What is the difference between a Jew, a Hebrew, an Israeli and a semitic person?

Question

Are these words interchangeable i.e do they mean the same thing?
Are any of them considered offensive.

Answer 1

The words are not interchangeable, and don't mean the same thing. They are not considered offensive when used in proper context -- but then, you can say that about almost any word, can't you?
Jew refers to religion. Hebrew is a language and is also used to refer to people who speak that language. An Israeli is a resident of Israel (All Israeli's are not Jewish) and Semitic refers to a race of people. Traditionally, the Semites are people who are descendants of Shem (book of Genesis) and this includes the Hebrews, Arameans, Phoenicians, Arabs and Assyrians.
Hope this is helpful.

Answer 2

A Jew is someone who possesses the Jewish religion or is descended from a Jew through the female line. They live in many countries throughout the world.

A Hebrew is, colloquially, someone who speaks Hebrew, the Ancient language of Judea and Israel which has been kept alive through the Jewish religion for centuries and has been modernised as the first language of Modern Israel. Because of the strong association with the Jewish religion the terms Hebrew and Jew are often regarded as interchangeable but this is technically not correct.

An Israeli is a citizen of Israel and could be Jewish, Christian, Muslim and ethnically European, African, Arab, Russian, Turkic or numerous other ethnicities.

A Semite, or someone Semitic is an ethnicity based mainly in the Middle East and includes all Arabs, Sephardic Jews, Kurds and a number of other "races". Ashkenazic Jews have a relatively small proportion of Semitic blood, even though they make up the bulk of Jews in Israel and internationally.

As you can see, they are not all the same thing. It is interesting to note that Arabs and Israelis are "cousins". The name "Semite" denotes the descendants of Shem, one of biblical Noah's three sons (Ham, Shem and Japeth).

Answer 3

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RE:
What is the difference between a Jew, a Hebrew, an Israeli and a semitic person?
Are these words interchangeable i.e do they mean the same thing?
Are any of them considered offensive.

Answer 4

Hebrew Vs Jew

Answer 5

Jews: are followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people (also known as the Jewish nation, or the Children of Israel), an ethno-religious group descended from the ancient Israelites and from converts who joined their religion. The term also includes those who have undergone an officially recognized formal process of religious conversion to Judaism.

Hebrews: Hebrews (syns. Heberites, Eberites, Hebreians, descendants of biblical Patriarch Eber; were people who lived in Canaan, an area encompassing Israel, both banks of the Jordan River, Sinai, Lebanon and the coastal portions of Syria. These areas were politically Phoenicia and of the Philistines in Canaan when they first arrived in the area. The Hebrews lived within this region in the 2nd millennium BCE and spoke a Canaanite dialect, which played a role in the Hebrew languages, although their culture was distinct from the local Canaanite culture. The extent of the distinction between the culture of the Canaanites and the Hebrews is a matter of great debate, touching as it does on strong religious sensibilities.

Israeli: A citizen of the State of Israel.

Semitic: In Medieval Europe, all Asian peoples were thought of as descendents of Shem. By the nineteenth century, the term Semitic was confined to the ethnic groups who have historically spoken Semitic languages.
Modern science, in contrast, identifies an ethnic group's common physical descent through genetic research, and analysis of the Semitic peoples suggests that they share a significant common ancestry... Though no significant common mitochondrial results have been yielded, Y-chromosomal links between Near-Eastern peoples like the Palestinians, Syrians and ethnic Jews have proved fruitful. Although population genetics is still a young science, it seems to indicate that a significant proportion of these peoples' ancestry comes from a common Near Eastern population to which (despite the differences with the Biblical genealogy) the term Semitic has been applied.

Answer 6

The truth is we were Hebrews before Babylonian captivity, and when we left there was an extra direct writing called the mishnah or talmud. This is where Hebrewism started to adopt Judaism, and this oral law directly is the opposite of what theTanakh or Old Testament teaches. So, therefore God has commanded the ancient Isrealites to give up Bail and idol worship, and not to mix with certain groups which the has caused the present Jews to be comprised of Edomites, Khazars, etc. The true Isrealites were carried off by the Assyrians and most went the mountains of Caucasus, and then mist went into Europe to live .

Answer 7

I find the modern day explanation interesting. The explanation can be based on the Torah or the Bible. Simply the term Jew or Judaism can be traced back to Judah, the second son of Israel. The Hebrew people encompasses the ancestors of all12 sons including Judah. Most of the 'tribes' were lost. However, the tribe of Judah retained its identity (for the most part) and the Jewish religion's only existing historical link is through the tribe of Judah. It is currently both a people and a religion. One can join this religion without having ancestral linkage - or one can be Jewish without believing in Judaism. The Hebrew language was spoken by all 12 tribes and was considered not only a language but a heritage.

Answer 8

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The following are traditional definitions Jew 1. a member of the Semitic people who claim descent from the ancient Hebrew people of Israel, are spread throughout the world, and are linked by cultural or religious ties 2. a person whose religion is Judaism Hebrew 1. the ancient language of the Hebrews, revived as the official language of Israel. It belongs to the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages 2. a member of an ancient Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham; an Israelite Israelite 1. Bible: a member of the ethnic group claiming descent from Jacob; a Hebrew 2. Bible: a citizen of the kingdom of Israel (922 to 721 bc ) as opposed to Judah 3. a member of any of various Christian sects who regard themselves as God's chosen people 4. an archaic and sometimes offensive word for a Jew

Answer 9

Jew: One who follows Judaism

Hebrew: The traditional language of the Jews (note: slang "Heeb" sometimes used to denote a Jew... social acceptance of this term is varied)

Israeli: Citizen of Israel. All Jews (at least all those born Jewish) are implicitly Israeli, whether they apply for citizenship or not.

Semitic: A language family that includes Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic and other languages indigenous to mesopotamia. Ethnically used to describe Palestinians and Syrians, but primarily Jews. (Note: anti-semitic almost exclusively means anti-jewish)

Answer 10

a jew = a man who believe the judiasm
a hebrew = hebrew is a language but there are the ancient hebrew men (in this days the jews).
an israeli = a man who lives in israel (can be arabic man, a jewish man or any other).
semitic person = the offspring of the son of noah, shem. the jews and arabic people.

Answer 11

Jews are followers of Judaism

Hebrew could be- an ethnic group any descendant of Eber, the great great grandson of Noah or the Jews living prior to the birth of Jesus as opposed to Jews in modern times or a set of Semitic languages principally spoken in Israel

an Israeli: is a citizen of Israel he could be jewish, immigrant, naturalised citizen, an Arab , chrisitian anything a citizen of Israel

Semitic:The concept of a "Semitic" comes from the word shem i.e. the clan of Shem . Those closest to them in culture and language were generally deemed to be descended from their forefather Shem