The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Bible Dictionary defines Jew, as the name indicated, first of all a man of the kingdom of Judah, as distinguished from persons belonging to the northern kingdom of Israel. Its first chronological occurrence in the Bible is in 2 Kgs. 16: 6, about 740 B.C. It has become customary to use the word Jew to refer to all the descendants of Jacob, but, according to Mormons, this is a mistake. It would be limited to those of the kingdom of Judah or, more especially today, those of the tribe of Judah and his associates. Thus, according to Mormon belief, all Jews are Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews, because there are descendants of the other tribes of Israel also upon the earth. Cf. 2 Ne. 33: 8.
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When interfacing between the Jews and Mormons, the LDS generally refer to the members of the Church as Joseph, and the Jewish as Judah, thus re-enforcing the tribal connection. |
