Jew, Jewess, Jewish
Jew, Jewess, Jewish
ju, joo, juish, joo-ish (, yehudh, plural , yehudhm; , Ioudaoi; feminine adjective , yehudhth; , Ioudaikos): Jew denotes originally an inhabitant of Judah (2Ki 16:6 applies to the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom), but later the meaning was extended to embrace all descendants of Abraham. In the Old Testament the word occurs a few times in the singular. (Est 2:5; Est 3:4, etc.; Jer 34:9; Zec 8:23); very frequently in the plural in Ezra and Nehemiah, Esther, and in Jeremiah and Daniel. The adjective in the Old Testament applies only to the Jews’ language or speech (2Ki 18:26, 2Ki 18:28 parallel Neh 13:24; Isa 36:11, Isa 36:13). Jews (always plural) is the familiar term for Israelites in the Gospels (especially in John), Acts, Epistles, etc. Jewess occurs in 1Ch 4:18; Act 16:1; Act 24:24. In Tit 1:14 a warning is given against Jewish fables (in Greek the adjective is found also in Gal 2:14). The Jews’ religion (Ioudaismos) is referred to in Gal 1:13, Gal 1:14. On the Jews’ language,” see LANGUAGES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; on the Jews’ religion, see ISRAEL, RELIGION OF.