Were the Persian and Muslim Kingdoms Regarded as Advancing the Redemption of the Jews? : Changes in the Four Kingdoms Scheme during the Seventh Century ; (Part 1)

The aim of this study is to present twenty-two Hebrew texts, with translations, relating to the Danielic scheme of the Four Kingdoms. In the scheme, the Fourth Kingdom is considered evil and heralds the End of Days. According to apocalyptic dialectic, there follows a short Messianic age during which evil will be vanquished and the people of Israel will be redeemed, gathering once more in their land; after this, the next world will be established by God. Since the Danielic scheme had canonical status, Jewish poets, sages, and exegetes had to adapt it to the political circumstances of their own times and update their understanding of the Fourth Kingdom. This study focuses on the first half of the seventh century, a period that witnessed the major power struggles involving the Byzantine empire, the Sassanid kingdom, and emergent Islam. These struggles played out in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, among other places. The powerless Jewish population hoped that their Byzantine oppressors would be defeated and initially welcomed their new masters, whether Sassanian (that is, Persian) or Muslim powers, who fuelled Jewish apocalyptical hopes of the approaching redemption; this is reflected in the texts presented here. The harsh reality of Muslim rule,once established, later brought Jewish authors to express their dismay, itself becoming the Evil Kingdom. This study serves to illuminate a lesser-known chapter in Jewish attitudes towards Byzantine Christianity, Zoroastrian Persia, and the emergent Islam.