2006-09-11 00:19:21 · 9 answers · asked by yaseen m 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
1) A Jew is a descendant of the tribe of Judah (or Benjamin and Levi, which was not exactly a tribe). The Hebrew word is "Yehudi", and the meaning of it is "of Judah's".
2) A Hebrew is every person who was descended from one of the twelve tribes, every member of the Israeli people. The Hebrew word is "Ivri", and it means "from the other side", as Abraham (the ancestor of the people of Israel: Jews and other Hebrews) was originated from "the other side" of the river Euphrates in Mesopotamia.
The thing is that Jews are the only known Hebrews that were left, as the other ten tribes were gone after the Diaspora. Several tribes in Africa and Asia claim to be the descendants of some of the lost tribes, and many anthropologists still research about it, as you can read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Lost_Tribes.
(Hebrew is also one of the languages that was spoken by the Hebrews, and now is the formal language of the state of Israel)
2006-09-11 08:33:12 · answer #1 · answered by yotg 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jews are descendents of the ancient Hebrews, but they are not the only Hebraic people in the Modern World. Some Arabs, Persians, Assyrians, and Indo-Slavic peoples have "Hebrew" blood, either from the line of Ishma'el or from the various descendents of Abraham through Israel. As Abraham was promised by YHWH, his descendents would be many and would constitute many nations.
Modern Jews are heavily mixed with Indo-European blood (and some with Arabic blood). Their language, albeit based upon Ancient Hebrew, is very much "Jewish" rather than true Hebrew. Some linguists argue that this Jewish language should not be classified as being authentically Semitic due to its massive loanword inventory.
While Jews can be referred to as "Hebrews", so can other non-Jewish peoples with Hebrew ancestry. Abraham was not a Jew, nor was Isaak, or Jacob (Israel). Even Moses was not a Jew....he was a Levite. (During the time of Moses, the entity of Judah did not exist; instead, tribal distinctions were used...and Levites were not yet being grouped together with Jews.)
In sum, Jews, Muslims, Isarlaeans, and some Christians can be rightfully called Hebrews. The term "Jew" and "Hebrew" are not synonymous.
2006-09-11 06:30:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paradise puts it best... but in a short and simple answer:
"Jew" is the belief.
"Israelite" is a person from the nation of Israel (modern connotation: Israeli).
"Hebrew" is the race and language. (modern connotation: Semite/Semitic)
More specifically, "Jew" refers to anyone from either the tribe or the nation of Judah.
However, all three can also equally and interchangibly mean, "a decendant of Jacob".
2006-09-11 00:33:19 · answer #3 · answered by seraphim_pwns_u 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hebrew is a language.and a nationality. A Jew is a noun. I haven't a clue really. Its very late for me to be up right now.
2006-09-11 00:27:40 · answer #4 · answered by Bronweyn 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hebrew is a race and language.
Jew is a follower of a religion.
2006-09-11 01:23:28 · answer #5 · answered by Ray D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hebrew is the language of the jews....
2006-09-11 03:17:19 · answer #6 · answered by iftikhar a 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A jew is a person a HE BREW could be a male Tea bag or a Beer for Man only.
Take care!
2006-09-11 00:21:29 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
jew is to muslim as hebrew is to arab.
2006-09-11 00:20:37 · answer #8 · answered by Tofu Jesus 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jew is from the Jewish origin
Hebrew is the Jewish language
got it!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!
2006-09-11 00:26:10 · answer #9 · answered by Safe 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