Israelites

Iron Age Hebrew tribal people in Canaan

For the citizens of the modern State of Israel, see Israelis. For other uses of "Israelite", see Israelite (disambiguation).

"House of Israel" redirects here. For for other uses, see House of Israel (disambiguation).

Map of the twelve tribes of Israel before the move of Dan to the north, based on the Book of Joshua

Israelites[a] were a Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group,[3][4] consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age.[5][6][7]

Tribes of Israel

The Tribes of Israel

* Reuben
* Simeon
* Levi
* Judah

* Dan
* Naphtali
* Gad
* Asher

* Issachar
* Zebulun
* Joseph

* Manasseh
* Ephraim
* Benjamin

Other tribes

* Caleb
* Keni
* Rechab
* Jerahmeel

Related topics

* Leaders
* Israelites
* Ten Lost Tribes

* Jews
* Samaritans

* v
* t
* e

Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanite populations and other peoples.[8][9][6] They spoke an archaic form of the Hebrew language, which was a regional variety of the Canaanite languages, and worshipped Yahweh.[10][11] In the Iron Age, the Israelites established the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, whose capital cities were Samaria and Jerusalem respectively.[12][13] Around 720 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel fell to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE.[13] During the latter, some Judeans were exiled to Babylon but returned to the land of Judah after Cyrus the Great conquered the region.[14][15]

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were the descendants of Jacob, a patriarch who was later renamed as Israel. Due to a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his twelve sons fled to Egypt, where they gradually formed the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Israelites were subsequently enslaved by the Egyptians but were liberated by Moses. Under the leadership of Moses's successor, Joshua, they also conquered Canaan. After the conquest, the Israelites established a kritarchy, followed by the United Kingdom of Israel. The latter split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Modern scholars consider these narratives to be part of the Israelites' national myth[16] but believe there is a 'historical core'.[17][18][19][20] The historicity of the United Kingdom of Israel is also widely disputed.[21][22]

Jews and Samaritans both trace their ancestry to the ancient Israelites.[23][24][25][26] Jews trace their ancestry to tribes that inhabited the Kingdom of Judah, including Judah, Benjamin and partially Levi, while the Samaritans claim their lineage from the remaining members of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Levi who were not deported in the Assyrian captivity after the fall of Israel. Other groups also claim affiliation with the Israelites.

## Etymology

[edit]

Further information: Israel (name)

Part of a series on the

History of Israel

Early history

Prehistoric Levant

* Kebaran
* Mushabian
* Natufian
* Harifian
* Yarmukian
* Lodian
* Nizzanim
* Ghassulian

Canaan

* Retjenu
* Habiru
* Shasu
* Late Bronze Age collapse

Ancient Israel and Judah

|  Iron Age I

*     * Israelites, Philistines

|  12th–10th centuries BCE

|

United Monarchy|  10th century BCE
Kingdom of Israel|  10th century BCE–720 BCE
Kingdom of Judah|  10th century BCE–587 BCE
Babylonian rule|  587–538 BCE

Second Temple period

|  Persian Yehud|  538–333 BCE

|

Hellenistic period|  333–164 BCE
Hasmonean dynasty|  164–37 BCE
Herodian dynasty

*     * Kingdom
* Tetrarchy

|  37 BCE–6 CE
Roman Judaea
* (Jewish-Roman Wars)
|  6 CE–136 CE

Late Antiquity and Middle Ages

|  Late antiquity (Rabbinic period)|  70–638

|

Syria Palaestina|  136–395
Byzantine Palaestina

*     * Prima
* Secunda

|  395–638
Early Islamic period (Filastin, Urdunn)|  638–1099
Kingdom of Jerusalem|  1099–1291
Ayyubid dynasty|  1174–1260
Mamluk Sultanate|  1260–1517

Modern history

Modern history (1517–1948)

* Ottoman rule
* Eyalet
* Mutasarrifate
* Old Yishuv
* Zionism
* OETA
* British Mandate
* Yishuv

State of Israel (1948–present)

* Timeline
* Years
* Independence
* Arab–Israeli conflict
* Austerity
* Silicon Wadi
* Iran–Israel conflict

By topic

* Historical maps
* Historical population
* Historical literature
* Economic history
* Judaism
* Jerusalem
* Zionism
* Jewish leaders
* Jewish warfare

Related

* Jewish history
* Yahwism
* Hebrew calendar
* Archaeology
* Museums

Israel portal

* v
* t
* e

The first reference to Israel in non-biblical sources is found in the Merneptah Stele in c. 1209 BCE. The inscription is very brief and says: "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not". The inscription refers to a people, not an individual or nation state,[27] who inhabit central Palestine[28] or the highlands of Samaria.[29] Some Egyptologists suggest that Israel appeared in earlier topographical reliefs, dating to the Eighteenth Dynasty or Nineteenth Dynasty (i.e. reign of Ramesses II) ,[30] but this reading remains controversial.[31][32]

In the Hebrew Bible, Israel first appears in Genesis 32:29, where an angel renames Jacob to Israel after Jacob fought with him.[33][34][35] According to the folk etymology given in the text, Israel is derived from yisra, "to prevail over" or "to struggle with", and El, a Canaanite-Mesopotamian creator god that is tenuously identified with Yahweh.[36][37] However, modern scholarship interprets El as the subject, "El rules/struggles",[38][39][40] from sarar (שָׂרַר) 'to rule'[41] (cognate with sar (שַׂר) 'ruler',[42] Akkadian šarru 'ruler, king'[43]), which is likely cognate with the similar root sara (שׂרה) "fought, strove, contended".[44][45] Dr. Tzemah Yoreh clarifies that Israel is a combination of 'to strive with' (ש.ר.ה) and 'God' (אל) and that Jacob's name alternates between Jacob and Israel in the biblical narrative, even after his renaming, due to the authors having different opinions about Jacob's moral character.[46]

## Biblical narrative

[edit]

Mid-20th century mosaic of the 12 Tribes of Israel, from the Etz Yosef synagogue wall in Givat Mordechai, Jerusalem

The history of the Israelite people can be divided into these categories, according to the Hebrew Bible:[47]

Pre-Monarchic Period (unknown to c. 1050 BCE)
The Israelites were named after their ancestor, Jacob/Israel, who was the grandson of Abraham. They were organized into 12 tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph (or Tribe of Ephraim and Tribe of Manasseh) and Benjamin. Originally, they went to Egypt after a famine in Canaan but were enslaved by the Egyptians.[48] They escaped and organized themselves as a kritarchy,[49] where they followed laws given by Moses. Afterwards, the Israelites conquered Canaan and fought with several neighbours until they established a monarchic state.

* This period is covered by Genesis 12 to 1 Samuel 8.

United Monarchy (c. 1050–930 BCE)
As a monarchic state, the Israelite tribes were united by the leadership of Saul, David and Solomon. The reigns of Saul and David were marked by military victories and Israel's transition to a mini-empire with vassal states.[50][51] Solomon's reign was relatively more peaceful and oversaw the construction of the First Temple,[52] with the help of Phoenician allies.[53] This Temple was where the Ark of the Covenant was stored; its former location was the City of David.[54]

* This period is covered by 1 Samuel 8 to 1 Kings 11 or alternatively, 1 Chronicles 10 to 2 Chronicles 9.

Divided Monarchy (c. 930–597 BCE)
Map of the Holy Land, Pietro Vesconte, 1321, showing the allotments of the tribes of Israel. Described by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld as "the first non-Ptolemaic map of a definite country"[55]The monarchic state was divided into two states, Israel and Judah, due to civil and religious disputes. Eventually, Israel and Judah met their demise after the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions respectively. According to the Biblical prophets, these invasions were divine judgements for religious apostasy and corrupt leadership.

* This period is covered by 1 Kings 12 to 2 Kings 25 or alternatively, 2 Chronicles 10 to 2 Chronicles 36. The Book of Jonah narrates the prophet Jonah going to the Neo-Assyrian Empire to deliver a divine message.

Exilic Period (c. 597–538 BCE)
After the Babylonians invaded Judah, they deported most of its citizens to Babylon, where they lived as "exiles". Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and established the First Persian Empire in 539 BCE.[56] One year later, according to traditional dating, Cyrus permitted the Judahites to return to their homeland.[56] This homeland was re-named as the Province of Yehud, which eventually became a satrapy of Eber-Nari.[56]

* This period is covered by the entirety of the Book of Daniel.

