In the Old Testament/TaNaKH,

we read that YHVH’s people were known as

Hebrews and as

the children of Israel or Israelites;

however, when we reach the Brit Chadashah/New Testament, they are primarily called, or referred to as Jewish, Judeans or the Jews.

How, when and why did that change occur?

First of all a root meaning of the word

Hebrew – Ivri – עברי

is passing beyond or

on the far shore.

The first use of the term is in Genesis 14:1

when Abraham is called a Hebrew.

Joseph Yosef יוֹסֵף‎

is also called

a Hebrew in

Gen. 39:14, 17; 41:12.

The people whom YHVH delivered from Mitzryim / מִצְרַיִם / Egypt through Mosheh/משֶׁה/Moses were called Hebrews.

The word ‘Hebrew’ may be derived from the name of one of Abraham’s ancestors, the patriarch Eber

noted in Gen. 10:21–25, 11:14–17.

The term Hebrew is the same word used for both

the language and the people.

It is עברי  Ivri or Ibri

pronounced: Erverh

and literally means:

from the other side

and also means:

to pass through to the other side

or one crossed over.

Related to Abraham crossing over from his fathers home of idol worship to follow the call of the One True and Living God.

This is one reason Jews were originally called Hebrews, or in Hebrew, Ivriyim, because they were willing to take on, and take down, the idols of the day.

Abraham was known as Ha’Ivri, the Hebrew, in context, this meant Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates. Then prophetically to the crossing over of the Reed Sea out of Egypt and again across the Jordan River into the Promised Land/Canaan/Yisrael; and to our future crossing over into the spiritual Promised Land of the Heavenlies.

IVRI

The script used in the Torah scrolls is the original

Ktav Ivrit which was revealed to

Avraham Avinu who was the first

Ivri-Hebrew.

The proper pronunciation in the native language of the ancient Israelites’ designation, commonly known, as Hebrew in English is IVRI

pronounced; Erh-Verh.

Many believe Hebrew in this context is related to Eber, an ancestor of Abraham mentioned in Genesis 11:14–16.

Independent of the term’s meaning, its original connection is with Abraham as founder of the YHVH’s chosen people.

To be a Hebrew literally means:

to possess the courage to stand apart,

to dare to be different,

and Abraham was the first to proudly bear this title of distinction.

According to the Bible, Abraham left polytheism to follow the God who made the universe. Abraham lived about 2,000 BC and he and his descendants were known as Hebrews recorded in Gen. 14:13. In fact the Pentateuch/Torah/ was written by Moses in the Hebrew language.

תּוֹרָה Tōrā, “Instruction”, “Teaching” or “Law” is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

YHVH’s people are referred to by many different names in the scriptures.

They are called:

Israelites,

Jews,

Hebrews,

children of Abraham,

Daughter of Zion,

YHVH’s chosen people, etc.

One of the most common names for

YHVH’s chosen people

in the Scriptures is Israelites.

This name came from through

Isaac יִצְחָק Yitschaq

and Jacob יַעֲקֹב  Yaʿaqov

who were

Abraham’s son and grandson respectively.

Jacob’s name was changed to

Israel יִשְׂרָאֵל Yisra’el

as recorded in

Gen. 32:28; 46:1.

Since this time Israel’s descendants were known as

the children of Israel

or Israel or Israelites.

Israel’s family moved to Egypt where his son Joseph was second in command to the Pharaoh. In Egypt the Israelites grew to 2 million people when they subsequently migrated to Canaan in the Middle East under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.

Another common name for the Jewish people is Jews.

The word Jew comes from the name Judah, the leading tribe of the 12 sons or tribes of Israel.

After the Israelites invaded Canaan, they were ruled by the kings Saul, David and Solomon. King David lived about 1,000 BC. After this, the kingdom was divided into two, with 10 tribes in the northern kingdom of Israel and two in the southern kingdom of Judah as recorded in 1 Ki. 12; 2 Chron. 10. Samaria was the capital of Israel and Jerusalem the capital of Judah.

The Hebrew noun

Yehudi – Jew, 

Strongs #3064, 

Yehudi: Jews, Jew, Jewish

Original Word: יְהוּדִי
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: Yhuwdiy
Pronunciation: yeh-hoo-DEE
Phonetic Spelling: yeh-hoo-dee’
KJV: Jew
NASB: Jews, Jew, Jewish, Jews’, Judeans
Word Origin: [patronymically from H3063 (יְהוּדָה – Judah)]

1. a Jehudite (i.e. Judaite or Jew), or descendant of Jehudah (i.e. Judah)….

is derived from the name Judah,

who was one of Jacob’s twelve sons.

Yehudi occurs 76 times in the following books of the Old Testament:
 11 times in Jeremiah (written about 600BC), where it describes Judeans,
Twice in 2 Kings (written about 550BC), where it describes Judeans who lived about 750BC and 590BC,
Once in Zechariah (written about 520BC), where it may describe both Judeans and Israelites,
 52 times in Esther (written about 460BC), where it describes those dispersed after the Babylonian invasions and living in the Persian kingdom, including Mordecai a Benjaminite Esther. 2:5; 5:13, and
 10 times in Nehemiah (written about 430BC), where it describes exiles who returned to Jerusalem.

A related word Yehudain Strongs #3062 only occurs in the books of Daniel and Ezra, written about 530BC and 440BC respectively. 

Originally, the word referred to members of the tribe of Judah, but later it described anyone from the kingdom of Judah. This would include those from the northern kingdom of Israel who moved to Judah, including Mordecai’s and his ancestors, who was called a Jew in the book of Esther. Also, as those who returned after the exile settled in Judea, they were called Jews regardless of their ancestral tribe. In the New Testament, the words, Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews are used interchangeably to describe the descendants of Jacob. John. 4:9; 2 Cor. 11:22.  this is the same today as the words Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews are used as synonyms.  A Jew was, literally,

one from the land of Judah,

although the word later came to be applied to any Israelite, regardless of the tribe to which he belonged.

In 722 BC, Samaria was conquered by the Assyrians and the Israelites were dispersed into surrounding nations as recorded in 2 Kings 17. As they assimilated and now have no national identity, they are known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. However, they weren’t all lost because some remained in Israel and some moved to Judah, 2 Chron. 15:9; 35:18.

In 605 BC and 598 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah and in 586 B.C. Jerusalem was destroyed. Many of the Jews were taken to exile in Babylon. When the Persians conquered Babylon in 538 BC, the Persian King Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to their homelands and many returned to Judah. After the Babylonian exile, Jew replaced Israelite as the most widely-used term for these survivers. This was because, by that time, virtually all Israelites were descendants of the kingdom of Judah. Also, the Jewish religion was known as Judaism.

After Jerusalem was rebuilt, Judea was ruled by the Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians and Romans. Although the terms Hebrew and Israelite continued in use into the New Testament period as recorded in Rom. 9:4; 2 Cor. 11:22; Phil. 3:5; by then the term Jew was more commonly used. The Romans referred to Yeshua/Jesus as the king of the Jews at His death. Matt. 27:37.

In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, however, this didn’t destroy all the Jews as many were living in other countries. In 134 AD the Romans attacked again and the Jews were killed, enslaved and dispersed to surrounding countries including Europe and North Africa. Since this time, Judea has been ruled by the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic Empire, the Crusaders, the Mamluk Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the British Empire. The Jews were persecuted and driven out of many regions culminating in the holocaust. Despite these difficulties, the Jews maintained their identity, even in foreign lands. The need to find a homeland for Jewish refugees led to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

Today, the word Jew is now used to refer to all of the descendants of Jacob and those who adhere to Judaism.

To summarize the usage of the word Jew.

The Hebrew word translated Jew in the Bible originally meant the tribe of Judah and the kingdom of Judah/Yehudah. Judah’s father Israel died in about 1680BC showing that the name Judah originated in the 17^th century BC. With the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, the kingdom of Judah became the sole Jewish state and the name was applied to all Israelites. The Hebrew name for Judean or Jew appears in the Bible from about 600BC during the Babylonian Exile. This name was also applied to those who were dispersed in 586 BC. The term became more common in the Hellenistic period, 4th century BC.

After the Israelite exiles returned to Palestine, the region began to be known as Judea. And the dispersed Israelites began to be known as Judean. By the time of the Roman Empire, Jew was widely used to describe the people of Judea.

Below is the same word as spoken in various languages:
Yehudi – Hebrew
Yehudai – Aramaic

 Ioudaios – Greek
Iūdaeus – Latin
 Judeu, then Juiu, then Juif  – French
 Gyv, then Ive, Iewe, Iew – Old English
 Jew – English (1775)

So we can conclude that the Hebrew word translated Jew in the Bible is used for all the descendants of Jacob or Israel; and also note that in the Bible, Jewishness was determined through the father’s line, as is clear from the genealogies.Today, depending on context, it can also mean one who follows the Jewish religion. The date that Hebrews or Israelites become known as Jews is from about 600BC and specifically, this word derives from Judah/ Yehudah, one of Yaaqov/Jacob’s 12 sons, and the one who was the ancestor of

Yeshua Hamashiach /Jesus Christ

Matt. 1:3, Luke 3:33.

Yeshua/Jesus is Jewish, 

Yeshua Hamashiach/Jesus the Messiah.

However the term Jew became used for all descendants of Israel. So the term Jew was used interchangeably with Hebrew and Israelite. Thus a Jew is biblically defined as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Shalom shalom

‘Mishpachah’

‘Family/Tribe’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa,

friends, visitors and every reader…

Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His

and are truly born again from above.

Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is

your Redeemer, Savior, Lord

and soon returning King

and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.

I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus.  Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.