Where did the word Judaism come from?

Answer 1

Origins of the Word JewThe word Jew came from the name Judah, who was one of the 12 sons of Jacob, from whom the 12 tribes of Israel are descended.

When the Jews were expelled from the Land of Israel, the tribe of Judah was the last to go and the tribe from which most present-day Jews are considered to be descendants. Thus, they were known as Judeans or Jews.

Etymology:The most common view is that the Middle English word Jewis from the Old French giu, earlier juieu, from the Latin Iudaeus from the Greek ουδαος. The Latin simply means Judaean, from the land of Judaea. In the Old English the word is attested as early as 1000 in various forms, such as Iudeas, Gyu, Giu, Iuu, Iuw, Iew.

Middle English Jeu, from Old French giu, from Latin Iūdaeus, from Greek Ioudaios, from Aramaic yəhudāy, from Hebrew yəhûdî, inhabitant of Judah, from yəhûdâ, Judah.

A Biblical ExplanationThe origin of the word "Jew" is from the Hebrew meaning "Praise."

The name comes from The Bible in Genesis 29:34.

Genesis 29:35 And she (Leah) conceived again and bore a son (to Jacob), and said, "Now I will praise the Lord." Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

So we see that Jew is the generic term for Judah. The term became common after the first Babylonian exile and the people applied the name to themselves. So correctly applied, it literally means "the people of praise."

Answer 2

The original Hebrew term for the Jewish nation is "Yehudi" (Yehudim is the plural). That name comes from Judah, son of Jacob. His descendants were the royal family of the Jewish nation- so his name came to symbolize the nation.

The English version probably became Jew, as often happens with Hebrew words beginning with Y, where the English word begins with J.

Answer 3

The English word 'Jew' comes from the Hebrew word Yehudi, the name for the Jewish people as a whole. Judaism progressed from the word Jew.

Although Yehudi originally referred to only those of the Yehudi (Judah) tribe, the name eventually came to describe Jews of all tribes. The first written record of this use was in the Book of Esther.

Answer 4

The English word Jew starts in Middle English "Gyw" and "Iewe", where it was taken from Old French "giu", earlier "juieu", originating from the Latin "Iudaeum". The Latin Iudaeus means Judaean, "from the land of Judaea".

From the tribe of Judah, and later, the nation Judah. After 75 years as a nation, the original nation of Israel fell into war. The southern part was conquered and became the nation of Judah.

The term Jew first meant a citizen of Judah. The citizens of Israel followed the religion passed down by Abraham and slowly blended into the other peoples of the Middle East. The citizens of Judah followed the religion passed down by Abraham and modified by Moses.

These people from Judah are the ancestors of the ethnic Jews of today. Historians and theologians debate as to whether the concurring people of the south were Israelis and thus a civil war took place or were a mix of Israelis, Egyptians, and mixed Israeli/Egyptian descendants. Either way, for most of the Hebrews that ended up living in the first nation of Israel - their descendants were never referred to as Jews.

Answer 5

The word comes from the name Judah, traditionally one of the 12 sons of Jacob (son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham) and the head of one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

About 1000 BCE, these tribes who had been at times more formally or loosely organized, split into two rival kingdoms, with the northern kingdom being called "Israel" and the southern kingdom being called "Judah."

In 732 BCE, Assyria invaded the northern Kingdom of Israel and created a vassal state. A subsequent invasion in 720 BCE led to the forced exile of much of the population (certainly the ruling and priestly castes) to Assyria where they were acculturated and lost their identity as Israelites. These are what are known as the "lost tribes of Israel."

This left only the Kingdom of Judah, which consisted of the Tribe of Judah, the Tribe of Simeon (that was described as having been "absorbed" into Judah in the years before the invasion likely through intermarriage), parts of the Tribe of Benjamin and the people of the Tribe of Levi who lived among them as priests. Many people from the Northern Kingdom fled south to Jerusalem at this time, swelling the population there fivefold.

It was not long before tribal affiliation (except for the Levis who where the priestly tribe) was lost due to intermarriage and urban living. By the time of the Babylonian invasion of Judah in the 6th century BCE, all of the Hebrew people had become known as "Judah" and their religion and cultural life as "Judaism."

Answer 6

We are variously called Jews, Hebrews, and Israelites.

"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.

"Hebrews" (Ivrim) actually 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 (133 years before the destruction of the First Temple), some 2600 years ago. But all the above terms are occasionally interchanged.

Link: Jewish history timeline

Link: Jewish ancestry

Answer 7

The word "Jew" comes from the word "Judiasm" comes from the Hebrew word "Yehudi", meaning praise.

Answer 8

Judaism is an English word. But it and the term Jew come from the Hebrew Yehudi. Yehudi is a version of the name Yehudah or Judah. Could be taken as meaning, the people of Judah.

Answer 9

Mesopotamia