In the Bible the word "Jew" means a resident of the land of Judaea regardless of their tribe, race or religion just as an Australian or Englishman may in fact be of Chinese, Eskimo or Negro ethnicity. Originally it referred to a member of the tribe of Judah, ie. a Judahite. According to the Greek Lexicon in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance:
Jew: Greek word #2453 Ioudaios (ee-oo-dah'-yos); from #2448 (in the sense of #2455 as a country); Judaean, i.e. belonging to Jehudah ["Judah" in Hebrew language of Old Testament]: KJV Jew (-ess), of Judaea.
Greek word #2448 Iouda (ee-oo-dah'); of Hebrew origin [Hebrew word #3063 or perhaps #3194]; Judah (i.e. Jehudah or Juttah), a part of (or place in) Palestine: KJV Judah.
Greek word #2455 Ioudas (ee-oo-das'); of Hebrew origin [Hebrew #3063]; Judas (i.e. Jehudah), the name of ten Israelites; also of the posterity of one of them and its region: KJV Juda (-h, -s); Jude.
Genesis 49:10 prophesied, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be."
Judah was the largest and the most influential of the twelve tribes with the governing right. Jacob prophesied it would maintain its pre-eminence until Shiloh, or Messiah, came. He would then take headship and receive the allegiance of true spiritual Israel as Isaiah 9:6-7 foretold. Matthew 1 and Luke 3 trace Jesus' human lineage to David, Judah, Jacob and Abraham. Jesus took the sceptre from Judah and those who receive Him as Messiah give Him their allegiance.
In the days of the New Testament few of the citizens of Judea were Judahites. Some belonged to one of the other tribes of Israel, and many were descendants of Esau (Edomites) who had assimilated and become co-religionists with the Judahites and remnants of the other tribes in the hybrid religion of Pharisaism, developed during the captivity in Babylon. Theres was the religion of the Talmud called Judaism today; it was condemned by Jesus since it is the antithesis of the Mosaic Law and the prophets and makes the Word of God of no effect (Matthew 15:1-9).
John 7:1, "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill Him."
According to Strong's Greek Lexicon, the English word "Jewry" in this verse was translated from the Greek word #2449 Ioudaia {ee-oo-dah'-yah} feminine for the land of Judea. Modern translations no longer use the word "Jewry" but the correct translation is "Judea," as in the New American Standard Bible: "And after these things Jesus was walking in Galilee; for He was unwilling to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him." The New International Version uses the same word. However, these translations continue to improperly use the word "Jews" in the same verse. A consistent translation would read: ". . . He was unwilling to walk in Judea, because the Judeans were seeking to kill Him."
Today most people think of Jews as what the Old Testament calls the Children of Israel, but that is not strictly correct. An Israelite was one who had descended from Jacob. In Jesus' time individual Jews may or may not have descended from Jacob, but they all recognized Pharisaism. A Jew is properly a Judean.
The point is that one who is called a "Jew" in the Bible is not necessarily a chosen man of God, a follower of Moses and the prophets, a member of the tribe of Judah, an Israelite, or even a Semite, but one who is a resident of Judea. A Judean. But a well-organized and well-financed international "pressure group" created a so-called "secondary meaning" for the new word "Jew" which is not the understanding intended by the Scriptures. Those who call themselves Jews today falsely imply they are somehow descendants of the tribes of Israel and chosen of God. Yet few of them are Jews as the Jews of New Testament times were defined.
The Etymology of the Word "Jew"In his classic Facts are Facts, Jewish historian, researcher and scholar Benjamin Freedom writes: "Jesus is first referred to as a so-called "Jew" in the revised 18th century editions in the English language of the 14th century first translations of the New Testament into English. The history of the origin of the word "Jew" in the English language leaves no doubt that the 18th century "Jew" is the 18th century contracted and corrupted English word for the 4th century Latin "Iudaeus" found in St. Jerome's Vulgate Edition. Of that there is no longer doubt."
The available original manuscripts from the 4th century to the 18th century accurately trace the origin and give the complete history of the word "Jew" in the English language. In these manuscripts are to be found all the many earlier English equivalents extending through the 14 centuries from the 4th to the 18th century. From the Latin "Iudaeus" to the English "Jew" these English forms included successively: "Gyu," "Giu," "Iu," "Iuu," "Iuw," "Ieuu," "Ieuy," "Iwe," "Iow," "Iewe," "Ieue," "Iue," "Ive," "Iew," and then finally the 18th century, "Jew." The many earlier English equivalents for "Jews" through the 14 centuries are "Giwis," "Giws," "Gyues," "Gywes," "Giwes," "Geus," "Iuys," "Iows," "Iouis," "Iews," and then also finally in the 18th century, "Jews."
There is not now nor was there ever an equivalent letter "j" in the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Nor is there any Hebrew letter that carries even an approximate sound of the consonant letter "j." Neither is there a letter 'j' in the Greek alphabet. "J," the tenth letter and seventh consonant in the English alphabet, is the latest addition to English script and has been inserted in the alphabet after "I," from which it was developed. Petrus Ramus (1515-1572) is credited as the first to distinguish I and J as representing separate sounds. Not until the middle of the 17th century did the use of "j" as an initial become universal in English books.
