Hurmanetar
New
It's interesting to me how the term "anti-Semitic" has been adopted as a pejorative used against those who criticize Zionism.
The term "Semite" seems to have arisen less than 300 years ago and refers to the decendents of Shem, son of Noah - whom Noah prophesied would rule over his other two brothers decendents:
“Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.””
Genesis 9:20-27 NIV
Of course now it's impossible to tell who really are the true descendants of Shem and most scholars consider "Semite" to be an obsolete term. But by identifying as a son of Shem, one also identifies with the promise above.
And who are the Jews? Jew comes from Jude which comes from Judah which was only one of the 12 or 13 tribes of Israel and is associated with other grand promises. And "Hebrew" possibly goes all the way back to the patriarch "Eber", great-grandson of Shem.
While the actual genetic ancestry of the European and Middle Eastern people is so interwoven and complex that no one can really make any solid claims and the "Semitic" people would surely encompass a large portion of the world - not only modern Jews - nevertheless people will choose to identify with certain ancestors in order to be beneficiaries of promises, blessings, and prophecies about those ancestors.
Paul did this for the Gentiles in Christianity. By simply identifying one's self as a child of Abraham by faith, one becomes a beneficiary of the promises to Abraham.
So modern Jewish people are bound together by an assumed identity and relatively recent common genetic roots rather than direct and unique lines of ancestry back to the patriarchs of the promises. Although the term "anti-Semitic" is technically meaningless, using it against critics reinforces part of this assumed identification with the line and promise of Shem.
The term "Semite" seems to have arisen less than 300 years ago and refers to the decendents of Shem, son of Noah - whom Noah prophesied would rule over his other two brothers decendents:
“Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.””
Genesis 9:20-27 NIV
Of course now it's impossible to tell who really are the true descendants of Shem and most scholars consider "Semite" to be an obsolete term. But by identifying as a son of Shem, one also identifies with the promise above.
And who are the Jews? Jew comes from Jude which comes from Judah which was only one of the 12 or 13 tribes of Israel and is associated with other grand promises. And "Hebrew" possibly goes all the way back to the patriarch "Eber", great-grandson of Shem.
While the actual genetic ancestry of the European and Middle Eastern people is so interwoven and complex that no one can really make any solid claims and the "Semitic" people would surely encompass a large portion of the world - not only modern Jews - nevertheless people will choose to identify with certain ancestors in order to be beneficiaries of promises, blessings, and prophecies about those ancestors.
Paul did this for the Gentiles in Christianity. By simply identifying one's self as a child of Abraham by faith, one becomes a beneficiary of the promises to Abraham.
So modern Jewish people are bound together by an assumed identity and relatively recent common genetic roots rather than direct and unique lines of ancestry back to the patriarchs of the promises. Although the term "anti-Semitic" is technically meaningless, using it against critics reinforces part of this assumed identification with the line and promise of Shem.
