Reactions to the Achaemenid Empire in the Contemporaneous Literature of the Hebrew Bible
Abstract
The Achaemenid period is of crucial significance for the formation of the Hebrew Bible. There are several writings that stem directly from this period (Ezra, Nehemia, Chronicles, the Daniel narratives), but formative redactional processes of that period affected also all earlier writings: No book of the Hebrew Bible exists in any other form than its Achaemenid or Hellenistic shape. This paper will provide an overview of biblical writings from the Achaemenid era and will specifically focus on their political theology: Some of these texts advocate a theocracy that they see realized in the Achaemenid Empire with the Persian kings as tools of the God of Israel, others strongly oppose the Achaemenid rule and argue for national sovereignty in Israel and Judah with a Davidic king and the expectation of the return of the diaspora.
Citation
Schmid, Konrad. "Reactions to the Achaemenid Empire in the Contemporaneous Literature of the Hebrew Bible," Achaemenid Workshop 3 (February 21, 2025).
About the Speaker
Konrad Schmid
University of Zurich
Konrad Schmid is a professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zurich. His research interests span the piterary and theological history of the Hebrew Bible, especially of the Pentateuch and the prophetic books, including innerbiblical exegesis, and the literature, religion and history of Ancient Judaism (Persian, Greek and Roman times).