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What does the names Jew, Israel or Hebrew mean? To form the nation of Israel, God singled out a man named Abram (whom He renamed Abraham) and made a Covenant with him and his offspring forever. God promised Abraham that he and his wife Sarah’s descendants would be a great nation and that through their descendants, the whole world would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-2). After Abraham, the Covenant passed to Abraham's promised son Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5); and from Isaac came two sons Jacob and Esau, God passed on the covenant solely to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15) whom God renamed Israel. And from Israel the Covenant passed on to 12 sons, (12 tribes, Genesis 28:13-15.). The first time the word Israel is used in Scripture is to Jacob. Gen. 32:26-28 After Jacob wrestles with the angel of the Lord (God’s personal messenger). Insisting that he would not “ let You go unless You bless me!" So He said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." And He said, " Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." A second time is in Gen. 35:9-12 “Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." What we learn is that the Names Israel, Hebrews, Jews are basic terms the Bible uses interchangeably for God’s people of the covenant that began in Gen.12. Hebrew[s] This term is the first to identify the people of Abraham after Jacob is named Israel. The word Hebrew is first used in Genesis 14:13. Abram as an individual was called a Hebrew. The next number of times Hebrew was used was by Egyptians in reference to the Israelites (Genesis 39:14, Exodus 1:16, etc.) Joseph in the house of Pharaoh who refused the advances of his wife, she then tries to frame him for not being intimate with her, she calls Joseph a Hebrew (Gen 39:14). Joseph later says that he was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews (Gen. 40:15). They are called Hebrew slaves (Exodus 21:1-2), along with many other passages. We see Jonah identified himself as a Hebrew to Gentiles (Jonah 1:9). God called the people Ex 20:22. Children of Israel This term is used in the Old Testament more than any other, over 950 times and in the New Testament over 30 times. It first speaks of the tribes that came with Jacob. Ex 1:1 “the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt.” We later see when they are under bondage to a new King Ex 2:24-25 “ God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” Moses is chosen to plead for the children of Israel’s release, his people are continually identified children of Israel (Exod.6:6, 31:16, 35:30) Over 30 times it says to speak to the children of Israel. The children of Israel are called brethren (Lev 25:46.) When they prepare to go into the promised land to war against those who would prevent them, they are divided into tribes (Num.1:-42.) Paul quotes Isaiah in Rom 9:27" Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved.” In Rev 7:4 we see “One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed” to evangelize throughout the tribulation. Israelite[s] Israelites is used 12 times in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. The first mention is in Ex. 9:7 After Moses warned Pharaoh of the plague, it says, “ not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead.” After the feasts of the Lord are given in Lev. 23:42-43 “ All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.' " In Lev. 24:10, a son of an Israelite woman, and the children of Israel are both mentioned in the same verse. It is used once by Jesus who says of Nathanael "Behold, an Israelite” (John 1:47) JEWS The term Jews is overwhelmingly used 240 times throughout Scripture. 72 times in the Old Testament and 171 times in the New Testament by all kinds of writers. The term ‘Jews,’ is used in plural the first time in 2 Kings 25:25-26. The Term Jew began by meaning one belonging to the tribe of Judah, or to the separate kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 16:6; 25:25; Jer. 32:12; 38:19; 40:11; 41:3), in contradast from those belonging to the kingdom of the ten tribes, who were called Israelites. (Eastons Bible dictionary) A “Jew” also was applied to an inhabitant of Judah (2 Kings 16:6), to the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom. Later the meaning was extended to all descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. "Jews," were identified as recipients of covenant, contrasted with the Gentiles who were not. Being called a Jew meant they praised God (YHWH). The main language of the Jews was Hebrew. The term used singular is first found in Est. 2:5-6 In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite .” Est. 3:4 Mordecai said to them that he was a Jew. And that the Jews were Esther’s people. In Dan 3:8 Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews of not bowing to the kings statue.And in v.12 “ certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego” Next this term is found in Ezra 4:12, “ Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem, and are building the rebellious and evil city, and are finishing its walls and repairing the foundations.” In the New Testament, Jesus responds to Pilate asking him if he is a Jew. Mark 15:2 “Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered and said to him, "It is as you say."And to the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob who identified him as a Jew,Jesus also told her, “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22.) In the New Testament, the last apostle chosen by Jesus, Paul ties all of this together, identifying, “…my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came , who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” (Rom. 9:3-5.) Paul makes it clear what they are according to the flesh is what he is. And what he is Christ Jesus is. They, his countrymen (even those who are unbelievers) are Israelites. They are b'nei Yisrael, (children) sons of Israel (Gen. 42:5, 45:21, 46:5, Exodus 1:1, Deuteronomy 23:17, 1 Chron. 2:1). That are called Hebrews and Jews. 2 Cor. 11:22 Paul states “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.” Phil 3:5 Paul says he is “the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee” Rom 11:1-2 “I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Paul who was also a Pharisee asserts he is an Israelite, a Hebrew who is the seed of Abraham. And Paul also calls himself a Jew in Acts 21:39, "I am a Jew from Tarsus.” This proves all three terms are synonymous, they all identify the same people. Those whom God has a covenant with. All these terms are used for the same people. In the same manner, Jesus is called the Son of God, Savior of the World, and Redeemer of Israel, the Word, The last Adam; the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. These terms all speak of the same person, Jesus. The terms, Hebrew, Israel, children of Israel, Israelite and Jew also speak of the same people. |
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