Editing Hebrew Bible (section)

== Influence on Jewish identity ==
Multiple scholars have noted the importance of the Hebrew Bible in developing the [[Ethnicity|ethnic]] and [[national identity]] of the Jewish people in antiquity. [[Fergus Millar]] wrote that the Bible, serving as "both a national history and a source of law," was one of several key sources that helped establishing a sense of national identity among ancient Jews.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Millar |first=Fergus |date=1987 |title=Empire, Community and Culture in the Roman near East: Greeks, Syrians, Jews and Arabs |url=https://doi.org/10.18647/1337/JJS-1987 |journal=Journal of Jewish Studies |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=147–148|doi=10.18647/1337/JJS-1987 }}</ref> David Goodblatt argued that the Bible and related literature served as a key foundation for Jewish nationalism during the [[Second Temple period]], underpinning the collective belief in shared descent, history, and cultural unity. The Bible provided a "national history" that traced the lineage of the Jewish people through the patriarchal narratives and tribal genealogies, establishing a shared ancestral framework that connected contemporary Jews to their historical forebears and consolidated a sense of shared descent.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |title=Constructing Jewish Nationalism: The Role of Scripture |date=2006 |work=Elements of Ancient Jewish Nationalism |pages=29–30 |editor-last=Goodblatt |editor-first=David |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/elements-of-ancient-jewish-nationalism/constructing-jewish-nationalism-the-role-of-scripture/9D600C19BF6BA343287CE63CDF2A5C8E |access-date=2024-10-08 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511499067.003 |isbn=978-0-521-86202-8}}</ref> Moreover, biblical laws, such as [[Brit milah|male circumcision]], [[Shabbat|Shabbat observance]], and dietary prohibitions, became defining cultural markers of Jewish identity, distinguishing Jewish communities from surrounding populations.<ref name=":1" /> The Bible also played a key role in preserving Hebrew, which, unlike [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] and [[Edomite language|Edomite]], survived even as Aramaic replaced other regional languages. The translation of biblical texts into Greek and Aramaic allowed Jewish culture to be expressed across linguistic boundaries, enabling a translingual Jewish identity while maintaining its cultural coherence.<ref name=":1" />

Several scholars argue that key sections of the Hebrew Bible were deliberately composed during specific historical periods to construct and consolidate a distinct Israelite national consciousness. E. Theodore Mullen, a key proponent of this idea, argued in his first monograph that the "[[Deuteronomist|Deuteronomistic History]]"— including Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings—was composed during the [[Babylonian captivity]] to reinforce a threatened Judean identity. In another work, he focused on the Tetrateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers—arguing that these books were compiled during the Persian era to forge a unified ethnic identity. This material, when combined with Deuteronomy, formed the Pentateuch, and its inclusion in the Deuteronomistic History created what [[David Noel Freedman]] termed the "primary history."<ref name=":1" />

According to [[Adrian Hastings]], the study of sacred texts, including the Hebrew Bible, was a foundational element that allowed the Jews—whom he describes as the "true proto-nation"—to preserve their national identity during the two millennia following the loss of their political entity in the first century CE. This enduring connection to their heritage enabled Jews to be perceived as a nation rather than merely an ethnic group, ultimately paving the way for the rise of [[Zionism]] and the eventual establishment of the State of Israel.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Hastings |first=Adrian |title=The Construction of Nationhood: Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-521-59391-3 |location=Cambridge |pages=186–187}}</ref>