Jewish History

Anyone know of any interesting books on Sephardic Jews/Sephardim?

>Were the ancient Israelites originally polytheists
According to a teacher I once had, yes. Though they pretty quickly transitioned into a henotheistic halfway point early on. That is, they believe there was one god for their people but other gods existed. Then further transitioned to monotheism.

Thus weird moments in the Torah/Old Testament like Yahweh declaring "I am a jealous God" in Exodus 20:5

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism

This is just so sloppy.

There were no Israelite until there was Israel, who was previously named Jacob, and his sons, who are the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Jacob is Abraham's grandson, so there were no "Israelites" in Abraham's time.

Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldeas by God to go to points unknown. Abraham packed a bag and left. The Chaldean people were steeped in pagan idolatry and witchcraft.

Abraham wandered a lot, went down to Egypt, went up near Sodom, and eventually bought land in Hebron in what would become Israel 430 years later.

Abraham was friends with God, and taught his family that there is only one God.

Joseph knew this, and God elevated Joseph in the Egyptian kingdom to save his people from starvation. They eventually became enslaved in Egypt, and then God took them out of bondage and into the wilderness, where they wandered for 40 years until the slave mentality people died off.

Then they began their conquest of the Promised Land, the land we call Israel, and worshiped God there, eventually building a temple in Jerusalem.

When the Hebrews in the wilderness and otherwise left their God, the one true God, and worshiped the gods of their neighbors, namely Ba'al, Molech and Asheroth, they were punished. Severely.

There is only one true God; anything else is something God made, or something imagined by someone God made.

Complete the thought. "I will not share my glory with anyone."

Do you think Michelangelo would have a problem with you walking around his town in his day saying you carved the David? That's the kind of jealousy and glory we are talking here. The jealousy and glory of a Creator.

Just a cursory reading of the OT gives the clear impression that Jews were henotheistic. When this transitioned into strict monotheism I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet many Jews had henotheistic tendencies until Rabbinic Judaism took over.

Thanks

>"I am a jealous God"

And shlomoplebs still worship him? [spoiler]cucks[/spoiler]

euphoric

this reminds me of a find in the dead sea scrolls.
thedivinecouncil.com/DT32BibSac.pdf
As late as the Dead Sea Scrolls were (200BC I believe) they still retained this blatantly polytheistic line

Who was King David?

Probably some meme tier chief of a collection of small villages who got his accomplishments exaggerated beyond any rational proportion.

What are the arguments for the Exodus actually happening?

The path that Moses created across the Red Sea still exists nowadays. What proof do you need more than this?

where any early jews black?

At some point during the Babylonian exile I believe some Jews went to Ethiopia, look up Beta Israel

that's awesome is there a link to this?

Can you see how wide it is

there's also some indian ones, look up bene israel and cochin jews
also st thomas christians aka nasrani (derived from 'nazareth'), might date back to 50AD

"We were slaves in Egypt" is a weird national origin to make up.

Especially in the ancient times, wouldn't you think? Back then being a slave who was liberated probably would've gotten you laughed at by the other peoples.

As an aside, does anyone have any good histories of Canaan/Mesopitamia during Abraham's time? I've read the bible before but I want some scholarly histories on ancient Mesopotamia and Canaan.

then how come Chronicles has multiple accounts that contradict the Exodus?

like what?

Where and when did the practice of Jewish ritualized murder come from, when was it done and why?

And when it came to a trial of the murder, what was the most common proof that the Jews were guilty and how did some manage to prove their innocence?

Also any books you'd recommend on the daily lives of Jews through the ages?

The most explicit is 1st Chronicles 7:20-29
Essentially Ephraim and his descendants are placed in Canaan instead of Egypt.

Also there's 1st Chronicles 7:14, where Manasseh's son Machir is born in what is later Israelite territory in transjordan

All crimes are established upon the word of two or three witnesses.

Oh, you're that guy.

1. The Jews did not start out as slaves in Egypt, where Ephraim was born.

2. The Jews settled in the north and east of Egypt, in the land of Goshen.

3. The people Ephraim fought in border wars existed then, and later.

4. The descendants of Ephraim were given a half share of the land, as he and his brother took what was rightfully Joseph's.

5. You don't want the bible to be true because your heart is dark, and you don't think God can see in the dark. He can.

Do these guys have a website?

Ephraim and Manasseh were among the tribes listed in Numbers wandering in the wilderness. In Joshua there is no mention of any Israelites already settled in the land

This picture is incorrect because there aren't any black people.

Tell us about the Khazarian's Veeky Forums.

Have a bunch of Hunnic/Mongolian/Turkish converts really infiltrated the upper echelons of society and convinced everyone that they're Israelite's?

So why did the jews pick the volcano god as the one they should only worship?

Genetics say otherwise. Ashkenazi men have a Y chromosome related to other peoples in the Levant, though mitochondrial DNA tests have shown that they intermarried with southern european women at some point in time

St. Thomas Christians were probably introduced to the religion by Assyrians who also trace their church's founding to Thomas the apostle.