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Israelites
The Israelites, also known as the Children of Israel, were an ancient Semitic-speaking people who inhabited Canaan during the Iron Age. They originated as the Hebrews and spoke an archaic variety of the Hebrew language that is commonly called Biblical Hebrew by association with the Hebrew Bible. Their community consisted of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and was concentrated in Israel and Judah, which were two adjoined kingdoms whose capital cities were Samaria and Jerusalem, respectively.
Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanite populations and other peoples of the ancient Near East. The Israelite religion revolved around Yahweh, who was an ancient Semitic god with less significance in the broader Canaanite religion. Around 720 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, triggering the Assyrian captivity; and around 586 BCE, the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, triggering the Babylonian captivity. While most of Israel's population was irreversibly dispossessed as a result of Assyrian resettlement policy, Judah's population was rehabilitated by the Achaemenid Empire following the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were the descendants of Jacob (later known as Israel), who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Due to a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his twelve sons migrated to Egypt, where each son became the progenitor and namesake of an Israelite tribe. These tribes came to constitute a distinct nation, which was enslaved by "the Pharaoh" before being led out of Egypt by the Hebrew prophet Moses, whose successor Joshua oversaw the Israelite conquest of Canaan. After taking control of Canaan, they established a kritarchy and eventually founded the United Monarchy, which split into independent Israel in the north and independent Judah in the south. Scholars generally consider the Hebrew Bible's narrative to be part of the Israelites' national myth, but believe that there is a "historical core" to some of the events in it. The historicity of the United Monarchy is widely disputed. In the context of Hebrew scripture, Canaan is also variously described as the Promised Land, the Land of Israel, Zion, or the Holy Land.
Historically, Jews and Samaritans have been two closely related ethno-religious groups descended from the Israelites; Jews trace their ancestry to the tribes that inhabited the Kingdom of Judah, namely Judah, Benjamin, and partially Levi, while Samaritans trace their ancestry to the tribes that inhabited the Kingdom of Israel and remained after the Assyrian captivity, namely Ephraim, Manasseh, and partially Levi. Furthermore, Judaism and Samaritanism are fundamentally rooted in Israelite religious and cultural traditions. There are several other groups claiming affiliation with the Israelites, but most of them have unproven lineage and are not recognized as either Jewish or Samaritan.
The first reference to Israel in non-biblical sources is found in the Merneptah Stele in c. 1209 BCE. The inscription is very brief and says: "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not". The inscription refers to a people, not an individual or nation state, who inhabit central Palestine or the highlands of Samaria. Some Egyptologists suggest that Israel appeared in earlier topographical reliefs, dating to the Eighteenth Dynasty or Nineteenth Dynasty (i.e. reign of Ramesses II) , but this reading remains controversial.
In the Hebrew Bible, Israel first appears in Genesis 32:29, where an angel renames Jacob to Israel after Jacob fought with him. According to the folk etymology given in the text, Israel is derived from yisra, "to prevail over" or "to struggle with", and El, a Canaanite-Mesopotamian creator god that is tenuously identified with Yahweh. However, modern scholarship interprets El as the subject, "El rules/struggles", from sarar (שָׂרַר) 'to rule' (cognate with sar (שַׂר) 'ruler', Akkadian šarru 'ruler, king'), which is likely cognate with the similar root sara (שׂרה) "fought, strove, contended". Dr. Tzemah Yoreh clarifies that Israel is a combination of 'to strive with' (ש.ר.ה) and 'God' (אל) and that Jacob's name alternates between Jacob and Israel in the biblical narrative, even after his renaming, due to the authors having different opinions about Jacob's moral character.
Biblically, the Israelites referred to the direct descendants of Israel, a view that was reinforced by Second Temple Judaism. They referred to themselves as the sons of Israel., gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) could fully assimilate into the Israelite community.
Some scholars interpret sons of Israel as citizens of the Israelite community, especially after Israel's biological family transitioned from a clan to a society (Exodus 1:9). In fact, there is evidence of gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) assimilating into the Israelite community.
