The Jews

The Jews is a phrase used 182 times in the Bible (ESV), in both the Old Testament (54 times) and New Testament (128 times). The Gospel of John uses it by far the most often (60 times), but even the Gospel of Matthew uses this phrase; Paul the Apostle uses it only 4 times. According to the Jews for Jesus, a prominent Messianic Judaism organization, the phrase "the Jews" used in the Gospel of John was in reference to the Jewish leadership rather than referring to Jewish people en masse.^[1]

At the time of Jesus, there was a sharp split between the Samaritans and Judeans, and Apostle John tended to be more sympathetic to the Samaritans with several favorable references to them.^[2] John's frequent references to "the Jews" may have been based on that underlying tension.

Throughout history, antisemites have taken negative references to "the Jews" entirely out of context and out of character with the nature of the New Testament. In contrast to their vile distortions of Scripture, the New Testament demonstrates God's love for the Jewish people and His desire to bring them to salvation, particularly emphasized in the Pauline Epistles:^[3]

The regional conflict between Judeans and Samaritans is misrepresented by most translations of the Gospel of John, which uses the phrase "the Jews" in reference to the Judean leadership.^[4] Usage of "the Jews" incorrectly paints the dispute between Jesus and the Jewish leadership (rather than the Jewish populace) as ethnic.

See also[edit]

• Top Mistranslated Bible Terms
• Top misquoted Bible verses

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Jewish People in John's Gospel