Maisit

The Talmud distinguishes two types of enticers to idolatry - a mesit (Hebrew: מסית‎) is a Jew who seduces an individual to idolatry, while a maddiah is someone who publicly entices many into idolatry. An enticer to idolatry may be both.[1][2] Enticement to idolatry in Judaism is a capital offence under the Law of Moses.

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The Law of Moses likewise takes a strong and non-compassionate approach to the enticer due to the offensive service of idolatry to which the enticer seeks to draw worshipers. The crime of the enticer to idolatry was so serious and dangerous that in some cases some legal (halakhic) requirements of due process could be relaxed in order to entrap the enticer.[3]

In the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides the prohibition "Not to love an enticer" is listed as a negative commandment.[4]

Hebrew Bible

The source of the commandment is stated in Deuteronomy and establishes successful enticement to commit an act of idolatry as a capital transgression:[5]

If your brother..or your friend.. entice you secretly, saying: 'Let us go and serve other gods,' ..you shall not consent..neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you be merciful, neither shall you conceal him (his wrongdoing); but you should execute him; your hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him.. that he die; because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage

— Deuteronomy 13:7-12

Rabbinic interpretation

Considering the extreme stance Deuteronomy 13 takes regarding to enticement to idolatry, Chazal list numerous detail that project the unique methods required to deal with the enticer;

  1. Even if the enticee did not worship idolatry in action the enticer is still liable to death
  2. The enticer is liable to death even without the normal process of warning (Hebrew hathra'ah)
  3. It is legal for the witnesses to conceal themselves when visualizing the enticer in action
  4. It is legal to withhold witness material that could potentially save the enticer
  5. The enticed person himself is obliged to bring the enticer to the stoning area
  6. Public announcement of an impending execution of the enticer is required

Although the original context of Deuteronomy is paganism, in some later rabbinic interpretation the passage about the "enticer" was also applied to Christian proselytism.[6][7]

See also

References
  1. Peter Schafer Jesus in the Talmud - Page 68 2009 "The mesit is someone who seduces an individual to idolatry,27 whereas the maddiah is understood as someone who publicly entices many into idolatry.28 Jesus, the Talmud tells us, was both: he not only enticed some individual but all of"
  2. Jastrow fr.—Esp. מסית or מסית (with ref. to Deut. XIII, 7, sq.) he who stirs people up to worship idols. Snh. V I I, 10. Y.ib. 1. c. מי. ..בלטון גבוה וכי the massith speaks in a loud voice, the maddiah ( (נדח'.ד in a low voice;
  3. Marianne Sawicki -Crossing Galilee: Architectures of Contact in the Occupied Land of Jesus2000 - Page 167 "But the crime of the enticer (Hebrew mesit) was so serious and dangerous that some of the legal requirements of due process could be relaxed in order to enable the authorities to entrap the offender. The mesit was like salt in the soil."
  4. Moses Maimonides, The book of knowledge: from the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides Helen M. Russell 1981 -Page 70 "Treatise 4 IDOLATRY Fifty-one commandments, two positive and forty-nine negative, are enumerated here. They are: 1. ... 14. Not to love an enticer. 15. Not to stop hating an idolater. 16. Not to save him. 17. Not to plead for him."
  5. J. David Bleich - Contemporary halakhic problems: Volume 4 1995- Page 94 " Deuteronomy 13:7-12 establishes successful enticement to commit an act of idolatry as a capital transgression."
  6. David Berger (professor) in Jewish history and Jewish memory: essays in honor of Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, ed. Elisheva Carlebach, John M. Efron - 1998 -Page 26 "Medieval Jewry was heir to two sets of internal sources about Jesus: a handful of scattered remarks in rabbinic texts and the various versions of the counter- Gospel known as Toledot Yeshu.1 There is little we can say about the image of the enticer and bastard sorcerer who was hanged from a stalk of cabbage.2"
  7. Joshua Schwartz, Marcel Poorthuis Saints and role models in Judaism and Christianity 2004 Page 292 "... the Ben Stada narratives in Rabbinic literature and the traditions concerning the mesit or enticer can be applied to the apostle Peter, cf."
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