What values did the Israelites have?

Answer 1

The ten commandments that Moses brought down were the values that God commanded the Israelites to keep.

The values of the Israelite people were defined by God through the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Mosaic Law. In addition to the commandments, Leviticus details the moral values for the Israelites to follow, including avoiding prostitution, occult practices, respect for the elderly and non-Israelites, reverence for the place of worship, justice in business dealings, caring for widows, orphans, and other disadvantaged people, and the avoidance of immodesty,adultery and bestiality.

At times, they departed significantly from these values and adopted the values of the cultures around them. Their values became influenced by the idolatry and morality in those cultures. At these times in their history, the values ran directly counter to those set up for them to follow by God. These included child sacrifices, prostitution and other open sexual practices, and sexual rituals. An example is Solomon's polygamy with its associated idolatry that led to his adoption of pagan ways. Whenever they departed from the original values, they displeased God, and He rebuked them through His prophets and through heavy misfortune.

Answer 2

The evidence of both The Bible and of Archaeology is that the Israelites were polytheistic. The Bible tells us that the people of Israel (the northern kingdom) were, throughout its history, polytheistic in their religious beliefs. Even in the south, in Judah, the people worshipped many gods until at least the time of King Hezekia (729-686 BCE), who made the first real attempt, in historic times, to impose a monotheistic religion. However, Hezekiah's son allowed Judah to revert to polytheism. So, if the people of both kingdoms had always been polytheistic, then the Hebrew people were polytheistic right back through their history. The Rabbi Louis Feinberg Memorial Lecture may provide some insight into the concepts of official and popular religions among the Israelites before the Babylonian Exile.

The Torah is said to have been written during the first millennium BCE, so does not provide us with real information on the moral and ethical values of the Israelites before that time. However, the Torah does provide us with the commandments, particularly the ten commandments, that influenced the lives of the people in the first millennium BCE.

The Israelites, as with all their contemporaries, kept slaves. If the slave was an Israelite, he or she had some basic rights, including the right to freedom after 7 years. However, Gentile slaves were considered to have no rights. Israelites practised polygamy and sexual freedom for men, and restricted the rights of women. They were enjoined to love their neighbours, but this applied only if the neighbour was also an Israelite. Punishments were harsh, but probably no more so than among other nations.Some selected references to the practice of slavery:

• Genesis 17:13 "... and he that is bought with your moneymust needs be circumcised"
• Genesis 17:27 "And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised"
• Exodus 12:44 "But every man's servant [slave] that is bought for money, when thou has circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof."
• Leviticus 19:20 "And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman that is a bondsmaid [slave], betrothed to a husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her: she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death because she was not free." [Here, only the female slave is to be punished for a mutual indiscretion.]
• Jeremiah 29:2 "(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem ..." [One of several references to royal eunuchs in the Judahite court.]

Some selected references from the Bible to show polygamy and male sexual freedom to be both normal and regulated by Jewish law:

• Genesis 4:19 "And Lamech took unto him two wives..."
• Judges 8:30 "And Gideon had three score and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives."
• Deuteronomy 21:15-17 "If a man have two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated ..."

Answer 3

Hebrew society (the society in ancient Israel) was based upon the covenant with God, as set forth in the Torah (Exodus ch.19, Deuteronomy 26:16-19). There was always a learned class among the Israelites, and virtually all men and boys (and a good percentage of women) could read and write. A portion of each day was spent praying; and a larger part of the day was spent studying Torah (by a good part of the populace). Religious questions (and torts) were brought to one of the many Rabbis or Jewish courts. (See also: Social classes among the Israelites.)
Having a large family was an ideal, as was welcoming guests into the home, giving charity, and other forms of kindness. A portion of crops were given to the poor. The calendar year was replete with the Sabbaths and festivals; and blessings were said before and after eating and on many other occasions.

In brief, there was no such thing as a secular part of life, since the Torah's laws cover every form of activity, including business-ethics.

Many of the Israelite ethics later influenced Western society. These commands extended even to treatment of Gentile slaves.
a) Hitting a servant (slave) was forbidden, no matter what the reason.

b) Hitting a servant would incur heavy punishment.
c) The householder must by law provide the servant with accommodations and food of the same quality as those of the family.
d) The Gentile servant is "off duty" during Sabbaths and holidays.
e) It is forbidden to embarrass the servant.
f) The servant is at all times under the protection of the court, who may intervene on his behalf.

These laws are unparalleled by those of any other nation.

Of course, the Israelites were not angels. There was backsliding, as is faithfully recorded by the Hebrew Prophets. On the contrary, the Hebrew Bible is unique in that it records and even stresses the faults of its protagonists, because it is God's word, not that of men. Those who did sin did not represent normative Judaism. They were deviating from the Torah's standard; they were publicly, repeatedly, and scathingly excoriated by their Prophets, and they caused God's retribution to come upon the entire people.

"You understand in your heart, that just as a man rebukes his son, the Lord your God rebukes you (plural)" (Deuteronomy 8:5)

"I love you (plural), says God" (Malachi 1:2).

These verses make it clear that it is out of His love for them that God rebuked the Israelites through His prophets. Like a magnifying mirror that enlarges one's blemishes, the prophets castigated the Israelites in order to keep them from slipping too far from perfection. Other nations were not continuously rebuked because they never sought perfection to begin with.

See also:

Monotheism among the Israelites