Breaking with the Near Eastern tradition, the Hebrews developed a conception of God and ethics that contributed to the Western idea of individuality. Originating in Mesopotamia, the Hebrews migrated to Canaan. Later some moved to Egypt where they were enslaved. These were later led away by Moses, who turned them into a nation unified by their devotion to God. After conquering Canaan, these wanderers formed a loose confederation that later formed a kingdom under Saul to repulse the Philistines. Under David and Solomon the kingdom of Israel flourished, but after Solomon's death it disintegrated into the two weaker states of Israel and Judah. These were conquered in turn by the Assyrians and Chaldeans. The latter conquest initiated the Babylonian Captivity that ended when the Persian king, Cyrus, permitted the Hebrews to return to Palestine and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem destroyed by the Chaldeans. After a period of unrest, social and spiritual life was reinvigorated under Nehemiah and Ezra.

During these centuries Hebrew religious writers assembled the scriptures of the Old Testament. Originating in oral tradition, these books record the histories, wisdom, and legends encompassing the Hebrew idea of god and it's relationship to humanity. Unlike other Near Eastern civilizations, the Hebrews viewed God as one, fully sovereign, omnipotent, transcendent, and good. Through this vision the Hebrews demythicized nature, removing the spirits with which other Near Eastern religions had populated it. This conception of nature helped make scientific thought possible, but the Hebrews did not engage in abstract speculation. Instead they contemplated God's will and the ethical obligations it placed upon them.

This idea of God developed the Hebrews' novel conceptions of individual autonomy and historical time. Created in God's image, humans have the capacity to choose between good and evil and to bear responsibility for that choice. God affirmed that capacity through the covenant through which he promised to bless the Hebrews if they obeyed his law. Through the idea of the covenant, the Hebrews came to see themselves as the chosen people morally responsible for upholding the law and leading other peoples to God. The law enjoined all people to live and act ethically, and it extended mercy and justice to otherwise disempowered groups such as slaves and women. The covenant also reflected the Hebrews' sense of time. Whereas the other Near Eastern civilizations viewed time as a repetition of familiar events, the Hebrews saw time as history: a sequence of singular, meaningful events that reaffirmed God's continuing engagement with his people. As important as the past, the future holds the promise of a golden age in which God's people live in peace and prosperity.

This history is marked by the emergence of the prophets. The prophetic movement was initiated by the classical prophets who preached social justice, calling for heartfelt commitment to God's law rather than mere ritual observance. Through this emphasis on justice, the prophets balanced the parochialism of Hebrew thought with a universalism that envisioned all people unified under God. Equally important was the prophets' concept of individualism. Fearless individuals themselves, they heightened awareness of the individual personality realizing its full moral potential through its relationship to God.

Western civilization absorbed and transformed several important elements of Hebrew thought. From Hebrew monotheism rose Christianity which adopted the Hebrew scriptures, the concept of moral autonomy, and prophetic values. The Hebrew vision of the future fed later Western utopian movements, and the Bible has provided Western writers and artists with a wealth of thematic material.