Imagining the End: Visions of

Bahman Yasht

,

a 

zand

 or interpretation of  a lost book of  the Avesta, is presented as a revelation

to Zarathustra.

23

 He sees a tree with four branches, of  gold, silver, steel and

mixed iron. These are interpreted as four kingdoms, and the fourth kingdom

is said to coincide with the tenth millennium. (There is also a vision in which

the tree has seven branches.) The work goes on to speak of  the signs of  the

tenth millennium, the coming of  a saviour and the resurrection. The sequence

of  four kingdoms, each associated with a metal and the fourth partly of  clay,

is so similar to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter 



 that we must

assume some common tradition.

24

 The relation of  the Persian material to

Jewish apocalypticism is obscured by problems of  dating, since the Pahlavi

literature in which these traditions are preserved dates from the early Middle

Ages. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that some prominent features of  Jewish

apocalypses, such as the division of  history into numbered periods (e.g. the

four kingdoms in Daniel 



 and 



) and the belief  in resurrection, were in-

novations in Judaism and seem to have an integral role in Persian tradition.

It would be too simple to think that Jewish apocalypticism was simply derived

from Persian models, but it is reasonable to suppose that there was some

influence. A specific case of  Persian influence on Jewish apocalyptic ideas can

be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which envision humanity divided between

Spirits of  Light and Darkness, in a manner reminiscent of  Zoroastrianism.

25

The Novel Features of Jewish Apocalypticism

Several features distinguish the Jewish apocalyptic writings from biblical

prophecy and earlier Jewish tradition. Some of  these concern the manner in

which revelation is conveyed, and some concern its content. The recipients

of  apocalyptic revelation are typically pseudonymous figures of  considerable

antiquity. Enoch supposedly lived before the flood and had been taken up to

heaven, so he was especially qualified to reveal heavenly mysteries. Daniel was

a legendary figure, who had supposedly been taken captive to Babylon, and

was skilled in the interpretation of  dreams. Pseudonymity was widespread in

the ancient world, and in the Hebrew Bible – witness the attribution of

---

73

Eschatological Dynamics in Early Judaism

Deuteronomy to Moses, of  Psalms to David and of  Proverbs to Solomon.

But the use of  the device in Enoch and Daniel was novel over against the

prophetic tradition. These ancient sages were not the ultimate guarantors of

the revelation. They in turn had received it from angelic mediators, who

explained their visions, or, in the case of  Enoch, served as tour guides beyond

the realm of  ordinary human experience. Angelic mediators were known in

the prophetic tradition, and figure prominently in the post-exilic book of

Zechariah and in Ezekiel 



–



. The difference here is only one of  degree;

the angelic figures appear more consistently in apocalyptic writings, and

individual angels are given names (e.g. Michael and Gabriel in the Book of

Daniel). Their role is to underline the otherworldly character of  the revelation.

The content of  the apocalypses is not supposed to be accessible to unaided

human reason, but is avowedly out of  this world.

More important than these formal differences are the differences in content

over against the prophets. Two features seem to me to be crucial: the increased

prominence of  angelic and demonic figures and the expectation of  the

judgment of the dead.

The Italian scholar Paolo Sacchi has argued at length that the wellspring

of  apocalypticism is the problem of  evil or theodicy, and that the apocalyptic

response is to explain this problem by appeal to angelic or demonic agency.

26

The paradigmatic case of  such an explanation is found in the Enochic