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Question
I've noticed that in many stories about Exodus, the Hebrews are called Jews. It is my understanding that the Hebrews were not referred to as Jews until long after they entered The Promised Land, and The Book of Ester was written. Didn't the word Jew derive from the land of Judea which was named for Judha, one of The Twelve Tribes of Israel?
Answer
In the book of Exodus, the Jewish
people are referred to as Bnei Yisroel (Children of Israel, Israelites)
- (Exodus 1:1, 1:7 et al), and Ivri (Hebrews) - (ibid 1:15, 2:11 et al).
When the Jewish people entered Israel, and the kings were from the tribe
of Judah, they were also referred to as Yehudim (Jews) - (II Kings 16:6;
Jeremiah 32:12, et al).
With blessings from Jerusalem,
Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Aish.com
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