When did monotheism develop for Jews?

Answer 1

Monotheism is the single most important thing in Judaism: we proclaim it twice a day, in a verse in our prayers going back to the time of Moses (Deuteronomy 6:4). Tradition teaches that Abraham, who rejected the universal idolatry of his time, founded Judaism based on monotheism.

AnswerAlthough tradition dates monotheism back to the time of Abraham, scholars have established that the facts are different.

Andrew D. H. Mayes (The World of Ancient Israel: Sociological, Anthropological and Political Perspectives, Sociology and the Old Testament) says that it is also becoming clear that the presentation of Yahweh as the only God of Israel in the pre-monarchic period is a late construction which runs up against great historical difficulties.

Margaret Barker (The Great Angel, A Study of Israel's Second God) makes a case that monotheism was a Deuteronomic novelty imposed with incomplete success onto Israelite faith just before the sixth-century-BCE Exile, and that the suppressed traditions continued alongside monotheistic orthodoxy, absorbing new ideas and adapting to new forms. Mark S. Smith (The Early History of God) goes further, to insist that monotheism was ultimately a product of the Exile, even if some developments leading to it are evident in a variety of religious expressions dating to the monarchy.

Answer:Jews have always worshiped the One God. Abraham worshiped "the Lord God of Heaven and Earth" (Genesis 14:22 and 24:3) and complained about the Philistines' lack of fear of God (Genesis 20:11). Jacob confiscated the idolatrous images taken from Shechem (Genesis 35:2) and got rid of them (Genesis 35:4); and refrained from invoking the gods of Nahor (Genesis 31:53). Rachel pilfered Laban's statue-images (Genesis 31:19) in order to prevent him from idolatry (Rashi commentary, ibid.). Joseph placed his hope in the God of the Forefathers (Genesis 50:24). Moses characterized the Golden Calf as "a great sin" (Exodus 32:21, 30) and punished the worshipers (Exodus ch.32). During the rest of his lifetime and that of Joshua (Judges 2:7), no incidents of Jewish idolatry were reported.

Later, many of the Israelites went astray after the foreign gods (Judges 2:11). However, the Jews never invented their own idol. It was always the baneful influence of other peoples. And there were times when the entire Jewish nation repented (Judges 2:1-4) and prayed to God (Judges 3:9, 3:15, 6:6, 10:10).

Idolatry was never universal among the Jews. The tradition of the One God was handed down in every generation; and it is those who handed down the tradition whose beliefs we Jews continue today. Deborah ascribed victory to God (Judges 4:14), Gideon tore down the idolatrous altar (Judges 6:25-27); Samson prayed to God (Judges 16:28), as did Hannah (1 Samuel 1:11) and Samuel (ibid. 12:18); Eli blessed in the name of God (1 Samuel 2:20), Saul built an altar to God (1 Samuel 14:35); Jonathan ascribed victory to God (1 Samuel 14:12), as did David (1 Samuel 17:46); and Solomon built the Temple for God (1 Kings 8:20). A number of the kings "did what was right in God's eyes": Asa (1 Kings 15:11), Yehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:43), Yehoash (2 Kings 12:3), Amatziah (2 Kings 14:3), Azariah (2 Kings 15:3), Yotam (2 Kings 15:34), Hizkiah (2 Kings 18:3), and Josiah (2 Kings 22:2).

And, of course, the Prophets, who spoke in the name of God and warned against idolatry: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and so on.

The sages of the Talmud, who ridiculed idolatry (Megillah 25b), were simply continuing in the tradition of the Prophets whose verses are quoted in that context (ibid.).