Ioudaios

Ioudaios (Ancient Greek: Ἰουδαῖος; pl. Ἰουδαῖοι Ioudaioi) is an Ancient Greek ethnonym used in classical and biblical literature which commonly translates to "Jew" or "Judean".

The choice of translation is the subject of frequent scholarly debate, given its central importance to passages in the Bible (both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament) as well as works of other writers such as Josephus and Philo. Translating it as Jews is seen to imply connotations as to the religious beliefs of the people, whereas translating it as Judeans confines the identity within the geopolitical boundaries of Judea.

A related translation debate refers to the terms ἰουδαΐζειν (verb), literally translated as "Judaizing" (compare Judaizers), and Ἰουδαϊσμός (noun), controversially translated as Judaism or Judeanism.

The Hebrew term Yehudi (יְהוּדִי‎) occurs 74 times in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible. It occurs first in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 16:6 where Rezin king of Syria drove the 'Jews' out of Elath, and earliest among the prophets in Jeremiah 32:12 of 'Jews' that sat in the court of the prison." In the Septuagint the term is translated Ioudaios.

According to Shaye J. D. Cohen, the meaning of the term "Ioudaios" evolved throughout the Second Temple period, with 2 Maccabees representing a greater emphasis on the cultural and religious aspects of Jewish identity. Despite this shift, later sources still highlight the importance of kinship and blood in Jewish national identity. For instance, Josephus recounts that Antigonus II Mattathias, the last Hasmonean king of Judea, labeled Herod a "half Judean," (ἡμιιουδαιος, or hemi-Ioudaios), referencing his Idumean ancestry, rather than his behavior.

The Ancient Greek term Ioudaismos (Ἰουδαϊσμός; from ἰουδαΐζειν 'to side with or imitate the [Judeans]'), often translated as "Judaism" or "Judeanism", first appears in 2 Maccabees in the 2nd century BC. In the context of the age and period it held the meaning of seeking or forming part of a cultural entity and resembles its antonym Hellenismos, meaning acceptance of Hellenic (Greek) cultural norms (the conflict between Ioudaismos and Hellenismos lay behind the Maccabean revolt and hence the invention of the term Ioudaismos). Shaye J. D. Cohen wrote:

We are tempted, of course, to translate [Ioudaismos] as "Judaism," but this translation is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, Ioudaismos has not yet be reduced to designation of a religion. It means rather "the aggregate of all those characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish)." Among these characteristics, to be sure, are practices and beliefs that we would today call "religious," but these practices and beliefs are not the sole content of the term. Thus Ioudaïsmos should be translated not as "Judaism" but as Judaeanness.

As mentioned above, translating it as "Jews" has implications about the beliefs of the people whereas translation as "Judeans" emphasizes their geographical origin.