I was discussing this with a relative about "turn the other cheek" and "go the extra mile" other not-so-original teachings that had their origins in the occupying Roman army. Just a little too convenient!
Imagine losing your ancestral lands that went back over a thousand years.
You mean like the natives of Palestine for the past 2,000 years who lost their ancestral lands to Europeans?
"Ancestral lands" for the ancient Hebrews? Their very own scriptures celebrate murdering their merry way across Canaan to steal grazing land, when they weren't wandering around aimlessly in the desert.
Primitive tribal nomads moving flocks around in tent clans, up to their ankles in goat crap. There's a certain resentment in the OT for settled city dwellers (builders and tool-users), the same way the Watchtower resents educated people.
Where is their distinct Hebrew art, architecture, pottery, etc. until they came into contact with more civilized peoples? Even their alphabet was adapted from others. Jerusalem itself was built by previous "pagan" inhabitants.
They were pirates and pillagers. Probably the best thing that ever happened was the civilizing influence of Babylonian captivity. Agriculture, mathematics, technology, all sorts of shiny pretty things they could never dream of on their own.
The Romans gave them much leeway to operate their disgusting animal sacrifice bank-and-barbecue system. But I can see the Romans eventually saying "enough is enough" and creating a scenario by which there is one last sacrifice for all time.
