Jews in bible
Executive summary
The Bible presents "Jews" variably as a lineage, a religious community, and a political people: the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), later commonly called Yehudi/Jew in reference to Judah and the exilic/return communities [1] [2]. New Testament usage of the term is complex and contested—sometimes ethnic, sometimes religious or polemical—which has shaped centuries of interpretation and misuse [3] [4].
1. Origins: family, tribe, nation — the biblical roots of "Jew"
Biblical narrative traces the Jewish people to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose descendants became the tribes of Israel; "Jew" evolved from Yehuda (Judah) and by post-exilic literature and later usage came to denote the whole people rather than only a single tribe [1] [2].
2. Terminology: Israelite, Hebrew, Jew — overlapping identities
The Bible uses several overlapping names—Hebrews, Israelites, and later Jews—with "Israel" long the common ethnonym while "Jew" (Yehudi) increasingly identified the community associated with the kingdom and province of Judah and its laws after exile [2] [1].
3. Covenant, law, and distinctiveness in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Scriptures present Israel as chosen to receive revelation, law, and covenantal promises—a role that defines their distinct religious obligations and identity in contrast to the surrounding nations [5] [1]. That distinctiveness shows up in biblical prescriptions, narratives of exile and return, and prophetic assurances that the people remain central to God's purposes [6] [7].
4. Jews and Gentiles: biblical boundary and theological bridge
The Bible frames "gentiles" as those outside Israel's covenant obligations, often polytheistic in the biblical imagination, while later biblical writers and New Testament authors negotiate inclusion—Paulic texts speak of spiritual redefinition and unity in Christ even as older ethnic distinctions persist in the text [8] [9].
5. New Testament usage and the problem of interpretation
In the New Testament the Greek term Ioudaioi (Jews) appears with varying referents—ethnic, religious leaders, or opponents in intra-Jewish disputes—and scholars caution that some Johannine and other passages were later read in anti‑Jewish ways though their original contexts are debated [3] [4]. Modern readers must distinguish between intra-Jewish polemic, Roman culpability in Jesus' death, and later Christian theological moves such as supersessionism that contributed to antisemitic readings [4].
6. Prophecy, restoration, and modern receptions
Biblical prophecy about exile and restoration informs many religious and political readings of Jewish history; some modern faith communities see the regathering of Jews to the land as fulfillment of biblical promises, a perspective reflected in contemporary devotional and prophetic interpretations though not uncontested among scholars or theologically diverse readers [6] [10].
7. What to take away: multiplicity, continuity, and contested readings
The Bible portrays the Jewish people as an ancient, continuous peoplehood combining ethnicity, religion, and law, with the label "Jew" itself emergent and flexible across contexts; interpretation has produced both reverent affirmation of Jewish distinctiveness and harmful misreadings that fueled anti‑Jewish attitudes—issues that demand careful historical and textual attention [5] [4].