Editing Jewish Theocracy (section)

== History ==
The word "theocracy" was coined by the Jewish historian [[W:Josephus|Flavius Josephus]] to describe this system - "our legislator [Moses] had no regard to any of these forms [of government], but he ordained our government to be what, by a strained expression, may be termed '''a Theocracy''', by ascribing the authority and the power to God" (Against Apion, book II, chapter 17).

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were led by [[File:Moses.png]] Moses, who received from God divine laws and a promise of a kingdom in Canaan. During his forty-year leadership (Deuteronomy 29:5), Israel was a semi-nomadic nation that slowly migrated to Canaan. After Moses' death, [[File:Joshua.png]] Joshua took up his banner (Deuteronomy 34) and led the conquest of the Canaanite territories (Joshua 24:31) and their division into [[File:12Israel.png]] twelve Israelite tribes.

These events were followed by a period of the rule of [[File:Krit.png]] [[Kritarchy|judges]], when observance of the Mosaic Law was rare (Judges 2:16-19). Eventually, this led to the unification of the tribes into the [[File:K israel.png]] [[Absolute Monarchism|Kingdom of Israel]], reigned by Saul, who was followed by [[File:David.png]] David and then, [[File:Solomon.png]] Solomon. After Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, succeeded him but was rejected by ten of the tribes. This crisis divided the realm into two kingdoms: Israel (also called Samaria) and [[File:Judah.png]] Judah, ruled by the Solomonic dynasty.

It is only during the period of the divided kingdom that extra-Biblical sources regarding Israel start to appear. The Hebrew Bible describes that very few kings of Judah were faithful to the Law. This changed under King Josiah's reign, whose priests (depending on the source) either rediscovered or composed the religious laws of Judaism. At this time, theocratic laws were implemented across the realm (II Kings 22:8-13, II Chronicles 34:14-21). Regardless of the view taken, the fact remains that the kingdom of Judah under Josiah was the first state known outside the Bible that could be called a "Jewish theocracy."

Eventually, years after Josiah, the kingdom of Judah fell to a [[File:Cball-Babylon.png]] Babylonian invasion. Babylon was conquered by [[File:Cball-Persia.png]] Persia, and Persia was conquered by the [[File:Alexanderism.png]] Macedonian Empire, the predecessor of the Seleucid Empire. A revolt led by Judas Maccabeus against Seleucid rule resulted in the establishment of a semi-autonomous Judea under the [[W:Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean dynasty]]. Then, after a civil war, it was replaced by a [[W:Herodian Kingdom of Judea|client state]] after a [[File:Cball-SPQR.png]] Roman intervention, which was eventually abolished and integrated into the Roman Empire. Some later, lesser-known states, such as the [[W:Himyarite Kingdom|Himyarite Kingdom]] and [[W:Khazars|Khazaria]], adopted Judaism as their state religion.

Since 1948, the only existing Jewish state is the [[File:Zio.png]] [[Zionism|State of Israel]]. There is much debate about its secularity, since it recognizes by law the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as the supreme rabbinic authority of Judaism in the country.