TheHebrews (Hebrew:עִבְרִיִּים / עִבְרִים,Modern: ʿĪvrīm /ʿĪvrīyyīm,Tiberian: ʿĪḇrīm /ʿĪḇrīyyīm;ISO 259-3:ʕibrim /ʕibriyim) were anancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with theIsraelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which preceded the establishment of theKingdom of Israel and Judah in the 11th century BCE. However, in some instances, the designation "Hebrew" may also be used historically in a wider sense, referring to thePhoenicians or other ancient Semitic-speaking civilizations, such as theShasu on the eve of theLate Bronze Age collapse.[1] It appears 34 times within 32 verses of theHebrew Bible.[2][3] Some scholars regard "Hebrews" as anethnonym,[4] while others do not,[5][6] and others still hold that the multiple modern connotations ofethnicity may not all map well onto the sociology ofancient Near Eastern groups.[7]
In Armenian,Georgian, Italian, Greek,Kurdish, Serbian, Romanian, and a few other languages, the transfer of the name from"Hebrew" to "Jew" never took place, and "Hebrew" (or the linguistic equivalent) remains the primary word used to refer to anethnic Jew.[10][11]
With therevival of the Hebrew language in the 19th century and with the emergence of theYishuv, the term "Hebrew" has been applied[citation needed] to the Jewish people of this re-emerging society inIsrael and Palestine or to the Jewish people in general.
The biblical termIvri (עברי;Hebrew pronunciation:[ʕivˈri]) is usually rendered asHebrew in English (Ancient Greek:Ἑβραῖος; Latin:Hebraeus). The biblical wordIvri has the plural formIvrim, orIbrim. The definitive origin of the term "Hebrew" remains uncertain.[15]
The most generally accepted hypothesis today[16][17][18] is that the text intendsivri as the adjective (Hebrew suffix -i) formed fromever (עֵבֶר) 'beyond, across' (avar (עָבַר) 'he crossed, he traversed'), as a description of migrants 'from across the river' as the Bible describes the Hebrews.[19] It is also supported by the 3rd century BCESeptuagint, which translatesivri toperates (περατής),[20] a Greek word meaning "one who came across, a migrant",[21] fromperao (περάω) "to cross, to traverse",[22] as well as some early traditional commentary.[23]Gesenius considers it the only linguistically acceptable hypothesis.[24] The description of peoples and nations from their location "from across the river" (often the riverEuphrates, sometimes theJordan River) was common in this region of the ancient Near-East:[25] it appears aseber nari inAkkadian[26][27] andavar nahara inAramaic (both corresponding to Hebrewever nahar), the Aramaic expression's use being quoted verbatim in the Bible, for example in an Aramaic letter sent to theKing of Persia in theBook of Ezra[28] or in theBook of Nehemiah,[29] sometimes rendered as Trans-Euphrates.[30]
Genesis 10:21 refers toShem, the elder brother ofHam andJapheth, and thus the first-born son ofNoah, as the father of the sons ofEber (עבר), which may have a similar meaning.
Some authors such as Radak and R. Nehemiah[31] argue thatIbri denotes the descendants of the biblical patriarchEber (Hebrew עבר), son ofShelah, a great-grandson of Noah and an ancestor ofAbraham,[32] hence the occasionalanglicizationEberites. Others disagree, arguing that the Eberites and Hebrews were two different ethnicities, with the former specifically inhabiting Assyria. Nonetheless, the descent of Hebrews from Eber is acknowledged.[33]
Since the 19th-century CE discovery of the second-millennium BCE inscriptions mentioning theHabiru, many theories have linked these to the Hebrews. Some scholars argue that the name "Hebrew" is related to the name of thosesemi-nomadic Habiru people recorded inEgyptian inscriptions of the 13th and 12th centuries BCE as having settled inEgypt.[34] Other scholars rebut this, proposing that the Hebrews are mentioned in later texts of the3rd Intermediate Period of Egypt (11th century BCE) asShasu ofYhw,[35] while some scholars[36] consider these two hypotheses compatible,Ḫabiru being a generic Akkadian form parallel to Hebrewʿivri from the Akkadian equivalent ofʿever "beyond, across" describing foreign peoples "from across the river",[37] where the letterayin (ע) in Hebrew corresponds toḫ in Akkadian[38] (as in Hebrewzeroaʿ corresponding to Akkadianzuruḫ[39]). Alternatively, some argue that Habiru refers to a social class found in every ancient Near Eastern society, which Hebrews could be part of.[40]
In theHebrew Bible, the termHebrew is normally used by foreigners (namely, the Egyptians) when speaking aboutIsraelites and sometimes used by Israelites when speaking of themselves to foreigners,[41][page needed] althoughSaul does use the term for his fellow countrymen in1 Samuel 13:3. InGenesis 11:16–26,Abraham (Abram) is described as a descendant ofEber;Josephus states "Eber" was the patriarch that Hebrew was named after proceeding from theTower of Babel at the time of Eber's sonPeleg, from whichHebrew would eventually become derived.[42][43]
According to theJewish Encyclopedia the termsHebrews andIsraelites usually describe the same people, stating that they were called Hebrews before the conquest of the Land ofCanaan and Israelites afterwards.[44]
Professor Nadav Na'aman and others say that the conflation of Hebrew with Israelite is rare and is only used when Israelites are "in exceptional and precarious situations, such as migrants or slaves."[45][46] Professor Albert D. Friedberg similarly argues that Hebrews refer to socioeconomically disadvantaged Israelites, especially in the context of theBook of Exodus andBooks of Samuel.[40]
InGenesis 14:13, Abraham is described asAvram Ha-Ivri which translates literally as "Abram the Hebrew." Hebrew, in this context, might refer to Abraham's descent from Eber. It might also refer to Abraham'sprimary language or his status as a migrant from the "other side of the river".[40]
TheologianAlexander MacLaren believes that Hebrew was a nickname for all migrants who migrated to Canaan from the other side of the Euphrates River (or the Jordan River), from the perspective of the 'long-settled' aboriginal inhabitants of Canaan.[47]
"Hebrews" can be used to designate the Jewish people, who are considered to be the descendants of the Hebrew people.[48] TheEpistle to the Hebrews, one of the books of the New Testament, was probably directed atJewish Christians.[citation needed]
A friend of mine inWarsaw told me about aPolish journalist who visitedIsrael for the first time. On his return he reported with great excitement: “You know what I’ve discovered? In Israel, too, there are Jews!” For this Pole, Jews are people who wear a long black kaftan and a big black hat. [...] This distinction betweenIsraelis and Jews would not have surprised any of us 50 years ago. Before the foundation of the State of Israel, none of us spoke about a “Jewish state”. In our demonstrations we chanted: “Free Immigration! Hebrew State!” In almost all[a] media quotations from those days, there appear the two words “Hebrew state”, almost never “Jewish state”.
