Is Moses an Israelite

Answer 1

[Supervisor's note: Moses was a Jew. The accepted meaning of the word "Jew" is any adherent of the religion of Judaism, regardless of tribe. No reliable answer would claim that Kohanim and Levites (for example) aren't Jewish because they aren't specifically from Judah. Any answers which would go technical by using a definition of Judaism based upon a particular Israelite tribe, would be misleading. Etymologically, "Jewish" stems from "Judah" only because the people of that tribe became the majority of the Jews; but Jewry has always contained members from every one of the Israelite tribes.]

Answer:

For those who believe that Abraham was the first Jew, it would follow that Moses was Jewish as well.
For those who equate the terms Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew, then again, Moses was a Jew.
Answer:
Moses in The Bible was not Jewish but Levite, as he was of the tribe of Levi. The Historical Jews were the people of the tribe of Judah. (twelve tribes of Israel etc)
Answer:
Calling Moses "not Jewish but Levite" is disingenuous. While seeming to be technically correct, it is subjectively misleading. Here are two interrelated reasons:
1) Dictionaries define Judaism as the religion of Moses. Moses, who brought down the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18) and wrote the scroll of the Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24), was the staunchest upholder of the religion which we today call Judaism.
2) We call someone Jewish not just because of genealogical descent, but also because of their beliefs and practices. "Anyone who opposes idolatry is called Jewish" (Talmud, Megillah 13a). It is in that sense of belonging to the Jewish religion that Kohens and Levites are called Jewish.
Answer

I would say yes, he was born after Abram became the 1stHebrew. It was through Abram that his people came to dwell in Egypt. They were there in captivity for 430 yrs until God spoke to Moses to bring His people out to the promise land.
I would add that Moses was from the tribe of Levi, not Judah. He was a Hebrew and an Israelite, but not a Jew.
Answer

The word Jew has actually evolved so much because of the intermarriages which took place between the Jewish nation and the other nations of the world. Terms like matrilineally and patrilineally are being used these days to refer to the Jews.
Going back to the time when Moses actually lived; no one was actually called a Jew - rather they were called Israelites. The Jewish nation came from the Biblical tribes of Judah and Benjamin. And even then, it was not used or at least the Bible doesn't refer to any of the people from these tribes as Jews until the time of the reign of Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel (2 Kings 16:5-6 (King James Version).
The author of these books makes a point of differentiating the other Israelites from the Jews.
The tribe of Levi was also added to the Jewish nation since they became priests. Moses was from the tribe of Levi. But when Moses was still alive, there was no such as a thing as a Jew. Not all Israelites were Jews. It is right therefore to say that a Jew is an Israelite since they are part of the 12 tribes of Israel. An Israelite which was mainly known as a Hebrew in Egypt, can not rightly be called a Jew unless they were coming from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Moses was not a Jew. He was a Hebrew - an Israelite. Saying that Moses was a Jew is as far-fetched as saying that Joseph, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham were Jews. These we can nicely and deliciously say they were Hebrews. But even Abraham himself was not even an Israelite. So this pattern may simply work out like this:
A ) HEBREWS ---> B) ISRAELITES ---- > C) 12 Tribes of Israel* (Jewish people being one of the tribes).

1. Meaning that all the tribes of Israel were obviously Israelites or Hebrews.
2. Also implying that anyone who lived before these groupings (before Abraham) can not be called a Hebrew.
3. A person from "C" is called by his tribe and yes an Israelite or a Hebrew too
4. A person from "B" is an Israelite or a Hebrew...
5. But a person from "A" is not any of the two ( A Jew/other tribes or a an Israelite)
6. From "C", we can give example of the man himself, Judah. He was a Jew; the father of all Jews. And also an Israelite or a Hebrew.
7. From "B", we can take Jacob himself - whose name actually is the subject here: Israel. He was not a Jew or did he fall under any of the tribes. He was a Hebrew through his grandfather Abraham.
8. From "A", we have Abraham who was just a Hebrew. He was neither a Jew nor an Israelite.

As a matter of fact, the sons of Joseph; Ephraim and Menasseh, were also given the status of independent tribes. The Levis were not even an independent tribe but rather sevants of the Most High as priests. So in the list below you will see that even if Moses was actually still alive during the genesis of the term JEW, he would have never really been a "JEW" in the sense of the word itself. He was from the tribe of Levi which is not included as one of the 12 Tribes of Israel.

