Another fact
scripture gives us about Israel is that their name or nationality was never JEW
ISRAELI, OR SEMITE.
Scholars and "bible
experts" say the name Jew was only applied to the tribe of Judah (Yahudah
in the Hebrew). So, Moses could not have been a Jew because he was from the
tribe of Levi making him a Levite (NUM 26:59). Those that were from the tribe
of Yahudah, were known as Yahudites in Hebrew or Judahites in English, not
Jews, and Yahudites only made up 1/12th of the nation of Israel.
The word/name
"JEW" is not a Hebrew word, it's English. There is no letter
"J" or "J" equivalent in the Hebrew language. As a matter
of fact, the letter "J" is one of the last letters to be added to
the English alphabet. It was created in the 1600's in France, so there was not
a letter "J" in existence during biblical times. In English, Jew
means, those who practice a religion called Judaism. Since the ancient Hebrews
didn't practice a religion called Judaism, the name Jew could not refer to the
biblical children of Israel or their modern day descendants.
The word
"ISRAELI" is not mentioned in scripture. Israeli only refers to a
citizen or resident living in the modern "STATE" of Israel. Israeli
does not mean a descendant of Jacob, (Yaaqob in Hebrew) who's name was changed
to Israel (Genesis 32:28). An Israeli and an Israelite are two different
things.
Neither can the word
"SEMITE" be found in the bible. The biblical Israelites were Hebrews
descendants from Shem, (Noah's son) through Abraham and through his son Isaac
and through Isaac's son Jacob (Yaaqob / Israel). Israel had 12 sons who were
all Hebrews (Deuteronomy 29:13). Neither Noah, Abraham, Isaac nor Jacob gave
birth to a son named Seme or Sem. This means that the Semites could not be
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, or Israel. So, it follows that they could not
be Israelites, according to scripture.
There was never a tribe
among the children of Israel called Sem or Semite. There were only twelve
tribes of Israel:
REUBEN, SIMEON, LEVI,
YAHUDAH, ZEBULON, ISSCAHAR, DAN, GAD, ASHER, NAPHTALI, JOSEPH, and BENJAMIN
(Genesis 49:).
All twelve tribes were
Hebrew Israelites, Hebrews because they were descendants of Abraham and Isaac,
and Israelites because they also descended from Jacob who's name was change to
Israel (Genesis 32:28).
The Hebrews could be called
Children of Shem to designate that they are descendants from Noah's son Shem,
but not Semite, that not a proper term in reference to the Israelites.
Semite is of relative
recent origin. It comes from the 18th century (along with the word Jew). One
of its uses was to designate those who spoke a certain language, such as
Syrian, Hebrew, and Arabic. The name was given an extra meaning later, to
include all those people who were "SUPPOSED" to be descendants of
Noah's son Shem (not Sem). Over the years, Semite has come to mean Jew and Jew
only. So, in modern day terminology Semite is synonymous with Jew or
Jews.
If the Jews are Semites, which they claim to be, this means they are not
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, which means they are not
Israelites. Semite is a word made up by deceived men with little understanding
of The Bible and should never be used in reference to the biblical Hebrew
Israelites. It will only cause further confusion, to an already confused
world, and since YHWH never refers to Israel as: JEWS, ISRAELI OR SEMITE, we
shouldn't either.
ADDENDUM THE FOLLOWING
SECTION IS MY RESPONSE FROM AN ONLINE MESSAGE BOARD POSTED BY A BLACK JEW WHO
PRACTICES JUDAISM. HE CLAIMED, THE USE OF THE MONIKER "HEBREW
ISRAELITE" IS WRONG. IN MY RESPONSE, I MENTIONED A FEW THINGS THAT I
NEGLECTED TO MENTION IN MY FIRST WRITING OF THIS SECTION, I EXPLAIN FULLY WHY
WE ARE CALLED HEBREW ISRAELITES.
WHY WE USE HEBREW
ISRAELITE
The word Hebrew is an
English word translated from the word Ibryi. Hebrew is the English equivalent
to the word Ibryi. In the Tanakh, (Old Testament) when Ibriy is mentioned,
it's in reference to those who are descendants of Abraham and Isaac. Whenever
Hebrew is mentioned in the English translations, it's also in reference to
those who are descendants of Abraham and Isaac. Both words carry the same
meaning, but are spelled differently because of the different languages they
are spoken in.
