Written by They Know. They’ve Always Known.
PART 1: THE TALMUD WAS WRITTEN IN PERSIA
The Basic Facts Scholars Admit
“The Babylonian Talmud is full of Iranian words. Rabbis could understand spoken Persian, we do not know what dialect, but could not read the written language”
“For nine centuries Babylonian Jews lived under Iranian rulers, Parthian, then Sasanian, from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 7th century CE”
“The Bavli is full of Iranian words and motifs, such as the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, that are familiar in Zoroastrianism”
Translation: The foundation of modern Judaism (Babylonian Talmud) was written in Persia, by rabbis who spoke Persian, filled with Persian words and Zoroastrian concepts.
PART 2: RABBIS WERE CRITICIZED FOR BEING “TOO PERSIANIZED”
The Talmud’s Own Admission
“According to both Talmuds, this innovation was introduced by R. Nahman, who is criticized elsewhere in the Babylonian Talmud for being too Persianized by half“
THEY KNEW THEY WERE BECOMING PERSIAN.
They criticized each other for it.
The Talmud itself documents the concern about excessive Persianization.
PART 3: SPECIFIC PERSIAN INFLUENCE ADMITTED
What Scholars Document
“They attributed much of the worldview unique to the Babylonian Talmud to this influence, including Talmudic magic, sorcery, angelology, demons as well as menstruation and purity laws“
“They also noted that Adam and Eve in the Bavli reflect the Iranian Mashya (man) and Mashyana, the Iranian Adam (man) and Eve“
Even the Adam and Eve story in the Talmud is influenced by Persian sources!
PART 4: HUNDREDS OF PERSIAN LOANWORDS
The Linguistic Evidence
“There are a few hundred Iranian— usually Middle Persian—loanwords (a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language without translation) in Babylonian Jewish Aramaic”
“We have for example a few hundred Iranian – usually Middle Persian – loanwords in Babylonian Jewish Aramaic. Quite simply, knowing Iranian languages leads to a more accurate understanding of the Bavli when it uses these loanwords”
Hundreds of Persian words integrated into Jewish texts.
Not a few. Not dozens. HUNDREDS.
PART 5: ZOROASTRIAN INFLUENCE ON RABBINIC LAW
The Legal System Borrowed
“We may note the rabbinic institution of the ‘rebellious wife,’ the moredet (Ket. 62a–b), which finds its exact counterpart in the Sasanian atarsagāyīh, ‘insubordination,’ to which an entire chapter of the Sasanian Law Book is devoted, with similar definitions (refusal of marital relations and domestic ‘work’ and personal spousal service) and penalties”
Even Jewish marital law comes from Persian legal codes.
Exact counterpart. Similar definitions. Same penalties.
PART 6: THE ACADEMIC FIELD EXISTS
“Irano-Talmudica”
“Irano-Talmudica is one of the older sub-fields of Jewish studies dating back to the mid-19th century. It explores the junction of Iranian studies and the Babylonian Talmud. Practitioners typically excavate the Bavli for sediments of Sasanian Persian culture“
There’s an entire academic field dedicated to studying Persian influence on the Talmud.
It’s been around since the 1800s.
Scholars have known for 150+ years.
PART 7: THE SCOPE IS MASSIVE
What the Persian Context Includes
“The chapter discusses the broader significance of talmudic discussions of Persians, Persian culture, Sasanian royalty, its bureaucracy, and its priesthood; the Talmud’s use of Iranian loanwords; talmudic engagement with Sasanian law, its institutions, and technical terminology; the Zoroastrian context of talmudic ritual taxonomies and classifications; the Iranian context of talmudic narratives and myths“
Not just words. Not just concepts.
Law. Institutions. Rituals. Classifications. Narratives. Myths.
Everything.
PART 8: ZOROASTRIANS AS “INTERFAITH INTERLOCUTORS”
Direct Interaction Admitted
“In fact, Secunda argues that Zoroastrians may have been interfaith interlocutors for the Babylonian rabbis… Stories in the Bavli indicate familiarity with Zoroastrian ideas and rituals. A few rabbis may have frequented Zoroastrian religious spaces or at least had an understanding of foreign magical practices“
Rabbis went to Zoroastrian temples.
They studied Zoroastrian practices.
They incorporated them into Judaism.
PART 9: THE SASANIAN CONTEXT IS FUNDAMENTAL
Cannot Be Understood Without It
“Although the Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, has been a text central and vital to the Jewish canon since the Middle Ages, the context in which it was produced has been poorly understood. Delving deep into Sasanian material culture and literary remains, Shai Secunda pieces together the dynamic world of late antique Iran, providing an unprecedented and accessible overview of the world that shaped the Bavli“
The world that shaped the Bavli = Sasanian Persia.
The Talmud cannot be understood without understanding Persian context.
