Let’s Talk the Talk if You Wanna Walk the Jewish Walk
Just what is the difference between the terms Jew, Hebrew and Israelite?
How has Classical Hebrew dynamically changed over the centuries to that spoken today?
When you use the term Jew, Hebrew or Israelite
are you speaking of the:
Ethnic
National
Racial
Religious
Government
Laws
Institutions
Religion
Political
Spiritual
Jew, Hebrew or Israel?
Or possibly you are using those terms to distinguish between
foreigners, the 12 tribes, sons of Israel, house(s) of Israel, the land of Israel, My Servant Israel and
authorities?
This article is a discussion of the dynamics of change of the
Hebrew language. Immediately following this article are several articles relative to the terms
“Hebrew,” “Israel” and “Jew.”
Let him who has ears, hear!
Excerpted from Holman Bible Dictionary
Hebrew
The language in which the canonical books of the Old Testament
were written, except for the Aramaic sections in Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Daniel 2:4b-7:28; Jeremiah
10:11, and a few other words and phrases from Aramaic and other languages. The language is not
called “Hebrew” in the Old Testament. Rather, it is known as “the language (literally, lip) of Canaan” (Isa. 19:18) or as “Judean” (NASB), that is the language
of Judah (Neh. 13:24; Isa. 36:11). The word “Hebrew” for the language is first attested
in the prologue to Ecclesiasticus in the Apocrypha. In the New Testament the references to the
“Hebrew dialect” seem to be references to Aramaic.
Biblical or classical Hebrew belongs to the Northwest Semitic
branch of Semitic languages which includes Ugaritic, Phoenician, Moabite, Edomite, and Ammonite.
This linguistic group is referred to commonly as Canaanite, although some prefer not to call Ugaritic
a Canaanite dialect.
Hebrew has an alphabet of twenty-two consonants. The texts
were written right to left. The script was based on that of the Phoenicians, a circumstance which did
not make it possible to represent or to distinguish clearly among all the consonantal sounds in current
use in classical Hebrew.
The distinguishing characteristics of Hebrew are for the most
part those shared by one or more of the other Semitic languages. Each root for verbs and nouns characteristically had three consonants, even in later periods when the use of four consonant roots was
increased. Nouns are either masculine or feminine. They have singular, plural, or even dual forms,
the dual being used for items normally found in pairs, such as eyes, ears, lips. While most nouns were
derived from a verbal root, some were original nouns which gave rise to verbs (denominatives). The
genitive relationship (usually expressed in English by “of”) is expressed by the construct
formation in which the word standing before the genitive is altered in form and pronunciation (if
possible).
The Hebrew verb forms indicate person, number, and gender.
There are seven verbal stems which serve to indicate types of action: simple action, active or passive;
intensive action, active, passive, or reflexive; and causative action, active or passive. In classical
Hebrew the isolated verb form did not indicate a tense, but rather complete or incomplete action. Thus
verbs are often referred to as perfect or imperfect, there being no past, present, future, past perfect,
present perfect, or future perfect. The tense can be determined only in context, and sometimes even
that procedure produces uncertain results. Classical Hebrew is a verb oriented language rather than
a noun oriented or abstract language. The usual word order of a sentence is verb, subject, modifiers,
direct object. The language is quite concrete in expression. However, the relatively simple structure
and syntax of classical Hebrew did not keep biblical writers from producing countless passages of
unparalleled beauty and power.
While historical development took place in classical Hebrew
from the eleventh century to the emergence of Mishnaic Hebrew, it does not seem possible to write
the history of that development. It is generally agreed that the most archaic texts are poetic, such as
Genesis 4:23-24; Exodus 15; Judges 5, although often it is difficult to decide what is archaic and what
may be the result of an archaizing style. Books written toward the close of the Old Testament period,
such as Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Ecclesiastes, show the Hebrew language undergoing a
number of significant changes due primarily to Aramaic influence. Most of the Hebrew Bible now
shows a homogeneous style which was most likely due to scribes in the late pre-exilic period copying
the older texts in the dialect of Jerusalem. Thus, to be able to date an extant text does not necessarily
mean that one can date the material contained in the text. There is some evidence of dialectical variations in the Hebrew spoken in biblical times. For example there is the shibboleth-sibboleth incident
in Judges 12:5-6. Some Bible students think many of the difficulties of the text of Hosea may be
clarified by considering the Hebrew of that book as an example of northern or Israelite idiom.