Hebrews in the United
States are an English speaking people. The mass majority of us grew up
speaking English, it's our first language. Our first contact with scripture
was with the English translation. So, since we are an English speaking people,
we use the English words Hebrew and Israelite, which means the same as Ibryi
and Ysrayl.
Many Hebrew Israelites have
an understanding of the Hebrew language, and when those who know the language
are among each other they use Hebrew. But, when the objective is to reach an
English speaking people who are not familiar with the Hebrew language, why
attempt to speak to them in a language they won't understand? English speaking
people who are familiar with the bible know of the words Hebrews and
Israelites, many of them don't know about Ibriy or Ysrayl.
Since many Israelites are
searching for truth, we endeavor to learn the language of our forefathers
. The suffix
"ITE" in the name Israelite was added later. Its use in the English
translations was to identify descendants of a certain person, tribe or nation,
such as the Hittites, Canaanite, Edomites etc. In the English translations,
whenever Israelite(s) or Israel is mentioned it's in reference to those who
were descendants of Jacob, (Yaaqob) whose name was changed to Israel, (Ysrayl)
which was also the name of the Hebrews land.
In the Tanakh (old
testament), whenever Ysrayl is mentioned, it's in reference to those who are
descendants of Jacob, or their land. So both words carry the same meaning, but
they are spelled differently because of the different languages. This is
called translation, where a word is given an equivalent meaning in another
language. The spelling and pronunciation of the word changes, but not it's
meaning.
For instance, the ancient
Egyptians didn't call their land Egypt, they called it Kemet /Khemet / KMT.
The Hebrews called it Mizraim and Pathros, the Greeks called it Aegyptios, and
in English it's called Egypt. All These names refer to the same African
country, which means they all have the same meaning but are spelled and
pronounced according to the language they are spoken in. This is the same with
Hebrew and Israelite. Both are spoken and spelled differently than Ibriy and
Ysrayl but they carry the same meaning.
If we were a German
speaking people, we would say Ibriy or Ysrayl (Hebrew Israelites) according to
it's translations in German, If we spoke any other language we would say Ibriy
and Yisrael according to the translations in that language. The scripture
tells us that Israel was to be scattered among all nations, among all people,
so I'm sure they didn't continue to speak in their native tongue.
Yah has scattered his
people among all nations and he speaks to them according to each nation's
language. This is why the scriptures are translated into just about every
language on Earth. Hebrew and Israelite don't run concurrently in scripture.
But we are not corrupting those words by using them concurrently. The ancient
nation of Israel descended from Abraham (a Hebrew) thus, we use Hebrew (which
is the English equivalent of Ibriy )to denote a descent from Abraham and
Isaac. Israel is also a descendant of Jacob (a Hebrew) who's name was changed
to Israel / Ysrayl, (Genesis 32:28) thus we use Israelite, which is one of the
English equivalents of Ysrayl to denote a descent from Jacob.
As stated earlier, Jew,
Israeli, and Semite are not used in scripture. Israel was not given a religion
called Judaism.
Let me make my point clear
about these words also.
First, the word Jew is
supposed to be the English translation of the word Yahudah and Yahudi. But
it's not. In scripture, Yahudi refers to those of the tribe of Yahudah or from
the domain of Yahudah. The name Yahudah took on another meaning after the
splitting of the Israelite Kingdom into two halves, a northern half and a
Southern Half. Those in the south were called Yahudah (named after the tribe
of Yahudah) and the northern tribes kept the name Israel.
If the name Jew is a
translation of Yahudah or Yahudi, it should still have the same meaning. But
it doesn't, Jew does not refer to those of the tribe of Yahudah or those
living in Yahudah (which after 70 C.E. didn't exist as a country). Jew, means
those who practice a religion called Judaism, and in it's most corrupt form it
somehow takes on the same meaning as Hebrew, and thus making all tribes of
Israel Jewish. This is at it's least, incorrect because Jew is not a
translation of the word Hebrew or Israel. A more proper English translation of
Yahudah, Yahudi, would be Judah and Judahites or Judean. In English these words
carry the same meaning as Yahudah, Yahudi.
Jew is a corrupt nickname
more than it is a translation of Yahudah, or Yahudi.