Contrary to what most people believe Shakespeare never saw the word "Jew" nor did he ever use the word "Jew" in any of his works, the common general belief to the contrary notwithstanding. In his "Merchant of Venice," V, III, I, 61, first published in about 1600, Shakespeare wrote as follows "what is the reason? I am a Iewe; hath not a Iewe eyes?"
In Samuel Johnson's English Dictionary of 1755 and 1756 words beginning with "I" and the new letter "J" are interspersed. There is no listing for the word "Jew" in either his 1755 or 1756 editions although "To Judaize" is defined as "To conform to the manner of the Jews" in both.
View ...In 1604, James VI, King of Scotland from his youth, became King James I of England, the first ruler of Britain and Ireland. Because of the growing animosity of James toward the Puritans, a leading Puritan spokesman, Dr. John Reynolds, proposed that a new English Bible be issued in honour of the new King. King James saw an opportunity to bring about a unity with the church service in Presbyterian Scotland and Episcopal England. Completed and published in 1611, the new Bible became known as the "Authorized Version" because its making was authorized by King James. It became the "Official Bible of England" and the only Bible of the English church. There have been many revisions of the King James Bible, 1615, 1629, 1638, 1762 and 1769.
The most important changes occurred in the eighteenth century. In 1762 Dr. Thomas Paris published an extensive revision at Cambridge. In 1769 Dr. Benjamin Blayney, after about four years of work, brought out another at Oxford. The latter work included much modernization of spelling, punctuation, and expression. These changes were due to printing errors and spelling changes in many words. This update represents the exact words in the 1611 Bible first edition, only the spelling is changed. This 1769 update is the basis of the King James Bible of our time and use; the Apocrypha was officially removed in 1885.
Any so-called "1611" King James Version you buy today at the local Christian Bookstore is absolutely NOT the 1611 - it is the 1769 revision, even though it admits that nowhere, and may even deceivingly say "1611" in the frontpiece to promote sales - it is just not true. The spellings have been revised and some words changed in almost every printing done since 1769, and fourteen entire books plus extra prefatory features have been removed from almost every printing done since 1885!
If you really love the King James Version, the way to own a true, unaltered, unedited, unabridged, original 1611 version as authorized by King James, is to spend US$125,000 to US$400,000 and purchase a genuine original, US$250 for an exact photographic facsimile edition, or US$1,995 for The Deluxe Full-Size Limited Edition 1611 King James Bible Facsimile.
Go there ...
The early editions of the Authorized Version contained the Apocrypha, not because the translators believed - they listed seven reasons why the apocryphal books were to be categorically rejected as part of the Inspired canon - but because the king asked that it be included. So, instead of scattering the Apocryphal books all through the Old Testament as in the Rheims-Douai and other Roman Catholic Bibles, they placed all of the Apocryphal books by themselves between the Testaments.
Jerome translated the Bible into Latin in the fourth century. John 19:19 refers to the inscription Pilate posted over Jesus' cross. In our modern English Bibles we read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," translated from the Greek "Ieous Nazoraios Basilius Ioudaios" but the Latin Vulgate reads, "Iesus Nazerenus Rex Iudaeorum." This is usually abbreviated INRI as on all statues and imagery because there was no J.
The Bible is not a Jewish Book(condensed from a series of articles by Bertrand L. Comparet)
Let us consider the claim that our Christian Bible and our religion came from the Jews, meaning Jews by religion. It is certain the New Testament did not from them, for the Jewish religion is condemned throughout the New Testament. But did we get the Old Testament from them? No! In the first place, no Jew by religion existed before the return from the Babylonian captivity, shortly after 536BC. The great historian Josephus writes, "Jew is the name they are called by from the day that they came up from Babylon."
Prior to their return from exile, the peoples of the southern kingdom (as were the people of the northen kingdom) were always referred to as either the Hebrews or The Children of Israel. Once the south had followed the north and ceased to become a nation by losing its territory to foreign occupiers, these terms were never used again and all twelve tribes literally became lost as an identifiable people or nations. Rabbi Stephen F. Wise, Chief Rabbi of the United States said, "The return from Babylon and the introduction of the Babylonian Talmud mark the end of Hebrewism and the beginning of Judaism."
The learned Rabbi was correct in distinguishing the true religion of the Old Testament as Hebrewism for it was the religion of the real Hebrews, who were not Jews at all. Judaism, the religion of the Jews, is based upon the Babylonian Talmud, which contains the supposed oral law. Known in Jesus' day as the Tradition of the Elders, it was never reduced to writing as part of the Bible until after the dispersion of 70 AD, when it became the written Talmud. The Tradition of the Elders conflicted greatly with the Old Testament, which is why Jesus told the Jews:
"Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit, in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the Commandments of men. For laying aside the commandments of God that ye may keep your own tradition, ye make the Word of God of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered" (Mark 7:6-13). "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29).
