e that the term “Yehud” first appears as a way to describe a Judahite that had to accept new cultural influences.
The Jewish people during the Hellenistic period had not experienced Judaism as a culture and not just as a religion. It is very hard to form a Jewish culture when there is no formal place of prayer and when the Jewish people had lived under other cultures rule. It was not until the Davidic Dynasty under King Solomon that the First Temple was built that a very structured Jewish religion came to be. A “Yehud” Jew is a way to describe a Jewish person living under foreign rule, but it is also a Jewish person that is a descendant of Judah, and their Hellenistic period descendants were not from Judah. During the Hellenistic period the Kingdom of Israel and Judah did not exist yet and it was not until The Davidic Dynasty and the division of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah and “Yehud” became a way to classify Jewish people.
During the Davidic Dynasty Israel was one great nation-state where the Jewish people flourished and were able to fully develop Judaism as a religion and more importantly as a way of life. The First Temple was built, then destroyed, and the Kingdoms divided, Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. As a result of the division Israel and Judah were both weakened states. Eventually Judah lost its independence and as a result the Jewish people of Judah looked for ways to keep their culture alive and prominent in their lives while ...