È il titolo dell’articolo di maggiore interesse dell’ultimo volume della «Biblical Archaeological Review» (vol. 35, 5 2008) a firma di Israel Knohl:

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2. The tradition of the “Messiah son of Joseph” and his death first appears in the Babylonian Talmud (Sukkah 52a).
   

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5. The rabbis taught: The Messiah ben David, who (as we hope) will appear in the near future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to him: Ask something of me and I will give it to thee, as it is written [Psalm 2:7–8]: “I will announce the decree ... Ask it of me, and I will give,” etc. But as the Messiah ben David will have seen that the Messiah ben Joseph who preceded him was killed, he will say before the Lord: “Lord of the Universe, I will ask nothing of Thee but life.” And the Lord will answer: “This was prophesied already for thee by thy father David [Psalm 21:5]: ‘Life hath he asked of thee, thou gavest it to him.’ ”
   

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8. According to the seventh-century apocalyptic text known as Sefer Zerubabel, the “Messiah son of Joseph” was killed by the wicked “Armilus” and was further resurrected by the Messiah son of David and the Prophet Elijah.
   

Da rimarcare, inoltre, anche che Ada Yardeni concorda con la lettura proposta da Knohl dei passaggi più problematici:

1. Dear Hershel,
   

2. Since there was confusion in the media reports with regard to my view of Israel Knohl’s reading of the critical line of Hazon Gabriel (the Gabriel Revelation), I would like to make the following statement: After reviewing the document, I came to the conclusion that the reading suggested by Professor Knohl for the third word of line 80—HAYE “live”—seems to be the only plausible reading of that word. Thus, the first five words of this line should be translated as: “In three day live, I Gabriel.”
   

Ne ho già parlato in diverse occasioni, per chi non si ricordasse della questione dia un’occhiata qui e qui.