For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16
One issue that I addressed in my recent post ‘Islamo-Christian Values’ was the definition of ‘Jew’. But it is a complex subject, and raised further questions, so I think it is worthwhile to look again at the issue. As usual I am going to look at the issue from a Biblical perspective. Which will mean taking a look at how the modern world uses the term, but definitely not stopping there. Or even starting there.
Anti-Semitism
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
Esther 5:11-13
Let us first take a quick glance at a horrible word… one of those modern words that is so incredibly unhelpful in so many ways but which can’t really be ignored when talking about ‘the Jews’… ‘anti-semitism’.
First of all, let us ask whether the term is actually referencing ‘the Jews’. To do that we need to look at linguistics (yeah, I know, I always go there) and look at three words: etymology, denotation, and connotation.
Etymology
The etymology of a word, put very briefly, is where a word comes from. Or, as often used, it is where the parts of a word comes from. Thus in ‘anti-semitism’ we have three parts ‘anti’, ‘semite’, and ‘ism’. ‘Ism’ is easy, meaning ‘the set of beliefs’, ‘Anti’ is easy, meaning ‘against’, which leaves us only ‘Semite’ as having a bit of controversy. Does ‘Semite’ mean ‘Jew’ or something else?
The quick answer is ‘yes’. The term ‘Semite’ comes from ‘Shem’, a son of Noah, and thus ‘Semite’ would, technically, mean any descendant of Shem. However there is a good deal of controversy as to whether anyone ever actually used ‘Semite’ as a way of meaning ‘all descendants of Shem’ in the term ‘anti-Semite’. But let us assume that that is where the word came from: that someone coined the word to mean ‘people who are against all of the descendants of Shem’.1
Denotation
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Matthew 2:1-2
The denotation of a word means the ‘dictionary definition’. If the word ever meant ‘opposed to all descendants of Shem’ or ‘all speakers of Semitic languages’, that meaning has been lost to all dictionaries. At least I couldn’t find a single dictionary which defined the word that broadly. The word is a fairly new one, my favourite dictionary, Webster’s 1828, doesn’t include it. But all modern dictionaries define the term as meaning anti-Jewish in some fashion or other.
Connotation
And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.
Esther 10:2-3
The connotation of a word is ‘the way a word is used in everyday speech’, with a particular emphasis on the broader or more idiosyncratic ways outside of the denotation. Thus we have ‘high school’, even though those schools are not particularly tall or advanced (the denotations of ‘high’). Here we run into a huge set of problems, but none that move us back to the idea of ‘All Semitic people’. Both seemingly positive statements about the Jews, such as ‘they are all rich’ or ‘they are in control of the world’, and negative statements, such as ‘they are all dirty’ or ‘they have big noses’, both get classed as ‘anti-semitic’.
(Seriously, why would it be ‘anti’ a given group to say that they are smarter, better educated, richer, and in charge of the world? In general, it is considered racist against other groups to say that your group is smarter than they are! But, there is no accounting for taste.)
Who is a Jew?
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Romans 9:1-5
So next we need to bring our guns to bear on a primary question: What is a Jew? And it is not an easy question to answer:
Etymology
The etymology of the word would seem to be easy. The word ‘Jew’ comes from the word ‘Judah’, which applies specifically to one of the sons of Jacob (Israel) and refers to his descendants. (I wonder, would one consider Judah himself a ‘Jew’ :) )
Denotation
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
Jeremiah 44:1-2
But this definition falls apart pretty quickly when it comes to the ‘definition’ of the word. Because the word ‘Jew’ was used to refer to any descendant of Jacob, not merely those of Judah. Historically this is understandable, the descendants of Judah were the largest surviving group who were returned to Israel, and thus the majority of those ‘named’ under the term. So Paul claims lineage from Benjamin, but is still called a ‘Jew’.
But that is a trivial problem compared to the issue of what type of descendants we are talking about. Is a Jew a member of a racial group, or a religious group? And given that even the racial group includes those who are not related physically… the definition gets really complex.
(Note: So, for example, Abraham married his half sister, and Isaac his cousine, and Jacob his cousines, but Judah himself had children via a Cannanite woman, and any cursory reading of the text shows that women, at the very least, could be brought in in marriage, and that even men could be adopted or grafted in via conversion or slavery. Thus it is perfectly possible to have huge swaths of ‘Jews’ who have no genetic connection to Judah!
And according to the way that modern Jews count their heritage, a Jewish father who has children with a non-Jewish mother does not produce Jewish children; but a Jewish mother who has children with a Gentile father does produce Jewish children. )
But then we add in the religious aspect and things get really wild. A full-blooded Gentile can convert to Judaism in a religious sense, and a full-blooded Jew can apostatize away. And let’s not even go into the issue of circumcision.
