Trauma and Abstract Monotheism: Jewish Exile and Recovery in the Sixth Century B.C.E

Judaism, Spring, 2001 by David Aberbach

THE EXILE OF THE JUDEANS IN THE SIXTH CENTURY B.C.E. is often linked to the emergence ofJudaism as a universal, e xclusively monotheist religion. [1] However, exile alone cannot account for the revolutionary nature of the Jewish acceptance of monotheism. It does not answer central questions relating to the biblical world: Why did non-monotheist religion in Jewish life, "the idols of wood and stone," suffer a mortal blow just then, ultimately vanishing from mainstream Judaism as completely as the dinosaurs? Why were the Jews the solitary heretics of the ancient world, accepting principles of faith which apparently no other entire people did for a thousand years? Why did they no longer tolerate idol-worship-which they had done until the sixth century B.C.E., at times to the exclusion of the worship of God? Why did most other defeated and exiled peoples, rather than become monotheists as the Jews did, evidently lose their faith in their local gods and fuse into the general pagan culture of their victors?2 And why did the sixth century mark a crucial stage in human development when for the first time a people, rather than go to war against its enemies, insults and threatens their religious culture instead-though there is no evidence that pagan societies were aware ofJudean monotheism, let alone its danger to them-and looks forward to an apocalyptic age of universal harmony and the end of war? The Judean acceptance of monotheism calls for a broad framework of explanation that takes into account not only historical, theological, and aesthetic factors but also psychological ones.

Circumstances in the late sixth century near east were favorable for Jewish monotheism. The need for unity of the surviving remnants of the two monotheist Jewish kingdoms, whose mutual hostility was now past, might have impelled them to escape further divine wrath by adopting the uncompromising faith of the prophets. General religious trends in the late sixth century, particularly Zoroastrianism, might have contributed to the Jewish acceptance of exclusive monotheism. [3] It may be thatJudean monotheism was supported by the Persians--the cost of rebuilding the Temple was paid by the royal treasury (Ezra 6:4; 7:20)--in part because of its likeness to Zoroastrianism. Furthermore, Judean monotheism was in many ways similar to the image of Ahura Mazda as taught by Zoroaster and accepted by Darius I (522-486 B.C.E.), in whose reign the Second Temple was completed. Ahura Mazda was believed to be creator of heaven and earth, source of light and darkness, sovereign lawgiver, center of nature, originator of the moral order, judge of the whole world. Boyce has pointed out that "Jews and Zoroastrians would have found a minor bond in their rejection of images of worship." [4] Still, the fact that Ahura Mazda was creator of Ahriman, his rival, was a major point of difference. Also, no people who came under Persian rule is known to have followed theJews in their exclusive turn to abstract ethical monotheism. These social and political factors were undoubtedly important in their time, but they hardly explain the power of monotheism among theJews in the long term.

The acceptance of one abstract God, to the exclusion of all others, by the exiled Judeans of the sixth century cannot be attributed to exile alone. There might have been a number of interrelated causes, unique in their configuration. Four are of paramount importance:

(1.) The fall of the kingdom of Israel in the eighth century inoculated Judah against the loss of identity when it, too, was exiled in the sixth century. This disaster gave Judah a terrifying picture of what its fate might be if it did not strengthen its national and religious identity and prepare for the possibility of exile. Grief for both kingdoms, particularly in the form of guilt over the betrayal of God and anger at false gods and idolaters (which had not saved Israel from exile) as well as the hope of restoration, helped preserve Judah's identity. By the sixth century theJudeans were, to some extent, ready to fight assimilation in exile and to grieve their exile. A key to survival, they found, was to split themselves off from what they regarded as the impure world of idolatry, to define themselves in hostile opposition to polytheism, and to offer a faith with a then-unique missionary character, superior in ideas and in human and aesthetic content.

(2.) A critical mass of Judeans were consequently inclined towards universal abstract ideals and principles which could not be defeated or exiled. In contrast, material gods and territorial identity were seen by the Judeans as weak and transient.

(3.) The destruction of the empires of Assyria and Babylonia within one lifetime (612,539) confirmedJudah in its anxiety to worship correctly an abstract and indestructible God, rather than gods of wood and stone, and become itself indestructible. The fall of these empires and the Persian Edict of Return appeared to vindicate Judean faith in one invisible God and the devaluation of worldly power and material gods. Judah, comprising little more than 1% of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, survived while these empires vanished. Its survival was evidence of the superiority of abstract moral ideas over military might, the trappings of state, and the exiled gods of the fallen empires. Principles of faith are indestructible, unlike territorial sovereignty, material objects, and the physical representations of gods and their edifices, which can be plundered, exiled, or destroyed. The need for the unity of the surviving fragments of both kingdoms of Israel and Judah as well as the general direction of ancient religion, especially Zoroastrianism, would have further inclined theJews to monotheism.