The ancient Jews considered themselves “God’s chosen people.” Their monotheism separated them from all surrounding neighbors, while their faith in God’s covenants offered a positive relationship with the deity and the promise of atonement for sin. According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham left Mesopotamia to lead a nomadic life in Palestine and worship the one true God. Yahweh turned to his people and declared himself the refuge of the people.
The prophets preached that God’s relationship was conditioned by a righteous life and observance of the laws of the one God. The flood narrative in Genesis tells of God’s decision to return the universe to its pre-created state of watery chaos and remake it through the microcosm of Noah’s Ark. At the same time, the focus of the Jewish religion is this world and this life. Unlike many other religions that make exclusive claims about the afterlife, Judaism takes the overarching view that any moral person has a place in the afterlife, whether Jewish or not.
Of all the nearest neighboring religions, the greatest similarity can be found with the Apocalyptic Vision of Daniel. Monotheism is also preached here, and the scriptures provide essential, though not necessarily accurate, information about the lives of believers. Instead of a history of private human actions or uncontrollable circumstances, we learn about the deeds of a heavenly Ruler who deposes and installs kings. The philosophy of both beliefs testifies that the ancient and modern peoples will be judged not by their power but by their fidelity to the divine plan and the observance of the divine commandments. Following the divine plan is to contribute everywhere and in everything to the final, victorious realization of the divine plan of salvation.
What is distinctive is that in Daniel’s Apocalyptic Vision, the historical course will reach its apex in the supernatural establishment of the eternal kingdom of God and the resurrection of the righteous “to eternal life.” In the apocalyptic vision, the time of the emergence of world empires and the little horn’s dominion is quickly replaced by a time of judgment, followed by a confrontation between the little horn and the saints. After the judgment, the saints take over a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Everywhere the emphasis is on the end of time unlike to Jewish religion.
Another relatively famous and widespread religion, but very different, was the Egyptian religion. This religion was formed under the influence of natural conditions, which are the main incentives for all differences from the Jewish faith. Here, first of all, the gods of light, the Sun, and water were revered: Ra, Pta, Nile, and Horus; that is, believers believed in a pantheon, not a single God, what was common to the Jewish religion and Daniel’s Apocalyptic Vision. Many revered divine beings contributed to the emergence of many rituals and ceremonies. The Egyptians thought of death as a continuation of life, distinguishing them from Jewish beliefs, which were not concerned with it. Even after death, according to the Egyptians, the human soul does not die, but the resurrection awaits the deceased.
The Greek and Roman religions, that were very closely similar and equally very different from the monotheistic Jewish religion, were no less large neighboring religions. The main similarity remains the idea of the omnipotence of a deity. However, Greek and Roman gods connected with specific pantheons and even policies and worlds, unlike the Jewish faith. The original idea of the spirit world is that at the time of death, the soul separates from the body, taking the form of the deceased person, and approaches the entrance to the underworld with other gods. There is a whole afterlife here, with its deities unfamiliar to the Jewish religion. Thus, despite the proximity of neighboring religions, each remains unique and can even influence the other.