Download WHICh2Sec6Hebrews _ Judaism-2015

Hebrews & Judaism
HEBREWS
• Small group of people who had a great
influence on world history
• Their religion became known as Judaism, and
is the “parent” religion of Christianity and
Islam, which (together) are well over ½ of the
world’s people!!
• The early part of this story can be viewed as
fact or myth. Viewed as either, it is very
important.
c. 2000BC: ABRAHAM/
IBRAHIM-1st Patriarch
• Abraham came to believe in one God, with no physical form
• At God’s command, he & wife Sarah left Sumer & settled in Canaan
•
*
Canaan=Palestine & Israel
God made a covenant with Abraham: Abraham would obey God, and
God would make him the father of many people who would be a
blessing to the world.
ABRAHAM/ IBRAHIM
• Had two sons
• Ishmael – became ancestor of Arabs
• Isaac – became ancestor of the Hebrews. Isaac
had a son Jacob who had 12 sons. Their
descendants became the “12 Tribes of Israel”.
Slavery in Egypt
• c. 1700BC: There is a famine, so the Hebrews leave
Canaan & go to Egypt. (story of Joseph)
• At first the pharaoh treats them well & lets them
settle in Egypt. A later pharaoh turns against them
and makes them slaves.
• c. 1200BC: Moses/Moshe/Musa frees the Hebrews
from slavery & leads them out of Egypt, and into the
desert of the Sinai peninsula. The journey out of
• Egypt is called the exodus. Egypt is the
RETURN TO CANAAN
• c. 1200: Moses climbs Mt. Sinai, gets the
Ten Commandments, laws revealed by
God, setting out the moral duty to God and
other people.
• God renewed the covenant (sacred
agreement) with the Hebrews: they would
obey Him, and He would give them the
land of Canaan as their home.
• Hebrews put the Ten Commandments in a
special box called the “Ark of the
Covenant”
RETURN TO CANAAN
• Hebrews returned to Canaan. Fought with the
Canaanites and other local people.
• Defeated the Canaanites & settled.
• They were a loose confederation of tribes, but
gradually became more united.
• The nation was called “Israel”. Their with
leaders were called Judges.
• Prophets tried to warn the people when they
did not keep the law.
1000 BC KINGS
• Hebrews eventually chose kings:
– Saul-war leader
– David-most famous king & war leader, who
established Jerusalem as the capital
– Solomon-known for wealth & wisdom (& many
wives). Built the 1st Temple in Jerusalem
DIVISION-about 900BC
• The leaders after Solomon could not
agree. About 900BC, the original
nation of Israel split into 2 parts
– 10 northern tribes kept the name “Israel”,
and established a capital at Samaria
– 2 southern tribes took the name “Judah”,
and kept the old capital at Jerusalem.
They became known as the Jews.
DEFEAT
• 722BC- The fierce Assyrians attacked “Israel”
(northern tribes), conquered them and
annihilated most of their people
• Miraculously, the Assyrians did not attack &
conquer “Judah”
• Later, 587BC – The Chaldeans (who had
meanwhile defeated the Assyrians) attacked
& conquered Judah.
• The Chaldeans destroyed the temple and took
the people of Judah to Babylon as captives.
CYRUS TO THE RESCUE
• 539BC: Cyrus the Great of Persia defeated the
Chaldeans.
• Cyrus proclaimed freedom to the people
captured by the Chaldeans, including the
Jews, allowed them to return home, and gave
them assistance in rebuilding their temple.
DEVELOPMENT OF JUDAISM
• Hebrew Scriptures (Called the “Old
Testament” by Christians):
– Torah (1st five books of the “Old Testament)
– History of Jewish people
– Writings that include poetry and prophesy
LAW
• Mosaic laws include the 10 Commandments.
These are the broad principles.
• There are also about 600 other laws that fill
many details, such as penalties for crimes,
what they can and cannot eat, etc.
– They are in similar to Hammurabi’s code. For
instance, they include “an eye for an eye”.
– However, they place a higher value on human life.
Also, they include laws requiring charity to the
poor and disadvantaged. For instance, part of the
grain in every field had to be left to the poor.
ETHICAL MONOTHEISM
• Ethical monotheism:
– Belief in a single God
– Belief that God wants people to behave ethically,
to treat other people fairly.
– Ethical monotheism is the main contribution of
Judaism to word civilization. They passed it on to
Christianity and Islam.
Evolving view of God
• At first, the Hebrews regarded God as a force
to be obeyed & feared.
• Began to believe in “free will”, that God gives
a choice between good and evil. People have
free will to choose.
• Gradually, they began to believe that people
should love God and obey him out of love, not
just fear.