2/8/11 Tuesday Lecture

Persian Jerusalem
539-333 BCE (during the 2nd Temple Period)

Ezekiel's Vision

• Cognitive dissonance: Ezekiel had a vision of God as a mobile entity again, as with the Ark (God is still alive and He is mobile!)
• Many verses in Ezekiel refer to a utopian dream of new Jerusalem
• Ezekiel 1 has references to images of divine protectors that were in the temple
• Some did not want to build a temple bc the capacity to envision a mobile God was already established (post-exilic vs. 2nd temple literature in Haggai 1-2, Isaiah 66:1-2, Ezekiel 40-48).  Or did the temple even have to be in Jerusalem (other temples)?

Persian Influence on Jerusalem

1. Cyrus, a Persian King

• Compare Persian chronicles (Cyrus Cylinder) with the biblical text
• Cyrus grants the Jews to return to Jerusalem
• Cyrus' generosity?  Or God's will?
• Seen as the Messiah simply because he destroyed the Babylonian empire
• Only problem: Cyrus is not of the Davidic line 

2. Juadism ~ Zoroastrianism

• Two faiths had many similarities
• Perhaps the ideas of heaven and hell, Satan, etc came from Persian influence
• Parts of the bible were written down from oral traditions by scribes after the exile who had Persian influence

The First Return

• Joshua, the High Priest, becomes stronger with the temple, while the power of the Davidic governor decreases
• "Yehud" coins prove that Judah was part of Persia?
• Mt. Gerizim on Neapolis Coin
• Jesus references a Samaritan woman at the well
• Samaritans lived on Mt. Gerizim
• Point?
• Elaphintine Letter 30 - asks for permission to build the temple
• Dead Sea Scrolls were found that gave permission to build the temple
• Jerusalem goes into poverty
• Conflicts with the Samaritans (rich, Persian-influenced returning exiles vs. those who've stayed in Jerusalem and don't want the temple rebuilt) - Nehemiah 4:16-23 describes the struggles in building the temple

King Cyrus was the most interesting part of this lecture.  

Why did King Cyrus let the Jews return?  What did the Persians gain from this?

Why was there so much conflict about simply building a temple?

Could God moving Cyrus' heart be sort of a stretch?

If the Jews believed that God was moving Cyrus' heart, then why did they label Cyrus as the Messiah?  Did they accept by now that the Messiah was not going to be of the Davidic line?

Also... it was fascinating to see the comparison between Judaism and Zoroastrianism, as I know a friend who is Zoroastrian!  I always thought Zoroastrianism was closer to Muhammad and such... Their concept of time and requirement to be born into the religion seem far from the teachings of God.