Where are the hebrews from?

Answer 1

Tradition holds that Abraham, the first Hebrew, came "from beyond the river" and settled in the Land of Israel approximately 2000 BCE. Archaeological evidence for the Hebrews goes back as far as 1600 BCE.

Answer:

According to our tradition (Genesis ch.11), Abraham's family was descended from Eber, of Semitic (not Canaanite) stock. The ancient family seat had been in northern Mesopotamia (Joshua 24:2), where many of Abraham's nieces and nephews stayed after he departed (Genesis ch.24); and it was them that Jacob visited when he had to temporarily go to Mesopotamia (Genesis ch.28-9). They spoke Hebrew as well as Aramaic; and, though they were aware of Abraham's teachings, his Mesopotamian relatives didn't abandon their idols (Genesis ch.31).

Answer 2

"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. For that reason, Jews do not bestow on them the honorific title of ancestors despite the genealogical connection.
We credit Abraham as our first ancestor despite knowing exactly who came before, since it was Abraham who founded our beliefs. Thus, "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.

The early Hebrews (before Abraham) lived in the northeastern Fertile Crescent, where places bearing their names have been unearthed. On the Euphrates River (present-day Iraq), ancient towns were named after the ancestors (Genesis ch.11) of Abraham:
The "city of Nahor" was found near the city of Haran which still exists to this day. The names of other towns found nearby were Serug (Assyrian SARUGI), Terah (TIL TURAKHI, "Mound of Terah"), and Peleg (PALIGA, on the Euphrates near the mouth of the Habur).At the time of Abraham, his branch of the family moved to Canaan and their subsequent history and location is covered in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The rest of Abraham's cousins, in what is now northern Syria and Iraq and southeastern Turkey, assimilated into the wider (non-Hebrew) population. Aramaic is a spoken language to this day in some towns there.

See also:

What race were the Israelites?

Jewish ancestry

Answer 3

F. S. Frick (The World of Ancient Israel: Sociological, Anthropological and Political Perspectives, Israel as a tribal society) says that studies on Israel's origins tend to suggest 'emergence' or 'evolution' as the descriptions of the process whereby Israel made its appearance in Palestine. He says the 'Immigration' model associated with Abraham, Moses and Joshua has been largely abandoned, though the 'revolt' model still has its adherents.

J. W. Rogerson (ibid, Anthropology and the Old Testament) says that by the late 1970s a consensus was emerging among scholars that the Israelites or Hebrews had been peasant farmers in Canaan who withdrew or revolted from the influence of the city states and formed a new society w'ith a tribal structure and an egalitarian ideology.

Finally, H. G. M. Williamson (ibid, The concept of Israel in transition) says that recent writers now agree that 'lsrael' emerged peacefully within the land as an inevitable consequence of the economic and social decline of late Bronze Age Canaan coinciding with the development of new agricultural techniques which enabled increasing numbers to withdraw from the city states, located principally in the valleys, and to start settling in the hitherto sparsely populated hill country of Judah and Samaria.

In other words, the Hebrews were actually Canaanites who separated peacefully from the mainstream culture and, long after they had forgotten their origins, developed traditions about who they were and where their ancestors came from.

Answer 4

"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. For that reason, Jews do not bestow on them the honorific title of ancestors despite the genealogical connection.
We credit Abraham as our first ancestor despite knowing exactly who came before, since it was Abraham who founded our beliefs. Thus, "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.

The early Hebrews (before Abraham) lived in the northeastern Fertile Crescent, where places bearing their names have been unearthed. On the Euphrates River (present-day Iraq), ancient towns were named after the ancestors (Genesis ch.11) of Abraham:
The "city of Nahor" was found near the city of Haran which still exists to this day. The names of other towns found nearby were Serug (Assyrian SARUGI), Terah (TIL TURAKHI, "Mound of Terah"), and Peleg (PALIGA, on the Euphrates near the mouth of the Habur).At the time of Abraham, his branch of the family moved to Canaan and their subsequent history and location is covered in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The rest of Abraham's cousins, in what is now northern Syria and Iraq and southeastern Turkey, assimilated into the wider (non-Hebrew) population. Aramaic is a spoken language to this day in some towns there.