Deck 2: The Hebrews: a New View of God and the Individual

Question 1

The Jews became a dispersed people after their conquest by which of the following?

A)The Assyrians
B)The Babylonians
C)The Persians
D)The Greeks
E)The Romans

Answer 1

The Romans

Question 2

The textbook explains that

A)the Hebrew view of God evolved with the history of the Hebrew people.
B)the early patriarchs were probably not monotheists.
C)there is debate among scholars concerning whether or not Moses' religion was purely monotheistic.
D)at one time, the Hebrews effectively undeified all gods except their own while still acknowledging their existence.
E)All of these

Answer 2

All of these

Question 3

After the Persians under Cyrus conquered Babylon in 538 B.C.

A)almost all the exiled Judeans returned to Judah.
B)the Hebrews, now called Jews, rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem.
C)the continuation of the Jewish community was not threatened again until Roman times.
D)the Jews remained consistently faith to their traditional religion.
E)a new spiritual awareness eliminated social injustices in the Jewish community.

Answer 3

the Hebrews, now called Jews, rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem.

Question 4

Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt

A)after the Babylonian Captivity.
B)at the start of the Diaspora.
C)upon the death of Ramses.
D)and in the conquest of the Promised Land: Canaan.
E)and into a period of wandering in the Sinai.

Question 5

Which of the following best describes the treatment of the Exodus among scholars?

A)All agree that the story is fictional.
B)There is serious disagreement about the historical truth of the Exodus.
C)There is general consensus that, while archeological evidence is lacking to support the story, the Exodus did in fact occur.
D)There is general consensus that the Hebrews would not have preserved the story of their enslavement if it did not happen.
E)All agreed that the story is fact.

Question 6

Under which of the following kings did Israel reach the heights of its power and prosperity?

A)Saul
B)David
C)Solomon
D)Hezekiah
E)Cyrus

Question 7

In Jewish history, the term Second Temple has been used to refer to

A)the Ark of the Covenant.
B)the new temple built for the Kingdom of Israel after its split with Judah and its capital Jerusalem.
C)the new covenant written into the hearts of the faithful after the fall of Jerusalem.
D)the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem after the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity.
E)All of these

Question 8

Before the establishment of the Israelite Kingdom

A)the Hebrews migrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan, a portion of which was later called Palestine.
B)the Hebrew patriarchs beginning with Abraham were chieftains of semi-nomadic clans.
C)the early Hebrews absorbed some aspects of Mesopotamian civilization.
D)some Hebrews journeyed to Egypt where they became forced laborers.
E)All of these

Question 9

It is estimated that the patriarch Moses lived in

A)the early 1200s B.C.
B)the early 1000s B.C.
C)the late 800s B.C.
D)about 775 B.C.
E)shortly before 500 B.C.

Question 10

Under Solomon, ancient Israel

A)Some magnificent sections of the Old Testament took form.
B)was at the height of its power and prosperity.
C)erected a royal palace.
D)enjoyed a cultural flowering.
E)All of these

Question 11

Which of the following did not occur during the three hundred years following the Israelite return to Canaan from Egypt?

A)The Israelite belief in one God immediately produced the belief in one ruler, an almighty king appointed by God.
B)The gradual colonization of Canaan
C)During emergencies, judges rallied the Hebrew tribal confederation against the common enemy.
D)The Philistine threat helped forge a loose confederation into a nation with a single king.
E)The Israelites split into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah.

Question 12

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

A)Mesopotamia and Egypt were both the birthplace of civilization and the spiritual ancestors of the West.
B)Mesopotamia and Egypt were the birthplace of civilization but only the Greeks and the Romans were spiritual ancestors of the West.
C)Mesopotamia and Egypt were the birthplace of civilization but the Hebrews and the Greeks were the spiritual ancestors of the West.
D)The Greeks and the Romans were the spiritual ancestors of the West because they totally ignored the older civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
E)Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Hebrews and the Greeks were all spiritual ancestors of the West.

Question 13

The author states all of the following except

A)Hebrew Scripture represents Jewish oral and written traditions from about 1250 to 150 B.C.
B)compiled by various religious devotees, Hebrew Scriptures contained factual errors, imprecisions, discrepancies, legends and folklore.
C)as a composite, religiously inspired work, Hebrew Scriptures offer no reliable history.
D)the Tanak consists of thirty-nine books written over several centuries.
E)the first five books of the Tanak are sometimes called the Torah or the Pentateuch.

