The “Jesus was a Jew” Argument

TheSurveyor

Catholic
Remnant
Hello,

Every time I talk to fellow Christians about the JQ, many bring up the old, “Jesus was a Jew” argument. Which to me hold no weight, as the jews rejected Christ and have no sacraments. For the Christians here can you please share with me biblical evidence of the contrary that Jesus is not a Jew? And for my Orthodox and Catholic brethren can you share any quotes from early church fathers?
I would like to nip this in the butt, cause I tire of this never ending cycle of debating this. Thank you!
 
Hello,

Every time I talk to fellow Christians about the JQ, many bring up the old, “Jesus was a Jew” argument. Which to me hold no weight, as the jews rejected Christ and have no sacraments. For the Christians here can you please share with me biblical evidence of the contrary that Jesus is not a Jew? And for my Orthodox and Catholic brethren can you share any quotes from early church fathers?
I would like to nip this in the butt, cause I tire of this never ending cycle of debating this. Thank you!
Jesus is descended from Abraham, based on the promise God made to Abraham. Matthew 1:1 states this clearly. If you define "Jew" as something other than the lineage of Abraham leading up to Christ, then by that definition, Jesus is not a Jew.

If you accept the principle that it's best to use the same definitions for words that other people do, for the sake of mutual understanding, then I think you would have to accept that the lineage from Abraham to Jesus were Jews.

I know some people try to say Jew only refers to members of the tribe of Judah, but that still includes Jesus.

Why does it matter anyway?
 
Jesus was a Jew. He descends from the tribe of Judah as the prophecies said He would. That's a fact as mentioned in Isaiah 11:1-5. Jesse was the father of David, of the tribe of Judah.

"There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow out of his root. 2The Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness. 3The Spirit of the fear of God shall fill Him. He shall not judge by reputation nor convict by common talk. 4But He will judge the cause of the humble, and reprove the humble of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the word of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the ungodly. 5He shall gird His loins with righteousness and cover his sides with truth."

Remember, not all of the Jews rejected Christ. Some accepted Him and became Christians. The ones that still call themselves Jews have nothing to do with the faithful men and women of the Old Testament. This modern talmudic Judaism is demonic and an abomination. Because of their big egos, they couldn't accept that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah so they started inventing whatever garbage they came up with and putting it in the talmud.
 
You can refute this an infinite number of ways. @Thomas More hit the nail on the head that it's a matter of semantic confusion that the Jews use to their advantage. It's just a byproduct of folks not knowing history. You have to illustrate for them the difference between a 1st-century believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and modern Christ-denying Talmud-followers. You can ask them if they thought Christ's contemporaries were going around eating bagels and oy-veying and running the film business lol.

If you want verses look for the parables of the evil tenants, the parable of the wedding banquet, etc where Christ condemns the nonbelieving Jews in harsh terms (invariably followed by the Jews picking up stones to try and kill Him).

It really comes down to rejecting Christ. The Jews who accepted Christ, became Christians, although the righteous among them were always following the faith insofar as it was possible prior to Christ's incarnation. Push them on how they can view those who reject Christ as anything other than antichrist.

1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
 
I do not remember where I read it, but an explanation I heard was that Jesus was born from the Jews as a demonstration that even the worst of humanity could be redeemed.
 
I do not remember where I read it, but an explanation I heard was that Jesus was born from the Jews as a demonstration that even the worst of humanity could be redeemed.
I don't like that explanation, since the Jews had the Law of God, the Prophets, and the Temple while the rest of the Gentile world were still outright worshiping demons.

People mean different things when they say Jew. If you go with the Biblical definition, which is 'descended from the tribe of Judah', then it is undeniable that Jesus was a Jew and it is heretical to say otherwise.

It is not that Jesus wasn't a Jew, He is the True Jew. It is that the Jews today say they are Jews but they are not since they rejected the God of the Jews by nailing Him to the cross.
 
The word "jew" did not exist as we understand it now until a few centuries ago.

Yes Christ is of the lineage of Abraham, David, and everyone in between. His lineage is pure 1000% back to Adam, 42 generations.

This is a very important distinction to make because there has been a co-opting of our theology since the emergence of Theodor Herzl and his ideology, a co-opting by jews spreading massive confusion, heresies, blasphemies, and outright lies about The Lord.

This user SonsofGod on gab gives a decent post on this subject: https://gab.com/SonsofGod/posts/112167296453826805

I do not agree with some of his DNA aspect, but more of a semantic disagreement than a fundamental difference.

Many people make the mistake of calling Mosaism judaism, but they are not, they are two separate things entirely.

In another longer post, he elaborates on the vernacular and connotative usage of the word "jew" which many take for granted:

https://gab.com/SonsofGod/posts/112168700994042444

"The word jew, meaning someone who follows the Talmud, was invented in 1775 A.D., whereas the occurrences in the Bible took place from around 4000 B.C. to 70 A.D. When the translators of the Bible translated "jew" they either refer to a "Judean" or a "Judahite", meaning someone from the region Judea or a descendant of Judah. They don't refer to followers of judaism. At that time, judaism didn't exist - but their ungodly traditions did.

Its modern connotation points to someone who follows and adheres to a faith similar to that of the Pharisees of Judah, but is not of the tribe and stock of Judah. In other words, Jews are people from nations other than the 12 Hebrew tribes who practice a religion known as judaism/Pharisaism, the doctrine of the Pharisees.

It is much like those who believe in Christ and are called Christians, in honor of the One whom they follow, and their religion is known as Christianity, the doctrine of Christ.

In fact, the religion that is known as judaism is actually Pharisaism. Judaism – as it pertains to Pharisaism – is a misnomer, since it is neither the doctrine of Judah nor the doctrine that Christ practiced, hence not an Abrahamic faith.

Regarding the word “Jew,” Jewish-born historian Benjamin H. Freedman explained it thus:

“When the word ‘Jew’ was first introduced into the English language in the 18th century (1775) its one and only implication, inference and innuendo was ‘Judean’. During the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries a well-organized and well-financed international ‘pressure group’ created a so-called “secondary meaning” for the word ‘Jew’ among the English-speaking peoples of the world. This so-called ‘secondary meaning’ for the word ‘Jew’ bears no relation whatsoever to the 18th century original connotation of the word ‘Jew’. It is a misrepresentation.


