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So what do you think happens between the Roman troops and local women when they are stationed in Sepphoris? They had relationships (rather legitimate or in rape) that led to what is known as “war children”. The Roman army moved in under the command of the Roman Governor Varus in Syria (this is where Abdes Pantera was born). After Herod’s death in 4 BCE, Sepphoris (where Mary was born) became the center of one of several Jewish rebellions against Roman rule. Herod returned to Judea with a large Roman army and deposed Antigonus II Mattathias. Just think about it, when Caesar Augustus appointed Herod king over Judea. If we are to believe that Jesus did exist during the 1st century then a Roman military man by the name of Pantera is the most probable answer for Jesus biological father. Because some editions of the Jerusalem Talmud do not contain the name Jesus in these passages the association is disputed.” He said to him: we will speak to you in the name of Jesus son of Pandera” Jerusalem Shabboth 14:4/13: “Jacob … came in the name of Jesus Pandera to heal him”. “But let us now return to where the Jew is introduced, speaking of the mother of Jesus, and saying that “when she was pregnant she was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been guilty of adultery, and that she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera.” Epiphanius, in refutation of Celsus, writes that Joseph and Cleopas were sons of “Jacob, surnamed Panther.” Two Talmudic-era texts referring to Jesus as the son of Pantera (Pandera) are Tosefta Hullin 2:22f: “Jacob … came to heal him in the name of Jesus son of Pantera” and Qohelet Rabbah 1:8(3): “Jacob … came to heal him in the name of Jesus son of Pandera” and some editions of the Jerusalem Talmud also specifically name Jesus as the son of Pandera: Jerusalem Abodah Zarah 2:2/7: “someone … whispered to him in the name of Jesus son of Pandera” Jerusalem Shabboth 14:4/8: “someone … whispered to him in the name of Jesus son of Pandera” Jerusalem Abodah Zarah 2:2/12: “Jacob … came to heal him. Celsus mentions this in his writing, The True Word, where he is quoted by Origen in Book 1: 32. “Controversy has surrounded the name Panther, mentioned above, because of a charge that Jesus’ father was a soldier named Pantera. Quote from Wikipedia, “Genealogy of Jesus”: It could have been rape, or Mary may have been a wild young teen who fell for a handsome man in a uniform, even if he was part of an occupying army. The only thing we know for certain is that Mary’s husband Joseph wasn’t the father, and that Mary was already pregnant when they married. So Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera is indeed a possibility as Jesus’ father. As Joseph is never heard of again he may well have been killed in the battle, or have been among the 2,000 Jewish rebels crucified afterwards. It is possible (and appealing to lovers of historical irony) that Pantera and Joseph fought on opposite sides. The uprising was crushed by the Romans some four miles north of Nazareth.
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In 6 AD when Jesus was 12, Judas of Galilee led a popular uprising that captured Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee.
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He could have been as old as 38 or as young as 15 at the time of Jesus’ conception in the summer of 7 BC. Pantera’s 40 years of service would therefore have started between 27 BC and 4 BC.Īs Pantera would probably have been about 18 when he enlisted, it means he was likely born between 45 BC and 22 BC. On discharge he would have been granted citizenship by the Emperor (and been granted freedom if he had formerly been a slave), and added the Emperor’s name to his own. He served in the army for 40 years until some time in the reign of Tiberius. Pantera came from Sidon, on the coast of Phoenicia just west of Galilee, presumably enlisted locally. It appears this First Cohort of Archers moved from Palestine to Dalmatia in 6 AD, and to the Rhine in 9 AD.
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The gravestone is now in the Römerhalle museum in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. Tib(erius) Iul(ius) Abdes Pantera Sidonia ann(orum) LXII stipen(diorum) XXXX miles exs(ignifer?) coh(orte) I sagittariorum h(ic) s(itus) e(st) Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera from Sidon, aged 62 years served 40 years, former standard bearer (?) of the First Cohort of Archers lies here In 1859 a gravestone surfaced in Germany for a Roman soldier called Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera, whose unit Cohors I Sagittariorum had served in Judea before Germany – romantic historians have hypothesized this to be Jesus’ father, especially as ‘Abdes’ (‘servant of God’) suggests a Jewish background. Pantera's gravestone is the one on the left