Understanding the Term “Jew”
Let’s take a closer look at the word “Jew” in the Bible. This word can be traced back to yehudi, which means “praise,” a fitting name for a people called to work closely with God. Originally, this term applied only to members of the tribe of Judah. Later, after the Jews lost their land, it became a general term applied to all Jews, regardless of tribal ancestry.
The first mention of the word yehudi is in Esther 2:5: “Now in the palace at Shushan there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.” In the Gospels, however, the term is used differently. There, “Jew” refers to the religious leaders, which will be relevant when we explore the topic of “Is the New Testament anti Semitic?”
Jews or Converts to Judaism
In Esther 8:17 we read more about this term, “And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because the fear of the Jews fell upon them.” This passage is intriguing. What does it mean that the people of the land became Jews because of the fear of the Jews? Does the Hebrew text support this translation? Did the Persians become Jewish in pedigree?
One thing is clear: One cannot simply become a Jew just as one cannot change their race. For example, in the New Testament, those who joined the community of Israel were called proselytes, and not Jews. So, what is the Hebrew word used here that led translators to interpret the verse this way? The Hebrew verb used in Esther 8:17 is mitehayadim, which only occurs here in the Bible and is not found in rabbinic writings. The verb is a denominative form of yehudi (Jew), meaning to become a Jew. How should we understand this in the context of Esther?
A quick look at David’s writing will help us. When the Psalmist says praise the Lord, the word is yadah from where the word Jew, yehudi comes from. In Esther, the word mitehayadim really means that these Persians became true worshipers of God.
According to the Soncino Press Commentary on Esther by A. Cohen, we read, “Since nowhere else, either in the Bible or in rabbinic Hebrew is this verb used to denote proselytization, it may be argued with some reason that a better translation is –took the part of the Jews”
The Name “Hebrew”
Another original name for the Jew which we encounter in Scripture is the term, Hebrew. Its first occurrence is found in Gen. 14:13, And there came one who had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt on the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram. We read in Gen. 39:17 about the Egyptians who referred to the Jews as Hebrews, And she spoke unto him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us came in unto me to mock me.” Two thousand years later, we read in Phil. 3:5 where Paul called himself a Hebrew, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee.
The Table of the Nations
Where do we find the origin of this word Hebrew? Let’s look at the Table of Nations in Gen. 10. Here we find a most remarkable historical document. This table includes the origin of the nations of the world. Each of us may trace our pedigree, our ancestry to one of the sons of Noah; Shem, Ham or Japheth. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you may find your origins here, right in the Bible.
Secular scholars have recognized the importance of this table and often cite it, because it is unparalleled in history as it gathers into one document all the three branches of humanity. This table is a list of names and genealogies which eventually narrows down to One Person, the central figure when it comes to its divine purpose. It leads to the human aspect of the Messiah Yeshua; this is the main purpose for the construction of this Table.
From Noah to Shem it leads to Eber, the father of the Hebrews, then to Abraham the father of the Jews. From there and over the following pages of Scripture’s narrative, we see the formation of Israel and how this line, through Judah leads to two other unparalleled documents, two other unique genealogies we find in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. These are the only ones in existence today that point to Yeshua as the descendant of Shem through Abraham and through David.
Japeth’s Sprea
d is Large
Let us now look at this Table in more detail. Genesis 10:1 reads, Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood. Here the three sons of Noah are named: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. It is in vs. 2 where we are given the genealogy of the sons of Japheth, then in vs. 6 those of Ham and then in vs. 21 those of Shem.
From Japheth’s line we have the Indo-Europeans (green area on the map). Each name may designate one or many countries together. We cannot go over each one, as that is an enormous work. But we can take note of a few of them. The first one mentioned is Gomer who is believed, by the rabbis, to be Germany. We read of Tubal and Meshech who are believed to the ancestors of Russia. Some even see in Meshech the origin of the name Moscow and in Tubal, Russia’s Asian capital, Tobolsk. Javan is the tribe of the Ionians from where the Greek people descend. Tarshish is where Jonah wanted to go, the furthest known point in the west, Spain. (ref. Edersheim, Casuto and the Jewish Encyclopedia).
