(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) As many scholars have noted, the rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud were familiar with Christianity, and certain Babylonian aggadot satirize Christian traditions. well-known case in point is the story of Imma Shalom, Rabban Gamaliel, and the corrupt judge in b. Sabb. 116a-b, which is a satire on Christian corruption with allusions to Matt 5:13-17.1 Other satirical stories mention Jesus specifically and have received wide attention in scholarship.2 As scholars have noticed, there are more traditions related to Christianity in the Bavli than in Palestinian Jewish sources.3 Various explanations have been given for this phenomenon;4 however, further research is necessary. Only identification of all rabbinic traditions that show familiarity with Christianity and in-depth literary and historical analysis of each will allow us to reach firm conclusions about the nature of Christian-Jewish dialogue in Babylonia. Previous studies have focused on traditions that were relatively easy to identify and discuss-Babylonian and Palestinian traditions that are obviously informed by an acquaintance with Christianity and mention Jesus outright or mention Christian themes explicitly. The present article represents a further stage of research. It is an attempt to conduct an in-depth study of a Babylonian source that at first glance is not at all related to Christianity but that, upon further study, reveals itself as a Babylonian Jewish satire, dating from the fourth or fifth century, on the last judgment scene found in Matt 25:31-46. I will argue that Babylonian sages were familiar with this scene and created a story that parodies the last judgment and the figure of Jesus, which was eventually interwoven into the end of ch. 4 of Bavli Pesahiim. In my opinion, the reason that the satirical nature of this text has remained unnoticed to date is its involved textual development, from its origin to its final editing in Bavli Pesahiim. Let us introduce the story,5 found in b. Pesahi. 57a-b:6 The king and the queen were sitting. The king said A kid ... is more appropriate; The queen said A lamb ... is more appropriate.7 They said: Who shall decide? The who performs sacrifices all day. He came and pointed with his hands and said: If a kid were more appropriate it should be brought for the daily offering! 8 He (the king) said: Since he did not have fear of the throne, let his right hand be cut He gave a bribe and his left hand was cut off. The king heard and his right hand was cut off. Because of the context in which this story appears in the Bavli (see immediately below), scholars have hitherto understood it to refer to the priests and kings who served toward the end of the Second Temple period.9 However, I shall argue that a careful analysis of this story shows that it is a Babylonian literary creation that originated as a satire on a Christian apocalyptic vision in Matt 25:31-46.10 In Matthew 25, Jesus is described as judging humanity, which is divided into two groups-sheep on his right and goats on his left. Jesus invites the sheep, on his right side, to inherit eternal life, while the goats on his left are to be cut off and punished in the fire prepared from the creation of the world. I shall argue that Babylonian Jews of the talmudic period were familiar with this description of the last judgment, and the high priest (= Jesus)11 in the Pesahiim passage is a satirical reference to Jesus, who, thinking that he knows how to distinguish between sheep and goats, is punished by an earthly king who cuts off both his hands. At a later stage, this satire was integrated into the context of a discussion in b. Pesahi. 57a-b, which describes the disgraceful conduct of priestly families and priests who served toward the end of the Second Temple period. In its final form, the story came to be ascribed to a specific named Issachar of Kfar Barqai. …