By now most people have heard of the term “Hebrew Israelite” but are likely fuzzy on what it’s actually defined as . I’m going to start by explaining the common misconceptions most have regarding Hebrew Israelites, and then use scripture to explain what a Hebrew Israelite is.
What it is not
The term Hebrew Israelite does not refer to a religion in the bible. The way most use it today would make it seem as if it’s a religion like Catholicism or Islam. It is not a doctrine like some of the denominations that we have come to see in the modern day Christian church (Baptist, Pentecostal, 7th day adventist, etc). It is not a cult or a “movement” nor an extremist perspective of the bible that imposes excessive control over its members.
Another way that the term “Hebrew Israelite” is skewed is by putting the word “Black” in front of it: “Black Hebrew Israelite”. This furthers the idea that it’s a false doctrine or a racist extremists movement created by black people.
So what is a Hebrew Israelite?
Now that we have covered what it most certainly is not, let’s talk about what the bible says it is.
“Hebrew” according to the Strong’s Concordance means “one from beyond” and it is a people that are direct descendants from Eber who himself was a son of Shem (Strong’s Concordance H5680).
Genesis 10:21
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
So now you see that the term “Hebrew” comes from Eber who is from the genealogy of Shem. There is no religion or doctrine associated with it.
Later in Genesis you see Abram (renamed Abraham (Genesis 17:5)) in scripture referred to as being a Hebrew.
Genesis 14:13
13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
He would be considered the founder of the Hebrew Nation.
Genesis 12:1-2
12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Genesis 17:1-5
17 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Notice it states Abraham would be a Father of many nations. We are going to speak specifically about the nation that will yield Christ.
Now that we have defined “Hebrew” and shown you its origin as well as the terms’ relevancy regarding the people it’s referring to, let us now look at the term Israelite. In order to figure out what an Israelite is we must go back to Abraham. Abraham had a son born to his wife Sarah, not to be confused with his son Ishmael from his handmaid Hagar. The child from Sarah was named Isaac.
It is also important to note that the Hebrews considered who was in each tribe by the tribe of their Father. Conversely, the people in the land now (jewish people) track their lineage through their mother (Numbers 1:18, Numbers 36:7).
Genesis 21:3
3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Isaac the son of Abraham had a son named Jacob.
Genesis 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.21 And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord.23 And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
The nation that Jacob belongs to will birth Christ. There is an important change that occurs relative to the topic of this post “What is a Hebrew Israelite”. God renames Jacob “Israel”.
Genesis 35:9-15
9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
Now we see the name Israel appear and a nation associated with the name. Jacob (Israel) went on to marry Leah and Rachel as well as have a couple of concubines (Bilhah and Zilpah) in order to do what God told him to do “be fruitful and multiply”. You can see this in the scriptures in Genesis 49:1-29 which lays out the tribes of Israel that came from Jacob. I have created the table below to simplify.
Sidenote: In this table you will see 13 tribes, later on Dan is removed for following other God’s thus leaving the 12 tribes of Israel (see Judges 18, 1 Kings 12:29-30).
| Tribe | Son of Jacob | Mother | Birth Order |
| Reuben | Reuben | Leah | 1st |
| Simeon | Simeon | Leah | 2nd |
| Levi | Levi | Leah | 3rd |
| Judah | Judah | Leah | 4th |
| Dan | Dan | Bilhah | 5th |
| Naphtali | Naphtali | Bilhah | 6th |
| Gad | Gad | Zilpah | 7th |
| Asher | Asher | Zilpah | 8th |
| Issachar | Issachar | Leah | 9th |
| Zebulun | Zebulun | Leah | 10th |
| Joseph | Joseph → Ephraim | Rachel | 11th |
| Joseph | Joseph → Manasseh | Rachel | 12th |
| Benjamin | Benjamin | Rachel | 13th |
Now we see the founding fathers of the nation of Israel. They started with 70 souls that went into Egypt (Exodus 1:5) but quickly expanded while in Egypt.
Exodus 12:36-37
36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
The 600,000 mentioned only accounted for men. The count for women and children was not indicated. Therefore, It is safe to say there were well over a million from the nation of Israel that came out of Egypt. We see the prophecy unfolding of Israel becoming a nation. Now the nation needed land to occupy so God gave Israel land broken down by each tribe.
Joshua 21:43
43 And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
Ezekiel 47:13
13 Thus saith the Lord God; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
Now that we have the Nation of Israel occupying a land. We identify the nations by the 12 tribes they are associated with in the table above. Let’s identify how the people from the nation of Israel describe themselves.
John 1:47
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Paul says the following in Romans:
Romans 11:1
11 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
We see here that the term Israelite is given to those that are from the 12 tribes of Israel. Christ himself was from the 12 tribes (Judah in particular) and thus is an Israelite. The lineage in Matthew 1:1-16 traces the lineage of Christ from Abraham to Christ. The first verse sets the table but I encourage you to read through 16 to see the lineage unfold.
Matthew 1:1
1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Revelation 5:5
5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Romans 1:3
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
When you trace their lineage you will find that all 12 disciples were Israelites as well.
In Conclusion
Putting it all together you see that Hebrew Israelites are the people of the Nation of Israel. It is a bloodline or a lineage not a religion. Hebrew defines the lineage through Shem all the way up to Isaac, while Israelite refers to the lineage from Jacob to now.