The growing number of Hebrew inscriptions dating from the
pre-exilic age provides an important supplement to the study of classical Hebrew. These inscriptions
were chiseled into stone, written on ostraca (broken pieces of pottery), or cut into seals or inscribed
on jar handles and weights. Some of the most important inscriptional evidence includes the Gezer
calendar (tenth century), the Hazor ostraca (ninth century), the Samaria ostraca (early eighth century),
the Siloam inscription (late eighth century), Yavneh-yam ostracon (late seventh century), jar handles
from Gibeon (late seventh century), the Lachish ostracon (early sixth century), and the Arad ostraca
(late seventh and early sixth centuries). To these may be added the Moabite Stone (Stele of Mesha,
ninth century) and the Ammonite stele (ninth century) which contain inscriptions in languages very
similar to classical Hebrew. Several benefits may be gained from these and other inscriptions for the
study of classical Hebrew. First, we now have available an adequate view of the development of
Hebrew script and orthography from the tenth century to New Testament times. Second, it now appears that literacy was earlier and more widespread in Israel than was thought previously. Third, the
addition of new words and personal names and the like have enriched our knowledge of classical
Hebrew. And fourth, details of the texts add new data on matters of history, material culture, and
religion.
There has probably not been a time since its inception when
Hebrew has not been in use, even if mainly as a scholarly or literary language. Classical Hebrew was
followed by Mishnaic Hebrew, the language of the Mishnah, which reflects Hebrew as it was known
from around 200 B.C. to about A.D. 500 Mishnaic Hebrew was the language of the academy where
the Scriptures were interpreted and where the oral interpretations of the sages were passed down.
The language differs from the classical idiom in several important respects, including a greatly expanded vocabulary with the addition of words from Aramaic, Greek, and Latin, the use of new particles, idioms, and patterns of speech, and especially extensive development of the verbal stems.
After A.D. 500 Rabbinic Hebrew was used as a literary language
by the scholars who spoke different vernaculars. The medieval period saw a great flowering of Hebrew literature of all kinds, especially commentaries and philosophical works. The nineteenth and
twentieth centuries have witnessed the development of modern Hebrew into a vital, living language
as suitable for the sciences and literature as for everyday use, but this language represents a vast
development and change from classical Hebrew of the Bible, particularly in the verbal system.
Below are several articles relative to the terms
“Hebrew,” “Israel” and “Jew.”
Excerpted from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Hebrew People
An ethnic term designating the lineage of the Jewish people,
the nation of Israel.
Abraham, or Abram, was the first person in the Bible to be called
a Hebrew <Gen. 14:13>. Thereafter, his descendants through Isaac and Jacob were known as
Hebrews <Gen. 40:15; 43:32>. The term is used five times in the story of Joseph <Gen.
39:14-43:32>, including a reference to Joseph by Potiphar’s wife as “the Hebrew
servant” <Gen. 39:17>. Joseph told Potiphar’s chief butler, “For indeed
I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews” <Gen. 40:15>.
There is considerable evidence in the Old Testament that the
Hebrews regarded themselves as a composite race <Deut. 26:5>. In their wandering tribal days
and during their early years in Canaan, the Hebrews experienced a mixture of bloods through marriage
with surrounding peoples. When Abraham sought a suitable wife for Isaac, he sent to Padan Aram,
near Haran, for Rebekah, daughter of the Syrian Bethuel <Gen. 24:10; 25:20>. Jacob found
Rachel in the same location <Genesis 28-29>.
Strains of Egyptian blood also appeared in the family of Joseph
through Asenath’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh <Gen. 41:50-52>. Moses had a
Midianite wife, Zipporah <Ex. 18:1-7>, and an unnamed Ethiopian (Cushite) wife <Num.
12:1>.
Excerpted from Holman Bible Dictionary
Hebrew
It differentiates early Israelites from foreigners. After David
founded the monarchy the term Hebrew seems to disappear from the Hebrew language. The designation apparently begins with Abraham (Gen. 14:13), showing that he belonged to an ethnic group
distinct from the Amorites. It distinguished Joseph from the Egyptians and slaves of other ethnic
identity (Gen. 39:14,17; 41:12; 43:32). Abraham’s land has become the land of the Hebrews
(Gen. 40:15), and his God, the God of the Hebrews (Ex. 5:3). Given the ethnic identity, special laws
protected Hebrew slaves (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12; compare Lev. 25:40-41; Jer. 34:8-22). After the death
of Saul (1 Sam. 29), the term “Hebrew” does not appear in the historical books, pointing
possibly to a distinction between Hebrew as an ethnic term and Israel and/or Judah as a religious and
political term for the people of the covenant and of God’s nation.
