The word "Jew" in Scripture
Yahudah was the name of one of the 12 sons of Ya'aqob (Jacob) renamed Israel by Yahweh (G-d). The Yahudim were known in Scriptural history as the people that occupied the "Southern Kingdom" of Yahud, the Southern portion of the "original" land that was set apart for Israel (before the dispersion) by Yahweh. As used in the "Modern" English translated Scriptures, the word 'Jew' is a miss-translated English word to refer to a Yahudim, a native or inhabitant (which would include many diverse races and people groups) of those who were living in the region of Yahud. It is similar as the word 'American' includes many diverse peoples living in the Country called 'America'. The word Yahudim most often refers to an advocate or an adherent to the religion of the Scriptural Yahudi. In some cases it may refer to a literal descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, one of the descendants of the tribe named after Yahudah, but this would be very rare.
It is important to remember, that, In the original Scriptures:
it is Yahudah, not Judah
it is Yahudi, not Jews, or Yews, or Iues
it is the religion of Yahudaism, not Judaism, or Jewism
it is the Ancient Kingdom of Yahud, not Judah
it is Yahudim, or Yahudym, (people of any race in the Kingdom of Yahud) not Judahite
The Hebrew letter "Yowd" (Y) and the "He' (hay) have always been a part of Yahudah's name, pronounced as "Yah." The Scriptural people of the tribe of Yahudah carried the name of the Creator Yahweh "Yah" in their name "Yah be praised" (Genesis 29: 35)." The word Jew(s), and the word Jewish, or the word Judaism, does not include the name of the Almighty Creator (Yah-weh). This reason alone is evidence that the Jews are not descendants of the Israelite tribe of Yahudah!
It must also be remembered, that modern dictionary definitions are based on popular meanings, but that they are not always historical, and do not always follow correct etymology of the Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek sounds, or meaning of the word(s). For example: The Greek word "Ioudaios" does not mean "Jew" or "Jewish" which are only English developed words dating from the 15th century.
The Greek letter " I " (iota) is pronounced as the " I " in mach-I-ne. The "o" (is the Greek letter (aw-micron) pronounced as the "o" in l-o-g it is NOT an English "o" but a different letter altogether in Greek. Together the first two letters of the Greek word "Io-udaios" are pronounced in English as "ee-aw." This approximates the Hebrew and English sound of "Yah" in the Greek tongue.
The Greek letter " u " (upsilon) is pronounced as the " u " in l-u-te. The " d " (delta) is pronounced as " d " in d-og. The " a " (alpha) is pronounced as " a " in f-a-ther. These three Greek letters of the Greek word "Io-uda-ios" are pronounced in English as "oo-dah." Together it is "ee-aw-oo-dah" or the same as Yahudah in Hebrew.
The Greek letters " io " of the Greek word "Io-uda-io-s" are also pronounced "ee-aw" (signifies, that the case is plural) The final "s" (sigma) is commonly used to signal the end of the name in Greek, since Scriptural Greek did not have punctuation marks.
All-together, the Greek word "Ioudaios" is pronounced as "ee-aw-oo-dah-ee-aws" similar to Yahudah(s) in plural, is as it should be correctly transliterated into English from the Greek.
The Greeks simply transliterated the Hebrew word "Yahudah(s)" into the like-sounding letters of their Greek language. The meaning is generally one who is a resident of the Southern Kingdom, of any nationality (a subject), but in some cases it could mean one who is a literal descendant of Yahudah, depending on context.
Modern Jews are called Jews from their religion which is called Jewism, or Judaism. There is no relationship of the Jews, by race or religion, with the Scriptural Yahudi of the tribe of Israel that was called Yahudah.
Presented for aletheia, by the Assembly of Yahweh, Cascade
A.O.Y., Cascade, Mount Vernon, WA, 98274
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