PART 10: ENTIRE BOOKS WRITTEN ON THIS
Major Academic Works
“The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context” by Shai Secunda
- Published by University of Pennsylvania Press
- Entire book demonstrating Persian context is fundamental
“Babylonian rabbinic elite display the influence of Persian culture, law, theological and general Weltanschauung”
Culture. Law. Theology. Worldview.
ALL influenced by Persia.
PART 11: SCHOLARS URGE MASTERY OF PERSIAN
Required for Talmud Study
“In 1982, the late E.S. Rosenthal urged the mastery of Middle Persian, the Sassanian lingua franca, as a gateway to Talmud study“
You cannot properly study the Talmud without knowing Persian.
That’s what scholars admit.
PART 12: THE JEWS WERE AT EASE IN PERSIA
They Liked It There
“By and large, the two communities coexisted peacefully; as the late third-century R. Huna put it, the Babylonian ‘exiles’ were at ease in Babylonia, as the other exiles – those in the Roman world – were not“
“Jews and Persians lived in close proximity in Mesopotamia for over 12 centuries; for nearly all that time one or another Iranian dynasty ruled the country as a province of its empire”
12 centuries of peaceful coexistence.
Jews were MORE comfortable in Persia than in Rome.
PART 13: ZOROASTRIANISM MORE COMPATIBLE WITH JUDAISM
Why the Influence Worked
“Zoroastrianism was, if anything, on the whole, a more benign presence than either Roman paganism or Christianity. Moreover, its theological and ritual structure was more in tune with that of Rabbinic Judaism than Roman paganism was“
Zoroastrianism’s structure aligned with Judaism better than anything else.
That’s why the influence was so profound and natural.
PART 14: RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT EXPLICITLY PERSIAN
The Core Doctrines
“The Bavli is full of Iranian words and motifs, such as the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, that are familiar in Zoroastrianism“
Resurrection of the dead = Iranian motif
Last judgment = Iranian motif
Explicitly stated by scholars.
PART 15: THE “IRANO-TALMUDICA” FIELD
150+ Years of Scholarship
“From the beginning it was recognized that Persia formed part of the imperial and cultural context of the Talmud and a better understanding of it would enhance our knowledge of much of Babylonian Jewish civilization“
Recognized from the beginning.
150+ years ago.
They’ve always known Persia was fundamental.
WHAT THIS PROVES
The Academic Community Admits:
- ✅ The Babylonian Talmud (foundation of modern Judaism) was written in Persia
- ✅ Rabbis spoke Persian and absorbed Persian culture
- ✅ Hundreds of Persian loanwords integrated into Jewish texts
- ✅ Rabbis were criticized in the Talmud itself for being “too Persianized”
- ✅ Zoroastrian concepts (resurrection, judgment) are throughout the Bavli
- ✅ Jewish law borrowed from Persian legal codes
- ✅ Rabbis visited Zoroastrian temples and studied their practices
- ✅ An entire academic field (Irano-Talmudica) exists studying this
- ✅ Multiple academic books document the Persian context
- ✅ Scholars say you cannot understand the Talmud without knowing Persian
THE SUPPRESSION ISN’T IGNORANCE
They Know. They’ve Published It. They Just Don’t Teach It.
Academic sphere: “Yes, obviously Persian influence is fundamental to the Talmud”
Public education: Complete silence
Religious institutions: Deny or minimize
The evidence: Published in university presses, academic journals, scholarly books
The public awareness: Essentially zero
WHY THIS MATTERS
This isn’t speculation. This isn’t theory. This isn’t “some scholars think maybe.”
This is mainstream academic consensus published by:
- University of Pennsylvania Press
- Cambridge University Press
- Major academic journals
- Encyclopaedia Iranica
- Jewish Virtual Library
- Library of Congress presentations
The scholars admit it.
The evidence is overwhelming.
The field exists.
The books are published.
But nobody teaches it to the public.
That’s the suppression.
Not hiding evidence.
Publishing evidence in academic journals while ensuring the general public never learns about it.
THE RECEIPTS
All citations above are from:
- Shai Secunda, “The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context” (University of Pennsylvania Press)
- Yaakov Elman (creator of Irano-Talmudica field)
- Encyclopaedia Iranica (official Persian academic resource)
- Jewish Virtual Library
- Cambridge Core academic journals
- Library of Congress presentations
This is not fringe scholarship.
This is mainstream academic consensus.
They just don’t tell you about it.
CONCLUSION
When you show people this evidence, they’ll say:
- “That’s just one scholar’s opinion”
- “You’re exaggerating”
- “That’s not mainstream”
Show them this document.
These are THE mainstream scholars. Publishing in THE major academic presses. Creating entire academic FIELDS dedicated to this. For 150+ years.
The confession is in the academic literature.
Good Thoughts. Good Words. Good Deeds.
Asha prevails. The fire never went out.