When did the word Hebrew originate?

Answer 1

The term "Hebrew" refers to a race of men in mankind's history. From the ancient past and due to the outworking of history, words and meanings have been confused and were lost. History, therefore, is a re-creation by scholars as to past facts and as to what they might be. I have found that even the best of scholars and the best of books have been in error with other experts following suit. No one writes accurate and original work any more.

The term "Hebrew" occurs as people in ancient times referred to the descendants of Eber as "Hebrews" or of being from the Hebrew race. Abraham was a Hebrew, one of many Hebrews in his time. Yet, it is only Abraham's lineage that has survived (being known as being Hebrew) and the other have fell by the wayside and assimilated in time.

Descendants of Abram, Abraham, are today known as Jews and not Hebrews. Jews are from the Hebrew race, because they are descendants of Eber, through Abraham. And then from Joktan, considered to be the father of all Arab tribes in the Middle East (those not from Ishmael), we have the Jo lineage and well as the descendants of Havilah who reside in what is know as the Sunni triangle and their main residence has been the city of Takrit in Iraq today.

In our world's historic past there were more Hebrews than just Abram! He was not the only Hebrew and there were many more who survived to this day.

A direct line descendant of Eber from the lineage of Jobab, a non-Jewish Hebrew, who favors the history of the Jews and favors God's relationship with Shem and Abraham. I am a Christian today, who believes in God and The Bible and not in the interpretations of men.

The above article contains copyright information attributed to me, found at my family's website

Answer:

The term Hebrew originated sometime after the birth of Eber, 2300 BC.

I hope that people of the Jewish race are not offended by the truth as they have coveted and used the term as theirs for so many centuries. The term Hebrew has nothing to do with Judaism as this term or reference name preceded the birth of Abraham. Hebrews are descendants of Eber, whereas Jews are descendants of Abraham from his wife Sarah.

Changes and disagreements to the above article, if any, are as follows:

The term Jew is found in the Bible in the book of Esther and in the book of Ezra to designate the residents of the former kingdom of Judah. Under Persian rule limited Judahite or Judean rule was reestablished under the Persian policy of allowing conquered territories to rule themselves in accordance with their cultural and religious traditions as long as imperial authority was recognized. The inhabitants of Judah represented the southern portion of the once unified Israelite kingdom which underwent political disintegration during the reign of King Rehoboam. Elements of the Northern Israelite tribes appear to have been integrated within Judahite or emerging Jewish identity though some may have been absorbed into emerging Samaritan identity.

Today is my second day on Answers.com and I would like to add: I suspect that the exact date as to when the term Hebrew came about may be impossible to exactly determine. What is know from an extensive reading of history and from a reading of family genealogy trees that go back as far as 2300 BC (not many people have true and extensive family trees that go back that far) the term Hebrew and Jew are two different terms, which describes two different peoples.

Definition of terms:

Jew: Descendants of Abraham.

Hebrew: Descendants of Eber.

Written by Lester D.K. Chow and is the research product of the Chow family and U.S. government researchers. While my own independent research supports their findings (above), I am at this time trying to contact these people to discover the validation behind their work. Please be patient with me. Also, see the discussion area. I am authorized to include the use of the above family material posted here in Answers.com as is lchow.

Answer:

It is safe to say that you are going to get a very different answer from Christians than Jews.

Hebrew does not come from Eber.

In the Hebrew Language, Eber is "EVeR"

The word "Hebrew" is "IVRI" in the Hebrew Language.

It literally means "other sider."

And Abraham became known as "The Ivri" as his nickname. It is thought to reflect the fact that he came from the other side of the river (literally) and also that he was preaching Monotheism in a Polytheistic world and was preaching something from "the other side."

Because Abraham became called "The Ivri," His family and descendants (including those who converted to his religious views" became called Hebrews or in the original language "Ivrim."

The term has not been found in biblical or extra-biblical sources for any tribe or nation other than Abraham and his descendants.

Later on, this same group of people who were called collectively "Ivri-im" (Hebrews) also became Israelites. This was because the religious views and the Biblical Blessings flowed from Abraham to his son Isaac and then from Isaac to his son Jacob.

Jacob wrestled with an angel and the Bible recounts that after this incident he became name as "Israel" as well. Because as a group, Jews come from Jacob, we were also called "Israel" after him.

Later still, Jacob had many sons, who are the fathers of each of the "Tribes of Israel."

Again, they were also called "Israel" collectively, regardless of their particular tribe.

As described in the Bible, at one point the Kingdom of Israel had a civil war and split into 2 states: "The Kingdom of Israel" and the "Kingdom of Judea."

The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed in war and the survivors were taken away and "lost." These are the "lost tribes of Israel."

The Kingdom of Judea was conquered, but the people were not lost. And others began calling them Judeans or "Jew-deans." (You can find this in the Book of Daniel, for example). I should add, the Kingdom of Judea was called that because they maintained the Kingship of the Tribe of the Judah, NOT because they were all from the Tribe of Judah.

In the Book of Esther, Mordechai is called "The Jew" even though he is not from the Tribe of Judah.

So, as a people, we have been called Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews at various times by various groups. But, we are one people.

Theologically, some Christian groups try to say they are different. But, this is just a variation of replacement theology.

You may as well argue "I don't know who was enslaved in the US. I mean today, they have "African Americans" but I can't find that word used before the 19..."

Many of them are the same ethnic group even if that ethnic group has been called different things at different times (or for different purposes).

Similarly, the Bible has many different names for G-d. They are different because they highlight different attributes. But, it is still only One G-d.

Answer:

The above answer has confused a poetic interpretation of "Hebrew" with its simple meaning and origin.

"Hebrews" (Ivrim) actually means descendants of Eber (Ever). Ever was an ancestor of Abraham (Genesis ch.10-11) and the earliest Hebrews were Abraham's uncles and cousins for several generations back. They were among the Western Semites and lived in northern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Balikh and the Euphrates.

Abraham himself was called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because of his wider family. Poetically, however, Abraham is called Ivri because the name also translates to "other side." Abraham was figuratively on "the other side" since he was the only monotheist (Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 42:8) until his teachings took root. His ancestors and cousins had slipped into idolatry well before his time, as is evident from Genesis 31:30, 31:53, and Joshua 24:2.

However, "Hebrews" is often used to mean Abraham and his Israelite descendants, instead of his wider family. In this sense it can refer to the Jewish people.

The word Hebrews can continue to refer to Abraham's descendants until the lifetime of Jacob. After that, we prefer "Israelite," since Jacob was given that name by God (Genesis ch.35), and it is considered a national title; one of honor. "Israelite" refers to the people (Jacob's descendants) down to about the time of the destruction of the First Temple some 2500 years ago.

"Jews" refers to the people from Second Temple times, up to this day, because after the Assyrian conquest the remaining Israelites were (and are) mostly from the Israelite tribe of Judah. But all the above terms are occasionally interchanged.

In modern usage, we prefer to use the term Hebrew only to refer to the language.

Answer 2

The Hebrew language most likely originated in the area of ancient Israel.