need of healing. Both involved the sons of prominent rabbis.
In one account, Hanina was called upon to pray for the son of Rabban Gamliel II, who had fallen ill with a fever:
“There was an incident where Rabban Gamliel's son fell ill. Rabban Gamliel dispatched two scholars to Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa to pray for mercy and healing on his behalf. When Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa saw them approaching, he went up to the attic on the roof of his house and prayed for mercy on his behalf. Upon his descent, he said to the messengers: You may go and return to Rabban Gamliel, as the fever has already left his son and he has been healed. The messengers asked him: How do you know? Are you a prophet? He replied to them: I am neither a prophet nor son of a prophet (see Amos 7:14), but I have received a tradition with regard to this indication: If my prayer is fluent in my mouth as I recite it and there are no errors, I know that my prayer is accepted. And if not, I know that my prayer is rejected. The Gemara relates that these messengers sat and wrote and approximated that precise moment when Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa told them this. When they came before Rabban Gamliel and related all that had happened and showed him what they had written, Rabban Gamliel said to them: I swear by the Temple service that in the time you wrote you were neither earlier or later; rather, this is how the event transpired: Precisely at that moment his fever broke and he asked us for water to drink.” - Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 34b, The William Davidson Edition.
For background, Rabban Gamliel II was instrumental in leading Judaism after the fall of the Second Temple in A.D. 70, about 40 years after the time of Jesus' public ministry. And, during ancient times, fevers often were fatal.
This account from the Talmud shares striking similarities to John 4:46-54 in which Jesus heals a royal official's son. Both accounts involve a son, a fever, the threat of death, messengers, and a revelation involving the timing of the healing. The account involving Jesus, however, as recorded in the Gospel of John, was circulated long before the Babylonian Talmud was written.
There is also an account in which Hanina prayed successfully for the health of Yohanan ben Zakkai's son, who had fallen ill. That account also is given in Berakhot 34b. Hanina was a student of Ben Zakkai, a prominent rabbi who escaped the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Hanina also is associated with a rain miracle:
“The Gemara tells another story about prayer for rain. Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa was traveling along a road when it began to rain. He said before God: Master of the Universe, the entire world is comfortable, because they needed rain, but Hanina is suffering, as he is getting wet. The rain ceased. When he arrived at his home, he said before God: Master of the Universe, the entire world is suffering that the rain stopped, and Hanina is comfortable? The rain began to come again.” - Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 24b, The William Davidson Edition.
Within Judaism, Hanina is revered for his conduct, wisdom and dedication to prayer. He is also the subject of a number of stories in which he is the recipient of miracles rather than the agent. These include being sustained for a week by a basket of carob beans, receiving a golden table leg from heaven, and remaining undistracted from prayer while being bitten by a deadly reptile.
As mentioned previously, Hanina, through no fault of his own, is sometimes brought up as a comparison to Jesus. But a review of his record shows that he is only credited with a few miracles, and he is not depicted as having performed them under his own authority, like Jesus, but rather through prayer.
Also, his record, in the Babylonian Talmud, was written long after accounts about Jesus and his miracles had spread throughout Israel and beyond.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, also known by the acronym of Rashbi, was an influential rabbi who is prominently featured in the Talmud. He was born in Galilee and lived from about AD 80 to 160. Some people credit him as being the author of the Zohar.
The Babylonian Talmud has an account in which Shimon performs an exorcism of a Roman emperor's daughter. The account, which does not name the emperor, might have intended Antonius Pius, who reigned from AD 138 to 161.
In the account, a demon named Ben Temalyon accompanies Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Eleazar Ben Jose as they travel to Rome. After they arrive, the demon possesses the emperor's daughter and is cast out by Shimon. In gratitude, the emperor allows the rabbis to view the official treasury, where they find and destroy a decree that interfered with the practice of Judaism throughout the Roman world.
According to the account:
“As they were journeying, a demon named ben Temalyon emerged to greet them. He said to them: Do you wish that I will join you and come with you in order to help nullify this decree? When he saw that a demon was coming to help save the Jewish people, Rabbi Shimon cried and said: What, even for a maidservant of my father's home, Hagar the Egyptian, who was Abraham's handmaid, an angel was made available to appear to her three times to help her. Each of the three mentions of ‘and the angel of the Lord said unto her' (Genesis 16:9-11) in the story of Hagar is understood as a reference to a different angel. But I apparently do not deserve assistance from an angel even one time, but only help from a demon. In any case, let the miracle come and save the Jewish people, even if only through a demon.
“The demon ben Temalyon went before them and ascended into the emperor's daughter and possessed her. When Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai arrived there, the emperor's palace, he said: Ben Temalyon, emerge! Ben Temalyon, emerge! And once Rabbi Shimon called to him, ben Temalyon emerged and left the emperor's daughter, and she was cured. When the emperor saw that Rabbi Shimon had cured his daughter, he said to them: Ask from me any reward that you want to ask. And he took them up to his treasury to take whatever they wanted. They found that letter there that contained the decrees against the Jewish people, and they took it and tore it up, and thereby nullified the decrees.” - Babylonian Talmud, Meilah 17b, The William Davidson Edition.