Question 14

The Philistines who invaded Canaan in the early 12th Century B.C.probably came from

A)Mesopotamia.
B)Upper Egypt.
C)the Aegean Island and the coast of Asia Minor.
D)the Western Mediterranean.
E)Persia.

Question 15

According to the author, which of the following was the darkest moment in the history of the Hebrews?

A)Captivity in Egypt
B)The division between Israel and Judah
C)Conquest by the Assyrians
D)The Babylonian Captivity
E)The Persian conquest

Question 16

The Dead Sea Scrolls

A)refer to Moses' testament as the Israelites were about to cross the River Jordan into Canaan.
B)are documents dating from 2nd Century B.C.Judea, discovered in the 1940s.
C)contain a text of the Book of Isaiah that differs fundamentally from modern manuscripts.
D)are a set of Christian religious texts demonstrating the influence of Judaism on Christianity.
E)are better known as the Pentateuch.

Question 17

Which of the following statements is inaccurate?

A)Saul was the son of David.
B)David succeeded in creating the monarchy.
C)After his death, Solomon's kingdom was divided into two second-rate powers.
D)While in Babylon, Hebrew priests developed the Torah.
E)Cyrus of Persia allowed the Hebrews to return to Judah after his conquest of Babylon.

Question 18

Which of the following Biblical stories was derived from Mesopotamian sources?

A)The Exodus
B)The crossing of the Red Sea
C)The journey from Canaan to Egypt
D)The Garden of Eden and the Flood
E)The creation of the world in six days.

Question 19

The Kingdom of Israel split into Israel and Judah after the death of Solomon owing to

A)Israel's refusal to resist the Assyrians.
B)Solomon's onerous taxes and his favoritism to Judah, the southern part of the kingdom.
C)Solomon's failure to designate a successor.
D)continuing conflicts over water rights.
E)religious disagreements.

Question 20

Under Moses, the central force in the life of the Hebrews became

A)a series of strong kings.
B)a set of powerful judges.
C)monotheism, the belief in one God.
D)his charismatic leadership.
E)colonization of Canaan

Question 21

How did the Hebrew view of history differ from that of the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians?

A)The Hebrews kept careful records of their past, while the Egyptians and Mesopotamians did not.
B)Egyptians and Mesopotamians believed that God intervened in history, while the Hebrews did not.
C)While the Jews saw human history as a process leading to a goal, the Mesopotamians and Egyptians saw history as a repetition of past events.
D)The Mesopotamians and the Egyptians shared the same history as the Hebrews.
E)The Hebrews believed that history is of no importance since their God is eternal.

Question 22

According to the author, the Hebrews' new conception of God led to a new conception of self by

A)holding that humankind is the centerpiece of God's creation.
B)stating that humankind was created in God's image.
C)giving humankind volition, the power to choose between good and evil.
D)insisting that God did not create humankind to be his slaves.
E)All of these

Question 23

The Hebrew's belief in one all-powerful, transcendent God led to each of the following except

A)the prohibition of images of heavenly and earthly things.
B)humankind's right to create its own system of ethics.
C)limitation on obedience to earthly rulers.
D)a demythicized concept of nature.
E)God became the center of human life.

Question 24

The textbook states all of the following about the Torah except the Torah

A)means teaching or instruction.
B)consists of the first five books of the Christian Old Testament.
C)was written by Moses.
D)was first created during the Hebrews' exile in Babylon.
E)contains many Jewish laws, customs, and hopes.

Question 25

Hebrew Scriptures indicate that the Covenant

A)was made between God and the entire Hebrew nation.
B)demands punishment of masters who used excessive force against slaves.
C)requires a love of one's neighbor equal to the love one has of himself.
D)requires that Hebrews not oppress strangers since they themselves had been strangers in Egypt.
E)All of these

Question 26

Jeremiah preached all the following except

A)idol worship is evil.
B)mistreatment of others should be avoided.
C)resistance to Babylon must be steadfast.
D)God punishes the Hebrews because their guilt is great and their sins are numerous.
E)God will not abandon his people even as he punishes them.

Question 27

The Hebrew and Greek worldviews differed in all of the following ways except the

A)Hebrews did not regard nature as a system governed by consistent and knowable natural laws.
B)Greeks believed that human wickedness was due to ignorance; the Hebrews believed that it was due to disobedience and stubbornness.
C)Hebrews focused on righteous behavior and philosophic inquiry.
D)Hebrews speculated neither on God's nature nor the origin of things.
E)Greeks focused on reason; the Hebrews focused on revelation.