As it stands, the adherents to Pharisaism or Rabbinists not only hijacked the word Judaism, but they also misappropriated the word Jew. However, over time and as it pertains to Christianity, the word Jew was completely hollowed out of its “Judean” or “Judahite” meaning because those who hijacked it were not of the tribe of Judah. In many Christian circles today, that word causes quite the confusion.

“The present generally accepted ‘secondary meaning’ of the word ‘jew’ is fundamentally responsible for the confusion in the minds of Christians regarding elementary tenets of the Christian faith,” continued historian Benjamin Freedman.

“It is likewise responsible today to a very great extent for the dilution of the devotion of countless Christians for their Christian faith. The implications, inferences and innuendoes of the word ‘jew’ today, to the preponderant majority of intelligent and informed Christians, is contradictory and in complete conflict with incontestable historic fact. Christians who cannot be fooled any longer are suspect of the Christian clergy who continue to repeat, and repeat, and repeat ad nauseam their pet theme song ‘Jesus was a jew’.

It actually now approaches a psychosis.

Countless Christians know today that they were brainwashed by the Christian clergy on the subject ‘Jesus was a jew‘… (They) are also becoming more and more alerted day by day why the so-called (or self-styled) jews throughout the world for three centuries have spent uncounted sums of money to manufacture the fiction that the ‘Judeans’ in the time of Jesus were ‘jews’ rather than ‘Judeans’, and that ‘Jesus was a jew’.”

When many Christians today interact with a jew they just met, their immediate reaction is to say, “Oh, Jesus was a jew too.” What they’re unwittingly saying is, “Oh, Jesus was a Pharisee too.”

It's nothing short of blasphemy.”


So Talmudism is not an Abrahamic faith whatsoever. It is actually a pagan and heathen faith where they pray to many demons and often make contracts with them. A jew is one who follows talmudism. These confused racial jews who follow the Torah only or are "jews for Jesus" or are "One for israel" (another massive psyop) are muddying the waters on purpose. They don't care about Christ and they only pervert His teachings further.

truth-JesusNotAJew.jpg

Here is the speech by Benjamin H Freedman that discusses the historical changes in the Scriptures in regards to jews:



It is blasphemy to say that Jesus is a jew. The jews are of the devil, and of course calling God satan is evil. Calling the Son of God evil is just as wicked.
 
The word "jew" did not exist as we understand it now until a few centuries ago.

Yes Christ is of the lineage of Abraham, David, and everyone in between. His lineage is pure 1000% back to Adam, 42 generations.

This is a very important distinction to make because there has been a co-opting of our theology since the emergence of Theodor Herzl and his ideology, a co-opting by jews spreading massive confusion, heresies, blasphemies, and outright lies about The Lord.

This user SonsofGod on gab gives a decent post on this subject: https://gab.com/SonsofGod/posts/112167296453826805

I do not agree with some of his DNA aspect, but more of a semantic disagreement than a fundamental difference.

Many people make the mistake of calling Mosaism judaism, but they are not, they are two separate things entirely.

In another longer post, he elaborates on the vernacular and connotative usage of the word "jew" which many take for granted:

https://gab.com/SonsofGod/posts/112168700994042444

"The word jew, meaning someone who follows the Talmud, was invented in 1775 A.D., whereas the occurrences in the Bible took place from around 4000 B.C. to 70 A.D. When the translators of the Bible translated "jew" they either refer to a "Judean" or a "Judahite", meaning someone from the region Judea or a descendant of Judah. They don't refer to followers of judaism. At that time, judaism didn't exist - but their ungodly traditions did.

Its modern connotation points to someone who follows and adheres to a faith similar to that of the Pharisees of Judah, but is not of the tribe and stock of Judah. In other words, Jews are people from nations other than the 12 Hebrew tribes who practice a religion known as judaism/Pharisaism, the doctrine of the Pharisees.

It is much like those who believe in Christ and are called Christians, in honor of the One whom they follow, and their religion is known as Christianity, the doctrine of Christ.

In fact, the religion that is known as judaism is actually Pharisaism. Judaism – as it pertains to Pharisaism – is a misnomer, since it is neither the doctrine of Judah nor the doctrine that Christ practiced, hence not an Abrahamic faith.

Regarding the word “Jew,” Jewish-born historian Benjamin H. Freedman explained it thus:

“When the word ‘Jew’ was first introduced into the English language in the 18th century (1775) its one and only implication, inference and innuendo was ‘Judean’. During the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries a well-organized and well-financed international ‘pressure group’ created a so-called “secondary meaning” for the word ‘Jew’ among the English-speaking peoples of the world. This so-called ‘secondary meaning’ for the word ‘Jew’ bears no relation whatsoever to the 18th century original connotation of the word ‘Jew’. It is a misrepresentation.


As it stands, the adherents to Pharisaism or Rabbinists not only hijacked the word Judaism, but they also misappropriated the word Jew. However, over time and as it pertains to Christianity, the word Jew was completely hollowed out of its “Judean” or “Judahite” meaning because those who hijacked it were not of the tribe of Judah. In many Christian circles today, that word causes quite the confusion.

“The present generally accepted ‘secondary meaning’ of the word ‘jew’ is fundamentally responsible for the confusion in the minds of Christians regarding elementary tenets of the Christian faith,” continued historian Benjamin Freedman.

“It is likewise responsible today to a very great extent for the dilution of the devotion of countless Christians for their Christian faith. The implications, inferences and innuendoes of the word ‘jew’ today, to the preponderant majority of intelligent and informed Christians, is contradictory and in complete conflict with incontestable historic fact. Christians who cannot be fooled any longer are suspect of the Christian clergy who continue to repeat, and repeat, and repeat ad nauseam their pet theme song ‘Jesus was a jew’.

It actually now approaches a psychosis.

Countless Christians know today that they were brainwashed by the Christian clergy on the subject ‘Jesus was a jew‘… (They) are also becoming more and more alerted day by day why the so-called (or self-styled) jews throughout the world for three centuries have spent uncounted sums of money to manufacture the fiction that the ‘Judeans’ in the time of Jesus were ‘jews’ rather than ‘Judeans’, and that ‘Jesus was a jew’.”