It should be noted that the Talmud account of a helpful demon is in sharp contrast to Biblical depictions of demons. It can also be noted that some stories within rabbinical literature were not intended as histories but as stories to express the commitment or piety of various historically influential rabbis.
Some scholars and commentators have suggested that this exorcism story is based on a legend involving Bartholomew, who was an apostle to Jesus. That legend, which is found in a non-sacred work called Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha, claims that Bartholomew exorcised a demon-possessed daughter of a ruler in India.
A discussion about the Shimon exorcism story, including the possible influence from the Bartholomew legend, can be found in the Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume 11, as published in 1905, which is accessible online.
Rabbi Honi the Circle Drawer (Honi HaMe'aggel) is another rabbi from Galilee associated with miracles. He lived sometime before Jesus' public ministry, perhaps by a century or more.
He is best known for a story in the Babylonian Talmud in which he prayed for rain during a time of drought. When his prayers were not immediately answered, he drew a circle in the sand around him and announced that he would not leave the circle until it rained.
As related in the Talmud:
“An incident occurred in which the people said to Honi HaMe'aggel: Pray that rain should fall. He said to them: Go out and bring in the clay ovens used to roast the Paschal lambs, so that they will not dissolve in the water, as torrential rains are certain to fall. He prayed, and no rain fell at all.
“What did he do? He drew a circle on the ground and stood inside it and said before God: Master of the Universe, Your children have turned their faces toward me, as I am like a member of Your household. Therefore, I take an oath by Your great name that I will not move from here until You have mercy upon Your children and answer their prayers for rain. Rain began to trickle down, but only in small droplets. He said: I did not ask for this, but for rain to fill the cisterns, ditches, and caves with enough water to last the entire year. Rain began to fall furiously. He said: I did not ask for this damaging rain either, but for rain of benevolence, blessing, and generosity.
“Subsequently, the rains fell in their standard manner but continued unabated, filling the city with water until all of the Jews exited the residential areas of Jerusalem and went to the Temple Mount due to the rain. They came and said to him: Just as you prayed over the rains that they should fall, so too, pray that they should stop.”
- Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 19a, The William Davidson Edition.
The story depicts Honi as having a personal relationship with God and as knowing ahead of time that his prayer for rain would be answered. This is indicated when he preemptively advises people to protect their outdoor clay ovens so that they will not be not ruined by the rain.
Honi also is associated with a second miracle, in which he is said to have fallen asleep for 70 years. This story also is found in the Talmud:
“One day, he was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Honi said to him: This tree, after how many years will it bear fruit? The man said to him: It will not produce fruit until seventy years have passed. Honi said to him: Is it obvious to you that you will live seventy years, that you expect to benefit from this tree? He said to him: That man himself found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.
“Honi sat and ate bread. Sleep overcame him and he slept. A cliff formed around him, and he disappeared from sight and slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a certain man gathering carobs from that tree. Honi said to him: Are you the one who planted this tree? The man said to him: I am his son's son. Honi said to him: I can learn from this that I have slept for seventy years, and indeed he saw that his donkey had sired several herds during those many years.” - Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 23a, The William Davidson Edition.
The story continues with Honi realizing that no one believes that he is Honi. He then prays for mercy and dies.
Honi, through no fault of his own, is often brought up as a comparison with Jesus as a miracle worker, largely because he is associated with Galilee, and he is depicted as having an unusually close relationship with God.
Beyond that, the similarities are few. Honi is associated with only a few miracles, which are very different from the miracles of Jesus. And he is not depicted as having direct control over the outcome of a miraculous event.
Honi is revered within Judaism for his righteousness and prayerfulness. The Talmud says that his descendants were known for their righteous deeds and that his grandson, Abba Hilkiyya, also is credited with a miracle involving rain.
Aside from Jesus and his apostles, these three rabbis are the best known examples of claimed miracle workers who are associated with the region of Galilee. And these examples are sometimes brought up as an attempt to claim that Jesus, who also is associated with Galilee, is not unique as a miracle worker. But, again, a review of their stories shows that Jesus is indeed unique, for the number, variety, manner, purpose and impact of his miracles.
Jesus is credited with having performed miracles of healing, and miracles that showed his divine command over nature, on at least 46 occasions during his public ministry, as explained in the book Jesus the Miracle Worker.
These miracles were recorded in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Jesus' record of miracle working is far more detailed, voluminous and impactful than any other person in history.
© 2024 Ray Konig.
Ray Konig is the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
See also the uniqueness of Jesus as a miracle worker: Claims of ancient miracle workers, outside of the Bible