Understanding the Term Jew in History

The first most important thing to realize is that the word Jew is a

loaded term. It originates from one of the tribes of

Israel named

Judah. Judah was one of Jacob's twelve sons,

and the term

Jew refers to people who lived in or were from Judah,

the territory of land that the tribe of Judah received as their

inheritance

once they entered the Promised Land.

Later, this was called Judea, which is a Greco-Roman transliteration,

and that means that Jews were specifically from Judea.

This may seem like no big deal, but it's actually very

significant. Firstly, what it means is that those before the territory

of Judah was created were not Jews.

Moses wasn't a Jew, nor was he Jewish.

Jacob was not a Jew or Jewish either.

Isaac wasn't a Jew, nor was he Jewish.

Abraham wasn't a Jew, because Abraham was a Hebrew, a

descendant of Eber.

Abraham was also promised to be the father of many nations, not just

one nation or group of people, i.e. the Jews.

In fact, up until and including Jacob, all of these patriarchs

were referred to as Hebrews.

God famously changed Jacob's name to Israel, and between the time of

Jacob, through the time of Moses, and up until the territory of Judah was

established, the people of the Bible were called Hebrews and

Israelites, respectively.

If the significance of these things isn't immediately obvious, don't worry.

It will become very plain as we dive deeper into this. Moving on.

What this means is that once the term Jew even began being

used, it was really only used to refer to a

minority of the people

within Israel. That is, the Judeans or those from

Judah. The Bible is therefore not about the

Jews, nor are the Jews the founders of

monotheism, nor even

the majority of people highlighted in Scripture.

Samson was from the tribe of Dan. Deborah was from the tribe of

Ephraim. Gideon was from Manasseh.

Elijah came from Gad or Manasseh, and Elisha, his

protege, came from Issachar. Joshua and Samuel were from the tribe

of Ephraim, and Moses and Aaron were from the tribe of

Levi. All of these famous Bible heroes were

Israelites. Not Jews. They did not come from Judah,

nor did they refer to themselves as Jews, because they had no reason to.

The Bible also speaks of Egyptians, Phoenicians, Assyrians,

Babylonians, Armenians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and countless other

pagan tribes and peoples. So, anyone telling you that the Jews are the

center of Scripture is just not telling you the truth.

But now things start to get a little more complicated, and for that, you have to

know a bit of history.