What about the other nations in the west? For instance, the United States and Canada? Let’s take a closer look at vs. 5, the last verse of the account of Japheth. From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. Japeth’s name means enlarged. These Indo-Europeans gave way to an extensive family of languages as well, including English, Spanish, German, Latin, Greek, Russian, Albanian, Armenian, Persian, Hindi, and others. These people spread out to the Americas, and to Australia and further. In fact, more than half the world’s population speaks one or more of these languages either as a mother tongue or as a business language. Noah’s prophecy is fulfilled; Japheth’s spread is large.
The Descendants of Ham
Next, we have the sons of Ham beginning in Vs.6, These nations cover much of the Middle East and south to Africa. Mizraim is Egypt and Canaan, the first settlers in the land of Israel, include Lebanon and much of Syria. Cush is southern Egypt, including Ethiopia and other countries like Sudan, Somalia, and others. Put brings us north and designates Libya and perhaps Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and others. The most prominent language is Arabic as you can see these nations gathered because they speak this same language. Most of the Arab countries come from Ham, not Shem.
There is one important contribution this table is making; the majority of the nations mentioned here will play a role in the end times. The Table of the Nations identifies these nations for us. It is like an index to the names of the nations. This table serves as a reference point and reveals who is who in today’s world scene. For example, see Genesis 10:2-4. From Japheth we read of Gomer, Tubal, Meshech, Togarmah, Tarshish and Magog. These names are all present in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 which speaks of an invasion that will take place before the coming of the Messiah. In Isaiah 66 we read of Javan, along with Tubal, being there in the end times. Both Ezekiel and Daniel identify them with the Greek people.
Of the sons of Ham in Vs.6, we read of Mizraim, who is Egypt, a country mentioned 559 times in the Bible, always related to Israel and at the end, with the final wars of the end times. We also read of Canaan in Genesis 10:19 as those who went to be established in Sidon and Gaza among other places. Sidon and Gaza are cities that exist today at the very same place as they did then. Genealogies are there to tell us that God is sovereign, He knows all these nations, and He tells us their beginning and their end.
Shem’s Lineage and the Messianic Promise
This lineage leads us to Yeshua. It begins in Genesis 10:21, And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. Two main individuals in the history of Israel are mentioned here. The first is Shem, where we get our word Semite or anti-Semite. This latter word was coined in 1879 by a German, Wilhelm Marr to label the growing anti-Jewish campaigns in Europe at that time. The other individual is Eber, where we get our word Hebrew. Both words in the Hebrew are spelled the same way. The word Eber has two main meanings, and both describe so well the history of his descendants: Israel. Eber describes something or someone who is beyond, or on the other side, away from the mass, like Israel has always been. It also means to add, to increase, which is the future existance for Israel because God promised Abraham I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore (Gen. 22:17).
As we follow the genealogy of Shem, the one leading to Abraham, it stops in Vs.25. with Peleg. To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. From Shem and then from Joktan we have the Arab speaking tribes. Most Arabs come from Ham, however a few do come through Shem. These tribes were dwelling in the east as vs.30 tells us. This area covers part of South Arabia, Yemen and Somalia and includes eastern Arabia with Saudi Arabia. But verse 25 says that in Peleg’s days, the earth was divided. How was the earth divided?
The first obvious separation is the genealogy of Shem which now splits itself up from the other nations and concentrates on the one genealogy leading to the Messiah. This genealogy continues in Genesis 11 and 12 and follows its course until the Gospels.
The Tower of Babel
However, Shem’s genealogy gets interrupted after Genesis 10:31 by the story of the Tower of Babel in chapter 11. Then in Genesis 11:10 we get back to the genealogy of Shem. Why this interruption? This is significant, since Babel plays a major role in the history of Israel. Babel is really Babylon. Let’s remember that in the Bible, in the original texts, in Hebrew and Greek, it never reads Babylon but always Babel. This story is strategically placed, as Babel or Babylon plays a major role of opposition in the history of Israel. In fact, the reestablishment of Israel in the millennium depends on Babylon’s destruction. So, in many ways Babel is still standing. We see that because the Times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24) marked the time of the current Diaspora when in 586BC the Babylonians invaded Israel. Many of the prophets spoke of the destruction of Babylon that would come in the Messianic Age, and Revelation 17-18 shows the destruction, the final one, of Babylon which ushers in the Second Coming of our Lord and the establishment of the Messianic Age…finally.
Next Time: The Call of Abram