LWHHuma 1301 – Ancient Hebrews – chapter 4 & exercises

2 nd ed. – LWH- Huma 1301 – Ancient Hebrews – chapter 4 & exercises The Hebrew Civilization History of the Hebrews The Hebrews had a extraordinary historical importance and legacy for Western civilization despite their political insignificance among the great empires of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Hebrews exerted the greatest influence of any ancient peoples of the Middle East and Egypt on the thought and life of the modern Western world. The first time that the Hebrews appear in history they are in Mesopotamia and are members of the Semitic language family. They were originally a wandering pastoral people Their nomadic beginnings makes it difficult to locate their exact origin. According to the Bible the Hebrew patriarch Abraham was from Summer. From about 1900 to 1500 B.C. the Hebrews gradually migrated from Mesopotamia to southern Syria known as Canaan, and from there to Egypt. During this period of time a tribe of Hebrews who claimed decent form the grandson of Abraham, Jacob, began to call themselves “ Israelites ” after the Jacob’s alternate name. Israel means “soldier of God” and in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament received the name Israel for wrestling with an angel for a whole night. During a period of famine the Hebrews move to Egypt that had plenty of grain and stay to live there. The Hebrews were then enslaved by the new Egyptian dynasty that wanted to expand as an empire and needed slaves to keep the economy running. Around 1250 B.C. (some scholars disagree with this date and place it a abou1500’s B.C.) Moses becomes the leader and hero of the Hebrew people and leads them out of bondage from Egypt into the Sinai peninsula (a desert territory between Egypt and Canaan) in what is known as the exodus. Moses persuaded his people to become worshippers of Yahweh , the name given to God of the Bible and latter on written Jehovah . At this point is where the Hebrews become Israelites because Moses convinced them that that Yahweh was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and therefore the God of Israel was the God now worshiped by them all. After wondering in the Sinai deserts for about a generation the Hebrews under Joshua moved back into the richer lands of Canaan that were occupied now by the Canaanites, another people of the Semitic language. The Canaanites were not willing to share their land with the new comers so the Hebrews had to fight their way into Canaan. This was a long a difficult venture and after Joshua the Hebrews lost their ability to pursue a united military action due to the revival of tribal rivalries. Therefore they only gain some Canaan less fertile lands. Then the Philistines, a non-Semitic people from Asia Minor who conquered most of Canaan about 1050 B.C. giving the land the name of Palestine or Philistine country, invaded the Hebrew territory. Up to this point the Hebrews had been organized in a tribal form with judges or wise men who led their people during difficult times. The Hebrews under this new threat of the Philistines were faced with survival and they decided they needed a tighter national form of government meet this external challenge. They saw how other nations around them had established kingdoms with their governments and military power, and the Hebrews wanted the same kind of political and military strength. The Hebrews demanded to a have a monarchy, Samuel a tribal judge and a prophet that announced messages from God, with the force of

personality to gain the adherence of all the Israelite tribes, selected for the Hebrews a king. Samuel anointed the first king, Saul , to indicate that the new sovereign was the prince chosen by God over His chosen people. Under King Saul the Hebrews became a united people marking the beginning of national unity , or the United Monarchy . Saul then attacked the Philistines using guerrilla tactics of ambush and deception obtaining victories. According to the Bible, confident due to his victories Saul gave into his arrogant and headstrong nature and became ungrateful and disobedient to God. He did not follow Samuel who expressed the will of God, thus Samuel became angered when his influence was disregarded by the king. Samuel totally abandoned Saul, and told the unrepentant king that because he rejected the word of God, God would reject him and give the kingdom to another king. Saul then suffered reverses against the enemy and with his melancholic temperament Saul began to suffer from bouts of depression and irritability. Samuel then travelled to Bethlehem to anoint secretly a young shepherd, thus establishing the royal seat of power in Juda from which later Jesus Christ will descend. David was the young warrior that Samuel supported energetically. David had musical abilities and was sent to the court of Saul to play music to soothe the increasing depression of the king. When Saul brought David with him to battle his armor bearer, David was the only one who dared meet the challenge from the giant at the service of the Philistine. David killed him with his sling by send a stone to his head and then decapitated the giant, and the Philistines left the battle field. David’s popularity and prestige rose as Saul’s sank falling deeper into his bad moods. Saul came to resent David and tried to kill him with a lance