answersLogoWhite

0

The Jewish people are descendants of Abraham, whose Semitic ancestors lived in the Fertile Crescent and who lived most of his life in the Middle Eastern country of Israel (Canaan) 3800 years ago. Abraham is called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because Hebrew (Ivrim) means descendants of Eber (Ever). Ever was an ancestor of Abraham (Genesis ch.10-11), and the early Hebrews were Abraham's uncles and cousins for several generations back. They were Western Semites and lived in northern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Balikh and the Euphrates.
Abraham gave birth to Isaac and Isaac gave birth to Jacob. Jacob was later renamed Israel (Genesis ch.35), which is why we're called Israelites. There were 12 sons of Israel, who formed the 12 tribes. The Israelites worshiped One God. One thousand years after Jacob, ten of the tribes were exiled to points unknown. The only complete tribes left were Judah and Benjamin; plus part of Levi. The few thousands who remained from the other tribes joined the Tribe of Judah; and modern Jews are mostly descendants of Judah (hence the word "Jew"). Even now, through DNA analysis, Jewish communities worldwide have been shown to come from a common Middle Eastern Semitic ancestry. The Cohanim, a family of the tribe of Levi, also share common genetics.
Today, "Judaism" and "Jewish" refer to all members of the tribes of Israel.http://judaism.answers.com/jewish-history/timeline-of-jewish-history

User Avatar

Wiki User

10y ago

What else can I help you with?