:R.Yochanan asked: What is implied in "The Lord gave the word; great was the company of those that published it" (Ps. 68:12)? That each and every word that issued from the mouth of the Almighty divided itself into seventy languages. Accordingly, citing the verse "As a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces" (Jer. 23: 29), the school of R. Ishmael taught: Just as a hammer that strikes a rock causes sparks to fly off in all directions, so each and every word that issued from the mouth of the Holy One divided itself into seventy languages.<ref>B. T. Shabbat 88b R.Yochanan asked: What is implied in ‘The Lord gave the word; great was the company of those that published it’ (Ps. 68:12)? That each and every word that issued from the mouth of the Almighty divided itself into seventy languages. Accordingly, citing the verse “As a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces” (Jer. 23: 29), the school of R. Ishmael taught: Just as a hammer that strikes a rock causes sparks to fly off in all directions, so each and every word that issued from the mouth of the Holy One divided itself into seventy languages.”</ref>

The Torah, according to the sages, was addressed to humanity as a whole. Those who wished to convert, could do so. However, the sages did not seek converts<ref>There were exceptions. During the reign of John Hyrcanus (133-104 B.C.E.), the [[Idumeans ]] or [[Edomites ]] were conquered and forced to convert. It seems, however, that experience taught Jews not to repeat this endeavour. Besides which, as I have argued, it runs contrary to the central strand of biblical and post-biblical Judaic principle.</ref>. Indeed, they sought to discourage them. According to a statement in the Talmud, the prospective convert was told: "Do you not know that Israel [= the Jewish people] at the present time are persecuted and oppressed, despised, harassed and overcome by afflictions?"<ref>B.T. Yevamot 47a.</ref>

Instead, they were encouraged to keep the Noahide laws. The historical evidence suggests that prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, throughout the Roman empire there were many individuals who adopted at least some Jewish practices: semi-converts or "G-d-fearers" as they were known. Josephus, writing in the first century C.E., says that "There is not one city, Greek or barbarian, nor a single nation where the custom of the seventh day, on which we rest from all work, and the fasts, and the lighting of candles, are not observed . . . and as G-d permeates the universe, so the Law has found its way into the hearts of all men."<ref>Against Apion, 2:282ff.</ref> It is likely that it was among these people, Christianity first took root when, under the influence of Paul, the new faith ceased to be a Jewish sect and instead turned its attention to the gentiles.

An eternal covenant links the eternal people to the eternal G-d. This idea is not merely fundamental to Judaism. It shapes the very meaning of the words truth (emet), faithfulness (emunah) and covenant (brit) when applied to G-d. It means that G-d, having made a covenant with the patriarchs (brit avot) and then with the children of Israel as a nation (brit Sinai), will be true to His word. He will not break it, terminate it, or replace it. In the language of the prophets, in the marriage between G-d and Israel there will be no divorce. A G-d who could abandon His people is unthinkable to the biblical mind. That is why, to a Jew, the [[replacement theology]] of classical Christianity and Islam is untenable as an interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.

What is significant about Christianity and Islam is that these faiths, from a Jewish perspective<ref>Rabbinic tradition makes the equation Esau=[[Edom]]=Rome=Christianity, and Ishmael=Islam (this is how the Koran also traces its ancestry). Thus, both are descendants of Abraham. This may be the meaning of the verse (otherwise unexplained in the Bible), "No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of many nations" (Gen. 17:5). To be sure, the Hebrew Bible itself does not make this connection, since both Christianity and Islam were born in the post-biblical era. Nor do any of the traditional Jewish commentators known to me offer this interpretation (undoubtedly because the Torah itself says - Gen. 21: 12 - "Through Isaac [alone] you will be said to have offspring"). Yet there is an apparent contradiction between Genesis and Deuteronomy. In Genesis, God makes the promise to Abraham that his descendants will be as many as "the dust of the earth" and "the stars of the sky"; yet in Deuteronomy, Moses says, "The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you are the fewest of all peoples" (Deut. 7:7). One way of resolving this is to make a distinction between the children of the specific covenant of Abraham through Israel ("the fewest of all peoples") and the other Abrahamic faiths, which trace their ancestry to Abraham and today account for more than half of the population of the earth. In this broader sense Abraham is indeed "the father of many nations".</ref> and from their own, trace their provenance to the biblical covenants with Noah and Abraham. That is why they are known as "Abrahamic faiths". Insofar as [a] they are religions of revelation, [b] they "recognize the authority of the Hebrew Bible as the word of G-d to humankind"<ref>John Haldane, An Intelligent Person's Guide to Religion, London, Duckworth, 2003 (writing of all three Abrahamic faiths).</ref> and [c] they uphold the Noahide laws, their adherents satisfy Maimonides' definition of the pious of the nations, namely that they keep the seven Noahide laws "because the Holy One blessed be He commanded them in the Torah and made known through Moses our teacher that their observance had been enjoined on the descendants of Noah even before the Torah was given." At Sinai, as well as making a covenant with the children of Israel, G-d reaffirmed His earlier covenant with mankind.

The following are some of the rabbinic sources on Christianity and Islam:

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