where did the jews originate?

Question

Just wondering because I heard the philisinians (palestinians ) came from the island of crete. So does this mean the israelites came from somewhere else?

Answer 1

Judaism was founded among the tribes of the apiru, which came to be known as the Hebrews (though this is now only known as the language of the groups). The apiru are mentioned from place to place in Middle East literature, spoken of as wandering, nomadic groups that pop up in other societies, usually taking on temporary labor before moving on to another location. Occassionally, the apiru tribes were enslaved by countries that understood that, without a nation's army to fight for their rights, they were easy pickings.

The apiru group that became the first Jews were likely a set of tribes that escaped Egyptian slavery and came to worship a well-known god of the Sinai peoples named Yah'weh (depending on the texts you use, he's either a war god, a sky/storm god, or a mountain god), and united to found a safe homeland that would provide for their defense, eventually settling in and among the other peoples between the Meditteranean Sea and the Jordan River.

It's probably that the Philistines were already known in the area, if not well-established. Where they might've come from (or whether or not they originated there) is something I'd have to do more research to understand. What seems certain is that tension and occassional conflict between the groups broke out sporadically.

Answer 2

DNA test show that Lebanese, Palestinian, and Sephardic Jewish men share a common geographic origin in the Near-East. The Philistines from the Bible disappeared from history over 2500 yeas ago, but the evidence suggest that they did not have Near East origins. They have no connections with today's Palestinians except that the name means inhabitants of Palestine.
It is possible that a large fraction of modern Jews actually are descended from a group in the Caucasus in Russia who converted to Judaism about 1000 years ago.
http://india.indymedia.org/en/2002/06/1698.shtml

Answer 3

It is very difficult to determine who the Palestines are and where they came from because they have never had any national identity. Any explanation other with current data is at best seculation. At best they where groups of nomads therfore not concerned with keeping historical records. Palestine in history, is reffered to as a general location not a nation state made up of people.
The Jewish people originated from Abraham just like the Arabs. He came from Iran (most likely) and purchased the land in present day Palestine. Unlike the Palestines we have an accurate reccord. The bible has been used for centuries to pin point locations of archeolgical findings. The bible is has been demonstraed accurated by coorolating other anceint texts.

Answer 4

They originated in Canaan (center East), because is the place the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob lived and that they have got been the 1st Jews from whom all Jews descended. They moved into the Promised Land (Israel) and lived there for hundreds of years. They have been compelled to go away via the Romans, yet some remained and there replaced into consistently a Jewish presence in Israel. while they left Israel, some went to jap Europe and became Ashkenazi Jews, some went to Spain and became Sephardi Jews, some went to the middle East and became Mizrahi Jews. some even went to Ethiopia that's why there are Ethiopian Jews, and a few went to India, so there are Indian Jews. So initially from Israel :) EDIT: Many Jews are White because of fact they lived in Europe for hundreds of yrs and married Europeans, and are descended from Europeans (germans, brits, etc). they are maximum people. additionally there are center jap Jews. And there are Ethiopian Jews who're black and Indian Jews who're Indian. that's why Israel is a multicultural society of many races/nationalities (and not apartheid which replaced right into a rumor all started via ignorant fools who've in no way been to Israel and seen how multicultural it is).

Answer 5

Abraham [ Abram ] was born in Ur, in Babylonia. The people there were pagans [ idol worshippers ]. He believed in one united God, with power over all things. God made a deal with Abram - if he took his family and left, he would make Abram a founder of a great nation [ the Hebrew people] - this is called his covenant with God.
P.S. This is a very brief summary of the beginning - see Genesis and Exodus

Answer 6

the modern day "palestinians" came from the Arabian Peninsula, and have nothing in common with the biblical Philistines.
as for the Hebrews, they seem to have the most ancient claim to the land of Israel of all the nations currently in existence.

Answer 7

Judiasm is a religion and not a race. Abraham was the founder of the montheistic Jewish faith in the city of Ur, Mesopotamia (current day Iraq or possibly in Turkey) approximately 2,000 B.C.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01051a.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham

Answer 8

First: jewish is a religion. I would generalize geographically from among cultures that spread between the fertile crescent and the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer 9

The Jews were a nomadic people (it is obvious from the religion) so you couldn't say they really had an original place, that we know of.

Answer 10

i appreciate that this is a trite answer and doesn't completely answer your question but does tell you what they think them selves..... read the bible. genisis. Im not trying to bible bash honest but it sort of gives a brief back ground of where they think they came from. and yes being jewish is a religion but its also generally recognised as a nationality too granny