Persian Period (c. 539–331 BCE)
In 537–520 BCE, Zerubbabel became Yehud's governor and started work on the Second Temple, which was stopped.[57] In 520–516 BCE, Haggai and Zechariah goaded the Judahites to resume work on the Temple. Upon completion, Joshua became its high priest.[57][57] In 458–433 BCE, Ezra and Nehemiah led another group of Judahites to Yehud, with Artaxerxes's permission. Nehemiah rebuilt the temple after some unspecified disaster and removed foreign influence from the Judahite community.[58][59] That said, some Judahites elected to stay in Persia, where they almost faced annihilation.[60][61]

* This period is covered by the entirety of the Book of Ezra, Book of Nehemiah, the Book of Esther,[47] the Book of Haggai, the Book of Zechariah, and the Book of Malachi.[62][63]

### Definition of Israelite

[edit]

Biblically, the Israelites referred to the direct descendants of Israel,[64][65] a view that was reinforced by Second Temple Judaism.[65] They referred to themselves as the sons of Israel.[66], gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) could fully assimilate into the Israelite community.[64][65]

Some scholars interpret sons of Israel as citizens of the Israelite community, especially after Israel's biological family transitioned from a clan to a society (Exodus 1:9).[66] In fact, there is evidence of gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) assimilating into the Israelite community.[64][65]

Whilst the Israelites called themselves the sons of Jacob, some scholars interpret this as citizens of the Israelite community, especially after Israel's biological family transitioned from a clan to a society (Exodus 1:9). Contemporary ethnicities in the ancient Near East similarly named themselves this way.[66] Likewise, tribal membership in Israel was likely based on one's self-declared allegiance or residency within an assigned tribal territory (Ezekiel 47:21–23).[65][11][67]

Alternatively, the Israelites were a religious group that adhered to Yahwism[68][69][70] and that their ethnic identity was based on 'covenantal circumcision' rather than ancestry (Genesis 17:9–14). [71]

### Biblical theories on Israelite origins

[edit]

The Israelites trace their ancestors to Jacob, who in turn descended from Abraham.[64][65] Abraham was formerly a native of Ur Kaśdim (Genesis 11:31), whose location is hotly contested. Some scholars argue that it is located in lower Mesopotamia[72][73][74][75] whilst others locate it further north in upper Mesopotamia,[76] around northern Syria[77][78] or southeastern Turkey.[79][80]

Theologians suggest that Canaan always belonged to the Israelites but was initially usurped by the descendants of Canaan, resulting in their conquest by Israel as divine punishment.[81] Israelite presence in Canaan was also established before Joshua's conquests according to a few biblical traditions.[82][83]

Model of the Tabernacle constructed under the auspices of Moses, in Timna Park, Israel

## Historical Israelites

[edit]

See also: History of ancient Israel and Judah, History of Israel, and History of Palestine

Efforts to confirm the biblical ethnogenesis of Israel through archaeology have largely been abandoned as unproductive.[16] Many scholars see the traditional narratives as national myths with little historical value, but some posit that a small group of exiled Egyptians contributed to the Exodus narrative.[b] William G. Dever cautiously identifies this group with the Tribe of Joseph, while Richard Elliott Friedman identifies it with the Tribe of Levi.[85][86] Josephus quoting Manetho identifies them with the Hyksos.[87][88] Other scholars believe that the Exodus narrative was a "collective memory" of several events from the Bronze Age.[19][20]

In addition, it is unlikely that the Israelites overtook the southern Levant by force, according to archaeological evidence. Instead, they branched out of indigenous Canaanite peoples that long inhabited the region, which included Syria, ancient Israel, and the Transjordan region.[89][90][91] Their culture was monolatristic, with a primary focus on Yahweh (or El) worship,[37] but after the Babylonian exile, it became monotheistic, with partial influence from Zoroastrianism. The latter decisively separated the Israelites from other Canaanites.[89][8][failed verification] The Israelites used the Canaanite script and communicated in a Canaanite language known as Biblical Hebrew. The language's modern descendant is today the only surviving dialect of the Canaanite languages.[92][93] Genetic studies show that contemporary ethnicities in the Levant were, like Israel, distinguished by their unique cultures, due to their descent from a common ancestral stock.[94][95]

### Origins

[edit]

Ramesses III prisoner tiles depicting precursors of the Israelites in Canaan: Canaanites from city-states and a Shasu leader.[96][97][98]

Several theories exist for the origins of historical Israelites. Some believe they descend from raiding groups, itinerant nomads such as Habiru and Shasu or impoverished Canaanites, who were forced to leave wealthy urban areas and live in the highlands.[99][28] Gary Rendsburg argues that some archaic biblical traditions and other circumstantial evidence point to the Israelites emerging from the Shasu and other seminomadic peoples from the desert regions south of the Levant, later settling in the highlands of Canaan.[100] The prevailing academic opinion is that the Israelites were a mixture of peoples predominately indigenous to Canaan, with additional input from an Egyptian matrix of peoples, which most likely inspired the Exodus narrative.[101][102][103] Israel's demographics were similar to the demographics of Ammon, Edom, Moab and Phoenicia.[102][104][page needed]

Besides their focus on Yahweh worship, Israelite cultural markers were defined by body, food, and time, including male circumcision, avoidance of pork consumption and marking time based on the Exodus, the reigns of Israelite kings, and Sabbath observance. The first two markers were observed by neighbouring west Semites besides the Philistines, who were of Mycenaean Greek origin. As a result, intermarriage with other Semites was common.[11] But what distinguished Israelite circumcision from non-Israelite circumcision was its emphasis on 'correct' timing.[105][106] Israelite circumcision also served as a mnemonic sign for the circumcised, where their 'unnatural' erect circumcised penis would remind them to behave differently in sexual matters.[105] Yom-Tov Lipmann-Muhlhausen suggests that Israelite identity was based on faith and adherence to sex-appropriate commandments. For men, it was circumcision. For women, it was ritual sacrifice after childbirth (Leviticus 12:6).[107]

The Mount Ebal structure, seen by many archaeologists as an early Israelite cultic site

Genealogy was another ethnic marker. While it was likely that Israelite identity was not exclusively based on blood descent,[65][11][67] the Israelites used genealogy to engage in narcissism of small differences but also, self-criticism since their ancestors included morally questionable characters such as Jacob. Both these traits represented the "complexities of the Jewish soul".[11]

Names were significant in Israelite culture and indicated one's destiny and inherent character. Thus, a name change indicated a 'divine transformation' in one's 'destines, characters and natures'. These beliefs aligned with the Near Eastern cultural milieu, where names were 'intimately bound up with the very essence of being and inextricably intertwined with personality'.[106]

In terms of appearance, rabbis described the Biblical Jews as being "midway between black and white" and having the "color of the boxwood tree".[108] Assuming Yurco's debated claim that the Israelites are depicted in reliefs from Merneptah's temple at Karnak is correct,[109] the early Israelites may have wore the same attire and hairstyles as non-Israelite Canaanites.[110][111] Dissenting from this, Anson Rainey argued that the Israelites in the reliefs looked more similar to the Shasu.[112] Based on biblical literature, it is implied that the Israelites distinguished themselves from peoples like the Babylonians and Egyptians by not having long beards and chin tufts. However, these fashion practices were upper class customs.[113]

#### Early Israelite settlements

[edit]

Further information: Israelite highland settlement

In the 12th century BCE, many Israelite settlements appeared in the central hill country of Canaan, which was formerly an open terrain. These settlements lacked evidence of pork consumption, compared to Philistine settlements, had four-room houses and lived by an egalitarian ethos, which was exemplified by the absence of elaborate tombs, governor's mansions, certain houses being bigger than others etc. They followed a mixed economy, which prioritized self-sufficiency, cultivation of crops, animal husbandry and small-scale craft production. New technologies such as terraced farming, silos for grain storage and cisterns for rainwater collection were simultaneously introduced.[114]

These settlements were built by inhabitants of the "general Southland" (i.e. modern Sinai and the southern parts of Israel and Jordan), who abandoned their pastoral-nomadic ways. Canaanites who lived outside the central hill country were tenuously identified as Danites, Asherites, Zebulunites, Issacharites, Naphtalites and Gadites. These inhabitants do not have a significant history of migration besides the Danites, who allegedly originate from the Sea Peoples, particularly the Dan(an)u.[114][115] Nonetheless, they intermingled with the former nomads, due to socioeconomic and military factors. Their interest in Yahwism and its concern for the underprivileged was another factor. Possible allusions to this historical reality in the Hebrew Bible include the aforementioned tribes, except for Issachar and Zebulun, descending from Bilhah and Zilpah, who were viewed as "secondary additions" to Israel.[114]

El worship was central to early Israelite culture but currently, the number of El worshippers in Israel is unknown. It is more likely that different Israelite locales held different views about El and had 'small-scale' sacred spaces.[36][37]

Himbaza et al. (2012) states that Israelite households were typically ill-equipped to handle conflicts between family members, which may explain the harsh sexual taboos enforced against acts like incest, homosexuality, polygamy etc. in Leviticus 18–20. While the death penalty was legislated for these 'secret crimes', they functioned as a warning, where offenders would confess out of fear and make appropriate reparations.[116]

### Monarchic period

[edit]

#### United Monarchy

[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)

Part of the gift-bearing Israelite delegation of King Jehu, Black Obelisk, 841–840 BCE.[117]

The historicity of the United Monarchy is heavily debated among archaeologists and biblical scholars: biblical maximalists and centrists (Kenneth Kitchen, William G. Dever, Amihai Mazar, Baruch Halpern and others) argue that the biblical account is more or less accurate, while biblical minimalists (Israel Finkelstein, Ze'ev Herzog, Thomas L. Thompson and others) argue that Israel and Judah never split from a singular state. The debate has not been resolved, but recent archaeological discoveries by Eilat Mazar and Yosef Garfinkel show some support for the existence of the United Monarchy.[21]

From 850 BCE onwards, a series of inscriptions mention the "House of David". They came from Israel's neighbours.[118][119]

#### Kingdoms of Israel and Judah

[edit]

"To Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah" – royal seal found at the Ophel excavations in Jerusalem

Main articles: Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Judah, and Expulsions and exoduses of Jews

Compared to the United Monarchy, the historicity of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah is widely accepted by historians and archaeologists.[120]: 169–195 [121] Their destruction by the Assyrians and Babylonians respectively is also confirmed by archaeological evidence and extrabiblical sources.[12][122][123][124][125][120]: 306

Christian Frevel argues that Yahwism was rooted in the culture of the Kingdom of Israel, who introduced it to the Kingdom of Judah via Ahab's expansions and sociopolitical cooperation, which was prompted by Hazael's conquests.[126] Frevel has also argued that Judah was a 'vassal-like' state to Israel, under the Omrides.[126] This theory has been rejected by other scholars, who argue that the archaeological evidence seems to indicate that Judah was an independent socio-political entity for most of the 9th century BCE.[127]

