Who are the Jews in the Bible?

Question

Are they ALL of the 12 tribes or are they only the tribe of Juda?

internet links to prove this would be very helpful.If you have any.

Answer 1

(Around the Tabernacle and in order of their marches)

The Eastern Tribes

Judah
Issachar
Zebulun

The Southern Tribes

Reuben
Simeon
Gad

The Western Tribes

Ephraim
Manasseh
Benjamin

The Northern Tribes

Dan
Asher
Naphtali

*The sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Menasseh, were also given the status of independent tribes.

Answer 2

As usual in Judaism, there is more than one answer.

First of all, there were 13 tribes, not 12. Each listing always omits some name in order to teach something. The confusion is there are 12 territories, and the Levites were mixed in with all of them as priests.

Before 1 Kings 11 Jews would refer to all the children of Israel, but after this they split into the northern tribes and the southern tribes.

The southern tribes consisted of Judah and Simon as Simon assimilated into Judah, and also parts of Benjamin.

The southern tribes are often called Judah, Jerusalem, Zion and Jewish.

The northern tribes were called names like northern tribes, Israel, Ephriam, Joseph and other names.

Today, the term is used collectively to describe people who are part of the covenant given in the Torah.

If you want to understand this completely, I'd suggest starting with 1 kings 11, and reading through second kings. Then read Isaiah carefully noting which kings were on which side and how Isaiah referred to each. From there you can read Jeremiah and Hosea. These three were contemporary to that time and will give you hints about what was going on.

It will help to have a good JEWISH commentary when you do this. It shouldn't take more than 3 or 4 years of intense study.

Shalom,
Gershon

Answer 3

The Israelites are Jews, the reason they come mainly from the tribe of Judah is because of the 10 lost tribes of Israel, leaving only the Tribe of Judah, the tribe of Benjamin,some Levites (who served in the temple) and some Kohanim, the priestly clan (who also served in the Temple). As the Tribe of Judah were the vast majority, that's where the word came from.

Today Jews are divided into three sections:

The Kohanim/Priestly Clam
The Levites
The Yisroel (Israel)

Answer 4

The Jews are all of the 12 tribes descended from the 12 sons of Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. In 997 B.C.E. the kingdom was divided: 10 tribes called Israel; 2 tribes called Judah, but they were still all jews.

Answer 5

I'm sorry, I don't trust half of what I read on the internet, so a link wouldn't really "prove" anything to me...

But the Jews in the Bible are the descendants of Abraham (through Jacob/Israel), aka the Israelites, all of the tribes. That's pretty much it. Is there another answer I'm not aware of?

Answer 6

TRIBE

A group of people, comprising a number of families or clans, who are united by race or custom under the same leaders.
The Greek term phy·le′ (rendered “tribe”) refers to a group of people united by common descent and also to a subdivision thereof, that is, a clan or tribe. The word is often used in the Christian Greek Scriptures in regard to the tribes of the nation of Israel. (Ac 13:21; Ro 11:1; Php 3:5; Heb 7:13, 14; Re 5:5)
They were in fact Tribes of Israel. The tribal arrangement in Israel was based on descent from the 12 sons of Jacob. (Ge 29:32–30:24; 35:16-18) These “twelve family heads [Gr., do′de·ka pa·tri·ar′khas]” produced “the twelve tribes of Israel.”In expressions like “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,” “tribe” seems to mean a group of people related by common descent. (Re 5:9) Such expressions, then, are exhaustive, referring to all people, whether viewed according to tribes of interrelated individuals, language groups, large segments of mankind, or political divisions. (Re 7:9; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6) Also, phy·le′ appears in the expression “all the tribes of the earth” at Revelation 1:7, which evidently means all people on earth, for the verse also says “every eye will see him.”—Compare Mt 24:30.

Tribes of Israel. The tribal arrangement in Israel was based on descent from the 12 sons of Jacob. (Ge 29:32–30:24; 35:16-18) These “twelve family heads [Gr., do′de·ka pa·tri·ar′khas]” produced “the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Ge 49:1-28; Ac 7:8) However, Jacob blessed Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh the older and Ephraim the younger, and said: “Ephraim and Manasseh will become mine like [his actual sons] Reuben and Simeon.” (Ge 48:5, 13-20) When the various tribes received their land inheritance in the Promised Land (Jos 13-19), there was no “tribe” of Joseph. Instead, “the sons of Joseph,” Manasseh and Ephraim, were counted as distinct tribes in Israel. As Jehovah had arranged, though, this did not increase the tribes of Israel receiving an inheritance to 13, because the Levites got no land inheritance. Jehovah had chosen “the tribe of Levi” (Nu 1:49) in place of the firstborn of the other tribes to minister at the sanctuary. (Ex 13:1, 2; Nu 3:6-13, 41; De 10:8, 9; 18:1; see LEVITES.) Consequently, there were 12 non-Levite tribes in Israel.—Jos 3:12, 13; Jg 19:29; 1Ki 11:30-32; Ac 26:7.

When Moses blessed the tribes (De 33:6-24), Simeon was not mentioned by name, perhaps because the tribe was greatly reduced in size and its land portion was to be enclosed in the territory of Judah. In Ezekiel’s vision of the holy contribution and the 12 tribes, the tribes listed are the same as those who received a land inheritance as given in the book of Joshua. (Eze 48:1-8, 23-28) The tribe of Levi was located within “the holy contribution” in Ezekiel’s vision.—Eze 48:9-14, 22.

Answer 7

There are 12 tribes of Isreal. The Jews come from the house of Judah and represent only one of those 12 tribes. You can discover this information for yourself. Take the time to read the Book of Genesis.

Answer 8

Jews were having 12 tribes in their race, and those 12 tribes were form the 12 sons of Jacob whom God named 'Israel.' When we say Jews or House of Israel, that refers to all of them.

Answer 9

The Bible is the history of the nation of Israel. All tribes.

Answer 10

They are the descendants of Adam and Eve the 12 tribes of Israel...why would you not know that???...even agnostics know that...