That's a big question and almost impossible to answer beyond maybes, but to start with, you might be aware that the Exodus is one of their inventions. I strongly recommend this video lecture for a synopsis of what's currently known and believed about the exodus and the hebrews. It's about an hour in length, comprehensive, and most importantly, easy on the ears. Beyond that, you might be interested in some older posts on this subject:

• Do we know who the 13 tribes of Israel were?

• I've heard several times that the myths and events described in the Bible are copied/inspired on past myths, to which they can be "traced back". What would be some examples of this phenomena?

• The Nephilim Mentioned In the Genesis Chapter 6: Do Other Cultures of the Time Make Similar References?

• Did the Hebrews believe Genesis 1-11 to be historically accurate?

• [Question] Scholarly work done on the tower of babel? (Historical, Theological, ETC)

• J, P, E, D, etc. is it still the scholarly consensus of the Pentateuch's composition? - but here I must plug /u/SK2K01 's comment in support of R.N. Whybray who dismisses the Documentary Hypothesis but still concludes a roughly 6th c. redactor/ author.

• How do scholars determine the age and origins of Old Testament stories?

• What is the oldest Biblical story that is also mentioned by non-Jewish primary sources?

As a Jew, and a decently knowledgeable one at that, I don't have a good answer for you. I may be able to point you in the direction of one thing that might interest you.

Consider the world of Homer. Death is glorious and life is cheap. Achilles and many of the other characters in the epics perform superhuman feats and death is treated as a spectacle rather than as a tragedy. Warfare is glorified over great works. Life is given little value except where one of the Greeks or Trojans has divine blood, and the Gods interfere in the affairs of men.

Compare the book of Genesis. Abel's death is tragic, but is not natural. For hundreds of years, Adam and Eve and their descendants are unaware of death as a natural occurrence. Then one of them dies the first natural death. All are mortal, and all have a spark of the divine. The Nephilim, the "men of renown," are long gone.

You have here a contrast between the Greek mythical system, where some have divine or noble blood and whose lives are of value, and that of the Hebrew Bible, where all are made in God's image and all human life has value. Greek myth looks toward glory in death and causing death over trivial matters, but Jewish teaching and tradition treat mortality as an incentive to live a good life.

I wish I could give you something better, but philosophy and theology are not my areas of expertise and it's been a hell of a day. Exams. I do recommend a book called Divine Purpose and Heroic Response by John Alvis. I'm drawing on his work, but I can't do it justice. Look it up sometime.