Answer 2

Yes and No He was a Jew that was adopted into the Egyptian Royal family.

AnswerThe prophet Moses is a descendant of the prophet Jacob (Israel) the son of prophet Isaac the son of prophet Abraham (Ibrahim). He was born in Egypt (as one of Israeli sons) and got by the Egyptian Pharaoh were he was raised in the pharaoh palace. Then he fled out of Egypt after killing an Egyptian. He came back to Egypt, after receiving prophecy from God, to get his people out of Egypt.

Quran says (meaning English translation)

"And Musa said: O Firon! (pharaoh) surely I (Moses) am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds: (104) (I am) worthy of not saying anything about Allah (God) except the truth: I have come to you indeed with clear proof from your Lord (God), therefore send with me the children of Israel (105)"

[Quran, chapter 7, verses 104-105]

Answer 3

A:The Bible makes it clear that Moses worshipped the God of Judaism and that he was a Jew. On the other hand Muslims say that Moses was a Muslim, since the God of Judaism is also the God (Allah) of Islam and that Judaism is only an incomplete and imperfect form of Islam.

One issue with this is that over 90 per cent of scholars are said to believe that the Exodus from Egypt of the Israelites never occurred as described in the Bible, and therefore Moses was not a real, historical person. This means that Judaism and Christianity on one side, and Islam on the other, are arguing over the allegiance of a man who probably never existed.

Answer 4

"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.
In 1934-39, excavations were conducted at ancient Mari on the Euphrates River. They found that ancient towns were named after the ancestors of Abraham: The city of Nahor was found near the city of Harran which exists to this day. Equally clear signs of early Hebrew residence appear in the names of other towns nearby: Serug (Assyrian Sarugi), Terah (Til Turakhi, "Mound of Terah"), and Peleg (Paliga, on the Euphrates). All these names are found in Genesis ch.11.
Abraham himself was called a Hebrew (Genesis 14) because of his ancestors, not because he was the first one. That is the simple meaning of Genesis 14:13. Poetically, however, Abraham is called Ivri because the name also translates to "other side." Abraham was on "the other side" since he was the only monotheist (Midrash Rabbah 42:8) until his teachings spread.
However, "Hebrews" is often used to refer to Abraham's Israelite descendants. In this sense it can refer to the Jewish people.
"Israelites" refers to the people 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 onward, because after the Assyrian conquest the remaining Israelites were (and are) mostly from the Israelite tribe of Judah.

Answer 5

Well, actually, no. They weren't Israelites until they went to Israel, which is where Moses led them to. They were called Hebrews before that, and Moses WAS a Hebrew.

Answer:The above is mistaken. They were called Israelites because they were/are descended from Israel (a.k.a. Jacob; see Genesis ch.35).

We Jews usually do not call ourselves Hebrews, since that is more generic than "Israelite."

Answer 6

Given those choices, we would have to say that Moses of the Bible was Hebrew.

-- "Israeli" wasn't a word used to describe an individual's national origin until modern times.

-- "Israel" was not a country or a territory During Moses' lifetime. It was a word used

to identify the people as a whole.

-- In his entire lifetime, Moses never set foot in the territory that would ultimately become Israel.

Answer 7

Moses may be referred to as Either a Hebrew (עברי) or an Israelite (מבני ישראל). Both terms are used somewhat interchangeably in the Torah). But the word Israeli (ישראלי)refers to modern citizens of Israel (from the 20th century to today)

Answer 8

Yes; and he is the best example, ever, of a Jewish person.

1) Dictionaries define Judaism as the religion of Moses. Moses, who brought down the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18) and wrote the scroll of the Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24), was the staunchest upholder of the religion which we today call Judaism.

2) We call someone Jewish not just because of genealogical descent, but also because of their beliefs and practices. "Anyone who opposes idolatry is called Jewish" (Talmud, Megillah 13a). It is in that sense of belonging to the Jewish religion that Kohens and Levites are called Jewish.

Therefore, any attempt to go technical based upon Moses' tribe, is disingenuous and misleading. No one today would claim that today's Kohens and Levites are not Jewish.

See also the Related Link.

More about Moses

Answer 9

Moses was an Israelite.

Hebrews, Israelites, 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.

"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.

• Link: Jewish ancestry
  

"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.

Answer 10

He was Jewish because he lived before Jesus existed so there were no Christians or New Testament.