Who are the Hebrews?
Answered from the commentary of Morrish Bible Dictionary, Arend Remmers, L. M. Grant and 15 others
The Hebrews are Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob, the same people who are mostly called Israelites. The name is never given to the children of Ishmael or Esau. It first appears when a fugitive "told Abram the Hebrew" (Genesis 14:13).
Two accounts of the name are given. It is often traced to Eber, since Shem is called "the father of all the children of Eber" (Genesis 10:21). But there were five generations between Eber and Abraham, and many other descendants of Shem were never called Hebrews, so Eber alone does not explain why the name was kept to Abraham's line. Most of these writers therefore take the name from its root, "to pass over." Abram crossed the Euphrates at God's call (Joshua 24:2-3), and he is first called a Hebrew only after he had left his country and was living in Canaan as a sojourner in tents. So the word means "the passenger" or "the pilgrim," one passing through. It stands in pointed contrast to Lot, who had settled down in Sodom and was carried off with it, and it is a pattern for every child of God, whose safeguard against the world is to keep a pilgrim's separation from it.
"Hebrews" was the name strangers used for God's people. The Gentiles called them Hebrews, not Israel, from the earliest times to the latest, and God Himself did not give them that name. "Israel," by contrast, is their covenant name, the name of grace and promise. For this reason it is counted a sign of unbelief that King Saul summoned the people with "Let the Hebrews hear" (1 Samuel 13:3). He spoke of them as the Philistines did, with no sense of their relationship to Jehovah. The Spirit, meanwhile, says "all Israel heard". Scripture also keeps the name "Hebrews" for those who fled across the Jordan or went over to the Philistines, and calls them Israelites again once they returned. One writer calls "Hebrew" a name of contempt and holds that Jonah, in his flight from God, had lost the sense of his dignity when he answered "I am a Hebrew".
In the New Testament, "Hebrews" are the native Jews of Palestine, as distinct from the Greek-speaking Jews, or Hellenists, born abroad (Acts 6:1). Paul calls himself "a Hebrew of the Hebrews" (Philippians 3:5), meaning his descent had no Gentile or proselyte blood in it. The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to believing Jews, some of whom were tempted to go back to Judaism. One writer finds the title fitting because it marks them as pilgrims who should be willing to pass on into what God was newly doing.
Verses: Joshua 24:2, Joshua 24:3, Genesis 14:13, Jonah 1:9, Philippians 3:5, 2 Corinthians 11:22, Genesis 10:21, Genesis 11:14, Genesis 11:15, Genesis 11:16, Genesis 11:17, Genesis 39:14, Genesis 39:17, Genesis 40:15, Genesis 41:12, Genesis 43:32, Exodus 1:15, Exodus 1:16, Exodus 1:19, Exodus 2:6, Exodus 2:7, Exodus 2:11, Exodus 2:13, Exodus 3:18, Exodus 5:3, Exodus 7:16, Exodus 9:1, Exodus 9:13, Exodus 10:3, Exodus 21:2, Deuteronomy 15:12, 1 Samuel 4:6, 1 Samuel 4:9, 1 Samuel 13:3, 1 Samuel 13:19, 1 Samuel 14:11, 1 Samuel 14:21, Jeremiah 34:9, Jeremiah 34:14, Acts 6:1
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
Designation of Abraham and of his descendants. The name is first met with when Lot had been carried away prisoner, one came and told Abram 'the Hebrew.' Gen. 14:13. Hence it is applied to Abraham's descendants through Isaac and Jacob in distinction to the name of Israelites (from the name of Israel given to Jacob), which is their covenant name, the name of promise. It may be remarked how Saul king of Israel had lost the sense of this when he said "Let the Hebrews hear." 1 Sam. 13:3.
The term occurs in the N.T. only in Acts 6:1 to distinguish the Greek-speaking Jews from those of Palestine, and in 2 Cor. 11:22 and Phil. 3:5 concerning the ancestors of Paul, wherein, to meet the cavilling of the Judaising teachers, he calls himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews, one who had descended without any Gentile or proselyte blood.