Excerpted from New Unger’s Bible Dictionary
Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (C) 1988.
Israel
IS’RAEL (iz’ra-el; “having power with God,
or God’s fighter”).
1. Jacob, the name conferred by the angel of Jehovah upon Jacob
(which see) at Peniel <Gen. 32:28>; “for you have striven with God and with men and
have prevailed.”
2. Israelites, i.e., the whole people of Israel, the twelve tribes;
called all Israel <Josh. 3:17; 7:25; Judg. 8:27> the sons of Israel <Jer. 3:21>; the house
of Israel <Exo. 16:31; 40:38>; in Israel <1 Sam. 9:9>; and the land of Israel <1 Sam.
13:19; 2 Kin. 6:23>. Sometimes the whole nation is represented as one person: “Israel is
My son” <Exo. 4:22>; My servant (<Isa. 41:8>, cf. <42:1>; <44:1>;
<49:3>); your brother <Num. 20:14>. Cf. also <Isa. 42:24; 43:1,15; 44:5>. Israel
is sometimes put emphatically for the true Israelites, the faithful, those distinguished for piety and
virtue <Ps. 73:1; Isa. 45:17; John 1:47; Rom. 9:6; 11:26; Gal. 6:16>. In the expression <Isa.
49:3> “You are My Servant, Israel,” Christ is undoubtedly referred to.
Israelites was the name used for the twelve tribes, from their
leaving Egypt until after the death of Saul, but after their defection, the ten tribes arrogated to themselves the name of the whole nation, Israel, i.e., the Northern Kingdom, in contrast with Judah, the
Southern Kingdom (<2 Sam. 2:9-10,17,28; 3:10,17; 1 Kin. 12:1>; etc.). The kings of the ten
tribes were called kings of Israel, and the descendants of David, who ruled over Judah and Benjamin,
were known as kings of Judah; and in the prophets of that period Judah and Israel are put in opposition
<Hos. 4:15; 5:3,5; 6:10; 7:1; 8:8-9; Amos 1:1; 2:4-6; Mic. 1:5; Isa. 5:7>. Yet in <Isa.
8:14> the two kingdoms are called the “houses of Israel.”
After the Babylonian captivity the returned exiles, though mainly
of Judah, resumed the name of Israel as the designation of their nation, but as individuals they are
called Jews in the Apocrypha and NT. The expression “to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin” <2 Chr. 11:3> characterizes all who had remained true to the house of David as
Israel, i.e., those who walked in the footsteps of their progenitor Israel (Jacob) (Keil, Com., ad
loc.).
Israel is a term that seems to have been used to distinguish laymen from priests, Levites, and other ministers <Ezra 6:16; 9:1; Neh. 11:3>.
Jew
JEW (ju; Heb. yehudi). A Jehudite, i.e., descendant of Judah;
Gk. Ioudaios, a name formed from that of the patriarch Judah and applied first to the tribe or country
of Judah or to a subject of the kingdom of Judah <2 Kin. 25:25; Jer. 32:12; 38:19; 40:11, 41:3;
52:28> in distinction from the seceding ten tribes, the Israelites. From the time of the Babylonian
captivity, as the members of the tribe of Judah formed by far the larger portion of the remnant of the
covenant people, Jews became the appellation of the whole nation (2 Macc. 9:17; <John 4:9; 7:1;
Acts 18:2,24>). The original designation of the Israelite people was the Hebrews, as the descendants of Abraham. Thus Paul was appropriately called a Hebrew, and still later the terms Hebrew
and Jew were applied with little distinction.
Excerpted fromVine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words
Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Jew (-s) (Live as Do The), Jewess, Jewish, Jewry, Jews’ Religion
A. Adjectives.
1. ioudaios ^2453^, is used (a) adjectivally, with the
lit. meaning, “Jewish,” sometimes with the addition of aner, “a man,”
<Acts 10:28; 22:3>; in <21:39> with anthropos, in some mss. (a man in the generic sense);
the best mss. omit the phrase here; in <13:6>, lit., “a Jewish false-prophet”; in
<John 3:22>, with the word chora, “land” or “country,” signifying
“Judean,” lit., “Judean country”; used by metonymy for the people of the
country; (b) as a noun, “a Jew, Jews,” e. g., <Matt. 2:2; Mark 7:3>. The name
“Jew” is primarily tribal (from Judah). It is first found in <2 Kings 16:6>, as distinct from Israel, of the northern kingdom. After the Captivity it was chiefly used to distinguish the
race from Gentiles, e. g., <John 2:6; Acts 14:1; Gal. 2:15>, where it denotes Christians of
“Jewish” race; it distinguishes Jews from Samaritans, in <John 4:9>; from proselytes, in <Acts 2:10>. The word is most frequent in John’s gospel and the Acts; in the
former “it especially denotes the typical representatives of Jewish thought contrasted with
believers in Christ... or with other Jews of less pronounced opinions, e. g., <John 3:25; 5:10; 7:13;
9:22>” (Lukyn Williams, in Hastings’ Bib. Dic.); such representatives were found,
generally, in opposition to Christ; in the Acts they are chiefly those who opposed the apostles and
the gospel. In <Rom. 2:28,29> the word is used of ideal “Jews,” i. e.,
“Jews” in spiritual reality, believers, whether “Jews” or Gentiles by natural
birth. The feminine, “Jewess,” is found in <Acts 16:1; 24:24>.
