Dictionaries :: Hebrew

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Hebrew:

a name applied to the Israelites in Scripture only by one who is a foreigner (Gen 39:14,17; 41:12, etc.), or by the Israelites when they speak of themselves to foreigners (40:15; Exd 1:19), or when spoken of an contrasted with other peoples (Gen 43:32; Exd 1:3,7,15; Deu 15:12). In the New Testament there is the same contrast between Hebrews and foreigners (Act 6:1; Phl 3:5).

Derivation. (1.) The name is derived, according to some, from Eber (Gen 10:24), the ancestor of Abraham. The Hebrews are "sons of Eber" (10:21).

(2.) Others trace the name of a Hebrew root-word signifying "to pass over," and hence regard it as meaning "the man who passed over," viz., the Euphrates; or to the Hebrew word meaning "the region" or "country beyond," viz., the land of Chaldea. This latter view is preferred. It is the more probable origin of the designation given to Abraham coming among the Canaanites as a man from beyond the Euphrates (Gen 14:13).

(3.) A third derivation of the word has been suggested, viz., that it is from the Hebrew word 'abhar, "to pass over," whence 'ebher, in the sense of a "sojourner" or "passer through" as distinct from a "settler" in the land, and thus applies to the condition of Abraham (Hbr 11:13).

Nave's Topical Bible

Hebrew: Definition Of, General Scripture, and Reference Concerning

A word supposed to be a corruption of the name of Eber, who was an ancestor of Abraham,

Gen 10:24; 11:14-26.

See GENEALOGY

Hebrew: Applied To

Abraham,

Gen 14:13;

and his descendants,

Gen 39:14; 40:15; 43:32; Exd 2:6; Deu 15:12; 1Sa 4:9; 29:3; Jon 1:9; Act 6:1; 2Cr 11:22; Phl 3:5.

Hebrew: Used to Denote the Language (Aramaic) of the Jews

Jhn 5:2; 19:20; Act 21:40; 22:2; 26:14; Rev 9:11

Hebrew: References Concerning

See ISRAELITES; JEWS

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Hebrew:

This word first occurs as given to Abram by the Canaanites (Genesis 4:13) because he had crossed the Euphrates. The name is also derived from Eber, "beyond, on the other side," Abraham and his posterity being called Hebrews in order to express a distinction between the races east and west of the Euphrates. It may also be derived from Heber, one of the ancestors of Abraham (Genesis 10:24). The term Israelite was used by the Jews of themselves among themselves; the term Hebrew was the name by which they were known to foreigners. The latter was accepted by the Jews in their external relations; and after the general substitution of the word Jew, it still found a place in that marked and special feature of national contradistinction, the language.