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Israelites
The Israelites, also known as the Children of Israel, were an ancient Semitic-speaking people who inhabited Canaan during the Iron Age. They originated as the Hebrews and spoke an archaic variety of the Hebrew language that is commonly called Biblical Hebrew by association with the Hebrew Bible. Their community consisted of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and was concentrated in Israel and Judah, which were two adjoined kingdoms whose capital cities were Samaria and Jerusalem, respectively.
Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanite populations and other peoples of the ancient Near East. The Israelite religion revolved around Yahweh, who was an ancient Semitic god with less significance in the broader Canaanite religion. Around 720 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, triggering the Assyrian captivity; and around 586 BCE, the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, triggering the Babylonian captivity. While most of Israel's population was irreversibly dispossessed as a result of Assyrian resettlement policy, Judah's population was rehabilitated by the Achaemenid Empire following the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were the descendants of Jacob (later known as Israel), who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Due to a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his twelve sons migrated to Egypt, where each son became the progenitor and namesake of an Israelite tribe. These tribes came to constitute a distinct nation, which was enslaved by "the Pharaoh" before being led out of Egypt by the Hebrew prophet Moses, whose successor Joshua oversaw the Israelite conquest of Canaan. After taking control of Canaan, they established a kritarchy and eventually founded the United Monarchy, which split into independent Israel in the north and independent Judah in the south. Scholars generally consider the Hebrew Bible's narrative to be part of the Israelites' national myth, but believe that there is a "historical core" to some of the events in it. The historicity of the United Monarchy is widely disputed. In the context of Hebrew scripture, Canaan is also variously described as the Promised Land, the Land of Israel, Zion, or the Holy Land.
Historically, Jews and Samaritans have been two closely related ethno-religious groups descended from the Israelites; Jews trace their ancestry to the tribes that inhabited the Kingdom of Judah, namely Judah, Benjamin, and partially Levi, while Samaritans trace their ancestry to the tribes that inhabited the Kingdom of Israel and remained after the Assyrian captivity, namely Ephraim, Manasseh, and partially Levi. Furthermore, Judaism and Samaritanism are fundamentally rooted in Israelite religious and cultural traditions. There are several other groups claiming affiliation with the Israelites, but most of them have unproven lineage and are not recognized as either Jewish or Samaritan.
The first reference to Israel in non-biblical sources is found in the Merneptah Stele in c. 1209 BCE. The inscription is very brief and says: "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not". The inscription refers to a people, not an individual or nation state, who inhabit central Palestine or the highlands of Samaria. Some Egyptologists suggest that Israel appeared in earlier topographical reliefs, dating to the Eighteenth Dynasty or Nineteenth Dynasty (i.e. reign of Ramesses II) , but this reading remains controversial.
In the Hebrew Bible, Israel first appears in Genesis 32:29, where an angel renames Jacob to Israel after Jacob fought with him. According to the folk etymology given in the text, Israel is derived from yisra, "to prevail over" or "to struggle with", and El, a Canaanite-Mesopotamian creator god that is tenuously identified with Yahweh. However, modern scholarship interprets El as the subject, "El rules/struggles", from sarar (שָׂרַר) 'to rule' (cognate with sar (שַׂר) 'ruler', Akkadian šarru 'ruler, king'), which is likely cognate with the similar root sara (שׂרה) "fought, strove, contended". Dr. Tzemah Yoreh clarifies that Israel is a combination of 'to strive with' (ש.ר.ה) and 'God' (אל) and that Jacob's name alternates between Jacob and Israel in the biblical narrative, even after his renaming, due to the authors having different opinions about Jacob's moral character.
Biblically, the Israelites referred to the direct descendants of Israel, a view that was reinforced by Second Temple Judaism. They referred to themselves as the sons of Israel., gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) could fully assimilate into the Israelite community.
Some scholars interpret sons of Israel as citizens of the Israelite community, especially after Israel's biological family transitioned from a clan to a society (Exodus 1:9). In fact, there is evidence of gentiles (i.e. resident aliens) assimilating into the Israelite community.
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