"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites! for ye pay tithes of mint, anise and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith" (Matthew 23:23).
This was the religion of the Jews. As the learned Rabbi Stephen F. Wise said, Judaism was distinguished from Hebrewism, the real religion of the Old Testament. Certainly Christianity took nothing from any Jewish religion for we have never taken any part of Christianity from the Talmud.
The only books of the Old Testament that were written after the return from Babylon are Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah (all of them historical, rather than doctrinal), Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. All the rest were written before the return for exile. In none of the post-exile books do the Jews or the peoples of Judea receive anything but rebuke for their wickedness, and their apostasy from the religion of the Old Testament.
Of the historical books, there are four that share many features in common, the books of Kings and Chronicles. The books are similar in style and cover much of the same ground. The Chronicles, which consist of edited versions of events recorded in other books, appear to have been written specifically for the purpose of disagreeing with the portrayal of history, doctrine and the interpretation of events in other narratives as it is full of contradictory facts and and recollections of events that are recorded elsewhere. Readers who disagree with this statement are advised to read the article The conflicting history of Kings and Chronicles, which documents these contradictions by comparing one scriptural verse with anorther.
The Jews also appear to have made major additions and alterations to the books of the Torah, which are the first five books of the Bible. The prophet Jeremiah testified that the Levites were forging the laws of God (Jeremiah 8: 8). There is abundant evidence in other books to support the testimony of the prophet Jeremiah, who also said that the laws concerning burnt offering and sacrifice were not given by God to Moses.
Jeremiah 7:21: "Thus says The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh. For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward."
This may explain why King David never followed the rules relating to sacrifices in the Torah; they weren't in the Torah of the Hebrews - the Law that David would have followed - but were added by the Jews centuries after David had died. This all casts a shadow of doubt over the accuracy and autheticity of just about everything in the present-day Torah, and in particular that which pertains to the Levitical Law.
For a more detailed study, see the article Questions over the Authenticity of The Torah
The Old Testament text in our Bibles appears not merely to have been corrupted, but to have been purposely corrupted, as an attack upon the Christian Faith. Perhaps one of the most significant problems with the King James Version (KJV) lies in the manuscripts from which it was translated. The Old Testament (mentioned here for the sake of completeness) was translated from the Masoretic Text, a thoroughly corrupted and Talmudic Jewish-produced version of the inspired text of the Hebrew Testament.
The fact that the Masoretic Text was used for the Old Testament in the KJV also has a clear impact upon the New Testament, for the translators of both Testaments had direct and indirect contact with leading Hebraists of the day for purposes of textual and etymological consultation. It must be understood that all of these leading Hebraists were Talmudic Jews. The counterfeit Masoretic text was created between 500 AD and 1030 AD and first published in 1427.
The Masoretic Text ...
The Bible is not a Jewish Book: full article
The 'Apocrypha' is the name applied to a group of books, mostly written during the inter-testamental period (between the times when the books of the Old and New Testaments were written). The Apocrypha was excluded from the Talmudic Jewish canon, around the time of the first century. Philo, the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher (20BC-AD40), quoted the Old Testament extensively, but he never quoted from the Apocrypha as he believed to not be inspired. Josephus (AD30-100), the Jewish historian, excludes the Apocrypha in numbering the books of the Old Testament though they were included in the King James Version of the Bible until 1885.
The Babylonian Talmud says, "After the latter prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel." (Tractate "Sanhedrin" 7a, 24). During His absence the "Jews" compiled the STalmud, which, said Jesus, "makes the Word of God of no effect" (Mark 7:13). In Jewish circles these "outside books" were known as "writings which do not defile the hands", (i.e. were not considered as "holy" but were not considered as in error). One writer said, "Interestingly enough, the apocryphal writings of Judaism survived more as the result of the activities of Christians than through any serious interest on the part of the Jews." (Zondervan Pictorial Encylopedia "Apocrypha," p. 205).
The Masoretes excised these books because they were Edomite Jews and these books in the original Greek are very explicit in matters of race, especially the missing portions of Esther, I Esdras, Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach. The Fourth Book of Maccabees document how the Edomite Jewish usurpers gained control of the temple and gained political power in Judea during the revolt of Judas Maccabee. The Edomite Jews obviously wanted to suppress this information because it shows clearly and factually that they are usurpers impersonating the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thus, every one of these books and every Scripture contained in the Greek Septuagint is detrimental to the Edomite, Talmudic Jews.
However, they cannot hide the fact that Christ and His Apostles and the first century Christians used and read these books in their Greek Septuagints and regularly quoted from them, as the New Testament confirms. Here are a few of many allusions and paraphrases drawn from the Apocrypha:
Romans 1:18-20 from Wisdom of Solomon 13:1 2
Romans 9:3; 10:1 from Prayer of Manasseh, 8-9 3
I Corinthians 2:10-16 from Judith 8:14 4
Hebrews 1:3 from Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 5
James 3:5-9 from Sirach 5:13 6
Revelation 8:2 from Tobit 12:15.
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