Even the Hebrew Bible Says that Jews Are Not Indigenous to Palestine

2-min read

 

Summary: According to the Hebrew Bible, Jews are not indigenous to Palestine.

Abraham and Sarah left modern-day Irak (“Ur of the Chaldees”) for modern-day occupied Palestine (“Canaan”), where they had their son Isaac. Abraham even made his servant promise that Isaac would not marry a local Canaanite, and sent for a Mesopotamian wife (Rebekah). Together, Isaac and Rebekah would have Jacob (later renamed “Israel” by God), whose 12 sons would become the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.

 

Although religious arguments predicated on a fictional book based on collective memory should not be used to make political arguments, it’s worth pointing out that even the Hebrew Bible admits that Jews are not indigenous to Palestine, which debunks the claim that some “decolonization” Zionists have began to make.

The Book of Genesis, also called the Book of Bereishit (Hebrew for “In the beginning”), is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Christian Old Testament.

It describes the creation of the world by God, and Abram, a pagan like everyone else 4,000 years ago, who would eventually become Abraham, the first patriarch of Judaism by God’s choosing.

Abram, none of whose ancestors came from Palestine,1 is from Ur of the Chaldees (modern-day Iraq2 ) and had a barren wife named Sarai, whose name God would later change to Sarah.

They left Ur of the Chaldees along with the father and nephew of Abram to go to the land of Canaan (which “refers sometimes to an area encompassing all of Palestine and Syria, sometimes only to the land west of the Jordan River, and sometimes just to a strip of coastal land from Acre northward”3 ), but stopped before their destination to settle in Haran4 (modern-day Iraq).

After the passing of Abram’s father in Haran, God called out to Abram to leave his father’s house to a land that He would show him.5  

So Abram, his wife and his nephew departed once more for the land of Canaan.6 When he arrived at Sichem (near modern-day Nablus7 ) in the land of Canaan, God promised to give the land to his descendants.8

Some 10 years later, God renewed this promise to Abram, adding that his 90-year-old wife would bear his child, who would be called Isaac, and that God would establish His “everlasting covenant” with Isaac and his descendants.9

Eventually, the couple would indeed have Isaac.10

When his son grew up, Abraham even made his servant swear that Isaac would not marry a local Canaanite, and sent the servant back to Abraham’s “country,” Ur of the Chaldees, to find a wife for his son.11

The servant returned with Rebekah.12

Rebekah and Isaac then had Jacob (eventually renamed “Israel” by God13 ), who would go on to give birth to 12 sons, each of whom would become the head of one of the 12 tribes of Israel.14

 

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1  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 4:25–26, 5:9, 5:12, 5:15, 5:18, 5:21, 5:25, 5:28–29, 5:32, 10:22, 10:24–10:25, 11:18, 11:20, 11:22, 11:24 and 11:26.

2  Britannica: “Where was Abraham from?” (archive).

3  Britannica: “Canaan” (archive).

4  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 11:31.

5  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 12:1.

6  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 12:4.

7  Britannica: “Schechem” (archive).

8  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 12:7.

9  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 17:19.

10  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 21:3.

11  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 24:2–4.

12  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 24:61.

13  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 32:27-28.

14  Tanakh Jewish Bible, 1917. Genesis 49:28.

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