And in modern terms, we can have an ‘Israeli’ who is neither racially nor religiously Jewish but who still holds an Israeli passport and can very well be treated as a ‘Jew’ by outsiders.
Connotation
And given the incredible complexity of the denotation, I won’t even bother to get into the various connotations of the word ‘Jew’.
The Scriptures
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:1-4
When the Scriptures say things like ‘to the Jew first’ what do they mean? The answer, like that above, is very complex.
The Words
We need to start our search by realising that the word ‘Jew’ is not the only word that the Scriptures use to speak of… the Jews. We see the same group of people (or not the same group of people, as we will see below) spoken of with the word ‘Israel’, ‘the circumcision’, ‘sons of Abraham’, and the like. There are a large number of distinctions that are made, but they are not made using different words. Thus we have statements such as ‘not all Israel which are of Israel’.
The Core and the Contradictions
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Romans 9:6-7
One way to look at the distinctions is that of the core and the contradiction. Lassie is a dog, but not all dogs are Lassie. Definitions are not math. So while it is true to say that someone is a Jew if they are genetically descended from Judah and worship Christ as the Messiah… and it is thus true to say that someone who doesn’t worship Christ is ‘not a Jew’… it is also true that they are a Jew. “Not all Israel which are of Israel”. The words are used in both ways.
For the Christian, then, we need to be comfortable using the word ‘Jew’ in at least three ways: those who are ‘ethnically’ Jewish (which would include adoption, marriage, etc.), those who are of the ‘Jewish religion’ (which stands in opposition to Christ), and true Israel, which serves Christ. It may be confusing, but all three of these are in Scripture. We are stuck with them.
The Synagogue of Satan
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Revelation 3:9
Another line to lay down is that one does not become a Jew merely by calling yourself a Jew. Christ Himself rebuked the Pharisees for claiming lineage from Abraham, but denying the doctrine of Abraham. Which, given our three definitions, above, makes perfect sense.
Natural Branches
Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Romans 11:19-21
But, contrariwise, one does not eliminate the distinction between Jew and Greek. In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, but in history there are. Just as in Christ there are no male or female, but Paul still gives differing instructions for men and women in the church.
The Jews, in God’s salvation plan, are the natural branches; we gentiles, the wild branches grafted onto the tree. But both of us depend upon the root, which is Christ, and neither of us can be saved outside of that root.
Modern Jews
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Romans 11:1-5
One question that is making the rounds is… are all the people who call themselves Jews today ‘really Jews’? My answer: I have no idea. Nor do I care. God knows.
But one thing I do know: you can’t have it both ways. You can’t both complain about ‘the Jews’ and then say ‘…who aren’t Jews’. You can’t both call down every single curse and complaint in the Scriptures regarding ‘the Jews’ against them, and at the same time deny they are Jews. You can’t say ‘The Jews killed Christ’ and then turn around and say, of the same people you were cursing a moment ago, ‘They aren’t Jews’.
Indeed, I will go further. You can’t call down every curse of Scripture, without calling down every blessing. If they aren’t Jews, if they are merely deluded Gentiles, well, then, they are Gentiles and should be treated like it. If they are Jews, then boast not against the branches.
You say they have an anti-Christian religion? Well, what of it? All religions except Christianity (and many people who call themselves Christians and claim Jesus as Lord) are anti-Christian. Some of whom slaughter hundreds or thousands of Christians every year.
To the Jew first
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil,
of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good,
to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Rom 2:7-10
So let us return to where we started… when Paul says ‘to the Jew first’. Who is the ‘Jew’ mentioned?
Well, one thing is clear, there is not a clear dividing line vis a vis their acceptance of Christ. When speaking of salvation, Paul says ‘unto… the Jew first’, and contrasts them with Gentiles. And likewise of damnation… ‘to the Jew first’, followed by the Gentile (or Greek).
The implication seems clear, continuing what we discussed in my first article: that God has, in history, dealt with all people. But He began his work in history choosing one particular nation, the Jews (Abraham, Isaac, Israel), and then, with the advent of Christ, as promised to Abraham, he expanded this to all nations.
But there is a larger matter here, a far larger matter: our duty. Because it seems to me that what is often lost in this debate is our duty. Our duty to preach the gospel… to the Jew first and also to the Greek. That whichever group we are speaking to: Muslims, Jews, or confused post-moderns, our goal, our job, is to preach the truth; to preach the gospel.
Is that not what Paul preaches when he speaks of the natural branches? That there will come a day, and may God bring it quickly, when both Jew and Gentile will be united in bowing the knee to Christ?
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Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books include:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid
and
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/esther-and-haman-the-first-martyr-of-noticing.html
https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/172337.html
anti-Semite | Etymology of anti-Semite by etymonline
Anti-Semitic League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia