“Hebrew” is a name for the Israelites — and, tellingly, in the Bible it is mostly a word other people used. It is applied to them almost always by a foreigner, or by Israelites identifying themselves to foreigners, or when they are set in contrast with other nations (Genesis 39:14; 40:15; Exodus 1:19). Before it named a language or, in the modern sense, a people, it was an outsider’s label.
Where the name comes from is debated. One tradition traces it to Eber, an ancestor of Abraham, making the Israelites “sons of Eber.” A second, more widely preferred, ties it to a root meaning “to pass over,” so that a Hebrew is “the one who crossed over” — Abraham, the man who came into Canaan from beyond the Euphrates (Genesis 14:13). A related reading hears in it the sense of a sojourner, a passer-through rather than a settler (Hebrews 11:13).
That same outsider’s-eye contrast survives into the New Testament, where “Hebrews” are set against those of other backgrounds (Acts 6:1; Philippians 3:5). If that derivation holds, the word suits the people it names — a nation whose story begins with a crossing: out of one land, and toward the land that was promised.
Explore Hebrew and related terms in the full glossary → a.fortt.com/glossary-app
How this is made · A Fortt Media project, created & edited by Jon Fortt. Grounded in a curated Scripture database and carefully drafted and audited with the help of AI — described plainly, and written to assume no particular denomination or doctrine. Read the full approach → · Report a correction →
