Did the Old Testament Borrow from Older Civilisations?

  The Persian period is important because it placed Judeans in direct contact with the Iranian world for generations. After Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BCE, Judah became part of the Persian Empire. Judeans who returned to Jerusalem still lived under imperial rule, while many others remained in Babylon and other parts of the empire. This meant that Jewish communities were not only exposed to Persian administration, language and politics. They were also living near Iranian religious ideas, stories and rituals. Over time, some scholars have suggested that this contact may have influenced later Jewish beliefs about angels, demons, judgement after death, resurrection and the struggle between good and evil. However, this is one of the most debated areas in the study of biblical religion. There are real similarities between later Jewish and Zoroastrian ideas, but similarity is not the same as proof of direct borrowing. A further complication is that the oldest Iranian t...