Jacob's Ladder; Engraving, 1720

In the over 4000 years of their existence, Jews have been identified as Hebrews, Children of Israel, Israelites, Judahites, Judeans and Palestinians in the branches of their family tree.

Those who live in the land of Israel (Eretz Israel) as a nation for the second time are known both as 'Jews' and 'Israelis'. It is from the term 'Judean' or 'Judahite' that the English equivalent 'Jew' evolved. The original Jews were known as 'Hebrews'.

The Hebrews

The founder of Judaism was Abraham of Ur, widely renowned for his charisma, kindness, integrity and wisdom. The Book of Genesis describes how by entering into a covenant with God, he introduced the Jewish faith into the world c1900 BCE.

Significantly, prior to the covenant, Abraham's name was divinely changed from 'Abram' to 'Abraham'. The components, ab (Heb.: father) and raham (Arabic: multitude), consolidate the terms of the treaty, 'You will be the father of a multitude of nations' (Genesis 17:4). In Judaism, Abraham is honoured with the title 'Patriarch', while his sons Isaac and Jacob are known as the Second and Third Patriarchs.

Origin of the term 'Hebrew'

The word 'Hebrew' (Ivri) occurs approximately 30 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Its true origin is still to be determined, and there are three contexts which lend themselves to consideration.

1. The name of 'Eber', grandson of Noah Despite the obvious connection, it is noted that his descendants are called 'Sons of Eber' but never 'Hebrews'. This description is reserved only for the descendants of Abraham through the lineage of Isaac and Jacob and not through that of Ishmael or Esau.
2. Abraham ha Ivri In his early life, Abraham is referred to as 'Abraham ha Ivri'. In the biblical story, 'ha Ivri' pertains to 'one who came from the other side' of the river Euphrates (Genesis 14:13). Abraham certainly appears to have been a frequent traveller, and the geographic connotation is also reflected in the Book of Joshua, In olden times your forefathers – Terah, father of Abraham and father of Nahor - lived beyond the Euphrates (Joshua 24:2).
3. The 'Apiru' (or 'Habiru') From the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE through to the 12th century BCE, cuneiform tablets from Sumer, Babylon, Upper Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Syrian–Canaanite region, as well as hieroglyphic texts from Egypt, register the presence of groups of people known as the Habiru. They were recognised as aggressive, rootless aliens deprived of legal rights and available for hire as mercenaries or as slaves – a socially disruptive element. They disappeared from history by the end of the 2nd millennium. Were the Hebrews part of the Habiru?
   Used correctly, the term 'Apiru' is an adjective. The Apiru were a social entity, not an ethnic group like the Hebrews and practised nothing remotely like the Israelite tribal system. Extra-biblical sources of the 2nd millennium BCE do not identify the Apiru with the people Israel and vice versa.

The Israelites

Through the generations of Isaac and Jacob, Abraham's descendants were known as 'Hebrews' until Jacob's life took a dramatic turn. Apprehensive and disturbed on the eve of the reunion with his brother Esau after a bitter separation 20 years earlier, Jacob endures a turbulent and enigmatic experience. He is forced to defend himself in a nightlong wrestling match with an unknown assailant who would later be identified as a heavenly messenger.

As the new day dawns, triumphantly, albeit slightly scathed, Jacob emerges the victor. His reward is a title of honour, Divinely conferred: he is renamed 'Israel'. Isra derives from the Hebrew sarita, meaning 'striven', from the root sarah. El is Hebrew for 'God'.

In the Bible Jacob's descendants are known as 'Israelites' and later as 'children of Israel'. Many centuries later, when the people Israel came to be known as 'Jews', the term 'Israelite' was retained in the context of tribal reference, describing those who were neither descendants of the priestly tribe (Cohanim) nor Levites (from the tribe of Levi). The Israelites comprised by far the largest group of Jewish people.

Growth of the Family Tree

Before the Common Era

c1900	Abraham's son is Isaac and his grandson, Jacob. Jacob's sons become heads of tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher and Benjamin. Joseph is represented by his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Joseph is abducted to Egypt. Jacob and all his brethren, 70 in number, migrate to Egypt to reunite with Joseph and begin the dynasty of the Israelites in Egypt. This epoch is believed to have taken place during the reign of the Hyksos.
1542	Hyksos are overthrown and the rule of the Egyptian Pharoahs reinstated.
1290	Pharoah Rameses II, a great builder, begins his rule. He is believed to be the Pharoah who imposed slavery upon the Israelites as related in the Book of Exodus. Moses is born, and Israelite bondage increases.
c1230	The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt takes place under the leadership of the prophet Moses, probably in the reign of Mernephtah II. The Bible refers to them as the 'children of Israel'. The Israelites become a nation. Moses receives the Torah at Mount Sinai, and under Divine instruction the people build the Tabernacle, their first House of Worship.
c1190	After 40 years, Israelites arrive in Canaan led by Joshua. The land is divided among the Tribes with rule by Judges.
1020	Saul becomes first King of Israel, succeeded by David and Solomon, thus establishing monarchial rule.
928	After Solomon's death the kingdom is divided with Rehoboam succeeding his father Solomon to rule the South, known as the Kingdom of Judah, while General Jeroboam is appointed by the Northern tribes to govern the North, known as Israel.

