Zoroastrianism Influence In Judaism

[Anastasia13]

I am doing a paper on hell and I was reading in an article that there are many beliefs in Judaism that are shared or were influenced by Zoroastrianism as argued by various scholars. Influential or shared beliefs include the omnis in describing God, Satan, eternal torment in hell, angelology and demonolgy, and the first eschatology preceding works such as Daniel.

Because I am attempting to address the relationship in a paper on hell, I have come to a serious question about this. How much did the Zoroastrianism influence Judaism? What are noteworthy examples of discerning rejection of Zoroastrianism's influence in Judaism? I was thinking of using a connection noted from another scholar on a figure in Tobit not being in Hebrew scripture, but I understand this is debatable.

If you know of a website with an article that deals with this and would like to share, that would be great.

Edited April 28, 2007 by Light and Truth

[Thy Geekdom Come]

This question deserves a broader reply.

[123]

This is quite an interesting hypothesis for Judaism.

[hoosieranna]

Zoroastrianism was the first major "good vs. evil" faith. What I've read suggests it is a bit older than Judaism. Also, it came from Persia and not the Levant. That said, I'm NOT an expert.

Ahura Mazda is seen as the beneficent creator-sort of the equivalent of God. Angra Mainyu is the dark spirit-a rough equivalent to Satan. There is an eternal flame in Zoroastrian temples. I don't enough about the Jewish idea of Sheol to go any further. About.com is usually pretty good for random facts and links. You might also try looking up the Zoroastrian homepage, if there is one.