I. Stage One: Judean Identity & Sacrifice
II. Stage Two: Judaism as an Ethical Religion
IDs: Torah, covenant, Canaan/Israel/Palestine

Through the covenant, the Judean religion provided a united identity for the Hebrews as a group. It began as a tribal faith which emphasized sacrifice and changed over time into an ethical religion - Judaism – around 500
BCE.
Why did this change occur?

“Teaching”
Originally oral tradition
Written down between
600 and 400 BCE

Hebrews
Israelites

1. Abram (ca.
1600 BCE)
Palestine
Canaan
Abraham
Ur (Babylonia)

2. “Tribal” Religion – Gives Identity to a group
Covenant
Chosen people
Canaan circumcision
Monotheism??

Altar
Ritual
Animals (birds, sheep, cows)
Abraham
Isaac

B. Egyptian Exile  Moses (ca. 1300
BCE) covenant chosen people promised land –
Canaan,
Palestine, Israel,
Judah, Judea
Ten
Commandments
(oral tradition)

C. Kingdom of Israel, 1025-928 BCE
State: Union of kingship & religion
Saul
David
Solomon
First Temple
Jerusalem
Split  Israel &
Judah

Religion: Rituals of elite priests & kings
12 Tribes
Priests
Kings
Rituals
Sacrifices of animals in temple

II. Stage Two: Judaism as an Ethical
Religion
A. Babylonian Captivity,
722-516 BCE
Neo-Assyrians
Nebuchadnezzar
1. Begins Pattern of Exile and Return
2. Torah written down

Torah & Laws written down
God - not anthropomorphic (like humans)
No afterlife
Emphasis on morality rather than sacrifice
Judean Religion 
Judaism

B. Return to Palestine as Subject People
516 BCE – 70 CE
Second Temple built
(516 BCE)
Ruled by empires:
Persians, Hellenistic states, & Rome
Jews

C. Exile  Diaspora (70 CE)
• Expulsion of Jews from
Palestine in 70 CE
• Temple destroyed
• diaspora

*Exile and diaspora
*Rabbis
*Social & religious identity fused

Through the covenant, the Judean religion provided a united identity for the Hebrews as a group. It began as a tribal faith which emphasized sacrifice and changed over time into an ethical religion - Judaism – around 500
BCE.
Why did this change occur?

1. Adam & Eve & The Fall (pp. 1-3): How does this account justify patriarchy?
2. Adam & Eve & The Fall of Man (pp. 1-3): What does this account explain about the world & human condition?
3. The Call of Abram & Covenant of Circumcision (pp. 3-4): How did God change Abram’s identity? How did the covenant create an identity for Abraham’s descendants (the Israelites)?
4. The Covenant of Circumcision & Abraham Tested (pp. 4-5):
How do the beliefs and practices emphasized in this section reflect the historical context (from lecture)?
5. Moses and the Burning Bush and the Ten Commandments (pp.
5-7): How was the relationship between God and Moses different from the relationship between the Mesopotamian gods & Hammurabi or Gilgamesh?
6. Moses and the Burning Bush and the Ten Commandments (pp.
5-7): How do the beliefs and practices emphasized in this section reflect the historical context (from lecture)?