My school has a virus and won't let me do the stuffs I need to, so I'm taking strange methods in order to get my stuff done. Don't mind me, I'm just trying to do something for school.


((Frustrated student)) I don’t understand this at all! This History and Thought homework is driving me crazy. How am I supposed to read all of Genesis and all of Exodus in such a short time? And then I have to understand it all too!



((Make sure to ask some of these questions during the presentation))

Who is Yahweh and who is Jehovah?
What is a Covenant?
What are the Ten Commandments? ((if you know some, start to list them))
What was the religion of the Hebrews like early on?
How did their religion change over time?
What is the Torah?
How does the Jewish religion compare to the religion of the Mesopotamians?
Why is all of this important? How does it help me?
What is the significance of all of this information?












Information to cover (not in any specific order, but as it comes up):



The Hebrew Bible (The Old Testament) is the main literary work of Jewish Religion.
Yahweh is the god of the Jews. Jehovah (Latin) is another name for Yahweh.
The Covenant was a formal agreement between the Hebrews and Yahweh.
The Covenant was made when Moses traveled to the top of Mount Sinai and Yahweh gave Moses and the Hebrews the 10 Commandments. This occurs in the book of Exodus.
The agreement of the Covenant was that the Hebrews worship only Yahweh, and no other gods.
The Hebrews were Yahweh’s chosen people. Yahweh would protect them from their enemies.
The 10 Commandments are an ethical code of conduct.
I am the Lord your God

You shall have no other gods before me

You shall not make for yourself an idol

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

Honor your father and mother

You shall not murder

You shall not commit adultery

You shall not steal

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor



How Yahweh was viewed over time
-The god of the Hebrews who sometimes faced competition from other gods (i.e. Baal)

-Hebrews began to view Yahweh as the only god – beginning of monotheism

-Was a religion supported by the Hebrews as a whole.

-Chief duty was to worship Yahweh, not to spread the religion as Christians later on did.

-Hebrew law evolved from the 10 Commandments.

-The Torah was the Mosaic (Moses) law. (sometimes as harsh as Hamurabi’s code)

-The tradition of the law started to change because of 11th to 5th century B.C.E. prophets.

-The Prophet Jeremiah helped to reveal the gentler spirit of Yahweh towards His people. (626 B.C.E)

How Hebrew monotheism compares to the religion of the Mesopotamians.
-Mesopotamians didn’t know what to expect from their gods, the Hebrews knew what Yahweh expected of them (see commandments and Torah)

-Mesopotamians thought their gods where indifferent to their lives, but the Hebrews knew that even if they were small in comparison to their god, Yahweh cared about them.

-The Mesopotamians religion did not demand a specific ethical conduct, but the Hebrews had to live up to high moral standards and had to worship Yahweh.