Marduki ja Jahve soosik: Pärsia kuningas Kyros II ja tema taevased patroonid Vana Testamendi tekstides ja Kyrose silindril
The Protégé of Marduk and Yahweh: Cyrus II, King of Persia, and his Divine Patrons in the Old Testament Texts and the Cyrus Cylinder

Summary/Abstract: The Cyrus Cylinder, the so-called Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40–55 of the Book of Isaiah) and the Book of Ezra consider the role of Persian king Cyrus as thoroughly positive. In all three texts Cyrus is chosen by a god – by Marduk and Yahweh respectively – and thus enjoys such unconditional divine support. Despite these and some other conspicuous similarities, this article argues that it is not possible to prove a literary dependence between the three texts. In other words: one cannot verify whether the text on the Cyrus Cylinder was composed on the basis of Deutero-Isaiah or Ezra (or at least one of them); the Old Testament sources on Cyrus (or at least one of them) were composed on the basis of the cylinder; or whether all three (or at least two) texts had a common “forerunner”. The main problem with finding missing links between these texts is that none of them can be dated accurately enough and despite a number of studies that tackle this issue the scholars have not been able to reach a consensus. It can be claimed that – at least until additional sources come to light – it is impossible to solve this problem. For the same reasons it is impossible to use the Cyrus Cylinder as corroborative evidence for some events in the history of the Jewish people as they are described in the Old Testament. E.g., the text of the Cyrus Cylinder cannot be used as evidence for the claim that Cyrus released Jews from the Babylonian captivity. As a brief analysis of the cylinder has shown, no mention is made of Jews nor of a geographical region that could be associated with their homeland. It is more probable to assert that instead of direct influence of one text on another, the similarities between the texts are more related to general cultural influences spreading in the wider Near Eastern region during ancient times and to adjusting to local circumstances and traditions in different parts of the empire – a policy that was widely used by the Persian kings.

• Details
• Contents