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Re: [AUXLANG] We do but jest, poison in jest,

From:Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...>
Date:Thursday, July 27, 2000, 4:15
On Thu, 27 Jul 2000 02:37:08 GMT Leo Caesius <leo_caesius@...>
writes:
> Jews. Texts from this period (Esther, Tobit, Judith, etc.) reveal > heavy > influences from Iranian dualism, Iranian concepts of salvation and > the > afterlife, a detailed angelic (and demonic) hierarchy calqued on the > Iranian > hierarchy, and even divine figures from the Iranian pantheon, such > as > Asmodeus, make an appearance. One might say that Judaism was never > the same > after Ezra was finished with it - although I personally would not go > as far > as to say that Judaism is basically a Zoroastrian sect, as some > Bible scholars maintain.
> -Chollie
- Esther? The Scroll of Esther doesn't even mention God in it, much less Persian angelic hierarchies! Although if Tobit and Judith are full of those kind of influences, it explains a lot about why Judaism ended up rejecting them, and the sages of the Talmud declared hyperbolicly that "one who makes public readings of the Outside Books [as if they were canonical] has no share in the World to Come"! Although, interesting from a sociological point of view, both Esther and Mordekhai's non-Hebrew names aren't just non-Jewish, but come from Ishtar and Marduk, Babylonian deities! Imagine the amount of assimilation that could lead to that - ¿ever heard of a Jew named Jesús? :-) (i've actually read an article that proposed the idea that the Scroll of Esther was written in the style of a satire aimed at the assimilated Persian Jews who had refused to return to Judea with Ezra). Those bible scholars who claim that Judaism is a sect of Zoroastrianism must have a heww of a time trying to find any kind of Z.-style dualism there. -Stephen (Steg) "do not fear sudden terror, nor destruction by the wicked, if it comes."