Who is a “Jew”?

In the biblical languages, the terms for “Jew” means Judahite, or “from Judah”, in the same sense that an Israelite is “from Israel”, a Benjaminite is “from Benjamin”, a Bethlehemite is “from Bethlehem”, and a Moabite is “from Moab”.

After King Solomon died, the United Kingdom of Israel became divided into two separate kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom called “Israel” and the Southern Kingdom called “Judah”. Even after the Kingdom of Judah was conquered, the land that it occupied was still called “Judah”. Eventually, the whole land of Israel came to be called “Judah”. The name of land also appears in different forms like “Jehud”, “Jehudah”, “Judaea”, or “Judea”.

Because of this, the Israelite peoples were called “Judahites/Jews” even if they did not come from the Tribe of Judah. Their descendants were also called “Judahites/Jews” even if they were born outside of the land of Israel. There are two notable examples of this in the Bible:

• Mordecai was from the Tribe of Benjamin, yet he was still called a “Judahite/Jew” because his ancestors were from the land of Israel (Esther 2:5).
• Likewise, the Apostle Paul was from the Tribe of Benjamin (Rom. 11:1; Phil. 3:5), yet he called himself a “Judahite/Jew” because his ancestors were from the land of Israel (Acts 21:39; 22:3).

Therefore, in the Bible, the term “Jew” refers primarily to a person who is descended from the Israelite people.