Hebrews

The definitive origin of the term "Hebrew" remains uncertain.[11] The Biblical term Ivri (עברי; Hebrew pronunciation: [ʕivˈri]), meaning "to traverse" or "to pass over", is usually rendered as Hebrew in English, from the ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος and the Latin Hebraeus. The Biblical word Ivri has the plural form Ivrim, or Ibrim.

The most generally accepted hypothesis today[12][13][14] is that the text intends ivri as the adjective (Hebrew suffix -i) formed from ever (עֵבֶר) 'beyond, across' (avar (עָבַר) 'to cross, to traverse'), as a description of migrants 'from across the river' as the Bible describes the Hebrews.[15] It is also supported by the 3rd century BCE Septuagint, which translates ivri to perates (περατής),[16] a Greek word meaning 'one who came across, a migrant',[17] from perao (περάω) 'to cross, to traverse',[18] as well as some early traditional commentary.[19] Gesenius considers it the only linguistically acceptable hypothesis.[20] The description of peoples and nations from their location 'from across the river' (often the river Euphrates, sometimes the Jordan river) was common in this region of the ancient Near-East:[21] it appears as eber nari in Akkadian[22][23] and avar nahara in Aramaic (both corresponding to Hebrew ever nahar), the Aramaic expression's use being quoted verbatim in the Bible, for example in an Aramaic letter sent to the King of Persia in the Book of Ezra[24] or in the Book of Nehemiah,[25] sometimes rendered as Trans-Euphrates.[26]

Ramesses III prisoner tiles depicting Canaanite and Shasu leaders as captives. Most archaeologists regard the Hebrews as local Canaanite refugees and some Shasu settling down in the hill-country.[27][28][29]

Genesis 10:21 refers to Shem, the elder brother of Ham and Japheth and thus the first-born son of Noah, as the father of the sons of Eber (עבר), which may have a similar meaning.

Some authors argue that Ibri denotes the descendants of the biblical patriarch Eber (Hebrew עבר), son of Shelah, a great-grandson of Noah and an ancestor of Abraham,[30] hence the occasional anglicization Eberites.

Since the 19th-century CE discovery of the second-millennium BCE inscriptions mentioning the Habiru, many theories have linked these to the Hebrews. Some scholars argue that the name "Hebrew" is related to the name of those seminomadic Habiru people recorded in Egyptian inscriptions of the 13th and 12th centuries BCE as having settled in Egypt.[31] Other scholars rebut this, proposing that the Hebrews are mentioned in later texts of the 3rd Intermediate Period of Egypt (11th century BCE) as Shasu of Yhw,[32] while some scholars[33] consider these two hypotheses compatible, Ḫabiru being a generic Akkadian form parallel to Hebrew ʿivri from the Akkadian equivalent of ʿever 'beyond, across' describing foreign peoples 'from across the river',[34] where the letter ayin (ʿ) in Hebrew corresponds to ḫ in Akkadian[35] (as in Hebrew zeroaʿ corresponding to Akkadian zuruḫ[36]).

A depiction of the Ancient Hebrews in Dura-Europos synagogue

In the Hebrew Bible, the term Hebrew is normally used by foreigners (namely, the Egyptians) when speaking about Israelites and sometimes used by Israelites when speaking of themselves to foreigners.[37] In Genesis 11:16–26, Abram is described as a descendant of Eber, from which some writers claim the designation Hebrew is derived. In Genesis 14:13, Abraham is described as Avram Ha-Ivri ("Abram the Hebrew"), and which translates literally as "Abram the one who stands on the other side."

Israelites are defined as the descendants of Jacob, son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham. Eber, an ancestor of Jacob (seven generations removed), is a distant ancestor of many people, including the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites, Amalekites and Qahtanites.

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia the terms Hebrews and Israelites usually describe the same people, stating that they were called Hebrews before the conquest of the Land of Canaan and Israelites afterwards.[38] Professor Nadav Na'aman and others say that the use of the word "Hebrew" to refer to Israelites is rare and when used it is used "to Israelites in exceptional and precarious situations, such as migrants or slaves."[39][40]

Moses (l) and Aaron (r) lead the Jews across the Red Sea while pursued by Pharaoh. Fresco from the Dura-Europos synagogue in Syria, 244–256 CE

By the Roman period, "Hebrews" could be used to designate the Jews, who use the Hebrew language.[41] The Epistle to the Hebrews, one of the books of the New Testament, was probably directed at Jewish Christians.[42]

In some modern languages, including Armenian, Greek, Italian, Romanian, and many Slavic languages, the name Hebrews (with linguistic variations) is the standard ethnonym for Jews; but in many other languages in which both terms exist, it is currently considered derogatory to call Jews "Hebrews".[43][44]

Among certain left-wing or liberal circles of Judaic cultural lineage, the word "Hebrew" is used as an alternatively secular description of the Jewish people (e.g., Bernard Avishai's The Hebrew Republic or left-wing wishes for a "Hebrew-Arab" joint cultural republican state).

Media related to Hebrews at Wikimedia Commons