Avraham Faust argues that there was continued adherence to the 'ethos of egalitarianism and simplicity' in the Iron Age II (10th-6th century BCE). For example, there is minimal evidence of temples and complex tomb burials, despite Israel and Judah being more densely populated than the Late Bronze Age. Four-room houses remained the norm. In addition, royal inscriptions were scarce, along with imported and decorated pottery.[128] According to William G. Dever, Israelite identity in the 9th-8th centuries BCE can be identified through a combination of archaeological and cultural traits that distinguish them from their neighbours. These traits include being born and living within the territorial borders of Israel or Judah, speaking Hebrew, living in specific house types, using locally produced pottery, and following particular burial practices. Israelites were also part of a rural, kin-based society, and adhered to Yahwism, though not necessarily in a monotheistic way. Their material culture was simple but distinct, and their societal organization was centered around family and inheritance. These traits, while shared with some neighbouring peoples, were uniquely Israelite in their specific combination.[129]

The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE.[130] The records of Sargon II of Assyria indicate that he deported part of the population to Assyria. Some Israelites migrated to the southern kingdom of Judah,[131] while those that remained in Samaria, concentrated mainly around Mount Gerizim, developed a new ethnic identity as Samaritans.[132][133] Foreign groups were also settled by the Assyrians in the territories of the conquered kingdom.[133] Research indicates that only a portion of the surviving Israelite population intermarried with Mesopotamians settlers.[134][135] In their native Samaritan Hebrew, the Samaritans identify as "Israel", "B'nai Israel" or "Shamerim/Shomerim" (i.e. "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers").[136][137][138][139] Despite this, belief in the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel emerged because of the heavy assimilation faced by Samarian deportees.[140]

Towards the end of the same century, the Neo-Babylonian Empire emerged victorious over the Assyrians, leading to Judah's subjugation as a vassal state. In the early 6th century BC, a series of revolts in Judah prompted the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II to lay siege to and destroy Jerusalem along with the First Temple, marking the kingdom's demise. Subsequently, a segment of the Judahite populace was exiled to Babylon in several waves.[141] Judeans were progenitors of the Jews,[142] who practised Second Temple Judaism during the Second Temple period.[143][144]

### Later history

[edit]

Main articles: Jewish History, Samaritans § History, and Ten Lost Tribes

With the fall of Babylon to the rising Achaemenid Persian Empire, king Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation known as the Edict of Cyrus, encouraging the exiles to return to their homeland after the Persians raised it as an autonomous Jewish-governed province named Yehud. Under the Persians (c. 539–332 BCE), the returned Jewish population restored the city and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem. The Cyrus Cylinder is controversially cited as evidence for Cyrus allowing the Judeans to return.[145][146] The returnees showed a "heightened sense" of their ethnic identity and shunned exogamy, which was treated as a "permissive reality" in Babylon.[147][148] Circumcision was no longer a significant ethnic marker, with increased emphasis on genealogical descent or faith in Yahweh.[68][69] Jason A. Staples argues that the majority of contemporary Jews, regardless of theology, wished for the reunion of northern Israelites and southern Jews.[149]

In 332 BCE, the Achaemenid Empire fell to Alexander the Great, and the region was later incorporated into the Ptolemaic Kingdom (c. 301–200 BCE) and the Seleucid Empire (c. 200–167 BCE). The Maccabean Revolt against Seleucid rule ushered in a period of nominal independence for the Jewish people under the Hasmonean dynasty (140–37 BCE). Initially operating semi-autonomously within the Seleucid sphere, the Hasmoneans gradually asserted full independence through military conquest and diplomacy, establishing themselves as the final sovereign Jewish rulers before a prolonged hiatus in Jewish sovereignty in the region.[150][151][152][153] Some scholars argue that Jews also engaged in active missionary efforts in the Greco-Roman world, which led to conversions.[154][155][156][157] Several scholars, such as Scot McKnight and Martin Goodman, reject this view while holding that conversions occasionally occurred.[158] A similar diaspora existed for Samaritans but their existence is poorly documented.[159]

In 63 BCE, the Roman Republic conquered the kingdom. In 37 BCE, the Romans appointed Herod the Great as king of a vassal Judea. In 6 CE, Judea was fully incorporated into the Roman Empire as the province of Judaea. During this period, the main areas of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel were Judea, Galilee and Perea, while the Samaritans had their demographic center in Samaria. Growing dissatisfaction with Roman rule and civil disturbances eventually led to the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, which ended the Second Temple period. This event marked a cataclysmic moment in Jewish history,[160] prompting a reconfiguration of Jewish identity and practice to ensure continuity. The cessation of Temple worship and disappearance of Temple-based sects[161] facilitated the rise of Rabbinic Judaism, which stemmed from the Pharisaic school of Second Temple Judaism, emphasizing communal synagogue worship and Torah study, eventually becoming the predominant expression of Judaism.[162][160][163][164] Concurrently, Christianity began to diverge from Judaism, evolving into a predominantly Gentile religion.[165] Decades later, the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE) further diminished the Jewish presence in Judea, leading to a geographical shift of Jewish life to Galilee and Babylonia, with smaller communities scattered across the Mediterranean.

### Modern-day groups seen as descendants, or claiming connections

[edit]

Jews and Samaritans share a connection with the biblical Land of Israel.[166][167][168] Some argue that some Palestinians descend from Israelites who were not exiled by the Romans.[169][170]

Other groups claim continuity with the Israelites, including Pashtuns,[171][172] British Israelists,[173] Black Hebrew Israelites,[174] Igbos,[175] Mormons,[176] and evangelical Christians that subscribe to covenant theology.[177]

## Genetics

[edit]

Further information: Genetic history of the Middle East and Canaan § Genetic studies

See also: Genetic studies on Jews and Samaritans § Genetic studies

A Samaritan elder participates in Passover prayer services held on Mount Gerizim

As of 2024, only one study has directly examined ancient Israelite genetic material. The analysis examined First Temple-era skeletal remains excavated in Abu Ghosh, and showed one male individual belonging to the J2 Y-DNA haplogroup, a set of closely related DNA sequences thought to have originated in the Caucasus or Eastern Anatolia, as well as the T1a and H87 mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, the former of which has also been detected among Canaanites, and the latter in Basques, Tunisian Arabs, and Iraqis, suggesting a Mediterranean, Near Eastern, or perhaps Arabian origin.[178]

A 2004 study (by Shen et al.) comparing Samaritans to several Jewish populations (including Ashkenazi Jews, Iraqi Jews, Libyan Jews, Moroccan Jews, and Yemenite Jews) found that "the principal components analysis suggested a common ancestry of Samaritan and Jewish patrilineages. Most of the former may be traced back to a common ancestor in what is today identified as the paternally inherited Israelite high priesthood (Cohanim), with a common ancestor projected to the time of the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel."[179]

A 2020 study (by Agranat-Tamr et al.) stated that there was genetic continuity between the Bronze Age and Iron Age southern Levantines, which included the Israelites and Judahites. They could be "modeled as a mixture of local earlier Neolithic populations and populations from the northeastern part of the Near East (e.g. Zagros Mountains, Caucasians/Armenians and possibly, Hurrians)". Reasons for the continuity include resilience from the Bronze Age collapse, which was mostly true for inland cities such as Tel Megiddo and Tel Abel Beth Maacah. Elsewhere, European-related and East African-related components were added to the population, from a north-south and south-north gradient respectively. Late Neolithic and Bronze Age Europeans and Somalis were used as representatives.[180]

## See also

[edit]

* Demographic history of Palestine
* God-fearers
* Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites
* Hebrews
* Jacob in Islam
* New Israelites, former Protestant sect (1790s-1802)
* Segmentary society
* Twelve Tribes of Israel
* Who is a Jew?

