Whereas the Hebrews provided an ethical religion for the West (in the form of Judaism and the idea of ethical monotheism), the Ancient Greeks provided an ethical philosophy. Both focused on the role of individual (and not community) responsibility, and both complemented each other (ethical irrationalism in the form of religion and ethical rationalism in the form of philosophy) when merged later in Christianity. I'll bring this up again in my remarks on the ancient Greeks.
The ancient Hebrews, who migrated from Mesopotamia to Palestine--the origins of the word "Hebrew" mean nomad or migrant--never achieved importance as a political state. In fact, the people existed as an independent kingdom (and a rather small one at that) for only a very brief time in the tenth century BCE. The Hebrew development of an ethical, monotheistic religion that requires following a code of moral behavior, however, proved to be of lasting importance to the course of Western history. Judaism proved to be the seedbed for the later emergence of Christianity and Islam. Judaism, along with the other two monotheistic religions, helped to provide an ethical basis for civilization in the West. (Please remember that it is the exact same God in Judaism, Christianity and Islam--just different names are used.
In addition to the development of a religion based on ethical monotheism, which later became the basis of the Western religious experience, the Hebrews also succeeded in shifting the emphasis from the "community" to the "individual." In the new religion, the "individual" himself was responsible for behavior (in accord with the standards of morality, the ten commandments) and his later judgment at the hands of God; it was not the community that had to worry about a collective sacrifice to appease the gods.
Some recommended online lectures and websites
- The Hebrews (Wikipedia)
- Gerald Larue, Who were the Hebrews?
- Ancient Israel
- Israel (Ancient History Encyclopedia)
- For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant website for this unit of the course. Send the title of the site, the URL and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied in this unit.