Who are the Hebrews?

What is Judaism?  The religion of the Hebrews  The Jewish/Hebrew Bible is part of the Christian Bible (The Old Testament)

Who is Abraham?  According to the Bible, God told Abraham to leave Mesopotamia and look for a new land.  He left Mesopotamia and went to Canaan (current day Israel).  His descendants were called Hebrews.  There was a famine in Canaan so some Hebrews moved to Egypt.

Hebrews in Egypt  The Hebrew population grew in Egypt  This worried the Egyptian pharaoh who was afraid that the Hebrews would try to take over Egypt  To stop this from happening the pharaoh made the Hebrews slaves

Who is Moses?  A leader of the Hebrews  In 1200BC God told Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt  Moses went to the pharaoh and demanded that he set the Hebrew slaves free  The Pharaoh refused

 Soon after the pharaoh refused to set them free…plagues and disasters struck Egypt  This scared the pharaoh so he agreed to free the Hebrews

What is the Exodus?  Moses led his people out of Egypt in a journey called the Exodus  The Hebrews thought that their release from slavery proved that God loved them and was looking after them.

After their release….  The Hebrews wandered around the desert trying to return to Canaan.  During their wanderings  they came to a mountain  called Sinai  The Bible says that this  is where God gave  Moses 2 stone tablets-  The 10 Commandments

What are the Ten Commandments?  “I am God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.  Do not have any other Gods before Me  Do not take the name of God, your Lord in vain-God will not allow the one who talked his name in vain to go unpunished.

10 Comandments cont….  Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy  Honor your father and your mother. You will then live long on the land that God your lord is giving you.  Do not commit murder  Do not commit adultery  Do not steal

10 Commandments cont…..  Do not testify as a false witness against your neighbor.  Do not be envious of your neighbors’ house.  Do not be envious of your neighbors’ wife or anything else that is your neighbors’.

The return to Canaan  The Hebrews wandered for 40 years before they reached Canaan.  They conquered Canaan and became known as the Israelites  They lived in small scattered communities  Each community had its own judges as leaders

Philistines  In the 1000’s BC the Philistines invaded the Israelites (Hebrews)  The Israelites picked a leader named Saul to lead them in battle  Saul became the first king of Israel

King David  David was a servant is Saul’s palace  Saul didn’t like David and made him an outlaw  For many years David lived in the desert  Once Saul died, David became King  The Israelites loved David  David defeated the Philistines

King David cont…..  King David captured many lands  He also captured Jerusalem which became Israel’s new capital

King Solomon  Was King David’s son  He expanded the Kingdom  He made Egypt and Phoenicia his allies and started trading with them  This made Israel very rich  He built a huge temple dedicated to God in Jerusalem

Invaders  After Solomon died, people fought about who should be king  Israel split into 2 kingdoms-Israel and Judah  The people of Judah became known as Jews

Scattering of Jews  The Chaldeans captured Jerusalem and made thousands of Jews their slaves  In 530 BC the Persians conquered the Chaldeans and let the Jews free

The Maccabees  A family called the Maccabees revolted and once again the Jews ruled their own kingdom  However they were soon conquered by the Romans

Hebrew Women  Couldn’t choose husband  Had to obey husband  Couldn’t inherit property

Important Hebrew Women  Queen Esther and Judge Deborah saved the Hebrews from their enemies  Ruth left her people to care for her mother-in-law-Naomi (was seen as a role model)