and David fled from his court. David ran his own military campaigns achieving one victory after another, while Saul’s forces were failing. In 1005 B.C. Saul was seriously wounded when he decided to confront the enemy in a pitched battle that was lost including the lives of his three sons, in despair Saul killed himself with his sword. David then became king and initiated the most glorious period in Hebrew political history. He was able to unite all the twelve tribes into one kingdom and subdued the philistine, Syrians of Damascus and the troublesome Bedouin tribes. The crown of his military victories was the capture of Jerusalem, the last stronghold of the Canaanites. Jerusalem became the capital of the united kingdom of Israel. David was also a good administrator and under his rule the kingdom of Israel achieved its greatest extent of his power and its highest degree of organization it will ever had in ancient times. The Canaanites had to recognize his rule and in the following generations lost their identity and merged with the Hebrew people. The Hebrews put aside pastoralism and took of farming or urban occupations. David as king obtained forced labor from his subjects and collected taxes after establishing a census. His goal was to build a splendid capital and religious center at Jerusalem and began this large enterprise. But he died before it was completed in 972 B.C.. ( insert photo from Shutterstock: ID: 21658531 King David, Jerusalem ) King Solomon succeeded David. He ruled from 973 – 933 B.C. becoming the last of the three great kings of the Hebrew monarchy. Solomon wanted to finish his father’s work of building Jerusalem. He wanted a capital to be on the level as the other kingdoms which all had their capital, and he wanted to build a splendid temple to house the ” Ark of the Covenant ” that was the biblical chest that contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments that the Bible has Yahweh handing them down to Moses at Mount Sinai. The ark had been carried by the Hebrews in a “tabernacle” or tent when they wondered around, and now Solomon wanted a

Judas, one of the five sons of Mathathias, nicknamed Maccabeus (the hammer), took up the leadership of his people against the retaliation of the Greeks. The brothers became known as the Maccabees Because the Jews were weak militarily Judas fought a guerilla warfare. Under Judas Maccabeus the Jews attained many victories, and by 164 B.C. most of the Holy Land came under their control and they cleansed and reconsecrated the temple. In commemoration of this event an eight-day celebration called Hanukka would be kept every year. Later Judas and three of his brothers died in the struggle without a complete victory. . After twenty years of struggle the Jews under the leadership of the last Maccabean brother, Simon , managed to become independent of the Greeks in 141 B.C. The Jews then had Simon proclaimed leader and high priest and enjoyed their independence under the Maccabean dynasty. Then in 63 B.C. the Roman general Pompey took advantage of the internal feuding of the dynasty to take over Palestine and turn it into a Roman protectorate. In 66 B.C. the Jews revolted against the Romans, but were unable to overcome the mightiest of all ancient empires and lost. The Jews never content under the Romans who were pagans revolted in 70 A.D. and Emperor Titus put down the uprising in a very harsh manner and razed the Temple of Jerusalem which since then has never been rebuilt. Many Jews were taken as slaves by the Romans who annexed Palestine to their empire. Many of these Jewish slaves were employed in building the Colesseum in Rome. Jews gradually left to other parts of the vast Roman Empire. This migration of Jews from Palestine to other countries through the centuries is known as the diaspora becoming a central fact of Jewish existence from then until the twentieth century when the modern state of Israel was created. (insert photo from Shutterstock: ID: 157761 Sack of Jerusalem Temple by Rome. Arch of Titus. Romans carrying the Hebrew Menorah from the Temple as spoils of conquest. ) Hebrew Civilization The Hebrews are important because they exerted the greatest influence of all people of the Middle East on the thought and life of the Western World. Think of the Old Testament, of the Ten Commandments. We find the basis of our morals, ethics, and laws of Western culture and legal systems in these commandments. The Hebrew or Jews are Semitic people (related to the Arabs of today) who lived out of raising herds. They were pastoral and nomadic. They came out of city of UR in Middle East, and settled in Canaan under Abraham. They Hebrews were not united completely because they were divided into tribes who were related by kingship. Each tribe had a patron god. After the Egyptian Exodus with Moses, Monotheism is established as a native cult about 1250 BC. It is obvious with the first 1 st of the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God that commands thou shall have no other gods but Yahweh. Hebrew religious development: The religion of the Hebrews or Jews is Judaism. Based on the Old Testament. Judaism is a product of a long process of change between the time of Moses to the times of Judas Maccabeus. 1250 BC. – 150 BC. Judaism has 4 Stages of growth: 1 Polytheistic stage (pagan) Hebrews worshiped many gods, like other Asian people.

