the hebrews were never monotheists. they were henotheists. there may be any number of gods, but i like this one.
"were never" is probably the wrong wording. towards the height of the biblical period, they were incredibly intolerant of other gods, and many of the prophets present a view of god that is so completely encompassing of everything (good and evil) that there is no reason to think they even considered that other gods might exist.
the degree of monotheistic tendency in the judeo-christian tradition varies pretty wildly from henotheism to strictly totalitarian monotheism, to god-and-demi-gods monotheism, to trinitarian beliefs.
one thing, however, is pretty safe to say. the majority of the biblical tradition looks pretty badly on other gods in israel. commanding genocide to avoid it, ordering the destruction of asherot and baalim, cursing the kings to allowed foreign gods in, etc. freedom of religion there was not.
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