Le peuple aux trois noms

Jewish identity has always been a highly disputed topic. Such a dispute increased with the first archaeological discovery of the so-called Iron Age "proto-Israelites" and the recent debates about the relationship between being a Jew and an Israeli citizen in the modern state of Israel. Notwithstanding a three thousand years old history, the name "Israel" continues to be used. Adopting a diachronic approach to the biblical text, this book retraces the history of the different ethnonyms related to the "chosen people" ("Israel", "Jews/Judeans", and "Hebrews"). Encompassing archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence, it reassesses the role played by Jewish tradition in the development of concepts such as "peoplehood" and "group identity", which, through the Christian heritage, resulted in the modern concept of Nation-State. The Bible, the Book, is thus not only a source for the orientalist but can also be a useful tradition that may help us to a better understanding of our societies and the relationships they maintain with each other.