- Babylonian exile: In the Ancient Near East, a god/dess was believed to literally dwell in his/her temple. So destruction of that temple was a disaster, one that the Jewish people suffered under the Babylonians. As a result, they had to rethink their understanding of the nature of God and God’s relationship to physicality.
- Hellenization: Alexander the Great’s conquests and subsequent events brought the people of Israel into contact with Greek culture, including its religion, literature, and philosophy. Some of this was voluntary and very attractive, at least to some individuals, and some of it was imposed by force and violently resisted (the Macabbean revolt). Regardless, Judaism had to deal with Greek ideas, and their concepts about God would have been affected.
- https://youtu.be/Y3S8nIhHEU4?si=EHeWfw8D4bCVTb7m