Who were the Israelite's?

Answer 1

Some Israelite leaders were:

• Abraham
• Isaac
• Jacob
• Joseph
• Moses
• Joshua
• David
• Solomon
• the Levites
• Also: Deborah (Judges ch.4-5), Samuel, King Hezekiah, Mordecai, Ezra, Hillel, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Judah ("the prince"), Rabbi Ashi, Rabbi Saadia Gaon, and thousands more.

  See also the attached Related Link.

Answer 2

The Israelites were the chosen people (Exodus ch.19; Deuteronomy 26:16-19) whom God brought out of Egypt under Moses, whom He chose for that task. They were the ancestors of today's Jews.

DNA analyses have confirmed that all Jews are inter-related and of Middle Eastern origin.
In 2000, the analysis of a report by Nicholas Wade "provided genetic witness that Jewish communities have, to a remarkable extent, retained their biological identity separate from their host populations, showing relatively little intermarriage or conversion into Judaism over the centuries. The results accord with Jewish history and tradition and refute theories which would allege that Jewish communities consist mostly of converts."

How accurate is the Hebrew tradition?

Archaeological finds, such as the Ugarit documents and those of Nuzu, Mari, Susa, Ebla, and Tel el-Amarna, have repeatedly caused the critics to retract their claims. The entire social milieu portrayed in the Torah, once criticized as anachronistic, has been shown to be historically accurate, including customs of marriage, adoption, contracts, inheritance, purchases, utensils, modes of travel, people's names and titles, etc. Professor Gleason Archer Ph.D of Harvard University states: "In case after case where historical inaccuracy was alleged as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrew record has been vindicated by the results of excavations, and the condemnatory judgment of the theorists have been proved to be without foundation."

Answer

Biblical tradition says that the people known as Israelites were literally the descendants of one man, known as Israel or Jacob. According to The Bible, Jacob's family settled in Egypt, where they grew in numbers but were eventually enslaved. An Israelite known as Moses led them out of Egypt and they wandered in the wilderness until entering the land of the Canaanites and waging battle with the inhabitants, taking the land as their own as commanded by God.

Scholars dispute the biblical account. They say the Israelites were themselves Canaanites, who left the region of the rich coastal cities and settled peacefully in the hitherto sparsely populated Canaanite hinterland. Jacob and Moses were mythical people and the stories of overcoming great challenges and of a glorious conquest only arose after the Hebrews had forgotten their real origins.

The Bible says that kings arose, to rule over all the Israelites but that after three generations of kings, the nation of Israel divided, with the new king of the former United Monarchy holding onto Judah, while the breakaway state became known as Israel. Again, many scholars dispute this. They say that the the two kingdoms were always separate and even had their own distinct cultures, pottery and dialects of the Hebrew language.

Israel came to an end in 722 BCE, when Assyria conquered the nation and sent many of the people into exile, where they assimilated into the local populations. Meanwhile, the Assyrians brought new peoples into what was now the Assyrian province of Samaria.

By the time of the Babylonian Exile, the Jews had begun to refer to themselves synonymously as Israelites, establishing a justification for recovering the 'lost' kingdom of Israel for Judah. Neighbouring nations seem to have distinguished Judah from Israel and there is no evidence that the Jews were widely regarded as Israelites until around the beginning of the Common Era.

Another View:

A branch of Semitic people called Hebrews who settled in Palestine over three thousand years ago. The ancient Egyptians recorded them as Habiru, hill tribes of shepherds and bandits who inhabited the Judean hills.

The tribes were unified three thousand years ago and formed two kingdoms - Israel (ten tribes in the north) and Judah (two tribes Judah and Benjamin in the south).

Shortly thereafter (late 8th Century BCE) Assyria conquered Israel and deported its aristocracy to Assyria, and introduced a new aristocracy from Assyria to keep the Israelites quiet. A century and a half later Babylon conquered Judah and did the same thing - deported the aristocracy to Babylon and introduced an unsympathetic ruling class from Mesopotamia. When Persia took over they allowed those who wished to return to Judah to go back and try to reclaim their ancestral estates. They brought back elements of eastern religions embedded in their Jewish cult which became a basis for modern Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

A new kingdom was established which eventually extended to most of Palestine incorporating the earlier Israel and Judah, under Greek and later Roman patronage. The word Jew derives from Judah, which dominated this kingdom.

