Jewish and Zoroastrian eschatologies have real parallels, but direct borrowing remains unprovable.
Imported citation, not independently checked: M. Boyce, Zoroastrians (1979); A. de Jong, Traditions of the Magi (1997)
religion · Shared topic · Revision 0
Did Zoroastrianism influence Judaism?
Did Zoroastrianism influence Judaism?
The current answer
A Persian shadow falls across the satan, the two spirits, and the rising dead, but a shadow is not a fingerprint.
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From 539 BCE, when Cyrus took Babylon, until Alexander in 332 BCE, the Jews of Judea lived for roughly two centuries inside a Zoroastrian-ruled empire.
Imported citation, not independently checked: M. Boyce, Zoroastrians (1979)
The Hebrew Bible itself names Cyrus God's "anointed" (Isaiah 45:1).
Imported citation, not independently checked: Isaiah 45:1
In the older texts, "the satan" (ha-satan) is a title, not a name, a member of God's own court who acts as prosecutor.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Job 1-2; Numbers 22:22
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