It also denotes Judea, e. g., <Matt. 2:1; Luke 1:5; John 4:3>,
the word “country” being understood [cf. (a) above]. In <Luke 23:5> and <John
7:1>, where the KJV has “Jewry,” the RV translates it as usual,
“Judea.”
2. ioudaikos ^2451^ denotes “Jewish,”
<Titus 1:14>.
B. Noun.
ioudaismos ^2454^, “Judaism,” denotes
“the Jews’ religion,” <Gal. 1:13,14>, and stands, not for their religious
beliefs, but for their religious practices, not as instituted by God, but as developed and extended from
these by the traditions of the Pharisees and scribes. In the Apocrypha it denotes comprehensively
“the Government, laws, institutions and religion of the Jews.”
C. Verb.
ioudaizo ^2450^, lit., “to Judaize,” i.
e., to conform to “Jewish” religious practices and manners, is translated “to live
as do the Jews,” in <Gal. 2:14>.
D. Adverb.
ioudaikos ^2452^, “in Jewish fashion.”
is translated “as do the Jews,” in <Gal. 2:14>.
Excerpted from Easton’s Bible Dictionary Jew
The name derived from the patriarch Judah, at first given to 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 contradistinction from those belonging to the kingdom of the ten tribes, who
were called Israelites.
During the Captivity, and after the Restoration, the name, however, was extended to all the Hebrew nation without distinction (Esther 3:6, 10; Dan. 3:8, 12; Ezra
4:12; 5:1, 5).
Originally this people were called Hebrews (Gen. 39:14; 40:15;
Ex. 2:7; 3:18; 5:3; 1 Sam. 4:6, 9, etc.), but after the Exile this name fell into disuse. But Paul was
styled a Hebrew (2 Cor. 11:22; Phil. 3:5).
The history of the Jewish nation is interwoven with the history
of Palestine and with the narratives of the lives of their rulers and chief men. They are now {1897}
dispersed over all lands, and to this day remain a separate people, “without a king, and without
a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image {R.V. ‘pillar,’ marg.
‘obelisk’}, and without an ephod, and without teraphim” (Hos. 3:4). Till about
the beginning of the present century {1800} they were everywhere greatly oppressed, and often cruelly persecuted; but now their condition is greatly improved, and they are admitted in most European
countries to all the rights of free citizens. In 1860 the “Jewish disabilities” were removed,
and they were admitted to a seat in the British Parliament. Their number in all is estimated at about
six millions, about four millions being in Europe.
There are three names used in the New Testament to designate
this people, (1.) Jews, as regards their nationality, to distinguish them from Gentiles. (2.) Hebrews,
with regard to their language and education, to distinguish them from Hellenists, i.e., Jews who spoke
the Greek language. (3.) Israelites, as respects their sacred privileges as the chosen people of God.
“To other races we owe the splendid inheritance of modern civilization and secular culture;
but the religious education of mankind has been the gift of the Jew alone.”
Excerpted from Holman Bible Dictionary
Jews in the New Testament
The word Jew is derived ultimately from the tribe of Judah
through Middle English Iewe, Old French Ieu, Latin Iudaeus, and Greek Ioudaios (compare the
woman’s name Judith, which originally meant “Jewess”).
The Old Testament Era
The Hebrew yehudim meant originally descendants of the tribe
of Judah and then those who inhabited the territories claimed by them (2 Kings 16:6; 25:25; Jer.
32:12). With the deportation and subsequent assimilation of the “Ten Lost Tribes” of
the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians after 722 B.C., the only Israelites to survive into the exilic
period (with a few from the tribe of Benjamin, e.g. Mordecai, who is called a “Jew”
in Esther 2:5) were those from Judah, hence the name Jews (Neh. 1:2). The corresponding Aramaic
word is used in Daniel 3:8,12.