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ /ˈɪzrəlaɪts, -riə-/;[1][2] Hebrew: בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, romanized: Bənēy Yīsrāʾēl, transl. 'Children of Israel'
2. ^ "While there is a consensus among scholars that the Exodus did not take place in the manner described in the Bible, surprisingly most scholars agree that the narrative has a historical core and that some of the highland settlers came, one way or another, from Egypt ..." "Archaeology does not really contribute to the debate over the historicity or even historical background of the Exodus itself, but if there was indeed such a group, it contributed the Exodus story to that of all Israel. While I agree that it is most likely that there was such a group, I must stress that this is based on an overall understanding of the development of collective memory and of the authorship of the texts (and their editorial process). Archaeology, unfortunately, cannot directly contribute (yet?) to the study of this specific group of Israel's ancestors."[84]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Israelite". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021.
2. ^ "Israelite". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
3. ^ Sparks, Kenton L. (1998). Ethnicity and Identity in Ancient Israel: Prolegomena to the Study of Ethnic Sentiments and Their Expression in the Hebrew Bible. Eisenbrauns. pp. 146–148\. ISBN 978-1-57506-033-0.
4. ^ Baron, Salo W. (1937). Social and Religious History of the Jews. Vol. 1\. p. 338.
5. ^ Shaw, Ian (2002). "Israel, Israelites". In Shaw, Ian; Jameson, Robert (eds.). A Dictionary of Archaeology. Wiley Blackwell. p. 313\. ISBN 978-0-631-23583-5.
6. ^ a b Faust, Avraham (2023). "The Birth of Israel". In Hoyland, Robert G.; Williamson, H. G. M. (eds.). The Oxford History of the Holy Land. Oxford University Press. pp. 5–33\. ISBN 978-0-19-288687-3.
7. ^ Bienkowski, Piotr; Millard, Alan (2000). British Museum Dictionary of the Ancient Near East. British Museum Press. pp. 157–158\. ISBN 9780714111414.
8. ^ a b Mark Smith in "The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel" states "Despite the long regnant model that the Canaanites and Israelites were people of fundamentally different culture, archaeological data now casts doubt on this view. The material culture of the region exhibits numerous common points between Israelites and Canaanites in the Iron I period (c. 1200–1000 BCE). The record would suggest that the Israelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture ... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature. Given the information available, one cannot maintain a radical cultural separation between Canaanites and Israelites for the Iron I period." (pp. 6–7). Smith, Mark (2002). The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel. Eerdmans.
9. ^ Frevel, Christian. History of Ancient Israel. Atlanta, Georgia. SBL Press. 2023. p. 33. ISBN 9781628375138. "Israel developed in the land and not outside of it (in Egypt, in the desert, etc.)."
10. ^ Steiner, Richard C. (1997). "Ancient Hebrew". In Hetzron, Robert (ed.). The Semitic Languages. Routledge. pp. 145–173. ISBN 978-0-415-05767-7.
11. ^ a b c d e Hendel, Ronald (2005). Remembering Abraham: Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible. Oxford University Press. pp. 3–30\. ISBN 978-0-19-517796-1.
12. ^ a b Broshi, Magen (2001). Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls. Bloomsbury. p. 174\. ISBN 978-1-84127-201-6.
13. ^ a b Faust, Avraham (29 August 2012). Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period. Society of Biblical Literature. p. 1\. doi:10.2307/j.ctt5vjz28. ISBN 978-1-58983-641-9.
14. ^ Stökl, Jonathan; Waerzegger, Caroline (2015). Exile and Return: The Babylonian Context. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 7–11, 30, 226.
15. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). p. 27.
16. ^ a b Dever, William (2001). What Did the Biblical Writers Know, and When Did They Know It?. Eerdmans. pp. 98–99\. ISBN 3-927120-37-5. "After a century of exhaustive investigation, all respectable archaeologists have given up hope of recovering any context that would make Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob credible 'historical figures' ... archaeological investigation of Moses and the Exodus has similarly been discarded as a fruitless pursuit."
17. ^ Faust 2015, p.476: "While there is a consensus among scholars that the Exodus did not take place in the manner described in the Bible, surprisingly most scholars agree that the narrative has a historical core and that some of the highland settlers came, one way or another, from Egypt ...".
18. ^ Redmount 2001, p. 61: "A few authorities have concluded that the core events of the Exodus saga are entirely literary fabrications. But most biblical scholars still subscribe to some variation of the Documentary Hypothesis, and support the basic historicity of the biblical narrative."
19. ^ a b Na'aman 2011, pp. 62–69.
20. ^ a b Killebrew, Ann E. (2017). ""Out of the Land of Egypt, Out of the House of Slavery..." (Exodus 20:2): Forced Migration, Slavery and the Emergence of Israel". In Lipschits, Oded; Gadot, Yuval; Adams, Matthew Joel (eds.). Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein. Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 151–158\. ISBN 978-1-57506-787-2.
21. ^ a b Thomas, Zachary (22 April 2016). "Debating the United Monarchy: Let's See How Far We've Come". Biblical Theology Bulletin. 46 (2): 59–69\. doi:10.1177/0146107916639208. ISSN 0146-1079. S2CID 147053561.
22. ^ Lipschits, Oded (2014). "The history of Israel in the biblical period". In Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). The Jewish Study Bible (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 2107–2119\. ISBN 978-0-19-997846-5. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2022. "As this essay will show, however, the premonarchic period long ago became a literary description of the mythological roots, the early beginnings of the nation and the way to describe the right of Israel on its land. The archaeological evidence also does not support the existence of a united monarchy under David and Solomon as described in the Bible, so the rubric of 'united monarchy' is best abandoned, although it remains useful for discussing how the Bible views the Israelite past. ... Although the kingdom of Judah is mentioned in some ancient inscriptions, they never suggest that it was part of a unit comprised of Israel and Judah. There are no extrabiblical indications of a united monarchy called 'Israel'."
23. ^ Adams, Hannah (1840). The history of the Jews: from the destruction of Jerusalem to the present time. Duncan and Malcolm and Wertheim. OCLC 894671497.
24. ^ Brenner, Michael (2010). A short history of the Jews. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14351-4. OCLC 463855870.
25. ^ Ostrer, Harry (2012). Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People. Oxford University Press USA. ISBN 978-1-280-87519-9. OCLC 798209542.
26. ^ Kartveit, Magnar (1 January 2014). "Review of Knoppers, Gary N., Jews and Samaritans: The Origins and History of Their Early Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013)". Journal of Hebrew Scriptures. 14. doi:10.5508/jhs.2014.v14.r25. ISSN 1203-1542.
27. ^ Greenspahn, Frederick E. (2008). The Hebrew Bible: New Insights and Scholarship. NYU Press. pp. 12ff. ISBN 978-0-8147-3187-1. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
28. ^ a b Van der Toorn, K. (196). Family Religion in Babylonia, Ugarit and Israel: Continuity and Changes in the Forms of Religious Life. Brill. pp. 181, 282.
29. ^ Grabbe 2008, p. 75.
30. ^ Van der Veern, Peter, et al. "Israel in Canaan (Long) Before Pharaoh Merenptah? A Fresh Look at Berlin Statue Pedestal Relief 21687". Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections. pp. 15–25.
31. ^ Romer, Thomas (2015). The Invention of God, Harvard. p. 75.
32. ^ Dijkstra, Meindert (2017). "Canaan in the Transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age from an Egyptian Perspective". In Grabbe, Lester, ed. The Land of Canaan in the Late Bronze Age. Bloomsbury. p. 62, n. 17
33. ^ Genesis 32:29
34. ^ Scherman, Rabbi Nosson, ed. (2006). The Chumash. The Artscroll Series. Mesorah. pp. 176–77.
35. ^ Kaplan, Aryeh (1985). "Jewish Meditation". New York: Schocken. p. 125.
36. ^ a b Lewis, Theodore J. (2020). The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity. Oxford University Press. pp. 73–118\. ISBN 978-0190072544.
37. ^ a b c Cross 1973.
38. ^ Hamilton, Victor (1995). The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 334\. ISBN 0-8028-2521-4.
39. ^ Wenham, Gordon (1994). Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 2: Genesis 16–50. Dallas, Texas: Word Books. pp. 296–97.
40. ^ Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc (2004). The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. Oxford University Press. p. 68.
41. ^ "שׂרר". Sefaria. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
42. ^ "Klein Dictionary, שַׂר". www.sefaria.org. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
43. ^ "šarru". Akkadian Dictionary. Association Assyrophile de France. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
44. ^ "שׂרה". Sefaria. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
45. ^ Even-Shoshan, Avraham. "שׂרה". Even-Shoshan Dictionary.
46. ^ Yoreh, Tzemah (29 December 2017). "Jacob Is Renamed Israel (Twice): Why Does the Name Jacob Remain?". TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2025.
47. ^ a b Dearman, J. Andrew (2018). Reading Hebrew Bible Narratives. Oxford University Press. pp. 113–129\. ISBN 978-0-19-024648-8.
48. ^ Bereshith, Genesis
49. ^ Exodus 18:13–26
50. ^ "1 Samuel 14: Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible". StudyLight.org. 2022. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024.
51. ^ 2 Sam 8:1–14
52. ^ Tetley 2005, p. 105.
53. ^ Dever 2005, p. 97; Mendels 1987, p. 131; Brand & Mitchell 2015, p. 1538
54. ^ Barnes, W. E. (1899), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on 2 Chronicles 5, accessed 17 April 2020
55. ^ Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1889). Facsimile-atlas to the Early History of Cartography: With Reproductions of the Most Important Maps Printed in the XV and XVI Centuries. Kraus. pp. 51, 64.
56. ^ a b c Grabbe 2004, pp. 209–216, 267, 271–276.
57. ^ a b c Grabbe 2004, pp. 278–285.
58. ^ Myers, Jacob M. (1964). Ezra, Nehemiah. Anchor Bible Series 14\. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. pp. XXXVI–XXXVII, LXX. LCCN 65-23788.
59. ^ Grabbe 2004, pp. 292–310, 356–357.
60. ^ "Esther 3 Barnes' Notes". Biblehub.com. 2024. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024.
61. ^ "Esther 9 Barnes' Notes". TheTorah.com. 2024. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024.
62. ^ Grabbe 2004, pp. 85–90.
63. ^ Grabbe 2004, pp. 85–106.
64. ^ a b c d Genesis 35:22–26
65. ^ a b c d e f g Hayes, Christine E. (2002). Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities: Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud. Oxford University Press. pp. 19–44\. ISBN 978-0-19-803446-9.
66. ^ a b c Block, Daniel I. (1984). "'Israel'—'sons of Israel': A study in Hebrew eponymic usage". Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses. 13 (3): 301–326\. doi:10.1177/000842988401300305 – via SageJournals.
67. ^ a b Olyan, Saul (2000). Rites and Rank: Hierarchy in Biblical Representations of Cult. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02948-1.
68. ^ a b Thiessen, Matthew (2011). Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity. Oxford University Press. pp. 87–110\. ISBN 978-0-19-991445-6.
69. ^ a b Lau, Peter H.W. (2009). "Gentile Incorporation into Israel in Ezra - Nehemiah?". Peeters Publishers. 90 (3): 356–373\. JSTOR 42614919.
70. ^ Martin, Troy W. (2003). "The Covenant of Circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14) and the Situational Antitheses in Galatians 3:28". Journal of Biblical Literature. 122 (1): 111–125\. doi:10.2307/3268093. JSTOR 3268093.
