Jewish messianism emerged only after Babylonian exile under Persian influence

Evidence

Messianism too seems to have Persian antecedents, in the doctrine that at the end of time a figure will arise from the sacred seed of Zoroaster, who will estab­ lish all that is good on earth. It is not without significance that the Messianic idea does not appear in the Hebrew Bible until after the return from Babylon, that is to say after the time when the Jews came under Persian influence. The importance of messianism in the Judaeo-Christian tradition is obvious. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 301

Categorization

• SHARE: A precise dating claim — messianism absent from Hebrew Bible until the Babylonian return — worth sending to someone working on religious history.