Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: johnw@stew.ssl.berkeley.edu (John Warren) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Born Again Message-ID: Date: 28 Apr 91 22:17:35 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Space Science Labs Lines: 21 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article billg@bony1.bony.com (Bill Gripp) writes: >Some sources claim that Jacob (after he was "renamed" >Israel) was the first Jew. Abraham is the "father of many nations" >but I would not necessarily call him the first Jew. The word 'Jew' is a shortening of Judah. It was first used in the Bible in Kings (or was that Chronicles?) to refer to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah (who included the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and some of Levi), distinguishing them from the people of the northern kingdom of Israel (who included probably others of Levi and the other 10 tribes; remember that Joseph counts as two tribes); it was first used after the kingdom of Israel split into Judah and Israel in the days of Solomon's son Rehoboam. A couple hundred years later the northern kingdom of Israel was taken into bondage by Assyria and have never been heard from again (or have they?), and the southern kingdom were the ancestors of the people we call Jews. Abraham was not a Jew, Jacob was not a Jew, Joseph was not a Jew, David was a Jew, Jesus was a Jew, Zerubbabel was a Jew, etc. John Warren