The Origin of the Tradition of the יצר הטוב and יצר הרע

The rabbinic tradition of the good and evil yesarim inherent in man is wide-spread in rabbinic and other sources. There seems to be a development from pre-Christian origins to fully-fledged later, Talmudic and Amoraic perspectives. This article traces this development from its later forms back to its possible origin via relevant Jewish texts from Hellenistic writings (Ben Sira and the LXX of Proverbs) and Qumran. It concludes that this tradition was already in use in Palestine during the 2nd century B.C.E.