When did the people of Israel become known as Jews?

Answer 1

The Jewish religion officially started when God commanded Abraham to perform circumcision on himself and his sons (Genesis ch.17). From that moment, Judaism was born.

Another milestone was when God gave the sons of Abraham (through Isaac and Jacob) the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai in the time of Moses (Exodus ch.19-20). That sealed the deal for the "Children of Israel (Jacob)".

The term "Jewish" actually refers to the descendants of the tribe of Judah, who were separated from the rest of the Children of Israel (the 12 tribes) upon the destruction of the first Temple and the start of the diaspora.

Answer:

"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.

Answer 2

Religious Answer

When God gave them The Bible/Torah on Mount Sinai after every nation rejected God's offer as it having to many restrictions. The Hebrew then became a nation known as the Jewish People and their ancestral home of Israel was to be reclaimed.

Historical Answer

The word "Jew" comes from the Latin Iudaeum, by way of Old French giu, and Middle English Gyw or Iewe. The Latin word means simply, Judean, someone from Judea, which was the Latin name for the Roman Province that included Jerusalem and the primary center of the Hebrews. The latin Iudaeum (or Judaeum) come from Aramaic and Hebrew words such as Yehudi (singular) and Yehudim (plural), in origin the term for a member of the tribe of Judah or the people of the kingdom of Judah.

So basically the same term has moved through several languages, carrying the meaning people of Juda or of Judea. "Hebrew" and "Jews" have been close to synonyms for millennia.

Answer 3

Strictly speaking, the Israelites never became known as Jews. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed in 722 BCE and its people dispersed thoughout the Near East.

The people of the small southern enclave of Judah, known today as Judahites, became known as Jews during the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century BCE.

Answer 4

The Hebrew people consisted of 12 tribes. One of those tribes was the tribe of Judah. The members of that tribe in English are called "Judaeans" or "Jews". The 12 tribes were captured and sent to Babylon. When they finally returned to the land of Israel, 10 out of the 12 tribes had assimilated into Babylonian culture. The largest group of people to return to Israel were the Jews.

"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 himself was called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because of his wider family. Poetically, however, Abraham is called Ivri 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. 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.

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. "Israelite" refers to the people (Jacob's descendants) 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 the remaining Israelites were (and are) mostly from the Israelite tribe of Judah. But all the above terms are occasionally interchanged. In modern usage, we prefer to use the term Hebrew only to refer to the language.

The Hebrew people consisted of 12 tribes. One of those tribes was the tribe of Judah. The members of that tribe in English are called "Judaeans" or "Jews". The 12 tribes were captured and sent to Babylon. When they finally returned to the land of Israel, 10 out of the 12 tribes had assimilated into Babylonian culture. The largest group of people to return to Israel were the Jews.

Answer 5

Assuming that "People of Israel" refers to "Israelites" and not "Israelis", it is unclear exactly when the term Jew became popular as a replacement for Israelite. The Hebrew word for Jew and Judean are the same word, so it may be as early as the split between the two kingdoms, but solidified with the Fall of Israel to Assyria in 722 BCE. All we know is that by the time that the Book of Esther was written, around 400 BCE, the term Jew was in common usage.

If "People of Israel" does refer to "Israelis", then the question is backwards. Jews came back to Mandatory Palestine and created a new country: Israel. This state then conferred the nationality of "Israeli" on its citizens, making the majority-Jewish population Israelis.

Answer 6

The Hebrew people consisted of 12 tribes. One of those tribes was the tribe of Judah. The members of that tribe in English are called "Judaeans" or "Jews". The 12 tribes were captured and sent to Babylon. When they finally returned to the land of Israel, 10 out of the 12 tribes had assimilated into Babylonian culture. The largest group of people to return to Israel were the Jews.

Answer 7

"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 himself was called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because of his wider family. Poetically, however, Abraham is called Ivri 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. 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.

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. "Israelite" refers to the people (Jacob's descendants) 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 the remaining Israelites were (and are) mostly from the Israelite tribe of Judah. But all the above terms are occasionally interchanged. In modern usage, we prefer to use the term Hebrew only to refer to the language.

Answer 8

The Israelites are the descendants of the twelve sons of Israel. Jacob was renamed Israel by God (Genesis ch.35).

After the loss of the Ten Israelite Tribes at the hands of the Assyrians (around 2600 years ago), the remainder were mostly of the tribe of Judah, hence "Jews;" Juif, Jude, Zhid, Judio.

Answer 9

"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 (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.

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

Answer 10

Jew is an abbreviated form of Judean, which referred to the inhabitants of the southern Israelite Kingdom of Judah. When the Assyrians conquered the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, the term Judean became used for the independent Israelites in the south. Since the northerners since disappeared from the historical record, Jew has survived in place of Israelite.