Question 28

Among the ancient Jews, there existed a dynamic tension between parochialism and

A)individualism.
B)God's transcendence.
C)monotheism.
D)universalism.
E)the Covenant.

Question 29

The mature Hebrew view of one God differed from other ancient Near Eastern religions in all the following ways except

A)Yahweh was eternal.
B)the Hebrew God did not possess human attributes such as anger, jealousy or satisfaction.
C)the Hebrew God was omnipotent, sovereign, and not subject to fate.
D)Yahweh was transcendent, that is, he was above nature and not part of it.
E)the Hebrew God created a universe that itself was not divine.

Question 30

The author connects Hebrew religion with the ultimate rise of a scientific worldview in the West by

A)noting that the Hebrews did not regard nature in and of itself as divine.
B)describing early Hebrew contributions to astronomy and mathematics.
C)asserting that the Hebrews created the world's first phonetic writing system.
D)noting early Hebrew advances in irrigation technology.
E)explaining how the Hebrews replaced the mythic-religious worldview with theoretical science.

Question 31

Which of the following best describes the role of prophets in Jewish history?

A)Prophets foretold the future, giving the Hebrews a permanent advantage over their enemies.
B)Prophets served as role models for material success.
C)Prophets gradually declined in importance as the loose confederation of Hebrew tribes was united into a single kingdom.
D)Prophets often appeared in times of national disaster or moral confusion; they exhorted the nation to obey God's law.
E)Prophets agreed with the priests' consistent insistence on deeper spiritual insight and morality in everyday life.

Question 32

With respect to women, Jewish law and practice required all the following except

A)equal treatment of men and women since both were made in the image of God.
B)a woman should consider her husband to be her master.
C)a husband should respect and support his wife.
D)women could not be witnesses in court but they could be prophetesses.
E)a woman could never divorce her husband and she could inherit property only if there was no male heir.

Question 33

Which of the following pairs do not consist of related terms?

A)Tanak and New Testament
B)Leviticus and Torah
C)Torah and Pentateuch
D)Exodus and Egypt
E)Babylon and exile

Question 34

During the age of classical or literary prophecy

A)the Hebrews wandered in the Sinai desert.
B)prophets responded to problems in Israel's social structure.
C)small farmers, as well as large landowners, lived comfortably.
D)Israel was still a tribal society.
E)Abraham set out for the Promised land.

Question 35

The Hebrews believed that God's Law did all of the following except

A)regulate of all aspects of daily life.
B)result in national disaster if violated.
C)require mercy towards the oppressed and protection of the poor and of widows.
D)require the abolition of slavery.
E)help to make the Hebrews the moral teachers of humanity.

Question 36

The Hebrew Covenant refers to

A)God's promise to the prophets that they would have a heavenly reward.
B)a long tradition of commercial codes.
C)a special agreement between God and his chosen people.
D)the heroic pact among the Hebrews themselves not to be assimilated during periods of exile.
E)a special kind of agreement between Israel and its neighbors ensuring the full equality of both parties.

Question 37

Which of the following statements is attributed to Amos?

A)"This is what the Lord says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.Every first born of Egypt will die....'"
B)"Righteousness brings God's favor.The poor have incurred God's wrath and deserve no mercy."
C)"Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs...but let justice well up as waters."
D)"Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material."
E)"The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both."

Question 38

Who of the following was not a prophet?

A)Amos
B)Hosea
C)Isaiah
D)Zedekiah
E)Jeremiah

Question 39

In general, the author presents the Hebrew religion as

A)fundamentally different from those of Mesopotamia and Egypt but almost indistinguishable from Greek philosophy.
B)consistent and unchanging from the time of Abraham to the Babylonian Captivity.
C)a set of practices and beliefs that evolved over time.
D)once influential but ultimately largely irrelevant to the future development of the West.
E)a set of distinct and mutually exclusive churches.

Question 40

Judith and Deborah are remembered as

A)mothers of the ancient patriarchs.
B)women who found the baby Moses cast adrift in the Nile.
C)the two most important of Solomon's seven hundred wives.
D)prophetesses and wise women consulted by their community's leaders.
E)wives of foreign rulers who urged their husbands to let the Hebrews return to their own land.

