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Next page: The term ‘Jew’ in the Bible [from Judah],
traditionally, descendants of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob,
whose tribe, with that of his half brother Benjamin, made up the
kingdom of Judah; historically, members of the worldwide
community of adherents to Judaism. The degree to which national
and religious elements of Jewish culture interact has varied
throughout history and has been a matter of considerable debate.
There were approximately 17.8 million Jews in the world in 1990,
with 8 million in the Americas (of which about 5.7 million were
in the United States), 3.5 million in Israel, and 3.5 million in
Europe.- Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
In common speech, the word "Jew" is used to refer to all of the
physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob/Israel, as well as
to the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and their wives, and the
word "Judaism" is used to refer to their beliefs. Technically,
this usage is inaccurate