Israeli is not a
translation of Ysrayl. Israeli refers to a citizen of the modern state of
Israel, it does not mean a descendant of Jacob, as Ysrayl, Israel and
Israelite does. HAIBRI (The guy this was directed to) said Israeli is closer
to the pronunciation of Ysrayl than Israelite is. Understand this, when a word
is translated, the pronunciation of the word will sometimes change drastically
from one language to the next, but carries the same meaning nonetheless. So,
it matters not that Israeli is closer to the pronunciation of Ysrayl. What
matters is the meaning of the two, Israeli means one thing and Ysrayl means
another. So the two have no relation to one another.
That's why Israelite and
Israel is used as the translation of Ysrayl in the English version not
Israeli.
Second, Semite, is supposed
to refer to all those who are descendants of Noah's son Shem, not Sem, which
is suppose to include a wide range of people from Arabs to Ashkenazi Jews. The
word Semite is not even in the English translations of The Bible, and it
is SUPPOSED to be the English translations of Shem. The "ITE" added
to Sem denotes descent from, so the Semites are descendants of Sem. Who is
Sem? I haven't the slightest idea. The name Shem is mentioned in the English
translations. It refers to Noah's son but it's never given the suffix
"ITE," because the majority of the time when Shem is mentioned, it's
referring to the actual person, Noah's son, Shem. To denote descent from him,
scripture uses "the sons of Shem" or "the children of
Shem" but never Semite or even Shemite.
Third, Judaism, is supposed
to be a word that refers to Torah (law /instruction) or worship. In other
words Judaism is supposed to refer to the laws and commandments Moses received
from the Father and gave to the Israelites. Judaism is a English word, but
it's not in the English translations of scripture. That's because Judaism is a
religion of the people called Jews. The Father never gave Israel a religion,
let alone one called Judaism. He gave Israel laws, statutes, judgments and
commandments and he made a covenant with them to obey Him. If they didn't they
would suffer the consequences which are the curses found in Leviticus 26 and
Deuteronomy 28. (Which will be discussed farther in the next 2 sections)
Judaism is not what the
Israelites agreed to keep. This religion comes in many forms, there's Hasidic
Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Conservative and Reformed Judaism. All forms of
Judaism use the Talmud along with the Torah. The Talmud is held in higher
authority than The Torah (first five books of the bible) in Orthodox Judaism.
Nowhere does scripture instruct us to use the Talmud along with The Law, The
Talmud for those who practice Judaism, is like an extension of the law, which
we are told not to add or take away from. (Deuteronomy 4:2). Judaism is not in
The Bible. It is a man made religion.
These are the facts:
1. The word Jew does not
originate from the Hebrew words Yahudah or Yahudi. If it doesn't have the same
meaning as Yahudah, it couldn't possibly be translated from the same. The
meaning of Jew means those who practice Judaism or of the Jewish culture. It
does not mean those who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which
would be translated as Hebrew (Ibriy), Israel (Ysrayl) and Israelite.
2. Israeli is not a
translation of Ysrayl. An Israeli is a citizen of the modern state of Israel.
It doesn't mean a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Again that would be
translated, Hebrew (Ibriy), Israel (Ysrayl) and Israelite (Ysrayl).
3. Semite does not mean
a descendant of Shem. Semite means a descendant of Sem, If Sem is a
translation of another word, please let me know.
4. Judaism is not what
The Father gave to the children of Israel. He gave them laws and commandments
which were to instruct them in how to live holy, not a religion which is what
Judaism is. I will admit, I am not as learned as I should be or as I will
become in the Hebrew language, so if there is a translation found in scripture
for Judaism, Semite, Israeli and Jew, please let me know it. This is why we
are called Hebrews and Israelites or Hebrew Israelites which refer to the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which according to scripture and
history we are.
He spoke to us in English,
the language we are most familiar with. He used the English translation Hebrew
which is the same as Ibriy. When we are rightfully returned back to him and
become the people we are supposed to be, then maybe we'll use Ibriy. The fact
remains, he never used use Jew in English or in the old testament. Their
nationality was Ibryi & Ysrayl (Ibryi Ysrayl) or Hebrew Israelite (Hebrews
and Israelites) which are all the same thing.
NOTE: BECAUSE JEW IS
MENTION IN THE KJV, DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT A MISPRINT. MANY OF THE NEWER BIBLES
HAVE CORRECTED THAT MISTAKE. JEW IS NOT IN THE ORIGINAL 1611 KJV IT WAS ADDED
LATER.
PRINTER
VERSIONS
