The Sages expressed mixed views regarding the ancient Persians. Rabban Gamliel praised them for their modesty and refined manners, while Rav Yoseph was far less complimentary, branding them a nation “consecrated and destined for Gehinnom.”
Why such harsh words for a people known for culture and refinement?
Destined for Gehinnom
When we observe a primitive people who rob and plunder, we attribute their actions to their savage and uncultured nature. However, when dealing with a civilized nation, we expect them to recognize the value of just and equitable conduct. When a highly-developed society is gripped by a belligerent spirit of conquest and oppression, like the ancient Persians who subjugated the Jewish communities under their dominion, they are destined to be judged harshly by the Eternal Judge.
Thus Rav Yoseph described them as “consecrated and destined for Gehinnom.” This judgment stems not from a primitive nature, but from a deliberate choice. The cultured Persians should have chosen the path of goodness, but instead opted for the path of violence and subjugation.
Forgetting God
This idea may also be heard in King David’s call for God’s justice against evil nations:
The Eternal has made Himself known, executing judgment... The wicked will return to the grave, all the nations who forget God. (Psalm 9:17-18)
The phrase “nations who forget God” implies that these nations ought to remember Him. They possess the intellectual and cultural capacity to recognize the Creator and to emulate His ways of justice and kindness.
Yet they choose otherwise. Their wrongdoing is not the blindness of ignorance, but the willful act of those who deliberately pursue a path of moral treachery. They are truly “nations who forget God.”
(Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. I on Berakhot 8b (1:111))
Illustration image: 5th century BCE carving of Persian and Median soldiers