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In I Chronicles 17:21-22 we see David praying this to YHWH: "And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people – to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? For You have made Your people Israel your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God."
So, there is nothing special in the term "Hebrew", other than God chose this part of the family tree from Noah, to make a great Name for Himself and to redeem the world.
Wayne Blank of Daily Bible Study wrote the following:
The term "Hebrew" was first associated with Abram, and does not trace back to Adam and Eve, other than to say that Adam and Eve were the progenitors of Abram and Sarah. YHWH started identifying Abram and his sons as Hebrews because they would be the family, or ethnic people of the earth, that God had chosen (not the other way around), to make known His mighty Name and to bring salvation to the world. Later when Jacob was born, God changed his name to Israel, and the offspring of Abram would not only be known as Hebrews, but would be further defined by God to be the children of Israel, or Israelites. Therefore, anyone, who participates and accepts the New Covenant of Yeshua, be they Jew or Gentile, become Israelites and are partakers in all of the covenants God gave to Abram and His sons.
From two other people come two other very well-known identities: Israelites are the descendants of Isaac's son Jacob, who God renamed Israel, and from Jacob's son Judah come the terms Jew and Jewish.
So how do all of these designations relate to the people involved?
- The term Shemite is derived from Noah's son Shem.
- The term Hebrew is derived from Shem's descendant Eber. Eber was a Shemite, and the first Hebrew, but not an Israelite or a Jew because neither existed yet.
- Abraham was Eber's descendant. Abraham was a Shemite and a Hebrew, but not an Israelite or a Jew because neither existed yet.
- Isaac was Abraham's son. Isaac was a Shemite and a Hebrew, but not an Israelite or a Jew because neither existed yet.
- Jacob, who God renamed Israel, was Isaac's son. Jacob was a Shemite and a Hebrew, but not a Jew because Jews originated with his son Judah. The first Israelites were the children of Jacob.
- Judah was one of Jacob's twelve sons Judah was a Shemite, a Hebrew, and an Israelite. The first Jews were the children of Judah. The descendants of the other eleven of Jacob's sons were not Jews, but were themselves named accordingly e.g. from Levi came the Levites, from Benjamin came the Benjamites and so on.
A vitally important fact in understanding Bible Prophecy is that while all Jews are Israelites, not all Israelites are Jews. All are Hebrews, but only the descendants of Judah are Jews.
For more information, please see Was Abraham a Jew?
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