Why can’t Jesus be a Jew? (Jesus Christ, Moses, Torah)

[roy1928]

Judea and Galilee were two separate states and political entities, as illustrated on the map of Palestine in the time of our Saviour in the Bible. Jesus Himself was a Galilean or resident of Galilee (Matthew 26:69; John 7:41), and a Judahite or descendent of the Tribe of Judah. The Judeans of prominence were not of the Tribe of Judah, but of Edomites. Pilate was being ironic when he wrote the sign "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Judeans" for the Cross (John 19:19). That is, "the Galilean who was King of the Judeans," as in "Queen Victoria of England, Empress of India." Jesus grew up in Nazareth in Galilee. His disciples were fishermen from the Sea of Galilee. And although He visited Jerusalem, he spent most of His life in his home country of Galilee. John 7:1, "After this Jesus stayed in Galilee; for He could not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him." His followers were constrained "for fear of the Jews" (John 7:13, 19:38, 20:19).


We know that Saul was the first king of Israel and that John was the first man called Baptist, but who was the first Jew? Neither Adam, Seth or Noah are called Jew. Nor were Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. Moses was not called a Jew and neither were Saul, David or Solomon called Jew. In fact you will not find the word Jew in the first eleven books of the Bible. The first time Jews are mentioned in the Bible, is in II Kings 16:6 (and then only in translations revised in the eighteenth century) where we find Israel was at war with the Jews and drave the Jews from Elath. Jesus Christ tells John in Revelation 2:9 . We know that God changed the name of Abram to Abraham in Genesis 17:5, and that He changed the name of Jacob to Israel in Genesis 32:28, but nowhere in the Bible do we find where God changed the name of Israel to Jew! There is therefore no authority by which those who say they are Jews can claim to be Israel!

By the time of Jesus the word Edom or Edomite had been translated by Greek and Latin into Ioudaios and Iudaeus meaning a Judean or person living in Judea. The original King James version of the Bible, 1611, translated Idumaean-Judean into Iewes. It wasn't until the revised editions of the King James Bible, that the word Jew appeared. The word Jew does not mean Israel or Israelite!

Psalm 83:3 says God's elect are "hidden" or protected ones, and that they are under attack from a coalition of evil groups led by Edom. Who was Edom?


Terrible judgements against Edom are made in most of the prophecies of the Old Testament. For instance, Isaiah 34, 63, Jeremiah 49, and the entire book of Obadiah.

The Talmud was originally compiled by the Edomites and Canaanites of whom our Lord spoke to in John 8


"If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me ... If God were your father, you would love Me ... Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to hear My Word. You are of your father the Diabolical One, and the lusts of your father you wish to do. That one was a murderer from the beginning, and he has not stood in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own, because he is a liar, and the father of it. ... He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear Me, because you are not of God."


http://judaism.about.com/od/jewishvi...sus_onegod.htm

[Ðanisty]

I thought Jesus was a Jew....

[Mike182]

wasn't it claimed that he be the King of the Jews? i suspect one would need be a Jew to take on that title...

[Aqualung]

Yeah, I'm with those who have already posted. Jesus WAS a Jew. Christianity was considered a sect of judaism for quite a while.

[standing_on_one_foot]

Originally Posted by roy1928

We know that Saul was the first king of Israel and that John was the first man called Baptist, but who was the first Jew?

Well, the general understanding is that the Israelites became Jews (as the word is used today) once they got the Torah and all that.

You're using linguistic distinctions in a rather odd fashion; especially seeing as how the word Jew has changed over time. By the modern term, Jesus was a Jew.

I'm not entirely sure what you've got against Judaism, but I feel you're treading on pretty shakey theological ground here.

And the link you bring in doesn't really seem to have anything to do with your point. It's more a discussion of why Jews aren't Christians...with which I would agree.

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by standing_on_one_foot

Well, the general understanding is that the Israelites became Jews (as the word is used today) once they got the Torah and all that.

They became Jews after the other tribes were dispersed and Judah was the only tribe left over. Or, the tribe of Jewdah, if you prefer.

[Scuba Pete]

Yeah, Jesus was Jewish as were ALL of the Apostles. That's why it's funny to hear them being called anti-semitic.

[Anti-World]

Pilate was being ironic when he wrote the sign "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Judeans" for the Cross (John 19:19). That is, "the Galilean who was King of the Judeans," as in "Queen Victoria of England, Empress of India."

Pilate took time out of his day to write a sign for a guy that was about to be crucified for crimes Pilate didn't think he committed? I have a *really* hard to trusting that statement.

You've gotten me thinking though so I decided to look up the definition of the word.

1.one of a scattered group of people that traces its descent from the Biblical Hebrews or from postexilic adherents of Judaism; Israelite. 2.a person whose religion is Judaism. 3.a subject of the ancient kingdom of Judah.

Obviously, since Jesus was a descendent of David (Who was the king of Israel.) he was an Israelite which, according to the first definition, is a Jew. It really doesn't have much to do with the land at all or whether what the sign said was a joke or not, the simple proposed lineage of Jesus blows the whole argument out of the water.

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by Anti-World

Pilate was being ironic when he wrote the sign "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Judeans" for the Cross (John 19:19). That is, "the Galilean who was King of the Judeans," as in "Queen Victoria of England, Empress of India."

Pilate took time out of his day to write a sign for a guy that was about to be crucified for crimes Pilate didn't think he committed? I have a *really* hard to trusting that statement.

You've gotten me thinking though so I decided to look up the definition of the word.

1.one of a scattered group of people that traces its descent from the Biblical Hebrews or from postexilic adherents of Judaism; Israelite. 2.a person whose religion is Judaism. 3.a subject of the ancient kingdom of Judah.

Obviously, since Jesus was a descendent of David (Who was the king of Israel.) he was an Israelite which, according to the first definition, is a Jew. It really doesn't have much to do with the land at all or whether what the sign said was a joke or not, the simple proposed lineage of Jesus blows the whole argument out of the water.

The Biblical geneologies say that Jesus was of the Tribe of Judah (aka, a Jew).