How is the Polytheistic religion different from the Hebrew religion?

Answer 1

The Egyptians and Mesos were deeply involved in the worship of idols[ representations of animals, humans, stars, sun, moon etc.] or things created. Whereas the Jews only worshiped the creator who is invisible, thus no images.

It was Abraham who left UR of the Caldeans at God's command to go to what would become the 'promised land'. He received the covenant of circumcision which to the nations round about must have seemed strange indeed, [they were all uncirc.]

The Jews were herders, they kept livestock which was something detestable to the Egyptians, [since they worshiped many of the animals that the Jews kept]

The Egyptians shaved most or all of the hair from their bodies whereas the Jews kept beards and side locks and probably didn't shave their arms or legs either.

The Egyptians and Mesopotamians different in religion with the Judaism for the fact that the formers believed in many gods, while the latter only believe in One God.

Answer 2

The religion of the Hebrews was far different from the polytheistic religions at the time. The belief in one God, monotheism, was far different from the other beliefs. Also, the sacrifice of humans was not part of the Hebrew religion. Judaism brought hope and love rather than just wrath. God spoke to his people and was very intimate with them, as opposed to the pagan gods who were thought to just want tribute and offerings. One of my favorite Bible stories was when Elijah went up against the priests of Baal and had a sacrifice showdown, which was very interesting.

Answer:

The Hebrew religion is founded upon belief in One God (Deuteronomy 6:4), who gave the Torah.

Answer 3

Hebrew is a language, not a religion. Hebrew is a language , spoken by Jewish people - hence the connection. Nowadays as Hebrew is the official language of the state of Israel, most Israeli citizens speak Hebrew, though only 80% are considered Jewish (do not all Hebrew speakers would necessarily define themselves as Hebrew) In biblical times, not all Hebrews were Jewish (for example - Samaritans, Greek and Roman converts, Karaim etc) The bible as well as many Jewish religious books is written in Hebrew (or in it's ancestor language - Aramaic) Hebrew people and Jewish people are two terms which are often mixed as they are correlated, and nowadays also mixed with Israelis, however they are not quite the same

The Jewish and Hebrew religion are synonymous, as are references to the Isralite and Abrahamic faith. Jewish because most members of the faith are descendants of the tribe of Judah. Hebrew (ivri) because Abraham was known as an Evri, a descendant of ever (Eber), descendant of Noah.

Hebrew is also the name of a language spoken in Israel and by many members of the Hebrew faith and understood by a great many Jewish people as a result of a religious education. It is the language used in the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, and many Hebrew religious texts.

Jewish (or Yiddish) also refers to the spoken and written language commonly adopted by members of the faith living in eastern (amd Western Europe). It is a language of Germanic derivation.

Ladino is the spoken language adopted by members of the faith living along southern Europe, northern mediterranean countres. It is derived from old Spanish.

Aramaic was adopted by members of the Hebrew faith living in the near/Middle East countries after Ancient Israel was conquered by various other countries. It is an Arabic like semitic language. The babylonian talmud and other religious texts were written in Aramaic.

Answer 4

The Ancient Hebrew religion (called Judaism today) was based on the idea of one universal God above all others. The Ancient Egyption religion had many Gods.

Today the main religion of Egypt is Islam, which believes on one God.

Answer 5

Monotheism (belief in one God)

Personal encounters with God

No human sacrifice

Specific Race favored (until it became Christianity later on)

Judaism is still a race religion

Answer 6

A:Modern Judaism differs from Hinduism, the ancient Egyptian religion and even the pre-Exilic form of Judaism by the belief in just one God, a belief known as monotheism. Some forms of Hinduism have parallels to Christianity in that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are avatars (persons) of the one godhead. A:The Hebrew people were the chosen people that received the true name of the Almighty. They worship Yehowah. Exodus 20:2 states

I am Yehowah thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I Yehowah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Answer 7

It differed in that the Hebrews worshiped One God, not a multitude of idols. Which_Hebrew_traditions_have_become_part_of_the_moral_and_ethical_fabric_of_American_society_and_Western_civilization

Answer 8

The Hebrew religion differed little from other belief systems in the Near East during the period up until the Assyrian conquest of Israel, but by the late monarchy it was the only one (apart from Zoroastrianism) that was monotheistic, or at least monolatrous (which was a forerunner of monotheism). It also connected its deity to ethics, whereas in the surrounding faiths, the gods were unrelated to personal ethics. A distinction can be made between the early Hebrew religion and post-Exilic Judaism. Lang (cited in English by Keel and Uehlinger in Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel), tells us:
"In the four and a half centuries during which there were one or two Israelite monarchies (ca. 1020-586 B.C.), there was a dominant, polytheistic religion that was indistinguishable from that of neighboring peoples. Insofar as there were differences between the Ammonite, Moabite, Edomite, Tyrian, etc. versions of religion, these beliefs stayed within the framework of Near Eastern polytheism, and each should be interpreted as a local variant of the same basic pattern. The Israelites . . . venerated their own protector god who was there to provide for health and family. But they venerated Yahweh [God] as well, the regional and national god, whose special domain dealt with war and peace issues."

