Medrash Shmuel (Avos 05:02) To explain the question of Tzadik v’Rah lo we will use the events of the life of Avraham - . for who is greater than he? Yet, he endured a multiple problems including famine and the abduction of Sarah—first to the court of Pharaoh and later to the King of Gerar—among a total of ten trials that befell him. G-d revealed the reason for this by enumerating the ten generations spanning from Noah to Abraham. What lesson does this convey? It demonstrates His immense patience; generation after generation provoked Him, until Abraham arose and assumed the burden of their collective reckoning and received the reward of all of them. In other words, Abraham took upon himself the punishment due to them—bearing and enduring the suffering they deserved—thereby securing their deliverance; for by accepting a single tribulation corresponding to each generation, he stood as their shield.
Sound like Christian theology.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say the same thing..
DeleteOther than "he died for our sins" it's pretty close. However, one could argue that midrashim predate Chrisianity and the first Chrisians were educated Jews which means they'd have known about this. What's more, there's lots of copying by Chrisians so maybe this is the source of their "he died for our sins" line.
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