71. ^ Cohen, Shaye J.D. (2001). The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520226937.
72. ^ E.H.Gifford. "Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the Gospel). Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) - Book 9". Tertullian.org. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
73. ^ Arnold, Bill T. (2005). Who Were the Babylonians?. Brill. p. 87\. ISBN 978-90-04-13071-5.
74. ^ Pinches, Theophilus Goldridge (1902). The Old Testament in the light of the historical records and legends of Assyria and Babylonia. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. pp. 193–.
75. ^ "Ur of the Chaldees - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". Internationalstandardbible.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
76. ^ Lipman. "RaMBaN on Lech Lecha — Summary of Lech Lecha". Gates to Jewish Heritage. Archived from the original on 21 September 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
77. ^ Bohstrom, Philippe (6 February 2017). "Peoples of the Bible: The Legend of the Amorites". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024.
78. ^ Issar, A. S. Strike the Rock and There Shall Come Water: Climate Changes, Water Resources and History of the Lands of the Bible, p. 67. Springer. 2014.
79. ^ Pococke, Richard; Gravelot, Hubert François; Grignion, Charles (1743). A description of the East, and some other countries. London : Printed for the author, by W. Bowyer. p. 159. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
80. ^ Rendsburg, Gary (6 November 2019). "Ur Kasdim: Where Is Abraham's Birthplace?". thetorah.com.
81. ^ "Genesis 10 Barnes' Notes". Biblehub.com. 2024. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
82. ^ Frankel, David (8 April 2015). "The Book of Chronicles and the Ephraimites that Never Went to Egypt". TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024.
83. ^ Wazana, Nili (15 April 2018). "Israel's Declaration of Independence and the Biblical Right to the Land". TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024.
84. ^ Faust 2015, p. 476.
85. ^ Dever 2003, p. 231.
86. ^ Friedman, Richard Elliott (12 September 2017). The Exodus. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-256526-6. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
87. ^ Assmann, Jan (2003). The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01211-0.
88. ^ L 186 Josephus I Life Against Apion.
89. ^ a b Tubb 1998, pp. 13–14.
90. ^ McNutt 1999, p. 47.
91. ^ K. L. Noll (2001). Canaan and Israel in Antiquity: An Introduction. Archived 1 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine A&C Black. p. 164: "It would seem that, in the eyes of Merneptah's artisans, Israel was a Canaanite group indistinguishable from all other Canaanite groups." "It is likely that Merneptah's Israel was a group of Canaanites located in the Jezreel Valley."
92. ^ Moore Cross, Frank (1997). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in History of the Religion of Israel. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 62\. ISBN 0-674-09176-0.
93. ^ Kuzar, Ron (2001). Hebrew and Zionism: a discourse analytic cultural study. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 235\. ISBN 3-11-016993-2.
94. ^ Haber, Marc; Doumet-Serhal, Claude; Scheib, Christiana; et al. (2017). "Continuity and Admixture in the Last Five Millennia of Levantine History from Ancient Canaanite and Present-Day Lebanese Genome Sequences". American Journal of Human Genetics. 101 (2): 274–282\. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.06.013. PMC 5544389. PMID 28757201.
95. ^ Feldman, Michal; Master, Daniel M.; Bianco, Raffaela A.; et al. (2019). "Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines". ScienceAdvances. 5 (7): eaax0061. Bibcode:2019SciA....5...61F. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax0061. PMC 6609216. PMID 31281897.
96. ^ "Shasu or Habiru: Who Were the Early Israelites?". The BAS Library. 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
97. ^ "Israelites as Canaanites". Macrohistory: World History. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
98. ^ "Inside, Outside: Where Did the Early Israelites Come From?". The BAS Library. 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
99. ^ Killebrew, Ann E. (2020). "Early Israel's Origins, Settlement, and Ethnogenesis". In Kelle, Brad E.; Strawn, Brent A. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible. Oxford University Press. pp. 79–93\. ISBN 978-0-19-026116-0. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
100. ^ Rendsburg, Gary A. (2020). "Israelite Origins". In Averbeck, Richard E.; Younger (Jr.), K. Lawson (eds.). "An Excellent Fortress for His Armies, a Refuge for the People": Egyptological, Archaeological, and Biblical Studies in Honor of James K. Hoffmeier. Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 327–339\. ISBN 978-1-57506-994-4.
101. ^ Mittleman, Alan (2010). "Judaism: Covenant, Pluralism and Piety". In Turner, Bryan S., ed. The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 340–363, 346.
102. ^ a b Gottwald, Norman (1999). Tribes of Yahweh: A Sociology of the Religion of Liberated Israel, 1250–1050 BCE. A&C Black. p. 433. cf. 455–56.
103. ^ Gabriel, Richard A. (2003). The Military History of Ancient Israel. Greenwood. p. 63: "The ethnically mixed character of the Israelites is reflected even more clearly in the foreign names of the group's leadership. Moses himself, of course, has an Egyptian name. But so do Hophni, Phinehas, Hur, and Merari, the son of Levi."
104. ^ Tubb 1998.
105. ^ a b Fleishman, Joseph (2001). "On the Significance of a Name Change and Circumcision in Genesis 17". Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society. 28 (1) – via JTS.
106. ^ a b Thiessen, Matthew (2011). Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity. Oxford University Press. pp. 43–64\. ISBN 9780199914456.
107. ^ Cohen, Shaye J.D. (2005). Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism. 978-0520212503. pp. 180–190\. ISBN 978-0520212503.
108. ^ Goldenberg 2009, p. 95.
109. ^ Yurco, Frank J. (1986). "Merenptah's Canaanite Campaign". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 23: 195, 207. doi:10.2307/40001099. JSTOR 40001099.
110. ^ Hasel, Michael G. (2003). Nakhai, Beth Alpert (ed.). "Merenptah's Inscription and Reliefs and the Origin of Israel (The Near East in the Southwest: Essays in Honor of William G. Dever)". Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 58. Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research: 27–36\. ISBN 0-89757-065-0. JSTOR 3768554.
111. ^ Stager, Lawrence E. (2001). "Forging an Identity: The Emergence of Ancient Israel". In Coogan, Michael (ed.). The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford University Press. p. 92\. ISBN 0-19-513937-2.
112. ^ Rainey, Anson F. (2001). "Israel in Merenptah's Inscription and Reliefs". Israel Exploration Journal. 51 (1): 57–75\. ISSN 0021-2059. JSTOR 27926956.
113. ^ Adler, Cyrus; Muller, W. Max; Ginzberg, Louis. "Beard". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024.
114. ^ a b c Rendsburg, Gary A. (2021). "The Emergence of Israel in Canaan". In John Merill; Hershel Shanks (eds.). Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple. Biblical Archaeology Society. pp. 59–91\. ISBN 978-1-880317-23-5.
115. ^ Mark W. Bartusch, Understanding Dan: an exegetical study of a biblical city, tribe and ancestor, Volume 379 of Journal for the study of the Old Testament: Supplement series, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003
116. ^ Himbaza, Innocent; Schenker, Adrien; Edart, Jean-Baptiste (2012). The Bible on the Question of Homosexuality. Catholic University of America Press. pp. 45–72\. ISBN 978-0813218847. JSTOR j.ctt284v7w.7.
117. ^ Delitzsch, Friedrich; McCormack, Joseph; Carruth, William Herbert; Robinson, Lydia Gillingham (1906). Babel and Bible;. Chicago: The Open Court. p. 78.
118. ^ Joffe 2002, p. 450.
119. ^ "Divided Kingdom, United Critics". Biblical Archaeology Society. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
120. ^ a b Finkelstein, Israel; Silberman, Neil Asher (2001). The Bible unearthed: archaeology's new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its stories (1st Touchstone ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-86912-4.
121. ^ Wright, Jacob L. (July 2014). "David, King of Judah (Not Israel)". The Bible and Interpretation. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
122. ^ "British Museum – Cuneiform tablet with part of the Babylonian Chronicle (605–594 BCE)". Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
123. ^ "ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronicle)". www.livius.org. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
124. ^ Faust, Avraham (2012). Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation. Society of Biblical Lit. pp. 140–143\. ISBN 978-1-58983-641-9.
125. ^ Yardenna Alexandre (2020). "The Settlement History of Nazareth in the Iron Age and Early Roman Period". 'Atiqot. 98. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
126. ^ a b Frevel, Christian (2021). "When and from Where did YHWH Emerge? Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah". Entangled Religions. 12 (2). doi:10.46586/er.12.2021.8776. hdl:2263/84039. ISSN 2363-6696.
127. ^ Gadot, Yuval; Kleiman, Assaf; Uziel, Joe (2023). "The Interconnections Between Jerusalem and Samaria in the Ninth to Eighth Centuries BCE: Material Culture, Connectivity and Politics". In Ben-Yosef, Erez; Jones, Ian W. N. (eds.). "And in Length of Days Understanding" (Job 12:12): Essays on Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond in Honor of Thomas E. Levy. Springer Nature. pp. 771–786\. ISBN 978-3-031-27330-8.
128. ^ Faust, Avraham (2019). "Israelite Temples: Where Was Israelite Cult Not Practiced, and Why". Religions. 10 (2): 106. doi:10.3390/rel10020106. ISSN 2077-1444.
129. ^ Dever, William G. (2017). Beyond the texts: an archaeological portrait of ancient Israel and Judah. Atlanta: SBL Press. pp. 505–506\. ISBN 978-0-88414-218-8.
130. ^ Hasegawa, Levin & Radner 2018, p. 55.
131. ^ Finkelstein, Israel (28 June 2015). "Migration of Israelites into Judah after 720 BCE: An Answer and an Update". Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. 127 (2): 188–206\. doi:10.1515/zaw-2015-0011. ISSN 1613-0103. S2CID 171178702.
132. ^ Shen et al. 2004.
133. ^ a b Finkelstein, Israel (2013). The forgotten kingdom : the archaeology and history of Northern Israel. Society of Biblical Literature. p. 158\. ISBN 978-1-58983-910-6. OCLC 949151323.
134. ^ Cline, Eric H. (2008). From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible. National Geographic (US). ISBN 978-1-4262-0208-7.
135. ^ Shen, Peidong; Lavi, Tal; Kivisild, Toomas; Chou, Vivian; Sengun, Deniz; Gefel, Dov; Shpirer, Issac; Woolf, Eilon; Hillel, Jossi; Feldman, Marcus W.; Oefner, Peter J. (2004). "Reconstruction of patrilineages and matrilineages of Samaritans and other Israeli populations from Y-Chromosome and mitochondrial DNA sequence Variation". Human Mutation. 24 (3): 248–260\. doi:10.1002/humu.20077. ISSN 1059-7794. PMID 15300852. S2CID 1571356.
136. ^ Manzur 1979.
137. ^ Bowman, John (8 February 1963). "BANŪ ISRĀ'ĪL IN THE QUR'ĀN". Islamic Studies. 2 (4). Islamic Research Institute: 447–455\. JSTOR 20832712. "This tiny community called by the Jews and the Christians, the Samaritans, call themselves Israel or Shomerim, the Keepers (of the Torah, i.e., Tawr?t)."
138. ^ "The Samaritan Identity". The Israelite Samaritan Community in Israel. Retrieved 15 September 2023. "Our real name is, 'Bene- Yisrael Ha -Shamerem (D'nU- -D'7nU) - in Hebrew , which means 'The Keepers', or to be precise, the Israelite - Keepers, as we observe the ancient Israelite tradition, since the time of our prophet Moses and the people of Israel. The modern terms, 'Samaritans' and 'Jews', given by the Assyrians, indicate the settlement of the Samaritans in the area of Samaria, and the Jews in the area of Judah."