When many Christians today interact with a jew they just met, their immediate reaction is to say, “Oh, Jesus was a jew too.” What they’re unwittingly saying is, “Oh, Jesus was a Pharisee too.”

It's nothing short of blasphemy.”


So Talmudism is not an Abrahamic faith whatsoever. It is actually a pagan and heathen faith where they pray to many demons and often make contracts with them. A jew is one who follows talmudism. These confused racial jews who follow the Torah only or are "jews for Jesus" or are "One for israel" (another massive psyop) are muddying the waters on purpose. They don't care about Christ and they only pervert His teachings further.

View attachment 18662

Here is the speech by Benjamin H Freedman that discusses the historical changes in the Scriptures in regards to jews:



It is blasphemy to say that Jesus is a jew. The jews are of the devil, and of course calling God satan is evil. Calling the Son of God evil is just as wicked.


This is completely false and contradicts scripture. Where do you get your garbage information? How are you so easily deceived?

It clearly says Jesus was a Jew, and not just any Jew, but the KING of Jews, right in the Bible. Scripture refers to Christ's people as Jews, as well as those most antagonistic to Christ.

John 11:

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him; but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” But one of them, Ca′iaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all; you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.

Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town called E′phraim; and there he stayed with the disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.

Jesus was a Jew, who fulfilled the prophecies of the messiah of Moses, and went to the synagogues with the rest of the Jews, went to Passover with the rest of the Jews, the feast of the Tabernacles with the rest of the Jews.

To understand the current situation with Talmudic Jews is to understand it's proper religious and political context.

Christ is the KING of JEWS. Thus, for someone to claim they are Jewish, yet do not believe in Christ, makes them a TRAITOR to the KING. How can someone be a Jew, yet not follow the King of Jews? That is the winning question, and it cuts through all the nonsense Talmudic Jews say.

Jews who reject the Christ have the blood curse upon them, which is the murder blood of Christ that they willing took upon themselves.

Matthew 27:

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barab′bas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Only Jews who believe in Christ will be spared of hellfire. They have a higher standard than any other people, due to this curse and of being of the chosen bloodline that was to deliver the Messiah.

Thus, it's not that Christ is not a Jew, it's that Talmudic Jews aren't really Jews. They are traitors to the King of Jews, which means they forfeit their claim to Judaism, since Moses clearly prophesied in the coming of the messiah (as did Daniel as well).

That's why they are TALMUDIC Jews, which is a reference to their betrayal, and that they are false Jews who call themselves Jews, but actually belong to the synagogue of Satan.

Revelation 3:9

Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you.

Scripture is the authority. Anything else is a lie.
 
The word "jew" did not exist as we understand it now until a few centuries ago.

Yes Christ is of the lineage of Abraham, David, and everyone in between. His lineage is pure 1000% back to Adam, 42 generations.

This is a very important distinction to make because there has been a co-opting of our theology since the emergence of Theodor Herzl and his ideology, a co-opting by jews spreading massive confusion, heresies, blasphemies, and outright lies about The Lord.

This user SonsofGod on gab gives a decent post on this subject: https://gab.com/SonsofGod/posts/112167296453826805

I do not agree with some of his DNA aspect, but more of a semantic disagreement than a fundamental difference.

Many people make the mistake of calling Mosaism judaism, but they are not, they are two separate things entirely.

In another longer post, he elaborates on the vernacular and connotative usage of the word "jew" which many take for granted:

https://gab.com/SonsofGod/posts/112168700994042444

"The word jew, meaning someone who follows the Talmud, was invented in 1775 A.D., whereas the occurrences in the Bible took place from around 4000 B.C. to 70 A.D. When the translators of the Bible translated "jew" they either refer to a "Judean" or a "Judahite", meaning someone from the region Judea or a descendant of Judah. They don't refer to followers of judaism. At that time, judaism didn't exist - but their ungodly traditions did.

Its modern connotation points to someone who follows and adheres to a faith similar to that of the Pharisees of Judah, but is not of the tribe and stock of Judah. In other words, Jews are people from nations other than the 12 Hebrew tribes who practice a religion known as judaism/Pharisaism, the doctrine of the Pharisees.

It is much like those who believe in Christ and are called Christians, in honor of the One whom they follow, and their religion is known as Christianity, the doctrine of Christ.

In fact, the religion that is known as judaism is actually Pharisaism. Judaism – as it pertains to Pharisaism – is a misnomer, since it is neither the doctrine of Judah nor the doctrine that Christ practiced, hence not an Abrahamic faith.

Regarding the word “Jew,” Jewish-born historian Benjamin H. Freedman explained it thus:

“When the word ‘Jew’ was first introduced into the English language in the 18th century (1775) its one and only implication, inference and innuendo was ‘Judean’. During the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries a well-organized and well-financed international ‘pressure group’ created a so-called “secondary meaning” for the word ‘Jew’ among the English-speaking peoples of the world. This so-called ‘secondary meaning’ for the word ‘Jew’ bears no relation whatsoever to the 18th century original connotation of the word ‘Jew’. It is a misrepresentation.


As it stands, the adherents to Pharisaism or Rabbinists not only hijacked the word Judaism, but they also misappropriated the word Jew. However, over time and as it pertains to Christianity, the word Jew was completely hollowed out of its “Judean” or “Judahite” meaning because those who hijacked it were not of the tribe of Judah. In many Christian circles today, that word causes quite the confusion.

“The present generally accepted ‘secondary meaning’ of the word ‘jew’ is fundamentally responsible for the confusion in the minds of Christians regarding elementary tenets of the Christian faith,” continued historian Benjamin Freedman.

“It is likewise responsible today to a very great extent for the dilution of the devotion of countless Christians for their Christian faith. The implications, inferences and innuendoes of the word ‘jew’ today, to the preponderant majority of intelligent and informed Christians, is contradictory and in complete conflict with incontestable historic fact. Christians who cannot be fooled any longer are suspect of the Christian clergy who continue to repeat, and repeat, and repeat ad nauseam their pet theme song ‘Jesus was a jew’.

It actually now approaches a psychosis.