Jewish answer:

The Israelites were and are the descendants of Abraham through his grandson Jacob, whom God renamed Israel (Genesis ch.35).

The Israelites' ancestors, the earliest Hebrews, were Abraham's uncles and cousins for several generations back. They were among the Western Semites and lived in northern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Balikh and the Euphrates.

Poetically, Abraham himself (Genesis ch.14) was called called Ivri (Hebrew) because the name also translates to "other side." Abraham was figuratively on "the other side" since he was the only monotheist (Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 42:8) until his teachings took root. His ancestors and cousins had slipped into idolatry well before his time, as is evident from Genesis 31:30, 31:53, and Joshua 24:2.

"Hebrews" is often used to mean the Jewish people in general.

The word Hebrews can continue to refer to Abraham's descendants until the lifetime of Jacob. After that, we prefer "Israelite," since Jacob was given that name by God (Genesis ch.35), and it is considered a national title; one of honor.

When the Israelites entered Canaan (Joshua ch.3-4), they conquered the inhabitants, but only after giving them the opportunity to leave Canaan and remain alive (Jerusalem Talmud, Shevi'it 6:1). The majority of the Canaanites chose to fight and initiated the battle themselves (Joshua ch.11).

"Israelites" refers to the people (Jacob's descendants) during their time in Israel (Canaan) down to about the time of the destruction of the First Temple some 2500 years ago.

"Jews" refers to the people from Second Temple times, up to this day, because after the Assyrian conquest (before the First Destruction) the remaining Israelites were (and are) mostly from the Israelite tribe of Judah. But the words Hebrews Israelites and Jews are occasionally interchanged.

DNA analyses have confirmed that all Jews are inter-related and of Middle Eastern origin.

Answer:

The evidence of Genesis and Joshua is not hard historical material, containing as it does a lot of non-historical and religious material and accounts which are folklore written down over a thousand years later. We need to respect others' beliefs but not pretend that religious belief = history/fact. These are separate matter which need to be kept apart to get a clear view of history and of religion.

On the Israelites of the northern kingdom, as I said earlier the ten northern tries did not disappear, their ruling class was displaced to Assyria and did not return, but the mass of Israelites of those ten tribes remained under the imported ruling class. There is ample scriptural as well as other evidence that these peoples were still there and restive under their imported masters in Palestine 500+ years later.

There is a clear distinction between religious beliefs and verifiable history.

Answer 3

The Israelites were one branch of the ancient Hebrews. "Hebrews" (Ivrim) means descendants of Eber (Ever). Ever was an ancestor of Abraham (Genesis ch.10-11) and the earliest Hebrews were Abraham's uncles and cousins for several generations back. They were among the Western Semites and lived in northern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Balikh and the Euphrates.Abraham (18th century BCE) was called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because of his wider family.

Poetically, however, Abraham himself is called Hebrew because that name (Ivri) also translates to "the other side." Abraham was figuratively on "the other side" since he was the only monotheist (Midrash Rabbah 42:8) until his teachings took root. His ancestors and cousins had slipped into idolatry well before his time, as is evident from Genesis 31:30, 31:53, and Joshua 24:2. For that reason, Jews do not bestow on them the honorific title of ancestors despite the genealogical connection.
We credit Abraham as our first ancestor despite knowing exactly who came before, since it was Abraham who founded our beliefs. Thus, "Hebrews" is often used to mean Abraham and his Israelite descendants, instead of his wider family. In this sense it can refer to the Jewish people.

• Link: Abraham's biography
  

The word "Hebrews" can continue to refer to Abraham's descendants until the lifetime of his grandson Jacob. After that, we prefer "Israelites," since Jacob was given that name by God (Genesis ch.35), and it is considered a national title; one of honor. "Israelites" refers to the people (Jacob's descendants) down to the Assyrian conquest (133 years before the destruction of the First Temple), some 2600 years ago.

• Link: Jewish ancestry
  

"Jews" refers to the same people, from the end of First Temple times up to this day, because after the Assyrian conquest the Israelites who remained in the land were (and are) mostly from the Israelite tribe of Judah, and the land was then called Judea. But all the above terms are occasionally interchanged.

In modern usage, we prefer to use the term "Hebrew" only to refer to the language.

• Link: Why did they conquer the Canaanites?
  
• Link: Is the Hebrew record reliable