Two Jesus Boys

Through his research based on spiritual perception, Rudolf Steiner came to the conclusion that not only one, but two Jesus boys were born in Bethlehem around the turn of time, the Nathanian and the Solomonic Jesus, both of whom came from the lineage of David. At the age of twelve, the I of the Solomonic Jesus passed into the body of the Nathanian Jesus. Steiner spoke in great detail about the further life of this Jesus of Nazareth from the 18th to the 30th year of life, which is not reported in the four Gospels, in his lectures on the so-called fifth Gospel. In it, Steiner describes how the earthly incarnation of the Christ was prepared, which actually only began in the 30th year of life with the Jordan baptism and was completed with the Mystery of Golgotha. Only this human figure, permeated by Christ, formed by the union of the two Jesus boys and having passed through rich experiences, may rightly be addressed as Jesus Christ, as a third Messiah, as it were.

Rudolf Steiner's explanations throw an illuminating light on the two contradictory genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels, which for a long time presented biblical scholars and theologians with seemingly unsolvable riddles. Apocryphal texts, and especially the writings of the Essenes discovered at Qumran near the Dead Sea, now seem to support Steiner's views through external documents as well, by also pointing to two messianic figures descended from the royal and the priestly line of the House of David. Recent discoveries and interpretations of the Essenes' scrolls, moreover, show that they expected not just one or two, but even three Messiahs, which fits in well with Steiner's accounts, as indicated above.

„12 And David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. 13 And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David. 14 And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.“

– 2 Samuel 5:12–16

Literature

• Joachim Gnilka: Die Erwartung des messianischen Hohenpriesters in den Schriften von Qumran und im Neuen Testament, in: Revue de Qumrân Vol. 2, No. 3 (7) (Juin 1960), pp. 395-426 JSTOR 24599234
• Alexander Böhlig: Gnosis und Synkretismus, 2 Bände, J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen 1989, Teil 1: ISBN 3-16-145299-2, Teil 2: ISBN 3-16-145454-5, pdf
• Sung-Ho Park: Stellvertretung Jesu Christi im Gericht: Studien zum Verhältnis von Stellvertretung und Kreuzestod Jesu bei Paulus, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2015, ISBN 978-3788728960, google
• Johannes Zimmermann: Messianische Texte aus Qumran: Königliche, priesterliche und prophetische Messiasvorstellungen in den Schriftfunden von Qumran, Mohr Siebeck, 1. Auflage 1998, eBook 2019 ISBN 978-3-16-157472-6 ASIN B088NJWWZ4
• Helmuth Egelkraut, W.S. LaSor, D.A. Hubbard, F.W. Bush: Das Alte Testament: Entstehung, Geschichte, Botschaft, 6. Auflage, Brunnen Verlag Gießen 2017, ISBN 978-3765595707, eBook ASIN B01M292MD0 (5. Auflage), google
• Rainer Riesner: Messias Jesus: Seine Geschichte, seine Botschaft und ihre Überlieferung, Brunnen Verlag, Gießen 2019, ISBN 978-3-7655-9410-6, eBook ISBN 978-3-7655-7717-8 ASIN B088K29JKJ
• Jakob Streit: Die Geschichte der zwei Jesusknaben. Erzählt nach den Evangelien des Matthäus und Lukas, Futurum Verlag 1995, ISBN 978-3856361013
• Hella Krause-Zimmer: Die zwei Jesusknaben in der bildenden Kunst, 4. Auflage, Vlg. Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 978-3-7725-0538-6
• Elsbeth Weymann: Zepter und Stern - Die Erwartung von zwei Messiasgestalten in den Schriftrollen von Qumran, Verlag Urachhaus, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-87838-959-0
  • Elsbeth Weymann: Zwei Jesusknaben und die Zweifache Messias-Erwartung in Qumran, Berlin 2013 online
• Elsbeth Weymann: Es geschah - in der Gegenwart. Zwei Messiasgestalten in den Schriftrollen von Qumran - Jakob und Esau und der Nahostkonflikt. Glomer.com 2020, ISBN 978-3-9821354-4-1
• Christoph Rau, Maren and Alan Stott (transl.): The Two Jesus Boys and the Messianic Expectations of the Essenes, Temple Lodge Publishing 2019, ISBN 978-1912230273
  • German: Die beiden Jesusknaben und die dreifache Messiaserwartung der Essener, Verlag Johannes Mayer 2010, ISBN ‎ 978-3867830225
• Rudolf Steiner: Die geistige Führung des Menschen und der Menschheit, GA 15 (1987), ISBN 3-7274-0150-8 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Das Lukas-Evangelium, GA 114 (2001), ISBN 3-7274-1140-6 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Das Matthäus-Evangelium, GA 123 (1988), ISBN 3-7274-1230-5 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.