Countless Christians know today that they were brainwashed by the Christian clergy on the subject ‘Jesus was a jew‘… (They) are also becoming more and more alerted day by day why the so-called (or self-styled) jews throughout the world for three centuries have spent uncounted sums of money to manufacture the fiction that the ‘Judeans’ in the time of Jesus were ‘jews’ rather than ‘Judeans’, and that ‘Jesus was a jew’.”

When many Christians today interact with a jew they just met, their immediate reaction is to say, “Oh, Jesus was a jew too.” What they’re unwittingly saying is, “Oh, Jesus was a Pharisee too.”

It's nothing short of blasphemy.”


So Talmudism is not an Abrahamic faith whatsoever. It is actually a pagan and heathen faith where they pray to many demons and often make contracts with them. A jew is one who follows talmudism. These confused racial jews who follow the Torah only or are "jews for Jesus" or are "One for israel" (another massive psyop) are muddying the waters on purpose. They don't care about Christ and they only pervert His teachings further.

View attachment 18662

Here is the speech by Benjamin H Freedman that discusses the historical changes in the Scriptures in regards to jews:



It is blasphemy to say that Jesus is a jew. The jews are of the devil, and of course calling God satan is evil. Calling the Son of God evil is just as wicked.

This is weak sauce. People, including Jews, who accept Christ are saved. People, including both Jews and non-Jews, who do not accept Christ are unsaved and under Satan's power. Obviously most modern people who everybody knows as Jews are in the second group.

It's not blasphemy to say Jesus is a Jew. The Bible says he is. It is splitting hairs to try to redefine the word Jew to make some distinction between modern Talmud Jews and 1st century Jews. It doesn't matter.
 
This is completely false and contradicts scripture. Where do you get your garbage information? How are you so easily deceived?

It clearly says Jesus was a Jew, and not just any Jew, but the KING of Jews, right in the Bible. Scripture refers to Christ's people as Jews, as well as those most antagonistic to Christ.

John 11:

Jesus was a Jew, who fulfilled the prophecies of the messiah of Moses, and went to the synagogues with the rest of the Jews, went to Passover with the rest of the Jews, the feast of the Tabernacles with the rest of the Jews.

These verses are from John 11:45-55 but they are from a translation that inaccurately renders Ἰουδαῖοι (Ioudaios) as "jews" instead of "Judeans." The translation you are using is likely from the Revised Standard Version (RSV) or a similar English Bible that follows this pattern of mistranslation.

John 11:45-55 Greek (Original Koine):

45 Πολλοὶ οὖν ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων οἱ ἐλθόντες πρὸς τὴν Μαρίαν καὶ θεασάμενοι ὃ ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτόν·
46 τινὲς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπῆλθον πρὸς τοὺς Φαρισαίους καὶ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς ἃ ἐποίησεν Ἰησοῦς.
47 Συνηγαγον οὖν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι συνέδριον καὶ ἔλεγον· Τί ποιούμεν, ὅτι οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος πολλὰ σημεῖα ποιεῖ;
48 Ἐὰν ἀφῶμεν αὐτὸν οὕτως, πάντες πιστεύσουσιν εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ ἐλεύσονται οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ ἀροῦσιν ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν τόπον καὶ τὸ ἔθνος.
49 Εἷς δέ τις ἐξ αὐτῶν Καϊάφας, ἀρχιερεὺς ὢν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐκείνου, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε οὐδέν,
50 οὐδὲ λογίζεσθε ὅτι συμφέρει ὑμῖν ἵνα εἷς ἄνθρωπος ἀποθάνῃ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸ ἔθνος ἀπόληται.
51 Τοῦτο δὲ ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ οὐκ εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ ἀρχιερεὺς ὢν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐκείνου ἐπροφήτευσεν ὅτι ἔμελλεν Ἰησοῦς ἀποθνῄσκειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἔθνους,
52 καὶ οὐχ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἔθνους μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἵνα καὶ τὰ τέκνα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ διεσκορπισμένα συναγάγῃ εἰς ἕν.
53 Ἀπ’ ἐκείνης οὖν τῆς ἡμέρας συνεβουλεύσαντο ἵνα ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτόν.
54 Ὁ οὖν Ἰησοῦς οὐκέτι παρρησίᾳ περιεπάτει ἐν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, ἀλλὰ ἀπῆλθεν ἐκεῖθεν εἰς τὴν χώραν ἐγγὺς τῆς ἐρήμου, εἰς Ἐφραὶμ λεγομένην πόλιν, κἀκεῖ διέτριβεν μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν.
55 Ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς τὸ πάσχα τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ ἀνέβησαν πολλοὶ εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἐκ τῆς χώρας πρὸ τοῦ πάσχα ἵνα ἁγνίσωσιν ἑαυτούς.

Which translates directly to:

45 Many of the Judeans, therefore, who had come to Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. (The word συνέδριον (Strong’s # 4892) is literally a council. It is the Greek source of the bastard jewish word sanhedrin, which is really closer to Yiddish than Hebrew. Their word synagogue is also originally a Greek word.)
48 If we let him continue, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our holy place and our nation.”
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!
50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, rather than for the whole nation to perish.”
51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
53 So from that day on they planned to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Judeans, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with his disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Judeans was near, and many went up from the countryside to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.

-"jews" → "Judeans"
-Greek: Ἰουδαῖοι (Ioudaiōn)
contextually means "people from Judea," not a religious group as understood today.
-"The nation" → "The people of Judea"
-Greek: τὸ ἔθνος (to ethnos)
refers specifically to the people of Judea under Roman rule, not a broad religious identity.
-"Jesus no longer walked openly among the jews" → "Jesus no longer walked openly among the Judeans". The phrase means geography, not an entire religious category of people.

The context of the verses you posted were just after Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. Whether they went off to report Him or to boast in Him is immaterial as Paul had later expressed to the Philippians, “15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”

In any event when the matter is reported to the Pharisees the nature of the act of raising Lazarus could not be doubted. The enemies of Christ, as it is even apparent in the jewish Talmud, must nevertheless acknowledge Him even when they profess to hate Him, which is what they continue to do to this very day.

