# Proto-Hebrew tribe **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346 "2009-02-18T01:05:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346/1 "2009-02-18T01:05:04Z")
Jacob(Israel) and Joseph originally hailed from the land of Canaan. Their decendents were enslaved by the Egyptians, but they escaped and made their way to “the promised land”…back to Canaan. Back to Jacob and Joseph. Weren’t they part of some Pre-Israelite tribe? One that believed in a single Almighty God? What happened to this tribe during the Hebrew Enslavement in Egypt? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346/2 "2009-02-18T01:54:17Z")
Moses marries into a monotheistic Hebrew clan when he flees Egypt the first time, so presumably they were out still out there. Granted Exodus is probably ahistorical. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346/3 "2009-02-18T06:50:58Z")
I’m not sure of the OP’s premises, but I think it’s worthy of an answer it might find in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346/4 "2009-02-18T07:52:42Z")
[QUOTE=Enola Straight] Weren’t they part of some Pre-Israelite tribe? One that believed in a single Almighty God? [/QUOTE] According to the Bible, they\* were\* that tribe - as in, the whole lot of them went to Egypt. [QUOTE=Simplicio] Moses marries into a monotheistic Hebrew clan when he flees Egypt the first time, so presumably they were out still out there. [/QUOTE] No, incorrect - Moses married into a[Midianite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midian_(son_of_Abraham)#Religion) clan - while supposedly descended from Abraham like the Israelites, they were not monotheistic. They may have been henotheistic (like the pre-Exile Hebrews probably also were, historically), but certainly weren’t monotheists. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346/5 "2009-02-18T08:23:56Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > According to the Bible, they\* were\* that tribe - as in, the whole lot of them went to Egypt. The sons of Jacob (and presumably their extended families) go to Egypt, but presumably the other decendents of Abraham stay. I think that’s the OP’s question, what happened to them? I’d say the bible suggests the decedents of Midian, at least, stayed put and continued the tradition outside of Egypt. > [@](#): > > No, incorrect - Moses married into a[Midianite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midian_(son_of_Abraham)#Religion) clan - while supposedly descended from Abraham like the Israelites, they were not monotheistic. They may have been henotheistic (like the pre-Exile Hebrews probably also were, historically), but certainly weren’t monotheists. According to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_(Bible)), Jethro worshipped the God of Abraham, which is what I meant by monotheistic. Your right henotheistic is probably more accurate, but in anycase, both he and Moses were of the same religion, which is what I was getting at. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346/6 "2009-02-18T08:58:35Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > The sons of Jacob (and presumably their extended families) go to Egypt, but presumably the other decendents of Abraham stay. I think that’s the OP’s question, what happened to them? I’d say the bible suggests the decedents of Midian, at least, stayed put and continued the tradition outside of Egypt. AFAIK, only the Israelites worshipped a “single Almighty God”, which is what the OP was asking. Other descendants of Abraham (like the Midianites, also the Moabites and Edomites) were \*not \*monotheists. They seemed to all partake of the pan-Levantine El-Asherah-Ba’al pantheon (As, probably, did the pre-Babylon-Exile Jews.) > [@Simplicio](#): > > According to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_(Bible)), Jethro worshipped the God of Abraham, which is what I meant by monotheistic. Your right henotheistic is probably more accurate, but in anycase, both he and Moses were of the same religion, which is what I was getting at. I think, and I could be wrong, that Jethro only becomes a worshipper of what we would understand as “God” after Moses becomes his prophet - i.e. post-Burning Bush. Before that, the god he worships (El Shaddai) is not really what we would understand as the Israelite god. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-hebrew-tribe/486346/7 "2009-02-18T09:13:42Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Jacob(Israel) and Joseph originally hailed from the land of Canaan. > > Their decendents were enslaved by the Egyptians, but they escaped and made their way to “the promised land”…back to Canaan. > > Back to Jacob and Joseph. > > Weren’t they part of some Pre-Israelite tribe? One that believed in a single Almighty God? > > What happened to this tribe during the Hebrew Enslavement in Egypt? Are you asking in terms of what is taught in the Bible or in terms of archaeological history? Archaeologically speaking the Exodus probably didn’t happen (or at least was no more than a vast exaggeration of a much smaller event that happened to a small group of people) and the Jewish people didn’t start believing in a single god pretty much right up to the point where the Tanakh was completed.