Why did the ancient Israelites have such a powerful influence on Western civilization?

Answer 1

1) The major impact that the ancient israelities have on civilization was the belief in one God.

2) The 7-day week, including a day of rest for everyone.

3) The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews, including the dignity and value of a person. Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had rights.

Also:

4) Parents are responsible for teaching children. Illiteracy among Israelites, in every generation, was rare.

5) Infants are to be protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for.

6) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.

7) Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else.

8) A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Cutting off the hands of a robber is unacceptable. Debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed.

9) It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

It is important to note that every one of the above was instituted among the Hebrews (a.k.a. the Israelites) thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable.

Answer 2

You have asked a wide-ranging question with many hundreds of details in its answer. I'll provide a few examples.
The long, rich history of Judaism gives the western world much of its shape today. Many of the laws, traditions, culture and values are directly attributable to Judaism.
1) The Jews' monotheistic religious tradition shaped the Western beliefs about God.
2) The 7-day week, including a day of rest for everyone.
3) The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews, including the dignity and value of a person. Women's rights also were carefully maintained in this ancient culture. Israelite women could own property, could initiate court cases, could have their own servants, and could own fields and businesses; and the Torah specifies marital rights for women (Exodus 21:10). Today's laws giving women equal rights under the law are a by-product of Judaism.
4) Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.
5) What is customary to be eaten in Western society is a reflection of much of the Judaic dietary law. With the exception of the pig, Western society does not eat species not contained in kosher law. Owls, mice, insects, rats, snakes, cats and dogs are not eaten by most Westerners and it is a direct result of Jewish culture.
6) Parents are responsible for teaching children. Illiteracy among Israelites, in every generation, was rare. Universal education in the Western world is taken for granted today, yet this is a recent development. In Judaism, however, it goes back 3300 years. Judaism has always maintained that education is the highest goal of man in his pursuit of Godliness. This tradition has now been passed on to Western culture.
7) Infants are to be protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for. Compare this to societies in which unhealthy babies, or females, were killed.
8) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.
9) Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else.
10) A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Cutting off the hands of a robber is a punishable crime. Debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed.
Western jurisprudence in general is based in part upon Judaic Torah observance. A quick look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the laws that follow (Exodus ch.21-23) gives a very good summary of most modern law.
11) It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.
It is important to note that every one of the above was instituted among the Hebrews (a.k.a. the Israelites) thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable.

Answer 3

A:

The Israelites or, more accurately, Jews had a powerful influence on Western civilisation because Christianity came out of the Jewish milieu.

Early Judaism was a proselytising (seeking converts) religion, and some estimates are that by the first century some ten per cent of the population of the Roman Empire were Jews. On this estimate, Judaism might well have had an important influence on Western civilisation even if Christianity had never arisen. It seems likely that many of these Jewish converts, or their descendants, subsequently became Christians, giving Christianity a good start in the gentile world.

Answer:

Christianity, and to some extent Islam too, took certain Torah-values and spread them to the countries they reached.

1) The Jews' monotheistic religious tradition shaped the Western beliefs about God.

2) The 7-day week, including a day of rest for everyone.

3) The concept of morality, including the dignity and value of a person (whereas idolatry had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols had been adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior).

Today's laws giving women equal rights under the law are a by-product of Judaism. Israelite women could own property, could initiate court cases, could have their own servants, and could own fields and businesses; and the Torah specifies marital rights for women (Exodus 21:10).

4) Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. In many other early societies only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.

5) What is now customary to be eaten in Western society is a reflection of much of the Judaic dietary law. With the exception of the pig, Western society does not eat species not contained in kosher law. Owls, mice, insects, rats, snakes, cats and dogs are not eaten by most Westerners and it is a direct result of Jewish culture.

6) Parents are responsible for teaching children. Illiteracy among Israelites, in every generation, was rare. Universal education in the Western world is taken for granted today, while in Judaism it goes back 3300 years. This tradition has now been passed on to Western culture.

7) Infants are to be protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for. Compare this to societies in which unhealthy babies, or females, were killed. Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable.

8) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.

9) A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed.

10) Western jurisprudence in general is based in part upon Judaic Torah observance. A quick look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the laws that follow (Exodus ch.21-23) gives a very good summary of most modern law.

11) It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

Answer 4

Their idea of one vengeful god spawned the Christian and Islamic religions. Until the 'one god' took root, religion was tolerant, with different peoples recognising that other people's god were manifestations of the same gods with different names. The one god idea brought religion as a driver of endless wars over the past two thousand years, which persist to today's world.