This article describes the conception of history in the Hebrew scriptures and in rabbinic and medieval Judaism and controversies concerning historical continuity and change in modern Judaism.

Biblical Views

The unusual importance of history in Israelite religion probably predated the articulation of a full-fledged monotheism that explicitly denies the potency of all gods except Yahveh, the God of Israel. The core of the biblical narrative deals with the relationship between Israel and Yahveh, a relationship created and actualized in history. Yahveh is presented as having anticipated, in the calling out of the patriarchs, the formation of the house of Israel (Gn. 18:17) and as having liberated the descendants of the patriarchs from Egyptian bondage in order to enter into a covenantal treaty with them at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:3–8, Dt. 26:5–9). In the biblical narrative the subsequent history of Israel, a duration of eight centuries, is winnowed and assembled...