139. ^ "The Keepers: Israelite Samaritan Identity". Israelite Samaritan Information Institute. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2023. "We are not Samaritans; this is what the Assyrians called the people of Samaria. We, The Keepers, Sons of Israel, Keepers of the Word of the Torah, never adopted the name Samaritans. Our forefathers only used the name when speaking to outsiders about our community. Through the ages we have referred to ourselves as The Keepers."
140. ^ Lyman, Stanford M. (1998). "The Lost Tribes of Israel as a Problem in History and Sociology". International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society. 12 (1): 7–42\. doi:10.1023/A:1025902603291. JSTOR 20019954. S2CID 141243508.
141. ^ Baker, Luke (3 February 2017). "Ancient tablets reveal life of Jews in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon". Reuters.
142. ^ Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2008). Western Civilization: Volume A: To 1500. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 36\. ISBN 978-0-495-50288-3. "The people of Judah survived, eventually becoming known as the Jews and giving their name to Judaism, the religion of Yahweh, the Israelite God."
143. ^ Catherine Cory (13 August 2015). Christian Theological Tradition. Routledge. p. 20 and forwards. ISBN 978-1-317-34958-7.
144. ^ Stephen Benko (1984). Pagan Rome and the Early Christians. Indiana University Press. p. 22 and forwards. ISBN 978-0-253-34286-7.
145. ^ Winn Leith, Mary Joan (2001) [1998]. "Israel among the Nations: The Persian Period". In Michael David Coogan (ed.). The Oxford History of the Biblical World (Google Books). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 285\. ISBN 0-19-513937-2. LCCN 98016042. OCLC 44650958. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
146. ^ Becking, Bob (2006). ""We All Returned as One!": Critical Notes on the Myth of the Mass Return". In Lipschitz, Oded; Oeming, Manfred (eds.). Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. p. 8\. ISBN 978-1-57506-104-7.
147. ^ Katherine ER. Southward, Ethnicity and the Mixed Marriage Crisis in Ezra, 9–10: An Anthropological Approach, Oxford University Press 2012 pp.103–203, esp. p.193.
148. ^ Pearce, Laurie (2022). "Jews Intermarried Not Only in Judea but Also in Babylonia". TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024.
149. ^ Staples, Jason A. (2021). The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1108842860.
150. ^ Helyer, Larry R.; McDonald, Lee Martin (2013). "The Hasmoneans and the Hasmonean Era". In Green, Joel B.; McDonald, Lee Martin (eds.). The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Baker Academic. pp. 45–47\. ISBN 978-0-8010-9861-1. OCLC 961153992. "The ensuing power struggle left Hyrcanus with a free hand in Judea, and he quickly reasserted Jewish sovereignty... Hyrcanus then engaged in a series of military campaigns aimed at territorial expansion. He first conquered areas in the Transjordan. He then turned his attention to Samaria, which had long separated Judea from the northern Jewish settlements in Lower Galilee. In the south, Adora and Marisa were conquered; (Aristobulus') primary accomplishment was annexing and Judaizing the region of Iturea, located between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains"
151. ^ Ben-Sasson, H.H. (1976). A History of the Jewish People. Harvard University Press. p. 226\. ISBN 0-674-39731-2. "The expansion of Hasmonean Judea took place gradually. Under Jonathan, Judea annexed southern Samaria and began to expand in the direction of the coast plain... The main ethnic changes were the work of John Hyrcanus... it was in his days and those of his son Aristobulus that the annexation of Idumea, Samaria and Galilee and the consolidation of Jewish settlement in Trans-Jordan was completed. Alexander Jannai, continuing the work of his predecessors, expanded Judean rule to the entire coastal plain, from the Carmel to the Egyptian border... and to additional areas in Trans-Jordan, including some of the Greek cities there."
152. ^ Smith, Morton (1999), Sturdy, John; Davies, W. D.; Horbury, William (eds.), "The Gentiles in Judaism 125 BCE - 66 CE", The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 3: The Early Roman Period, The Cambridge History of Judaism, vol. 3, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 192–249, doi:10.1017/chol9780521243773.008, ISBN 978-0-521-24377-3, retrieved 20 March 2023, "These changes accompanied and were partially caused by the great extension of the Judaeans' contacts with the peoples around them. Many historians have chronicled the Hasmonaeans' territorial acquisitions. In sum, it took them twenty-five years to win control of the tiny territory of Judaea and get rid of the Seleucid colony of royalist Jews (with, presumably, gentile officials and garrison) in Jerusalem. [...] However, in the last years before its fall, the Hasmonaeans were already strong enough to acquire, partly by negotiation, partly by conquest, a little territory north and south of Judaea and a corridor on the west to the coast at Jaffa/Joppa. This was briefly taken from them by Antiochus Sidetes, but soon regained, and in the half-century from Sidetes' death in 129 to Alexander Jannaeus' death in 76 they overran most of Palestine and much of western and northern Transjordan. First John Hyrcanus took over the hills of southern and central Palestine (Idumaea and the territories of Shechem, Samaria and Scythopolis) in 128–104; then his son, Aristobulus I, took Galilee in 104–103, and Aristobulus' brother and successor, Jannaeus, in about eighteen years of warfare (103–96, 86–76) conquered and reconquered the coastal plain, the northern Negev, and western edge of Transjordan."
153. ^ Ben-Eliyahu, Eyal (30 April 2019). Identity and Territory: Jewish Perceptions of Space in Antiquity. Univ of California Press. p. 13\. ISBN 978-0-520-29360-1. OCLC 1103519319. "From the beginning of the Second Temple period until the Muslim conquest—the land was part of imperial space. This was true from the early Persian period, as well as the time of Ptolemy and the Seleucids. The only exception was the Hasmonean Kingdom, with its sovereign Jewish rule—first over Judah and later, in Alexander Jannaeus's prime, extending to the coast, the north, and the eastern banks of the Jordan."
154. ^ Louis H. Feldman, "The Omnipresence of the God-Fearers" Archived 24 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Biblical Archaeology Review 12, 5 (1986), Center for Online Judaic Studies.
155. ^ Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (1989), pp. 55–59, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN 978-0-664-25017-1.
156. ^ A. T. Kraabel, J. Andrew Overman, Robert S. MacLennan, Diaspora Jews and Judaism: essays in honor of, and in dialogue with, A. Thomas Kraabel (1992), Scholars Press, ISBN 978-15-55406-96-7. "As pious gentiles, the God-fearers stood somewhere between Greco-Roman piety and Jewish piety in the synagogue. In his classic but now somewhat outdated study titled Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era, Harvard scholar George Foot Moore argued that the existence of the God-fearers provides evidence for the synagogue's own missionary work outside of Palestine during the first century C.E. The God-fearers were the result of this Jewish missionary movement."
157. ^ Goodman, Martin (2006). Judaism in the Roman World. Brill. ISBN 978-90-47-41061-4.
158. ^ Gregerman, Adam (2009). "The Lack of Evidence for a Jewish Christian Countermission in Galatia". Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations. 4 (1): 13. doi:10.6017/scjr.v4i1.1513. ISSN 1930-3777.
159. ^ Zsengeller, Jozsef (2016). "THE Samaritan Diaspora in Antiquity". Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 56 (2): 157–175\. doi:10.1556/068.2016.56.2.2 – via Gale Academic Onefile.
160. ^ a b Karesh, Sara E. (2006). Encyclopedia of Judaism. Facts On File. ISBN 1-78785-171-0. OCLC 1162305378. "Until the modern period, the destruction of the Temple was the most cataclysmic moment in the history of the Jewish people. Without the Temple, the Sadducees no longer had any claim to authority, and they faded away. The sage Yochanan ben Zakkai, with permission from Rome, set up the outpost of Yavneh to continue develop of Pharisaic, or rabbinic, Judaism."
161. ^ Alföldy, Géza (1995). "Eine Bauinschrift aus dem Colosseum". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 109: 195–226\. JSTOR 20189648.
162. ^ Westwood, Ursula (1 April 2017). "A History of the Jewish War, AD 66–74". Journal of Jewish Studies. 68 (1): 189–193\. doi:10.18647/3311/jjs-2017. ISSN 0022-2097.
163. ^ Maclean Rogers, Guy (2021). For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 3–5\. ISBN 978-0-300-26256-8. OCLC 1294393934.
164. ^ Goldenberg, Robert (1977). "The Broken Axis: Rabbinic Judaism and the Fall of Jerusalem". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. XLV (3): 353. doi:10.1093/jaarel/xlv.3.353. ISSN 0002-7189.
165. ^ Klutz, Todd (2002) [2000]. "Part II: Christian Origins and Development – Paul and the Development of Gentile Christianity". In Esler, Philip F. (ed.). The Early Christian World. Routledge Worlds (1st ed.). New York and London: Routledge. pp. 178–190\. ISBN 9781032199344.
166. ^ R. Yisrael Meir haKohen (Chofetz Chayim), The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, p. xxxv. This version of the list was prepared in 1968.
167. ^ The Ramban's addition to the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot.
168. ^ "About Israelite Samaritans". Israelite Samaritan Information Institute. 2024. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024.
169. ^ Gil, Moshe. [1983] 1997. A History of Palestine, 634–1099. Cambridge University Press. pp. 222–3: "David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi claimed that the population at the time of the Arab conquest was mainly Christian, of Jewish origins, which underwent conversion to avoid a tax burden, basing their argument on 'the fact that at the time of the Arab conquest, the population of Palestine was mainly Christian and that during the Crusaders' conquest some four hundred years later, it was mainly Muslim. As neither the Byzantines nor the Muslims carried out any large-scale population resettlement projects, the Christians were the offspring of the Jewish and Samaritan farmers who converted to Christianity in the Byzantine period; while the Muslim fellaheen in Palestine in modern times are descendants of those Christians who were the descendants of Jews, and had turned to Islam before the Crusaders' conquest."
170. ^ A tragic misunderstanding – Times online, 13 January 2009.
171. ^ Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. Vol. 2\. BRILL. p. 150\. ISBN 90-04-08265-4. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
172. ^ Oreck, Alden. "The Virtual Jewish History Tour, Afghanistan". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
173. ^ Brackney, William H. (3 May 2012). Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity. Scarecrow Press. pp. 61–62\. ISBN 978-0-8108-7365-0. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
174. ^ Lee, Morgan (24 January 2019). "The Hebrew Israelites in That March for Life Viral Video, Explained". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
175. ^ Subramanian, Samanth (26 April 2022). "The lost Jews of Nigeria". The Guardian.
176. ^ Davies, W.D. "Israel, the Mormons and the Land". Religious Studies Center. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024.
177. ^ Wellum, Stephen (2023). "Dispensational and Covenant Theology". Christ Over All. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024.
178. ^ David, Ariel (9 October 2023). "DNA of Ancient Israelites". Haaretz.
179. ^ "Reconstruction of Patrilineages and matrilineages of Samaritans and Other Israeli Populations From Y-Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2010. (855 KB), Hum Mutat 24:248–260, 2004.
180. ^ Agranat-Tamir, Lily; et al. (28 May 2020). "The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant". Cell. 181 (5): 1146–1157.e11. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 10212583. PMID 32470400. S2CID 219105441.