2 National Monolatry – 1250 BC with Moses – to 750 BC. Monolatry is the exclusive worship of only one god, but without denying that other gods exists. With Moses the Jews worship exclusively “Yahweh”, pronounced “Yahweh” and written “Yhwh”. Yahweh was not omnipotent because his power was limited to the land occupied by the Hebrews. He had human like characteristics, therefore the Hebrews conceived God in anthropomorphic terms. God could be good, or be angered and give harsh punishments. As an example is the priest Uzza who was struck dead when he placed his hand on Ark of the Covenent to steady it as it was being transported to Jerusalem violating Gods order of no man touching the ark. During this period the Hebrews made very important contributions to Western thought. The Hebrews believed:  God was not part of nature, but entirely outside of it.  Humans were part of nature, and humans rules over nature by divine will, therefore, humans can control and change nature. - God’s command for humans to multiply and dominate over nature. - “Grow & Multiply.” Humans can alter nature as they pleased. Idea of Transcendence (transcendent theology)- meant that God can be understood in purely abstract or intellectual terms, and humanity had the potential to alter nature to its benefit. Thus, God is not in nature. He is outside nature. He is the Creator of Nature. Nature is a creation of God. With this transcendent theology the ancient Hebrews break away from Mythical Thinking , break away from natural myth . They do not believe that nature has spirits (rivers, forests, animals, rains, etc.) There is no “magic” to influence the spirits or gods to benefit man and influence nature on man’s behalf. Because now man is above all of God’s creation, he can control nature to his benefit. This leads man to seek control, see nature as material reality he can understand and manipulate. This view of life helps man in the development of science and technology to understand and control nature which enables man to progress. This will be a major force in the progress of Western civilization. The Hebrews believe that God is in control of history, because God intervenes in all reality and has a plan for mankind on earth. Examples of this is when God opens the waters to allow the Hebrews under Moses cross over to escape the persecuting Egyptian army, and when a Hebrew general prays to God to allow the day to last longer so that he can have a complete victory over the enemy during a battle and God maintains the sun in the sky for several hours more than normal to allow complete victory. God is lord of history, thus historical events are seen as God’s will, such as victories, and invasions and captivity as God’s punishments. ( insert photo from Shutterstock: Moses ID: 2744738 ) With the Hebrews comes the idea of the will of God & will of men, and how they can agree or oppose each other. Immanism- Pagan belief- God is in nature – (such as in animals and other objects) 3. Monothesim: Belief in the existence of only on God for all mankind. This occurs during the era of the Judges when the Hebrews have settled in Palestine. By prophet the Hebrews

By removing the gods from nature, demystifying of nature, the Hebrews paved an opening to the beginning of scientific thought. Now you see nature as purely physical reality with its own operating laws. It’s a prerequisite of scientific thought. The Hebrews did not create theoretical science, they were concerned with religion and morality. The Hebrew, unlike the Greek were not philosophical or scientific thinkers. They were not concerned to discover nature’s self – operating physical principle or natural laws. The natural phenomenon were seen as God intervening in an orderly manner in his creation. They saw God’s handiwork. The Hebrews were concerned with God’s will, not the human intellect, with feelings of the heart, not the power of the mind, and with righteous behavior, not abstract thought. Why worry about the origin of things, when God created all of nature. God’s existence was based on conviction and revelation, not on rational inquiry and reason as the Greeks. The Hebrews as religious thinkers and the Greeks as rational thinkers were the two civilizations of antiquity that broke away from mythical thinking opening the way to scientific and human progress for the West. Christianity – retained this Hebrew view of transcendent God and the orderliness of his creation – Concepts that would also accommodate Greek science and philosophy. The Hebrew did not speculate about God’s nature. They knew that God is : - Good - Made ethical demand on his people - Is attentive to human needs Individual & Moral Autonomy: With believing that God was one, sovereign, transcendent