Jew

Jew (Hebrew Yehudi, from the patriarch Judah) was originally a designation for members of the tribe of Judah or citizens of the kingdom of Judah. The earliest biblical use of the term in this narrow sense is 2 Kings 16:6, where Rezin of Syria "drove the Jews from Elath." After the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 B.C., the term gradually expanded to describe all Israelites, as the kingdom of Judah became the surviving political expression of the people of God.

By the time of the New Testament, "Jew" (Ioudaios) had become the universal term for adherents to the religion and ethnicity rooted in the covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David — as distinct from Samaritans, Gentiles, and proselytes. Paul's argument in Romans 2:28-29 redefines the term theologically: "A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly... No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart." Galatians 3:28 further declares that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek" — not abolishing but transcending ethnic distinction in the new covenant community (2 Kings 16:6).