In some modern languages, includingArmenian,Greek,Italian,Romanian, and manySlavic languages, the nameHebrews (with linguistic variations) is the standardethnonym for Jews; but in many other languages in which both terms exist, it is currently considered derogatory to call Jews "Hebrews".[50][51]
Among certain left-wing or liberal circles of Judaic cultural lineage, the word "Hebrew" is used as an alternativelysecular description of the Jewish people (e.g.,Bernard Avishai'sThe Hebrew Republic or left-wing wishes for a"Hebrew-Arab" joint cultural republican state). It is also used in some circles as a secular description of people of Judaic cultural lineage who practice other religions or none, includingHebrew Catholics.
Beginning in the late 19th century, the term "Hebrew" became popular among secular Zionists. In this context, the word alluded to the transformation of the Jewish people into a strong, independent, self-confident secular national group ("the New Jew") sought by classical Zionism. This use died out after the establishment of the state of Israel, when "Hebrew" was replaced with "Jew" or "Israeli".[52]
David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, believed that the Hebrews were the indigenous inhabitants of Canaan that joined Abraham's religion, after he settled in the region. He also believed that not all Hebrews joined Jacob's family when they migrated to Egypt and later, birthed the generation of Hebrews that endured theExodus.[53]
^Douglas Knight, "Hebrews",The Oxford Companion to the Bible: "An ethnic term, it antedated the common sociopolitical names Israel or Judah in the monarchic period, as well as the more ethnoreligious appellative Jew in later times."
^Collapse of the Bronze Age, p. 266, quote: "Opinion has sharply swung away from the view that the Apiru were the earliest Israelites in part because Apiru was not an ethnic term nor were Apiru an ethnic group."
^Steadman, Sharon R.; Ross, Jennifer C., eds. (April 1, 2016).Agency and Identity in the Ancient Near East: New Paths Forward. Approaches to anthropological archaeology. Routledge. p. 131.ISBN9781134945443. RetrievedNovember 14, 2023.Ethnicity [...] is a [...] subtle and difficult phenomenon to explain within an ancient context. [...] I think it is dangerous to equate modern concepts of ethnicity with the sorts of social markers used in ancient times to distinguish groups of people from one another.
^Acts 6:1: "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution." - among other texts).
^English "Jewish Museum of Venice" translates ItalianMuseo Ebraico di Venezia. - See for example:Administrator."Jewish Museum of Venice - homepage". Museoebraico.it. Archived fromthe original on August 17, 2012. RetrievedAugust 4, 2012.
^Rainey, Anson (November 2008). "Shasu or Habiru. Who Were the Early Israelites?".Biblical Archaeology Review.34 (6 (Nov/Dec)). Biblical Archaeology Society.
^See above the discussion of the Akkadian and Aramaic expressionseber nari andavar nahara respectively, corresponding to Hebrewever nahar, being widely used in the ancient Near-East.
^William David. Reyburn, Euan McG. Fry.A Handbook on Genesis. New York: United Bible Societies. 1997.
^Flavius Josephus -Antiquities of The Jews, Book I, Chapter VI, Paragraph 4:Greek:Ἀρφαξάδου δὲ παῖς γίνεται Σάλης, τοῦ δὲ Ἕβερος, ἀφ᾽ οὗ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους Ἑβραίους ἀρχῆθεν ἐκάλουν: Ἕβερος δὲ Ἰούκταν καὶ Φάλεγον ἐγέννησεν: ἐκλήθη δὲ Φάλεγος, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὸν ἀποδασμὸν τῶν οἰκήσεων τίκτεται: φαλὲκ γὰρ τὸν μερισμὸν Ἑβραῖοι καλοῦσιν.,lit.'Sala was the son of Arphaxad; and his son was Heber, from whom they originally called the Jews Hebrews. Heber begat Joetan and Phaleg: he was called Phaleg, because he was born at the dispersion of the nations to their several countries; for Phaleg among the Hebrews signifies division.'
^‘To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth (erets) was divided’ (Genesis 10:25)
Richard Kugelman, "Hebrew, Israelite, Jew in the New Testament." In The Bridge: A Yearbook of Judaeo-Christian Studies, Vol. 1, edited by John M. Oesterreicher and Barry Ulanov, 204–224. New York: Pantheon Books, 1955.
