Hebrew Word: Jew, Jewish
The term “Jew” or “Jewish” is a Rabbinic misnomer that is supposedly developed from the name “Judah” or “Judea”. But “Jew” or “Jewish” is more than a mere Rabbinic misnomer designated to refer to the ancient Israelites as “Jews”. By substituting the term “Jews” for all Israelites, the Ten Tribes of the northern kingdom are thus erased from the commonwealth of Israel, and the writings concerning them in the Biblical narrative nullified. Thus, in the Rabbinic Judaism all Israel became “Jewish”. The Rabbis went even further to refer to the patriarch Avraham as “the first Jew”, the calendar and all holidays of the Creator “Jewish. But this is etymologically inaccurate, as far as the Scripture is concerned. Seeing that the Rabbis and tradition commentators engage in an incorrect usage of these terms, at least in our opinion, we have added our comments to clarify what the Hebrew words behind “Jews” and “Jewish” really mean, for we do not think this issue was well elaborated in the Rabbinic sources. We will try to show that the question of how these anglicized words are used is far from being trivial and hope to provide a more complex answer below. A good departure point is the verse in which the term “Hebrew” first appears, in some English translation such as JPS and KJV.
Avraham was not called a “Jew” but “Hebrew”, עִבְרִי Ivri, a descendant of Ever עֵבֶר, son of Shelah, son Arpachshad, son of Shem, and son of Noach. We read,
And one who had escaped came and informed Avram the Hebrew (ha-ivri), for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshkol and brother of Aner, and they had a covenant with Avram. (Gen 14:13)
It is the object of this work to explain the Hebrew words for “Jews” and “Jewish”, as we will expose certain misconceptions in the Rabbinic literature. It is only possible to explore this issue once we know what the Hebrew meanings of these words. We will also explain that “Hebrew” and “Jew” are two different terms often used interchangeably, though. This matter can best be understood in connection with the birth of the fourth son of Ya’akov and the name his mother gave him.
Since the creation of the world, there was never anyone who thanked the Creator until Leah. When Leah gave birth to her son, she said, “This time I will thank YHVH!” Therefore, she called him Yehudah.
And she (Leah) conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now I (odeh) thank Yehovah“. So, she called his name Yehudah. And she ceased bearing. (Gen 29:35)
Now, for since Scripture found it necessary to associate the words Odeh, Yehovah, Yehudah, it needs to be understood the way they sound in the wordplay in this verse. The Hebrew name of the fourth son of Ya’akov is יְהוּדָה Yehudah. A term that is patronymic (derived from a personal or family name) from Yehudah is יְהוּדִי Yehudi. Yehudi in return is derived from יָדָה yadah, which is a primitive root from יָד yad, “hand”. Yad literally means to “use the hand”, or to raise the hand like in praising, to revere with extended hands. Hence, יָדָה yadah, means to give thanks. In our verse, the word odeh is a first-person singular, present or future tense, “I [will] give thanks”.
A derived word from Yehudah is the word יְהוּדִית Yehudit, which means the language spoken by the Yehudim, the inhabitants of the southern kingdom of Israel. This term developed as a political term in the period of the southern kingdom after the spilt of the Kingdom of Shlomoh. We will cite several examples where this Hebrew word is used in its meaning unaltered in the translations: in the books of the First Temple period (after the division of the kingdom: 2Ki 18:26, 2Ki 18:28, 2Ch 32:18) and in the Second Temple period (Neh 13:24, 2Ch 32:18, Neh 13:24). We now understand the significance of this name.
Now, the Book of Esther is using the term Yehudi to describe someone from Yehudah. Hence, the term Yehudi refers to the person’s political identity, not to the national identity Israel, as this term is used in 2Ki 16:6, wherein Yehudim refers to citizens of the polity of Yehudah. Est 2:5 calls Mordechai “Yehudi”, thus implying Mordechai is from the tribe of Yehudah, but also a Binyamite, implying he is from the tribe of Benjamin. Hence, Mordechai is both a Yehudi (Jew) and a Binyamite. But are these not two different tribes of Israel?
In the citadel of Shushan there was a certain man, Yehudi whose name was Mordechai son of Ya’ir, son of Shim’i, son of Kish, a Binyamite. (Est 2:5)
In the First Temple period, Yehudah is the name of the entire southern Israelite polity known as the “southern kingdom”, which comprised of more than just one tribe but three: Yehudah, Binyamin, and Levi. In the Second Temple era, this polity is known first as “Judah”, the southern part of ancient Kana’an succeeding the Kingdom of Judah, and in the Roman rule over the land as “Judea”, a Roman province. Hence, the simple meaning of the Hebrew word יְהוּדִי Yehudi (anglicized incorrectly “Jew”) is one from the tribe of Yehudah, the main tribe that remained in the land after the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel. Est 8:9 also calls all Israelites in Persia “Yehudim”, as well as the new converts, as we read,
And in every province and in every city where the king’s command and decree came, the Yehudim had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land were becoming Yehudim, for the fear of the Yehudim had fallen upon them. (Est 8:17)
So, what terms should be used in the place of “Judah”, “Jews” and “Jewish”? It is the opinion of the present author that the original words, namely, Yehudah and Yehudite should be used instead of their anglicized versions. This is also true for personal names such as Yehoshua vs Joshua, Yeshua vs Jesus, etc., which addressed in other writings.
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