Question 41

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
patriarchs

Question 42

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Kingdom of Israel

Question 43

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Hebrew Scriptures

Question 44

Chapter One stated that the "...Greeks and Hebrews rejected or transformed the older Near Eastern traditions to create new points of departure for the human mind." On the basis of both Chapter One and Chapter Two, we can conclude that

A)the Hebrews completely rejected the mythpoeic view of world replacing it with intense rational analysis.
B)the Hebrews abandoned the old coupling of government and religion replacing it with a complete separation of faith and the state.
C)the Egyptian notion of Ma'at (divine justice, law, right and truth) was similar to the Hebrew notion of the orderliness of God's creation.
D)the Hebrews radicalized the Mesopotamian and Egyptian notions of justice by eliminating all social distinctions in their society.
E)Mesopotamian and Egyptian science was transformed by the Hebrews into a more recognizably Western form.

Question 45

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Canaan

Question 46

Compared to the civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt, the Hebrews

A)were a minor people with a major impact on the West.
B)excelled in political stability.
C)were more peaceful; they refused to use violence or engage in conquest.
D)possessed the same view of nature as their neighbors.
E)more otherworldly; life on earth had value only as a means of achieving eternal life.

Question 47

As applied to ancient Israel, parochialism refers to

A)a concern for all humanity.
B)a complete separation of church and state.
C)a separate system of religious schools.
D)the relative economic and cultural backwardness of the Judah, the southern kingdom.
E)a narrow tribal outlook of a nation set apart from others.

Question 48

Indicate the best interpretation of the following quote from the Book of Isaiah: "When you spread your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood."

A)Humanity's violence caused Yahweh to send the Flood.
B)The Hebrews violent takeover of Canaan was punished by the division of the Kingdom of Israel into two parts.
C)The quote explains why God punished Job.
D)God is interested more in righteousness than external religious devotion.
E)Once the Hebrews broke their Covenant with God, there was no forgiveness.

Question 49

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Solomon

Question 50

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
David

Question 51

How has the Jewish tradition influenced the West?

A)The Hebrew vision of a messianic future helped to lead to the notion of progress.
B)Monotheism encouraged the concepts of free will and a conscience answerable to God.
C)Hebrew Scripture has been an inspiration for Western religious thinkers, poets, novelists and artists.
D)As part of Christianity, many Jewish ideals became part of the Western tradition.
E)All of these

Question 52

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
"Ten Lost Tribes"

Question 53

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Kingdom of Judah

Question 54

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Israelite tribal confederation

Question 55

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Babylonian Captivity

Question 56

The author lists all of the following as essential continuities between ancient Judaism and Christianity except

A)monotheism.
B)prophetic values.
C)regulation of all aspects of daily life and the promise of Canaan/Palestine as the home of God's chosen people.
D)the moral autonomy of the individual.
E)Hebrew Scriptures as the Word of God.

Question 57

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Exodus

Question 58

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Hebrews, Israelites, Jews

Question 59

Which of the following cannot be associated with mainstream Hebrew traditions?

A)There is a direct relationship between the individual and God.
B)One must develop a social conscience.
C)Israelites must set an example of righteousness for all humanity.
D)Only God's chosen nation will receive his blessings.
E)Human dignity does not make men and women equal nor does it require the abolition of slavery.

Question 60

In the ancient Jewish tradition, individualism was

A)virtually unknown.
B)evident in the conviction that everyone is an autonomous individual responsible for his own actions.
C)at the heart of Hebrew religion beginning with Abraham's special covenant with God.
D)condemned by the prophets as the cause of Israel's separation from God.
E)identified with Greek philosophy.

Question 61

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Locate and label the major rivers and bodies of water associated with ancient Hebrew history.

Question 62

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
monotheism

Question 63

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
prophets

Question 64

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Locate and clearly label the homeland of each important neighbor of the Hebrew people: Egyptians, Phoenicians, Assyrians and Chaldeans.

Question 65

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Covenant

Question 66

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Torah

Question 67

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Isaiah

Question 68

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Identify the liberators of the Jewish people from Babylonian Captivity.Clearly mark their homeland and the city of Babylon.

Question 69

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
individualism

Question 70

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
transcendence

Question 71

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Jeremiah

Question 72

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
messianic age

Question 73

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Locate and clearly mark the original home of the Hebrews, Canaanites and Philistines.Delineate with arrows any migration that occurred among these people prior to 1000 B.C.

Question 74

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Locate and clearly mark the kingdoms of Israel and Judah after the death of Solomon.Do the same for the city of Jerusalem.

Question 75

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
universalism

Question 76

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Pentateuch

Question 77

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
The Law

Question 78

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
parochialism

Question 79

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain the relationship between the old Near Eastern civilization (Mesopotamia and Egypt), the Hebrews, and the West.

Question 80

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
I-Thou relationship