Hebrew
“From Eber, or from a root meaning to cross over or pass beyond”
Summary
Hebrew is the designation of Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob, likely derived from the name Eber or from a root meaning 'to cross over,' characterizing Abraham as one who crossed the Euphrates to sojourn in Canaan.
☩Origin and Derivation
The name Hebrew is first applied to Abraham in Genesis 14:13 after he had crossed into Canaan. The derivation is disputed. Some trace it to Eber (Heber), an ancestor of Abraham mentioned as the one from whom Shem's descendants are reckoned. The Septuagint translates it as 'the crosser' (ho perates), taking the name from eber meaning 'beyond.' Abraham in Palestine was to the inhabitants the stranger from beyond the Euphrates. The word Hebrew thus characterizes one who 'passed over' from one region to another, appropriate since Abraham was bidden to leave his country and sojourn in Canaan as a stranger dwelling in tents.
☩Usage in the Old Testament
In Scripture, the name Hebrew is never applied to the Israelites except when the speaker is a foreigner, when Israelites speak of themselves to one of another nation, or when they are contrasted with other peoples. The Egyptians used the term for Joseph's kinsmen, and Jonah identified himself as a Hebrew to the foreign sailors. The term 'Israelite' was used by the Jews among themselves as their covenant name of privilege, while 'Hebrew' was how they were known to foreigners. After the constitution of Israel as a separate people, the name Hebrew rarely occurs; in the national poetry and prophets it does not appear as a self-designation.
☩New Testament Usage
In the New Testament, 'Hebrew' became specialized to distinguish Palestinian Jews of pronounced national sympathies who spoke Aramaic and retained national customs, in contrast with Hellenistic Jews who spoke Greek. Acts 6:1 records a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews where this distinction obtains. Paul calls himself 'a Hebrew of Hebrews' to emphasize his pure Hebrew descent without Gentile or proselyte blood, meeting the caviling of Judaizing teachers. The 'Hebrew tongue' mentioned in the New Testament refers not to ancient Hebrew but to the Aramaic dialect of Palestine understood by Jews of Jerusalem.
☩The Hebrew Language
In the patriarchs' wanderings they never used interpreters until they went to Egypt, showing they spoke languages similar to surrounding peoples. Abraham originally spoke Aramaic or Chaldee, and in Canaan he and his descendants acquired Hebrew from the Canaanites, who had acquired it from an earlier Semitic race. The Moabite Stone shows that Moab spoke the same Hebrew tongue as Israel. During Israel's bondages in the time of the judges they never lost their language, but during the 70 years' captivity in Babylon their language became largely Aramaic, and they adopted the present Hebrew alphabet.
Related Verses47 mentions
References
- 1.George Morrish, "Hebrew," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Hebrew," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Hebrew," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Hebrews," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).