The American Wisdom Series

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Pamphlet #6251 Genesis KC 19-3

Historians, including Biblical historians,
often overlook a very important fact about the names of peoples.

And that is that folks are often called by the name of the geographical location,
the land, in which they live.

For example, if you are from Texas you might be called a Texan.

Can you tell what nationality one is if he/she is called a Texan?

You cannot!

In the New Testament the word for "Jew" is ioudaios.

Look it up in Strong's concordance.

It means either a person who is of the tribe of Judah
or a person who resides in the land of Judea.

You must determine which meaning is intended in a particular verse
by the context of that verse, i.e. you must rightly divide the scripture,
which in many cases is accomplished by simply reading it correctly
in the first place without trying to make it fit some traditional teaching.

Let's look at another Biblical example
and dispel another myth of ignorance.

You'll often hear it said that Moses married a Kenite, a descendent of Cain.

The following verse seems to confirm that.

Judges 1:16
And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
But wait!

Wasn't Jethro Moses' father in law?

Was he a Kenite?

Exodus 18:1
When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;
It says here that Jethro was a Midian priest, i.e. a Midianite.

So who was Midian?

Genesis 25:1-2
Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. [2] And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
Midian was a son of Abraham by Keturah.

He was definitely not of the lineage of Cain,
the father of the Kenites.

 How is it then that the Bible says Moses' father in law (and therefore Moses' wife) was a Kenite?

Because he lived in the land of the Kenites.

Duh!

If he had lived in Texas, Moses' father in law would have been called a Texan.

Hopefully you can see that it does not take a "rocket scientist" to use a little common sense.

If historians were more attuned to this still common practice of identifying people from the land in which they are from,
the histories of the origins of the nations would not be so confusing to them.

Live Link to the next study> #6252
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The first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis and chapter studies of the rest of Genesis

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


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