Jews
“A Judahite, one belonging to the tribe or land of Judah”
Summary
The designation applied to descendants of the patriarch Judah, which after the Babylonian exile became the general name for all Israelites who retained the faith and practices of the Mosaic Law, regardless of tribal affiliation.
☩Origin of the Name
The term 'Jews' derives from 'Judah' (יְהוּדָה, Yehudah), the fourth son of Jacob, whose tribe became the dominant southern tribe after the division of the monarchy. Originally applied only to members of the tribe of Judah and the kingdom of Judah, the name expanded after the Babylonian captivity to encompass all descendants of Jacob who maintained the ancestral faith. When the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered and dispersed by Assyria (722 BC), Judah became the primary bearer of Israel's religious identity. After the exile, returnees included individuals from Judah, Benjamin, Levi, Ephraim, and Manasseh, yet all were called Jews because Judah predominated and the term had come to signify religious rather than merely tribal identity. The number twelve was retained in sin offerings as though all tribes were represented.
☩Post-Exilic Identity
Upon returning from Babylon (538 BC), the Jews were conscious of having inherited the religion of pre-exilic Israel. The experience of captivity taught them that God had justly punished their sins, as the prophets had warned, and that He had mercifully restored them according to Isaiah's prophecy. Determined to prove faithful to Yahweh, they pledged themselves to the Law which Ezra read solemnly in their hearing. This reading impressed upon them their unique position among the nations: the Creator had made a covenant with Abraham, watched over Israel with jealous care, and intended them to be 'a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.' They broke every tie with surrounding nationalities and formed a community wholly sacred to the Lord, concerned with preserving His faith and worship by strict compliance with all ritual prescriptions.
☩Judaism in the Greek Period
Under Persian, Greek, and eventually Roman rule, the Jews maintained their distinctive identity despite enormous pressures toward assimilation. The Babylonian Jews and those of the Western Diaspora (Alexandria, Antioch) remained devoted to the Law as read in their synagogues, which regulated their every act and kept them from idolatrous worship. Many leading Jewish writers became apologists, seeking to demonstrate the superiority of Jewish belief and morality to paganism. On Palestinian soil, worldly high priests promoted Greek culture, leading to the Maccabean crisis when Greek rulers attempted to abolish Jewish worship entirely. The fierce resistance of the Maccabees confirmed rather than destroyed Jewish attachment to the Law. Two major parties emerged: the Sadducees, the priestly aristocracy concerned with maintaining political stability, and the Pharisees, resolved to maintain Jewish separation from Gentile contamination through scrupulous observance of both written and oral Law.
☩Jews in the Gospels
In the Gospels, 'Jews' is employed in several senses: in opposition to Gentiles, proselytes, or Samaritans (as in references to Jewish customs, feasts, and practices), and especially in John's Gospel, of Jews as antagonistic to Jesus. The Gospel of John frequently uses 'the Jews' to denote the religious authorities and their followers who opposed Christ—blind followers of the Pharisees, scrupulous about traditions regarding washing and Sabbath observance, yet forsaking the commandments of God. 'For fear of the Jews' men hesitated to confess Christ openly. Yet Jesus Himself declared that 'salvation is of the Jews' (John 4:22), affirming the divine purpose worked through Israel culminating in the Messiah. Many individual Jews believed in Jesus, and the early church was entirely Jewish before Gentile converts were added.
Related Verses240 mentions
References
- 1.James Hastings (ed.), "Jews," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 2.Richard Watson, "Jews," in A Biblical and Theological Dictionary (John Mason, 1831).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Judea," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 4.Charles G. Herbermann et al. (ed.), "Jews (as a Religion)," in The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. VIII (Robert Appleton Company, 1907–1912).