NOTES
ON THE HEBREWS
- People
- Mesopotamian;
patriarch Abraham left Ur
c. 2000 BC
- Settled
in Canaan
some time before 1500 BC
- Emigrated
to Egypt,
probably about the time of the Hyksos domination in the Third Intermediate
Period (1800-1600 BC)
- Experienced
forced labor in Egypt
- Left
Egypt
c. 1250 BC; Exodus forged identity as a people and formed view of God
- History
- No
extant written accounts of Hebrews before the Exodus; Bible written between
1200 and 150 BC
- Other
accounts:
i.
Semitic-speaking tribes settled in northern Egypt after 1800
BC;
ii.
Foreigners dominated during the Third Intermediate Period;
iii.
“Habiru” (landless aliens from “abiru” or foreigner) expelled or forced to
build garrisoned cities for pharaohs
- Religion
- Period
of the Exodus crucial: view of God changed from Henotheism to Monotheism
- Conception
of God:
i.
Absolute transcendence;
ii.
Unitary;
iii.
Incorporeal (could not be described or represented in visual terms);
iv.
YHVH (Yahweh) or “to be” (God the creator);
v.
Eternal (Alpha and Omega);
vi.
Omniscient;
vii.
Omnipotent;
viii.
Omnipresent;
ix.
Omnibenevolent;
x.
Unchanging;
xi.
Adonai or Lord
- Source
of the moral laws/standards: Covenant.
***
Covenant was solemn agreement
between God and his People given to Moses on Mount Sinai
whereby the Hebrews received and accepted God’s law and God promised His blessing
on His People. Failure to observe covenant brought punishment (Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jeremiah) ***
- Conception
of human nature:
i.
Created by God in His image;
ii.
Given dominion over earth;
iii.
Possessed moral autonomy;
iv.
Owed obedience to the Torah;
v.
Should live in accord with divine will (Prophets warned people to avoid God’s
wrath by living good and ethical lives);
vi.
Communicated with God through prayer and meditation.
- Political
History
- Election
of Saul as first king (reigned 1024-1000 BC)
- Capital
at Jerusalem
established by David (1000-961 BC)
- Wealth
from commerce and taxes used by Solomon (ruled 961-922 BC) to construct
the first temple at Jerusalem
- After
Solomon, nation split
into two halves – Israel in
the North (Israel means
wrestler with God) and Judah in the South (fourth
son of Jacob and Leah and one of the 12 tribes of Israel)
- Israel
conquered by the Assyrians 722 BC
- Judah
conquered by the Chaldeans 586 BC (Babylonian Captivity. Prophets: God
had intended conquest as a punishment; Jeremiah told of new covenant between
the individual and God)
- Persians
conquered Mesopotamia in 537 BC and allowed Hebrews to return to Jerusalem
- Second
temple dedicated 515 BC
- No
independent state until 142 BC
As
Perry notes in his section on “The Hebrew Idea of History,” the importance
of God’s dealings with his people in the past was important to the Jewish
understanding of the present and the future. Thus, the Hebrews were the first
people to write long narratives of human events in order to understand God’s
will and purpose.