The word "jew" is the most confusing word in the English lexicon, and it is that way by both design and carelessness. If you would read my sources, you would see that I get everything from the Scriptures themselves with a deeper linguistic analysis on said Scriptures.

If you are as dedicated to Christ and God as you claim to be you should endeavor yourself to learn the languages of those times and dedicate yourself to translation to uncover the many errors and assumptions that the Queen's tongue has bastardized Christian theology with.

The term "jew" has evolved significantly over time. Initially in the Bible it referred to people from Judea or descendants of Judah. This was long before the religion of judaism as we know it existed. The word as used back then didn't imply following specific religious practices that are associated with judaism today.

In the 18th century around 1775 the word "jew" began to be used in English, which meant nothing more than someone from Judea. Over the years this meaning changed due to various influences and "jew" came to describe someone who practices judaism, a religion that has its roots in the traditions of the Pharisees from ancient times not the law of Moses. Christ points this out numerous times.

As evidenced by many faulty beliefs today, this change has caused confusion especially among Christians. Some think that when they say Jesus was a jew, they're linking him to modern-day judaism which isn't accurate. Jesus was from Judea making him a Judean not a jew by today's definition. The Judeans were not "jews".

Judeannotjew.webp

By translating Ioudaios as "jew" instead of "Judean," English Bibles create the false impression that Jesus was avoiding or opposing all "jews" as a religious group, rather than specifically dealing with the Judean leadership and people of that region under Roman rule. The Roman occupation and the Pharisaic elite's political concerns are central to this passage. The fear of Roman retaliation (John 11:48) is clearly a geopolitical issue, not a religious dispute against a universal "Jewish" identity. Jesus himself was a Galilean, not a Judean, which adds another regional distinction.

To understand the current situation with Talmudic Jews is to understand it's proper religious and political context.

Christ is the KING of JEWS. Thus, for someone to claim they are Jewish, yet do not believe in Christ, makes them a TRAITOR to the KING. How can someone be a Jew, yet not follow the King of Jews? That is the winning question, and it cuts through all the nonsense Talmudic Jews say.

Jews who reject the Christ have the blood curse upon them, which is the murder blood of Christ that they willing took upon themselves.

Matthew 27:

To claim that "jews" who reject Christ today are still authentically Israelite in the true, covenantal sense misses a key element in understanding the bloodline of Jesus and the corruption of Israel's heritage in Judea that happened long before the crucifixion.

The "jews" did not exist back then as they do now. Judea at the time of the Romans, or Iudea, was a multicultural society filled with Israelites, Edomites, Canaanites, Hasideans, Syrians, Romans and more.

Jesus' bloodline was pure Israelite, unmixed because Israel's purity was paramount to God’s original plan, which it states numerous times in Scripture. Jesus' lineage is not just a matter of spiritual inheritance, but a physical one too. His mother Mary came from a region where the purity of Israelite blood had been preserved well before the time when groups like the Pharisees and Sadducees began mixing their line with foreign influences.

Regarding the blood curse you reference from Matthew 27:25, this is an important point, but it's crucial to understand that the curse you mention applies specifically to those who were responsible for the death of Christ: the Pharisees who rejected Him because of their own rebellion and corruption of the true Israelite heritage.

But there’s a deeper point here being the preservation of Israelite bloodlines which was always a crucial part of the covenant. The priesthood and the people of God were meant to remain genetically pure to fulfill the promises of God. When John Hyrcanus around 125 BC forcibly converted the Edomites and other Canaanites dwelling in large numbers in the lands formerly belonging to the ancient Israelites,, this was a breach of God’s laws on purity. Flavius Josephus relates in several passages of his histories that after this they were considered citizens of Judaea and adherents to what was then a corrupted form of the Old Testament worship at the temple of Yahweh.

Among the Pharisees and especially among the Sadducees were many of these converts who were not “Judaeans by birth” in spite of the fact that their own ancestors were explicitly excluded from any communion with the Israelites, and forbidden by law to join the congregation. Jesus, the pure Israelite, came to fulfill and purify not just the faith but also to challenge the genetic corruption that had taken root in Judea, especially among the Pharisees and Sadducees who were more concerned with their own power than preserving the integrity of Israel.

Only Jews who believe in Christ will be spared of hellfire. They have a higher standard than any other people, due to this curse and of being of the chosen bloodline that was to deliver the Messiah.

The Israelite bloodline was the pure Adamic lineage that Christ hails from through His earthly mother, but you are missing several things here. You give these cursed Edomites too much credit. The people who call themselves jews alive today are all bastards, literally in their own tongue and the laws of the Old Covenant they are "mamzers". While Jesus' lineage was pure given that His mother was in Galilee and not in Judea, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other groups of the time, however, were not pure and this is one of the key reasons why Jesus had such harsh words for them. The Edomites and other foreigners who had been forcibly converted during the time of the Hasmoneans were seen as having contaminated the bloodline and the cultural heritage that should have remained distinct. The talmudic jews you speak of today are heirs to this tradition of racial mixing among their continued disobedience to Gods laws, which is why Jesus as a true Israelite rejected them then, because they had brought foreign elements into the Israelite heritage.

Thus, it's not that Christ is not a Jew, it's that Talmudic Jews aren't really Jews. They are traitors to the King of Jews, which means they forfeit their claim to Judaism, since Moses clearly prophesied in the coming of the messiah (as did Daniel as well).

That's why they are TALMUDIC Jews, which is a reference to their betrayal, and that they are false Jews who call themselves Jews, but actually belong to the synagogue of Satan.

Revelation 3:9

By linguistic and historical accuracy, Jesus was an Israelite, Galilean, and Davidic heir but not a "jew". Talmudic judaism didn't exist during Jesus' time. The Talmud was compiled centuries after Jesus (c. 200-500 AD). The Pharisees were one sect among many in Judea. Jesus opposed their legalism but was not aligned with them. The Hasmoneans and Herodians had already altered "Judean" identity, incorporating Edomites and non-Israelites into Judea long before Jesus.

If talmudic jews are "false jews", then what exactly were the real jews? Your argument relies on modern theological views rather than historical realities.