## Sources

[edit]

* Brand, Chad; Mitchell, Eric (2015). Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8054-9935-3.
* Cross, Frank Moore (1973). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-09176-4. LCCN 72076564. OCLC 185400934.
* Dever, William (2003). Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-0975-9. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Dever, William G. (2005). Did God Have a Wife?: Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel. Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-2852-1. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
* Faust, Avraham (2015). "The Emergence of Iron Age Israel: On Origins and Habitus". In Levy, Thomas E.; Schneider, Thomas; Propp, William H. C. (eds.). Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective: Text, Archaeology, Culture, and Geoscience. Springer. pp. 467–482\. ISBN 978-3-319-04768-3. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
* Flusser, David (2009). Judaism of the Second Temple Period. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-2458-5.
* Goldenberg, David M. (11 April 2009). The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Princeton University Press. pp. 90–91\. ISBN 978-1-4008-2854-8. OCLC 1162398032.
* Grabbe, Lester L. (2004). A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period. T&T Clark International. ISBN 978-0-567-04352-8. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Grabbe, Lester L., ed. (2008). Israel in Transition: From Late Bronze II to Iron IIa (c. 1250–850 B.C.E.). T&T Clark International. ISBN 978-0-567-02726-9.
* Hasegawa, Shuichi; Levin, Christoph; Radner, Karen, eds. (2018). The Last Days of the Kingdom of Israel. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-056660-4.
* Joffe, Alexander H. (2002). "The Rise of Secondary States in the Iron Age Levant". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 45 (4): 425–467\. doi:10.1163/156852002320939311. JSTOR 3632872.
* Knoppers, Gary N. (2013). Jews and Samaritans: The Origins and History of Their Early Relations. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-195-32954-4.
* McNutt, Paula (1999). Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22265-9. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Manzur, Ibn (1979). "SMR". Lisan al Arab. Vol. 21\. Al-dar al-Misriya li-l-talif wa-l-taryamar. ISBN 978-0-866-85541-9.
* Mendels, D. (1987). The Land of Israel as a Political Concept in Hasmonean Literature: Recourse to History in Second Century B.C. Claims to the Holy Land. Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum. J.C.B. Mohr. ISBN 978-3-16-145147-8. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
* Moore, Megan Bishop; Kelle, Brad E. (2011). Biblical History and Israel's Past. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-6260-0.
* Na'aman, Nadav (2011). "The Exodus Story: Between Historical Memory and Historiographical Composition". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 11: 39–69\. doi:10.1163/156921211X579579.
* Pummer, Reinhard (2016). The Samaritans: A Profile. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8028-6768-1.
* Redmount, Carol A. (2001) [1998]. "Bitter Lives: Israel in and out of Egypt". In Coogan, Michael D. (ed.). The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 58–89\. ISBN 978-0-19-513937-2. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
* Tetley, M. Christine (2005). The Reconstructed Chronology of the Divided Kingdom. Eisenbrauns. pp. 105–. ISBN 978-1-57506-072-9.
* Thavapalan, Shiyanthi (21 October 2019). The Meaning of Color in Ancient Mesopotamia. BRILL. pp. 69–70, 74. ISBN 978-90-04-41541-6. OCLC 1114270506.
* Tubb, Jonathan N. (1998). Canaanites. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-8061-3108-X.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Albertz, Rainer (1994) [Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1992]. A History of Israelite Religion, Volume I: From the Beginnings to the End of the Monarchy. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22719-7. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Albertz, Rainer (1994) [Vanderhoek & Ruprecht 1992]. A History of Israelite Religion, Volume II: From the Exile to the Maccabees. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22720-3. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Albertz, Rainer (2003a). Israel in Exile: The History and Literature of the Sixth Century B.C.E. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-055-4. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Albertz, Rainer; Becking, Bob, eds. (2003b). Yahwism After the Exile: Perspectives on Israelite Religion in the Persian Era. Koninklijke Van Gorcum. ISBN 978-90-232-3880-5. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Amit, Yaira; et al., eds. (2006). Essays on Ancient Israel in its Near Eastern Context: A Tribute to Nadav Na'aman. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-128-3. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Avery-Peck, Alan; et al., eds. (2003). The Blackwell Companion to Judaism. Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-57718-059-3. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Barstad, Hans M. (2008). History and the Hebrew Bible. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-149809-1.
* Becking, Bob, ed. (2001). Only One God? Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Goddess Asherah. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84127-199-6. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Becking, Bob; Korpel, Marjo Christina Annette, eds. (1999). The Crisis of Israelite Religion: Transformation of Religious Tradition in Exilic and Post-Exilic Times. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11496-8. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Bedford, Peter Ross (2001). Temple Restoration in Early Achaemenid Judah. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11509-5.
* Ben-Sasson, H.H. (1976). A History of the Jewish People. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-39731-2.
* Blenkinsopp, Joseph (1988). Ezra-Nehemiah: A Commentary. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-664-22186-7. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2003). "Bethel in the Neo-Babylonian Period". In Blenkinsopp, Joseph; Lipschits, Oded (eds.). Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-073-6.
* Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2009). Judaism, the First Phase: The Place of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Origins of Judaism. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-6450-5. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Brett, Mark G. (2002). Ethnicity and the Bible. Brill. ISBN 978-0-391-04126-4.
* Bright, John (2000). A History of Israel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22068-6. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Cahill, Jane M. (1992). "Jerusalem at the Time of the United Monarchy". In Vaughn, Andrew G.; Killebrew, Ann E. (eds.). Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period. Sheffield. ISBN 978-1-58983-066-0. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Coogan, Michael D., ed. (1998). The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513937-2. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Coogan, Michael D. (2009). A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533272-8. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
* Coote, Robert B.; Whitelam, Keith W. (1986). "The Emergence of Israel: Social Transformation and State Formation Following the Decline in Late Bronze Age Trade". Semeia (37): 107–47.
* Davies, Philip R. (2015). In Search of 'Ancient Israel': A Study in Biblical Origins (2nd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0-56766-299-6. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
* Davies, Philip R. (2006). "The Origin of Biblical Israel". In Amit, Yaira; et al. (eds.). Essays on Ancient Israel in its Near Eastern Context: A Tribute to Nadav Na'aman. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-128-3.
* Day, John (2002). Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-8264-6830-7.
* Dever, William G. (2012). The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: Where Archaeology and the Bible Intersect. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-6701-8. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
* Dever, William (2017). Beyond the Texts: An Archaeological Portrait of Ancient Israel and Judah. SBL Press. ISBN 978-0-88414-217-1. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
* Dunn, James D.G; Rogerson, John William, eds. (2003). Eerdmans commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-3711-0. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Edelman, Diana (2002). "Ethnicity and Early Israel". In Brett, Mark G. (ed.). Ethnicity and the Bible. Brill. ISBN 978-0-391-04126-4.
* Faust, Avraham (2016). Israel's Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-94208-4. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
* Finkelstein, Neil Asher; Silberman (2001). The Bible Unearthed. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-2338-6. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Frevel, Christian (2023). History of Ancient Israel. SBL Press. ISBN 978-1-62837-514-5. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
* Gnuse, Robert Karl (1997). No Other Gods: Emergent Monotheism in Israel. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-657-6.
* Golden, Jonathan Michael (2004a). Ancient Canaan and Israel: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537985-3.
* Golden, Jonathan Michael (2004b). Ancient Canaan and Israel: New Perspectives. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-897-6.
* Keimer, Kyle H.; Pierce, George A., eds. (2022). The Ancient Israelite World. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-77324-8. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
* Kelle, Brad E.; Strawn, Brent A., eds. (2020). The Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-026116-0. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
* Killebrew, Ann E. (2005). Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, and Early Israel, 1300–1100 B.C.E. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-097-4. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* King, Philip J.; Stager, Lawrence E. (2001). Life in Biblical Israel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 0-664-22148-3.
* Knauf, Ernst Axel; Niemann, Hermann Michael (2021). Geschichte Israels und Judas im Altertum (in German). Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-041168-3. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
* Kuhrt, Amélie (1995). The Ancient Near East c. 3000–330 C. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-16763-5.
* Lehman, Gunnar (1992). "The United Monarchy in the Countryside". In Vaughn, Andrew G.; Killebrew, Ann E. (eds.). Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period. Sheffield. ISBN 978-1-58983-066-0. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Lemaire, André (2023). "Israel and Judah (c.931–587 BCE)". In Hoyland, Robert G.; Williamson, H. G. M. (eds.). The Oxford History of the Holy Land. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-288687-3. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
* Lemche, Niels Peter (1998). The Israelites in History and Tradition. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22727-2.
* Levy, Thomas E. (1998). The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. Continuum International Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8264-6996-0. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Lipschits, Oded (2005). The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-095-8. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Lipschits, Oded; Vanderhooft, David (2006). "Yehud Stamp Impressions in the Fourth Century B.C.E.". In Lipschits, Oded; et al. (eds.). Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-130-6.
* Mazar, Amihay (2007). "The Divided Monarchy: Comments on Some Archaeological Issues". In Schmidt, Brian B. (ed.). The Quest for the Historical Israel. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-277-0. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Mays, James Luther; et al., eds. (1995). Old Testament Interpretation. T&T Clarke. ISBN 978-0-567-29289-6.
* Merrill, Eugene H. (1995). "The Late Bronze/Early Iron Age Transition and the Emergence of Israel". Bibliotheca Sacra. 152 (606): 145–62.
* Meyers, Carol (2013). Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-991078-6. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
* Middlemas, Jill Anne (2005). The Troubles of Templeless Judah. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928386-6.
* Miller, James Maxwell; Hayes, John Haralson (1986). A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 0-664-21262-X. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Miller, Robert D. (2005). Chieftains of the Highland Clans: A History of Israel in the 12th and 11th Centuries B.C. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-0988-9. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Niditch, Susan, ed. (2016). The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Ancient Israel. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-65677-8. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
* Niehr, Herbert (1999). "Religio-Historical Aspects of the Early Post-Exilic Period". In Becking, Bob; Korpel, Marjo Christina Annette (eds.). The Crisis of Israelite Religion: Transformation of Religious Tradition in Exilic and Post-Exilic Times. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11496-8.
* Nodet, Étienne (1999) [Editions du Cerf 1997]. A Search for the Origins of Judaism: From Joshua to the Mishnah. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-445-9. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Pitkänen, Pekka (2004). "Ethnicity, Assimilation and the Israelite Settlement" (PDF). Tyndale Bulletin. 55 (2): 161–82\. doi:10.53751/001c.29171. S2CID 204222638. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011.
* Silberman, Neil Asher; Small, David B., eds. (1997). The Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-650-7. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Smith, Mark S. (2001). Untold Stories: The Bible and Ugaritic Studies in the Twentieth Century. Hendrickson Publishers.
* Smith, Mark S. (2002) [Harper & Row 1990]. The Early History of God. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-3972-5. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Soggin, Michael J. (1998). An Introduction to the History of Israel and Judah. Paideia. ISBN 978-0-334-02788-1. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Stager, Lawrence E. (1998). "Forging an Identity: The Emergence of Ancient Israel". In Coogan, Michael D. (ed.). The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513937-2. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
* Thompson, Thomas L. (1992). Early History of the Israelite People. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-09483-3.
* Vanderkam, James (2022). An introduction to early Judaism (2nd ed.). Eerdmans. ISBN 978-1-4674-6405-5. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
* Van der Toorn, Karel (1996). Family Religion in Babylonia, Syria, and Israel. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-10410-5. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; Van der Horst, Pieter Willem (1999). Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (2d ed.). Koninklijke Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11119-6. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* Wylen, Stephen M. (1996). The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction. Paulist Press. ISBN 978-0-8091-3610-0.
* Zevit, Ziony (2001). The Religions of Ancient Israel: A Synthesis of Parallactic Approaches. Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-6339-5. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.

