Where did heaven and hell teaching originate?

Answer 1

At no time in Jewish history have the concepts of heaven and hell played a role in its teachings. This is supported by Jewish writings dating back to the Babylonian exile including the Tanach (Jewish Bible) which makes almost no mention of what might happen when we die. The Sadducees, a minority group amongst the Jews which ceased to exist with the destruction of the Second Temple, did not accept the idea of life after death. The Pharisees, the main movement with Judaism and the ancestors of modern Judaism, did accept the concept of life after death but did not have a concept of heaven and hell.

The Christian concepts of heaven and hell have their origins in several regional religions of the time including Zoroastrianism and the various religions found among the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians.

Answer 2

The idea of heaven and hell came from the Zoroastrian religion. In 586 BCE, Judah was annexed by Babylonia and many of its people deported to Babylon, with no expectation of ever being able to return. However, the Persians under Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon soon afterwards and allowed those Jews who wished to return to Judah to do so. He even promised them funds from the royal treasury for the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple. As a result of this kindness and generosity, Cyrus is treated with almost divine regard in the Book of Isaiah:
Verse 44:28: "That saith of Cyrus. He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." Verse 45:1: "Thus saith the Lord to his appointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden ..." Verse 45:4: "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee even though thou has not known me."
The Jews had a high regard for the Persians, so it is natural that they would have been receptive to ideas from the Persian religion, Zoroastrianism. We also know that the Persian eunuch Nehemiah and the priest Ezra were sent by the Persian kings to Judah supposedly to teach the Jews about their own religion.

Heaven and hell, as places of reward and punishment, had always been part of Zoroastrian belief. However, prior to the Babylonian Exile, the Hebrews did not believe in heaven and hell. Even in the post-Exilic period, not everyone accepted the concepts of immortality, as shown by Ecclesiastes 9:5: 'For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten'. Even as late as the first century CE, the Sadducee sect of Judaism did not accept the concept of heaven as a place of reward. In the end, Judaism discarded hell as unworthy of God, but the concept became part of Christian theology.

Answer 3

The existence of a spiritual place or places in which the souls of the dead are treated in accordance with their behavior when alive (reward or punishment), is an ancient tradition of mankind worldwide, which finds expression (in differing details) in various religions. It cannot be conclusively proven as long as we're alive; and that's the whole point: God tests us as to whether we will live in a way that demonstrates that we're aware of His presence, even though His presence is not readily visible. In Judaism, this belief is stated in the Talmud (Mishna, Sanhedrin 11:1) and codified by Rambam (Maimonides, 1135-1204), and is mentioned in various verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good old age." Coming to his fathers does not mean simply to be buried with them, since Abraham was not buried with his ancestors. Such verses are stated many times.

The prophets are more explicit with such references (see Isaiah 26:19 and 66:24, Daniel 12:13, Zechariah 3:7, 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Kings ch.2, Ecclesiastes 12:7).

See also:

The afterlife in Judaism

Did Judaism get its beliefs from Zoroastrianism?