The Land of Judah

In 721 BCE, Assyria, the new might in the East, moves down and conquers the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which comprised all the tribes except Judah and Benjamin from the South. Ten tribes are dispersed and absorbed, later to be known as The Ten Lost Tribes. Now only the Southern Kingdom of Judah remains. Its inhabitants were known as 'Judah-ites', living in the land of Judah, named originally for the leader of the tribe of Judah, fourth son of the patriarch Jacob.

597	Babylon becomes the ruling power. Judah surrenders to the army of Nebuchadnezzar. The first Exile to Babylon takes place. Exiles include King Jehoiakim, many leading citizens and a young priest, Ezekiel.
586	The Judahites rebel, Jerusalem is captured, Solomon's Temple is burned, and the Ark of the Covenant, with the two stone tablets, is lost, never to be seen since that time.
539	King Cyrus of Persia defeats Babylon, and Judah comes under Persian rule.
537	An edict of King Cyrus miraculously permits the exiles to return to their home and rebuild the Temple.

Following the Babylonian Exile, 'Judah' became the official name of the remaining settlement. It was known as Yehud in Aramaic, the language spoken by the Babylonians and brought back by the returning exiles. The word Yehud may be found in the Book of Esther (5th century BCE), where the people were referred to as Yehudim and the translation uses the word 'Jews', literally 'Judah-ites' (Esther 2:5-3:10). The earliest reference occurs in the Book of Jeremiah 34:9, when King Zedekiah makes a covenant with his people regarding the banning of Hebrew slaves: . . .none shall make bondmen of them, even of a Jew his brother.

The term 'Jew' in the last half of the 1st millennium BCE was used largely outside the land of Israel by both Jews and non-Jews and in languages other than Hebrew.
Examples are:

• English:       Jew - through the Latin, Judaeus, Judaea, Judeans
• Greek:        Iouda, Ioudaia, Ioudaios
• Old French: Juiu
• German:      Juden

In early English, the word for 'Jew' can be found in a variety of forms - Gyu, Giu, Iuu, Iuw - which developed into 'Jew'.

Although the name Yehudi became a synonym for both 'Hebrew' and 'Israelite', the term 'Israel' continued to denote the Jewish people (Book of Ezra, Dead Sea Scrolls, Mishnah, Bar Cochba coins).

333	Alexander of Macedonia conquers Syria and Greece.
332	With Alexander's conquest of Judah, the foundation is laid for the growth of Hellenism, the Greek way of life. The Hellenistic period witnesses the continuation of the State of 'Yahud', dating from the days of the Persian rule.
332–200	The Ptolemies ruled and thereafter the Seleucids.
85	Roman rule commences outside Judah, and the Roman Empire rose to power.
63	The Roman General Pompeii marches into Jerusalem, and the Jewish Kingdom is conquered by the Romans.

As a Roman province, the country became known as 'Judea', the Latin form of 'Judah'. However, this name, already in some usage during the Hellenistic rule, actually precedes the Roman period. Eventually this territorial name disappeared from both literature and the Aramaic language to be replaced by Eretz Israel (land or country of Israel), but the Judahites (Jews) continued to retain this nomenclature.

In the Common Era

c4	Jesus of Nazareth is born.
6	Rome sends its first procurator to govern directly.
132–135	The final revolt against the Romans is led by General Bar Cochba with an ultimate Roman victory against the rebels.

After the crushing defeat of Bar Cochba, Emperor Hadrian of Rome revived the name which had been bestowed by the Greeks to the seacoast – 'Philistia' (Eng.: Palestine), the area which had been occupied by the Philistines, c1100 BCE. 'Palaestina' (Latin) was now decreed by Hadrian to denote the whole country, probably in an attempt to eradicate the name 'Judea' and its Jewish connotations.

In the Gospels, Pontius Pilate and his soldiers referred to Jesus as 'King of the Jews' (Mark 15:32, 2, 9, 18, 26), because the villain of the gospel narrative, Judas Iscariot, was linked to the devil (Luke 22:3). The word 'Jew', as a result, acquired a pejorative meaning in popular usage for future generations. In time the noun came to denote an 'extortionate usurer, driver of hard bargains', a product of the sad circumstances in Jewish life during the medieval period.

The term Judaismes (Judaism) appears for the first time in the Book of Maccabees (1st century CE), the literature of the Greek speaking Jews of that period (II Maccabees 2:21, 8:1,14:38). The Hebrew equivalent Yahadut is found only occasionally in medieval literature. The name 'Palestine' remained in usage until 1947, when the General Assembly of the United Nations voted in favour of the Partition of Palestine, (subsequently rejected), followed by the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel. After almost 2000 years, Eretz Israel was once more restored as the historic homeland for the seeds of Abraham.

Bibliography

Book of Genesis: Jewish Publication Society Encyclopedia Judaica The Pentateuch – Chief Rabbi J.H. Hertz A History of the Jews – Solomon Grayzel Jewish Encyclopedia – Cecil Roth

Freda Kaufman is an activist in the Jewish community and a founding member of CCJ. She has had 68 articles published for magazines, journals and newspapers and is currently completing a book on the Jewish Festivals. Freda received a B'nai B'rith Menorah Award in 2003 for service to the community.