[William Terrell]

If "Yehuda" is the word for both Tribe Judah and the Southern Kindom, it could not have come into being until the tribes split into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. This would be because the Southern Kingdom included Tribe Benjamin and Levite priests and teachers.

The word Jew appears in the Bible and the Septuagint when refering to this combination of tribes. Therefore it's a word symbol meaning the House of Judah, composed of the above mentioned tribes. The English word "Jew" was in fact coined centuries after the Bible was written. It was the term used to translate, I presume, "Yehuda" into that language.

"Jews" wouldn't have come into being until the split of Israel into the two Houses, and then wouldn't have had any meaning until the House of Judah was forced to integrate with other no-Israelite peoples. Therefore every reference to Biblical characters before the split of kingdoms, and in reality, before the capture of Judah by the Babylonians, as "Jewish" is not accurate.

When God gave the House of Judah over to Babylon, the Babylons would have a word to refer to these people, which would translate to "Jew" if refered to now. So, in that case you would be right. All those foreigners who knew the House of Judah would have had a word meaning that combination of tribes.

Once the House of Judah became part of the Roman Empire, the Roman word symbol would be translated now into "Jew" in English, refering to the tribe composition of that House. During this period was the birth and the life of Jesus, which is why the New Testament refers to translated word "Jew". The House of Judah was the only part of Israel there at the time.

The whole bone of contention around "Jew" and "Jewish" is that all of the tribes of Jacob (Israel) are being called Jews now, when in fact that word, in English, came to mean the remnants of the House of Judah. There were two tribes in the House of Judah, with their compliment of Levite priests, and ten tribes in the House of Israel, with the rest of the Levite priests. The majority of Abraham's seed through Jacob is still in the World; they are still inheritors of the covenant and they are not Jews.

[Inyokern]

The whole bone of contention around "Jew" and "Jewish" is that all of the tribes of Jacob (Israel) are being called Jews now, when in fact that word, in English, came to mean the remnants of the House of Judah.

My only bone of contention was that Lost Tribe said that the "Judeans" who remained in Babylonia after the captivity were not Jews and were "unaccounted for." This is simply not true. The "Judeans" who remained in Babylonia and in Egypt (don't forget that there were as many Jews who fled to Egypt as were captured by the Babylonians) were diaspora Jews and very likely make up the majority of modern Jews in the world today.