You cite Revelation 3:9 to argue "real jews" are those who accept Jesus, while "talmudic jews" are frauds. But Revelation 3:9 refers to a specific group of people in the 1st century not modern Jews. "Those who say they are Ioudaios but are not" means political imposters in Judea, possibly Edomites or Herodian converts rather than an eternal indictment against all post-Temple Judeans. The early Christian church still saw itself as part of Israel even as it broke with the corrupt practices of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Scripture is the authority. Anything else is a lie.

Perpetuating false translations that lead to today's predicament of imbuing a religious connotation onto a genetic description betrays the original Scriptures. So when we talk about "jews" in the Bible, it's more accurate to think of them as Judeans or Judahites, people from a specific region or lineage, rather than followers of the religious practices we associate with judaism today.

Jesus was descended from the Israelite tribe of Judah, as the Scripture says that He is because the Scriptures do not lie. The people known as jews today are not of the tribe of Judah nor are they even of the tribe of Benjamin or Levi. So how can Jesus be a "jew" then? The Bible itself tells us this. You mistake me for ignoring Scripture when the original Scripture forms the basis for all of my analysis on this.

Every time you see the word "jew" in the Bible you need to cross it out of your mind as a reference to a religious practice and replace it with the historically and linguistically accurate description Judean, or one who lived in Judea.

So who is deceived by the jews here? Not me. I don't hold you at fault for being deceived, millions are presently. Millions like you who have never read the original documents used for translating purposes. I know few people here have because no one ever references them. Christian men should not be lazy in their research.

1. Codex Alexandrinus (A)

-Date: Early 5th century (c. 400–440 AD)
-Contents: Almost the entire Bible (Old & New Testament), though parts are missing.
-Text Type: Byzantine for the Gospels, Alexandrian elsewhere.
-Significance: One of the earliest complete copies of the Greek Bible.

2. Majority Text (Byzantine Text)

-Date: Derived from manuscripts mostly dating from the 9th century onward.
-Contents: A Greek New Testament text family that forms the basis of later Byzantine copies.
-Text Type: Byzantine (used by the Greek Orthodox Church).
-Significance: The Majority Text reflects the text found in the most surviving manuscripts but is not the oldest form of the text.

3. Strong’s Concordance

-Author: James Strong (published in 1890).
-Purpose: A lexicon and numbering system that assigns numbers to every Greek and Hebrew word in the Bible to help readers study the meanings of original words.
-Significance: It is not a manuscript but a translation aid that allows people to trace biblical words back to their Greek (Koine) or Hebrew roots.

4. Early Papyri (P44, P66, P75)

These are some of the oldest surviving fragments of the New Testament, written on papyrus rather than parchment.

P44

-Date: 6th–7th century AD
-Contents: Small fragments of the Gospels (Matthew)
-Text Type: Likely Alexandrian

P66

-Date: c. 200 AD (one of the earliest copies of John)
-Contents: Nearly complete Gospel of John
-Text Type:
Alexandrian

P75

-Date: Late 2nd to early 3rd century (175-225 AD)
-Contents:
Large portions of Luke & John
-Text Type:
Alexandrian
-Significance: Very close to Codex Vaticanus, confirming an older Alexandrian tradition.

5. Codex Sinaiticus (א)

-Date: Mid-4th century (c. 330–360 AD)
-Contents: The entire New Testament and large parts of the Old Testament.
-Text Type: Alexandrian
-Significance: One of the oldest and most complete copies of the New Testament.

6. Codex Vaticanus (B)

-Date: Early 4th century (c. 300–325 AD)
-Contents: Almost the entire Bible, but missing parts of Genesis, Hebrews, and Revelation.
-Text Type: Alexandrian
-Significance:
One of the most reliable manuscripts for reconstructing the original Greek New Testament.

7. Codex Bezae (D)

-Date: 5th century (c. 400–500 AD)
-Contents: The Gospels and Acts (Greek on one side, Latin on the other).
-Text Type: Western (known for expanded readings and paraphrasing).
-Significance: Shows textual differences from Alexandrian and Byzantine traditions.

8. Codex Washingtonensis (W)

-Date: Late 4th or early 5th century (c. 400 AD)
-Contents:
Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
-Text Type:
Mixed (Byzantine & Western)
-Significance: One of the oldest manuscripts in the United States (kept in Washington, D.C.)

Now try and tell me again that I am not referencing Scripture. I am not fluent in Hebrew but I am learning it, as one should always learn the language of one's present enemy, but I am competent in Latin and Greek. All Christians should seek to become polyglots as our Priests and Bishops did for the last two millennia, so that we are not confused by the wiles of the fallen one and it's servants in the flesh.
 
This is weak sauce. People, including Jews, who accept Christ are saved. People, including both Jews and non-Jews, who do not accept Christ are unsaved and under Satan's power. Obviously most modern people who everybody knows as Jews are in the second group.
I am not here to argue about the salvific. The jews have been "converting" for centuries but still poison wells and allow their agents in freemasonry and occultism to infiltrate the Churches. Good on the jews who convert AND behave like the ontological soul of the baptized in Christ's care, but our entire history is riddled with Edomitic converts who continued to weaken and bleed us dry from the inside, as they did to Israel they still do to the Church of today. Can a jew overwrite his genetic behavior after baptism? I would say yes but it's a rarity, since the only one I knew was chased away from this forum.

Modern jews are disconnected from true Israel. The talmudic jews today may indeed be unsaved if they reject Christ, but that’s not because they are the true heirs of Israel’s covenant, they aren't. They forfeited their claim to the true Israelite inheritance through their corruption of the original faith and bloodline, and they damned themselves when they rejected and murdered Christ. Many of the so-called “jews” of today claim the title of chosenites due to their alleged ancestry and their continued practice of a faith that’s based on a corrupted form of Mosaism, but that doesn’t mean they’re spiritually or ethnically equivalent to the true Israelites Jesus came from.

It's not blasphemy to say Jesus is a Jew. The Bible says he is. It is splitting hairs to try to redefine the word Jew to make some distinction between modern Talmud Jews and 1st century Jews. It doesn't matter.

It's not splitting hairs, there is a huge difference. It's precisely that the word “jew” in modern parlance is a religious and ethnic term encompassing those who follow talmudic judaism, but in the 1st century the term had a very different meaning. It was a geographical term (referring to people living in Judea) and, more specifically, it referred to those who were from the tribe of Judah or those living in the southern part of ancient Israel, which was Judea.