The Intertestamental Period
The Greek name Ioudaios (plural Ioudaioi) was used for the
Israelites in the Greek and Roman world. This is the name used in the treaty between Judas Maccabeus
and the Romans, described in 1 Maccabees 8:23-32: “May all go well with the Romans and
with the nation of the Jews....”
Matthew, Mark, Luke
The term Ioudaios occurs relatively rarely in the Synoptic Gospels, the first three Gospels which are closely parallel to each other. The word occurs but five times
in Matthew, seven times in Mark, and five times in Luke, usually in the expression “King of
the Jews” (12 of the total of 17). Of the remaining occurrences only Matthew 28:15 designates
Jews as contrasted to Christian believers.
John
By contrast the word Ioudaios occurs 70 times in the Gospel
of John. Some of these references are quite positive, especially in the dialogue between Jesus and
the woman of Samaria (ch. 4). In v. 9 the woman says to Jesus, “thou, being a Jew,”
and in v. 22 Jesus says, “salvation is of the Jews.” Many of the Jews believed in Jesus
(8:31; 11:45; 12:11). Other references are neutral as in John 3:1, where Nicodemus is described as
a ruler of the Jews.
The description of Jesus’ opponents reveals a striking
difference between the Synoptic Gospels and John. Whereas the former names Jesus’ enemies
as scribes and Pharisees, high priests and Sadducees, the Gospel of John simply uses the general term
“Jews.” The term often implies Jewish authorities as in 7:13; 9:22; 19:38; 20:19.
The Jews impugned Jesus’ birth and His sanity (8:48),
and even alleged that He was demon possessed (8:52). The Jews questioned His statements about
the Temple (2:20) and were scandalized at His claim to be the bread from heaven (6:41). They regarded His affirmations of equality with the Father as blasphemous and picked up stones to kill Him
(5:18; 7:1; 10:31,33; 11:8).
The heightened use of the term “Jews” in John to
serve as a general designation for those who denied that Jesus was the Christ may be explained by
the fact that John’s Gospel was composed at a later date than the Synoptics—after such
events as the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the insertion of a curse upon the minim
(“heretics,” especially Christians) into the daily synagogue prayer in A.D. 80 had increased mutual hostilities between Jews and Christians.
Acts
Paul was a Jew from Tarsus (Acts 21:39; 22:3). After his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, his fellow Jews sought to kill him (9:23). King Herod
Agrippa I arrested Peter and killed the Apostle James, believing this would please the Jews
(12:1-3).
Following his conviction that the gospel should be preached
first to the Jews (Rom. 1:16), Paul on his missionary journeys began his preaching in the Jewish
synagogues—at Salamis on Cyprus (Acts 13:5), at Iconium (14:1), at Thessalonica (17:1), at
Athens (17:15-17), and at Corinth (18:1). Though he made some converts among the Jews, even
converting the synagogue ruler at Corinth (18:8), and no doubt had success among the “god
fearers” or proselytes who were interested in converting to Judaism (13:43; 17:4), the majority
of the Jews reacted violently against Paul’s message (13:50; 14:2; 17:5; 18:12). Paul therefore
turned his efforts increasingly toward the Gentiles, the non-Jews.
Pauline Letters
As the “apostle to the Gentiles,” Paul argued against
“Judaizers” that Gentile converts did not have to be circumcized, that is, become Jews
first, before they became christians (Acts 15:1-5). His arguments were accepted by James and the
church council at Jerusalem held about A.D. 49. Paul, who had been “an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee” (Phil. 3:5) and had been more zealous in his pursuit
of Judaism than his peers (Gal. 1:13,14), came to the radical conclusion that a true Jew is not one
who was physically descended from Abraham (compare John 8:31-41), adhered to the Torah or Law
of Moses (Rom 2:17,28) and was circumcized. For Paul a true Jew is one who believes that Jesus
is the Messiah or Christ (Gal. 3:26-29), relies on God’s grace and not works of the law (Eph.
2:8,9), and has been circumcized in his heart by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 2:2-9; 5:6). In spite of his grief
that most of his fellow Jews did not accept his message, Paul did not teach that God had abandoned
the Jews but believed that God still has a plan for them (Rom. 9-11). [Note: the word Ioudaios is not
found in any of the non-Pauline letters of the New Testament.)
Revelation
The two references in the Book of Revelation are to the church
at Smyrna (2:9) and the church at Philadelphia (3:9), where there were those who claimed to be Jews
but who were denounced as the “synagogue of Satan” because they opposed Christians.