It is not very clear why Abraham was called a Hebrew. It is generally supposed to be derived from his ancestor Eber or Heber; but it will be seen from Gen. 11:17-26 that there were five generations between Eber and Abraham, so by this derivation many others might have been called Hebrews. Gen. 10:21 says that Shem was "the father of all the children of Eber." This shows that the Hebrews were Shemites, but many other tribes were 'Shemites' that could not be called Hebrews. In scripture the name is not applied to any except to Abraham and his descendants, and only to those who descended through Isaac and Jacob, to the exclusion of the children of Ishmael and Esau. So that there must be some other reason for the name and for its being thus restricted.
The root of the word is 'to pass over,' as when one passes over a river, or from one region to another. Abraham was bidden to leave his country and his kindred and to go into the land of Canaan, and the word Hebrew is not employed until Abraham had left his country and was in the land of Canaan. Gen. 14:13. When there he was a 'sojourner,' in a strange country, dwelling in tents. Heb. 11:9. The name was therefore characteristic, and the people of the land could go to Abraham the 'sojourner' and tell him that Lot had been taken prisoner. Joseph when in Egypt said he had been stolen from "the land of the Hebrews." Gen. 40:15. The above characteristic was doubtless subsequently lost, and nothing seen in it but the natural descent from Abraham through Isaac and Jacob; the same persons being mostly called Israelites. The descendants of Ishmael and Esau were not sojourners in the promised land, but wandered whither they would. The name Hebrew does not occur in the O.T. after 1 Samuel except in Jer. 34:9, 14 and once in Jonah 1:9.
"Hebrews" is the regular Gentile word. Abram is called "Abram the Hebrew"; see also Exodus 2:6-7, 11, 13, so chapter 1:16 and 19. There cannot be a doubt that it was the name used by strangers - "the children of Eber."
Jonathan made a move in faith, and smote an enemy garrison, which caused the oppressors to stir. Saul promptly summoned a national gathering, perhaps expecting that the people would come together "with one consent," as when the Ammonites were aggressive (1 Sam. 11:7), and with the same good result. His language, however, was extraordinary. "Let the Hebrews hear." The Spirit says in the following verse, "All Israel heard say," etc. "Israel" was the name of grace (Gen. 35:10); "Hebrews” was a term merely reminiscent of the fact that Abraham, their father, originally came into the land from across the Euphrates. But many things had happened since Abraham's day. His seed had, by the grace of God, crossed both the Red Sea and the Jordan, and were now God's covenant people in the land of promise. Did not these mighty facts count for something? But Saul had no real sense in his soul of the people's true relationship with Jehovah. It is not surprising that the Philistines should speak of them in contempt as "Hebrews" (1 Sam. 13:19; 1 Sam. 14:11); and it seems morally suitable that the Holy Spirit should so describe the cowards who fled eastward across Jordan when danger threatened (1 Sam. 13:7), and also the traitors who allied themselves with the enemy (1 Sam. 14:21); but should Israel's King so speak of the people of God?
Shem comes last, the father of Hebrews, the brother of him who has long despised him, as possessed of an elder brother's title. Such is the general result in the peopling of the world under God's ordering.
A fugitive from the battle brought news to Abram, who is here called “the Hebrew” for the first time (v. 13). The name is in contrast to one settled in the land, for it means “passenger,” or one passing through, a good example for every child of God today. He was at the time living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, who with his two brothers were allies of Abram. In later years a link of this kind would have been wrong, but at this time “the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete” (Gen. 15:16), and the Lord makes no issue of it.
But not only was he from the race of Israel, he also was "of the Tribe of Benjamin." And Benjamin was a very favoured tribe. Benjamin was one of the two sons of Jacob's favourite wife. He was the only child of Jacob born in the Promised Land. The first king of Israel came from the Tribe of Benjamin, and Saul of Tarsus bore his name. The "holy City," Jerusalem, was in the land of Benjamin. And the Tribe of Benjamin was the only tribe to remain loyal to Judah and the House of David, when the other tribes revolted. So it was no small honour to belong to the Tribe of Benjamin.
