We live in a world quick to divide, quick to label, and even quicker to hate what it doesn’t understand. Few examples prove this more than the deep-seated hostility some people feel toward Israel and the Jewish people. But history, Scripture, and genealogy tell a story that should make everyone pause before they speak.
Because if the truth were understood, most of the world would realize they’re not standing against Israel at all. They’re standing among distant relatives.
Where It All Begins, Eber and the Word “Hebrew”
The word Hebrew comes from Eber, a descendant of Shem, one of Noah’s sons (Genesis 10:21–25). Eber had two sons, Peleg and Joktan. Through Peleg came Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the covenant line of Israel. Through Joktan came many of the Arabian tribes.
Before anyone draws battle lines between Jews and Arabs, remember this simple truth:
They both descend from Eber. They are both Hebrew.
The divisions that exist today are not born of creation but of choice, generations of people choosing separation over shared origin.
From Israel to Judah, The Family Split
Jacob, renamed Israel, had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes.
After Solomon’s reign, the kingdom divided into:
- The Northern Kingdom (Israel): ten tribes
- The Southern Kingdom (Judah): Judah, Benjamin, and part of Levi
In 722 B.C., Assyria conquered the north and deported the ten tribes across its empire. Scripture never records their return, and history shows them scattering across Assyria, Asia Minor, and into Europe. Over time, they lost their tribal identity but not their bloodline.
Meanwhile, the southern kingdom of Judah endured longer. After Babylonian exile and return, its people became known as Jews, descendants of Judah and Benjamin who remained faithful to the covenant.
So the equation looks like this:
All Jews are Israelites.
Not all Israelites are Jews.
And almost everyone on earth still carries traces of Hebrew ancestry, whether by blood or by belief.
The Lost Tribes and the Hidden Connection
The northern tribes disappeared from record nearly 2,700 years ago, but their descendants didn’t vanish. They migrated through nations, intermarried, and blended into the emerging European populations.
When Europe colonized the Americas, that genetic and cultural thread stretched across oceans. That means many Americans, and Europeans before them, could unknowingly share ancient Israelite roots.
It’s a strange irony: people who curse Israel may share its bloodline. Those who hate the Hebrews may literally be Hebrew, several millennia removed.
The Spiritual Connection
God promised Abraham that through his seed “all nations of the earth would be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)
That blessing came through Christ, who was born of the tribe of Judah. Through Him, every believer, regardless of ancestry, is grafted into the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17–24).
That means the story of Israel isn’t about a single nation. It’s about redemption, covenant, and belonging. It’s about how God used one bloodline to reach all bloodlines.
We are not outsiders looking in. We are part of the same spiritual family tree.
The Truth That Should Make Us Think
If humanity understood its origins, hatred would lose its voice.
You cannot despise the Hebrew people without despising your own reflection in history.
You cannot mock Israel and claim to honor the God who created her.
The truth is simple but hard to swallow:
The world isn’t divided between Israel and everyone else.
The world is Israel, scattered, mixed, and mostly unaware of it.
Truth doesn’t need to shout. It doesn’t need inflammatory words.
It stands on its own, and it always rises to the surface, no matter how long it’s been buried.
Troy P Zehnder 