* v
* t
* e

The Biblical and historical Israelites

* Children of Israel / Twelve Tribes of Israel
* Ten Lost Tribes
* Torture of Israelites by Egypt

* History of ancient Israel and Judah
* Land of Israel
* Highland settlement
* United Monarchy (Kingdom of Israel)
* Northern Kingdom
* Southern Kingdom (Kingdom of Judah)

* Tanakh
* Bible
* Hebrew Bible
* Old Testament
* Historicity of the Bible

* v
* t
* e

Jewish history

Overviews|

* Historiography
* Jewish history in the Land of Israel
* Population history
* Military history
* Genetic history
* Languages
* Expulsions and exoduses
* Schisms
* Political movements
* Timeline

Ancient Israel and Judah|

* Timeline of ancient Israel and Judah
* Israelites
* Highland settlement
* Origins of Judaism
* Kingdom of Judah
* Kingdom of Israel
* Assyrian Captivity
* Judah's revolts against Babylon
* Babylonian captivity
* Babylonian Yehud

Second Temple period|

* Timeline of the Second Temple period
* Second Temple Judaism
* Hellenistic Judaism
* Yehud Medinata
* Hasmonean kingdom
* Herodian kingdom
* Roman Judaea

| Wars and revolts|

* Maccabean Revolt
* Judean Civil War
* Jewish–Roman Wars
* First Jewish–Roman War
* Battle of Beth Horon
* Galilee campaign
* Siege of Masada
* Diaspora Revolt
* Kitos War
* Bar Kokhba revolt

|

Diaspora|

* Roman Empire
* Byzantine Empire
* Greece
* Carthage
* Egypt
* Persia
* Mesopotamia

Rabbinic period|

* Rabbinic Judaism
* Synagogal Judaism
* Nasi
* Sanhedrin
* Chazal
* Tannaim
* Amoraim
* Savoraim
* Geonim
* Talmudic academies in Babylonia
* Revolt against Gallus
* Revolt against Heraclius

Middle Ages|

* Mohammedan Wars
* Siege of Banu Qurayza
* Siege of Banu Qaynuqa
* Battle of Khaybar
* Invasion of Banu Nadir
* Under Muslim rule
* Sephardic Golden Age
* Kairouan
* Byzantium
* Crusades
* Expulsion of Jews from Spain
* Anusim
* Ottoman Empire
* Medieval antisemitism

Modern|

* Jewish question
* Disabilities
* Emancipation
* Enlightenment
* Reform Judaism
* Zionism
* Soviet Union
* United States
* World War II
* The Holocaust
* Resistance
* Israeli history
* New Yishuv

See also
WP:Jewish history

* v
* t
* e

* Book of Exodus

Chapters|

* 1–6
* 6–9
* 10–13
* 13–17
* 18–20
* 21–24
* 25–27
* 27–30
* 30–34
* 35–38
* 38–40

People|

* Moses
* Israelites
* Aaron
* Bezalel
* Eliezer
* Elim
* Gershom
* Jethro
* High Priest of Israel
* Ithamar
* Marah
* Miriam
* Nadab and Abihu
* Oholiab
* Pharaoh
* Pharaoh's daughter
* Shiphrah and Puah
* Zipporah

Objects|

* Aaron's rod
* Ark of bulrushes
* Ark of the Covenant
* Asherah pole
* Bronze laver
* Burning bush
* Golden calf
* Incense offering
* Manna
* Mercy seat
* Pillars of fire and cloud
* Priestly clothing
* breastplate
* golden head plate
* robe
* sash
* tunic
* turban
* undergarments
* Showbread
* Staff of Moses
* Tabernacle
* Tefillin
* Temple menorah

Places|

* Egypt
* Massah and Meribah
* Mount Horeb
* Mount Sinai
* Stations of the Exodus
* Pi-HaHiroth
* Pi-Ramesses
* Battle of Refidim
* Shur
* Wilderness of Sin
* Yam Suph (Reed Sea)

Torah readings|

* Shemot
* Va'eira
* Bo
* Beshalach
* Yitro
* Mishpatim
* Terumah
* Tetzaveh
* Ki Tissa
* Vayakhel
* Pekudei

Sources|

* Priestly
* Jahwist
* Elohist

Textual analysis|

* Sources and parallels
* Textual variations
* Covenant Code
* Exodus Rabbah
* Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael
* Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai
* Song of the Sea
* In Antebellum America

Manuscripts|

* Nash Papyrus
* Papyrus 18

Phrases|

* I Am that I Am
* Baal-zephon
* El Shaddai
* Eye for an eye
* Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
* With a strong hand and an outstretched arm

Events|

* The Exodus
* Plagues of Egypt
* Parting of the Red Sea
* Ten Commandments
* Zipporah at the inn

Authority control databases

National|

* Germany

Other|

* Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
* İslâm Ansiklopedisi

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[c.]: circa
*[transl.]: translation