The people who are called “jews” in today’s context especially the talmudic jews are descendants of a mix of people including Edomites, Canaanites, and even Hellenized Gentiles. This was the case after the forced conversions during the time of John Hyrcanus, and the intermingling of bloodlines that occurred over centuries especially after the centuries in Khazaria. These groups were not pure Israelites, and therefore the term “jew” today carries a different meaning than it did for Jesus, whose ancestry was purely Israelite and unmixed.

The term "jew" as we understand it today did not exist in the 1st century. The word “jew” in English is a later development, stemming from the word "Ioudaios" (Greek) and “Ioudaios” or “Yehudi” (Hebrew), which originally referred to someone from Judea (the region), not necessarily tied to any religious belief or ethnic purity. In fact, the word had no religious connotations in its time, as Judea was a multicultural region.

In Greek and Hebrew, Ioudaios simply means "Judean" (a person from the region of Judea), not "jew" in the modern, religious sense. Jesus was not a "jew" by modern standards He was an Abrahamic Israelite from the tribe of Judah, but "jew" as a religious or ethnic identity only emerged long after His time. The modern concept of being a jew was constructed much later and has little to do with the people of Jesus’ day.

Most English Bibles incorrectly translate "Ioudaios" as "jew," which is a significant mistranslation. Early translations like the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) and Latin Vulgate both used terms that inaccurately applied modern concepts of jewish identity to a 1st-century context. This misleading translation led to anachronisms when applied to Jesus, His followers, and the religious groups of His time.

The Greek Ioudaios should be understood as Judean (i.e., from the region of Judea), not as a religious or ethnic identity tied to modern judaism. The shift from "Judean" to "jew" was a result of centuries of religious evolution and mistranslations, beginning particularly in the Middle Ages.

The Pharisees and Sadducees who were in power during Jesus’ time had corrupted the original Israelite faith by introducing foreign, man-made traditions and beliefs that strayed from the pure faith of Abrahamic Israelites. This was because many of them were not Israelites but ethnically foreign converts or descended from an ethnically foreign convert from Hyrcanus' time. Jesus, in contrast, was pure in His Israelite heritage, righteous, and aligned with the true Abrahamic covenant. He was not part of the corrupt Pharisaic system, which is the foundation of modern judaism.

The Pharisees' influence over Judean society, especially after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, mislead the Judeans and eventually shaped modern Judaism. They incorporated elements from various cultures which distorted the original Israelite faith. The current jewish identity we see today especially in talmudic judaism is a product of these Pharisaic teachings which are a corruption of the original Abrahamic faith.

There is a clear distinction between the Israelites of the Old Testament and the jews of today. The modern identity of jewishness is built upon a complex mix of ethnicities and man-made traditions, not on the pure Israelite bloodline that Jesus came from or the original law of Moses. To call Jesus a "jew" in the modern sense is to misapply a term that is inaccurate, misleading, and damaging to both the identity of Jesus and the historical truth of His mission.

Based on historical and linguistic research into accurate Scripture, Jesus was not a "jew" in the modern sense. His bloodline and mission were rooted in the Abrahamic covenant separate from the Pharisaic religion that later became modern judaism.
 
Your entire argument rests on the premise that Judean is different than Jew. That sounds like a distinction without a difference. Judean = Jew, people were almost always classified by their geographical location in the Ancient times, as mass transport did not exist, nor did DNA testing.

The Judeans descended from Judah who lived at Jerusalem (previously Salem in Abraham's time). The Edomites and Canaanites who migrated into Judea are referred to as distinct tribes, such as when Jesus speaks to the Canaanite woman. So I don't really see why you think these people would be lumped in with Judeans. Judeans were Jews, and the translation seems fine to me. I will check out more on this however, these are interesting points, but overall I don't think it refutes much of what I've said.
 
Your entire argument rests on the premise that Judean is different than Jew. That sounds like a distinction without a difference. Judean = Jew, people were almost always classified by their geographical location in the Ancient times, as mass transport did not exist, nor did DNA testing.

The argument rests on historical and linguistic accuracy. The word Judean (Ioudaios) meant someone from the region of Judea, and that’s a geographical distinction, not a religious one. We must differentiate between someone geographically from Judea and someone adhering to the specific religious practices that we now associate with modern judaism. It's not just about semantics it’s a matter of historical correctness and how those terms evolved.

While it's true people were often identified by geography you are missing the critical point: the term "Judean" did not mean the same thing in the 1st century as the term "jew" does today. It was only after the destruction of the Second Temple (70 AD) that Rabbinic Judaism began to crystallize into the religious identity we recognize today, which includes specific cultural, theological, and ritualistic practices that were not universally observed in Judea at the time of Jesus.

Mass transport and DNA testing are irrelevant to the specific issue because it’s about how terminology and cultural identity evolved, and how Jesus' time reflects a different social and religious context than what you are associating it with. God's own power would not allow the Messiah to be born of a diluted heritage, so at least up until at that point, 77 generations in (another divine holy sacred geometrical number) God begat the most perfect flawless human who ever lived.

The Judeans descended from Judah who lived at Jerusalem (previously Salem in Abraham's time).

Yes, that’s true the Israelite tribe of Judah lived in Judea and Jesus was indeed from the line of Judah. But here’s the crucial point: being from Judea (i.e., being a Judean) did not automatically make one a "jew" in the religious sense, as "jew" did not yet exist as a specific religious identity at that time. Jesus was a descendant of Judah, but the religious "jewish" identity only arose after the Temple’s destruction, during a time when Rabbinic Judaism was taking shape and the followers of Pharisaic law were wandering without a nation. Jesus' ethnic and religious identity was Israelite, and the distinction between ethnicity and religion here is crucial.

The Edomites and Canaanites who migrated into Judea are referred to as distinct tribes, such as when Jesus speaks to the Canaanite woman.

Yes the Edomites and Canaanites were distinct groups that lived in Judea and their presence there makes clear that the term Judean encompasses a range of ethnicities. The term Judean simply referred to someone from the region of Judea not necessarily someone practicing the religion of the Pharisees that would later become modern judaism. The Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:22) is a perfect example of this multiculturalism in Judea as she was not a Israelite but she lived in the region of Judea. This reinforces the point that Judean refers to geography, not religious affiliation. Jesus didn’t equate being a Judean with being a "jew" in the religious sense.

