"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." ~ Revelation 5:5

One of the most pointed question is was Jesus a Jew or not? The answer to that would be YES. And if he is a Jew, how could he also be considered to be Messiah ben Joseph/Ephriam of the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph of Egypt?

Of course Jesus was a Jew, and from the Jewish perspective as was the Bible prepared, both the Old and New Testaments, it is understandable the his association with the tribe of Judah be of prime emphasis. Jesus was a 'Jew' in many respects.

First, Jesus was a Jew by his known and emphasised blood line. Boaz, was the father of Obed. From the Jewish perspective the fact that he was 'surrogate father' under the Law of Moses is not emphasized. Only the bloodline descent is emphasized in Jewish scripture and therefore all Jews who learn and taught of Christ considered him a 'Jew' as being a descendant of Boaz and Ruth. Yet we have set out that certain Jews of understanding also knew and consider Jesus to be a 'Samaritan', meaning a 'mixed' blood of Ephraim and none Hebrews (John 8:48). Which Jesus never did deny to be the case. Despite his being of the 'blood of Judah', Jesus was legally and rightfully the son of Mahlon and of the house of Elimelech (Ruth 1:2), as was also Obed, Jesse (that Ephrathite ~ 1 Samuel 17:12) and David himself. Thus according to the letter of the Law (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Ruth 4:5,10), Jesus was an Ephrathite, just as Nun and Joshua had been (Jasher 81:54), meaning of the tribe of Ephraim. The learned Jews and many Jewish faithful had this understanding, that Jesus would be considered to be the son of Joseph of Egpyt (Messiah ben Joseph/Ephraim) and of Nazareth as taught by Moses and the prophets (John 1:45). And thus they knew Jesus was legally of the tribe of Ephraim, and that he was also descended from many none Hebrew mothers, such as Ruth and Bathsheba. Thus he could be called and considered a 'Samaritan' by those who did wish to slander the name of deity with that negative conotation. But to the pride of the Jew, the Messiah was still considered to be of the tribe of Judah, being of the bloodline of Boaz.

Second, to the satisfaction of the Jews, King David had claimed his Jewish bloodline in preference to his connections to Ephraim. This has already been discussed in items number 22 and 21. Thus from the Jewish perspective, King David's Jewish bloodline had prevailed over the Ephraimite connection which David had 'scorned' by his sinful behavior in relation to Bathsheba and Uriah, which caused the death of the first born of that marriage.

Third, to the Jewish perspective, they were the only remaining tribe of Israel. The ten tribes under the name of Ephraim and Israel had been taken and scattered to the wind and were no longer even recognized as a people by the Jews even though a remnant remained in the Samaritans. To the Jewish mind set, and to may scholars as well, Israel is Judah, as it has been only Judah who has prevailed in maintaining the 'recognized' position as a 'tribe of Israel'. Thus, Jesus being of that remaining tribal group, was of course considered a Jew by such association.

Fourth, as a companion consideration to the last stated reasoning, Jesus was by 'citizenry' a Jew. He lived in the Jewish lands, he was by his parenthood and by his birth of the city of Bethlehem, of the land of Jerusalem, and he was a Jewish subject and citizen. He was not Roman by national ethical consideration, nor was he samaritan, any more than the whole of the house of David was, though technically the whole of the house of David was of Ephrathite descend as already stated. But for all intensive consideration, the high Jewish perspective would have been and still is that the Messiah, that Jesus Christ, was and is a Jew of the tribe of Judah. And by this same 'national' association, even Lehi and those of the Book of Mormon did call themselves Jews, though of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph.

In summary to this, it must be understood that 'it is well said that Jesus was a Jew, the very 'Lion of Judah', the Root of David who selected Judah over Ephraim though his father Jesse in recorded as being 'that Ephrathite'. And so it can 'well' be said that Jesus was a Jew and of the tribe of Judah. He was so by his bloodline. He was so by King David's selected preference. He was so by default of there being no other tribe of Israel remaining but Judah. He was so by national birth and citizenry, He was Jewish in all these respects. But he was still legally and rightfully the heir to the house of Ephraim and of Joseph. And that was his line of right of inheritance of the blessings of the covenant which came down through Ephraim and the priesthood which was attached there to.

So while Jesus was a Jew and is taught by scholars, Jews and even his own deciples to be a Jew, due to that which has just been stated; Jesus was still the rightful seed of Joseph of Egypt. Thus Jesus can be in all good faith be stated to be a Jew of the tribe of Judah. And in just as good faith, through understanding, Jesus can and is also able to be stated as being the seed of the house of Joseph, Messiah ben Joseph, Messiah ben Ephraim.