Mandaeans maintain that Jesus was a "mšiha kdaba" "false messiah" who changed the teachings given to him by John. The Mandaic word "k(a)daba", however, comes from two roots: the first root, meaning "to lie," is the one traditionally given to Jesus; the second, meaning "to write," might provide a second meaning, that of "book". Some Mandaeans, who are motivated perhaps by an ecumenical spirit, maintain that Jesus was not a "lying Messiah" but a "book Messiah". The "book" in question presumably being the Christian Gospels. This seems to be a folk etymology without support in the Mandaean texts.