We are studying Genesis 36 and the generations of Esau.\u00a0 Several questions arose that have generated some good discussion, but we are needing some help. The questions asked “Were Esau and Ishmael’s families considered Gentiles? Or were they Jews?\u00a0 We are a little confused about when the Jewish nation was established and when were they first considered to be “Jews” or “Jewish?”\u00a0\u00a0 Does not the Jewish faith trace its lineage back to Abraham, but was the Jewish nation built through Judah?\u00a0 As always, thanks for your guidance!<\/p>\n\t
The word “Gentiles” just means “nations.” It is used to refer to all the nations other than the nation of Israel. So the descendants of Esau who were the Edomites and the descendants of Ishmael who were the Arabs were a part of the other nations.<\/p>\n
Israel did see Abraham as its founding father. “They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham” <\/em>” (John 8:39). But this is because of the promises made to Abraham, which were passed down to Isaac, and then to Jacob who was also called Israel. Ishmael and Esau were not a part of these promises. “And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him” <\/em>” (Genesis 17:18-19). “Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?” <\/em>” (Genesis 27:37).<\/p>\n Israel’s laws were not established, however, until Moses lead the people out of Egypt.<\/p>\n After Israel divided under Rehoboam. The northern kingdom of ten tribes remained known as Israel. The southern kingdom, essentially consisting of the tribe of Judah was known as Judah. By the time of the captivity, the people became known as the Jews (I Kings 25:25; Ezra 4:12). Even though all the Israelites were released from captivity by the Medo-Persians, the name Jews stuck with the people and that is what we see them predominately called in Jesus’ day.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: We are studying Genesis 36 and the generations of Esau.\u00a0 Several questions arose that have generated some good discussion, but we are needing some help. The questions asked “Were Esau and Ishmael’s families considered Gentiles? Or were they Jews?\u00a0 We are a little confused about when the Jewish nation was established and when were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[26,276,569],"class_list":["post-32758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-esau","tag-gentiles","tag-ishmael"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2655,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happened-to-ishmaels-descendants\/","url_meta":{"origin":32758,"position":0},"title":"What happened to Ishmael’s descendants?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What happened to Ishmael's descendants? Answer: God promised Abraham, \"And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation\" (Genesis 17:20). Ishmael's initial\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/03\/Nabatean-Kingdom-300x197.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8418,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-gentiles-also-descendants-of-abraham\/","url_meta":{"origin":32758,"position":1},"title":"Are Gentiles also descendants of Abraham?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If we Gentiles are also descendants of Abraham, then from whose mother: Hagar, Sarah or Keturah? Is it from Keturah to whom she bore Abraham six legitimate sons after Abraham married her after Sarah died? Am I correct to say that Muslims are descendants of Ishmael who later intermarry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41871,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-confused-by-the-names-of-esaus-wives\/","url_meta":{"origin":32758,"position":2},"title":"I’m confused by the names of Esau’s wives","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a question regarding the question asked to you: \"Was Mahaleth a Canaanite and did Esau marry her to get back at his father Isaac?\" Part of your reply mentioned Genesis 28:9, \"so Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael.\" In my Bible,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24497,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-of-noahs-three-sons-did-the-gentiles-come-through\/","url_meta":{"origin":32758,"position":3},"title":"Which of Noah’s three sons did the Gentiles come through?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which of Noah's three sons did the Gentiles come through? Answer: All three sons. \"Gentiles\" means \"nations\" and was used for anyone who wasn't an Israelite (a descendant of Jacob). Abraham descended from Shem, but through Ishmael came the Arabs, and the Edomites came through Esau. Abraham's nephew, Lot,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50919,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/children-according-to-the-promise\/","url_meta":{"origin":32758,"position":4},"title":"Children According to the Promise","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The wisdom and subtlety of God truly are beyond our comprehension. Sometimes, though, we are privileged to get a glimpse of it in the Scriptures. This is the case with the story of Abraham and his descendants in Genesis, which only makes sense in the light\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-romans-9-support-calvinism\/","url_meta":{"origin":32758,"position":5},"title":"Does Romans 9 support Calvinism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been worrying over Calvinism. Could you help me understand Romans 9:20-22 and Romans 9:11-16? In verse 13 you can read of Esau being hated which is after verse 12 where you can read about the older will serve the younger. Calvinist may use this to support their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}