# the Jews — The Genealogy of Morals character guide

> the Jews in The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jews

**First appearance:** 0011-first-essay

## Snapshot

The Jews dared the terrifying reversal of the aristocratic equation, declaring the wretched, poor, and weak alone good—and the powerful alone evil.

## Who they are

A nation of priests nursing the most profound revengefulness, they launched the slave revolt in morals that has taken two millennia to achieve victory. From the trunk of their hate grew a new love, the most sublime of all loves, not as its negation but as its triumphant crown, circling wider in the sun while pursuing its goal of hatred. They matter because Nietzsche identifies this transvaluation as the origin of the moral world the book sets out to genealogize.

## Relationships

### [Jesus of Nazareth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/characters/jesus_of_nazareth)

_social_

Jesus is presented as a product of Jewish ressentiment, though his teaching of love ultimately inverted the priestly morality of the Jews.

## In the story

### [First Essay: 'Good and Evil,' 'Good and Bad'](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/first-essay)

Identified as the initiators of the 'slave revolt in morality,' inverting the aristocratic value equation.

### [The Priestly Mode of Valuation and the Jewish Slave Revolt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/7)

Portrayed as the priestly nation that executed a radical transvaluation of values, inverting the aristocratic moral equation through clever revenge.

### [The Triumph of Jewish Revenge and the Paradox of the Cross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/8)

Described as the source of the most profound and sublime hate that created new ideals and changed old values, ultimately triumphing over aristocratic ideals.

### [Chapter 9](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/9)

Credited with the triumph of slave morality and the vulgarization of humanity.

### [14](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/14)

Implicitly referenced as the originators of the slave revolt in morality, though not named directly in this chapter.

### [Chapter 15](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/15)

Referenced in Tertullian's description of Jesus as a Sabbath destroyer and Samaritan, highlighting the polemic against Jews.

### [Rome Against Judaea: The Thousand-Year Fight of Moral Values](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/16)

Described as the priestly nation of resentment par excellence, contrasted with Rome.

### [Second Essay: “Guilt,” “Bad Conscience,” and the Like](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/second-essay)

Associated with the slave revolt in morality and the revaluation of values that led to the moralization of guilt.

### [Chapter 20](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/20)

Implicitly referenced in the context of the heritage of racial gods and the slave revolt.

### [The Ascetic Priest as Physician](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/17)

Implied in the broader discussion of religious responses to depression, though not directly named in this excerpt.

### [Chapter 22: The Ascetic Priest and the Corruption of Taste](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/22)

Referenced in the context of the New Testament's 'Jewish slobbering' and contrasted with the Old Testament's heroic landscape.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/characters/the_jews
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/characters