What is monotheism and why is did this belief set the ancient jews apart?

Monotheism is belief in just one god, while polytheism is belief in more than one god. Prior to the Deuteronomistic reforms of King Josiah of Judah, in the seventh century BCE, the Hebrew people were polytheistic with a religion almost indistinguishable from those of their neighbours. King Josiah made monotheism the official religion of Judah, although many scholars believe that polytheistic beliefs remained very widespread until the Babylonian Exile. At this stage, the only other monotheistic religion in the Near East was Zoroastrianism, the religion of the benefactors of the Jews. For the remainder of the first millennium BCE, Jewish monotheistic beliefs were almost unique in the world and were written back into the Bible to provide a largely monotheistic history of the Israelites.

Hey there,
The Belief in one God. In the ancient world most people worshiped many Gods.

Hope this helps :))

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The middle east is where the domestication of animals began