@2023-10-31: WHO ARE "THE JEWS" TODAY?

 WHO ARE "THE JEWS" TODAY?

Who are “the Jews”?

Not “the tribe of Judah”, but “the house of Judah”!

The difference is not trivial!

 The national “house of Israel” eventually suffered the Assyrian Captivity, as the national “house of Judah” eventually suffered the Babylonian Captivity. They will remain separate until after Jesus Christ returns. Many verses make this clear.

However, for sixty-plus years we have said and written that “the Jews”, or “the house of Judah”, were only of the tribe of Judah. This leads some to confusion, as the Bible in fact says otherwise.

As we will see, the national “house of Judah” was named after its leading tribe—Judah. Originally, as “house” normally implies descent from one ancestor, “the house of Judah” was one and the same as “the tribe of Judah”. But it did not remain so, again as we will see.

So, who eventually became “the house of Judah”, or “the Jews”? And who eventually became “the house of Israel”? 

Exo 16:31 - “The house of Israel” originally meant all 12 tribes (plus Levi). It was so-called because all its members descended from Israel (Jacob).

Rut 4:11 – Rachel and Leah “built the house of Israel” (others descended from their handmaidens, but also were part of “the house of Israel”).

Lev 10:6; cf. Psa 115:9-10 - Aaron and his sons (the priests) later were excluded formally from “(the house of) Israel”.

Psa 135:19-20 – Here the houses of Israel, Aaron, and Levi, and the “God-fearers” (Gentile converts, as Acts 13:16-17, 43 affirms), are distinguished from each other. 

1Sa 18:16; 2Sa 5:5; 21:2; 24:1ff; 1Ch 9:1ff; 2Ch 27:7; 30:1, 6; 35:27; 36:8; Jer 30:3; Eze 9:9 – “Israel and Judah” has somewhat different contextual meanings, depending on the times of the historical references. The phrase refers either to the tribe of Judah plus the rest of the tribes, or else to the national houses of Israel and Judah.

So, who was “the house of Judah” at different times? 

2Sa 2:4, 7, 10-11 - “The house of Judah” originally was “the men of (the tribe of) Judah”.

2Sam 12:8 – “The house of Israel and of Judah” were distinguished already in David’s time, with “the house of Judah” being the tribe of Judah only.

2Sa 19:20 – Benjamin in David’s time was part of “the house of Joseph”, as Joseph informally led all the tribes save Judah.

1Ki 12:21-23; 2Ch 11:1 – Then, Judah and Benjamin originally formed the national “house of Judah” in Rehoboam’s time, and it nearly fought the national “house of Israel” (the other ten tribes excluding Levi).

2Ch 11:13-17 - Judah, Benjamin, Levi (save those Levites associated with Dan and its idolatry), and members of all the other tribes then formed the national “house of Judah”. (Nearly continuous warfare existed between the two national houses after that.)

2Ki 16:6 – “The Jews” originally referred to the national “house of Judah”, which at the time was at war with the national “house of Israel”.

2Ch 15:9 – Many more from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon joined Judah and Benjamin (under King Asa) in “the house of Judah”.

2Ch 30:11, 18, 25 - Some survivors from Asher, Manasseh, Zebulun, and Issachar humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem (and to King Hezekiah), for Passover. Some resident aliens from (the national house of) Israel dwelt in Judah at that time. 

Ezr 6:17 - 12 male goats were taken as sin offerings for the 12 tribes of all Israel (implying that members of all 12 tribes were present).

Neh 11:20, etc. – “Israel, the priests, and the Levites” were those who returned from the Babylonian Captivity.

2Ch 9:3 – After the Babylonian Captivity, members of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh dwelt in Jerusalem. 

Luk 2:36 - Anna the prophetess (by implication, a Jew) was of the tribe of Asher.

Act 26:7: “Our twelve tribes (Paul speaks of Jews to a Jew) worship (God)”.

Phi 3:5 - Paul (a Jew) was of the tribe of Benjamin. 

So, originally “the house of Judah” and “the tribe of Judah” were one and the same. But when the national “house of Israel” seceded from Rehoboam, the national “house of Judah” consisted of Judah and Benjamin, and afterward of Levi [save for the descendants of Moses (not “Manasseh”: the Hebrew text visibly has been altered) associated with Dan: Jdg 18:30], plus many people from all the other tribes. The national “house of Judah” was then named (quite naturally) after its leading tribe—Judah—but Judah was far from alone in being part of that “nation”. That “nation” later was called “the Jews” and has been so ever since.

What then of “the house of Israel”? Originally, the term meant all the tribes. The Aaronic priests, and then the Levites, were distinguished formally later.

As early as David’s time, “Judah” and “Israel” were distinguished, but even then, “the house of Judah” and “the tribe of Judah” were one and the same.

Let me put this matter another way. When the two national “houses” became separate in Rehoboam’s time, the tribe with the “scepter” (Judah) led “the house of Judah”, while the “birthright” tribe (Joseph) led “the house of Israel”. Members of all the tribes were part of both national “houses”, which can lead to confusion on the part of the reader. Even more confusing, in both Testaments “the house of Israel” sometimes clearly refers to the Jews, and only to the Jews, because they are descendants of all the tribes of Israel (Jacob). This is one of the things that allows the Jews and Jerusalem of Ezekiel’s time to be taken as a type of “all the house of Israel” (i.e., all the end-time descendants of Israel or Jacob) as well as of the end-time national “house of Israel”. 

John Wheeler (יוחנן רכב)