Lesson 5 – Review of Hebrews. Geography – Hebrew Kingdom.

Lesson 5 – Review of Hebrews

Geography – Hebrew Kingdom

Early Hebrew History• Hebrews Originated in Mesopotamia and

migrated the current geographic area covering Israel, Jordan, The West Bank and Gaza.

• Were forced laborers for the Egyptians.• Made an Exodus under the leadership of

Moses, who transformed and united them into a nation.

• Saul united the 12 tribes upon their return from Egypt.

• Under David’s rule Israel reach the height of its political power and prosperity.

• The kingdom of Israel split into two, Israel and Judah, after the death of Solomon owing to Solomon's onerous taxes and his favoritism toward the Tribe of Judah, located in the southern part of the kingdom.

• 722 BCE Israel fell to the Assyrians. The Jews were dispersed, away from their homeland. Dispersion is the root of the word Diaspora, which describes Jews that live outside of the borders of Israel.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of about 900 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in

and around the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank.

The Legacy of the Ancient Jews

The Dead Sea

Known in the Bible as the "Salt Sea" or the "Sea of the Arabah," this inland body of water is appropriately named because its high mineral content allows nothing to live in its waters.  Other post-biblical names for the Dead Sea include the "Sea of Sodom," the "Sea of Lot," the "Sea of Asphalt" and the "Stinking Sea."  In the Crusader period, it was sometimes called the "Devil's Sea."  All of these names reflect something of the nature of this lake

• Hebrews now called Jews were allowed back from exile in 538 to Judah.

• Jews regained their independence 200 BCE but fell after 100 years to Roman control.

• Hebrew Scripture represents 1000 years of history in thirty nine separate books called the bible.

• Religious inspiration of the Hebrew Bible (Torah) and relationship to humans is foundation of Western tradition

• The darkest moment in the ancient history of the Hebrews was The Babylonian captivity.

• The darkest moment in the modern history of the Jews was the recent Holocaust, carried by the Nazi Political Party, which controlled Germany and is responsible for World War 2.

God: One, Sovereign, Transcendent, and Good

• Monotheism-belief in one God • Yahweh (God) is eternal unlike many Eastern gods• Hebrew God Transcended nature, above it not part of

it• In contrast to earlier civilizations, the Hebrew God is

one, with good intentions towards humans, which made the Hebrew view of the world very different from the world view of the ancient Near East.

Although a strict prohibition of the use of images inhibited representational art among the Hebrews, in Hellenistic times scenes from Hebrew history appeared on the walls and floors of Jewish synagogues.

Here the prophet Samuel is depicted anointing David as King of Israel

The Individual and Moral Autonomy• Near Eastern Religion used images to depict their gods• Hebrews believed God could not and should not be represented in

images• God became the center of Hebrew life. No others could be

worshiped (kings, generals, priests)• They learned to treat people with respect and compassion.• Human dignity and moral autonomy are the core of Western

Tradition.

The Hebrew Idea of HistoryThe old Testament

• God is profoundly involved in human affairs.• God cares, teaches, and punishes.• Valued future and past.• God will establish peace, prosperity, happiness and

brotherhood: Utopian yet imbedded in western culture.• Hebrews suffered consequences for sinning and were

enslaved.• A merciful God chose Moses to free them at the Red

Sea and appoint prophets, which had spiritual impact on their belief.

The Prophets• According to the prophets, God's key demand was for justice.• During the age of classical or literary prophecy prophets responded

to problems in Israel's social structure.• According to the text, the eighth-century prophets prophesied during

a time of social distress and moral confusion.• Hebrew recommendations to seek a more just and equitable society

may be best associated with the work of eighth-century prophets.• All of the following explain the Hebrews' regard to God as fully

sovereign:

1. He ruled all and was subject to nothing.

2. His existence and power did not derive from a pre-existing realm.

3. No realm of being preceded God in time or surpassed him in power.

4. He is eternal and omnipotent.