and good the Hebrews made possible a new awareness of the individual. As man confronted God, had a relationship with God the Hebrews developed an awareness of self or the I. The individual became conscious of his or her own person, moral autonomy and personal worth. They knew man was created on God’s image, had reason to understand and know God’s will, had an immortal soul, and was put on earth to worship God and attain salvation, not just be a servant or slave to powerful priests and kings. Man is an individual who has dignity and self worth. The Hebrews were the first in history to have these beliefs and ideas:  God possessed the total freedom & He gave man moral freedom, the ability to choose between good and evil.  God did not create men to be slaves. Men have freedom to choose to obey God and men should be free to live a life according to God’s will.  God made men autonomous and sovereign.  Man is God’s highest creation, on top of nature, had reason to choose good from sin, and therefore is responsible for their choice. Freedom - meant voluntary obedience to God’s commands. Mans salvation and happiness on earth depended on this obedience. Disobedience brought evil, suffering and death.

Man has freedom to obey or disobey God. The Hebrews conceived the idea of moral freedom that each individual is responsible for his or her moral actions. These concepts of human dignity and moral autonomy are at the core of Western tradition and inherited by Christianity. Social Justice: The classical prophets responded to problems that emanated from Israel’s changed social structure from a tribal society to a kingdom with class distinctions and the rise of kings, government, commerce and cities. By the 700s BC there was a big disparity between the wealthy & the poor. The prophets saw these social evils as religious sin. They denounced pomp, excessive wealth, heartless rich, and demanded justice. They insisted on God’s compassion, and the obligation to care for the poor and needy. God demands righteous living individually & socially. The Hebrew prophets brought:  Hope that life on earth could be improved, to overcome poverty and injustice.  Individual could elevate himself morally and respect the dignity and rights of others. Thus, the prophets “social justice” teaching shaped a social conscience that has become a vital part of the Western Tradition. These were entirely new ideas in the ancient world and thus historians call this period the “prophetic revolution”. The social reform movements in the West that since the 19 th century struggled to end slavery, discrimination and child labor, defend the working class wages and working conditions, have as the origin of their convictions the teaching of the prophets. We will mention the legacy to the ancient Hebrews to the Western World. Legacy of the Ancient Jews: o Great value the Western World gives to the individual. Because men are created in God’s image and possess free will and a conscience. o Basis of Christianity- From which originates Western Civilization’s view on God human nature with free will, reason, individualistic and social justice. o Forms the basis and origins of the Judeo – Christian tradition. o Hebrew vision of a future messianic age, a golden age of peace and social justice is at the root of the Western idea of progress that men can build a more just society. This gives man hope in the future. o This perception man and society has influenced modern reform movements. o From Judaism, Christianity and Islam are monotheist religions. Thus descendents in belief from Moses and Hebrew prophets. . Law & Literature: Ancient Hebrews were not great scientist, builders or artists. Even Solomon’s temple was not really a Hebrew construction or creation because Phoenician masons and artists were hired to handle the most difficult tasks of the project. In the field of art no sculpture and no painting because the Hebrew religious code prohibited making images or “likeness” of anything from

The Literature of the Hebrews is the finest of any ancient civilization of the Middle East. Found in the Old Testament & the books of the Apocrypha (ancient Hebrew works not recognized as scriptural because of doubtful religious authority) The Old Testament is God’s revelation that explains origin and purpose of man’s life, that God is the author of the universe, contains God’s law and will and His moral code. It is also a record of Hebrew history, gives spiritual guidance and hope of salvation. Early Hebrew Art and Architecture . The Second Commandment that forbids the making of images (Exodus 20:4). This is the reason why God was not represented in any form in art. Thus, there is no official Jewish sculpture or painting. Because the early Hebrew had a nomadic existence, what sacred objects they had were transportable and kept in tents. These early works were not for public display because of the very holiness of Yahweh and the Hebrews’ sense of their deity’s power. Only a few persons were even permitted to see or be in the vicinity of these sacred objects. Once the tribes were united, however, Solomon enshrined the Ark of the Covenant and other ritualistic items in the splendid Temple that he built in Jerusalem. Solomon meant the Temple to be the central national shrine of the Hebrews and a symbol of his dynasty. Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians when they carried off the Jews in the early sixth century B.C. The description of the Temple in 1 Kings makes it sound similar to the “long-house” temples found in other civilizations of that time and probably indicated the influence of foreign neighbors. According to the Bible, Solomon’s Temple was a rectangular building comprising three sections: a porch, a sanctuary, or main hall, and an inner sanctum that housed the Ark of the Covenant. Artists and craftspeople decorated the interior with carvings of floral designs and cherubs, highlighting these with gold. When the Jews were released from the Babylonian Captivity by the Persians, they returned to their homeland and reconstructed the capital city of Jerusalem and it’s Temple. The Second Temple, completed in the late sixth century B.C., exhibited a simpler design and decoration scheme than did Solomon’s Temple. Greek influences became apparent in Jewish architecture during Hellenistic times. John Hyrcanus (135-106 B.C.), constructed a fortress-place at present-day Araq el Emir in Jordan that shows this influence clearly. During the reign of King Herod the Great from 37 to 4 B.C architecture in Judea exhibited a further mix of Greek styles with Jewish motifs. The various buildings in Herod’s complex contained many representative Greco-Roman features, including fluted Corinthian columns and marble facing. In Hero’s palace, Classical patterned mosaics were combined with traditional Jewish decoration of flowered, fruits, and intertwined vines and branches.

Like the First Temple, this one contained many rooms, including the Holy of Holies where the menorah and the table where the prelists placed the consecrated, unleavened bread eaten dunning Passover, the festival that commemorates the exodus from Egypt. When the Romans finally crushed the Jewish revolt in A.D. 70, the Temple, except for the Wailing Wall, was destroyed, and its sacred objects were transported to Rome. ________________________________________________________ In conclusion, the Hebrews with the Greeks broke away from a mythical world of pantheism where objects have a spirit or god. These civilizations developed an individual’s dignity and freedom, and brought about a rational thought which allowed questioning, experimenting and the development of science. All this allowed progress and individual freedom to develop in the Western world. Chapter 4 Exercises Chapter 4 The Hebrew Civilization 1. History of the Hebrews: Place the following words in the correct chronological order as they occurred in history, from first to last. Joshua / diaspora / Abraham / David / judges / Samuel / Saul / united monarchy (kingdom) / Solomon / Jerusalem as capital / Moses & exodus / Israel / finished building the Temple of Jerusalem / destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem by Romans / Ten commandments / Maccabean revolt / Babylonian Captivity . Abraham/ Israel / Moses & Exodus / Joshua / Judges / Samuel / Saul / United Monarchy (kingdom)/ David / Jerusalem as capital/ Solomon / finished building the temple of Jerusalem / Ten commandments / Babylonian Captivity / Destruction of the temple of Jerusalem by Romans / Maccabean revolt. 2. Moses persuaded his people to become worshippers of Yahweh 3. Palestine received its name from the Philistines who settled in that land. 4. What does Hannukah commemorate? the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt 5. The difference between monolatry and monotheism is monolatry accepts the existence of other gods. 6. The idea of Transcendence was a break with mythical thinking. 7. The basic doctrines of the prophets’ teaching were monotheism, ethical behavior, righteousness 8. After the Babylonian captivity when the Hebrews returned to Palestine their concern became the reconstruction of the capital City of Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon that were destroyed. 9. Explain how did the Hebrews opened the mind into the beginning of scientific thought, even if the Hebrews were not concerned with theoretical science nor were scientific thinkers.