by Pastor Don Elmore
I looked on the website to find what the Jews themselves say in answer to the question: “Where Did The Jews Come From?” I found many which said the following:
“The Jews originate from the region of Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Originally, the Jewish people were called Israelites or sons of Israel, after the last Jewish Patriarch Jacob, who was also named Israel. The Israelites were composed of twelve tribes, of which the tribe of Judah was one. Although they were briefly unified in the 10th Century BC under the Kings David and Solomon, they eventually split into two kingdoms — one called Israel (with ten tribes) and one called Judah (with the remaining two tribes).
In a series of expulsions ending in 722 BCE, the tribes living in the Kingdom of Israel were expelled and SUBSEQUENTLY DISAPPEARED ONLY TWO TRIBES REMAINED Judah and Benjamin, alongside Jewish priest in the Kingdom of Judah. As Judah was the dominant tribe of the southern Kingdom (indeed, the kingdom was called Judah), the remaining Israelites became Judaites or Judaeans and eventually just Jews.”
As a second witness, we look at the definition of “What Does ‘Jew’ Mean” from The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, p. 397 — depending on the context, Yehudah variously means:
- Son of Jacob and Leah (named Judah)
- Tribe descended from Judah
- Nation of the southern kingdom under the dynasty of David, as distinguished from the northern kingdom of Ephraim or Israel
- Land of Judah.
Did you catch what they are saying? The term “Jew” or “Jews” in the Old Testament Scriptures never refers to the northern ten tribes of Israel, but only to Judah, the tribe of Judah, the southern house of Judah, or the land of Judah. Furthermore, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were never referred to as “Jews.”