Zoroastrian Saviour Imagery and Its Influence on ... - Kaveh Farrokh

<strong>Zoroastrian</strong> <strong>Saviour</strong> <strong>Imagery</strong>
mons, raising the dead, assembling men for judgement, <strong>and</strong> the ad-
ministration of the same. All this means a return to the primeval state
which existed before the assault of Ahriman.
THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN SAVIOUR IMAGERY
The purpose of this section of the paper is to do no more than to
note certain developments in the Judeo-Christian saviour imagery.
The <strong>Saviour</strong> <strong>and</strong> the devil
I73
That a belief in a devil is a late entry into the Jewish faith needs
no demonstration. In the Old Testament Satan is simply an accuser
at the heavenly court <strong>and</strong> there is nothing inherently evil about the
figure. The verb satan means prosecute, attack with accusations,
accuse. 39) In the books of Job <strong>and</strong> Zechariah a particular figure is
denoted as 'the accuser' in heaven, 40 his role is to question, test,
accuse, the motives of men. The first indication of a supernatural
adversary is in the post-exilic I Chronicles 21: where ha-satan, 'the
accuser', is replaced by satan, a personal name. Although he seduces
David into doing evil, in this text he is still the messenger of God
<strong>and</strong> a member of the heavenly staff. It is only in the inter-testamental
period that Satan becomes a devil, ruling in Hell with a horde of
demons. Even here, however, the concept has not assumed a fixed
form. The figure can be called by a variety of names, the devil (The
Life of Adam <strong>and</strong> Eve 2: i dated about the time of Christ) 41) Satan
(The Similitudes of Enoch, mid-first century B.C.) 42) Satanail (II
Enoch 18:3 original Jewish work dated pre A.D. 70), 43) Mastema
(Jubilees o1:8, 50o-Ioo B.C. <strong>and</strong> the Dead Sea Scrolls),44) Beliar
(Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, c. Ioo B.C. <strong>and</strong> the Dead Sea
39) W. Eichrodt, vol. II, p. 206.
40) Job i :6f., 2: I ff., Zech. 3: I f.
41) 0. Eissfeldt, The Old Testament, An Introduction, E.T. by P. R. Ackroyd,
Oxford, I966, p. 637. D. S. Russell, p. 59.
42) Eissfeldt, p. 6I9; Russell, p. 52; E. Sj6berg, Der Menschensohn im Athiop-
ischen Henochbuch, Lund, I946, pp. 35-9; M. Hooker, The Son of Man in St.
Mark, London, I967, pp. 47 ff.
43) Eissfeldt, p. 623; Russell, p. 6i. In the form we have it the book has been
subject to Christian redaction.
44) Eissfeldt, p. 608; Russell, pp. 53 f.