So I don't really see why you think these people would be lumped in with Judeans. Judeans were Jews, and the translation seems fine to me. I will check out more on this however, these are interesting points, but overall I don't think it refutes much of what I've said.

I know this is confusing, it is a lot to juggle in one's mind. This transformation wasn’t straightforward or uniform, it was shaped by historical events and political agendas over centuries.

In the 1st century, when you read the word “Ioudaios” in the Greek text, it would have referred primarily to someone from Judea, that is, someone in the geographical region. Many are confusing this and assuming that being a Judean inherently means following the specific religious teachings of the Pharisees. This is a fallacy. The Pharisees were just one group within the larger context of Judea, and they didn’t represent the entire population.

People in Judea could belong to various sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, even those who followed John the Baptist or Jesus. All were put under the umbrella term of Ioudaios, even after Christ's crucifixion His own followers did not become recognized as different as "Christianos" and not "Ioudaios" until the Gospel had spread beyond Roman provinces and after the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD.

It is important to understand this distinction because the term “jew” as it’s used today simply cannot be applied to Jesus in the context of the first century. To do so is historically inaccurate because Jesus rejected and outright challenged the Pharisees' interpretation of the law, an interpretation which eventually became the foundation of modern judaism.

The concept of rabbinical judaism we understand today is directly tied to the Pharisaic traditions and did not exist in the 1st century, it emerged during the 2nd-5th centuries after the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD when the descendants of those who rejected and murdered Christ were wandering as a diaspora and compiled their talmud.

So the term "jew" itself is an anachronism, it developed from a group of people masquerading as the continuance of Abrahamic law when the only true law was the Gospel, it's fulfillment. They truly have no name and belong nowhere, as they have defied the old law which was what Christ challenged them on, and they rejected the new law by murdering Him.

The picture of His placard I posted above should be considered more in-depth as well.

The inscription on Jesus' cross which reads "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum" (Latin) or "Ιησούς Ναζωρηνός, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων" (Greek), is often misunderstood particularly by those who want to equate Jesus with the modern idea of a "jew" in a religious sense.

The "Iesus Nazarenus" / "Ιησούς Ναζωρηνός" part of the inscription simply identifies Jesus of Nazareth, referring to His geographical origin. Nazareth was a town in Galilee, in the northern part of ancient Israel, far from the region of Judea. It is essential to note that Jesus is not being labeled as part of the religious or cultural identity of the people of Judea here but rather His place of origin is emphasized.

The "Rex Iudaeorum" / "Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων" portion translates to "King of the Judeans" or "Leader of the Judeans", not "King of the jews" as the phrase is commonly rendered in modern English translations.

The term "Iudaeorum" in Latin is the genitive plural form of Iudaeus (which comes from Ioudaios (Ἰουδαῖος), which originally referred to someone from Judea, not to a member of a particular religious sect. This is a geographical designation, referring to the people from the region of Judea and not to the religious practices or identity that the term "jew" has come to represent in modern times. As both languages (Greek and Latin) were used across the Roman Empire and interacted with one another Ioudaios became a borrowed term into Latin as Iudaeus, retaining the geographical meaning related to people currently inhabiting the Judean region.

The placard is explained in John 19:19-22:

John 19:19-22 (Koine Greek)

19 Ἐπιγραφὴ δὲ καὶ ἦν ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ ὁ λόγος, Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
20 Τοῦτο ἦν δὲ ἀναγεγραμμένον Ἑβραϊστί, Ῥωμαϊστὶ καὶ Ἑλληνιστί.
21 Λέγουσιν οὖν ὄντως οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς τῶν Ἰουδαίων τῷ Πιλάτῳ, Μὴ γράφεις, ὅτι Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἀλλ’ ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπεν, Βασιλεὺς ἐγὼ εἰμί τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
22 Ἀπεκρίθη Πιλᾶτος, Ὃ ἔγραψα, ἔγραψα.

Direct English Translation

19 And Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross. And it was written, "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Judeans."
20 This title therefore many of the Judeans read, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
21 Then the chief priests of the Judeans said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Judeans,' but that He said, 'I am the King of the Judeans.'"
22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

In Roman times, the condemned at their execution had a placard stating their name, origin, and crime. The Roman Empire was very focused on preventing unrest and Pilate as the governor of Judea was tasked with keeping the peace in a volatile region. Judea was rife with political and religious tensions, and Pilate, being a Roman official, likely had little patience for the religious squabbles of the Pharisees and Sadduccees. He knew that a rebellion or insurrection in Judea could attract unwanted attention from his superiors in Rome.

This is where the tension between Pilate and the Pharisees/Sadducees comes in. Pilate according to the Gospels recognized that Jesus was not guilty of any crime that would warrant crucifixion. He even tells the crowd, "I find no fault in him" (John 19:6), and later famously asks, "What is truth?" (John 18:38) when questioning Jesus about His claim to kingship. Pilate was disdainful of the accusations against Jesus, seeing them as more of a religious dispute than a genuine threat to Roman authority.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were intent on seeing Jesus executed. They were able to manipulate Pilate by threatening to report him to Caesar for "allowing someone to challenge Roman authority." He clearly saw the hypocrisy of the religious leaders and didn't fully comply with their demands. His decision not to change the inscription is a subtle act of defiance against the very people who had pressured him into condemning Jesus. Pilate’s inscription was essentially a statement about Jesus' political identity as someone who was accused of being a rival king to the Roman emperor, not about His religious identity.

By refusing to write " He said "I am the king"" and simply call Him the "king" Pilate was mocking the Pharisees and what he thought was their deranged accusations, yet he folded in washing his hands of the matter to prevent unrest. This is why Pilate is considered a virtuous pagan by Alighieri who saw him in limbo. Pilate’s decision to ultimately wash his hands of the matter and claim no responsibility for Jesus' execution (Matthew 27:24) is interpreted by Dante as an acknowledgment that Pilate recognized Jesus' innocence but was forced to act under intense pressure.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top