With some relatively minor differences, the religion of Judah was much the same as that of the northern kingdom during the same period. After the destruction of Israel, Judah moved towards monolatry, at least as its official religion, although there is continuing evidence of polytheism. Child sacrifice was becoming increasingly rare, with only occasional references to the practice in Second Kings and the prophetic books, and had probably ceased even before the Exile.
King Josiah of Judah declared monotheism the official religion of Judah in the seventh century BCE, but apparently polytheism continued as the folk religion of the Jews until the time of the Babylonian Exile. By the time of the Babylonian Exile, Judaism had become strongly monotheistic and scribes began making considerable (but incomplete) efforts to wipe out all memory of the polytheistic past. It was 'Second-Temple' Judaism that differed most from other belief systems in the ancient world.

Answer 9

At the time of Abraham the Hebrew, the area where he lived was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities. Abraham was the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.
The Israelites differed from other ancient peoples in the following ways:
1) It was the only religion in which God spoke to the entire assembled nation (Exodus ch.19) of over two million people.

2) It made a complete break from the surrounding idolatry. Their monotheism (belief in One God) set the Jews apart because other ancient nations did not share it. We've heard (for example) of Greek mythology and Roman mythology. What not everyone is aware of is that idolatry tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the pagan gods were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior.

Compare that to God, who reveals His attributes in the Torah as wise, kind, holy, and pure. God is One, so the command to imitate His attributes (Deuteronomy 8:6) was (and is) a straightforward matter once one is even minimally familiar with the Torah.

(See: What do Jews believe God is like?)

Accordingly, Judaism was:

3) The only ancient religion in which a large percentage of its adherents were literate and scholars.

4) It was the only religion in which the people were ruled by God, with no need for a king, for several centuries (see Judges 8:23 and 1 Samuel 8:4-7).

5) The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews' religion, including the dignity and value of a person. It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

6) Under the law of Judaism, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, poor person, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had rights.

7) Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God.

And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).

8) A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Unlike in many other ancient societies, in Judaism debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed (Roman Twelve Tables of Law, 3:10).

It is important to note that every one of the above existed in Judaism thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Infanticide was practiced in classical European nations until Judaism and its daughter-religions put a stop to it.

See also:

Were the Israelites monotheistic?

Israelite culture

Answer 10

At the time of Abraham the Hebrew, the area where he lived was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities. Abraham was the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.
Link: How Abraham founded Judaism
The Israelites differed from other ancient peoples in the following ways:

• It was the only religion in which God spoke to the entire assembled nation (Exodus ch.19) of over two million people.

• It made a complete break from the surrounding idolatry.
  

Link: Israelite monotheism

• Their belief in One God set the Israelites apart because other ancient nations did not share it. We've heard (for example) of Greek mythology and Roman mythology. What not everyone is aware of is that idolatry had no moral character whatsoever and sometimes led to aberrations in people's behavior, with worship of the gods accompanied by practices such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship. Compare that to God, who reveals His attributes in the Torah as wise, kind, holy, and pure. God is One, so the command to imitate His attributes (Deuteronomy 8:6) was (and is) a straightforward matter once one is even minimally familiar with the Torah.

Link: What do Jews believe God is like?
Accordingly, Judaism was:

• The only ancient religion in which a large percentage of its adherents were literate and scholars.

• It was the only religion in which the people were ruled by God, with no need for a king, for several centuries (see Judges 8:23 and 1 Samuel 8:4-7).

• The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews' religion, including the dignity and value of a person. It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

• Under the law of Judaism, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, poor person, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had rights.

• Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).

Link: The prophets

• A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Unlike in many other ancient societies, in Judaism debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed (Roman Twelve Tables of Law, 3:10).

It is important to note that every one of the above existed in Judaism thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Infanticide was practiced in classical European nations until Judaism and its daughter-religions put a stop to it.

Link: European infanticide

Link: Israelite culture