What is an Israelite?

Answer 1

Answer 1

The Israelites are the Jewish people: a person belonging to the worldwide Jewish community, claiming descent from Jacob (or converted to it) and connected by cultural and/or religious ties. Jacob was given the additional name/title of Israel (Genesis ch.35). In the distant past, the name "Hebrews" was also used (Genesis ch.14).

An Israelite is a Jew, descendants of the tribes of Israel (Jacob) grandson of Abraham. Israel was the patriarch of 12 sons, so their descendants are all called "Israelites". See the book of Genesis from Chapter 11 onward.

Some of Jacob's Israelite descendants were exiled to Assyria 2500 years ago and are today unknown. Today's Jews, who are mostly the children of Jacob's son Judah, are the identifiable remainder of Jacob's descendants. This is based upon a 3300-year old continuous tradition, as well as the DNA analyses which have been done on Jewish communities worldwide. These analyses have debunked the recent canard which spuriously attempted to trace European Jewry from the Khazars; as well as claims made by certain Black Churches.

Answer 2

Most Jews represent one of the 12 tribes of Jacob (also called Israel)--Judah (Jacob had 12 sons: Levi was assigned to be the priest class for everyone, so did not have a landed "tribe." Joseph is represented by his sons Manasseh and Ephraim.) The promised land of the biblical Israelites was divided into 2 kingdoms, north (10 tribes) and south (Judah and, I believe, Benjamin). The northern tribes were taken captive and scattered in the "northern countries" by Assyria and others. That means that there most likely are some descendants of Jacob (Israelites) scattered throughout the world. Biblical prophecies point to a time when the 10 tribes will be restored or gathered, which could also mean that their identity as Israelites would be recognized.

In Ezekiel (Old Testament) chapter 37, there is this interesting statement/prophecy:

16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

This suggests that the day will come when the stick of Judah (The Bible) will be joined together with the stick or record of Joseph's descendants. Perhaps the other tribes also have sacred records that will be gathered together with the Bible. If they are true, they will all be compatible and will all have prophecies of the same God and Gospel.

Answer 3

The Israelites are the descendants of Jacob's twelve sons. From the eldest to the youngest their names were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, judah (Genesis 29:31-35) Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Yoseph (Genesis 30:1-24) and Benyamin. (Genesis 35:16-18). They and their descendants would be called Israelites as a result of Jacob's new name. After Jacob's struggle with a man, Yacob's name was changed to Israel. "What is your name?" the man asked, "Jacob" he answered. The man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have struggled with God and with men, and you have won; so your name will be Israel." (Genesis 32:27-28).

The Israelites were given God's laws to live by. If they obeyed his laws they would be blessed, but if they disobeyed them, they would be cursed. (Deuteronomy 28:1-68).

Answer 3

The Israelites were the chosen people whom God chose Moses to save and get out of Egypt

Answer 5

A minority of Churches, often called the Black Israelite Churches believes that the book of Exodus does not discuss as Semitic Tribes leaving ancient Egypt, but the historical deportation and enslavement of Black Africans across the Ocean and the Native Americans who were already there. This view, although discredited by scientists and most other religions (including other Christian sects) considers each general group of the Americans to be analogous with one of the tribes. See the relations below:

------- The 12 Tribes of Israel -------

-------Judah - Negroes

-------Benjamin - West Indies

-------Levi - Haitians

-------Simeon - Dominicans

-------Zebulon - Guatemala to Panama

-------Ephraim - Puerto Ricans

-------Manasseh - Cubans

-------Gad - N.American Indians

-------Reuben - Seminole Indians

-------Napthali - Argentina to Chile

-------Asher - Columbia to Uruguay

-------Issachar - Mexicans

Answer 2

The Jewish people are, at various eras in history, referred to as Hebrews, Israelites, or Jews.

"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 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. We were called Israelites among ourselves (Joshua 11:16,21; Judges 19:29; 1 Samuel 11:3, 13:1,9), and also by others, at least as early as the Merneptah Stele (1200 BCE)

Link: Scholarly critics

"Jews" refers to the 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.

See also the other Related Link.

Link: Jewish ancestry

Answer 3

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 slaughtering the inhabitants, claiming the land as their own.

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 just 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.