But Paul had more: he was "A Hebrew sprung from Hebrews." He was pure Jew. Timothy's father was a Greek: not so Saul of Tarsus: he was pure Hebrew. A man was a Jew if he traced his descent from Jacob and conformed to the religion of his fathers: but he was not counted a "Hebrew" unless he spoke the Hebrew language. (See Trench, Syn. No. 39). And Paul could hardly have spoken of himself as "A Hebrew sprung from Hebrews" were it not that his father also had these qualifications; and so he probably spoke Hebrew from his earliest childhood; and we know he spoke it fluently: and had been "taught according to the perfect manner of the law of his fathers." (Acts 22:2 & 3).
BEHIND ALL THE attacks and difficulties which confronted the early church in Jerusalem lay the great adversary, Satan himself. He it was that stirred the Sadducees to violence and attempts to intimidate. He filled the heart of Ananias to lie, and thus bring in corruption, tempting the Spirit of the Lord. Now, these earlier attacks having been defeated, he moves in a more subtle way, exploiting small differences that existed within the church itself. The "Grecians" of whom the first verse of this chapter speaks, were not Gentiles but Greek-speaking Jews, coming from the lands of their dispersion, whereas the "Hebrews" were the home-born Jews of Jerusalem and Palestine.
THE TELL AMARNA TABLETS. Comparatively lately a number of clay tablets have been discovered in Upper Egypt. Many of them are despatches from persons in authority in Palestine to the kings of Egypt, showing that Egypt had held more or less sway over portions of the land. The inscriptions are in cuneiform characters, but in the Aramaic language, which resembles Assyrian. The writers were Phoenicians, Philistines, and Amorites, but not Hittites, though these are mentioned on the tablets. The date for some of these despatches has been fixed as from about B.C. 1480, and they were addressed to the two Pharaohs known as Amenophis 3 and 4. They show that Egypt had withdrawn its troops from Palestine, and was evidently losing all power in the country, the northern part of which was being invaded by the Hittites. The governors mention this in their despatches, and urge Egypt to send troops to stop the invasion. Some of the tablets are from Southern Palestine, and witness of troubles in that region also. The name Abiri occurs, describing a people invading from the desert: these are supposed to be the Hebrews. It is recorded that they had taken the fortress of Jericho, and were plundering 'all the king's lands.' The translator (Major Conder) believes he has identified the names of three of the kings smitten by Joshua: Adoni-zedec, king of Jerusalem; Japhia, king of Lachish; and Jabin, king of Hazor. Joshua 10:3; Joshua 11:1. He also believes that the dates coinciding, with the above-named kings agree with the common chronology of scripture for the book of Joshua. If he is correct in this the Exodus can no longer be placed under the nineteenth dynasty. It may be remarked, however, that not one of the tablets from the South bears any king's name, being merely addressed 'To the King, my Lord,' etc.
He’ber ites - patronymic of Heber (1)
He’brew-s - patronymic of Eber – an Eberite
He’brew ess same as Hebrew (feminine)
Verses
- Joshua 24:2–32And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. 3And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, and led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac.
- Genesis 14:13And one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. And he dwelt by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner. And these were Abram's allies.
- Jonah 1:9And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of the heavens, who hath made the sea and the dry [land].
- Philippians 3:5as to circumcision, [I received it] the eighth day; of [the] race of Israel, of [the] tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews; as to [the] law, a Pharisee;
- 2 Corinthians 11:22Are they Hebrews? I also. Are they Israelites? I also. Are they seed of Abraham? I also.
- Genesis 10:21And to Shem — to him also were [sons] born; he is the father of all the sons of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.
- Genesis 11:14–1714And Shelah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15And Shelah lived after he had begotten Eber four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16And Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 17And Eber lived after he had begotten Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.