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Scholars generally believe that monotheistic Judaism was introduced during the seventh-century-BCE reign of King Josiah, although a minority view is that Judaism actually began during the Babylonian Exile and the events surrounding its introduction were written respectively back into the Book of Kings. Margaret Barker (The Great Angel, A Study of Israel's Second God) makes a case that monotheism was imposed with incomplete success onto Israelite faith just before the Exile, and that the suppressed traditions continued alongside monotheistic orthodoxy, absorbing new ideas and adapting to new forms.

There is some evidence in the books written during the Exile, that the monotheists were still fighting a battle to suppress polytheism among the Jews. This evidence includes: descriptions of polytheistic rituals that been performed in the Temple before the Exile but were now proscribed; pronouncements against polytheism; and clever techniques like Psalm 82 which tells the people that the other gods have failed in their duty and will die like men, with God inheriting all the nations. Why continue to worship gods who no longer live? Regardless of subsequent attribution, Psalm 82 was written during the Babylonian Exile.

Very similar in style to Psalm 82 are two related passages in the Book of Zechariah. It reports visions in which Joshua was persuaded to walk in the ways of the Lord and keep his charge. In the first passage (Zechariah 3:1-8) Joshua the high priest had been found guilty of iniquity, but the Lord needed him and was willing to offer him inducements and honour. In the second passage (Zechariah 6:9-13), we can assume that Joshua had accepted the Lord's offer. All this happened in heaven, giving it an apolyptic feel of divine authority. If the high priest was guilty of an iniquity such as corruption or challenging the authority of Zorobabel, he would have been dealt with quite differently. On the other hand, Joshua could have represented a rebellious religious cult. Or perhaps there had been no high priest of this name, in fact Joshua symbolised the sun god, and the iniquity was that he allowed his followers to worship him.

In brief, there is ample evidence that during the period during and after the Babylonian Exile, monotheists were working towards eliminating polytheism. Figurines of the fertility goddess Asherah are not found in Judah in archaeological digs associated with the post-Exilic period, but instead the more ambiguous figure of Lady Wisdom entered Jewish belief.

During the Babylonian Exile, Judaism absorbed many traditions that closely parallel those previously associated with the Zoroastrian religion of the Persians. On one view, 'Pharisee' is a corruption of 'Farsi, and the sect of that name that arose late in the Maccabean period was so named because of the greater willingness to absorb Farsi (Persian) traditions.

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